Today, I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon at an amazing temple and celebrate Songkran with the monks and rest of the Sangha. I'm sorry I don't know the name of it now, but it is the temple of the late revered teacher Achaan Chah who was Jack Kornfield's teacher among others. He taught in the Thai Forest Tradition and was the main inspiration for Theravada Buddhism traveling to the west Anyways, my teacher Herman is the doctor to the head monks at this temple and brought me there along with O, his wife, and kids. We chanted a bit and then got in line to do the 'monk soaks layman' ritual.
Basically, the monks are all seated in a row and the parishioners get on their knees and knee walk down the line. In front of each monk they pour some water on the monks hands as a sign of respect and then the monk responds by pouring cups, bowls and sometimes buckets of ice water on their head and back. They will often lift the back collar of the persons shirt to make sure a healthy dose of ice cubes makes its way down their back. It's a breathtaking 15 minutes, literally. And of course, me being the lone farang, they had an especially good time with me, sometimes pouring their entire bucket on my head, shoulders and back. Everyone was laughing the whole time. It was a whole other side of songkran, that's for sure.
It was funny watching people all dressed nice for temple and getting soaked top to bottom. And the fact that young and old could walk on their knees down the whole line. Not something you would see in the western world, that's for sure!
I ended up going home on the back of Songtao which was full so I had to stand on the back (meaning a ledge on the outside of the bus). I was the sole target for buckets of ice water and waterguns. The employees at the local Shell station, completely geared up in their Shell uniforms, wailing on sitting ducks like me was a pretty funny sight. I got home shivering and happy. And headed for a hot shower!
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