I recently participated in a traditional ceremony to mark the end of Buddhist lent in a remote village of Chiang Mai. Without having a big budget, the locals had no choice but to prepare the site and organise the rites themselves, instead of hiring someone to do it. It was a simple ceremony in which everyone was happy to partake. People in rural areas usually think that apart from money, labour can also be donated as a way to make merit.
Men helped to prepare the stage and clean up. Women decorated the site and prepared food. This way, the poor can also make merit. During the ceremony, the temple was filled with happiness and everyone returned home joyous.
On the way back home, I visited another temple. Situated on a hillside overlooking Chiang Mai, the temple is adorned with stupas, huge sculptures and extravagant pavilions with stained glass windows.
It is supposed to be the place for a special pilgrimage experience. But at the temple's entrance, I noticed that there were stalls selling jasmine garlands.
There was a statue of Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin. At the far corner was the statue of the Hindu God Ganesha, and next to it was a huge elephant sculpture under which visitors were urged to walk for good luck. Sculptures of other deities made me uncertain if this was a Buddhist temple or a religious gallery. There were lots of people offering garlands to a small statue of Phra Chao Tan Jai to show their gratitude after their wishes were granted. Some asked for smooth relationships, careers and financial situations. Many came for magic lottery numbers, and lots of lottery vendors were in the parking lot.
Of course, these devotees also made donations.
From a quiet temple in the rural area of Chiang Mai, I saw the transformation of a place supposed to be the centre of Buddhism. The difference is that a few Buddhist temples encourage people to gamble with the offer of magic lottery numbers, for example. Are these temples trying to attract devout Buddhists or are they luring them away?
Temples these days are filled up with a commercial atmosphere. Many produce amulets for sale and promote their products through the media and advertisements. Some temples come up with a theme such as "donation for the next life", which means the more money you donate, the more merit you get.
But there are those temples, too, that contribute to the development of society, such as building schools and hospitals. Like it or not, we know that the approach to Buddhism is moving away from Buddhism of the past. These days, we do not have to go to a temple to make merit. We can do it online with just a few clicks. We can pray online in front of a virtual altar where we can also light virtual candles and incense sticks.
Temples also offer a more convenient choice for Buddhists. A bucket of offerings are available for sale at several temples so that "customers" can just come, buy one and give it to the monks. Some places offer magic numbers as a bonus. For me, making money by luring pilgrims with magic numbers and superstitions is no different from earnings from a sin tax.
But who knows -- city dwellers may love this kind of temple where it is easy to make merit. If they win the lottery, they will become happier and make more donations. I prefer rural temples where happiness is achieved from the inside, not from buying merit.
Peerawat Jariyasombat is a travel writer of the Life section of the Bangkok Post.