Thailand, Bangkok, Sacred Thread
08/11/04 Filed in: Travel
This morning I have been invited to attend the
inauguration of a new building owned by a Thai
meditator. We are told that there will be a small
group of monks who have arrived to give their
blessings and that the head monk is someone
special.
There is a short ceremony underway when we arrive and we are invited to participate. We each take a plate of cooked rice and offer a small portion into the bowl of each of the eight monks, one by one. When this is done the monks are given a variety of other foods in their bowls. When they have all been served we also take some food.
While I'm eating I am told about the head monk. His name, Luang Pu Naen Kum means Enlightened Great Grandfather. He became a monk at age 7 and though he is still young, only 26, he remembers some 400 years of former life as a monk. They tell me that when his master passed away he was blessed with the gift of sidhis. For example, by placing his hand on a book he knows everything within the book.
After lunch the monks chant and offer blessings on everyone, then the head monk walks around the new building blessing each room and painting sacred words on the entry way. Sitting back down, the head monk offers sacred threads of protection to a few people by tossing them in the air just above their hand (so as not to touch the individual). When he looks up and sees me in front of him he begins to laugh and asks if I'd want one? Yes, of course! He asks that I come closer and while chanting reaches out, takes my hand and slowly, purposefully, wraps the thread and ties it around my wrist. Then holding my hand, he whispers some mantras while rubbing my wrist. With a big smile he says, "Please come to my temple so we can discuss dharma".
So it is, I continue to be blessed and look forward to each new day here. The Thai people are perhaps the sweetest people one could know.
Please check out all the photos on my SE Asia Portfolio page available at NavaSwan.com
There is a short ceremony underway when we arrive and we are invited to participate. We each take a plate of cooked rice and offer a small portion into the bowl of each of the eight monks, one by one. When this is done the monks are given a variety of other foods in their bowls. When they have all been served we also take some food.
While I'm eating I am told about the head monk. His name, Luang Pu Naen Kum means Enlightened Great Grandfather. He became a monk at age 7 and though he is still young, only 26, he remembers some 400 years of former life as a monk. They tell me that when his master passed away he was blessed with the gift of sidhis. For example, by placing his hand on a book he knows everything within the book.
After lunch the monks chant and offer blessings on everyone, then the head monk walks around the new building blessing each room and painting sacred words on the entry way. Sitting back down, the head monk offers sacred threads of protection to a few people by tossing them in the air just above their hand (so as not to touch the individual). When he looks up and sees me in front of him he begins to laugh and asks if I'd want one? Yes, of course! He asks that I come closer and while chanting reaches out, takes my hand and slowly, purposefully, wraps the thread and ties it around my wrist. Then holding my hand, he whispers some mantras while rubbing my wrist. With a big smile he says, "Please come to my temple so we can discuss dharma".
So it is, I continue to be blessed and look forward to each new day here. The Thai people are perhaps the sweetest people one could know.
Please check out all the photos on my SE Asia Portfolio page available at NavaSwan.com