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THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER |
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CENTERSPREAD STORY |
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A Thammayat Buddhist Home Blessing Harmony in the house of Vanphravong by Jonathan Gramling July 11 was a historic and spiritual day for Pane and Thongpone Vanphravong, the former owners of the Bahn Thai restaurant on Williamson Street. Fourteen monks of the Thammayat sect- the stricter sect of the two Thai Buddhist sects- from across the United States had come to their home on the east side of Madison. "Today is the blessing of our house and friends," Thongpone exclaimed. The monks, led by Phra Kru Uoraprotseenlagha, the lead monk from Buddha Raksa Temple in Waukesha, sat along the perimeter of the Vanphravong's living room. They were surrounded by the friends and family of the Vanphravongs, who knelt and sat on the floor and extended into the front living room. During the morning, the monks offered prayerful chants. "It was a blessing for good living," Prhra Kru explained afterwards. "People came together to share harmony, give kindness to each other and accept the rules and discipline like stop killing, stop stealing, stop lying, and stop using alcohol and drugs. The prayers explained about how to lift up to the good state and level of the good life. Everyone everywhere tries to have happiness and peace. The prayers teach us how to reach this point. We shouldn't follow the desires that destroy happiness and the natural state of one's mind. If someone loses control, it clouds the mind and enters an abnormal state and loses happiness too. We try to clean this cause of suffering from the mind by following the precepts and try to meditate. Meditation returns my mind to its original state. It helps us to understand the truth. It helps us understand when something is not good, when a certain way is not good and we can stop and not follow it. Today's ceremony pushes people to do and follow the good thing, to lift themselves up in this life and to be better. No one does for anyone. Everyone does for himself to stop doing the evil and collect more of the goodness by sharing things, sharing love and kindness, giving gifts of harmony, friendship, and faith. I concentrate to follow the good path of understanding." At the end of the chanting, those in attendance began to offer gifts of food, money, and necessities to the monks. As the gifts were offered, people bowed three times. "We believe in the Triple Gem," said Eo, a relative of the Vangphravongs. "There is the Buddha. When they bow, they bow the first time to Buddha, the second time to Dhamma, the teachings of Buddha, and the third to Sangha, the monks and the community around them." As the gifts were presented to the monks, the monks did not acknowledge the gifts. " "Essentially, they are beggars," Eo said about the monks. "They give up everything in the world. They don't cook for themselves. They don't carry any money. They don't own money. They live off of everything people give them. If they want a soda, if someone doesn't offer them a soda, they can't have a soda. The only thing they can get for themselves is water. "They don't worry about vanity and how they look. They shave off their hair. They give up everything. Today, when they ate, they put all the food in a bowl. They eat what people give them. It is all put together. They eat to sustain life. They don't eat and say 'I like this and I like that.' They eat to stay alive. They only eat once per day. After noon, they are not allowed to eat. "They are very, very strict. Even with money, when people offer it, he won't accept it. Someone will take it and give it to the temple. He won't physically touch it." After everyone had eaten, the monks and those in attendance once again. Phra Kru gave the teaching and then gave a final blessing, which involved sprinkling those in attendance with specially blessed water. The emphasis on this day was generosity. "People offer them donations of money and food so they will never go hungry in the next life," Thongpone said. "We believe we are born again and have another life. All of this will help us in another life. The gifts go to the temple." For their generosity, the Vanphravongs should be well taken care of in the life to come.
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