A monk for a week
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Sun 26 Feb 2012 11:04
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While we were staying with Alan and Noi we had the
privelage of attending a Bhuddist ceremony for one of Noi's nephews who was to
be ordained as a monk in their village temple. Some young men become a monk at a
very young age and it becomes their vocation, others are ordained in their
twenties staying within the temple for a few months or even weeks as a way
of gaining kudos in the eyes of Bhudda for themselves and their
families.
 Noi's nephew works for the forestry commision in
Chiang mai and could only be released for a week. Even so he had to go through
the ritual head shaving and purifying.
 Friends family and even strangers like ourselves
are invited to take part, cutting off a lock of hair before the monk takes over
and shaves
his head and eyebrows.
 The monk then pours water over the young mans
head and body in an act of purification and again others are invited to do the
same
before he can don his interim white
robes.
 The final part of the day 1 ceremony takes part in
the main temple before the young men go back to their homes for the last time
before re-entering the temple of their period of meditation.
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