Yesterday we had Thot Kathin or Kathin Ceremony at our local temple, Wat Greensboro of North Carolina.

Dork Champee, I’ve not seen one in a long time. The aroma is incredible and it’s one of the offering flowers.

In most Southeast Asia countries, where Buddhist monks live in one place for 3 months known as Punsa or Rain Retreat, and after the three months of Retreat observance, people have a very grand festival of offering food to the monks in various Wat (Temples), each Wat could only Thot Kathin once a year. At this same time, they prepare special yellow robes that are offered to the Sangha .

This special yellow robe offering is called the Kathin Offering Ceremony. It can be done only during the period from the end of the Rain Retreat to the first day of the Waning Moon of the 12th Lunar Month, which means only within 29 days after Ork Punsa. There must be at least 5 monks for a Wat to Thot Kathin, and in the United States, it’s hard to have that many living in one Wat, but we have 6 monks at our Wat for the Kathin Ceremony. This year we have a Kathin Samakee, which means that it’s being hosted by many and not just one person, we had the Khmer, the Lao, and the Thais and raised over $10,000.

We’ve 2 American monks at our temple.

Food offering to the monks.

The money tree in this ceremony is called Thon Kathin, and as I’ve mentioned before that we could only do it once a year, but if you see the money tree in other occasions, it’s called Thon Phapa and can be done several times a year.

This is a very festive event, and we paraded around the temple ground carrying gifts to the monks.

Wat Greensboro have had some air time at NatSat TV and these ladies thought that I was from there, they were posting for pictures, but sorry ladies that I’m not with the TV, and only a blogger.

Gifts, and yellow robes for the monks.

This is the place that housed the urns, and we paraded around it 3 times.

Then we headed back to Wat.

They tossed monies up in the air, I think it’s for good luck and many raced to get it.

And my dad heading back to Wat bringing yellow robe as gift.

Pi Rooney selling Guoy Jub (noodle dish) for the temple.

One of my favorite desserts, Lod Chong Nam Ka Ti.

I bought several home.

Mae Ka Som Tum Annie wants her friends in California to see her, I hope they can find her here.

This one is Tum Mak Houng (spicy papaya salad) with padaek, very bold and spicy, delicious.

This is a related post of Ork Punsa and Thot Kathin that I wrote in August 2007.

Boun Souang Heua is a part of Lao tradition for many generations, but most younger generations forget as to why we celebrate the festive event, and it might be that the event of Dragon Boat Racing is internationally recognized, well known to all, and has an interesting myth and legend that surround the history of the event. As for our Boun Souang Heau, we also have our history and reasoning behind the event as well, it is held the day after Ork Punsa.

As we all knew that Buddhism is the official religion of Laos, and many religious events are more or less celebrated nationwide. One of the most notable celebrations is at the end of Lent or the Rains Retreat called Ork Punsa. Punsa is the period of three months during which the Buddhist monks are obliged to stay in the monasteries. The end of the Rains Retreat marks the occasion for the monks throughout the country to receive new robes and other necessities in an annual presentation ceremony called Thot Kathin (merit-making ceremony).

According to one of the monks at our local Wat (temple), in Laos, people would choose which Wat they want to Thot Kathin, the temple then place a Kathin flag as an announcement that the Kathin event is to follow. Assuming if there were no flag in front of Wat, then the villagers would join in to Thot Kathin called Kathin Samakee.

Long boats were traditionally built for carrying Buddha images in water-borne processions during the Kathin ceremony. However, they are also designed for racing, victory brought fame to the village or temple that owned the boat. The boats thus have a long and sleek appearance.

The long boats are usually made by hollowing out a tree trunk; wooden planks were added as seats for the oarsmen. Before each race, the boat is repainted, with the bow and stern decorated to resemble Phaya Nark (Naga), lion or other creatures. The outside of the boat is waxed to reduce drag and increase the ease with which the vessel glides through the water.

Since Laos is a river-based culture, the Mekong River is like an artery that runs through our country, it’d only make sense that we’d have competition in the water as part of our sporting events, which is called Long Boat Racing, or Boun Souang Heua, just as land-based cultures race horses or cars, Lao race Long boats. I think Boun Souang Heua is a festive event worth carrying on the tradition, and to understand the true meaning behind it only makes it more special to us.

Today was Ork Punsa at our local temple Wat Greensboro, also known as Greensboro Buddhist Center, but tomorrow is the day that marks the conclusion of the Rains retreat. 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. According to our sermon today, 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, and all the people came to greet him. It is also considered inauspicious to get married or move house during the Lent period, but after Ork Punsa, the calendar is open for weddings.

As I’ve mentioned before, 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’ll live a long and healthy life, which technically speaking, by Tuk Badt, they’re offering foods to the monks to sustain their livelihoods.

Today’s Alms giving is called Tuk Badt Tayvo, its an old Thai tradition of Alms giving where the Buddhist worshipers would lineup and the monks come by to collect Alms, I’m not sure if it’s called the same in Lao. This made me think of the time that we lived in Kamphangphet, Thailand, we would Tuk Badt Tayvo with rice grains, and dried foods that way it would not get spoiled because there were long lines of Buddhist worshipers and hundreds of monks collecting Alms, it’s a beautiful sight to witness and to take part in the ceremony.

The foods were brought in by Buddhist worshipers to offer to the monks for their midday meal.

The money trees or Tun Phapa were presented to the temple by individuals, this time we had 3 trees.

We finally have a rough draft drawing of our new multipurpose building that I mentioned earlier, this includes the bathroom, and kitchen. It has not been approved by the city, but hopefully it won’t be long before we hear the good news.

We have a generous donor that donated 20,000 bricks thus far, but as far as accepting financial donation, Maha Somsak Sambimb is asking everyone to wait until the plan gets approved by the city, but today we have another generous donor that donated money to help with the construction project.

This is my favorite time of the year to visit our local temple, it’s harvest season for the persimmons.

Also harvest season for chili peppers, plenty on sale at the temple.

We had a good turnout today, Kathin Ceremony also known as the ceremony of presentation of the yellow robe to Buddhist monks is next Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 9:30 AM, this time they’ll have outdoor concert as well, this should be fun and everyone is welcome.

The tradition of Buddhist Lent or the annual three-month Rains Retreat known in Thai and Lao as Khao Pansa marks the beginning of the three month Buddhist ‘Lent‘. Laypeople provide monasteries with stacks of new robes for Lent monks, since during the Lent period monks are restricted to their monasteries for a prolonged period of spiritual retreat. Ordinary people are also expected to be rather more religious during this time, marriages do not take place and it is inauspicious to move house. This is a good time for young men to temporarily enter the monastery. (source)

As for our local temple, Wat Greensboro or Greensboro Buddhist Center, we’ve Buddhist service and Alms Giving every Sunday during the Rains Retreat. Our Wat (Temple) is looking to expand the Sala Hong Tham (worship hall) and we’ve the opportunity to broadcast part of the sermon on TV, I think it is going to be on NatSat TV.

Some Buddhist worshipers were there to Tum Boun (merit making) for their passed loved ones, the deceased names were written on a white piece of paper, then burned during the ceremony.

Lee Wai to pay respect during the ceremony.

Some pay respect by the big Buddha.

The money trees or Tun Phapa were presented to the temple by individuals, and this lady was there to Tum Boun (merit making) for her dog that passed away, the money tree on the right hand side was hers.

There was also a basket of goodies for dog, this was donated to the temple, kind of odd you might think but not at all since our local temple have several dogs.

One of the dogs is Boy, Miss Little Sunshine went to tell him the good news.

A bowl for Alms Giving, looks like it’s made out of real silver, a beautiful handicraft from Laos judging by the mystical three-headed elephant design on the rice basket.

Buddhist tradition of Alms Giving, men are allowed to stand when give Alms, but ladies have to kneel down.

The presentation of Tun Phapa or money tree, and food offering to the monks.

Then the sermon afterward and this concluded the end of the service.

She is adorable, remember her?

Mangoes for sale at the temple, only $1 per pound, they’re huge, each mango is a pound.

Lum-Yai or Longan, they were selling it $3 per pound and I bought 9 pounds, needless to say that I have a bad sore throat now, I think I ate too much.

The Jackfruit or Ka Noon was so big that they had to cut it up, the portion on the scale was over 5 lbs, she said it was $31. It was too pricey for me but the aroma is to die for. And no, this is not Durian (Thu Rian), you might die if you smell that, after all, it is considered the King of all stinky Tropical fruit.

I wonder if it tastes as good as it smells and looks.

Two spirit houses, and a bench in the middle to sit and relax, I’m just not so sure, so I asked for permission to take a picture and left.

Rows of Persimmon trees.

The persimmons are not ready to harvest, and I did do a taste test and it’s definitely not ready, might be ready at the end of September or beginning October.

It’s nice to see the Bodhi tree again, it’s everywhere in Laos, but not in America.

There are plenty of fruits on Tun Kathun in Lao, Putsar in Thai, and Chinese dates or jujube in English.

They look so good, I also did a taste test and it’s not very sweet, might not be ready for harvest yet.

The Buddhist monk garden, rows and rows of vegetables.

• Send Me An Angel by Scorpions

Have you ever wondered why there are so many young novice monks in Laos, especially in Luang Prabang? Our Buddhist faith in Laos is not as strict as the Myanmar, where it’s their tradition that every Myanmar Buddhist boy average age between 7 and 13 is expected to enter the monastery as a novice for a period of a few weeks to months, it’s considered to be the most important day in the boy’s life.

But in Laos, we don’t have a tradition like that, but yet we see many young novice monks at the local temples. Back in the olden days, temples were the schools, especially if you’re poor, as there was no formal education system. This makes sense because the Buddha is a teacher, and monks provide basic lesson in both spiritual and secular subjects, and for some, this might be the only way to get an education, not just in the olden days, but also in today society.

During my visit to Laos and Thailand, after we got stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we went back to Vientiane Laos to catch our flight back home, and we stayed at a hotel that’s not too far from Wat Mixay. I didn’t get to take a picture of the entrance, and this is a borrowed photo from here.

My dad and I passed the temple gate, and saw school children playing in the temple ground and thought that the school must be nearby. We visited the temple and that’s when I realized that the school is at the temple, kind of surprised me at first because I didn’t expect to see this at all. The children are very happy.

When I was in Ubon Thailand, seeing a daycare at the temple is kind of odd to me also, but makes perfect sense now, this temple is Wat Don Yung.

The monks and novice monks would collect alms every morning, and they’d give some items that they collected to the young children at the daycare, especially juice, milk and snacks.

I thought this was a great idea and I didn’t know before that they have something like this in Thailand. It’s very much like the daycare in the US, but according to my cousin, they didn’t have to pay for my little cousin to attend, of course in the US, daycare is very expensive and takes precedence over anything else, even your house payment, rent or car payment, and that’s because if you don’t pay, then you can’t bring your child the following week.

A great way to make them smile is to show their picture on the LCD screen afterward, then all I heard was “Take it again…” and a big smile.

I had to thin out my Water Hyacinth this past Sunday, they were taking over my pond and I’m glad that I did, otherwise I would have missed this Lotus flower in bloom (closeup image). Then I also saw a flower that my sister Sue gave me, I didn’t know what it was at first, and it has a very strong fragrant, very much like a Jasmine but a lot stronger, my sister told me it’s a Tuberose, and some people said that it smells very much like the Queen of the Night. The plant was given to her by Mae tou Sorn and she said that you can use the flower to Wai Pra (offering to Buddha). I’m glad that she gave me part of her plants and now I have a Tuberose in my garden, closeup image.

The tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) is a perennial plant of the agave family Agavaceae, and the oil extracted from the flower is used as a perfume. Its a prominent plant in Indian culture and mythology. The flowers are used in wedding ceremonies, garlands, decoration and various traditional rituals, and I believed one being the offering flower for Buddhism.

I recalled when I was little living in Laos and Thailand that lotus flower is used for worshiping. And during my visit back home, I’m not surprised to see the Lotus flowers in front of the Wat (temple), after all it’s the sacred flower of India where the birth of Buddhism.

Below on the left hand side is Dork Huk, I’m not sure what it’s called in English but the Lao name is loosely translated as the flower of love.

Kind of surprised me that the most popular flower for worshiping in Laos is the Marigold.

And at Boun That Luang, Marigold seemed to be the flower of choice also.

My dad and I are still very traditional when it comes to flower, we preferred the Lotus flower and that’s what we used for offering.

I’m beginning to see Lee’s Marigold flowers in a different light now.

Visakha Puja Day is also known as Buddha’s Birthday, it’s the day of birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. This is the holiest day for Buddhists,and celebrated by the Buddhist communities all over the world. It was a nice day, and we had a good turn out yesterday, might be about 80 worshipers that were there. We’ve several Buddhist temples in North Carolina, and this one is Wat Greensboro also known as Greensboro Buddhist Center, almost an hour and 20 minutes for us to get there, so our local temple is not so local after all.

A young Buddhist worshiper, must be love at first sight…she is adorable.

And for those that have a hard time sitting on the floor, there are chairs in back.

This is Mae Tou Gaisorn, she is the host for Thot Pahpar this year, and also the previous years. She donated $50 and was the first to hang her money on the money tree, and by the end of the day many Buddhist worshipers joined her and we ended up with $300 and the amount was donated to the temple.

Almsgiving.

Foods offering to the monks, anyone can bring food from home to offer, my second sister brought several dishes, and I brought Ginger chicken.

The ceremony for Visakha Puja started after the monks had finished with their meal and it was about 11:45 AM, this is to pay homage to the lord Buddha and everyone was given 3 incense sticks which represent the Buddhist Triple Gem, standing for the Buddha, his teachings (the dharma), and the monkhood (the sangha).

The ceremony started with the monks chanting, all monks and each worshiper held 3 incense sticks, all facing the direction of the big Buddha statue.

And as for us, since this is Mother’s Day, we took the opportunity to Tum Boun (Merrit making) for our mom that passed away in January 2007 as well.

Part of the ceremony to offer Boun (merrit) to our passed loved ones, we’d 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, and in this case, it was for our mom.

There weren’t as many foods and souvenir vendors as the New Year celebration.

I spotted Lod Chong Nam Ka Ti right away, one of my favorite desserts, and purchased 3, they were $2 each and it was real good.

I think Nham is a Laotian dish, not very often that you’d find them selling at a festive event such as this.

The next event at Wat Greensboro is Sunday, May 17th, Atthamee Puja Day, it’s the day of the cremation of the Buddha’s body, meditation retreat and Dhamma talk will be provided. It begins at 9:30 AM, all are invited and welcome.

I’ve often passed this Vietnamese Temple, but never have the opportunity to go inside until this past Sunday.

I was on my way back from visiting my dad, and saw cars parked in front, I made a U turn and came back to the temple, not sure at the time if I‘d be welcome.

This is a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, and on Sunday they were celebrating Buddha’s Birthday. The celebration came a bit early because they’ve several temples, and there will be another celebration at their big temple in South Carolina this coming weekend. I was invited to eat lunch with them, but it was around 3 PM, and I knew that they were done eating and told them thank you, and that I had already eaten at my dad’s.

The inside is real nice, I paid my respect the Laotian Buddhist way, knelled on the floor and Wai (hands in upside down Y) 3 times and said my prayers. After I finished, one of the men that was there gave me an incense stick, and I lit it and said my prayers again, still knelling on the floor. Then I saw a Vietnamese lady, she appears to be in her 60s and stood next to me and bowed 3 times. I smiled, a bit embarrassed, so that is how it’s done, I’ll remember next time.

This is their Big Buddha, the characters in the background appear to be Chinese characters.

There are several statues that I’m not familiar with.

This I recognized, she is Jao Mae Guan Im (also known as Guanyin (or spelled Kuan Yin) by the Chinese, she is also known as the Chinese Bodhisattva of Compassion).

Her statue is also in front of the temple.

I met the monk, his robe seems a bit dark, he explained that this is to wear around the temple, but when he performs the Buddhist ceremony, he’d wear the yellow monk robes.

And he is the ground keeper, that’s what he called himself.

I’m glad that I stop by, it’s a nice temple and the people are very friendly.

One lady even gave me an orange from this fruit tray, the fruits and flowers were for worshiping.

This special day is celebrated by Buddhist communities all over the world, Buddha’s Birthday is recognized on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. If you’re interested in joining the celebration, check you local temple for the exact date, but I think most temples will hold this festive event this weekend.

Sunday I attended a Buddhist ceremony at one of the temples in Charlotte, NC, quiet a bit drive from our house. This ceremony is called Bung Sa Goun, which is a memorial service ceremony in remembrance of the passed loved one and in this ceremony, two families held the ceremony together, one family was for their father, and his son and daughter in-law, and another family was for their uncle.

What is unique about this ceremony is that there are four beds (one for each deceased person) that are called Gong Bung and on them contain items that we want our passed loved ones to have in their afterlife. The Buddhist believe that in the spiritual world, our passed loved ones still use these items, we want them to have the necessities of the daily life convenient such as pillow, blanket, plates and bowls, and other items. As for item of personal clothing article, many would also offer this, but ask to get it back by offering donation called Busar, and the monetary amount offered is up to the offered because there is no set amount.

Meal is also offered to the deceased, this is called Pra Kao Thip.

I’ve been working hard in my garden, but my trees don’t look anything like this, might be because I water my trees with water (Nom in Lao language), but I do wish that I have a money tree at home. The money tree here is called Tonh Ga La Pirk, this would give friends and families the opportunity to Tum Boun (merit making) with the host families, offering their money by hanging it on the tree, this tree is obviously watered with Nom Jai, water that came from the heart (Jai). The money is then donated to the temple.

The ceremony is performed by monks, started with chanting.

This is to offer foods or items to the passed loved ones, and at this point, one can also make a wish to receive the merit for him/herself.

According to our Buddhist belief, Tuk Badt or Almsgiving is believed by many that it’s a Boun (merit making) of life, that they’ll live a long and healthy life, which technically speaking, by Tuk Badt, they’re offering foods to the monks to sustain their livelihoods.

Many people were there, this lady has a cool tattoo.

The desserts

Lao Foods

This temple is new, they’ve been here less than 4 years, and they’ve a nice pond in the back.

One of the good things about living in Laos is that the local Wat (temple) is within a walking distance, I can’t say the same here in the United States. We have so many temples here in North Carolina, but all are about 45 minutes to 1.50 hours drive, as for this one, Wat Greensboro is about 1 hours and 25 minutes drive for us.

We had a good turn out, this is the line for morning Almsgiving.

Jaydee Cide or sand stupas are still very fascinating to me. As for this year, my wish is still the same as last year, when I built the Jaydee Cide, I made a wish and donated the good merits for my mom that is no longer with us.

Lodh nom songk, or pouring water on Buddha images.

This one is new to me, rubbing on the Buddha images, I wonder if he asked for a lottery number.

Many beautiful ladies came out today.

Young worshipers…

And faithful Buddhist…

No, not ghosts and goblins, but I did have a good scare today. As I was walking to the sim (worship hall), I could feel someone right behind me, too close I thought to myself, so I turned to look and faced this.

I must have had that look on my face, and she said, “No! No! Don’t be scared.” She was waving her white hands right in my face, that didn’t help, I backed away.

The food venues were busy, especially the Spicy Papaya Salad, aka Tum Maak Houng venue.

I know these ladies, they were there to help raise funds for the temple.

I didn’t get to take many food photos, but hope that this will more than make up for it. This is the food offered to the monks, there are 6 monks at our local temple.

And my GI Joe sister volunteered to do the dishes today… brave soul, although later on she had some help.

I guess not so much fun for her, but I can’t say the same about others, there was a live band.

And no, the monk didn’t sing.

Our local temple celebrated Lao New Year this weekend, but other Wat are celebrating Next Weekend, so hope you can make it to the celebration.

Sok Dee Pee Mai and Happy Lao New Year.