Buddhism through my eyes

Everyday around 6 am, if you’re in the right part of the Thailand at the right time, you can hear monks chanting as they head down the street to collect alms. Collecting alms is their way of being fed for the day, as faithful Buddhists meet them as they walk and offer them food. Being a monk is not exactly what you all may be picturing. It is customary for all Buddhist men to be ordained as a monk for at least 3 months in order to gain merit for his mother, who cannot generally be ordained. There are some cases of female ordination in parts of Asia, but not currently in Thailand. Any monk can disrobe at any time. Also, as young as the age of 11 or 12, a young boy can be ordained as a novice. He only has to keep 7 precepts compared to the 227 of a monk! Most novices are either ordained as monks around the age of 20 or they can stay novices a little longer to finish their education and then disrobe.

Typical monk in his bright orange robe (not actually a monk from my internship though)

This is the case of many of the monks and novices, at Mahachulalongkornrajavidayalaya (yes, I spelled that from memory, and no, spell check does not approve!) University at Wat (Temple) Suan Dok… the location of my internship. They have fascinating stories, and I have been having a blast getting to know them and learning about their lives both as monks and just as people of a different culture. A lot of the monks at this university are technically international students as many are from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma. From what I hear, most of those attending the university are doing so because they would be unable to receive an education otherwise. My professor explained it to me by saying it’s like one big social work program because these are the poor tribal and immigrant boys who would otherwise live lives of servitude working in fields or other low-to-no-paying jobs. This way, they are educated and able to return to their country or hill-tribe of origin and give back, aid in development, help educate future generations, etc., and from talking to them I can tell they have huge visions about how they can change the world—inspiring!

So here’s a little bit about Buddhism. In Thailand, Theravada Buddhism is practiced. The Buddha, along with his teachings (called the Dhamma), and the community of monks (called the Sangha) are worshipped by some, and referred to as ‘The Triple Gem.’ Since the Buddha is no longer living, but is in Nirvana (a Buddhist version of heaven), symbols—relics, images, Bo trees and foot prints—are worshipped. As Buddhism is a very tolerant and open religion, people also worship spirits and gods of other religions, mainly Hinduism, to find more religious fulfillment.

This is a jedi (they look different at every temple) it holds relics of either the Buddha or of prominent monks.

Buddhists believe in the law of Karma, a sort of energy that is stored up in the brain that occurs naturally and spontaneously based on a person’s mental impulses, intention, action, and the results of the action. The purpose of Karma is to encourage people to repeat positive, karma-producing actions, cause rebirth, and determine the future conditions of life, currently and in the next life.  That brings me to another core belief of Buddhism, that of rebirth. With this belief comes a lack of fear of death, since this life is one of millions before and yet to come. At death, the Karmic energy produces a mass of psychic energy to contain a person’s traits to link them to the next life.

In general, there are three basic truths (called the 3 ‘im’s):

1.       Impermanence, meaning everything changes and nothing is permanent. This belief makes facing the challenges in life easierand the mind is freed from attachment to things.

2.       Impersonality, this means that there is no self, I and my body are not mine, but a part of the life process. There is no immortal soul.

3.       Imperfection, or more commonly known as suffering. Buddhists believe that all of life is suffering, and this makes handling struggles a little easier. Also, this makes people more compassionate toward others who are also suffering.

A few practices some Buddhists:-worship the triple gem
-observe the five precepts: not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and not to take intoxicants
-give food alms to monks from time to time
-visit temple and donate money to temple
-practice meditation

This is just a little intro, and I am by no means an expert on Buddhism! If you have questions about Buddhism, I’d be happy to try and answer them or find some answers for you (either from my professors or by asking some of the monks!)