What about the monks?

Advice freely given: don’t fly two transglobal flights within one week! I’m a pretty seasoned traveler, but leaving Phnom Penh on a Wednesday night and flying to Knoxville – then returning exactly 167 hours later the following Wednesday – some 70 hours of travel/connect time, proved to be a bridge too far. I’m pretty clever with planning flights that work, but sometimes drop out on the human being who has to survive the ordeal. Jeeeze!

I’ve decided to tell you some stories about life here in themes. First up, I’ll tell you about the ubiquitous Buddhist monks. By no way am I an expert about Buddhism and monks mind you - far from it. But I do want to tell you about what I have observed.

Cambodia, like its neighbor Thailand, is 95% Buddhist, Theravada Buddhism to be exact. About a millennium ago the Khmer Empire was Hindu, but that all changed with the emergence of Buddhism in the region. All the fabulous stone wats (temples) were refashioned and Buddha-cized. End of story.

I’ve been told that it used to be a tradition for all boys between the ages of 12 and 16 to leave their families to take on the monk’s austere lifestyle and study Buddhism for two years. This was sort of a coming of age thing for all young men in Cambodia. It was a way for them to study their faith, to become formally educated, and to learn discipline. Sort of a military service without the guns. I’m thinking, wow, what a thing for a young guy to do. The discipline it would take and the humility it would foster.

And then along came the Khmer Rouge with their punishing form of austere communism. Pol Pot and “Angkor” decided that Cambodia needed to go back to the Stone Age by de-Westernizing and becoming a great self-sufficient rice producer. No need for education or schools, no religion, no Western influence, no cities. So, along with the thousands of educated people slaughtered were the peace-loving monks. Gone were the saffron robes and Buddhism from Cambodian lifestyle. Monks were either purged, went underground, or escaped across the Thai border.

As soon as the Khmer Rouge disappeared, back came the monks and Buddhism began flourishing everywhere again. Except this time the tradition of all boys entering the monkhood for at least two years was no longer. Shame.

I don’t know what monks do all day, but I do know they live and study together at their respective wats. Clearly a monk’s lifestyle is purposely unworldly. As I understand it, their only possessions are a saffron colored robe, a pair of sandals and a gold umbrella. That’s it.

One thing they must do daily is support themselves by asking for alms. I usually see them in pairs on their assigned routes stopping briefly at homes and businesses. One carries the shoulder bag into which money donations are stuffed and the other carries a multi-tiered metal catering device to hold food offerings. Occasionally a much younger “apprentice” boy follows along carrying either the bag or the metal food containers. Each donor bows as they make their offering, then kneels with head bowed and hands in prayer position to receive an oral blessing from the grateful monks.

I must say, it is still an eye-catcher for me when I see the bright orange saffron robes. A few wear gold robes and yet others wear burgundy ones. I think it might have to do with their stature within the wat. Many times a day I’ll see them walking along or propped on the back of a motor scooter. They seem to be steadily busy, never in a rush, but always moving at a calming and steady pace, the sight of which instills calmness and steadiness in me. Interesting how that works.

I’ve uploaded several photos of monks I’ve taken since I’ve been here. I hope you’re as touched by their presence as I have been.