Buddha here, Buddha there…

Buddha at Wat Pa Pao

Buddha is everywhere!

In case you didn’t know it, Buddha is big here!  I mean really big here! With 95% of all Thai’s being Buddhist there is not much room for the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses to pitch their tents. Everything centers on the observances of Buddha. Religious Festivals fill the calendar…there are sixteen official holidays most of which are religious in nature.

Chedi at Wat Buppharam

Everywhere I go I run into the Buddha…not unusual when you consider that there are 30 active temples within the old city and many more in surrounding area.  It is impossible to walk down any street or narrow lane without running into at least a Chedi, a monk or a fully fledged monastery. The Chedi or Stupa is solid bell shaped structures that contain relics of kings and monks. Hundreds of the Chedi dot the Chiang Mai landscape, many of them date from the 13^th – 15^th century and if they are not on the temple grounds then they are in the most unlikely places…school yards, nestled between buildings on main streets, or in the middle of roadways.  They are repaired and protected by the citizens because they represent the cosmic body of the Buddha and the law of the Dharma.

Monks in the morning At Chiang Mai Gate waiting for offerings

In Thailand the religious world consists of 200,000 monks and 85,000 novices (although this number swells by a third during Buddhist Lent) and they are highly visible throughout the community. Every morning at 6AM the monks walk barefooted around the neighborhoods while local people earn merit by offering the monks food. We in the West think of this as the monks begging for alms, but this is not the case at all.  The monks are giving people the opportunity to do a good work and earn merit. In Buddhism lay people have a responsibility to support the monks physically and the monks have the responsibility to support the community spiritually. A win win situation!

Young monks and novices are often times delighted to get a chance to practice their English and often engage you with “Hi, where you from”.  It is a perfect opportunity to find out more about Thai culture and Buddhist practices.

And monks are in demand! If you buy a new car or a house you get a monk to bless it for good luck. If you are getting married it takes 9 monks for the ceremony. How many monks does it take for a funeral? I don’t know exactly but a bunch and they chant for three days. A monk’s life is full…prayer, meditation, study and tending to the daily needs of the faithful.

The famous 15th century Pra Singh Buddha

I am just learning the inn’s and out’s of Buddhism in Thailand. While it is in the Theravada School it is much more…. it is a blend of Brahmanism, Animism and Buddhism and a dash of Astrology, Numerology and a few talismans thrown in for good measure.  The Northern Thai believe that all things such as trees, rivers or stones all have a living soul…when you combine this with the belief in local spirits known as phi…you have an amazing mix of superstitions and beliefs that is hard for a Farang (we white devils) to comprehend.

I have learned one thing…there is no such thing as a good Buddhist or a bad Buddhist (unlike Christians). Buddhism is more of a personal philosophy than a group religion. An individual following the “middle path”, the long road to Enlightenment, encounters and overcomes obstacles at his/her own pace.  How good a Buddhist or how far along the path he has traveled is unimportant to anyone but himself. Writing this it reminds me of an old Alberta Hunter song “Ain’t nobody’s business but my own”……can I hear an AMEN!

I’m really starting to like this Buddha guy… I think he is on the right path…..even if it is eight fold.  More on this later.