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.

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.

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.

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.

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.