One of the unconfessed pleasures of tourists in Asia come to our temples, called Wat, and see the monks, with their clothes and their heads peeled oranges to zero, reciting mantras without exhausting as they sit in impossible positions and bow zillion times before the image of Buddha presiding over the temple (for the uninitiated, Mantras are phrases, thinking, the ideas that, allegedly, free the mind and generate deep states of meditation).
It's funny, because, close views, Buddhist ceremonies, despite having much more colorful, actually saved quite similar to those of the Christian Church. And while almost nobody, Europe, by peer gives a Church, here seems to be as a most striking attraction.
Anyway, yesterday Ro and I were walking the streets of Luang Prabang, one of those mystical cities, Heritage, certainly, having almost more temples restaurants, when we saw the beginning of a ceremony. We sat in the back of the temple and a family curioseamos while preparing the arrival of the monks. Water, a kind of soda we tested sesame and recommend, and Mirindas for all ... Yes, yes, Mirindas, as those served thirty years in any bar in Madrid. In Laos, one of the world's poorest countries, still succeed.
Monks arrived at last. They adopted the lotus posture, and then all family members began passing for white rope between the shoulders, liaise with the monks ... The funny thing is they pulled the rope to the street and also passed by two cars with those who had come to the temple. I thought it would be a kind of communion of one of the smallest ...
Chants started. Children, as anywhere in the world, quickly lost the attention and began to run around ... curious foreigners did .... and suddenly photos, as a 20 minutes after, everything stopped and began to carve Mirindas. To us, perhaps because our record (almost all tourists were going after taking the photo) We also touched. I must say that these people are most attentive.
Then, the patriarch of the family began distributing candles among younger. To each the size of your head and the length of your arm. A most curious thing. After, all candles gave them the monk who officiated the ceremony, who in turn read a few sentences from a book while the repeated family. I said, very reminiscent of a mass.
At last it was over, monks went home with their drinks in hand, and I went over to ask what kind of ceremony patriarch had been that ... "Is that the family purchased a new car, and wanted to bless ", I explained.
Shocking, ¿no? Tradition and modernity together. Can you imagine saying to local priest: "Lord Bless this car you just bought the Gomez, and do not have accidents with it. Amen ".
Well the way things are here. A spirit and 16 valves. And while collecting, the monk, who was the last to leave, looking at his mobile phone, who knows if waiting for divine confirmation that the prayers had taken effect ... I said, Why are these traditional modern!
