A write-up of the Than Hsiang Lay Sangha Gathering
on 16 Jan.2022 (8.00pm-9.30pm)

Write-up by sis.Liang Nee (Sangha-rati)

We are honoured to have invited Venerable Saksith and Venerable Silar from IBC for a virtual tour to Laos to enlighten all the lay Sangha members on “Buddhism and Laos Culture”. It was a very interesting dharma sharing which lasted for more than one and a half hours. We thanked our two emcees, sister Wai Cheng and brother Poh Wah for chairing the online gathering. Our gratitude also goes to brother Yee Loong and sister Yek Ming who diligently translated the slides to Chinese to facilitate easier understanding of the texts according to our familiar languages.

Venerable Silar and Venerable Saksith have given an insightful knowledge on the early histories of Lao Buddhism and its culture. They had clearly put a lot of effort into their slides in a very organized way. We thank them and deeply appreciate their great effort.

Ven Silar talked about the propagation of Buddhism in Laos which can be categorised into four periods from 3rd Century B.C to 14th Century A.D.

1. Early Theravada Buddhism by King Asoka who sent missionaries from India to Suvaarnabhumi during the 3rd Century B.C.

2. Mahayana Buddhism propagated from Sumatra to Khmer empire during 7th Century A.D. Khmer empire extended their territory to many countries including Laos. However, Mahayana Buddhism only started to have their influence under King Jayavarman 5 who abandoned Hinduism and fully supported Mahayana Buddhism during 11th Century A.D. It was a pity that Mahayana Buddhism ended under the throne of King Jayavarman 7. According to Ven. Silar, there were no more Mahayana texts in the Laos temples. It is sad to know that after the war, only two Mahayana temples are found in Laos.

3. Pagan Theravada (from Myanmar) influenced Laos from 11th Century. King Anuruddha from Northern Myanmar invaded Mon Kingdom of Thaton in the southern Myanmar and brought the Tripitakas and learner monks to Pagan. The king then propagated this new Buddhism called Pagan Buddhism in many northern cities of Laos and northern Thailand.

4. Langkavong Theravada (Sri Lanka and Cambodia) 13th century A.D. King Parkramabahu reformed Langkavong Theravada in Sri Lanka and spread it to other Southeast Asia countries. However, it was King Fa Ngum who spread Buddhism from Cambodia to Laos in the 14th century. He also brought in the first Buddha statue known as Pra Bang which remained as the symbol of Lao Kingdom until present day.

5. In 1975, the Loas Kingdom underwent another political change into a Communist party. Buddhism has become a way of life for the Lao people. The Buddhist Fellowship of Laos consists of 4 Buddhist councils and a central headquarters’ office headed by the Sangharaja.

The Council of Education is in charge of the sangha members’ education. In every province there is a sangha high school where Buddhist studies are provided by inviting the monks to teach in the school on a monthly or weekly basis. Other common subjects like Lao language, Mathematics, History are also in their curriculum. There are only two sangha colleges in Laos based on similar curriculum with emphasis in Buddhist subjects.

The Council of Morality and Vipassana Meditation place emphasis on the practice of Buddhism such as meditation for the devotees. New Novice Ordination is also held after the semester for a duration of 7/15/ 30 days to teach the novice monks the basic dharma. After the ordination they have the option of disrobe and continue their studies or remain as novice monks. During the Q & A session, we were told that the age limit for a novice is 10-15 years old while that of a monk is 20 years. It really needs a lot of patience to teach these young children who are by nature restless and playful the basic dharma and meditation practices! Sadhu to the sangha members!

Ven. Saksith shared his dharma talk about the culture of Laos. Ven. Saksith enlightened us that as Buddhism is the main religion of Loas, it has been supported by the kings, presidents and the people. From monarchy to communism, the Sangha has been playing an essential role in Lao society with temple as the centre of spiritual practice, educational places and cultural preservation. Buddhism influences Laos culture. The people follow the Buddha’s teaching to be respectful, generous, living an easy and simple life with farming as their means of living.

There are a lot of interactions between the sangha members and the laypeople. The traditional alms-giving is observed three times a day when the gong is played at 6am, 11 am and 6 pm at which the local community will prepare their offerings to the monks who go for their alms rounds. If they are free, the laypeople may join the monks for the short dharma talk at 11am or evening chanting at the temples.

Religious activities such as chanting, blessing, transferring of merits, preaching and guiding will be the heart of all celebrations. There are twelve ceremonies for the twelve months (Heed Sip Song) of the year. Ven. Saksith highlighted the activities of four main celebrations to enlighten us. I find them very interesting.

The first ceremony was the monks’ meditation practice. The monks will find a quiet temple in the jungle and meditate for seven or nine days. The purpose of this meditation is to cultivate the mind, reflect themselves, let go of the bad things and purify the mind. The monks set up their own tents away from each other. The programme which includes chanting, eating, practising, listening to dharma and sleeping time is scheduled from 4am to 10pm daily.

The next festival is Vessantara which is the most famous Theravada Buddhism story about the previous life of the Buddha as a generous and compassionate prince who gave up all he owned including his wife and children. The story consists of 13 episodes. During the festival, the laypeople will invite monks in the temples to recite the stories. It is very interesting to watch videos of monks reciting the episodes with different rhythms, pitches, expression and intonations. They even performed chorus chanting/recitation among four monks! The devotees became emotional after hearing the episodes! Female devotees were seen inserting money into the pockets provided during the performances to show their appreciation.

Just like us, the Lao also celebrate their New Year called Songkran Festival from 14 to 16 April each year. During the first day of the festival, the Lao will clean up their home and the temples. They will wash the Buddha statues and sprinkle or pour water onto each other. Nobody should get angry as this is their culture to bless and pray for a prosperous new year to each other! A lot of activities are carried out in the temples. Monks are invited to give blessings. Devotees will be going round the temple to give donations and bathing the buddha statues.

Day 2 of the New Year has a special name called “No Day”. This is the transition day between the old and new year. Young people are advised not to take a nap to avoid sickness in the coming year. Scented water with flowers is poured onto the hands of the elders to ask for forgiveness. This is also the most exciting day as people are having fun pouring water onto each other by the river. Miss New Year Contest and processions are also taking place in the cities.

The third day is the New Year’s Day in which Buddhism has the most influence. The Lao will go to the temples to listen to dharma talks and seek blessings from the monks then transfer the merits to their relatives. They will also build sand stupas at the temples and by the Mekong River. Monks are invited to the devotees’ houses to give blessings and prosperity to the families for the new year.

I would like to make a little comparison of the New Year celebration of Laos verses the Malaysian Chinese New Year. In Malaysia, we do spring cleaning for our home and the temples too. On New Year’s Eve the younger members stay up late and keeping the lights on to welcome the New Year. The Buddhists also go to the temples to pray for the well beings of their families. Red packets are given by the elders to their children as a symbol of prosperity and longevity. I think the main differences are our Chinese New Year is mainly influenced by the Chinese culture, not so much by Buddhism. Every Chinese celebrates the Chinese New Year which lasts for 15 days. Burning fire crackers and lion dances are our traditional activities.

The last important ceremony of the year in Laos is the Vassa Ceremony with a duration of three months. The sangha members will strictly follow the Vinaya. Every 15 days the monks and novices will gather and stay in a particular temple to learn and take turns to spread the dharma to the laypeople every day according to the schedule. The abbots are reminded by the sangha leaders to observe their disciples’ behaviour.

In conclusion, Buddhism is in the blood of the Lao people. The Sangha members and the laypeople are helping each other closely. The temple is the centre of culture and Buddhism influences the way of life, thinking and tradition of the people. The Lao make efforts to practice the path of generosity, virtue and mental cultivation taught by the monks. They live a simple and happy life following the Buddha’s teaching. Once again, my greatest gratitude to the Lay Sangha committee members for organising this insightful gathering. It is good to learn about Buddhism and the culture of our neighbouring countries. Therefore, we must deeply appreciate the Triple Gem. It is a tremendous nourishment in life. Let us feel grateful to our teachers. We should also remember that faith is the main spiritual power. We have to learn to let go of unwholesome cravings, delusions and ignorance. Cultivate noble qualities and accumulate merits to achieve liberation from suffering.

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