The Thai word for temple is wat. When you are giving or receiving directions, Thais usually refer to the nearest wat since the neighborhood wat’s location will be familiar to everyone. That’s how central they are to Thai life.

Temples usually consist of several buildings: large buildings, shrines (big and small) and monuments enclosed–all by a wall. There are thousands of temples in Thailand, and every town and village has at least one. In Chiang Mai, where I live, some city blocks have four!

The word “wat” (วัด) means school, as the temples were the only place where formal education took place for centuries. To this day, poorer families send their children to the temple school. Buddhist wats usually consists of:

• Bot: The prayer or meditation room. It’s usually open only to monks. Architecturally similar to the viharn (below), but more heavily decorated. It is also called the “ordination hall” and it is where the monks take their vows.
• Viharn: The busiest structure in a wat, where the temple’s main Buddha image is displayed and where people come to make offerings. It is open to all.
• Chedi or stupa: A tall bell-shaped structure that generally houses relics of the Buddha.
• Prang: A tall, slender spire (of Khmer and Ayutthayan origin) that serves the same devotional purpose as a chedi.
• Mondop: A square, open-sided building with four arches and a pyramidal roof often where religious texts or objects are displayed for veneration.
• Sala: An open-sided pavilion that is used for relaxation, as a meeting place, for larger crowds to hear the dharma read, and a rain shelter.
• Chofah (‘sky tassel’): Bird-like decorations on the end of temple roofs. They represent Garuda, a mythical creature that is half bird and half man.

Now, here’s a video about understanding local, Chiang Mai Thailand temples:

http://youtu.be/2DDEel8pwfs

And Some More Reading to Help Your Understanding of Thai Temples

• President Obama’s First Stop in Asia Is in Thailand | The White House – Though his stop to the country lasted for less than one full day, the President visited a Buddhist temple at the Wat Pho monastery, met with Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, held a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister …
• Speak More Chinese, Ambassador Tells Thais – NYTimes.com – Recently, there was much embarrassment at home after a teenage boy from Nanjing scrawled “Ding Jinhao was here” on a stone relief in Egypt’s 3,500-old Luxor Temple. There are reports about “cashed-up” Chinese tourists …
• Thai temples – page 1/7 – Thai World View – THAI TEMPLES. A Thai Buddhist temple (“WAT” – วัด) is a complex comprising several distinct religious buildings. Major Buddhist ceremonies happen in temples. Some ceremonies (wedding, death, building consecration) are done by monks …
• Thai temples – page 5/7 – The Buddhist flag is yellow-orange. The Dharma wheel is drawn on it. The Thai flag (“THONG TRAI RONG” – ธงไตรรงค์) symbolises the monarchy (blue color), the nation (red color) and the Buddhism (white color). Buddhist and Thai flags …

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Meditation in Thailand is an important part of life. Businessmen take regular meditation breaks at one of thousands of war or temples in Thailand. This is Keith Allen’s story of his meditation boot camp at one of northern Thailand’s most prominent temples:

A ten-day Vipassana retreat in Pitsanulok

I just returned from a ten-day silent retreat held about 40 to 50 km outside of the city of Pitsanulok. It’s located in a rural agrarian part of Thailand. The campus is nestled at the foot of a mountain and it has numerous fruit trees located on it. I think one would be hard-pressed to find a much more idyllic location for this “Meditation Boot Camp”.

I’ve referred to this event as a meditation boot camp several times. The reason I have is because it is relatively rigorous-relative to most other silent retreats. Everything is structured so that we can begin to unhook our chains to day-to-day life. We are asked to stay within a certain boundary to limit potential contact with people not in this practice. You are asked to refrain from speaking, gesturing, even looking someone in the face while at this practice. You are served great meals every meal time. Ye have little choice in the food, we either eat it or we don’t. At the beginning of the course you’re asked to give your wallet, your phone, any and all reading material and/or writing materials, anything that would connect you to the outside world or distract you, and put it in a lockbox. Then, after an orientation, meditation starts at 4:30 AM. Thankfully you can meditate in your room from 4:30 AM until 6:30 AM (the time breakfast is served). I have to admit that I did sleep past the 4:30 mark more than once. Meditation stops at 9 PM Believe me there’s no problems going to sleep, at least there wasn’t for me.

The instruction is given by Goenka. Goenka, who has unfortunately passed away, is an extremely literate Burmese gentlemen. The 10 days of discourses are videotaped and in excellent English. This videotape of a previous ten-day retreat is what is shown in the centers all over the world. If people are seeking a different language, they have translations which they can show en masse or play on individual iPods. This way the teaching is consistent from country to country. I attended two courses in Kaufman Texas and this one had exactly the same teaching-it was the same videotape. There are also assistant teachers on hand to answer any questions you might have about your meditation. In fact, they’re the only ones we’re supposed to talk to during the 10 days.

Later on we learn that everything in the course is structured the way it is to help simulate being a mendicant. That is, we eat what is offered, we have few if any outside distractions, we can’t even donate to our first ten-day silent retreat until it’s over, and we’re expected to rigorously work on our own enlightenment. Because that is the real stated purpose, the end goal- our own enlightenment, the end of our suffering. Not a bad goal to chip away at, ending our suffering, over a 10 day sit in a stunningly beautiful natural surroundings.

I do want to take a moment and talk about money. Virtually everybody on the campus is there on a volunteer basis. The teachers do not get paid, the servers do not get paid, the land for the campus was donated, and obviously the people sitting don’t get paid. It’s based on the idea that what we decide to donate will pay for the person attending the course after us; the next enlightenment coming. It is stated that until we have completed one ten-day course we don’t know the benefits from Vipassana meditation. Therefore, we can’t donate until after the ten-day courses over-if we choose to donate. The closest equivalent to church that I can come up with is that it’s done on a love-offering basis. It takes the money question straight out of the equation.

By Keith Allen

www.dhamma.org

Here’s some background on the Thai Buddhist Forest Tradition It’s called Thudong: Forest Monks and Hermits of Thailand that Keith’s talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJi3u_KmQQ

And some more reading on meditation in Thailand

• Thailand Off the Beaten Path – This Is My Happiness – meditation thailand. While there are several options for those looking to participate in a silent meditation retreat, few offer the authenticity of Wat Suan Mokkh, a forest monastery in Southern Thailand. Each meditation begins at …
• Meditation Thailand | Cosmetic Surgery Thailand – There are well qualified surgeons available who are offering details about the meditation Thailand . It is best medical solution through which the patients are getting accurate result towards the complications. It’s time to search the details about …
• Artistic Meditation Retreat 2015 | Creaturemag Online Art Magazine – We look forward to hearing from you! Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger… This entry was posted in ARTY OPPORTUNITIES, CREATURE NEWS, CREATURE RECOMMENDS and tagged Meditation, Thailand.
• Day 3 at 21 Stages of Meditation, Thailand Retreat | Sanasuma … – It is great to be back seeing old faces and new, with our dear teacher Sunder Singh. We woke up this morning at 3.30am for early morning Sadhana. We practiced yoga and a great meditation to release effects from our …
• Meditation Explained, almost. – Ashtak Yoga Teacher Training in India – Contact us om@ashtakyoga.com to book. Tags: ashtak yoga dr gaurav malik goa india india yoga meditation thailand yoga travel yoga yoga courses india yoga teacher training yoga teacher training india. Share …
• 5 day Vipassana Meditation in Thailand – Life On Standby – Everyone keeps writing me about my 5 day Vipassana “Insight” silent meditation (concerning mindfulness) that I did at Wat Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’m extremely talkative and for me to be silent for 5 days …

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