It's Thai style architecture and made of wood. I heard the monks helped with the sanding of the pillars and other work during the construction period. Beautiful, don't you think? Amazing how different Buddhist temples look in different countries.
Honestly I felt sleepy and bored most of the time I was there because I don't understand Thai and was so sleep deprived. But I was very impressed by the Thai people's chanting. They chant beautifully in unison. They don't try to outdo each other by chanting very loudly and they don't chant like they are in a rush. It's done earnestly.
I was also very impressed by how much respect Thai people have for monks. I think partly why Buddhism is so strong there is because the King is also Buddhist and the Thai people also respect the King very much. There were about 200+ monks the day we all gave food to the monks. We lined up around the lake and the monks came around asking for alms. The army helped out with the organization and everything. I have to say that they are very efficient even though they looked very young! Wonder if we can have the same standards in Malaysia? It's beautiful to see how everyone worked together. Without complaints or arguments.
The sticky rice in Thailand is soooooo fragrant and delicious!
There were monks from many places and luckily for us there were a couple of Dhamma talks in English.
I remember something that struck me and has stayed in my mind. A monk from Canada was speaking and I think he was speaking about non-self. I apologize in advance because my memory is not so good so I may not be 100% accurate about what he said. He said that non-self is not about not feeling anything. It doesn't mean you don't feel anger or jealousy etc. It doesn't mean that if you feel those feelings that you blame yourself. That just leads to more negative feelings. If you feel anger,jealousy, fear it's only human. What you should then do is be mindful of your body and of your feelings. Be aware of what you are feeling. Observe yourself. What are you thinking and feeling? Why? If you just react to how are you feeling, your reactions will cause more negative reactions. Cause and action.
I remember he came before to Malaysia and he talked about fear. He said after being aware of his body whenever he felt fear, he realised that his aversion to fear was causing him to react very badly. It was more of the aversion than the fear that caused him to react. I was very touched by how open he was about his own experience and feelings.
This is the inside of Wat Ratanawan:
They used this square box thing and a pulley system to move things to the top of the stupa. Quite cool right? And the monks went to the playform on top to place Buddha relics in I think. Anyway, it was quite interesting as I had never been to such a ceremony before and it was really interesting as a Thai cultural experience.
There were monks from many places and luckily for us there were a couple of Dhamma talks in English.
I remember something that struck me and has stayed in my mind. A monk from Canada was speaking and I think he was speaking about non-self. I apologize in advance because my memory is not so good so I may not be 100% accurate about what he said. He said that non-self is not about not feeling anything. It doesn't mean you don't feel anger or jealousy etc. It doesn't mean that if you feel those feelings that you blame yourself. That just leads to more negative feelings. If you feel anger,jealousy, fear it's only human. What you should then do is be mindful of your body and of your feelings. Be aware of what you are feeling. Observe yourself. What are you thinking and feeling? Why? If you just react to how are you feeling, your reactions will cause more negative reactions. Cause and action.
I remember he came before to Malaysia and he talked about fear. He said after being aware of his body whenever he felt fear, he realised that his aversion to fear was causing him to react very badly. It was more of the aversion than the fear that caused him to react. I was very touched by how open he was about his own experience and feelings.
This is the inside of Wat Ratanawan:
They used this square box thing and a pulley system to move things to the top of the stupa. Quite cool right? And the monks went to the playform on top to place Buddha relics in I think. Anyway, it was quite interesting as I had never been to such a ceremony before and it was really interesting as a Thai cultural experience.
