Everyday Buddhism

[kerryk]

I go to a lot of Wats with my Thai friends. My Thai is minimal so I might not be catching everything but it seems to me they go to pray for good luck and to ask Buddha for things like health and money.

This seems in contradiction of what I know of Buddhism. I would think instead of asking for money one should be asking for release from the things that make one want money. Or instead of asking for good health asking for the ability to cope with your health the way it is.

What I read about Buddhism seems philosophical but what I see in practice is more like buying charms for good luck.

Am I missing something?

For example I just asked a friend of mine what she was praying for at the Wat yesterday and she said so she would win the lottery.

[camerata]

This is the "popular Buddhism" that many Thais have been brought up to practise, especially the poorer and less educated ones. But there are plenty of Thais who understand the core teachings too.

[kerryk]

This is the "popular Buddhism" that many Thais have been brought up to practise, especially the poorer and less educated ones. But there are plenty of Thais who understand the core teachings too.

So, if I understand it popular Buddhism is mixed in with older traditions with elements of animism, fortune telling and things like that?

I found it unusual that I visited a Wat in Chiang Mai with two lay fortune tellers in residence (a little house attached to one of the temples) charging 100 Bht for a reading and the electronic fortune telling machines (they looked kind of like slot machines) at another Wat outside of Bangkok

[JoySword]

I often find it interesting with cross-cultural questions to flip them around. For instance, I wonder what the average Thai, having both scanty English and knowledge of Christianity, would think if they found out that the people praying in Notre Dame or St. Patrick's Cathedrals were asking for the raise they so desperately want, or that a daughter should pass her math test, or for the relationship that's just started to work out, etc.

In this sense I think "popular" religion is universal.

[camerata]

So, if I understand it popular Buddhism is mixed in with older traditions with elements of animism, fortune telling and things like that?

Yes. I think belief in spirits could be categorized as "popular belief," but fortune-telling monks, belief in power objects (Buddha amulets, tattoos, etc) and the notion that the Buddha is a deity out there somewhere with the power/inclination to grant wishes is all popular Buddhism.

I found it unusual that I visited a Wat in Chiang Mai with two lay fortune tellers in residence (a little house attached to one of the temples) charging 100 Bht for a reading and the electronic fortune telling machines (they looked kind of like slot machines) at another Wat outside of Bangkok

Sad, but on the other hand there are at least three temples in Chiang Mai offering insight meditation courses to foreigners on a donation basis.

[Abandon]

I used to judge Thai's and their Buddhism when I first came.

But really, Buddhism is a heart thing, and the more I stay here, 9 years now, the more I feel that they are just so much more natural at it than Westerners. I have seen old women go and meditate for hours in the forest temples; seen the generosity and depth of kindness in regular folk; I have seen unnoticeable people go and attain to high states of concentration .....

"Better am I, Equal or Worse ... such thoughts do not sway one attained to the Truth. They have lived the Holy life, and put an end to rebirth. From all bonds released they journey on" AIII 244 (trans)

[kerryk]

So, if I understand it popular Buddhism is mixed in with older traditions with elements of animism, fortune telling and things like that?

Yes. I think belief in spirits could be categorized as "popular belief," but fortune-telling monks, belief in power objects (Buddha amulets, tattoos, etc) and the notion that the Buddha is a deity out there somewhere with the power/inclination to grant wishes is all popular Buddhism.

I found it unusual that I visited a Wat in Chiang Mai with two lay fortune tellers in residence (a little house attached to one of the temples) charging 100 Bht for a reading and the electronic fortune telling machines (they looked kind of like slot machines) at another Wat outside of Bangkok

Sad, but on the other hand there are at least three temples in Chiang Mai offering insight meditation courses to foreigners on a donation basis.

Sorry maybe I did not write it clearly. The monks were not telling fortunes those were civilian guys with a house attached to one of the shrines in the Wat.

[robitusson]

I go to a lot of Wats with my Thai friends. My Thai is minimal so I might not be catching everything but it seems to me they go to pray for good luck and to ask Buddha for things like health and money.

This seems in contradiction of what I know of Buddhism. I would think instead of asking for money one should be asking for release from the things that make one want money. Or instead of asking for good health asking for the ability to cope with your health the way it is.

What I read about Buddhism seems philosophical but what I see in practice is more like buying charms for good luck.

Am I missing something?

For example I just asked a friend of mine what she was praying for at the Wat yesterday and she said so she would win the lottery.

I think it's very admirable that people believe in prayer and karma so much that it can influence what happens in their lives. I think health is definitely a legitimate thing to pray for and if I was as poor as some of the Thais, I'd be praying for wealth too. It does appear contradictory to my understanding but personally I hope nobody judges my practise and motivation in life, I don't think I'd come out looking good.