Monk Offering
It was another beautiful day bursting with sunshine. The wake up call came at 5:30, but we were already up and getting ready to participate in the morning ritual of making an offering of food to the monks.
Tina and her driver picked us up in a local taxi. This vehicle is like a pickup truck with a bench on both sides, a roof and open air windows. You climb in at the tailgate, taking care to remain ducked until you sit and sort of duck walk until you can sit. Not all of us remembered to duck.
We were 13 with Tina and as the 6 Americans and 6 Canadians filed in, it was quickly apparent that only 10 of us would fit. Jacques, our largest member, went to the front next to the driver. The rest of us pushed and squeezed, to Tina's giggly amusement, until all 12 were inside. "These taxis are made to hold 14," she laughed. Yes, well.
The taxi delivered us to one of several monk sites where they gather every morning between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. to receive their daily offerings of food. They used to walk with their bowls in the vicinity of their respective temples but nowadays, there's so much traffic that the people who make offerings cannot safely stop their vehicles. So taxi drivers like the one who took us volunteer their time and gas to pick up the monks from distant temples, bring them to an offering site, then drive them back.
It also used to be that families would cook an extra portion of food early in the morning for the monks, and a family member, sometimes a child, would deliver it. Tina did this when she was a little girl. This still happens, but more often now vendors cook food and prepare a tray containing rice, a beverage (usually water) a piece of fruit, a sweet, a hot dish, and maybe something dried which can keep. A tray like this costs 20 baht (about 70 cents) and we each bought one.
The area is so busy that the trays of food are set up away from the vendor, who is kept busy preparing more trays. You simply take a tray and leave your 20 baht on the table, returning the tray afterwards. Buddhists are completely honest and trustworthy. No one would dream of taking a tray without paying, nor would anyone steal the money which is just left lying on the table until the vendor can come for it and pick up the empty trays. And if someone did such a dishonest deed, the Buddhists simply Forgive and Forget. They live this rule each day.
We watched Tina as she approached a monk with her tray, placing each item carefully into his stainless steel bowl. When she was done she knelt with hands clasped prayer fashion and the monk covered the bowl with a lid, chanting a thank you prayer which also asks that there be enough food this day for everyone in the world. We all followed suit, though we were not required to kneel unless we chose to do so.
There is room in the bowl for more than one tray of food, and when the bowl is full, the monk either walks, barefoot, back to his monastery or gets a ride in one of the taxis if he came from far away. At the monastery the food is shared with older monks and any excess that can be saved, like the dried food, is put aside. This is used to feed the poor who know they can go to any temple if they're hungry. If there's food available, it's given.
This ritual is repeated every day. Monks are only permitted to eat twice per day, both times before noon. After noon they can drink, but cannot eat as this time is used for study and meditation. If they are full of food, they fall asleep.
It was a moving experience, sharing in a Buddhist ritual that remains essentially unchanged for the past 2550 years.
Tina and her driver picked us up in a local taxi. This vehicle is like a pickup truck with a bench on both sides, a roof and open air windows. You climb in at the tailgate, taking care to remain ducked until you sit and sort of duck walk until you can sit. Not all of us remembered to duck.We were 13 with Tina and as the 6 Americans and 6 Canadians filed in, it was quickly apparent that only 10 of us would fit. Jacques, our largest member, went to the front next to the driver. The rest of us pushed and squeezed, to Tina's giggly amusement, until all 12 were inside. "These taxis are made to hold 14," she laughed. Yes, well.
The taxi delivered us to one of several monk sites where they gather every morning between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. to receive their daily offerings of food. They used to walk with their bowls in the vicinity of their respective temples but nowadays, there's so much traffic that the people who make offerings cannot safely stop their vehicles. So taxi drivers like the one who took us volunteer their time and gas to pick up the monks from distant temples, bring them to an offering site, then drive them back.
It also used to be that families would cook an extra portion of food early in the morning for the monks, and a family member, sometimes a child, would deliver it. Tina did this when she was a little girl. This still happens, but more often now vendors cook food and prepare a tray containing rice, a beverage (usually water) a piece of fruit, a sweet, a hot dish, and maybe something dried which can keep. A tray like this costs 20 baht (about 70 cents) and we each bought one.
The area is so busy that the trays of food are set up away from the vendor, who is kept busy preparing more trays. You simply take a tray and leave your 20 baht on the table, returning the tray afterwards. Buddhists are completely honest and trustworthy. No one would dream of taking a tray without paying, nor would anyone steal the money which is just left lying on the table until the vendor can come for it and pick up the empty trays. And if someone did such a dishonest deed, the Buddhists simply Forgive and Forget. They live this rule each day.
We watched Tina as she approached a monk with her tray, placing each item carefully into his stainless steel bowl. When she was done she knelt with hands clasped prayer fashion and the monk covered the bowl with a lid, chanting a thank you prayer which also asks that there be enough food this day for everyone in the world. We all followed suit, though we were not required to kneel unless we chose to do so.
There is room in the bowl for more than one tray of food, and when the bowl is full, the monk either walks, barefoot, back to his monastery or gets a ride in one of the taxis if he came from far away. At the monastery the food is shared with older monks and any excess that can be saved, like the dried food, is put aside. This is used to feed the poor who know they can go to any temple if they're hungry. If there's food available, it's given.This ritual is repeated every day. Monks are only permitted to eat twice per day, both times before noon. After noon they can drink, but cannot eat as this time is used for study and meditation. If they are full of food, they fall asleep.
It was a moving experience, sharing in a Buddhist ritual that remains essentially unchanged for the past 2550 years.
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