Thailand is a country that preaches education of Southern Buddhism and it’s still retains the education and cultural of Buddha’s era. Every morning across the street, many disciple waiting to offer food to monks and get blessing from them, you also can see a lot of disciples sitting in the temple and listen respectfully to the morning chant and evening recitation by monks. Temple will prepare monks daily necessities (called Shangkakthan in Thailand ) inside the bucket, Monks robes ( called Jiwom in Thailand) and coffins to donate ( this Dana only provided by bigger temple ) for disciples to do Dana (charity) or make offerings to Monks.
According to Buddha’s education if we make offerings to Monks that follow Precepts and practice, we are able to get merits. The monks are able to transfer the merits to our Karmic creditors, parents, ancestors, guardian deity or aborted baby.
In Thailand, families will held funeral at Thai temple for the prerequisite:
- Provide the opportunity to their relatives and friends learning about Dharma by Monk in Temple.
- For their relatives and friends to do Dana and make offerings to monk- robes to Monk, coffins and daily necessities of monk. The monks will transfer the merits to deceased after Dana done.
- Have last respect to the decreased.
When Thai people becomes monk, the villager will feel proud and will complete the monastic ceremony grandly. For those disciples that come from very poor family and don’t have ability to prepare daily necessities and Monk robes (Buddhist Monk are not allow to ask money from disciples), hence they have to depends on the offerings and Dana by disciples that come to temple. With the preaching Dharma by Buddhist monk, Buddhism education would continuable. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu..