Buddhism in Bangkok!

Moving into South East Asia, the first religion we encountered was Buddhism in Bangkok. Even though it originated in India, it is much more popular here.

Buddha was a human who achieved enlightenment and his teachings are used to help others achieve this state as well.  Achieving enlightenment, or nirvana, is breaking out of the continuous cycle of reincarnation, birth, life, death, rebirth, life, death, etc.

Other important things in this religion are meditation to clear one’s mind to achieve nirvana, and karma, which is how one’s actions influence their future (good or bad). Basic Buddhist teachings are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

The Four Noble Truths are:

1. The Truth of suffering

2.  The Truth of the cause of suffering

3.  The Truth of the ending of suffering

4.  The Truth of the way to the ending of suffering

The Eightfold Path is the a part of the fourth Noble Truth and are eight things a Buddhist should follow.

1. Right views

2. Right thoughts

3. Right speech

4. Right conduct

5. Right livelihood

6. Right effort

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right meditation

Since Buddha is a very important figure in this religion, statues of him were made out of a variety of materials and in many different sizes. We saw some of these in Bangkok and they are amazing!

The Golden Buddha

The Golden Buddha is a giant statue made of 5 tonnes of solid gold. It is the largest of its kind in the world. The Buddha is sitting with crossed legs and a calm, peaceful expression. The statue was originally covered in plaster so invaders wouldn’t realize its value and steal it. This idea worked; it was only in 1955 when the gold was discovered, as part of the plaster fell off when it was being moved. Today, the Golden Buddha is housed at the Wat Traimit Temple.

The Emerald Buddha

Don’t let the name fool you; the so called Emerald Buddha is actually made out of jade! At first, the statue was covered in plaster just like the Golden Buddha. One day, a holy man noticed part of the plaster on the nose had chipped away, showing the green stone. The holy man thought it was emerald, so it has been called the Emerald Buddha ever since. The Buddha also has different outfits which are changed by the king every season: summer, rainy, and winter.

The Emerald Buddha is housed in the Grand Palace. The palace has been the home of many Thai kings. The complex is giant and has many buildings which are beautifully decorated with mosaics, paintings, and mirrors.

The Reclining Buddha

The Reclining Buddha is a 160 foot long statue made from brick and stucco, but since it is gilded it looks like it’s made of gold. The Buddha is giant; the two feet of the Buddha are taller than me! It must have taken a long time to build and then gild the statue.

The bottom of the feet have images made with mother of pearl, which were said to be on the feet of Buddha when he was born.

108 is an auspicious number in this religion.  For this reason, there are 108 pots lining one of the walls in the room with the Reclining Buddha.  If a donation is made, one receives 108 coins which are put inside the pots one by one, for good luck.

The line of pots

Putting money in the pots

Seeing all of these different Buddha statues was really interesting. Learning about practices of this religion was enlightening and I am excited to see how each country in Southeast Asia approaches the faith.