New Home Blessing

[Spee]

Hello Group,

Our new up-country house is going to be completed sometime during the next 4-6 weeks.

My GF/fiance' has told me that it is customary to have the monks come and make a"chok dee" blessing upon the home and those who will live there.

Does anyone have any info about whether or not there is a specific ritual, or whether or not it is relatively informal? If there is a ritual, does it have a name?

Also, since the monks would come, I'm assuming it would be proper to make an offering to them of food and/or cash in the envelope. Can anyone confirm if this is also true, and what a typical amount of cash might be (neung paen or sawng paen baht??)

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Regards,

Spee

[ThaiPauly]

Yeah, when they started to build our house once the first hole for the first support pillar had been dug my wife threw money into the hole and cut some kinda ribbon. Also the same day apparantly a monk had come and done some praying but we did not get there on time to see him, so yeah it is normal custom I would say. Builders organised it, I am sure they would do the same if your GF has no contacts there.

PS. My house will be finished in 4-6 weeks , are you moving to Chaing Mai perchance?

[ThaiPauly]

PPS. The builder paid for the monk so I have no idea of the cost, sorry.

[Spee]

... are you moving to Chaing Mai perchance?

No ... sorry I probably misled when I said up-country. It is actually in central Thailand, a relatively short drive from KevinN and Sunee in the Phetchabun area.

[tuky]

Great thread Spee, I am very interested to know what to do too or atleast expect.

We did the throw money in a hole too on the first day of construction.

My wife tells me we will have about 9 monks come and they will go around the house 3 times with some string.

I do not know much about it and why it takes place but I sure am going to enjoy the new experience.

By the way our house will be finished in about 6-8 weeks.

tukyleith's new house.

would you prefer this thread to be in the buddhist forum?

[Boon Mee]

Nice house Leith but man, you got some electrical wiring going past there! Nothing comes in underground?

On the Monk Blessing subject...when my wife & I were living in Brazil she opened a Thai restaurant in a small town north of Rio - Macae. We had one of the Monks from the Buddhist Temple in Rio come up and do a blessing ceremony for good luck. Didn't help much as the only folks that really like Thai food in Brazil are the Farang! Did well w/them...

[Johpa]

Does anyone have any info about whether or not there is a specific ritual, or whether or not it is relatively informal? If there is a ritual, does it have a name?

Your GF is talking about the "phitii kheun baan mai" ceremony. This is a very traditional celebration, as least up north but I believe elsewhere also. Monks are invited, as well as just about every local and every friend your wife has made over the past two decades. The monks will chant for an hour or so, bless the new home, and a long string that has been passed through the hands of the monks will be tied around the house. Only the new home owners, immediate family, and older female relatives will sit around while the monks perform their prayers. The monks will be given their daily meal and they depart around noon. And then the party begins.

All those people invited, and locals who just show up, will begin to eat and drink at your expense. Closer friends will bring small house warming gifts or envelopes of money, but not the amounts you would see at a wedding. This party is going to cost but it is usually a good time for all. And there is no way to avoid it, whether you be Farang or Thai, this ceremony is required. If the house is in a traditional rural village with lots of yard space think about hiring a local band with singers. It is a great opportunity to show that you are willing to contribute to the neighborhood. You will instantly earn some respect.

[Nam Kao]

?>>>All those people invited, and locals who just show up, will begin to eat and drink at your expense

Then the fistfights begin, ours was a slugfest

[Pink Mist]

Our house is not new, but we had it blessed somehow. It was done by a Lay Monk ( if there is such a thing) dressed in white (the same guy that did our wedding ceremony.

The usual string and stuff and he made up an open container with compartments, out of banana leaf stems (I guess). The compartments had various things dropped in it cant remember what though. We left it in house for some time, 9 days seems to ring a bell.

[sbk]

We had the monks come bless our house when we had it built many years ago. It doesn't necessarily have to be a big shindig, ours was just family (but then considering my husband has 41 first cousins, it was a big shindig ). I believe all Buddhists do this, not just up north. Everyone here does it. Also, you must make sure that you perform the ceremony on an auspicious day. The abbot at your wat will know (as will every old lady in the neighborhood ).

If I can get our scanner up and running I will post photos. There is more to it than the string, it also involves an umbrella and a chair on a post (don't ask, I don't know), if your wifes father or uncles are still alive then they would be best to set this up. It really is a family affair so I wouldn't ask the builder to do it.

[lopburi3]

... are you moving to Chaing Mai perchance?

No ... sorry I probably misled when I said up-country. It is actually in central Thailand, a relatively short drive from KevinN and Sunee in the Phetchabun area.

For those of us in Bangkok anywhere outside is "up-country". Even if the islands or Songkhla.

[Khutan]

In the deep dark south of Surin, you are also expected to get Elephants as well and walk under the Elephant into your new home. Of course there are the Monks, constantly with their hand out and the others who turn up for a freebie.

Turkeyleith, that is a very nice house, you must be very pleased with it. it looks like 2 - 3 m Baht.

Johpa you said....

It is a great opportunity to show that you are willing to contribute to the neighborhood. You will instantly earn some respect.

umm, I normally try to avoid "contributing" as normally the villagers have their hand out before I have stopped the truck...... I am going through the same thing, and I have been told the party cannot be until after lent, I am going to put a strict limit on the food and booze, after all I employed most of the village to build the house.

[SweatySock]

My wife informed me the blessing is actually to make sure there are no ghosts attached to your house/land.

Every time we have extended the house, the monks have added the blessing. They might also leave the fingerprint blessing on your front door.

[tuky]

Nice house Leith but man, you got some electrical wiring going past there! Nothing comes in underground?

On the Monk Blessing subject...when my wife & I were living in Brazil she opened a Thai restaurant in a small town north of Rio - Macae. We had one of the Monks from the Buddhist Temple in Rio come up and do a blessing ceremony for good luck. Didn't help much as the only folks that really like Thai food in Brazil are the Farang! Did well w/them...

It is a real shame about the power/telephone/cable tv lines, Our house is in a moo baan, brand new. Has deep sewerage, storm water, mains water all underground, I fail to see why they didn't bury the cabling too, I figured there must be some national/local law against it for expansion/maintainence reasons as all the lines are overhead in the province.

What you see in the photo is mostly temp at this point as they build the surrounding houses, but I am sure it will get back to that stage after a year or so.

I look forward to the house warming ceremony/party though.

Turkeyleith, that is a very nice house, you must be very pleased with it. it looks like 2 - 3 m Baht.

matt, it is tukyleith, you can feel free to drop the turkey part

But yeah your right, it did add up to a little more than you are suggesting with the land, by the time I have my pool, spa and outdoor entertainment areas in I think I can add another mill/mill and a half. I will post pics in the members photo album as in the next few weeks as I return home, I have a couple of pics in there now showing it progress.

[lopburi3]

It would be normal to have boon (prepare and present food for monks meal) and also offer envelops. Being a foreigner you would be expected to give a little more than if it were just your GF as she has higher status now (but in that area the amount would not be much) so 5 hundred to 1st monk and 1 hundred to the others would probably be good. Your GF should be able to guide you on this.

Most prayers and blessings like this are not rigid events and very informal.

[Boon Mee]

Look forward to seeing the photos, Leith.

I'm going to be breaking ground on a new house out in Suphanburi soon...it should be fun!