Walk on

This morning was the first time i followed a monk on his alms round. It was a different setting from what i saw on the video of the alms round in Ban Muang Kham, since the devotees there would gather near the temple and the monks would just walk round the court. This time, the monks walked into the market and went stall by stall, begging for alms.

Another major difference would of course be the social setting, as our society embraces several religions, and Buddhism isnt the most popular. Not only did i feel it would be a good experience, it would also be interesting to see the response. Whats more, prior to this, i was not even aware that monks here went on alms rounds at all. Apparently, if your bowl is closed, its not counted as begging and thus not against the law. So they just stand there with their begging bowls covered by a lid, and when people come to offer food, they just flip the lid. Pretty smart eh.

Our job was just to follow the monk and carry the food for him when his bowl got full. This got me pretty skeptical. Were we needed? Would response really be that good? At the start, i felt that we were totally ignored. Some stared for a while and then went back to their business. I was getting self conscious, and had goosebumps all over. But then again there was nothing shameful in what i was doing. I stood tall and tried to remember what Ajarn Seng said earlier.

For a while, i felt things got pretty desperate, especially when the devotee leading us ordered packets of nasi lemak for us to offer to the monks. Then the food came flowing in. One stall owner offered two bowls of bee hoon. Then the patrons of the stalls came forward. Glutinous rice, mee pok, breads, milk, i couldnt keep track of everything. We returned to the temple with our hands very full.

After passing the food to the temple volunteers and washing our feet, i felt happy, just as Ajarn Seng said. But i think, that joy came not from doing a service to the Sangha. Anyone could do that. My happiness came from knowing that even in times of economic hardship, people are still willing to give. Perhaps you could say that in times of hardship, people turn to religion even more. True, but in essence, what they did was to interrupt their everyday routine to perform an act of charity. That in itself to me, is an act of selflessness.

If there was anything that i learnt, it was that in Buddhism, so much is in the mind. Although what i did appeared to be just to provide physical assistance, part of the job entails being mindful of the entire process and not being overwhelmed by sensory input coming from all around. Indeed, one struck that struck me was how noisy the whole place was. Or perhaps how tranquil the temple was.

Having the right mind and intention is necessary for virtually everything. Be it in meditation or prostrating to the Buddha. I think mindfulness is really so important, especially at the workplace. Hopefully this experience has at the very least made me more steady.