Buddhists pray while giving food
About this recording
Kristin Post
- Creator
- Kristin Post
- Date created
- September 28, 2000
- Duration
- 1:07
- Location
- Trang, Thailand
- File
- MP3
- License
- This recording copyright ©2001. Terms of use
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- Search LEARN NC for Buddhism, festivals, food, monks, Pali, prayer, rainy season, rituals, Sanskrit, Thailand, Theravada, and Trang.
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This is a standard prayer that is repeated when monks are given food. As part of the ritual, the person giving the food has to say something to the monks about this act. The prayer roughly translates to “we are all together to give this food to you, we hope it brings good things.”
This was recorded in Trang, Thailand, a small town not far from the southeastern coast. At the time it was raining, which is common during the “wet season.” You may hear the falling rain on the pavement and tent as well as the prayers being spoken.
The prayer starts out with a phrase that is repeated three times, and it sounds like it is being sung. Then you will hear two leaders saying the prayer, after which the people repeat the words. The prayer is spoken in Pali, a language which is closely related to Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Pali was the every-day language of ancient times. Today, Buddhists in in Sri Lanka and across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, continue to say some of their prayers in Pali.
Sanskrit and Pali are common languages for Buddhism because Buddhism originated in India. But in Thailand, the most common form of Buddhism is Theravada. This is the oldest surviving Buddhist school and comes from Sri Lanka. One important doctrine of this religion is that insight must come from experience and critical investigation rather than “blind faith.”
From journal:
The temple across the street has ceremony. I sit with a school teacher and her family. People have food all over this table. Put money in little “flower pots.” Monks and children pray. Then go out and leave food on the street for ancestors.
