Week Three - Temple Stay.

So week three! This week we learn about The Buddhist Culture.
It been so interesting. Only midway through and i feel i have learned so much. There is so much to learn in the Buddhist religion.
I just got back from staying in a temple an hour north of Singburi. We slept on Cold cement which at first we thought would be a relief as it would keep us cool at night. But, we quickly learned how uncomfortable it was. They had blankets, a hard pillow and a thin mat for us to lay on. We were a little worried when we got there that we wouldn't be able to eat supper. Monks do not eat after noon so luckily we were able to get a ride into the town that had a Dairy Queen and KFC (the Asians love love LOVE their KFC). We crammed 18 people into a five seater truck. there was about9 of us in the cap (including the driver) and then another 9 in the back .. which stenched like urine. It was worth it ... we didn't want to go to bed with empty stomachs. I am disappointed to say that i had a moolatte at Dairy Queen and a chicken burger at KFC. I never felt quite so fat in my life. Especially knowing that there were monks back home that couldn't eat!
So we arrived back just in time for evening chanting and meditation. It was such a cool experience. We had to wear all white with clothes covering our shoulders and past our knees. The color white represents a few things in the Buddhist culture. It is a color of purity or a yearning for purity where a person is "half human and half monk". It also represents the nuns in a temple who take care of the monks. The Buddhists believe a woman is sensitive and are easily affected by things around them --just like the color white which gets dirty quite quickly. One of the monks taught us to meditate laying down, sitting, standing up and walking. Meditation is a way of purifying the mind. For some it is the ultimate goal of "enlightenment" which very few are able to attain. This is the deepest mind control in meditation and causes a complete separation from the world making you feel a pure happiness and contentment. You are able to reject any impurities in your mind and can have a feeling of utter peace and tranquility.
Nikki had found a kitten in the temple who had hopped in her lap for the entire evening chant and meditation lesson. It also followed us back to the room where it stayed the whole night on our laps. It had a ghost face on its head so we called it Ghost.
Speaking of Ghosts... The temple is a lot different at night. Me and Elyse went to check out some of the surrounding buildings and came to find a crematorium. It looked pretty old but we want to explore a little. Elyse looked inside the oven and found ashes at the bottom.. i wouldn't dare look! We walked to the back of the building where we notices one of the temple's blind dogs was fallowing us. We continued to walk an began to talk about how we were feeling this heaviness.. the dog began to cry and yelp. It was just too creepy for us so we ran back to our room. There is always something creepy about an animals intuition. I trust their senses better than my own.
One of the older monks had told Jolein, our room mate, of stories where he thinks he had encounters with ghosts. Scary!! I am glad we stayed only one night!
I think we all had an average of three hours sleep, except for Palm -- our Thai coordinator, who snored most of the night. The floor was just too hard and our backs ached in the morning. We woke up at 5:30 to collect food with the monks.
This is their source for food as monks are not aloud to prepare or buy any food themselves. The villages around them fully support them.
They had everything from noodles to rice cakes... all sorts of fruit and spicy curries. It is so cool to see a country that supports each other so well. They may not have a lot, but no one is left behind. They are so family oriented and have such great respect for everyone and everything. The monks even found a turtle in the well this morning and let us throw into the lake and make a wish. A turtle is seen as very Chock Dii (Good Luck).
I think i need a shower now! I was so eager to spill what was fresh in my mind that i came right from the temple to here! I don't think people want to smell or look at me at this point haha.