Yesterday, Monday February 9, was a major Buddhist holiday - Mahag Puja - which celebrates the day that over 1000 elightened monks came to visit the Buddha on the same day without any advance planning. Pilgrims from all over Thailand traveled to visit the temples and honor the Buddha over the whole weekend. On Sunday, we happened to be visiting a temple in Chom Thong, south and west of Chiang Mai.
(Terra in the group had a connection with the translator for the Abbot there. Astonishingly, she turned out to be a former Fairhaven student who was at FHC in the early 80s. Her name was Kate Johnston then. Now she's married to a Thai man and they run a meditation center in Chom Thong.)
Having no idea that it was Buddhist holy day, we just happened to the temple as the Abbot was beginning a blessing ceremony. This temple, Wat Phrae That Chom Thong, has a relic that is reportedly a piece of the Buddha's skull. In this holy ritual, the Abbot leads call and response prayer and then all the participants pour water over the relic - washing the Buddha.
Northern Thai Buddhism is far more elaborate and ritualistic than Tibetan or Indian Buddhism, drawing on the Anamist roots of the culture. Except for the Buddha in the front, I could swear I was witnessing a high church Catholic mass. Call and response prayer, the ritual use of water, incense, offering plate, candles, chanting and singing. Made me curious about the elements of worship that seem to be common to many 'high' church celebrations, regardless of the religion.
We were the only farang in the temple. Busloads of Thais had come from their villages to worship together as a way of earning merit. The 'worship' of the Buddha is also a way that this northern Thai sect differs from other Buddhism. Buddha said 'don't follow or worship me, follow the Dharma' but what we witnessed was definitely worship. Amartya Sen, in his book the Argumentative Indian, refers to this branching of Buddhism. Although Buddha said that the choice of good behavior should be independent of any belief in God, "the practice of attributing divinity to Buddha himself is found in some later versions of Buddhism...In analyzing the rise of Buddhism we cannot deny a very important role in the way the proponents of dhamma interacted with the scattered populations of the villages and forest hamlets. From the beginning Buddhism had to come to terms with these populations' belief in special beings and special powers." Sen pg 23.
More about the temple later. Tomorrow we head for India. Into Hindu and Mulism territory first and then back to Buddhism in Dharamasala.
M
(Terra in the group had a connection with the translator for the Abbot there. Astonishingly, she turned out to be a former Fairhaven student who was at FHC in the early 80s. Her name was Kate Johnston then. Now she's married to a Thai man and they run a meditation center in Chom Thong.)
Having no idea that it was Buddhist holy day, we just happened to the temple as the Abbot was beginning a blessing ceremony. This temple, Wat Phrae That Chom Thong, has a relic that is reportedly a piece of the Buddha's skull. In this holy ritual, the Abbot leads call and response prayer and then all the participants pour water over the relic - washing the Buddha.
Northern Thai Buddhism is far more elaborate and ritualistic than Tibetan or Indian Buddhism, drawing on the Anamist roots of the culture. Except for the Buddha in the front, I could swear I was witnessing a high church Catholic mass. Call and response prayer, the ritual use of water, incense, offering plate, candles, chanting and singing. Made me curious about the elements of worship that seem to be common to many 'high' church celebrations, regardless of the religion.
We were the only farang in the temple. Busloads of Thais had come from their villages to worship together as a way of earning merit. The 'worship' of the Buddha is also a way that this northern Thai sect differs from other Buddhism. Buddha said 'don't follow or worship me, follow the Dharma' but what we witnessed was definitely worship. Amartya Sen, in his book the Argumentative Indian, refers to this branching of Buddhism. Although Buddha said that the choice of good behavior should be independent of any belief in God, "the practice of attributing divinity to Buddha himself is found in some later versions of Buddhism...In analyzing the rise of Buddhism we cannot deny a very important role in the way the proponents of dhamma interacted with the scattered populations of the villages and forest hamlets. From the beginning Buddhism had to come to terms with these populations' belief in special beings and special powers." Sen pg 23.
More about the temple later. Tomorrow we head for India. Into Hindu and Mulism territory first and then back to Buddhism in Dharamasala.
M
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