Buddhist Ceremony at a Jungle Temple in Thailand

[Leica All Day]

Hello Everybody,

I went to a pretty cool buddhist ceremony the other day at a jungle temple about 3 hours outside of Bangkok. It was a "locals only" kind of thing with no Thai or international tourists and I was the only person there with a camera, besides the locals with their cell phones. Things started pretty early in the morning, so I went the night before and got a hotel close by (30 minutes away), and in the morning went to this ceremony and had a blast.

Everything was shot with my M6ttl Millennium and my 35mm Zeiss 1.4 Distagon on Kodak film

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The monks had traveled from all over Thailand to attend this ceremony and slept in tents in the forest.







cheers, michael

 

[rhl-oregon]

Fascinating and educational, Michael—the juxtaposition of all the traditional saffron and sesshin sitting and boddhisatva-going-into-the-forest with the iPad and tattoos and bottled water by the tent. I especially appreciate your image of the monk resting in precisely the position of so many statues. Hope to see more.

 

[nlubis]

Always a treat to see your images. Thank you.

 

[Leica All Day]

Thanks a lot rhl-oregon and nlubis, it was an interesting experience for me.

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The monks brew a traditional medicine using the herbs from the forest and special ingredients that they brought from their home towns.



A nun fills up her bottle.



The locals living nearby cooked up a bunch of food and served it to the monks.



cheers, michael

 

[dave lackey]

Michael!

Long time no see, my friend.
How are you ?

It is so good to see these images, very well done! As usual!
I have missed your posts.

 

[Leica All Day]

Michael!

Long time no see, my friend.
How are you ?

It is so good to see these images, very well done! As usual!
I have missed your posts.

Thanks a lot Dave, things are going good. Been busy traveling and enjoying the good life.

The nuns sat quite far back from the monks.

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The locals did an excellent job of providing free food to all of the monks and nuns.







cheers, michael

 

[Erik van Straten]

Very nice series again, Michael. Those blocks on wich the nuns and monks are sitting, are they concrete or carved stone?

Funny to see that they have modern tents and iPads.

All beautiful with those typical colors of you. (I did not try the roll I got from you, I guess I want to keep it as a souvenir).

All the best,


Erik.

 

[Leica All Day]

Very nice series again, Michael. Those blocks on wich the nuns and monks are sitting, are they concrete or carved stone?

Funny to see that they have modern tents and iPads.

All beautiful with those typical colors of you. (I did not try the roll I got from you, I guess I want to keep it as a souvenir).

All the best,


Erik.

thanks a lot Erik, I am not sure what those blocks are made of , but my guess would be that they are concrete. Yes, technology seems to be everywhere out here and it is not uncommon to see locals from all sectors of society using a smart phone or a tablet.

That film I gave you is magic

cheers

 

[Colin Corneau]

This is a good series, and quite a stroke of luck seeing something so authentic in such a place. No playing for the tourists there!

 

[Timmyjoe]

Hey Michael,

Found some of your old posts last week and poured over them for a good part of the day. So glad to see you posting again. Love your work.

Thanks for sharing with us.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Roger Hicks]

Om ah hung benzra Guru Pema siddhi hung!

Apologies for the Khampa transliteration...

Thanks!

Cheers,

R.

 

[Chromacomaphoto]

Lovely Michael, always so impressed with your ability to shoot what could easily be trite and cliche Thai motifs and yet make them look interesting and original. I live here and see such things all the time as you do BUT I really enjoyed your series as though I was on the outside looking in. As with all high level experts at anything, you make the very difficult appear easy. A credit to you.

 

[raid]

I love such cultural stories, Michael. The images convey a story, and you did very well here. Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[Steve M.]

Wow, that wok is huge! We have a much more low key approach at my New Mexico Zen center. Our potlucks have been OK. The teacher breaks out his single malt whiskey, and that stuff is.....enlightening!

A few potlucks ago he was 3 sheets in the wind, and when he's like that he becomes the perfect host. Always smiles and keeps everybody's glass topped off, which is NOT how he normally is.

 

[c.poulton]

A wonderful series Michael, the colours leap out at you. Very insightful as others have already said.

Thanks for sharing

 

[peterm1]

Not exactly the place for it but I had the chance to visit a Thai Buddhist Temple in the small town of Mylor in the Adelaide Hills. Set amongst the trees of a national park complete with kangaroos the place is beautifully sited and serene. And the people were very welcoming and lovely.

A few shots from this day as the monks were preparing to dine on offerings brought by members of the congregation. After which we ate - and very good it was too, better I would say than any Thai restaurant menu as it was true home cooking. There was only time for a couple of snatched shots but more photos will come when I get the chance (next trip maybe).