VIRAL PRESS - NEWS COPY - WITH PICTURES (FEE: 40 for 1st picture, 20 for 2nd used, 15 for 3rd used and 80 unlimited amount) (Picture credit: Viral Press / Phra Julian) ************************************************Meet the western man who quit the rat race to become a monk living alone on a hillside while surviving on £17.50 a week - sent to him by his mum.Julian Desilets (CORR), 40, was a typical teenager playing computer games and sports while dating different girlfriends - and dreaming of becoming an acupuncture specialist.But he became fascinated by meditation and after meeting a Thai girlfriend travelled to the country when he was just 16 and again two years late in 1998.Julian, now known as Phra Julian, ordained as a monk in 2000 and has just completed his 17th year in the religion, living a life of solitude on a remote mountainside in Mae Hong Son, northern Thailand.He has spent almost two decades surviving on just 1500 Canadian dollars (913GBP) sent to him each year by his mum, Michelle Roy, and eats a vegan diet of fruit and bananas grown outside his wooden hut.But Julian - who still has Facebook and a mobile phone - now garners donations from well-wishers on social media and says he is ‘’the happiest man in the world’’, despite battling his urges for a girlfriend. He said: ‘’This is the best life. I’m very happy. At first it was hard but you soon get used to it. The scenery is stunning, the people are so helpful and kind, and there are none of the stresses of the modern world.''‘’It’s a bit of a problem for me that monks can’t have girlfriends. I’m alright when I’m living on my own but when I meet a woman and there’s an energy exchange and an attraction, this can be difficult.‘’We’re all human and have hormones, especially when when local Thai girls like foreign western men. But when I have those feelings I just have to meditate and I can get over it.‘’Technically monks aren’t supposed to do yoga, exercise or ga