To start life afresh, Thais "practice" death
BANGKOK | Tue Aug 2, 2011 12:22pm EDT
(Reuters) - For those facing a run of bad luck and wanting to start things over, one Thai temple has an unusual solution: "rehearse" death with a mock funeral, including lying down in a coffin.
Pram Manee temple in Nakorn Nayok province, 107 km northeast of Bangkok, holds two of the rituals every day: at exactly 9:09 a.m. and 1:09 p.m., since the number nine is believed by Thais to bring good luck.
Participants in a recent ritual stood in front of their designated coffins, holding flowers and praying for bad luck to go away, then asked to receive good luck.
All had paid 180 baht ($6) for the flowers, a white sheet and "merit set" -- a collection of necessities sometimes including toothpaste, toothbrushes and food -- to be offered to monks, and the promise of a better life.
"First we pray for the 'dead,' to wash away the bad things. They will go away when the monk draws a sheet over the coffin," said Rin Manaboom, a monk at the temple who conducts the ceremonies.
"The monk will turn the sheet over and pull it back, like pulling the good things back in. First we push the bad luck away, then we put the good things in."
While the participants lie in their coffins, monks chant prayers. After this, they emerge from their resting place to be blessed with holy water by a monk.
Krisda Netmanee, a 39-year-old police officer, said he wanted a fresh start after a series of bad work assignments.
"I had bad luck this year. I'm here to wash my bad luck away, and ask for blessings for good things to come," he added.
Others take part in the ritual regularly.
Farmer Ra Damthanin said she has lain within a coffin at least six times in the hopes of a long life.
"I wish to live very long with my children, my neighbors, my sisters," the 62-year-old said.
"I wish to live a very long time."
(Reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat, editing by Elaine Lies)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/02/us-thailand-coffin-idUSTRE77148J20110802
same here FA..long time.
DK, nice to see u after a long time... :)Agree with you, and i think Positive and Negative thinking is the key to it.... I have seen Lots of People Who think Negatively and blame their Destiny....
FA, not disputing the fact that fate is powerful, however it also depends on our direction of thinking and the actions thereof. there have been some turning points in my life, where the events, fortunate or unfortunate, had completely changed my views on life.
Isn't it sound useless... What ever has to happen, will happen....
many of us wish that we could do away with the past and start anew. If this helps them do that - then good for them.
it looks like a load of bollocks and a cheeky way to earn a buck for the priests..but it could help in motivating people to start something new who had lost their purpose in life.
this works on the fact that, often, during the last few minutes of our lives, we look back into the past and want to cherish some notable moments of our lives.
this ritual may provide the impetus to embark on such endeavors for someone who thought his life was a plain sheet of paper.
This thing is a great idea, because when you rehearse your death in your mind you'll find your true purpose in life, what you really wanted to do/have in life before you're dead.
Ohh,i don't need to scare the hell out of me by trying to be in that coffin.. I could start things over without doing this. We don't need rituals to make a new start,we just have to start within ourselves...
yeah..i could give it a shot.. just want to know also what it feels like lying inside a coffin...
if i try this i will die for sure. what a scary experience!
Not a bad idea, but the downside is if it were any closer to me, I would be there every 3rd month I think :-(
G8 we shd gv a try :)