The monks performed the ceremony of bungsakoun for our mom and another couple’s relative, which is a merit transferring to deceased loved ones.

According to 2012 Chinese Horoscope prediction, the year 2012 is Water Dragon Year. Dragon mainly contains Earth. Earth and Water are opposite elements. It sounds that some bad news will continue to arrive. Some people have predicted the Doomsday on December 21, 2012 after interpreting the ending of the Great Cycle of the Mayan Calendar. Mayans say that this whole cycle of civilization 5,125 years comes to an end on the Winter Solstice, 2012. In China, there is no prediction about the end of the world in 2012. Conversely, hundreds of years ago, a prophet said China will become prosperous and peaceful in 2012.

We had a good turnout this year, and it is a good sign that this will be a good year.

This is an interesting Alms’ bowl. She is very thoughtful in her offering and also includes an envelope of money as many Buddhist worshipers offer money to monks and temple on special occasion. The money offering to the individual monk is called Pud Jai, it goes to the monk and not the temple.

Alms giving

Food offering to the monks.

Click here to view this video on YouTube

At the end of the 3-month rains retreat monks are allowed to move from place to place, and are eligible to receive new robes in an annual presentation ceremony called Thot Kathin.

Our local temple Wat Greensboro held Thot Kathin last Sunday. It was a beautiful Autumn day and we had a good turnout.

Besides new robes, we are also allowed to make financial contributions, building materials and other items are also presented to monks on this special occasion. Thon Kathin or the money trees that the Buddhist worshippers joined in and hung their monies to be donated to the temple as part of the Kathin offering.

Kong Boun was also presented to the monks.

Morning Alms giving.

The tradition gets passed down from generation to generation.

The foods offering to the monks.

Food offering to passed loved one.

The parade for Hare Kathin Samakee where the Buddhist worshipers brought gifts, food, and yellow ropes to the monks.

As you can see that it’s very festive if you watched the video.

The presentation of Kathin.

I always looked forward to shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables.

There was a live band.

The tradition of Buddhist Lent or the annual three-month Rains Retreat known in Laos and Thailand as Punsa, which dated back to the early Buddhism in ancient India. This is the time where monks spent three months of the annual rainy season in permanent dwellings. This is to avoid unnecessary traveling during the period when crops were still new for fear they might accidentally step on young plants. It was believed that in the ancient time, the Lord Buddha left earth for 3 months to visit his mother up in heaven. He wanted to show his gratitude by chanting for her during this Lent period, and the day of Ork Punsa was the day that he returned to earth. All the people came to greet him, as we carried the tradition to this day by gathering at our local temple to celebrate his returned.

The morning Alms giving is called Tuk Badt Tayvo. It is an old Thai tradition of Alms giving where the Buddhist worshipers would lineup and the monks come by to collect Alms.

The line was lead by a Buddha statue, then followed by monks.

The big money tree or Tun Phapa was organized by Mae Tou Gaisorn.

Food offering to the monks.

The money trees were presented to Wat (temple).

In memory of our passed loved ones, we would pour water called Goud Nom Pra Maid Ta to mother earth so she can tell our passed love ones to come and receive their Boun (merit), and in this case it was for our mom.

Like many religions, our Wat (temple) is built by the people and the name of the donors are everywhere.

The Wat persimmons were harvested and sold for $5 per bag, I bought 2 bags.

It was a beautiful Autumn day and we had a good turnout.

Ginger

I walked around looking for the persimmon on the tree, but I couldn’t find any. They did a good job in harvesting.

Then my sister spotted a few on the tree near the temple.

It looks so good from up there.

We had a good turnout and it’s so nice to see the community coming together.

I think our hearts are in the right place and with today’s donation the temple will start building the bathroom as early as next week. Maetou Sorn was the host for Ton Phapa samakee (community money tree), and her money tree raised over $1,000. Many families brought in their own money trees and when we left they were still counting the last money tree. Some donations are in Thai Baht, and came all the way from Thailand.

Thon Phapa (money tree) started out with empty branches, and people help hung their donations on the tree. In this case money does grow on trees.

Long line for morning Alms giving.

My dad helped sorting out items from the Alms bowls.

The temple hung banners that tell the story of Buddhism.

Offering flowers for the Big Buddha Mantle.

Phramaha Somsak Sambimb is the Abbot for Wat Greensboro , he is known for his great sermons.

We brought foods from home for meal offering to the monks.

We had about 30 minutes break while the monks eat their meal. There are many vendors selling foods, fruits, vegetables and souvenir items.

I didn’t do a video this time and only photos.

These are from the temple fruit trees. They are not ready to harvest but that didn’t stop people from picking and tasting.

These is Ton Kathun in Lao, Putsar in Thai, and Chinese dates or jujube in English.

There was a local live band playing, and luckily the sun came out in the afternoon.

People shared meal after the monks finished eating. It is considered lucky to eat the same meal as the monks.

The presentation of Thon Phapa or the money trees was in the afternoon. I’m so happy to see such gathering and the community coming together to help build the temple.

The Buddhist Lent Day is also known as Kao Punsa, which is the annual three-month Rains Retreat known in Laos and Thailand as Punsa. This dated back to the early Buddhism in ancient India, it is the time where monks spent three months of the annual rainy season in permanent dwellings to avoid unnecessary traveling during the period when crops were still new for fear that they might accidentally step on young plants. It is also considered inauspicious to get married or move house during the Lent period, and after the end of the Lent period then the calendar is open for weddings.

I checked the setup on my camera yesterday and didn’t realize that I was shooting on a medium quality of 8M instead of the 18M that my camera has to offer. I can’t remember when I made this change, but I recalled that I was low on memory and decided to change the setup so I could get more shots. I could have kicked myself for not changing it back right away.

Lee and my sister hung monies on the money tree.

Alms giving.

The tradition of offering candles to the temple.

Water blessing

As I have mentioned before that we received a permit from the city to expand our temple. The construction is coming along slowly due to the financial situation. The contractor want a lot more than what the temple has, just the bathroom alone they want $100,000. I have to say that at this price you could build a whole house. They agreed to give a 30% discount if the temple would do some of the work themselves, which is something that the temple plan to do to cut cost.

The donated bricks are nicely stacked in the background.

The next event at Wat Greensboro is Sunday, August 14, 2011. It’s the Phapa Presentation or Pakaprak Day, which is the day of presentation of the forest robe to the monks and also giving donation to support the temple. There will be live band and the event is free, hope you could come if you are in the area.

There were few vendors since this is not one of the big events such as Songkran Day or Kathin Ceremony.

Fried Banana is Lee’s favorite snack.

There are rows and rows of persimmon trees.

Click here to view this video on YouTube

This is our fifth year attending the July 4th celebration at Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett Virginia, and this year fell on Saturday July 2nd and July 3rd. We got to Wat on Friday evening and the kids were looking forward to the event for several months now.

Many Lao locals went there on Friday evening to shop since they didn’t have to pay to get in, Saturday ticket was $10 per person. The main part of Wat (temple) is free to all visitors, this is my GI Joe sister giving Almes on Saturday morning.

We stayed till Sunday morning and headed out to Virginia Beach afterward, more photos to come.

The opening part of the ceremony on Saturday was performed by monks, actually this is the first year I saw the monks performing ceremony on stage and giving out awards to singers and performers.

The singer from Thailand this year was Baitaung Channgam, I made a separate post for her.

Also from Lao ChampaTV Bao Lee Tounkoula (not sure about the spelling of his name), I posted his song with Baitaung since they performed together.

A Lao band from Montreal Canada, I made a separate post.

And many young dancers and local entertainers, and here are the links to their posts.
Kinnaly Lao Classical Dance
Local Thai Band
Hmong Song
Lao Local Singers
Forn Lao Pan
Morlum Noy and Lao Fashion Show

Many vendors were from Florida, and I do love their fresh fruits.

The best part about visiting Boun Wat is the food, the chicken on the sticks look just like back home.

My favorite is Kanom Krok, the ones that we made at home tasted very much like these now.

And Kaolarm, another one of my favorite sticky rice desserts.

Lee looked forward to shop for Lao/Thai items this year.

The sign was so tempting, we were there all day on Saturday.

They had a good turnout on Saturday, and the weather was real nice.

Click to see more random photos.

It must be the sunshine after the storm, the weather was exceptionally nice and we had a good turnout. Today we celebrated a Cambodian, Lao, and Thai New Year.

I think many people have a misconception when they pray to the lord Buddha. I overheard one lady telling her daughter that when she pours the water over the Buddha images to ask for what ever she wishes and wants for her future. Buddha is not a god of giving, but a teacher and we follow his teaching. What you wish and want, only you could make it happen and it makes more sense to ask for strength and guidance so you could achieve your goal in life. We pour water over Buddha images for blessing and cleansing the rust from our soul.

My dad brought his own blessing water.

Jaydee Cide or sand stupas.

Paying homage to the lord Buddha.

Morning Almsgiving, the tradition of offering food to the monks.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if someone is Lao, Thai or Cambodian and when they stand in line to give Almes, what they offer is a giveaway. A Lao person will most likely offer rice, fruits, sweet treats, and money.

I notice that a Cambodian often offer rice and money.

Food offering to the monks.

Wat Greensboro is in the process of expanding, many people offer money to help build the bathrooms, kitchen, and Sala Houng Tum (worship hall).

This is a perfect place to learn about Buddhism.

Vendors

Lee found a friend, he was dressed in a Thai outfit.

Ajarn Somsak burned the names of the deceased that we offered the merit to as a way of communication to the spiritual world.

Many Buddhist worshipers also joined in the merit making for their passed loved ones.

Almsgiving on January 1st is a tradition that has passed down for generations amongst the Buddhist community and a tradition for our local temple Wat Greensboro of North Carolina.

Accepting of the ropes.

Ajarn Darrell will become his spiritual teacher.

After the three-month rains retreat most Buddhist temple held a Kathin Ceremony also known as Thot Kathin where people have a grand festival of offering of gifts, food and yellow ropes to the monks. It was sad to hear that some temple in Cambodia didn’t have a Kathin ceremony due to the readiness of the people. Kathin Ceremony is a big event and held once a year.

We had a good turnout this year, but not as many as the previous years.

There was a Thon Kathin and several Thon Phapa, the money trees that the Buddhist worshippers joined in and hung their monies to be donated to the temple as part of the Kathin offering.

There were 9 monk’s bowls at Almsgiving,.

We only had 2 monks that Kao Punsa, and stayed at the temple during the three-month rains retreat but needed at least 5 monks to have a Kathin Ceremony. Like most Buddhist Wat here in the US, our temple invited monks from nearby temples and below was one of the monks that were invited for the Kathin Ceremony.

The parade for Hare Kathin Samakee where the Buddhist worshipers brought gifts, food, and yellow ropes to the monks.

We paraded around the temple ground.

My dad offered a yellow rope for the monk.

The ceremony is very festive and this might be an announcement that more festive ceremony is to come, as it is now considered auspicious to have weddings and house warming.

A Cambodian artist, Bo spoke to him and I will find out his name and link to his site and the price of his artwork is reasonable. His name is Soknang Chea who is the owner of S&C Art Gallery. He describes himself as a realistic artist developing to modern style, please check out his online art gallery for a beautiful collection of artwork.

The money trees or Tun Phapa were presented to the temple by individuals, this time we had 2 trees and a total of $415.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, according to our Buddhist belief Tuk Badt or Alms giving is believed by many that it’s a Boun (merit making) of life, that they will live a long and healthy life. Below is a picture of items for alms giving.

Today’s Alms giving is called Tuk Badt Tayvo. It’s an old Thai tradition of Alms giving where the Buddhist worshipers would lineup and the monks come by to collect Alms. The line was lead by a Buddha statue, then followed by monks.

A Buddhist worshiper offering alms to an American monk.

The next religious event coming up is Thot Kathin, one of the biggest religious events of the year.