This is the entrance to the Buddhist Temple. Many of these temples are found allover Thailnad
On the third day Khun Arree took us to a Buddhist Temple to learn the rituals. There were Buddhas everywhere, gold ones that looked flaky. There were Buddhas in every room at Jennifer's place and it gave the house a happy atmosphere. You get a little package with incense, a candle and four folded pieces of wax paper. Lighting the candle, light the incense off the candle. Melt the wax on the bottom of the candle and stick it on a metal-thing. Go on your knees and hold the incense between your hands. Say a prayer. I prayed for Grandpa and everyone affected by him. After you're done place the incense in a large ashtray (I'm talking very large - as-big-as-a-dog large) that is already filled with ashes from other incense. Afterward walk over to a Buddha and open your wax paper. Inside is a flake of gold. Stick it on the Buddha (don't touch the gold directly) and say a prayer. Repeat this until . . .
This is where you placed your lit candle and incense before saying a prayer
all your gold is gone. We walked around and looked at the different Buddhas; there was one for every day of the week. Depending on which day you were born on, you would worship that one, but usuallly only people who come regularly worship those. Nevertheless, I bowed to mine (Sunday). (Levels of greeting; hands together on top of head is greeting Buddha or a monk, hands together in front of face is greeting someone important, hands together in front of chests is greeting someone equal, hands together at knees is greeting a child.) When we were all ready to leave, I felt absolutely at peace with myself. I think all the incense really got to my head. Khun Arree taught me how to say good-bye to Buddha; we kneeled in front the central Buddha and put our hands together on the top of our head and bowed until our foreheads touched the ground, repeating this three times. Afterward Khun Arree bought Birch and me each a Buddha charm to put on a necklace. Mine is Sunday and Birch's is Tuesday. Khun Arree also bought Dad a bracelet representing the King's birthday (which happened to be that day) and Mom bought her own more expensive charm of Buddha. (Even the slightest insult to the king can put you in jail.) The rest of the day was spent at the pool, relaxing and enjoying.
Allie
Allie
RSS Feed