Buddhism and Spirit Worship

Buddhism:
Approximately 95% of Thailand’s citizens are Theravada Buddhists. It is considered an earlier and less corrupt form of Buddhism than the Mahayana schools found in East Asia or the Himalayas. It originated in the Indian Himalayas in the 6th century B.C. when its concepts were “discovered” by Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

Theravada doctrine stresses the three principal aspects of existence: dukkha (stress, suffering, disease), anicca (impermanence, transience of all things), and anatta (insubstantiality or non-essentiality of reality – no permanent soul). These concepts were in direct contrast with the Hindu belief in an eternal, blissful self. Therefore, Buddhism was originally a heresy against India’s Hindu religion.

The Buddha (meaning “the enlightened” or “the awakened”) spoke of the four noble truths that had the power to liberate any person that could realize them. These noble truths were 1) the truth of dukkha (suffering); 2) “Dukkha is caused by grasping”; 3) “Eliminate the cause of dukkha (i.e. grasping) and dukkha will cease to arise”; 4) the Eightfold Path is the way to eliminate grasping and extinguish dukkha.

The Eightfold Path consists of 1) right understanding; 2) right mindedness; 3) right speech; 4) right bodily conduct; 5) right livelihood; 6) right effort; 7) right attentiveness; 8) right concentration. The word “right” can be translated as “complete” or “full.”
The path is also called “the Middle Way” because it avoids the extremes of austerity and of sensuality.

The ultimate goal of Theravada Buddhism is nibbana, or nirvana, which literally means “blowing out” or extinction of all grasping and thus of all dukkha (suffering). It is the end of the cycle of rebirths. The object is to find a way to cool the passions through the practice of morality and mental development. If followed to conclusion, it will result in the wiping out of suffering caused by the human condition.

Most Thai Buddhists aim for rebirth into a better existence rather than nirvana itself. They may gain merit by making donations to temples, feeding monks, etc. They hope to acquire enough merit to reduce their number of rebirths. “Making merit” is an important social and religious activity in Thailand. Both men and women may achieve nirvana, but men are considered to have a higher spiritual status than women. For example, if men are bad, they will return in a subsequent life as a woman (as punishment).

There is no particular day of the week when Thais are supposed to visit the temples. They may visit whenever they feel like it. Typically, the visits include the offering of lotus buds, incense, and candles to various altars, offering food to the monks, and perhaps seeking counsel from individual monks or nuns.

Sculptures of the Buddha are everywhere in Thailand. You can see them in almost every store, restaurant, hotel, gas station, and house in the country. Sculptures and amulets of Hindu deities are also prevalent. In fact, some temples have the three main Hindu deities in a prominent position. The two religions are intertwined, and the Hindu gods are considered to be the guardians of the Buddhist religion. One may not ask the Buddha for material things, but one may ask the Hindu God Ganesh for material success.

Monks:
Every male Buddhist is expected to become a monk for a short period in his life, optimally between the time he finishes school and the time he starts a career or marries. Traditionally, the amount of time spent in a temple is three months and coincides with the rainy season. Nowadays, however, men may spend as a little as one week in a temple in order to accrue merit as a monk. There are 32,000 monasteries in Thailand and about 460,000 monks. Of those ordained for a lifetime, a large percentage becomes scholars or teachers, while some specialize in healing or folk magic. One important function of monks is to preside over the ceremonies of building a new house or spirit house. They lay a long length of string around the inside perimeter of the building, thereby marking out an area that is consecrated and protected from the influences of any evil spirits.

Monks must adhere to 227 monastic vows or precepts. They rise early (generally around 5 AM), pray, study, and may eat only twice per day – before noon. They are required to remain strictly celibate and should at all times remain sober and restrained in behavior. According to the Buddhist scriptures, their life should represent a striving for self-denial and the quenching of earthly appetites. Their life should be one of meditation, asceticism, learning, and in the case of senior members, teaching, interpreting the scriptures, and offering moral guidance. They enjoy high status in society and are recognizable by their orange robes and shaved heads. They can be seen everywhere in Thailand, and range from the very young child to the elderly man. Most, however, are young men in their late teenage years or early twenties.

There are estimated to be 10,000 nuns in Thailand. They have shaved heads like their male counterparts, but wear white robes instead.

Animism and Spirit Houses:

Although the overwhelming majority of Thais are Buddhists, their ancient Animist traditions (spirit worship) that pre-date Buddhism have hung on. Buddhism, when it appeared in Thailand, simply embraced and incorporated the Animist beliefs into the new religion instead of rejecting them. So they persist to this day. The most obvious sign of this is in the spirit houses, which can be seen in almost every house in the country – and also on the grounds of most hotels, restaurants, shops, and any other public building.

The spirit house is quite literally a small house built for the spirits of the site to live in. If a spirit house is not offered to the spirits, it is likely that the spirits will end up living in the main house with the people, which can cause a lot of trouble. The average spirit house outside of a personal residence is a birdhouse-sized imitation of a Thai temple mounted on a pedestal. Sometimes there is more than one spirit house on the same property.

It is very important to make sure that the spirit house is a more auspicious place to live in than the main residence so that the spirits will not feel slighted and decide to live in the main house. It should have a prominent location and should not be shaded by the main home. Also, the persons in the main house should make offerings of food, flowers, candles, incense, and drinks (always complete with a straw!). A Brahman priest must install the spirit house, and if additions or improvements are made to the main house, then improvements must be made to the spirit house, as well.

The interior of the house is decorated with ceramic or plastic figurines representing the property’s guardian spirits. More important spirit houses may contain additional figurines that serve as family or servants for the resident spirits. The figurines, bowls and dishes used for making the offerings are purchased at rural temples or supermarkets in the larger cities.

A damaged or abandoned spirit house can’t simply be thrown away. It should be deposited against the base of a sacred banyan tree or in the corner of a sympathetic temple where benevolent spirits will watch over it.

Small temples and shrines are often set up on the floors inside of private homes, as well. They are often covered in lights and always have offerings.

Many of the festivals that take place in Thailand have their roots in Animist tradition, as well. During the skyrocket festivals that are held at the end of the hot season in May in the North, men dress as women and fire homemade rockets into the air. The purpose is to encourage the rains. Teams compete with one another to see who can produce the biggest firework. On the day prior to the shooting, there is a lot of dancing, singing, and drunken revelry in the village. The rains are believed to be the result of the sexual union between the gods, and the dances and verses are full of sexual innuendo, crude sexual pantomime, and boys dressed as girls waving phallic symbols in the air.

Another example of the belief in spirits is the example of the woman who whispers incantations to the shrine in her house before putting new batteries in her radio in order that the batteries should receive a blessing and become purged of any evil spirit ghosts. Offerings of food are even given by some to appease the spirits of the mosquitoes when it starts to get dark!

Belief in spirits can even be seen in the construction of temples and houses. Mirrors and tiles on the outside walls of temples and royal buildings serve to deflect evil spirits, who will see their own reflection and be scared away. There is a step into the entryway of every house. This is because spirits travel in straight lines along the ground; if there is a step, they will be deflected along the house and will not be able to enter. And before giving birth to a child, many women will buy a figurine of a mother and child. During the labor, she breaks the head off of the figurine so that any evil spirits will see that no more evil is left to be done in that room and will go somewhere else. Afterwards, she glues the head back on!

Islam:
About 4% of the population is Muslim. They live mostly in the South, and there have recently been violent confrontations and terrorist attacks between Muslims and Buddhists in the extreme south, leaving many victims in its path. The differences between these two communities are deep-rooted and there seems to be a common mistrust. While we visited Thailand, news of the attacks in the south was frequent enough, and several countries have warned their citizens against travel in this part of the country.