Most Westerners know Buddhism through meditation, but everyday Buddhist life looks quite different in Thai temples
Thai Buddhism involves daily rituals and collective acts of worship, unlike the individual-focused emphasis on meditation often found in Western Buddhist communities.
In Thailand, everyday Buddhist life is far removed from the image many Westerners have of meditation being the core practice. Catherine Leblanc/Godong/Stone via Getty Images reports that for Buddhist practitioners in the country, rituals and offerings to monks and temples are central to daily life. Catherine Leblanc/Godong/Stone via Getty Images, who recently led an educational program focusing on this, explains that while meditation is important, Buddhism is more than an intellectual tradition focused on the mind.
The first way Buddhism shapes daily life in Thailand is through merit-making. This involves doing morally good actions that generate good karma, impacting this life and future ones. A simple way to make merit is through monetary donations to temples, often associated with fun activities like placing gold leaf on Buddha statues for healing or ritually purifying large monuments called chedis with blessed water.
Making offerings to specific Buddha statues based on one’s birth day and year, as well as directing donations to the zodiac animal associated with their birth year, are also common practices.
Another aspect of Buddhism in Thai temples is the spiritual connection with monks. Theravada Buddhism emphasizes a relationship between monastics and laypeople. Laypeople offer alms, while monks provide spiritual wisdom and guidance. However, this bond can be tested during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, when monks struggled to obtain food and maintain community connections due to laypeople avoiding temples.
Betrayal of the monastic vows, like engaging in sexual activities, can also erode faith in monks, as seen in 2022 when a well-known monk was found to have had an affair.
Finally, rituals and wish-making play a significant role in Thai Buddhist temples. While the ultimate goal is enlightenment or nirvana, many Buddhists see this as unattainable in this lifetime. Instead, they seek worldly desires such as jobs, promotions, and romantic relationships. Hindu god statues like Ganesha and Brahma, believed to grant worldly wishes, are often found in Thai temples.
Worshipers make offerings to these gods, promising to return with specific items if their wishes come true, creating an exchange that extends Buddhism into everyday life and collective concerns.
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