So Beautiful and Peaceful
A Very Rare Sight
Breath Taking
Is This Budda ?
Maybe The First Loy Kra Tong
Budda In All His Glory
Don't Mess With These Guys
My wife and me decided to go for a day drive , we started toward Nam Tok about 14 miles from home and thats when I saw a small sign that said Hot Springs. What the heck , I turned off on a small and narrow dirt road ,thinking it was only a skip and a hop down the road, well after riding thru four small villages and having traveled at least 30 miles along the mountain side and across several small streams , we finally saw another sign saying the springs had dried up. now why could'nt they have put that sign about 25 miles back , T I T .Not even a place on the road to buy a coke or water . While turning the pick-up around on a very narrow road , I happened to look thru the trees and in a field with nothing else around was this beautiful temple. Ciejay being an ex- Buddist was afraid to get out of the car and kept saying honey lets go , I'm a scared, so I decided to go it alone . She rolled up the windows and locked the doors . I walked slowly and with reverance over to the building , that I could see was going thru an outside restoration . I walked around it to take in all the splender and beauty. snapping pictures as I went and for some reason or another feeling a little spooked myself. there was not another soul around. When I got to the back side I noticed that a small tall narrow door was cracked open, I walked up slow and shouted out (not to loud) any body home ?. no one answered so I slowly pushed the door open and walked in . All of a sudden it was if I was in another world , here was a huge Budda up in the front and from top to bottom and overhead and on all the walls was the most beautiful Buddish folk art or stories or icons ,I have ever seen in my life and I'm as sure that not many others have either.I snapped a few pictures of the closes one and it was almost if I had come upon something not meant for all to see. It felt like the Holy of Holies in the Bible to me,like something out of the movie Raiders of The Lost Ark and my whole body was covered with goose pimples, what a strange feeling . I had to leave out of respect for the( and because I was shaking like a leaf) Spirits represented in some of the most beautiful art my eyes have ever seen. I quitely closed the door , and said to myself "lets get out of here "This experience I will never forget, and was such as I forgot all about not getting to see the Hot Springs . Hope you like the pictures I did get . Malcolm
3 comments:
Nice photos to go with a great story but please can you explain why your partner as an ex Buddhist was so scared to go near the temple. I would like to know what stigma if any the Thais attach to this passing over of Buddhism in order to follow a new faith. Cheers.
You know the old saying "you can take the girl out of the country , but you can't take the country out of the girl"I think the same goes for the Buddish that convert to other religons, there are some of the ghost and spirits that still lerk somewhere in the deep places in the mind , even tho she is a Christian there are still some beliefs that keep hanging on, taught from childhood, mainly about ghost and spirits ,also I think it has to do with all the ghost soaps she watches on tv .ha ha . as far as the stigmatism thing goes,as you know or maybe you don't,family is Buddhism and Buddhism is family in Thailand, they are hard to seperate, and when you leave Buddhism , the family feels, that family and family life (which is made up of all the Buddhist beliefs,teachings, rituals and rights) is not important to you any more. therefore they the Thais somehow attach somewhat of a guilt trip to the person that leaves their Buddhist faith , either by words or by actions . that is my own feeling of the matter , from my personal observation, and not as the result of talks with my Thai wife about the subject, some things I find are best just left alone , when it comes to Thais and their family , if you are married to one you will know what I mean .I hope that answered some of your questions , if not be more specific of a subject and I will do my best to answer from my point of view . malcolm
Thanks for taking time to read my post and look at the pictures and as always the comments are appreciated.
Malcolm and family have a lovely Christmas, now in Thailand myself. Best wishes Martyn and Wilai.
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