Merit Making

This morning, Boom took Shannon and I to temple. Going to temple in Thailand is like going to church in America. When one goes to temple you go to make merit. Making merit is a way of life for most Thai people. There are a few ways of making merit that I have found. One way is to give alms (which is where you give offerings to monks when they walk down your street). Another way is to buy a basket or bucket filled with water, candles, incense, toilet paper, and other things the monks need. These baskets are given to the monks at temple (this is what I did today). Donating to the temple is another way to make merit. Being generous to those less fortunate is also a staple in the merit making process. One more way of making merit is through prayer, usually done at the local temple. Opening ones mind to the spiritual side will gain individual merit. Making merit is a way to gain happiness in this life and a better position in the next life. Monks usually give a blessing to people that have been to temple to make merit. Thais believe that this merit-making will bring them good fortune. Today after we bought our bucket, Boom asked us to write names of deceased family members we wanted to remember on a sheet of paper (I wrote Deda). This was then later given to the monk to read aloud, along with a chant and then burned. After a few minutes of chanting. The paper was burned and held over a small brass bowl which collected the ashes. Boom took the bowl along with a little kraft of water and brought back to where we were kneeling. Here while the monk said a prayer chant in Thai, we (Shannon and I) placed a hand on Boom as she poured the water into the bowl. Afterwards Boom took the bowl of water and ashes to a tree outside, and poured the water over roots of a tree and was to make a wish to the spirits. And now the ceremony was over. When Boom came back inside, the three of us went closer to the monk and he placed a white sheet over us and said a Thai prayer wishing us good luck. He then handed Boom several white string bracelets to be tied on our wrists. I now have two white strings on my left wrist. The strings are blessed by the monks before they are handed out. This thread/string is called sai sin and putting them on the wrist helps in the form of safety, good health/wealth and protection from evil spirits. Now, I have heard two different rules about how long to keep the string on... 1. Some Thais say you can remove the strings after three days (if you remove it you must untie the knots and not cut it off) 2. Or you wear them until they fall off which in some cases can be years...I have not decided which to do yet. I think I am going to ask around...perhaps I'll ask my students on Monday what they do.