Making merit
Many Buddhists believe in karma. If you want good things to happen to you then you should do good things. If you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. Because of this, many Thai people like to do things to 'make merit' ('tam boon' in Thai language) so that good things will happen to them.
Buddhist monks don't usually buy food for themselves. They are usually only allowed to eat food that is given to them by others. Some monks live in areas where people are very poor so the monks don't get a lot to eat. Others are lucky and get more food than they can eat because lots of people like to make merit by feeding the monks.
At certain times of the year people are invited to make merit by coming to the temple and donating things to the monks, necessary things like clothes, soap, toothpaste, anything they might need on a regular basis.
I went to visit a temple near Mahasarakham with my friend. This temple in known as Wat Wangleung. In Thailand there are two types of monks, the regular ones and forest monks. Forest monks are more strict and follow more rules than the others. For example, they only eat one meal a day. Wat Wangleung is a temple for forest monks.
It was Sunday when I visited so many people had come along to make merit. There was a lot of food. First the food was offered to the monks who each took a little from each tray that was offered. After all the food was offered to the monks, what was left over was put on a table and all the people who had come along were able to share it.
Later there was a special ceremony. My friend's family had donated a sala to the temple. A sala is like a hall but it is open at the sides. People can gather there for ceremonies or to talk with the monks. This sala had just been built and a ceremony was held to hand it over to the monks.
After the ceremony I had a chat with the head monk. He invited me to come and stay at the temple next time I come back to Thailand. Maybe I will.
If you want to see more photos that I took during my visit to Wat Wangleung, just click here.
When you write Wat Wangleung in Thai it looks like this: วัดวังเลีง
love from Grandpa
Buddhist monks don't usually buy food for themselves. They are usually only allowed to eat food that is given to them by others. Some monks live in areas where people are very poor so the monks don't get a lot to eat. Others are lucky and get more food than they can eat because lots of people like to make merit by feeding the monks.
At certain times of the year people are invited to make merit by coming to the temple and donating things to the monks, necessary things like clothes, soap, toothpaste, anything they might need on a regular basis. I went to visit a temple near Mahasarakham with my friend. This temple in known as Wat Wangleung. In Thailand there are two types of monks, the regular ones and forest monks. Forest monks are more strict and follow more rules than the others. For example, they only eat one meal a day. Wat Wangleung is a temple for forest monks.
It was Sunday when I visited so many people had come along to make merit. There was a lot of food. First the food was offered to the monks who each took a little from each tray that was offered. After all the food was offered to the monks, what was left over was put on a table and all the people who had come along were able to share it.
Later there was a special ceremony. My friend's family had donated a sala to the temple. A sala is like a hall but it is open at the sides. People can gather there for ceremonies or to talk with the monks. This sala had just been built and a ceremony was held to hand it over to the monks.
After the ceremony I had a chat with the head monk. He invited me to come and stay at the temple next time I come back to Thailand. Maybe I will.
If you want to see more photos that I took during my visit to Wat Wangleung, just click here.
When you write Wat Wangleung in Thai it looks like this: วัดวังเลีง
love from Grandpa
Labels: Asia, Buddhism, grandpa, Mahasarakham, Thailand
posted by OznAsia at
6:41 pm
