Thais to Buddhism

One motive I had for coming to Thailand was to experience a culture as fundamentally different in underlying mindset as my own. For 30 years, Thailand has evolved into a country dependant on, or at least thriving on tourism. As a consequence, Western influence has left its mark….Critical road signs are in both Thai and English, a Burger King and a McDonald’s co-exist side by side in the downtown market of Chiang Mai, forks and spoons are assumed as the preferred utensil at most all eating establishments.
However, the Thai culture is rooted in its Buddhist tradition, and its influence is far more evident in daily life than Christianity is in the West:

· Every home and business location always has a small, but elaborate “spirit temple” or shrine located in a consistent corner of the property (perhaps the northwest location?) Employees visit the shrine at least weekly and place on it such delicacies as food items, Orange Fanta complete with straw (someone please tell me the Buddhist roots of Orange Fanta!!), incense, etc.

· Early every morning, the streets near any given Wat (temple) will be loaded with orange-robed, barefoot monks carrying a large, stainless steel bowl. Monks I’ve seen ranged in age from 7 to 70. It is an honor to spend a portion of one’s life as a monk, and young men, and even young boys find themselves dedicating themselves at some point. Monks collect gifts / alms from the townspeople every morning in the form of food, money, etc. In return, the donation makers receive blessings.

I think the communities take full responsibility for feeding and supporting the monks. They are clearly beloved. The monks, in turn, care for hundreds of stray dogs, feeding them rice, and coordinating with local non profit groups who attempt to raise money to ensure street dogs receive shots and sterilization. While in Chiang Mai, I saw more female dogs with extended breasts, clearly having just given birth to a new litter of strays.

· On several occasions this week, I’ve ridden in company vehicles (for a cooking class, the Gibbon experience, etc) and every vehicle has on the wind shield and the ceiling of the car, 5-6 little white smudges…they look like white paint thumbprints…which are evidence that the automobile has been blessed.

· I interviewed the Managing Director of a jewelry manufacturing company who was an Expatriate from England. He noted that when they built their operation, they had to locate and consult with a spiritual advisor in Southern Thailand to determine the location, orientation and size of the “spirit house” that would need to be assembled on the property. In order to provide adequate counsel she had to have very detailed information about the plant, such as the number of people employed there, the size of the plant, estimated annual sales, etc.

· Once the plant and spirit house were constructed at the site above, a special ceremony was then required. Mark, the Managing Director was first seated at the front of the largest room in the plant and a string was tied around his head. That string was then wound around every person at the ceremony and the remaining end of the string was then given to Mark to hold. He was required to sit in this fashion for the ensuing hour of chanting, dancing and praying, with everyone in the room, save the monks, tied to his forehead.

My first weekend in Chiang Mai, my friends Tim and Tanya were invited to attend a “housewarming” for the parents of one of their daughter’s classmates. The mother had been the well educated daughter of a wealthy Thai family, and the father was the retired Country Manager for Eli Lilly pharmaceuticals. (He was a widower when they met about 10 years ago…his then 7 year old daughter decided that he needed to stop grieving and start seeing other women. The 7 year old spotted the Thai woman at a social gathering (she was a hotel manager at the time) and she marched right up to her, asked if she was married, and if not, would she like to meet her father…..the rest is history. Anyway, this housewarming turned out to be the blessing of one of the most fantastic teak mansions Ive ever seen. Both of its 2 floors have 20 foot ceilings. IN the center of the house is an arboretum that is larger than the largest living room in any house I know. I’m guessing it was 20 feet by 30 feet, was full of living plants, and had a waterfall and babbling brook running the length of it. As I nosed around the house, I discovered a large tatami matted Japanese room upstairs with an adjoining room housing a fireplace. This would become the master bedroom suite, but today, it only had a row of red vinyl seats on the floor with seat backs…7 seats side by side. Turns out, monks had been here all day long chanting and blessing the house.

Outside, there was a white string that encircled the entire house and then extended to a little pergola in the backyard. This string will ultimately be taken down and stored in some very visible place of honor in the house. The party was outside in the beautifully manicured back yard. There was an open bar and a huge spread of traditional, but as-yet-untried-by-me Thai food including the national soup, several curries, and numerous other interesting dishes too numerous and fabulous to describe. Suffice it to say….you should have been there.