Buddhism at Its Thickest

I had the opportunity to be a part of a Buddhist ceremony yesterday afternoon at Wat Pho, a temple next to the King’s Palace in Bangkok. As I approached the temple, I could hear the soft sounds of Thai singing. Tall Thai structures pierced the sky in every direction. The architecture at Wat Pho is ancient and beautiful.  I walked through the stone gates and the voices grew louder. My team and I walked up the steps into the temple and took off our shoes and quietly stepped inside. I had never seen anything like it. People crowded the floor on their knees all facing the north end of the temple. My eyes were quickly drawn to the far end of the temple where a large statue of Buddha stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The idol was covered in gold and flowers. The temple was covered in stone, with high ceilings and bright red and gold colours. Everyone was singing low tones of worship to Buddha as they bowed over and over. Monks in dark orange robes lined the west side of the temple, their voices rang above the others. Everyone was dressed in white and sat almost perfectly in rows. Our team observed from the back near the door, however I began to stroll around the side wall and slowly made my way to the front near the base of the giant Buddha. I crouched in the corner behind a large pillar, and faced the crowd of worshipers. I have been to Thailand before, and experienced Buddhism in other countries as well, but never have I witnessed such an intense, ancient, mass gathering of Buddhist worship. As I sat and listened to the worship, I could not help but think about my own faith and the God that I worship. In that moment, I began to pray.

I struggle to even find the words to express how I felt crouched there watching, but that’s just it. I still don’t know what I think or feel. As a Christian, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. I know that I feel a bit of sadness, emptiness, fascination, and love for my God. But I’m also left with questions, concerns, and a need to know more. I wish I could feel what they feel when they worship Buddha. Not because I want to worship Buddha, quite the opposite. I want to know what it feels like because I know what I feel when I worship God. Some will jump all over me for that statement and say “worship isn’t a feeling”, and I know, I know. But you know what I mean. Does it feel empty? Do you feel fulfilled? Why are you worshipping? I think about the bible and how it says no one shall create or bow before any idols. This commandment was made physical, raw and real to me yesterday.

There is no conclusion or “ah ha” revelation ending to this blog entry. It’s simply an experience I want to invite you into. It scares me to think that they may never know God. But it also scares me that people at home don’t know God. God isn’t really the “cool” thing in North America. Nobody needs God because we think we have everything without him, and it’s easy to get distracted even if we do care. But I will stop here, because now I’m getting distracted from the initial purpose of this blog. But maybe something written here will make you think...

Peace and Love,

Team Thailand