I am super grateful for the time I spent in a monastery in Thailand last November. That experience was special for me as I strongly resonate with the energy, way of life and traditions of that place. I have always had a bit of a fascination with monks, so I was looking forward to seeing the alms ceremony here in Luang Prabang. If you’re not sure what that is, you may have seen pictures of it. Monks in their bright orange robes walking down the street in long lines collecting donations of food.
One day DawnO and I got up early, headed out onto the street and found a seat to the side to simply sit and observe this morning ritual. Unfortunately what unfolded made me feel deeply uncomfortable. While sitting in our spot, van loads of tourists poured out into the street and perched onto seats which we had thought would be where local people would be sitting. As we sat in front of a monastery, a woman with her camera walked straight into the temple in the middle of a group of monks as they congregated to get ready to take their walk. As the first monk came out onto the street, a tourist stood directly in front of him, blocking his way, camera in hand taking shot after shot with the flash going off in the monk’s face.
We proceeded to go further down the street to see the same scene with people actually designated to try to enforce the ensuing chaos. I was also reminded of the MANY public signs and posters I had seen around town trying to encourage people to be mindful of the sacredness of this ceremony.
As we got a bit out of the main tourist area, it became a little better as there were more locals and less tourists taking part in the ceremony. Howerever, the disappointment in the pit of my stomach was still there and my questioning began. Was I not also a tourist standing there (though with a bit more sense to stand to the side) camera ready hoping to get the “perfect” shot? I had been asked the other day to take my shoes off in an area of a temple I didn’t know I shouldn’t be wearing shoes in. Was I not a party to unknowingly showing disrespect? Fun fact (as my niece would say) . . . I have a degree in social anthropology and in that moment I felt the dilemma of anthropologists living with different groups. When does it go from genuine curiosity to learn about a people’s culture to (sometimes) unintentionally interfering? Based on quantum physics’ observer effect, simply by observing an event, it is being changed. It was difficult to see this sacred ceremony and a peoples’ tradition turned into somewhat of a circus act or spectator sport. I can’t change others thoughts or intentions. I can’t judge others actions or make assumptions about why they do the things they do, but I can be very clear about what my intentions are and why I want to be a part of experiences like this in the first place. So I decided I needed to take part in a tour given by http://orangerobetours.com We came across this tour company in our wanders and after talking to them and looking up their tours, I knew I needed to go. They are a new company (open for two months) that hires tour guides that are former novices or monks who have recently left the temple. They have two tours. The first one involves being shown around a temple with an explanation of traditions and ettiquette and the opportunity to have all your questions answered. The second tour involved this former resident of a temple passing on the different meditation techniques that they had been taught during their life as a novice/monk. DawnO and I chose to do both tours, and we set out questions ready and minds open.
Our guide (I’m unfortunately bad with new names) was a novice who entered the monastery at 17 to learn about Buddhism and left at 19 to go to school and look after his parents. He was willing to answer any questions we had (about his former life, Buddhism, and the Lao culture) and DawnO and I had many! This experience gave me the answers to many of my questions, gave me some new information, a different perspective and taught me new techniques. It also put me somewhat at ease. I want to continue to visit these areas and experience these traditions, but it is my intent to do so with as much respect, reverence and knowledge as I can. I was grateful to be given some tools today to be confident that I can do that.
Another activity that DawnO and I participated in to connect with the local culture was dropping in to http://bigbrothermouse.com Big Brother Mouse is a Lao organization that started out publishing books for Lao children, but has also evolved into an education centre. They have a program where foreigners can drop in for at least a couple of hours a day to simply have conversations with Lao students (they drop in on their own) to help them learn and develop their English skills. DawnO had read about this organization before we arrived, and when we were in the market one night we were approached by a young kid (14 years old) wearing a shirt that said something like “Help me practice my English” We ended up chatting with him and a few of his classmates that also showed up. They just wanted the opportunity to talk to English speakers to strengthen their skills and confidence . They told us they regularly dropped into Big Brother Mouse to practice, so one morning we made our way there. It is a great organization whose goal is simply to educate Lao children and help them with their studies. DawnO and I got to meet a few students, learn about life in Laos and I got to relive my former life as an ESL teacher. The next day we randomly ran into one of the girls we had talked to there, and it was cute how excited she was to see us.
The people of Laos are amazing and these two activities and the chance to connect has definitely been highlights. It’s also felt special to continue to build upon my knowledge and understanding of a journey that I feel began in Thailand. With our new information of how to show the most respect, DawnO and I sat in a temple for chanting tonight and have no questions we will do so again.
To end on a somewhat humorous note, the reviews for the guesthouse we are staying in regularly made comments about hearing the chanting of monks at 4am. We were anticipating this and looking forward to it, but were somewhat surprised on the first two mornings when we were woken up at 4 with a loud booming drum, cymbals and gongs. Still powerful in a different way, but a bit jarring when you’re expecting to be woken up by the more soothing sounds of chanting!! We’re still not quite clear on what this was about (it hasn’t happened for the last few mornings, but neither has the anticipated widely reviewed chanting). Guess there’s still so much left to learn!
