We’re in Oudong, Cambodia, heading to one of Cambodia’s most important Buddhist Monasteries. Since our arrival in Cambodia, we’ve seen saffron-robed Buddhist monks everywhere. Today we’ll have a chance to get a little more up close and personal with some of them. And thanks to some of the local kids, there’s a surprise in store for us.
Buddhism in Cambodia
Almost all Cambodians are Buddhists. Their particular type of Buddhism is called Theravada Buddhism. Just about every town and village has its monastery, or “wat,” as they’re called here. When we were traveling cross-country, the wat in each village was easy to spot. It reminded me of traveling through France, seeing a cathedral’s spire popping up from each village, no matter how small.
Young Cambodian males are expected to leave home at some point to live full-time as monks-in-training. They’re not necessarily expected to become monks, but the longer they stay in training, the better. To me, it seems kind of like the Boy Scouts back home, where boys graduate through levels as they continue through the program. And like the Boy Scouts, it seems to be based mostly on each boy’s own initiative. Girls can enter the training, too. They work toward becoming nuns.
Even if a novice stays with it long enough to become a monk, that doesn’t mean he has to be a monk forever. He can be a monk for a while, then go back to “normal” life. And if later on, he wants to go back to being a monk, he can make that happen. It’s there for him as an option.
The most basic restrictions for novices are the “five precepts”: No eating after noon, no participation in anything entertaining, (TV, movies, internet, video games, etc.), no personal adornments, no sleeping on a luxurious bed, and no handling of money.
Whoa. Can you imagine any teenage male you know doing that for say, six months? I can’t. (It might be a better world if they did, though). Living at the wat, they’re with others who are all doing the same thing, so many of the temptations would be somewhat removed. That would help.
Hello Again!
We arrived at the monastery mid-afternoon. Our buses pulled in through the main gate, and there to greet us, to our amazement, were some of the kids we’d met at the silversmith village yesterday. What the…? I thought we’d left those kids and moved on down the river. Apparently not!
We had felt bad for those “poor kids” yesterday, when they had said to us, “See you tomorrow!”
“That’s so sad,” we thought. “They think we’ll be back tomorrow.”
So now it’s “tomorrow,” and here they are! Not only that, but when we saw the kids we’d been talking to, they called out to us by name, as if we were old friends! They remembered our names. Wow.
“Hello again! Hello again!” they said. They knew they’d put one over on us and we were all laughing about it. “How’d you get here?” we all asked.
“It’s only a 20-minute ride on our motorscooters,” said one of them. The oldest of them was probably thirteen or fourteen. There were maybe eight kids and three motorcycles, so you can do the math and get your own image of them making the trip.
The oldest one made a point, as she had done yesterday, of letting us know that “Chanda couldn’t come because she’s in school.” As if the rest of them had notes from their teachers. Ha ha. These kids were so on the ball – and just plain fun to be around.
The Blessing
The grounds of the monastery are sprawling. It’s like a small town. There are schools on site and facilities to house hundreds of devotees. We made our way to the main building, where those who wanted to participated in a blessing ceremony. We took off our shoes and went inside.
There were forty or fifty of us. We sat down on the floor in front of the main monk and a man who looked like an assistant monk. We closed our eyes. The monk and his assistant began what sounded to me like chanting. They were reciting a sutra from memory.
Their voices intermingled in a beautiful way, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes in other ways I don’t know how to describe. Their intonations resonated around the large room. I’ve certainly never heard anything like it.
Just about the time I was ready to drift off into never-never land, something hitting me on the head shocked me back to my senses. The main monk was pelting everyone with lotus blossoms! And then we were done. It was a memorable experience.
Afterwards, we walked around the monastery grounds with a guide who explained a lot about Buddhism to us. A procession of white-robed devotees passed nearby. They looked so serene. Everything about this place was peaceful and serene.
When it was time to go, we met back up with the kids and said our good-byes for real this time. This had been a special stop. The serenity of the people at the monastery was offset by the exuberance of those kids in such a wonderful way. You know, this place called “Cambodia” can start to grow on you after a while.
To be continued…
