Ordination of a Buddhist Monk

Mary and George were invited by Win, a teacher friend from school, and her family to the ordination of her nephew, Ton (pronounced "toan"), as a Buddhist monk. We were very honored to be invited.

We understand that Thai people believe that Thai men should become monks. It "makes merit" for the man's parents and helps them get to heaven.  Becoming a monk is not necessarily a life-long commitment; many (perhaps most) men who become monks stay for a short period and then return to lay life.  Following the death of his grandmother when he was 29, Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej entered a 15-day monkhood.

Win and her husband Supachai (also a teacher at our school) picked us up at our apartment at 7:45 am on Sunday, December 9th, and took us to the Ban Suan Rueanton Resort on the Mekong River, which is owned by Win's sister and is where breakfast was served. There was a group of monks there as well as the monk-to-be and many relatives and friends.

We met Ton.  In the photo below, Win is in the blue top, and there are two other teachers from our school -- Ulai to Win's right and Yen to Mary's left.  We were told that, in accordance with custom, Ton's hair and eyebrows had been shaved on Saturday.  The white clothes that Ton is wearing are traditional for young men awaiting ordination.

 



The resort is the one we visited in early October when we were traveling to see the schools where we might volunteer (see November 9 posting, "Exploring Thailand and Schools Where We Might Teach").  We admired at that time the beautiful view of  the Mekong River below the resort and admired it again on this visit.

 

George was struck again (as he had been at recent festivals and at school on Fridays) by the beautiful clothing Thai women wear.  He asked them to pose for a photo.  That is Ton's mother and father to the right of Mary in the photo.

 

 

Ton graciously agreed to a photo with us.

 

 

Then we were off to the temple for the ordination ceremony.  Two ladies in lovely dresses hopped on their motorbike. 

 

 

And Ton sat in a chair on the flatbed of a pick-up truck with his father and with his uncle holding the umbrella.  It is traditional to protect the newly shaved monks-to-be with an umbrella (and George can sure relate to that, especially in the intense Thai sun).

 

 

And there was music.

 

 

There was a long motorcade to the vicinity of the temple.

 

 

Then most everyone (but not Ton or the band) disembarked and began a dancing procession to the temple.

 

 

Mary was part of the procession along with our new friend Nida, a cousin of Ton who is an English major at Ubon University and who served as our translator throughout the day.  Many of the ladies (including Win) were carrying pillows and other gifts for the temple.

 

 

Ulai and Yen and two guys in the back got into the dancing spirit.

 

 

The procession made it to Wat Pachagasam. 

 

 

George got some serious tutoring in Thai dance maneuvers from Win's husband Supachai on the left and from the man who had led much of the dancing during the procession.

 

 

Ton approached the temple.  He carried three gold lotus flowers and his father carried his ceremonial fan.

 

 

As is traditional, Ton was carried three times around the temple on a man's shoulders as the procession followed.



Ton prepared to enter the temple.

 

 

He threw ribbon bows and rice to the crowd, who were happy to receive them.

 

 

Along with his father and family members, Ton joined the monks in the Ubosot, the "ordination hall."  We were honored to be invited in to watch the ceremony.

 

 

The senior monk joined.  Ton held his new monk's robes and started chanting in Pali -- the ordination is not in Thai; the monks use the ancient language of the scriptures. That makes it especially difficult, but the monks prompt him if he needs help.

 

 

Ton removed his shirt, put on a sash and left the Ubosot, returning wearing the robes.

 

 

 

Ton put his bowl over his back.  Monks use a bowl to collect food from faithful Buddhists.

 



 

There were prayers.

 

 

Then Ton left the Ubosot and was given gifts of money.

 

 

After the ceremony, we spent a short while in the Wiharn (the "sermon hall") and admired the beautiful murals.

 

 

 

Thai hospitality is amazing -- we then returned to the resort for a fantastic lunch!  We got a photo with Nida, who had been such a big help the whole day translating for us (especially when George got some instructions from the monks while we were in the Ubosot waiting for Ton to return in his robes and had no idea what they were saying!).  Thanks, Nida.

 

And thanks to Ton and his whole family, and to Win, Supachai, Yen, and Ulai for welcoming farang into their midst and making us feel part of their Thai family.  It was a unique experience for us that we will remember forever, and we hope this blog post is an accurate report on the day.