Yesterday we visited our local Thai Buddhist Temple. There are five monks in residence. One of our ESL students, Dong, helps prepare the Sunday meal for the monks each week. She invited us to join her. First we were introduced to a visiting monk. He will be here for about two years and then return to Thailand. Then we met the Abbot. The Abbot has been here for about 10 years. The Thai are truly a people of smiles and a gentle nature. We spoke with several of the monks for quite a while until it was time for them to eat. Soon after the group that had brought the food sat down to share a meal. John and I joined them. We tried to spend the majority of the time sitting on the floor with the others but did fall back to sitting chairs for a little while. There must have been 15 to 20 different dishes on the table for us to try. There was also steamed rice and sticky rice. The food was delicious. I am afraid I am going to gain weight living in Thailand!
Next we went into the temple proper while the monks chanted and prayed. This was another 2 hours on the floor! We wiggled a little bit too much but all were patient with us as we moved our old bones around finding a new position every 20 minutes or so.
The Abbot is scheduled to speak to a world religions class at a nearby high school in about a week. We promised we will return to see him and try asking him questions in English that high school students might ask. He said it will give him a chance to practice his English. The Abbot also gave us a number of books and color brochures on Buddhism and the Thai culture. He is most gracious. We look forward to our next visit and plan to take some photos.
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