Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sexy Dance for Phra Prom

Yesterday there was an article in Shinmin paper regarding a Taiwanese lady hiring 4 hot dancers to do a sexy dance in the nude as a way of offering thanks to the Phra Prom shrine in Zhanghua county. Apparently half a year ago she was having a lot of problems in her career in the precision engineering industry; but after coming to this shrine to pray for assistance from the Deva, her prayers were all answered one by one. So in order to fulfill her vows, she decided to show her gratitude in a grand manner - by putting up a sexy dance show in the cold spring weather! The police have learned of this act and subsequently stated that they were going to investigate. The lady was likely to get into trouble with the authorities now.

Why do something like that? I think she probably got her inspiration from the mother of HK celebrity Nicholas Tse, Deborah, who did something similar at the Erawan shrine in Bangkok decades ago. But hers was a special case and for anyone else to imitate that would be considered sacrilegious. This is part of the warped culture of Taiwan where having half naked (at times fully naked) women dancing at funerals and religious thanksgiving ceremonies can somehow be accepted. But anyone with common sense should see that taking off all your clothes at a holy place of worship is outrageously disrespectful. Besides, Phra Prom being a Brahma Deva has completely purified himself of desire; how can he be pleased by such lowly performances? One is more likely to be punished by the guardian deities for disrespect rather than rewarded. The worship of Phra Prom is a part of the Thai Buddhist culture that have taken root in East Asian lands like Taiwan. However it is sad that even this aspect is not spared from the prevalent warped culture there. This shows that their understanding of Buddhism is still painfully lacking.

The only accepted form of dances that one can offer to the Devas are traditional artistic dances, like the ones we can see at Erawan Shrine regularly. That is certainly much more tasteful and respectful than sexy dances. I hope the Taiwanese can educate themselves on what is acceptable and what is not by learning from the right sources - the Thai Sangha. Otherwise they are just going to continue embarrassing themselves by doing such foolish things.

Monday, March 12, 2012

LP Hok of Wat Maplambit

LP Hok of Wat Maplambit in Chonburi province is a 86 yr old master expert in creating wood tiger and palakit amulets. He has recently came out with his first batch of such amulets.
The temple counter. We can see pictures of amulets that he has consecrated in previous years.
LP reblessing the amulets and Palakit bucha that I chowed.
Applying Metta cream onto the Palakit.
The Mai Phaya Niu Dam and Mai Payung Tiger roops.
The Palakit bucha.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Inside the Cave of Wat Tham Tapianthong

Wat Tham Tapianthong in Lopburi province is the temple of LP Thongdam. Although I've visited here a few times, I've not looked inside the cave behind the temple. At the entrance we see the statues of LP Thep Lok Udon and LP Opasi.
Mae Takian shrine beside the entrance.
At the roof of the cave is a hole opening to the hill above.
Statue of Tao Wessuwan guarding the inside of the cave.
The inner part of the relatively small cave. An orb can be seen near the centre of the picture. This the place where LP Thongdam used to meditate and consecrate amulets.
Phra Prom shrine outside the cave.
First batch Pidta amulets of LP.
Subsequent batch of Pidta and Mae Tapianthong Rians.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Ajarn Wutai of Wat Donsala

Ajarn Wutai of Wat Donsala, Pattalung province, is the current abbot of the temple. He is not the same as Ajarn Wutai of Wat Wihansung, though they have the same name. This master is the disciple of Ajarn Nam and junior of Ajarn Si Ngern, the previous abbot. Although I've visited Wat Donsala a few times, this is the first time I met the abbot who is in his 80s.
AJ blessing the Ajarn Nam bucha that I chowed at the temple.
A shot taken with AJ after he gave us a blessing.
The Ajarn Nam 5" bucha. As we all know he is 1of the 5 famous masters of Kao Or lineage.