The Buddhist ritual is to place fresh food into the alms bowls that monks carry with them. Since rice is a staple in Thai culture, families cook it fresh from home and put a portion in plastic bags to give, or you can buy a prepared dish from local street vendors.

Coins are only valuable because we’ve decided that they are, and the same goes for paper banknotes. So like other social conventions, Buddhist monks give it up. They can’t buy or sell anything, get cash out of the bank or even give or accept charitable donations.

How is the community of monks supported? By offerings from the people of the community.

Toiletries, cleaning supplies, food, notebooks, old cell phones, used cars, used computers, etc. There’s plenty of options if you keep in mind how useful they might be to a general community. Don’t bring gifts specifically for individuals but gifts that can be distributed by the sangha.

Interactions with Monks Monks are some of the most highly respected people in Thai society. Because monks are so well-respected, it is important for Thai people to interact with them appropriately. Women are not allowed to touch monks because of their commitment to celibacy.

In there the Buddha instructs all his monks to beg for their meals to learn and maintain humility. Begging helps the monks cut pride and become humble, and simultaneously the givers gain good karma.

“Traditionally though monks are beggars. In places like Thailand they beg and are given gifts of food such as rice which they are allowed to eat but not take money. They are very aggressive and hostile if you don’t give them money.

Their only possessions were their robe and begging bowl. Today, in many predominately Theravada countries like Thailand, monks still rely on receiving alms for most of their food. The monks leave the monasteries early in the morning.

Those who remain present the deceased with food to show them – as they linger on Earth in consciousness – that they are loved in death as they were loved in life. “It’s their last meal, so to speak.” Food is also offered to Buddha at funerals as an act of generosity.

A Buddhist practitioner may engage in devotional practices to ask for blessings from a Buddha or enlightened being. Monks and nuns are also believed to be able to convey spiritual power by giving a blessing (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Pali: adhiṭṭhāna) through chanting, a blessed object or some other means.

The begging bowl or alms bowl is one of the simplest but most important objects in the daily lives of Buddhist monks. It is primarily a practical object, used as a bowl in which to collect alms (either money or food) from lay supporters.

Buddhists with this interpretation usually follow a lacto-vegetarian diet. This means they consume dairy products but exclude eggs, poultry, fish, and meat from their diet. On the other hand, other Buddhists consume meat and other animal products, as long as the animals aren’t slaughtered specifically for them.

The begging bowl is seen as a sacred symbol of the Buddha and his teachings and so to give alms to the monks who carry them is an acknowledgement of the Dharma and an honour and blessing for the giver. It is said to represent the middle way between giver and receiver, where both are united in one act.

The lion references the Buddha, formerly Shakyamuni, a member of the Shakya (lion) clan. The lion is also a symbol of royalty and leadership and may also represent the Buddhist king Ashoka who ordered these columns. Many of the Buddhist symbols and practices derive from these early texts).

Buddhist symbolism is the use of symbols (Sanskrit: pratīka) to represent certain aspects of the Buddha’s Dharma (teaching). Early Buddhist symbols which remain important today include the Dharma wheel, the Indian lotus, the three jewels and the Bodhi tree.

Buddhism requires us to treat animals kindly: Buddhists try to do no harm (or as little harm as possible) to animals. Buddhists try to show loving-kindness to all beings, including animals. The doctrine of right livelihood teaches Buddhists to avoid any work connected with the killing of animals.

lion