It was one of the Buddhism Festivals last week. I am not sure how to describe it exactly but it is a festival that people who are practicing in one of the Mahayana Chinese Buddhism sects stop eating meat and some vegetable like onion and garlic for ten days. Why onion and garlic? From what I learned these kinds of vegetable have very strong taste and smell and they are believed that they might have an effect of stimulating people’s sexual drive during the ten day period so they try to avoid it altogether.
This time of the year is the time that the Buddhists stop killing and eating any livings. Also, it is the time that they try to keep themselves from any sins that are originated from their deeds, speaks and thoughts. For ten days they will go to the temple and pray to the Buddha and gods (The concept of gods in Buddhism is totally different from the Christianity. Gods in Buddhism are just the higher livings who might be able to affect human being’s life in a bad way or good way but are still subject to the cycle of birth and death, in another word, they are still subject to the law of karma or cause and effect, while the God of the Christianity is the Supreme Being, the origin and creator who is unbound by any rules).
Before I moved to the
My mom has been practicing for almost her whole life. Though she is about to cross into her 70 year old territory, her faith is still so strong enough to drive her to the temple that is so crowded with those faithful members and the fume of thousands of incense. The past week I took my mother to the temple three times and every time I volunteered to do all the walking and praying myself so that she did not have to be crushed in the temple.
Every time we went to the temple, we brought some fruit and vegetarian food to offer the Buddha and gods. Young or old, men or women, everyone showed up in white clothes with things to offer in one hand and a bunch of incense in another hand.
This was my first time in 7 years that I came back to this temple. I remember when I was young; my mom always took me to the temple with her in order to keep eyes on our stuff when she was praying in the temple. It was a little traumatized for me. The memory I have is I was standing right at the table that was shared by hundreds of people in order to watch out our stuff. It was always hot, humid and smoky in the temple. My eyes were watering and my t-shirt was wet. But I have to say it felt good after that. I felt like I had done something good, at least to my mom.
Besides the regular patrons, beggars also gathered together in the temple. The picture of those old and poor men and women or those disabled people begging for money from people who were visiting the temple still in my mind. This year was the same. I remember my mom always had a big bag of changes with her and when she saw those poor people, she always gave them money. Almost everyone I have to say.
When I see this kind of image, I always think about what did they do wrong in their life in order to have this kind of bad luck? Then I think about where is the government that is supposed to at least help them stand on their own instead of begging for money? Or it just makes me feel the pain of the extremely unfair of the distribution of wealth in the society.
The last day of our visit to the temple, on the way back, I saw one of my friends from the primary school selling noodle on the street near the temple.
I did not think he remembered me but I remembered him and his high pitch voice very well. We used to be a really closed friend before we both went on our ways. He did not really change at all. He was calling out for the customers under the extremely hot weather.
I felt lucky and appreciated my life. Not that I was comparing myself to him and judging that I was better than him or happy than him because one who is working as a construction worker might be happier than one who is working in the Wall Street, but I just felt lucky that I do not have to do what he was doing, that I do not have to do what I do not want to do in order to survive. We had the same background; we started from the same point. But I felt like I had come so far, I had accomplished some of my dreams. My life has elevated to the point that when someone who have known me since I was young look back, they know that the starting point I have left is so far behind me.
In retrospect, I have accomplished what was beyond my wildest dreams when I was just a poor little boy who could not even afford the high school.
I am truly blessed.
Tae Athikomvittaya
posted by sagicaprio at
11:46 PM
said...
It's great you had such an amazing time at the temple. Isn't it strange how 7 years is always a milestone? Happiness is certainly subjective, but the fact you were able to look behind and appreciate where you're at makes me glad. Mr. Tae, I'm sure you'll look behind again in 7 years and appreciate every moment you spent to reach another milestone.
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