Of Buddha and Boat Noodles, Part 1: Wats in Thailand

How do I sum up the most challenging, different, anxiety-producing, and interesting vacation I've ever had?  Yes, our ten days in Thailand was remarkable and unique; I'm going to be hard-pressed to describe it in a blog post.  It won't be feasible to do it day-by-day, so I'll do themes, like wats (or temple complexes), food, and culture, over a series of posts.  So here we go . . . .

Wats

Temple dancers

We visited several wats during our stay, for a variety of reasons.  First, Thailand is 95% Buddhist, the most Buddhist-per-capita country in the world and so much of the culture and historical sites are Buddhist.  It's Theravadan Buddhism, from India, mixed with local Thai culture that is so inspired by the Khmer empire and a native animism.   There is a devotion to Buddha in ways very similar to Hinduism (and in many places there are Hindu shrines and statues along with the Buddha.  There are also "spirit abodes" or household shrines everywhere, to appease the earth spirits wherever humans have built, even corporate properties.) Secondly, my mother-in-law is very religious. 

A spirit abode

I hadn't really understood how religious until spending the trip with her; it's not just meditative prayer for her, but the real sense of the divine Buddha making active changes in her life based on her worship and merit-making.  And to hear her talk, she's always gone to the wats for advice, protection, benefit, inspiration, and peace of mind.  Indeed, I was surprised at how superstitious she was because I'd always thought of her as quite practical.  She had prayed for her son, Goo, to become a doctor and now insisted that he needed to say thank you at nine wats (the same she'd been to)--three times three being the number because of the Three Refuges (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha); similarly, Mama needed to go to nine wats because Buddhist astrology indicated that she was fated to have a bad year.  Goo went along with this for his mom, not out of his own belief; Mama was, as she might say, hedging her bets, having picked up some of her mom's religiosity but also more of her practicality. 

Placing coins in bowls

Folding the outer lotus petals

Sometimes we left our shoes,
sometimes we carried them

Prayer Kit

"Elephant Pants of Shame"--you see white tourists in these because they dressed inappropriately for the temple and had to buy them to enter! But usually only women.

Offerings at a wat

Self-evident.  Except you see a lot of disrespectful
behavior--actually often by mainland Chinese tourists
who the Thais seem to dislike

At each wat, we would start by donating money for/purchasing our "prayer kit" from inside the wat (not from the vendors outside the wat, so the money goes to the wat not someone's pockets.  The wat apparently uses it for upkeep and restoration, not charity or social projects, though.)  This generally included incense (in some multiple of three), candle, flower (either a lotus or a little floral arrangement called a phuang malai, a ring of orchids or jasmine to hang), sometimes three little paper-wrapped pieces of gold leaf or bottles of oil.  We would remove our shoes and hats before approaching the area to wai, or prayer.  You start with lighting incense, which sounds easier than it is.  These aren't empty Catholic churches with lots of quiet and space for lighting a candle and praying in a chapel; they are busy, noisy, packed, crushing, even dangerous areas--I can't believe people don't get lit on fire, especially when pouring bottles of oil into flames!--and I did get a burn when three lit sticks of incense accidentally jabbed me.  You push and shove, as respectfully as possible, to light incense and candle (in praying hands at the level of your bowed head), both of which are placed in special holders, all the while avoiding other pushing, praying people, both standing and kneeling.  You either put your flowers in this area, or another--they are often dropped on a platter or in a basket or hung by a statue.  We often saw temple volunteers gathering these flowers, as we were putting them out even, to take them to resell.

See the raised threshold?

Then you go and rub your gold leaf on the statue and part of the statue of your choice; mind you, there are usually a dozen or more statues to choose from.  These rituals generally took place outside the main shrine, which you entered careful not to step on the threshold (a big no-no; the thresholds are raised to keep out malevolent spirits.)  Inside, you kneel, with legs to the side, feet NEVER pointing at the Buddha, to pray or meditate; I disliked this part, namely because you have to step around folks while trying to lower your head in respect (your head isn't ever above Buddha's, but it is also impolite to pass over the head of anyone else), and find a place to plop down--this is hard for me being so tall and wide, and I don't squeeze in well anywhere.  But once I was down, I could say my metta ("may all beings be safe, be healthy, be happy, live with ease) and look around at the architecture and decoration.  We got up after

Placing gold leaf on a statue

There are Buddha poses for everyday of the, two for Wednesdays.
You leave coins for the day of the week you and your loved ones were born.

between 5-10 minutes, and then we could look around more (we always prayed first.)  The main shrine was never the only building in the wat complex, so we would fetch our shoes and wander the grounds.  Talking and taking pictures seemed acceptable pretty much everywhere, except at a few places where "no photos" was posted.  But it was never silent.  Especially because in some places, you could ring bells or gongs, drop coins in a series of metal bowls, and the like.   Then we would find the toilets and head to the next spot (often with new snack in hand); though I slowed us down with looking at, or trying to look at, everything.  It probably didn't help that the kids and I were the only ones who hadn't visited before.  By the way, unlike, say, churches in Italy and England, especially the ones most visited by tourists, there were no shops.  No wat magnets or Buddha tea towels, really.  Some wats did have replicas of their Buddhas that visitors could "rent," to give a proper home.  But be clear:  Buddha is NOT a decoration.  There were signs at most wats with that phrase--and it's necessary because I've seen Buddha heads in restaurants, doctors' offices, even as a door stop at our dance studio. Can you imagine a Jesus door stop?  No. These replica Buddhas are for home altars--and you pray to invite the Buddha into your statue to take home.

The complex of Wat Pho

I went along to the wats out of spiritual and cultural curiosity, as well as respect for

Sitting the Thai way in the temples; yes, your socks get nasty.  No wonder
feet are shunned.

 my mother-in-law.  I did feel a connection to the people around me and I did like the opportunity to meditate several times, but I felt so rushed.  Wat visits were all about worship, not meditation, and because my take on Buddhism is not worshipful but meditative, it didn't really work for me.  I don't think that rubbing gold leaf on the stomach of a Buddha statue will actually fix my stomach issues, because I don't think of Buddha as active in our world; perhaps reflection on stomach issues as one of my top problems helps me consciously and subconsciously address them.  Even if the rubbing of the gold only takes seconds?  Similarly, the offering of flowers, incense, and candles was for me symbolic.  But that's not really how my mother-in-law saw it.  In fact, in one place, my prayer round was interrupted when Bud felt ill and I got incense ash in my eyes and so we went outside for fresh air.  Apparently, this caused a lot of trouble because we interrupted the incense-candle-gold cycle.  I had no idea.  And it was a big deal that it had to be finished for us; same with when I burned my hand--I wasn't supposed to stop mid-cycle to do anything for it.  I just don't think Buddha had this in mind (though the rigid structures of Zen Buddhism might be an argument in favor of said ritual.)  But the idea of an active religious observance--doing something--is so different from Western Protestantism, where it's about faith and belief (and action only in how you treat others--worship is not active, which is why the ups and downs of Catholicism are so unique; in comparison, though, Catholicism has nothing on the activity of  Thai Buddhist worship.)  So, I sometimes enjoyed the lighting of incense and flowers with others, especially as I got more used to it.

Below are pictures from SOME of the wats we visited, in a fairly random order:

Wat Phra Kaew, home of the Emerald Buddha and our first major wat complex

Guardians of Wat Phra Kaew

Murals at Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Phra Phutthabat, which was my favorite wat--beautiful, peaceful, some real time
to meditate in the cooler mountain breeze singing with bells

Wat Phra Phutthabat

The bells at Wat Phra Phutthabat, with the Buddha's footprint

Wat Phutthamonthon, with huge walking Buddha;
there were bonsai trees all around (for scale, I'm shorter than the tree)

Wat Ben, with bells.  This is where Gong was a monk for a month, a
traditional merit-making activity for Thai young men

Wat Ben statues from many periods and places

Wat Ben, with strings hung so that on New Year's Eve, each person could touch a string
and be connected to Buddha while praying (they would tie drop down strings on)

I loved the multicolored flower bushes (all on one bush!) at Wat Sothon

Wat Pho

Wat Pho (huge Reclining Buddha)

Feet of reclining Buddha, with Dharma wheels and other iconography

Wat Penan Choeng, with 2+-story Buddha

The back of Buddha at Wat Panan Choeng, for some perspective on size.

Wat Phra Pathom Chedi, one of oldest wats in Thailand

Solid gold Buddha at Wat Traimit, Gong's grammar school

This chapel was in the National Museum--I've never taken off my shoes,
much less prayed, in an art museum before

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, built just as Bangkok was settled after 1767, and
most like the wats in Ayutthaya

Pottery and broken ceramics decoration on Wat Arun

Wat Arun

Chedi, or stupa, at Wat Arun

Inside Wat Arun

A note about Ayutthaya:
Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand until the Burmese attacked and burned it to the ground in 1767; the king then relocated the capital to Bangkok, which wasn't really even a town at the time.  There are now numerous ruins of wats in the town of Ayutthaya, more than we could possibly see.  (I don't think any of the palace survived.)  It's amazing to see these ruins especially because they would have been as huge and highly decorated as the other, newer wats we saw in Bangkok.  Just fathom what these 14th-16th-century complexes would have been like when people from all over the world traded with Ayutthaya!

Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya

Wat MahathatAyutthaya

Buddha's head in the Bodhi tree at Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya

Wat Yai Chamongkuhn, Ayutthaya

Wat Yai Chamongkuhn, Ayutthaya

Wat Yai Chamongkuhn, in the ruins of Ayutthaya; there was a
cat sleeping at his feet

 A few other shrines:

Hindu shrine to Ganesha, in what can only be described as a
religious theme park.

Erawan Shrine, also Hindu, was built to appease the spirits harrassing the building site of Erawan mall;
now it's a major pilgrimage site.

Shrine of the City Pillars, more of an historical than religious site;
these were erected at the founding of Bangkok after 1767

And the Chinese temples:
We visited a few Chinese temples, not Buddhist but Taoist and Confucian.  Something like 10-15% of Thailand is comprised of Chinese ex-pats whose families fled the Communists in the early to mid 20th-century, including Mama's grandparents.  For a long time, they were harshly segregated from the Thai populace--not able to own property, borrow money, speak Chinese in public, have Chinese names, etc.  There is still racism and discrimination back and forth, but the Chinese are full citizens now.  In fact, they say that the accent of Bangkokians is actually Thai spoken with the Chinese Teo-chow inflection! (Teo-chew is the region in China that Mama's grandparents are from and the dialect they speak; most of the Chinese who fled to Bangkok were from that region, which is very nearby.) Chinatown surrounds Yarawat Street, near where Ma grew up.  Many businesses and restaurants there abouts speak Teo-Chew and serve food from that region.  You can see the architectural differences right away--not as many flamed and curved roof finials, nor the "stacked" roof look.  And more red.  Much more red.  Also, there is more burning of paper offerings at Chinese temples, which have special chimnea-type furnaces outside for the offerings. Gu Poh Tai is the Confucian family deity that came with many immigrants from Teo Chew to Thailand and she is the special goddess of Mama's family.

Leng Noei Yi

Scholar's garden at Leng Noei Yi

Leng Noei Yi

The chimnea at the shrine of Gu Poh Tai

Offerings to Gu Poh Tai; we later burned these paper
clothes in the furnace outside. There are whole stores devoted to
paper offerings for the Chinese faithful to burn

Poh Teck Tung, the Chinese funerary charity temple that raises funds for burial rites
for the poor.  

In total, we visited:

1. Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha)
2. Wat Phra Phutthabat (Buddha footprint in mountains)
3. Wat Arun (Ayutthaya-style Temple of Dawn)
4. Wat Pho (huge Reclining Buddha)
5. Wat Benchamabophit (Wat Ben, "marble wat," Gong's wat)
6. Wat Sothon (old and new)
7. Wat Chao Pho Lak Muang (City Pillars)
8. Erawan Shrine* (Hindu shrine)
9. Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha, Gong's elementary school)
10. Wat Phutthamonthon (large standing Buddha)
11. Wat Phra Pathom Chedi (one of the oldest Thai wats)
12. Wat Panan Choeng (2 story Buddha in Ayutthaya)
13. Wat Yai Chamongkuhn (outdoor reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya)
14. Wat Mahathat (with Buddha head in a tree, Ayutthaya)
15. Leng Noei Yi** (Chinese shrine)
16. Gu Poh Tai** (Chinese family goddess shrine)
17. Chao Pho Suea (Chinese Tiger God Shrine)**
18. Wat Poh Teck Tung (Chinese funerary charity temple)