Devotion

October 27th marked the end of the three-months-long Buddhist Lent.  It is a solemn occasion, and another day when no alcohol may be sold.  

The end of Lent is marked by Ok Phansa. Ok Phansa marks the end of the "rains retreat" and the beginning of Krathin. Monks can return to their social duties and travel. Ok Phansa is also celebrated by lay people offering food and gifts to the monks. Ok Phansa is celebrated throughout Thailand but the celebrations vary by region.
According to legend Ok Phansa also celebrates the Buddha‘s return to earth, after spending one Lent season, which is 3 month long, preaching in heaven. It also marks the end of the Lent period of retreat and the beginning of Krathin, the traditional time for presenting new robes and other gifts to monks at temples throughout the country. 

                                                                                              http://wattampainenglish.com/

Mick said his wife and her family needed to go to temple in the evening.  He said when someone dies, they mark the first hundred days after, and go to temple to give something.  He struggled to explain, and I asked if he meant "tam-boon" (merit-making).  I remembered this phrase from the name of the character in my short story.  Mick said yes, that is what they were doing.  He asked if we do something like this in America, with an observance for so many days after someone dies.  I told him some temples do, but ours did not.  I tried to refer to the Jewish faith, but couldn't make myself clear.  He said after the 100 days, they make annual visits to temple to honor the deceased family member.  Do we do this?  I told him how we have one day each year where we all remember our deceased relatives together - All Souls Day.  Abstract ideas like religion and faith are much more difficult to explain in the simplified English we use to communicate.

One hundred days after the death, a Buddhist ceremony is done in order to perform final prayers. It is called ทำบุญ 100 วัน or"THAM BUN 100 WAN". Monks are invited (ทำบุญเลี้ยงพระ) to perform prayers. สังฆทาน or "SANG KHATHAN" are offered to Buddhist monks. Envelopes with banknotes are also given. It include miscellaneous items such as washing powder, medicine, monks clothes, fruit juice, candles, matches, soap, umbrella, sandals, lights, milk, tins, tooth paste and brush, water, toilet paper and so on... 

                                                                                          www.thaiworldview.com

I'm not sure if the 100th day coincided with the end of Lent, or if because it was within the 100 days, they needed to go to temple to make merit.  I asked what kind of offering they made - was it money, fruit, flowers?  He couldn't explain it to me, but said he would take a picture and show me.  He also said I could "open" TV around 8 p.m. and see what they do.  (They use the same word for "opening" and "turning on" something - เปิด, pronounced "pberd.")  The special Buddhist holidays all seem to involve processing three times around the temple while holding candles ("fire.")  Apparently this can take quite a long time when it is crowded with worshipers.

I couldn't find anything on TV, but he did send me a picture of their offering:

Nearly every street has shops that sell offerings to bring to temple.  Even most grocery stores have an aisle of these.  Many are prepackaged, and contain daily necessities for the monks, like toiletries and laundry soap.  The orange package on top is a monk's robe.  I often see ceremonies on TV where a dignitary is placing new robes on a shrine.  I rarely see anyone hand the offering directly to a monk.  And monks are forbidden to touch money; so if a donation is given, it must be placed inside something else.  Monks are also forbidden to touch women.  Money and women - the two evils!

Near the end of this three-month Lent, another nine-day festival takes place.  Commonly referred to as the Vegetarian Festival, this is a Taoist celebration when no meat is to be consumed.  Restaurants may hang out a yellow flag with the word for "jeh," indicating that they will not be serving meat.  Sounds healthy, right?  Well, this festival has a decidedly dark side.  (Stop reading if you are squeamish).  During this time, many devotees will enter trance-like states and perform ritualistic self-mutilation, usually by putting sharp objects like knifes or skewers through their tongues or through one cheek and out the other.  People will then put money on the ends of the skewers as an offering.  It is a Taoist festival, not a Buddhist one, so it is not so widely celebrated.

Thankfully, I did not witness any of this first hand...

Here's some religious-themed Thai English:  our new pastor really struggles with his English.  People fill out envelopes for their special intentions, and he reads them during the Eucharistic prayer.  Instead of praying for the "welfare" of so-and-so, he prayed for their "farewell."  Also, instead of praying for "the deceased," we offered up our prayers for "the diseases."  God bless us, everyone!