Monks- In Search of the Good Heart

"From a certain viewpoint, religion is a little bit of a luxury. If you have religion, very good; even without religion you can survive and you can manage, but without human affection we can't survive.

Although anger and hatred, like compassion and love, are part of our mind, I still believe the dominant force of our mind is compassion and human affection. Therefore, usually I call these human qualities spirituality. Not necessarily as a religious message or religion in that sense.

.. If we practice religion properly, or genuinely, or religion is not something outside but in our hearts. The essence of any religion is a good heart. Sometimes I call love and compassion a universal religion. This is my religion. Complicated philosophy, this and that, sometimes create more trouble and problems. If these sophisticated philosophies are useful for the development of a good heart, then good: use them fully. If these complicated philosophies or systems become an obstacle to a good heart then better to leave them. This is what I feel."

The Dalai Lama delivered these remarks almost 20 years ago, on September 14th, 1990, at a four day symposium on religion and the environment hosted by Middlebury College in Vermont.

I remember being surprised that day because the setting was the cavernous field house rather than the beautiful chapel atop a rise overlooking the campus. We got there early but the folding chairs, arranged in orderly grids facing the raised stage, were already half filled. We- I went with Mary and other friends, took center right seats almost half way back.

The stage was set with a long table, facing the audience, for perhaps twenty people representing a community of internationally respected scientists, prominent religious figures and other guest speakers. Near the center of the table was a place for the Dalai Lama. It was such an extraordinary gathering that I still have vivid images of it. Some things you just never forget.

He arrived via a side entrance off to the left, made his way to the middle aisle, and slowly- smiling, waiing, touching, made his way toward the stage. He passed within thirty feet of us and I remember that there was no sound in the huge, packed auditorium, it was absolutely, electrically, quiet- as if the very air was charged with the energy of this small man. I also remember thinking that this was as close to God as I was ever going to get.

Later, at a question and answer session, someone asked him if he truly believed in the sacredness of all life.. He laughed- he almost giggles, and said yes, but he had to admit he had some issues with bedbugs and mosquitos. He seemed a bit more human then!

That brief glimpse, nearly twenty years ago, of this extraordinarily loving and compassionate man was my introduction to Buddhism and to monks.

Later in the same week, at the request of a teacher who was Buddhist- her name was Shelly, the sister of the Dalai Lama came to visit our small (K-6, 126 students) school in the farming community of Bridport, Vermont. She came to our 7th grade classroom to look at the prayer flags we had created, spoke and answered question, and, before she left, wrote a short prayer on our blackboard. Afterward no one would erase it. The prayer stayed on the board until the end of the school year- nine months.

The photo of the Dalai Lama portrait was taken in a small temple in the Kashmir region of northern India. The three pictures of the monks I took up on the mountain at Wat Doi Suthep, and the one of the monk with the musical instruments was taken next door at Wat Suan Dok.

They represent for me what had been, for most of my life, my image of monks- ascetic, monastic, mysterious and distant.

To some extent that's still true, but living in Thailand, traveling a little in Laos and India, and especially being here next to Wat Suan Dok, has broadened those perceptions, removed some of the filters, and fleshed out those images.

Wat Suan Dok seems to me a younger monk place. Sometimes I see the older monks meeting at Pun Pun Restaurant, going to and from the administration buildings, and I hear them leading prayers at the big temple in the evening. Recently, while Duong and I were doing our evening visit on the wat green, an elderly monk was out walking around. He said hello, asked us how we were doing, lingered a bit, and then moved on. Afterward Duong told me he was the head monk at the wat.

But most of the monks I see are students who either reside here or commute from other wats for classes. Like other university students some of them look new and lost while others move about easily with the assuredness of graduates to be.

And like students everywhere they like to hang out. When they are not in class during the day they gather around the food stalls or beverage stands, or sit around tables under the trees.

In the evening it's a little different- after prayers many are in the dorms studying, but a few still drift out to the green at dusk to quietly socialize or find a peaceful spot to read or meditate.

Most have mobile phones. Many have MP3 players. And it is becoming common to see the monks here carrying laptops. Passing by the dorms at night, the glow of computer LCD displays flickers in the windows. When I make new friends we exchange email addresses as well as telephone numbers.

And like any other place we might frequent I see familiar faces, exchange nods or smiles, and then, if I don't see them for awhile, wonder if they are still around.

Sometimes I would see the monk pictured on the right. We never spoke to each other but we always nodded hello- the same routine for months. Then one time I was taking pictures during student days and I saw him sitting by himself. With the flowers overhead and the good light it was a beautiful setting. I asked him if I could take a picture and he nodded yes. We still have never had a conversation.

Student days at the Wat are one of the highlights of the year. The monks take nearly a week to set up the pavilions, stages, display booths and workshop venues. Parking lots are transformed into plazas, sound systems set up, and flower arrangements strategically placed. It is a big deal for the monks as well as the visiting students.

Not only do the young monks set up the workshops, but they also participate in them with the students. Along with the busloads of regular students, monks from other wats come to join in. It is traditional in Thai culture for all males to spend a period of time as a monk- whether it be for a week, a month or longer, so sometimes there are monks at Wat Suan Dok who appear to be ten years old or younger. Whatever their age, the workshops are designed to keep everyone interested.

There are no females in a few of the pictures here. Although there are Buddhist nuns who take vows similar to those of the monks, females are not allowed to make physical contact with monks. Even when giving something to a monk a woman will place it on a surface in front of him rather than pass it to him directly.

Every morning at dawn the monks go barefoot and silently out into the community to beg for food. Each of them carries an alms bowl, again, so that food can be placed in it rather than given directly to the monk.

Almost all of the younger monks wear the bright orange robes you see in the pictures. But many of the older monks can be seen in mustard yellow or muted brown cloth. So I asked my friend Tunnee about the different colored robes the monks wore.. if there was any significance to them. He laughed and said "Yes, it was whatever you felt like putting on in the morning!" I still don't know whether he was kidding me or not.

Traditionally, robes were the cheapest garb someone could wear, so ordained monks covered themselves in pieced together cloth that was colored with the cheapest dye available. In Kashmir the cheapest color was dark red so monks there wear dark red robes. Other regions had different dyes that were less expensive so the color of ordained monk's garb varied from region to region.

It was Thoreau, an ascetic of a different sort, who said "All men live lives of quiet desperation." A stretch maybe, but we all certainly have our temptations and weaknesses- foibles seems a nicer way of putting it. Monks are no exception.

Sometimes, walking by an older monk in the evening, the smell of cigarette will be drifting in the air. There is an eatery nearby where a most charming and assured young lady draws a small gathering. And, since monks eat no solid food after noon, sweets of a different sort can give rise to other cravings.

Late one afternoon I was visiting at another wat. I was sitting at the top of a brick stairway when a young monk passed.

It was another one of those times when the light was good so I started taking pictures. When he saw a group of older monks ahead of him he hesitated for a second or two, and his hand went nervously to a back pocket in his robe. Then, seemingly reassured, he walked on down and eased past the group of senior monks.

Once he was beyond them and out of their sight his hand went once again to his back pocket. He took something out and not long afterward a wrapper fluttered to the ground.

But as the Thais say.."Mai pen rai.": literally "no problem.. don't worry about it.. it doesn't matter!" Whatever it was that he did or didn't eat, there would be no finger pointing or criticism. Buddhists believe that if we don't get it right this time around there will be endless opportunities until we do find true contentment. How long it takes is up to us.

Every year in February, Chiang Mai has the Royal Flora Festival- Thailand's version of the Rose Bowl Parade and the National Arboretum rolled into a three day spectacle of flowers, floats, color and cameras.

Thais, including monks, love this stuff. It draws folks not only from other towns and cities in Thailand, but also from neighboring countries.

For me it was the usual photographic adventure- maybe about a million pics taken, and 99% of them were, of course, National Geographic quality. Luckily for all of us there were only a few of monks!

Umbrellas serve both function and fashion. During the dry season many people carry them for protection from the intense and relentless sun. Like the sling bags they carry, umbrellas can compliment monk's robes or provide a colorful contrast. And often they make for beautiful photographs.

Sometimes when we are hashing, or out scouting for a run, we come across trails that have been swept clear or even carefully landscaped. It usually means that there is a wat nearby and that monks are tending them. What we might consider menial or boring labor, the monks may see as opportunities for reflection or merit-making.

A Buddhist nun on the green at Wat Suan Dok.

"The essence of any religion is a good heart. Sometimes I call love and compassion a universal religion. This is my religion."

The Dalai Lama, September 14 1990, Middlebury, Vermont

Happy Angels- A Wat Suan Dok Compendium

I live in a traditional and fascinating Thai neighborhood! It's much like many others- a vital, organic, bustling microcosm of one aspect of Thai culture and family life, but it is also unique- because of Wat Suan Dok.

It's less than a hundred yards from the front of my hotel to the southeast gate- one of five, of Wat Suan Dok. In the minute or so it takes to get there I pass a laundry, two eateries, a grocery store, the local police post, and several local soi dogs!

The wat is the dominant physical feature of the neighborhood. It is set against the backdrop of the nearby mountains and day and night- the main stupa is illuminated from 7-10 evenings, it commands the view from our balcony. Some mornings chanting and spiritual music carry into our apartment. In the late afternoon the daily announcements of upcoming wat events are often preceded by a sweet music that casts its own spell.

For the neighborhood and the surrounding community the temple is a key source of financial support. Early in the morning vendors arrive and set up their snack, drink and school supply stands on the wat grounds. They cater not only to the hundreds of resident and commuting monks, but also to the visitors that arrive daily on tour busses, vans and- for the more energetic, riding bikes or on foot.

Before noon the food stalls and shops on our soi are splashed in orange as the young monks take their last solid food of the day. Later- afternoon classes over, they will again visit the soi. Browsing in pairs or in small groups they are a colorful, constant and important part of day to day life here.

The original temple was completed more than a hundred years before Columbus set sail for the new world. In addition to the original construction of the huge main temple and the massive stupa behind it, later modifications included many smaller chedi (je-dee) that contain the remains of past royalty. For the Thais it is a uniquely sacred place.

Behind the main temple and surrounding the primary chedi, is a large plaza intricately paved with ochre tile. At each entrance to the plaza there are "Please Remove Your Shoes" signs. Here more monuments- each spiritually and aesthetically unique, surround the main stupa.

Set among them are several small black marble altars where Thais- about 95% are Theravada Buddhists, place lotus blossoms, light candles and incense, and offer prayers for loved ones. Others come to make merit for more practical reasons- in hopes of improving their fortunes.

Here and there- but strategically placed I'm sure, different-sized, cast bronze bells hang from stands. At each stand there is a wooden club so Thais can move from bell to bell ringing them. They give the bells a good whack but I like to tap them softly and listen closely as the various tones of each one slowly fade.

Yellow sashes are placed around some of the chedi but they are also put around other spiritually significant objects such as large trees. When I asked Duong about the sashes she said it meant there were "happy angels" there.

We had a talk one time about spirits and I explained to her that growing up as Catholics we believed that each of us had "guardian angels" that watched over us- usually perched on our right shoulder! They also taught us that the devil was perched next to our left ear.. which may explain a lot about me!

I said I didn't believe that now but there have been times in my life- and there are still, when a sense, a feeling, an inner "voice" comes on so strong that it is difficult to ignore it.

I told her about a time when I was young and a friend and I had taken the night train from Waltham to go fishing at Walden Pond. On the early morning walk back along the tracks from the Concord station to Walden Pond, we stopped and sat on one of the rails to check our jar of worms!

Suddenly I had this strong feeling that we should get off the tracks. Moments later, just as we were moving down the embankment, a train flashed by. It came so quickly there was no way we could have moved in time. Guardian angel, sixth sense, vibrations in the rails.. who knows for sure.

So now when Duong tries to explain about good spirits to me she calls them "happy angels!"

She said that happy angels don't have a life of their own but they can exist within the spirit/place of another- a venerable tree for example, or a chedi that contains the relics of a holy monk. There may be up to seven different colored sashes on any given spirit place. The Thais will tell you there are reasons for each of the different sashes, but I think one of the reasons is that they just like to do it!

There are spirits of a different sort around chedi plaza as well! The wat is home to somewhere between thirty and forty dogs! When Thais cannot or do not want to take care of their dogs any longer they often drop them off at a temple. Or someone may find a stray in need of a home and drop it off! They are never turned away and all are accommodated and fed. Wat Suan Dok probably has a half dozen packs of varying size and each has its own fiercely defended territory.

The "chedi gang" hang out around the monk's dorms and the plaza, and have learned to move around the tiers to warm themselves in the morning or find shade in the afternoon! In the evening they range over to the big parking lot to wait for the rice man- he arrives on a bicycle with a basket of rice and other scraps between seven and eight, and goes from territory to territory feeding the dogs. Other Thais and the monks do the same. The wat dogs are worth a blog of their own some day!

Also around the plaza are the toothy spirits called naga (na-kaa.) In Indian mythology they are a semi-divine race part human and part cobra! According to legend they listened to his teachings and protected the Buddha during his travels but they could not enter the temples because they were still part animal. They are most often found positioned at the entrances to temples- still providing protection and still denied access.

Every April there is a Naga Festival at a town called Nong Khai which sits on the Thai side of the Mekong- the river border between Thailand and Laos. For days thousands of people flock to Nong Khai and line the riverbank because flashes of light, and large booms- naga surfacing after rising from the river depths, can sometimes be heard echoing across the river. The scientific explanation is that bubbles of gas are being released from the bottom sediment as it reaches a critical temperature each Spring. And a few years ago the booms and flashes were attributed to Laos soldiers firing their guns on the far bank.

Neither theory sat well with the local tourism bureau which wanted no truck with nonsense about gas bubbles or military ballistics threatening the town coffers. So in the finest Thai tradition the deeply offending rumors were first vigorously denied, then pointedly ignored until they were put to rest. And so the naga and the tourists continue to show up each April!

Like the wat dogs the pigeons also move with the sun. Before they head out to find food they are spread out on the roofs and peaks to catch the sun's first rays. Later in the day they will come back to roost, and then they will use the eaves to shade themselves from the sun or shelter from the rain.

When the occasional hawk appears in the area the pigeons and the other birds around just disappear- and just as magically reappear when the all clear sounds!

On Fridays the teachers- many of whom are government employees, wear their military type kaki uniforms to class and the students dress in traditional clothing. The girls especially are beautiful in their brightly colored skirts and blouses. They also use the occasion to arrange their hair in intricate braids or piled in swirls on top of their head.

When I was teaching in Thai schools in Bangkok and Chiang Rai, Friday was my favorite day because- other than the obvious, my students looked so different they seemed to acquire different personas as well.

A typical scene during special student days at the wat- a ball game in progress, food vendors, and always a dog or three.

Her name is Wannasri but she likes her nickname "Pong." We have become good friends. Now in her early thirties, she has been selling her artwork at this same spot in front of the main temple since she was thirteen.

When I went out to eat, do errands, or go for a bike ride I usually cut through the wat grounds, and most mornings she would be there. I always stopped to chat with her- she is fluent in English and Japanese, asked how business was going, and how her family was doing.

She and her husband Somchai work together on the artwork they produce and sell. They collect pie plate sized leaves from the "Po" trees around the temple, clean and cover them with "sa" paper, and used them as the canvass for the watercolors and inks sketches they create. They do their own mounting and framing.

Somchai usually collects their two adolescent daughters from school and comes to pick up Pong at the wat around 12:30. Then they quickly pack the easel, plastic totes and table into the trunk of their old car and head home so he can rest

He is crippled with a spinal disorder and driving or doing anything physical quickly wears him out. Both of their daughters also have skeletal problems, and Pong is "disabled" as well.

On a good day she may sell two or three framed pieces that range in price from 300-500Bt ($9-15) each. Most of the purchases come from foreign visitors who arrive on tour busses. Many days there are no tour busses and no sales. They don't make much money. They get some assistance from the government, but in the three years I've known them they have always been struggling to pay medical bills, feed their family and simply survive.

For the last year they have been trying to get permission to relocate their small business to a better site up on the mountain at Wat Doi Suthep. It's the most popular temple site in Ching Mai and has many more visitors.

At first they patiently but persistently went up through local channels, but when that didn't work, in a series of carefully crafted letters, they sought help from an organization affiliated with the Royal Family! Initially these precipitated a response from the locals in the form of more applications to submit and several visits to their home by the local officials to assess their need. It seemed like progress was at last being made, but each visit also meant that Pong and Somchai had to spend time and precious energy readying their home and hosting the visiting officials.

At each stage there were weeks of waiting and hoping to see if their request had been granted- and at each stage nothing happened. The problem was that sites at Wat Doi Suthep are in great demand and thus can be leveraged by the powers at the wat for donations- in effect they are local political plums to be doled out for maximum return. Whether Pong and Somchai will ever get to set-up at Wat Doi Suthep, we don't know, but as of now they are still waiting and hoping.

Meanwhile the grounds around the big temple at Wat Suan Dok have recently undergone a facelift. Familiar old palms have been uprooted and new trees planted. The vendors have been moved from their long-time spot under the trees near the front of the main temple, and new tiles, turf and lights have replaced them.

"Jose"- Pong's constant companion at the wat since he was a pup, has moved. The little spot that Pong used for twenty years is now the site of a temporary billboard and she is gone.

The good news is that at a spot just to the right of where the photo below was taken- right next to the oldest temple at Wat Duan Dok, there is now a brightly lit, sparkling new ATM.

Five minutes from my door is my favorite restaurant in all of Thailand! Under the huge canopy of a massive Po- a Buddha Tree, Pun Pun at the wat serves portions of delicious vegetarian meals for around thirty to forty baht- a dollar!

Since I met Duong I've ranged a little more but for a long time I ate here at least five times a week. The food is so good- wonderful sauces and salad dressings, that everyplace else is a step down. Almost all of their produce is grown on their own farms and they make their own yogurt and tofu. Their decadent fresh ground coffee comes from the nearby mountains and I'm free to take away their books and magazines to read and return.

We won't talk about the mosquitos!

Around the corner from Pun Pun is the "Monk Chat" center. Anyone can come to talk with the English speaking monks about Buddhism or anything else. My monk friends Suvarnat and Tunee are two of the hosts for the sessions there. It is so popular that they have steadily increased their hours.

"Typos" and misspellings when going from Thai to English are common and often amusing. No matter how tactfully you might put it, pointing out a mistake would still cause someone to lose face, so I just enjoy them.

More Asians visit Wat Suan Dok but falang come too. The folks above are using the gold dome as the backdrop for their pictures.

The grassy area and "chedi plaza" are especially popular just before sunset when cooler air lifts the heat of midday and the soft evening light seems to soothe. Duong and I go there after eating to just sit and watch.

And it seems no matter what time of the day, somewhere around the wat there will be a ball in the air!

All over the wat grounds there are small signs with messages to help wayward spirits on their journey along the correct path.

Still not religious mind you, but some of it sounds a little like my "Happy Angel!"