Simple ritual at a thai Buddhist temple (The Big Buddha)
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First of all, I am not religious. I might say I am an atheist but I'm not that certain about anything. Of all the world's great religions the one I find least repugnant is Buddhism. Maybe that's because it is not a religion. I'm no expert but as I understand it the focus of Buddhist reverence is mankind not a god and it seems to be about achieving enlightenment through moderation. Compared to theistic belief systems that seems pretty radical and to me at least, sensible. I have never been capable of belief in a mythic creator benign or otherwise. Anyway, I am not an expert so I am not about to start preaching or teaching. I have though been noticing something as I go about Thailand accompanied by a variety of local guides, most especially Charlie, who works for Tour With Tong who I highly recommend.
Charlie has taken us to Kanchanaburi, to Maeklong and to Ayutuya. In between we have seen many small places with names I forgot to note. Charlie is a great character. He carries with him a small "tour guide kit" consisting of a small carrier bag in which he keeps fading photographs and charts, some laminated and dog-eared, showing the faces of the 9 kings of the present dynasty, extracts of the Ramakien and sundry other useful images to illustrate his favourite subject; the history of the indomitable Thai people. Charlie tries really hard at his job and he is a very intelligent guy but English came late to him so his narrative can be hard to follow. Still, you don't need to worry if you miss something because with Charlie it'll be around again in a few minutes. So you can half doze between visits and still get the gist.
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First of all, I am not religious. I might say I am an atheist but I'm not that certain about anything. Of all the world's great religions the one I find least repugnant is Buddhism. Maybe that's because it is not a religion. I'm no expert but as I understand it the focus of Buddhist reverence is mankind not a god and it seems to be about achieving enlightenment through moderation. Compared to theistic belief systems that seems pretty radical and to me at least, sensible. I have never been capable of belief in a mythic creator benign or otherwise. Anyway, I am not an expert so I am not about to start preaching or teaching. I have though been noticing something as I go about Thailand accompanied by a variety of local guides, most especially Charlie, who works for Tour With Tong who I highly recommend.
Charlie has taken us to Kanchanaburi, to Maeklong and to Ayutuya. In between we have seen many small places with names I forgot to note. Charlie is a great character. He carries with him a small "tour guide kit" consisting of a small carrier bag in which he keeps fading photographs and charts, some laminated and dog-eared, showing the faces of the 9 kings of the present dynasty, extracts of the Ramakien and sundry other useful images to illustrate his favourite subject; the history of the indomitable Thai people. Charlie tries really hard at his job and he is a very intelligent guy but English came late to him so his narrative can be hard to follow. Still, you don't need to worry if you miss something because with Charlie it'll be around again in a few minutes. So you can half doze between visits and still get the gist.
What I find interesting on our accompanied visits is the things Charlie (and the others) don't think to point out, because these are the little things he doesn't see because they are taken for granted. That's what I mean by culture. What I have noticed wherever I go, from Erawan shrine at the centre of bustling Bangkok, to historic ruined Ayutuya, to the smallest most nondescript village is this. The Thai people engage in an almost unimagineably large number of acts of devotion. Add up all the candles burning, the incense sticks, the little squares of gold leaf left fluttering from myriad statues of Buddha or angels, or portraits of the King, the food offerings left at countless shrines, the many thousands of Cockerel statuettes at the King Naresuan monument at Ayutuya, the almost magical belief in the good fortune to be earned by painting symbols inside the roof lining of a car, the garlands of flowers adorning every taxi, the presence of a shrine on the premises of almost every commercial operation...........I could go on but you get the point. Well, pretty much everyone must do something every day.
Having asked, I have recieved differing descriptions of these practices and they all equate to the idea of buying good luck or warding off bad. Sometimes it's described as earning merit (especially when it involves giving to the monks). Grand Hyatt Erawan is a fantastic hotel in my opinion and I've stayed there half a dozen times now. I have met the GM and the Director of S&M and several other managers . It is a sophisticated modern hotel managed by an American management company. There is a story told here of how, when the hotel was under construction a series of accidents occurred. Because of the site coinciding with the Erawan shrine (symbolised by the elephant, Thailand's most holy animal) they were put down to celestial influences. So a new shrine was built and dedicated and the hotel was completed without further incident. To this day the entire hotel management team turn out for the annual blessing at the shrine which is small but one of the most venerated in Bangkok.
Having asked, I have recieved differing descriptions of these practices and they all equate to the idea of buying good luck or warding off bad. Sometimes it's described as earning merit (especially when it involves giving to the monks). Grand Hyatt Erawan is a fantastic hotel in my opinion and I've stayed there half a dozen times now. I have met the GM and the Director of S&M and several other managers . It is a sophisticated modern hotel managed by an American management company. There is a story told here of how, when the hotel was under construction a series of accidents occurred. Because of the site coinciding with the Erawan shrine (symbolised by the elephant, Thailand's most holy animal) they were put down to celestial influences. So a new shrine was built and dedicated and the hotel was completed without further incident. To this day the entire hotel management team turn out for the annual blessing at the shrine which is small but one of the most venerated in Bangkok.
Charlie tries to catch a little of that good fortune
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Every male born in Thailand is supposed to spend six months training as a Buddhist Monk. A kind of spiritual national service. Charlie managed 5 days. I didn't ask if he quit the temple or it quit him but he estimates his own belief as 50:50. Still he buys little squares of gold leaf and adds oil to the candle burner for his personal Buddha ( like me he was born on a Thursday so that's the pang sati or lotus position).
Thailand is a nation born on the boundary between India and China, two great powers and with a historically warlike neighbour in Burma. There have been colonial powers from France and Britain holding sway, taking territory and the borders have swung back and forth many times, up and down the Malay peninsula and in and out of the Mekong. Through all of this successive Kings have worked hard to create and maintain a unified sense of a unique Thai identity. Thai Buddhism with all it's pagan add-ons seems to be a vital part of that. Today millions of Thais still daily go to kneel, to direct their prayers upwards through the image of The Buddha, to seek calm, enlightenment or good fortune, together. I can't think of any practice equally widespread in the UK. In the USA they salute the flag daily in school. I can't help but feel touched and a little saddened at the decline of any ritual observance in my own country. So, I went with Charlie's 50:50 and rubbed a little gold leaf on the reclining Buddha at Ayutuya. Singapore tomorrow.
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Every male born in Thailand is supposed to spend six months training as a Buddhist Monk. A kind of spiritual national service. Charlie managed 5 days. I didn't ask if he quit the temple or it quit him but he estimates his own belief as 50:50. Still he buys little squares of gold leaf and adds oil to the candle burner for his personal Buddha ( like me he was born on a Thursday so that's the pang sati or lotus position).
Thailand is a nation born on the boundary between India and China, two great powers and with a historically warlike neighbour in Burma. There have been colonial powers from France and Britain holding sway, taking territory and the borders have swung back and forth many times, up and down the Malay peninsula and in and out of the Mekong. Through all of this successive Kings have worked hard to create and maintain a unified sense of a unique Thai identity. Thai Buddhism with all it's pagan add-ons seems to be a vital part of that. Today millions of Thais still daily go to kneel, to direct their prayers upwards through the image of The Buddha, to seek calm, enlightenment or good fortune, together. I can't think of any practice equally widespread in the UK. In the USA they salute the flag daily in school. I can't help but feel touched and a little saddened at the decline of any ritual observance in my own country. So, I went with Charlie's 50:50 and rubbed a little gold leaf on the reclining Buddha at Ayutuya. Singapore tomorrow.