Category Archives: Buddhism

Over the weekend I went to take pictures at a Honey Offering Ceremony at Wat Khan Lad in Phra Pradaeng. I have never heard about this event before though apparently it takes place every year. Officially it should take place on the full moon day of the 10th lunar month which is around September. However, they decided to move it forward this year to make it more convenient.

As well as the Honey Offering Ceremony, the local people were also celebrating the Mon Culture. These people were originally from Burma but settled here hundreds of years ago. I am told that offering honey is an old Mon tradition where the local people dress in their traditional clothes and come to the temple to offer honey to the monks. They do this in order to make merit.

Honey has always been important in many different religions including Buddhism. This dates back to a time when the Buddha was meditating in a forest. He was in need of nourishment and an elephant and a monkey brought him fruit and honey. This event is celebrated in Buddhism around the world on the full moon day in September. There is also a Buddha image depicting this scene with the Buddha sitting in Western style.

There are over 40,000 temples spread across Thailand. Many have a similar style though some are very unique. For many foreign tourists the colourful Thai temples are often a highlight of their holiday in Thailand. The Phra Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani Province might not be your typical Thai temple. The main building resembles a UFO more than traditional Thai architecture. However, it is just the vastness of the place that impresses you the most.

I have seen pictures of this place before, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I was lucky enough to go and visit for the first time. To say that the place is massive is really an understatement. When it was first established back in 1970 it covered an area of 80 acres. This has since increased to over 1,000 acres. It took me about half an hour of driving around before I found the main building. Luckily I had aimed to arrive early. But, even still, when I arrived there were already thousands of monks and an estimated 60,000 female Buddhists all seated and waiting for the start.

This is a closer picture showing the dome of the main building. As you get closer you can see that it isn’t a smooth dome. In fact, it is covered with 300,000 Buddha images made from silicon bronze. Each image is 15 by 15 centimetres with a base of 18 centimetres. The formula for the concrete of the main building and the bronze in the Buddha images were designed specifically so that the whole place will last more than 1,000 years. Inside there are apparently even more Buddha images with the final aim to have 1 million of them in total. The steps below the dome are for the monks. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go and take a closer look here. Maybe next time.

The Dhammakaya Cetiya covers an area of one square kilometer. It is split into four zones. The first three zones are the dome itself and the area where the monks sit. The biggest area is Zone 4 which completely encircles the dome. During the event that I attended there was an estimated 60,000 female Buddhist lay people all dressed in white and each with their own candle. Although this is a large number, they were on only one side of the dome. It is reckoned that the area that completely encircles the dome has enough room for one million to sit and meditate together.

These lay people were here as part of a 7 day course to learn Dhamma and meditation techniques. During this time they had to wear white and strictly keep the 8 precepts. They didn’t all do this at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, but everyone came together on the last day of the course to meditate and pray and also to receive a certificate. I have been impressed by many different kinds of events in Thailand but this certainly was in my top ten. Just the scale of the event is really amazing. So many people coming together with the same aim and purpose. I believe that they have a mass ordination in July and hopefully I will be able to attend this as well to take pictures.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya has experienced its share of controversy. According to an article in Wikipedia, in 1999 and again in 2002 the temple’s abbot, was accused of charges ranging from fraud and embezzlement to corruption. Julian Gearing of Asiaweek commented that Widespread negative media coverage at this time was symptomatic of Wat Phra Dhammakaya being made a scapegoat for commercial malpractice in the Thai Buddhist temple community in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Apologies to Wat Phra Dhammakaya were published in full after the Thai newspapers and TV channels concerned were successfully sued for slander.

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There are a number of events organized by Wat Phra Dhammakaya during the year. It is not the kind of place that you can go as a tourist to take pictures. However, you are welcome as a Buddhist. When I was there last night I spotted a few foreigners dressed in white. I drove there from Samut Prakan via the Outer Ring road in just 45 minutes. From Central Bangkok it might take you a little longer to reach the temple. They have free bus services from Sanam Luang on Sundays and Buddhists holidays (from the main gate of Thammasart University) from 7-8 a.m. You can also take buses 3, 4, 10, 13, 29 and 39. The map above shows the location of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.

If you are a Christian, then you would know that your sabbath day is every Sunday. It is the day that you should go to church with your family.  Buddhism also has a sabbath day called “wan phra” in Thai. You could translate this as “monk day” or maybe “holy day”. However, as Buddhism is based on the lunar calendar, you will find that “wan phra” is on different days of the week each time. The two most important days are the full moon and new moon. The other “wan phra” days are on the quarter phases of the moon. In all,  there are 4 days a month when the monks don’t go out on their alms round and the local people go to the temple instead.

Obviously it is more convenient when “wan phra” falls on a weekend. But, a lot of people still go to their temple early in the morning before they go to work. I took these pictures this morning of students from my school. We arrived at the temple just before 7 a.m.  To make proper merit you need to prepare the food specifically for the monks. You cannot use leftovers. These days people are so busy that you will find that at most temples there are stalls set up selling food for you to give to the monks.  Once you have the food, you should crouch on the ground and raise the tray above your head in quiet contemplation.

On “wan phra” and some of Buddhist festival days, the monks are not lined up to receive alms. Instead, their alms bowls are placed on a long row of tables. People go along this line and place rice into each of the bowls. If they have Thai desserts or curries in plastic bags, they then put this in another bowl. It shouldn’t be mixed in with the rice.  This food is then taken to the kitchen to be shared among the monks later in the morning. After the lay people have presented their offerings of food, they next paid homage to the Buddha image.

At about 7.30 a.m., earlier in other temples, a monk will ring the temple bell by beating it with a stick. This is the call to prayer. After the lay people have finished making merit, they make their way towards the community hall where all of the monks are already sitting on a low platform. We didn’t stay for this today as we had to go back to school. For about an hour, the monks take part in chanting. During this session, a senior monk also gives a sermon, and asks the lay people to recite the eight precepts. For normal Buddhists, there are only five precepts. However, on “wan phra” days, many Buddhists like to keep the eight precepts.

The eight precepts that they have to recite out loud are as follows:

“I undertake the training precepts…

(1) to abstain from taking life.
(2) to abstain from taking what is not given.
(3) to abstain from unchastity.
(4) to abstain from false speech.
(5) to abstain from intoxicants causing heedlessness.
(6) to abstain from untimely eating.
(7) to abstain from dancing, singing, music and unseemly shows, from wearing garlands, smartening with scents, and beautifying with perfumes.
(8) to abstain from the use of high and large luxurious couches.”

Novice monks and nuns have ten precepts. Monks have 227 precepts. They have to recite all 227 on the full and new moons every month.