Lao Buddhism in Laos and In The United States******************************************************************************************************************
In any Lao Village or urban neighborhood in Laos, the Wat or Buddhist temple is a crucial
community institution. The Buddhist monks are responsible for performing certain rituals and
ceremonies to ensure the prosperity of the community, the health of its members and the fecundity
of its farmland. The community members in turn are responsible to the monks: they must support
them with gifts. Food and money, participate in the temple’s activities and follow the teachings of
the Buddha.
In fulfilling these mutual obligations, each person in the community gains merit or makes boon,
boon itself means goodness, benevolence, favor, merit purity, happiness, luck and celebration.
There are numerous ways to gain boon (merit): through making gifts to the monks or to the needy,
through observing the five precepts an other tenets of faith, through chanting sacred tents or merely
hearing them, and through assisting others to do good deeds, for instance.
The amount of merit gained by any particular act depends in part upon the recipient or beneficiary,
with gift to a monks or novice monks earning a greater credit than a charitable gift to a lay person.
The amount of merit also depends on the circumstances of the act: the intention behind it, the purity
of the donor the quantity and quality of the gifts and the occasion, There are daily opportunities for
gaining special merit through assistance in the religious observances
For Lao in the Illinois area, the Buddhist temple continues to provide a focus for religious traditions
and for community interactions, Established in 1982. The Wat Lao Phothikaram is now located in
Cherry Valley, Illinois, about seventy miles west of Chicago. Because of jobs, school and distance,
few people are able to make merit at the temple on a daily or weekly basis, but the frequent
ceremonies and religious events draw Lao from the strong youth organization involves teenagers
living near the Wat in sports, Lao dance, Lao literacy classes and other activities. Seasonal
ceremonies such as The Lao New Year, the retreat of the monks for the Buddhist Lent and Their
return to the community at its end involve the entire community.
http://www.laobuddhist.com/Lao_Buddhism.htm
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