ฺLocal Temple & Buddhist Lent Day

This video shows how new generation helps maintain a good tradition. It's not mine but I think it's good to share this video to widen your perception. ^-^ (The song is in Thai but you can understand the pictures, right? :-))

Today is Buddhist Lent day or Wan-Khow-Phan-Sa which is basically known that it's the first day that monks are required to stay in a certain place or temple during rainny season so they will not destroy little lives and plantations on the ground during the time.

Not to "kill" living things is the FIRST among the five precepts & during rainny seasons when the nature is enriched and there're so many living things on ground, so to stay in a place can decrease a chance to kill them.

The origin of this tradition happened in the Buddha's age. In rainny season, locals complainted that Buddhist's monk destroyed their plantations while they were wandering from one place to another place. Hence, the Buddha suggested that they were in one place during rainny season which normally lasted 3 months.

My village's temple (Front Gate) named "Wat Ping Muang"

The peaceful temple, the center of local lives

Buddhist Lent day is a national holiday so there are so many people coming to the local temple for merit making. I had to sit out of the room, near the front door!Actually, I had to come earlier to get room within the building but it's o.k. anyway. I had no problems with sitting outside as I still could concentrate with the ritual.

Mr.Laymans are preparing for the ritual

The ritual started around 7 a.m. and finished around 8 a.m.

What we do were starting with putting flowers and candles on big trays at the front door area and also put foods in other trays. Then, we would find a place to sit (on mats on the ground) and paid a respect to the place and secred by doing obeisance 3 times.Then, we followed the instruction of the header of the ritual until the end.

Normally, on the important day like this, people will go to the temple twice, in the early morning and evening. In the evening, people will get in white dress and mainly go to pray and meditation.

Beyond the big holy day, the locals always go to a temple 4 times a month on Buddhist holy days. As most of dwellers in my village are the elderly and children, they don't have to be in rush hours to go to work and worried about money like people in a big city.

Basically, one village has one temple. The temple is like the center of the community. Here, there is not only the issue of religion but the ongoing life of locals here.

At the temple, a dean of monks will work together with a layman. One temple will have one layman. Normally, a layman is a head of village. So, all operations of the temple will be managed under his responsibility.

My village has just got a new head of village and today it's the first day he officially appears to the public.

And he's doing quite well ^-^