On being a temporary monk in Thailand

[honu]

The recent thread on this subject prompted me to collect some of those ideas into a blog post, filling in more details about when I was ordained as a monk here, for just over two months, eight years ago now.

http://2monkeysbuddhism.blogspot.com/2016/03/on-being-temporary-monk-in-thailand.html

As I see it there isn't much in the post that would lead to asides about what Buddhism really is since it is an account of those experiences, not a defense of certain aspects of a Buddhist sect, but take it as you will. Those that were following that other thread will see that I've taken up a lot of the discussion points there.

Others would have had different experiences, especially if in different surroundings, a different type of temple. There is a lot more I could have said about my own experiences, for example I didn't really go into what it was like participating in the rituals, or what the meditation practice was like, or whether it was challenging or not to not eat after noon every day (it wasn't; we could drink soy milk, and people were nice enough to give it to us). I didn't mention which temple I was ordained in, and that really did help color my experiences, but the idea was to keep it more general.

I didn't actually talk that much about Buddhism at all, if you read it closely, not the theories, or my take, or that tradition and that sect's interpretation. If the interest is there I could go further with some different aspects.

[camerata]

Interesting blog, Honu. AFAIK, regarding the deceased, the Pali Canon says that merit can only be received by those in the Suffering Ghost realm. On the other hand, we don't know where the deceased have gone, so I guess it is pot luck. Since this seems to contradict the core teaching that we are responsible for our own salvation, scholars like Gombrich think it was probably a popular custom in India before the Buddha's arrived, so he just let it be.

Also, AFAIK, in Thailand a monk never makes or returns a wai to a lay person, no matter how senior.

[honu]

Sounds reasonable, I think I did remember that part about wai-ing wrong, now that I think about it.

I had only been in Thailand for about two months at that point of ordaining so the core practice made no sense to me at that point, what lay-people do, and it would've been months after until I really put it all together. We go to the temple here on a monthly basis so I might have noticed from that.

Interesting, about merit only affecting people in one afterlife realm, maybe. It's not something I'd give much thought to as an agnostic, how effectively traditions might map out what goes on in heaven or hell realms. If all those are real I guess to some extent that makes the descriptions more relevant and interesting but for all I know the Christian heaven and hell have it right, or we just vanish, hard to say.

[nongai]

Merit from giving alms, robes, gutis, temples can only help beings in Hungry Ghost realm if you make transfer of merit chants, but not to beings reborn in heavens, humans, animals, demons, or hells. Only the very strong merit from meditation and especially Vipassana which can take you to Nibbana can help beings in hell realms. Samatha meditation is still only Lokiya and not Luttara (worldy and not Ariya).