Life has been very unsettling and confusing lately. Too many things and worries have flown around my head causing me to feel ‘lost in space’. The fluctuations of energies and my inability to ride on top of those waves meant that I fell into the muddy flows and got soaked. I wished I have had a docile and inactive mind sometimes, perhaps that would enable me to have a more stable and uneventful life. So, whenever I felt the need to recharge my energy and get some healing, I would visit some old temples with long history and good vibes.
One of my favourite temples in the small town (Nongkhai) was Wat Phochai or Wat Phra Sai. Local people often called the temple by the name of the Buddha statue residing in the main hall (Ubosod). Wat Phochai got this name quite recently, about a hundred years ago. In the past this was a very small and dilapidated temple. This old temple became famous and got upgraded to be Royal temple with budgets for renovations and reconstructions. This was due to the status and famous reputation of the Buddha statue, Phra Sai with strange legend and powerful stories.
It was quite difficult to find out accurate and exact details surroundings the origin of some famous Buddha statues. Older generations weren’t in the habit of recording daily lives or history; eastern culture centered more on verbal communication and story telling. This was due to the fact that most people weren’t literate; only the top elites and monks could learn to read and write. Old records of Buddhists were written on dried leaves to preserve the Buddha’s teachings. So, we had to relied on contemporary records made by historians and researchers done less than hundred years ago.
That’s why we often had to consider different narrative records of historical details which were often vague about the exact timeline of some historical stories. The names of the places would have been changed through time as local language evolved gradually. I found the stories surrounding this old Buddha statue quite intriguing and interesting. I wondered how ancient people could have the skills and technology to melt a combination of metal and gold to render beautiful Buddha statues from earthern cassettes.
Phra Sai was one of the three Buddha statues made by three princesses in the Kingdom of Larn-Chang in 14th century ( around circa 1300-1353). The old tradition of building a Buddha statue for good karma has still been practiced to these days among Asian people. Most of my friends have built or participated in making Buddha statues for donating to small or poor temples in the countryside. Royalties could afford to have big golden Buddha statues made for various new temples in the country.
The three princess-sisters had three beautiful Buddha statues made; Phra Serm, Phra Sai and Phra Sook for the eldest to the youngest princesses. These three Buddha statues were in the country of Larn-Chang (meaning land of millions of elephants). During the golden years of this Kingdom (around 13th to 16th centuries), the country flourished and temples were numerous. But the new Kings couldn’t control all the different tribes and ethnic groups in a centralised governance. The old kingdom fell into many internal conflicts and fighting for dominance.
It was quite revealing that this ancient kingdom were composed of so many tribes and ethic groups. The tribes of Laos and Phutai had 6 tribes; Burmese and Tibetan tribes had 30 tribes; Khamer and Mon had 3 tribes while Mong and Yao had 7 tribes. No wonder the fragmentation and conflicts were natural outcome. But this gave me a clue as to the widespread of Mahayana Buddhist sects in the past; the Tibetan Buddhists had settled in Southeast Asia long time ago.
During the 17th century, the Larn-Chang kingdom lost its sovereigh to the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand). There were three main groups of power in Laos which weakened its own unity in the face of western colonialism. In 1893, the Kingdom of Laos became French colony. But during the dominance of Siamese, several Buddha statues had been transferred to cities in Siam, to replaced old Buddha statues or to be placed in new temples.
During the reign of King Taksin, the three Buddha statues had been transferred to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Later, they were hidden in caves in the mountainous area of PhuKao Kwai (Mountains of Buffaloes). Then, during the reign of King Rama III, the three Buddha statues were taken down on a boat trip along the river towards Bangkok which was an arduous journey full of danger. Each Buddha statue was fastened on a big bamboo raft to be guided along the river towards Nongkhai.
A sudden accident occurred to the raft of Phra Sook. There was a sudden storm which broke the raft so that this Buddha statue fell into the river. It was impossible to retrieve Phra Sook, so this statue stayed at the bottom of the river ever since. Only two Buddha statues made it to the bank of the river in Nongkhai. They were hauled up the steep bank and rested at the small temple by the river. The two remaining statues were supposed to be carried on wagons for the long journey to Bangkok.
As the carriages moved past Wat Phochai, the carriage carrying Phra Sai broke down. The workers had to get a new wooden wheel to fix the carriage. But the cows refused to budge from the spot. The more force people tried to move the carriage resulted in another broken wheel while the cows refused to budge again. This caused a lot of consternations and anxiety, people were afraid of acting against some divine sanction. So, they decided to move the carriage with Phra Serm towards the journey to Bangkok. Once they had accepted that Phra Sai didn’t want to go to Bangkok, they decided to place this Buddha in the nearby old temple.
Once they told Phra Sai that they decided to place the Buddha in Wat Phochai, the cows started walking towards the temple. So, they had to report the news to Bangkok that Phra Sai wanted to stay in Nongkhai. Phra Serm could be seen at Wat Pratoom-wanaram in Bangkok. This Buddha statue looked very soft and kind with gentle vibes. On the other hand, Phra Sai looked more masculine and strong like a warrior. The old temple had been renovated and upgraded several times to befit the holy and famous status of Phra Sai.
I did see the old black and white photo of this temple which used to look very small and uninteresting. Since the reign of King Rama IV, Wat Phochai has become very important and much richer with more devotees and followers. Many new buildings were constructed on the vast temple ground while most old trees disappeared. There’s a big car park for tourist coaches and visitors’s cars.
I was amazed by various new sculptures and mini gardens specially designed for people to take selfies. There were also new Naga sculptures around the main hall. But the biggest new installation was the mini waterfall and the two statues of the guardians of the gates of ‘hell’ or the underworld’. There has been quite a popular trend to worship these guardians and to ‘bribe’ them some blessings of good fortune and wealth. Though this was strictly non-Buddhist tradition or teaching to worship these mighty guardians. A famous psychic/ medium cum astrologer has made lots of money and fame for being able to communicate with these guardians. They even told her to warn people about the earthquake in March/ April. And the earthquakes in Burma and the collapse of the tall building in Bangkok made her fame even greater.
I was quite disappointed that the monks got along the trend to get more visitors and donations. People were encouraged to ask for help from invisible beings and became lazy about practicing Buddhist teaching. Even though these guardians were real in other dimension, they wouldn’t be happy being dragged into our dimension of worldly greed and avarice. I felt sorry for them as their peace of mind had been breached.
Inside the main hall, the atmosphere and vibes were still very calm and peaceful. I was afraid that Phra Sai would migrate to other realm as so many people came to ask for help and blessings. Phra Sai would have to listen to all the negative stories and begging me for help and good fortune. The old traditional culture of sitting meditation and reflections have disappeared from mass culture of social media and fast food. I quietly observed the wall paintings and absorbed the healing vibes of the sacred hall. I felt very lucky to be closed to a few places of high vibrations with healing energies in Nongkhai. So, I knew where to go for cleansing vibes and grounding in time of spiritual weakness. In Bangkok, I had to travel quite a distance to be near the special portals of good vibes. It would be ideal if I could tap into portal of these wonderful healing energies from my own home.
So far, my mind has been through a cosmic rain storm of some kind which was quite confusing and disorienting. To do the hard work of cultivating the spiritual path is often full of tests and challenges. I hope and pray that I could always come back to the right path to fulfill my spiritual journey.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
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