spirituality: the centre of life
The Thai calender is prepered with religious holidays honouring all the major events in the life of Buddhist faith is one of the strongest tenets of Thai culture ,and prevades all aspects of behaviour and thought. This is evident in the sheer number of temples in every city or village. No Thai community,be it a metropolitant hub or a rural village,is complete without the presence of a temple to serve society.In traditional societies,the temple is at the heartof life ,playing many roles as religious centre,healing centre,school,orphanage,meeting ground,playground,the venue of village fairs,festivals-and even a place to take homeless animal.
The Thai people's peacefulness and clam disposition is thought to stem from their strong ties to the Buddhist faith,which place s emphasis on mindfulness ,non-violence and compassion.Thaipeople believein acquiring merit in this life to ensure that duringtheir next rebirth,they are reincarnated in a better life.Hope for a good reincarnationis obtained by making offering at the temple,giving arms to nongs or, in the case of males becoming a monk for a shortperiod. In Thai culture,every male is expected to assume monkhood at some opoint in the life Monkhood is not a fixed state,and can last from one week to as long as one chooses. It used to be a rite of passage between the time a man finished school and start a career,or got married. These days,a period of monkhood is often undertaken when a parent has passed away,to make merit for the deceased as well as the rest of one's family.
spirit houses
A feature unique to Thai culture is the "spirit houses" surrounded by offerings of flowers,incense and food ,and visible in many homes and office buildings.Spirit houses are usually elaborate little structures resemblings,miniature wooden houses or, in the case of office building s,cement constructions imitating khmer temples.
Thai people believe that the land is protected by guardian spirits, so when a new house or building is erected, the human occupants must provide a spirit house for the spirit to live in.Daily offerings must be made to keepthem happy.In return,the spirit will protect the occupants and bring them peace and security .In the case of office buildings,it is hope that the spirits will bring financial success.
spirit houses should not be neglected, otherwisedisgruntled and hungry spirits may decide to stir up mischief or bring bad luck to the premises