End of Buddhist Lent

Today is Boun Ok Phansaa, the final and most important day of Buddhist Lent that also marks the end of rainy season. Several activities surrounding the neighborhood wat, or temple, mark the occasion.

Vieng let me accompany her and her brother to their neighborhood wat where the morning started at 7am with prayers and almsgiving. Families sat in rows across the wat floor with their offerings of money, sweets, sticky rice, candles/incense, and lotus/orchid flowers. We lit candles as the monks chanted in the ancient Buddhist language, and at the end, each worshipper poured water in prayer to offer as a symbolic cleansing drink.

Once prayers were finished, the monks wound their way through the rows of worshippers to collect alms. I was free to walk around and take photos once this started, but I had to be very careful not to step over or touch anyone or their offerings with my feet in passing, which ended up being quite a challenge! When the monks came around, I helped give each monk a sweet, making sure not to touch any part of the pot since women must not touch the monks. Once we exited the wat, Vieng used the water from the prayers for the wat's plants, and then we offered our respects at her ancestors' grave.

Several children (some homeless; others just neighborhood kids) were hanging about and grabbing the sweets and money straight from the graves, offering bins, and statues. True, the monks not only survive on alms, but also share them with the homeless. But these children were being rather disrespectful by grabbing the alms before worshippers had even left. Vieng scolded them, but they didn't seem put off.

Here's something interesting about monks: there are two types, those that make it their lives' work and those who do it only for a short time to earn respect and karmic points for their families and ancestors. The latter tend to be young men before marriage, after which they become impure and un-monkable. Many teenagers will do it during the summer holiday like a summer job, but they must do so out of their own will for the "earnings" to count.



In the evening, I went with a group from the U.S. Embassy to a wat to float gatong (candles/incense made of banana leaves in the shape of a lotus) down the Mekong River to cleanse ourselves of sin and bring good spirits. This nice monk had great English and was able to read my fortune for me after I had picked a numbered stick matching my fortune on a slip of paper. Number 11: good fortune. Bingo! He also tied this bracelet for me to wish me longetivity and good health.

So, according to my fortune, I'll have no injury while I'm here; everyone will be happy; my parents will be proud of me; and I will move from Laos eventually. OK, now that I'm surrounded by this karmic force field, let's move on to the debauchery of Boat Racing Festival for tomorrow!