Email Reflections: 10 Simple Courtesies
Why do they do that? What is the meaning of this worship? Well, the Buddha isn't a god. He isn't even present in this world anymore. After his Parinirvana, he passed from the cycle of death and rebirth. He doesn't exist anymore like us. He can't influence this world, at least directly. That is exactly what these worshipers believed.
BN: The word Buddha can mean knowing, knowing something. The five skandas may be the object of meditation (and we come to see their impermanent and dependent characteristics) and there is the awareness of them. Yet still the awareness is part of the characteristics of phenomena. I agree. I don't think that awareness can be truly separated from the characteristics of phenomena. Of course awareness is fundamental and essential to mindfulness.
Majority of Thais follow the theravada Buddhist tradition, which ranges from animism to worshiping of ancestors. However, the Muslim community is also a big religious group in Thailand. The Muslim population is mostly prevalent in places south of Chumphon. The Malay group is present in the southern part of Thailand. In addition to these communities and groups, there is a sprinkling of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs as well.
MZC: That's wonderful. You are focusing on the individual human being; you are listening and learning as well. You are opening your heart to the retreatants and enquiring with them. You're asking what makes one happy and peaceful in the midst of particular life circumstances. Do you experience that some of the retreatants, even in the midst of problems, which will continue, find some insight into what happiness might be? Perhaps they discover the joy of serving others as well as getting to know their own mind-hearts?
There are many Thai amulets sold each day online. A very high percentage of these amulets are non-genuine amulets and generally worthless. I have found bronze and copper amulets for 4 cents each in bags of 500 pieces in Chinese stores in Thailand that I have later seen sell for $19.95 at Ebay. Are you buying four cent amulets for 500 times their worth too?
He goes through the Pali Canon and separates what was new to the Buddha and what was also held in Indian philosophy before the Buddha. He can then pinpoint what's unique to Buddhism. So he doubts rebirth and different realms of existence. He pinpoints as distinctively Buddhist: dependent origination; the practice of mindful awareness, being focused on the totality of what is happening in our moment to moment experience; the Four Noble Truths & the Eight Fold Path; the principle of self-reliance, not to be dependent on some authority figure.
The Great Buddha of Thailand is another colossal statue constructed in honor of Gautama Buddha. Standing 92 meters (300 feet) high and 63 meters (210 feet) wide, it was constructed in 1990 and was finished in 2008. Located in Wat Muang, Aung Thong, Thailand, it is made from concrete cement and finished with gold.
In the 13th century, Sukhothai was a part of Khmer empire. It was recognized as a Thai ruled kingdom when two Thai chieftans, Pho Khun Pha Muang and Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, declared their individual independent kingdom in Thailand. The first king of Sukhothai was Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao who also called himself Pho Khun Si Indrathit or Intradit.
