When you think of a monk, you’re likely picturing someone super calm, full of wisdom about religion, and totally dedicated to living a pure, sin-free life. They’re all about spreading the teachings of their faith and living peacefully. Imagine meeting Monk Dol from the new Netflix series The Believers. At first, he’s exactly what you’d expect from a monk: serene, wise, and focused on his spiritual journey. But here’s where things get interesting! Monk Dol’s world gets shaken up when he crosses paths with a trio of game developers: Dear, Win, and Game. These guys introduce him to a whole new world he never even considered before. Suddenly, Monk Dol finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew about his monkhood. He’s torn between his commitment to his faith and his unexpected desire to explore new possibilities. What really happened? Let’s find out together.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Monk Dol Want To Come To Phummaram Temple?
Win, Game, and Dear are in deep trouble because their game got hacked, leaving them drowning in debt. So, what do they do? They hatch a plan to renovate an old temple called Phummaram Temple and cash in on people’s faith! They figure religion and money go hand in hand, right? They start sprucing up the temple, painting it all nicely, and setting up stalls and donation boxes. But guess what? That’s not enough to bring in the crowds. They need something more—something that’ll attract folks of all ages—and fast! So, they hatch a genius plan: they’re going to find a super famous monk to be the face of their temple! They figure that if people hear this famous monk’s sermons, they’ll flock to the temple, donate loads of cash, and bam—they’ll soon be out of debt! It’s the “pray and pay” method, you know? They head to a forest temple to meet this famous monk, but they miss him. Bummer, right? But just as they’re about to leave, they stumble upon Monk Dol, a young monk whose words are like music to their ears—like an ASMR podcast or something! They knew this was their guy. Now, Monk Dol has this dream of building a Dharma Retreat Pavilion to spread Buddhism far and wide. And Win, Game and Dear see an opportunity. They convince Monk Dol to come to Phummaram Temple for three months to practice and spread his teachings; in exchange, they will make his dream Dharma retreat pavilion. At first, Monk Dol is hesitant about leaving his forest temple life behind. But he trusts these young folks and figures, Why not? He’s all set to adapt to the city temple ways and focus on spreading the word of religion. Little does he know, he’s stepping right into their scamming plan without even realizing it.
What Happened After Coming To The Phummaram Temple?
Monk Dol comes to the Phummaram Temple, and boy, is it a culture shock! The city crowd is all loud and flashy, singing and dancing, totally different from the quiet chanting vibe he’s used to from his forest temple days. He’s not really feeling the whole extravaganza thing, but he doesn’t want to bother anyone, so he keeps his thoughts to himself. But it’s not just the noise that’s throwing him off—he notices people treating religion like a business, with donation baskets everywhere! And to top it off, they’ve got him doing a whole photoshoot for social media to announce his arrival. It can be really overwhelming for a monk who isn’t used to all this digital stuff. But you know what keeps him going? He was sweet on Dear from the trio. So when she suggests doing a podcast and answering viewers’ questions, he’s all in! But mostly, he’s genuinely curious about what’s on Dear’s mind when it comes to love, faith, and religion. Maybe he’s even starting to develop a little love for her—who knows? So, he spends his time at the temple giving sermons and making podcasts, and before he knows it, three months have flown by! But just when he’s getting used to the hustle and bustle, the temple gets accused of running a drug cartel, and the wrong crowds start creeping in. Thank goodness he’s out of there and back to his peaceful forest temple before things get too messy.
Why Did Monk Dol Decide To Leave Monkhood?
So, after three months back in his forest temple, Monk Dol’s mind is all over the place—especially when it comes to Dear! She’s been coming up in his dreams and visions, making it hard for him to focus on his sermons during prayers. He knows he’s breaking the monk code by feeling this way, but he can’t help himself. So, what does he do? He decides to head back to Phummaram Temple, but he keeps his real motive hidden and says he is willing to help the temple get back on its feet again through his religious prayers and chants. After all, monks aren’t supposed to get tangled up in love and attachments! But when he sees Dear struggling with debts and all sorts of troubles, his heart goes out to her. They came up with this idea to make amulets from sacred objects found in different temples, and Monk Dol’s all in to help. As they journey to these temples, Monk Dol opens up about his past. It turns out that he comes from a poor family and lost his parents when he was young. His grandma wanted him to be a monk, so he went along with it. But being a monk wasn’t his dream; he never got to be a teenager and never had the chance to explore himself and his feelings. He preaches about not being possessive in love, yet here he is, falling for Dear and getting all tangled up in his own emotions. It’s a real dilemma for him! So, you know what he did? After getting back, he expressed his feelings towards Dear, saying that he loved her. His emotions were so pure that he decided to leave monkhood to be together with Dear because he couldn’t live with having these thoughts of love and being a monk at the same time—he couldn’t live with himself. But Dear, being all too startled, could not respond and walked away. Talk about a tragedy!
In the end, we see Monk Dol being interrogated by the police. Despite the revelation of Win, Game, and Dear’s money scamming at the temple, Monk Dol keeps insisting that he was there for their good intentions—to spread the message of Buddha to the crowd. He did not know that they would do such a thing! But what really hits him hard is the realization that Dear used his emotions to make money. Monk Dol starts to see how he was about to compromise his monkhood for this whole mess. He feels like it’s a test from God. So, he decides to write a letter to Dear, bidding her farewell. In the letter, he pours out his feelings, telling her how much she meant to him and asking for her forgiveness for burdening her with his thoughts. Through this, one thing becomes quite clear: Monk Dol is not coming back to Phummaram Temple or Dear’s life ever again. Maybe he peacefully returned to the temple, becoming a forest monk again.
