To understand the life of the Thais, one must appreciate the vital role
played in it by religion. As practiced in Thailand, popular Buddhism
is a tolerant, receptive faith, following not only the direct words of
the Buddha but also demonstrating a capacity to absorb many early
Brahmanist, animist and astrological beliefs. It offers an ideal moral
code, determining one's relations with other people, with both nature
and the world of spirits, forming a current that runs from birth though
death.
Thai Buddhists range from monks to laymen
of varying degrees of devoutness, but the lives of all are affected
since each individual is shaped by growing up in a society in which
Buddhism is a pervasive, highly visible influence. The child acquires
its teaching and practices from family and community rituals, from the
ubiquitous monks, and (especially in the countryside) from the
monastery or wat which serves as the physical setting for so many of
his activities. There are differences in the way these influences come
into play in various part of the country, but there are far more
similarities that help shape the Thai character.
by : sakuya | post :
143 | reply :
92 |
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 7 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ 2553 11:12:56
In considering the influence of Buddhism on Thai life, we should
look first at those living in the wat and striving to attain its ideal.
A wat regularly, although at different times and in different numbers,
houses three classes of people: the dek wat, the novices, and the
monks themselves, usually under an abbot. The status of the three, and
the expectations of how they should live, vary widely.
Usually the youngest are the dek wat, boys who come to live in the wat
as helpers and companions to the monks. Some live there because their
families are poor and the wat provides both schooling and suitable
home. Others are sent by parents who feel their behavior shows a need
for the sort of training or experience that can best be gained by wat
life. Some poor students also live in a wat while they pursue their
education away from home. In general, the dek wat do what is needed,
such as helping the monks maintain the wat and accompanying them on
their daily collection of food from laymen. The discipline and the
religious beliefs and practices they learn prepare them for later life
either as laymen or as monks.
The novices are normally young men who enter the monastery to acquire
religious training. (Men of any age can do this, while they must be at
least twenty years old to become monks.) They, too, are helpers to the
monks, but they are guided by a rigorous code of behavior, comprising
10 precepts, and learn much of the scripture, doctrine and rituals of
Buddhism. At the age of twenty and upon successful ordination, they may
become monks; there is no obligation for them to do so, however and
many return to the life of a laymen.
The most conspicuous members of the wat, of course, are the monks
themselves. Already well trained and ordained, they live a pious,
austere life, adhering to 227 rules and exemplifying the attitudes and
behavior of the ideal Buddhist. Much of their time is given over to
religious services, meditation and activities in the wat itself, but
they also serve the laymen in many capacities. These include performing
rituals and ceremonies outside the wat, enabling laymen to make merit
by contributing food, saffron robes and other essentials to the
monastery, providing advice or basic health care in accordance with the
practices of traditional medicine, or performing other community
services not forbidden by the numerous rules they must follow. Such
services often include providing basic education-once the only such
instruction for three months of the year during the rainy season, the
monks may travel on pilgrimages or spiritual quests away from the home
monastery.
The life of a Buddhist monk is an ascetic one: he is celibate, his
living quarters are simple, he is limited to a few essential
possessions, and he takes no food after noon each day. His life is
fully governed by the 227 monastic rules until he chooses to leave the
monkhood, an option always available to him.
While monks and novices are strictly governed by common rules, the
daily lives of laymen vary greatly, depending upon their devotion,
location, station in life, sex and age. All, however, should endeavor
to keep the five basic precepts-refraining from killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct, lying, and partaking of alcohol. All should rously.
Above all, they should maintain and perpetuate the Buddhist faith by
ensuring the existence and well-being of the monks, who exemplify the
ideal life.
Probably the two most pervasive forms of interaction between layman and
monk are the giving of food to the monks daily and attending the
Uposatha service on Buddhist Sabbath days. These days are calculated
according to the four phases of the moon and regularly occur about once
a week, at which time laymen go to the monastery to hear the monks
chant, listen to the sermon, and participate in the service.
Throughout the year, there are many other occasions when the daily
lives of the laymen revolve around the wat and the monks. Whenever an
auspicious beginning is called for-a house-warming, for instance, the
opening of a new business laying the foundation stone of a
building-monks will be invited to perform rituals to ensure the
prosperity of the enterprise. Anniversaries of all kinds, from personal
birthdays to those commemorating the establishment of a enterprise,
cannot be considered properly celebrated without blessings from monks or
some form of merit-making. On these occasions, food is offered to the
monks either at the wat or on the premises of the hist, followed by
prayers, blessings, and the sprinkling of lustral water. The merit thus
acquired will be dedicated to deceased members of the family, friends
and others who have been wronged, knowingly or otherwise, in this life
and during past ones. The monks are presented with small gifts, usually
consisting of essential commodities for their daily life, and a small
sum of money for the upkeep of the monastery.
Buddhism shapes the entire life of the typical Thai. As a child, he
learns from his parents to honor the Buddha images and to respect the
monks. He learns to say his traditional Buddhist prayers at night
before going to bed, to sit quietly and solemnly throughout all
Buddhist rites, and to make merit by presenting food to the monks
making their early morning alms round, usually on his birthdays.
If he lives in a village in the countryside, his principal playground
is likely to be the temple grounds with their Buddhist ambiance. He
will be taught Buddhism at school, sometimes one built by monks,
perhaps named after a wat or prominent monk and frequently located in
the wat compound. Most schools will see to it that pupils of both sexes
born of Buddhist parents undergo a confirmation ceremony, held either
at the school or at a monastery, in which they declare themselves
Buddhists; at least once a week an afternoon will be given over to
prayers attended by everyone at the school, pupils and staff alike.
The Child's Buddhist formation may be reinforced in Sunday schools, a
relatively recent but popular innovation, where Buddhist scriptures and
meditation are taught alongside certain regular subjects. As he grows
toward adulthood, particularly if he stays in his rural hometown, his
social activities continue to center around the temple grounds, where
games are played, friends are met, festivals and fairs are held.
Buddhism is not a religion calling only on men to serve and benefit.
There were women members of the clergy during Buddha's time, enjoying
equal status to that of their male colleagues and leading the same
ascetic life. They are no longer able to join the clergy nowadays, in
the absence of a senior female clergy to receive them in an ordination
ceremony, but many choose to become nuns, joining spiritual all
Buddhist women play important parts in keeping the faith alive. They
prepare food for the monks, from simple dishes for the daily alms round
to more elaborate fare offered at important functions. In addition,
they exhibit and teach their children the proper behavior of a Buddhist
by demonstrating charity and devotion. Widowed, or when their children
have grown up, they often turn to the wat for solace and become its
major benefactors through merit-making activities.
Religion claims increasing amounts of the
layman's time and attention in old age. The Uposatha services are
attended by a disproportionately large number of older people,
especially women, deriving comfort from the faith that has been a part
of their lives from the beginning.
Post date: วันอาทิตย์ที่ 7 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ 2553 11:14:41
Since Buddhism is such an integral part of Thai life, it is not surprising that it plays a particularly important role at those critical points that mark a person's passage-birth, ordination, marriage, house-warming, and death.
Birth. Upon the birth of a child, the parents often consult a monk when choosing a name, which has to be linguistically satisfying while conveying a good meaning. Depending on the region, other religious practices may follow a birth. In the central part of the country, for example, a baby will customarily have his head shaved when he is a month old. This essentially Brahminic rite, called the khwan ceremony, may be accompanied by a Buddhist ceremony in which monks recite passages from the sacred texts.
Ordination. The second rite in the life span of most Thai men is ordination into the monk hood. Traditionally, a young man is not socially accepted until he has become a monk, and many parents insist that after a son reaches the age of twenty he will be ordained before marriage or starting an official career. There are also many other reasons for entering the monk hood, such as to make merit for departed souls of relatives, or for one's parents when they are still living, or to repay a promise to the Buddha after asking him to solve personal or family problems.
Ordination takes place all through the month of July, before the three-month retreat during the rainy season. The man's head is shaved and he wears a white robe for a day before he is officially ordained; there is chanting and celebration and, in rural areas, the whole community joins in and thereby gains merit. On the day of the ceremony, the prospective monk is taken around the temple three times and then into its convention hall, where all the monks await him. Having been previously trained, he undergoes an enquiry by a senior monk in front of the Buddha image, and if he satisfies all the conditions for becoming a monk, the congregation accepts him. He is then instructed on his obligations, dons saffron robes, and is admitted as a monk. For the next three months of the rainy season he is expected to live at the wat, exemplifying the Buddhist ideal in life and undergoing rigorous training in body and mind control, after which he may, if he chooses, return to being a layman.
Marriage. Buddhism plays a part, too, in the marriage ceremony which unites two people in a sacred bond. In the old days, monks arrived at the home of the couple for evening chants the day before the wedding, and the couple also offered them food the following morning. Nowadays, however, the monks are invited on the day of the wedding for early-morning chants and food offering, after which the senior monk sprinkles holy water on the bride and groom and the whole gathering. Either directly after the service or in the late afternoon, the actual wedding takes place, with guests invited. Elders and other guests pour holy water from a conch shell onto the hands of the couple, which are held in an attitude of worship as they recline on a low bench, each wearing a wreath of many un spun threads symbolically joined together.
House-warming. Although the housewarming ceremony often accompanies marriage, it sometimes occurs separately at a later date. Here again, one has a choice between a two-day religious event, consisting of evening chanting and early-morning food offerings, or a single one of late-morning chanting and an offering of lunch. The invited monks sit on a raised platform or mats on the floor in order of seniority, all holding a sacred cord tied at one end to the Buddha image of the house-hold and then completely surrounding the house. They chant selections from the Buddhist scripture, thus blessing all within the area surrounded by the sacred string. As in other Buddhist ceremonies, the chanting is followed by the presentation of token gifts and the dedication of merit thus acquired to deceased members of the family.
Funeral Rites. These vary according to local customs, the type of death and whether the person was a layman or monk when alive. Near the moment of death, if possible, Buddhist chants are whispered into the ear of the dying person. When he has died, a bathing ceremony usually takes place on the first afternoon, at home if he dies there, at the temple where his body is taken from a hospital, or any other location. Priests, relatives, and friends pour scented water on the out-stretched right palm of the deceased, and a thread will be passed three times each around three different parts of the body, symbolizing the bonds of passion, anger, and ignorance. The thread will normally be removed at the time of the cremation. The body is then place in a coffin decorated with fresh flowers and that evening monks are invited to the deceased's home or to the pavilion in the temple grounds where the coffin is placed for evening prayers. Friends and relatives come to present wreaths or garlands of fresh flowers and listen to the prayers. Although cremation may follow immediately, it is common for evening prayers to continue at least a week. Then the body will either be entombed in a cemetery or remain at home where monks are invited to pray at regular intervals until cremation. On the day before the funeral (which may be on any convenient day except Friday, which is reserved for happier occasions), the coffin is taken to a special pavilion family and friends pay their final respects. On the day of cremation, a last service is held, followed by a lunch offering and sermon.
Cremation may occur in any of a number of ways, from burning the wooden coffin on a pyre of wood to using a crematorium. The ashes of the deceased are then collected, some to be placed in urns to be kept in the temple grounds or at home near the family Buddha image while the rest are dispersed in the sea. Each year, on the anniversary of the death, relatives will again invite monks to say prayers and bless the ashes, an occasion on which they can offer food and presents for the dead person through the medium of the monks.
Post date: วันอาทิตย์ที่ 7 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ 2553 11:15:43
The Buddhist year is marked by a series of
important festivals and celebrations, in honour either important events
in the life of the Lord Buddha or of the seasons that have
traditionally governed the life of ordinary Thais.
Songkran. The traditional and solar New Year
festival begins on April 13 and usually ends on April 15. also known as
the water festival, Songkran is a time for honouring elderly people and
the dead, reflecting on the past, washing away demerits that have
accumulated and looking to the future. Early on the first day, people
in their new clothing go to the local wat to offer food the monks. At a
long table in the compound, on which monks, alms bowls stand in a row,
the celebrants take turns putting boiled rice into the bowls and food,
fruits and sweetmeats into the covers of the bowls. Later in the day,
other events take place at the wat: there is a bathing ceremony for the
Buddha images, people bring buckets of sand and build small pagoda in a
clearing, and a religious service called Bangsukun is performed in
memory of the dead whose ashes have been deposited in the temple. Apart from this solemn ceremony, Songkran is a
time of joy and merriment. People throw water on one another, release
birds and fish to make merit, and pay respect to and ask blessings from
their elders.
Visakha Puja. This most important Buddhist festival
falls on the day of the last full moon in May and celebrates the birth,
enlightenment and death of the Buddha, all of which took place in the
month of Visakha. Devout Buddhists participate in the Uposatha service
on this day, customarily proceeding ground the ordination hall carrying
lit candles, incense sticks and flowers. In north-eastern Thailand,
honoring the Buddha is associated with the coming rainy season, which
mean so much to farmers. The rocket festival in that region occurs on
or near Visakha Puja in the hope that the firing of the rockets will
anger the rain spirits so that they will send down heavy rains. As at
Songkran, the religious festival is not wholly solemn but rather a time
of fun for all.
Khao Phansa. The beginning of Vassa (the rain
retreat in Pali) is the next important annual Buddhist festival. This is
time when monks and laymen alike renew their commitment to follow the
precept of Buddhism. For the following three months of the rainy season
the monks will remain in their home wat, intensifying their study and
meditation. Laymen participate in the festival by making food offerings
and also by presenting especially prepared candles, sometimes gigantic
and elaborately carved in Buddhist themes, which are carried to the
wat in a grand procession.
Thot Kathin. The end of the rainy-season
retreat is marked by food offerings and the presentation of new robes
and other gifts to the monks. For Thai Buddhists, this is an occasion
to combine merit making with a festive outing, and groups are organized
for the purpose of fund-raising and pilgrimage. Since a monastery is
entiled to only one Kathin a year, such support is evenly distributed
to wats throughout the country.
Post date: วันอาทิตย์ที่ 7 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ 2553 11:16:08
sakuya
