December 15, 2009 -5:30AM- We blogged until about 2:30AM and got about 3 hours of sleep. Our last task to complete in Chiang Mai was to give alms to local monks. We were awake before the sun (5AM) and arranged the offerings, which we had purchased the night before. We had a small feast for the monks, including nuts, trail mix, bread, Ovaltine, drinking yogurt, a whole bunch of bananas, and Aubrey's addition, gummy bears. The act of giving alms are the first step on the way towards Buddhist Nirvana. You give the monks what you would like to someday get in return and as an act for good fortune and health. We went to a monastery just five minutes down the road from our beautiful hotel room at The Chedi. Two barefoot monks emerged carrying alms basins dressed in saffron, orange colored robes. We were informed that we should remove our shoes [this is called dtukbaht ( ตักบาตร )] and wei at around eye-height to show respect, so we did that and preceded to divide the alms between the two monks. Aubrey had to be very careful while doing this, because Buddhist monks are forbidden to touch women. We then knelt down before them, barefoot, while they simultaneously chanted a blessing in Pali. The whole alms-giving experience was surreal and it is something we have wanted to do since we began living in Thailand but never knew exactly how to do. It was really interesting learning about the many customs and rituals of Buddhism. After presenting the alms, we drove a bit to another popular crossing point of town for the monks and took some pictures and videos of other giving alms to other monks. So many good Buddhists make merit every day in the same spot; their dedication is really incredible. The monks do not accept money and only eat what they have received from merit-makers, so non-perishable food is preferred but not necessary. As the sunlight began to light up the sky, we sadly trudged home with the knowlege that it was time to check out of our hotel and head to the airport. We had a great flight back to Bangkok on Bangkok Airways while remembering the great times we had on our trip. This trip was simply remarkable; Aubrey and I experienced things that we will likely never experience again and had the chance to do things that many only get to dream of. We are currently in Bangkok now for Ultimate Thailand Explorer activities, including Mekhong Workshop for cocktail mixing at the Amari Watergate Hotel and our Thank You dinner tonight at Karaoke City. We are sad for this incredible experience to end soon, but fear not! We have many more in-depth blogs, videos and photos to share with you, so check back daily. Voting continues until January 8th, so keep up the good work! Please remember to vote every 24 hours!
Regards from Bangkok,
Aubrey and Parker (AubParkThailand)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Was this a tour or did you do this by yourself? Also how do you no what time and where the monks are at to find? Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
ReplyDelete