Buddhism and bikes

Giant Buddha.
Me being happy in front of happy monk (he's happy cause he's fat...).
We got bored of temples so we took this picture.
Following monks to get food. Yes we all had to wear white and yes we do look like escaped mental patients.
Me and my bike.

November 13, 2009

Monday morning we woke up at 5:30 to go feed the monks. Every morning they walk around and collect food from the villagers to eat for their breakfast and noontime meal. Girls are not allowed to touch monks, so we scooped the rice into bowls they had with them and put the rest of the food in a basket on a cart.

Instead of going back to bed like everyone else I decided it was time for me to start running again. I was finally feeling healthy and honestly I just miss working out. It is extremely hot here even at 6 in the morning but I managed a twenty-minute jog. I got back to the house and sweated it out for another twenty or so minutes then showered and rested until breakfast. The rest of the day was spent learning about Buddhism and visiting another temple featuring a giant Buddha, happy monk and pictures of the different heavens and hells of Buddhism.

For part of our Buddhist education we watched a documentary about the Buddha, his life and his teachings. The Buddha, born Siddhartha, was a prince and grew up in a palace. His father tried to protect him from the outside world and prevent him from becoming a religious person because at his birth it was foretold that he would become either a great spiritual leader or a great king. Obviously his father wished for him to follow in his footsteps.

Siddhartha got married and had a son but soon after got his first glimpse of human suffering. He left the palace shortly after to seek spiritual truth. After a long journey of self-discovery he found meditation to be the way to enlightenment. Henceforth he was known as the Buddha, or the fully enlightened one. Even though the Buddha preached about not worshiping idols he has become one of the most worshipped figures in history. Maybe worship isn’t the right word. It is more like respect as shown through money offerings, chants, incense and prayers.

Buddhism today teaches that there is no creator god and that the path to true enlightenment lies in following precepts that were set out by the Buddha and of course, meditation. The five precepts that everyday people are to follow are similar to the Ten Commandments:

1. Refrain from killing (both human and nonhuman).
2. Refrain from stealing.
3. Refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. Refrain from lying.
5. Refrain from drugs and alcohol.

There are also three more precepts that can be undertaken which include no eating after noon until the sun rises the next morning, no wearing jewelry, lotion or other cosmetics, no listening to music, dancing or attending entertainment performances and no sleeping or resting in ornate places. We were supposed to follow all eight during out temple stay Tuesday night.

We got to the temple around 4 in the afternoon and after a brief walk around town and of course another temple visit we returned to our temple for the evening. We joined the monks in evening chants and then practiced meditating with them for half an hour. It was hard to do because the head monk kept interrupting to give us instructions on how to meditate but it was also very calming. The rest of the night was free. I

The next morning we got up and followed the monks around as they got their daily food. We then slept for a few more hours and then got up to eat. After that we fed the fish in the pond the extra rice and helped clean part of the temple. We had one more meal around 11 and then got a final blessing from the head monk. Overall the temple stay was all right but not nearly as insightful or demanding as I had anticipated.

In the past year or so I have been moving away from religion. Some of it just strikes me as false while other parts of it seem to cause more harm then good in the world. I have been hoping that this year would give me some insight into not only other religious beliefs but also into my own religious beliefs. I really believe that religion is something that everyone must figure out for him or her self and that the religion you are born into needs to be questioned before taken as being true. I guess I am still questioning what is true for me. I know this much: that I believe there is a God and that religious tolerance is the only way people will get along in such a globalized world. I also know that a part of me misses organized religion but it feels fake to go on pretending that I believe in it all. Hopefully I will figure it all out soon.

Thursday morning we went over to Lemon house to check the tents that we would use for camping. I wasn’t sure why we would need to check the tents until we got them out. They are old US army tents but the poles were all put into buckets that we had to dig through in order to find ones that were the correct size and not broken. A lot of the tents also have holes in them or zippers that are broken. We managed to find some decent ones but it could be interesting camping next week.

Most of the group then went for a bike ride around town. We stopped for lunch, which was delicious. It felt good to get a workout in other than running. The rest of the day was spent in Singburi. We went to the pool for a few hours before eating out at KFC and having dessert at Dairy Queen. I know it’s very American but it’s been a while since I have had food like that and it tasted quite good. That’s it for now. Miss you terribly.