1. Why visiting a Buddhist temple?
Why Do
Buddhists Visit A Temple?
More than 2,500 years ago, Lord Gotama Buddha who
renounced his princely life to live as an ascetic in search for the ultimate
spiritual liberation had persevered in meditation practice until he discovered
The Middle Way which allowed him to attain enlightenment. With the power of meditation, he could
eradicate all of his defilement or mental impurity and gain the superb insight
vision, insight knowing, insight wisdom, super-knowledge, and mental
brightness.
The Lord Buddha learned from his insight power that
all living beings are governed by the Law of Karma where every single life is
destined by the consequences of both wholesome and unwholesome deeds committed
either mentally, verbally, or physically actions. The Lord Buddha also found that when one
commits good deeds, he receives merit or the pure life energy (punya);
on the contrary, when one commits bad deeds, he receives sin or the impure life
energy (paapa) in return. As punya
can bring about happiness, prosperity, and success to oneself in both the
mundane or spiritual path, paapa can doom, causes misfortune and
suffering miserably.
Therefore, the Lord Buddha taught Buddhists to
cultivate punya by committing only meritorious deeds through body,
speech, and mind while abstaining from all unwholesome deeds. Although merit can be made anywhere even at
homes, Buddhists always visit temples to make merits with Buddhist monks as the
Lord Buddha said Buddhist monks is the fertile field of merit [where laypeople
can reap abundantly from what they sow.]
Three
Major Ways to Make Merit at A Buddhist Temple
At Buddhist temples, there are numerous activities and
ceremonies organized to promote morality, peace, and harmony among Buddhist communities. However, mainly, there are three major
categories of merit cultivation which are (1) The practice of generosity or daana
(2) The observance of precepts or siila and (3) The practice of
meditation or bhavanaa.
(1) The
practice of generosity is the act of kind giving such as making donation,
offering meals to the monks, alms giving, funding the temple’s construction and
maintenance, and giving useful things to the monks or others. It is not necessary that you have to give to
the Buddhist monks only in order to earn merit, but giving made to Buddhist
monks or Buddhist monastic community is considered to yield much more merit in
manifold due to the recipients’ purity. In
addition, the practice of generosity aims to lessen greed in one’s mind. Moreover, according to the Law of Karma, the
merit earned from practicing generosity is believed to consequently cause one
to be wealthy in the future lifetime.
(2) The
observance of precepts aims to prevent one from doing bad deeds and promote
one’s life to be wholesome and pure.
Buddhist precept for laypeople is the Five Precepts which is taken as
the common codes of conduct for virtuous people. The Five Precepts are as follows:
(i) Abstention from killing
(ii) Abstention from stealing
(iii) Abstention from sexual misconduct
(iv) Abstention from false speech
(v) Abstention from consuming alcohol and narcotics
There are also the Eight Precepts for Buddhist nuns
and laypeople who spend the retreat, 10 precepts for Buddhist novice monks and
227 precepts for fully ordained Buddhist monks.
Lay Buddhists normally request the monks to lead them
making a vow to observe precepts when they make merit at a Buddhist
temple. The merit from observing
precepts is believed to destine one to be healthy, handsome, and beautiful in
the future lifetime, but the immediate result of everyone’s observance of
precepts is the safe and peaceful society.
Precepts observance also helps to lessen one of the defilements called ‘dhosa’
or anger as one tries to behave oneself according to the virtuous
disciplines. Merit earned from observing
precepts is greater than the merit earned from giving as it requires more
effort and mental strength.
(3) Meditation
practice is the most powerful way to earn merit energy. It can help lessen ‘moha’ or delusion
and eradicate all defilements as well.
Merit from meditation will result one to be wise since the mind becomes
clearer and more efficient. There are
many Buddhist meditation techniques in Thailand. Mostly, they involve methods that promote
mental calm (samatha) and insight (vipassanaa). Popular techniques include breathing
meditation, mantra meditation, visualization meditation, and mindfulness
meditation. Meditation practice can be
applied to one’s daily life which will eventually create the sense of peace and
true happiness as the mind becomes better organized and rests deeply. Many Thai Buddhist monks are well known for
instructing meditation and organizing meditation retreats at their temples.
DOs & DON’Ts at A Buddhist Temple
1. Women are
not allowed to touch Buddhist monks
2. Do not point
your feet toward Buddha statues, monks statues, and Buddhist monks
3. Dress
modestly so that you do not become sexually attractive
4. Treat Buddha
statues and monks statues with respect as if they were alive
5. Take off
your shoes before entering the Buddhist chapel, shrine, pagoda, hall, and most
other buildings or even a restroom.
6. Speak
politely using moderate voice. Do not
yell, shout, or sware.
7. Do not treat
Buddhist temples as tourist attractions, they are sacred religious places.
8. Although men
are allowed to touch monks, be careful not to touch any part above their
shoulders as it is considered to be disrespectful.
9. Do not show
your personal physical affection in the temple.
Avoid kissing and hugging since these gestures are not commonly publicly
shown in Thai society.
10. Do not
consume alcohol and narcotics at temples.
Also, some temples are smoke-free area.
11. Always be
respectful and aware of the cultural gap.
