Under the full moon

Makha Bukha is the name of the full moon festival which was celebrated last night in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a remembrance of a time 2500 years ago when 1250 of the Buddha's followers spontaneously paid him a visit during the full moon. The bars were closed here (for the most part), which means that M had a night off and we were able to go and celebrate the holiday with the community. And it was amazing.

The day actually broke overcast, which is unusual, as every other day lately has been sunny and hot. The cloud cover was a nice change of pace, but I wondered if we'd get a glimpse of the moon later that night. We had a really nice day together, relaxed, watched a movie on her TV, ate and snoozed, and then shortly after sunset, we walked to one of the famous temples in Chiang Mai. (don't have the name, sorry)

I had seen this temple before, had entered it even, without realizing that directly behind it, was an ancient temple (750 years old) that was the real marker for this site. And that is where the festival was celebrated. People gathered by the hundreds and likely thousands, and each of us purchased a little garland of flowers from one of the booths that had been hastily set up on the street near the temple. Along with the flowers came a candle and three sticks of incense. (20 baht, 66 cents for those who like to know what things cost). M said we should each buy our own, as we need to make our own offering to the Buddha.

And then we walked past the first temple and Wow, how had I never seen the old one? It was incredible, not in use anymore due to the ravages of time, but a commanding, impressive structue, very high in the sky, surrounded by a series of retaining walls, atop which were life size sculptures of elephants. On each of the 4 sides was a central staircase which led up and up into the temple. It was the opposite of 'wheelchair accessible'.

The ritual for the holiday involves circling the temple three times, hands in prayer position and carrying the offering. We walked in silence, meditating on doing good, doing right, cleaning our karma. I asked M about it after the first circle, and that's what she told me. It's about karma and doing good.

As we walked, you could hear the sounds of the large temple bells, which were being rung by the kids as they walked with their parents. Around the back of the temple, a musician was singing devotional songs into a microphone, interjecting 'Kobkudn krop' (thank you) as people made offerings. On the second circle, the moon broke through the clouds, bathing everyone in its light, and between the bells, the music, the warm air, the circling people, the flowers and incense, it was beyond lovely. Just a holy beautiful scene, and I prayed along with the rest of the populace. Mmmmm

After the third circle, we took off our shoes and entered the place where we got on our knees, lit the candles and placed them on the altar. There was a nearby place for the flower and incense offerings too. Then bow three times, head to the ground, a final nod to the Buddha and then rise.

M said that there was one more part to the ceremony, so we made our way to the newer temple, removed our shoes again and entered. Many statues and likenesses of the Buddha in this shrine as we got on our knees and bowed our head to the ground three times. A monk was talking into the microphone, and M said he was speaking about being clean and doing good. On the left of the hall, a group of monks were accepting monetary donations, so we lined up, made the offering, hands in prayer position, and they offered us a white woven bracelet along with a golden Buddha medallion. Really nice token and I will cherish it as a memento of an incredible evening. M and I tied each other's bracelets on, and she is extremely pleased that we got to celebrate this together.... as am I. I'm not much of a jewelry guy, but I like looking down to my right wrist and seeing a simple woven bracelet tied there.

Feeling clean this morning, doing good...