A chat with a Monk!

I am such a curious woman. This characteristic of mine comes out more and more as I get older. I find a local to chat with and find myself holding myself back from the next question I have. Elana - patience! :)

I was brought up with a strong Jewish culture but I also resonate with Buddhism. A big reason why I chose to travel to Asia was to learn more about Buddhism, and Israel to learn more about Judaism.

So what did I learn from chatting with a monk??!!

I learned what it was like to live as a monk! Life in a monastery can start as young as 6 years old. It is common for young kids from the countryside to take advantage of life in a monastery for opportunity for an education, food and shelter, all of which are not easy to come by in a small village in the countryside. Between ages 6-19 these boys are called novice monks and not until age 20 can one be considered a monk. Novice monks have different “rules” than the monks, but for the most part everyone follows these same basic practices. They all meditate morning and night somewhere between 3-4 hours per day. They are only allowed to eat 2 meals per day, breakfast and lunch. I was curious why and was told that dinner was avoided so the men wouldn’t have enough energy in the evening time to think about sex. Since sex is forbidden as a monk the goal is to try and distract their thoughts and rather focus on their hunger. In addition, I learned that monks can’t ask or use money, rather they live off of donations. As a monk you are allowed to marry, however, once married you can no longer be a monk. Therefore, many boys grow up in a monastery and then leave to marry and raise a family. If/when he becomes a widow or divorces his wife, he is welcome to return to the monastery.

After learning this information, I think that this option to become a monk is really a wonderful option for many of these people who have such little opportunity. Since monks are taught English in the monastery, these men tend to be the people who have jobs and thus have more money and a better life after they leave.

So, what other questions did I have for the monk? Well, the obvious one….. what’s the story behind the fat happy buddah? J I’ve been so curious!

Well, I’m not certain this is true, but this monk told us that the fat buddah use to be a very attractive  monk in his early years. He often times had women chasing him around which distracted him from reaching enlightenment. He requested from God to stop these women from chasing him so God placed his hand on his head and squished him into a fat man. At this point, he was able to focus and reach enlightenment, thus transforming from a monk into a happy fat buddah. Ha!! Thought that story was cute. Not sure if its sound but it’s a cute story nonetheless.

I was also curious about how Buddhism differed in different regions of the world, specifically in India since that is my next stop.

I was told that in SE Asia, Buddhists believe in nirvana and that people are cremated so the smoke and ashes can reach the heaven. Apparently, in India and Tibet Buddhist’s believe in reincarnation instead. I would love to look more into this when I get to India.

Lastly, I asked how popular Buddhism is in Laos and what other religions are practiced here?

He shared with us that there are 3 classes of people in Laos. The high grounds, middle and lower grounds. The lower grounds practice Buddhism, are more educated and have more money. The middle and higher grounds practice Animism – which was explained to me as believing in jungle spirits. These groups of people often times live poorer lives with less education.

And a bit of history to share about Laos too that I learned from him.

During the Vietnam War, Laos was very much involved but was rarely spoken about, hence the reason why the war in Laos is referred to as the “Secret War”. Laos was bombed more than any other country during the war. Ho Chi Minh, who was the leader of the communist government in Northern Vietnam, used the southern part of Laos, which parallels Vietnam, to move troops from the North to the South of Vietnam. Since the South and America knew this route, there were many bombs and landmines planted all throughout southern Loas.  Similar to Cambodia, during the Khmer Rouge, landmines were placed and forgotten about, therefore there are still people today that die each year from accidently stepping on one. The monk said that 30-50 people every year die from them.

So here is a tidbit of info directly from a monks mouth to my curious ears. Love sharing what I have been learning on the road!