Iconic Life in Thailand

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papaya
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:10 am

Iconic Life in Thailand

Post by papaya »

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Since March of 2011, I have been living in Thailand. I preface my remarks by saying that I have done no real research on icons in Thai life. I base my remarks here on previous knowledge and daily observations. Of course being brought up Catholic, I knew what icons were, even if I didn't know the word or its definition. Any Catholic recognizes the Sacred Heart of Jesus as more than just a depiction of the human heart. We are brought up to respect and honor the Sacred Heart as a reminder of the compassion and mercy of Jesus, whom we called Our Lord. Yes, I knew icons growing up!
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And as kids, we often had to defend ourselves against the charges of idolatry, worshipers of statues, crazy people who thought that by lighting a little red vigil candle in front of a statue of the Blessed Mother, we would get all our wishes granted. Catholics believe in magic! That's what those kids would say. I always thought there was some truth to that taunt. We believed that when the priest uttered the words this is my body...this is my blood over ordinary bread and wine, suddenly, magically, they became the body and blood of Jesus. Really. Of course I had been told that bread and wine were changed to the body and blood of Christ sacramentally. Later, I learned that a sacrament is a sacred sign that brings about what it signifies. Water signifies cleansing; thus, it is the perfect vehicle for the sacrament of baptism where one is cleansed of the effects of Original Sin. All seven sacraments can be understood in this way.

Thailand is a place where there are literally hundreds, no thousands of icons, big ones the height of a three-story building, and small ones the size of a grain of rice. The subject of most of the icons in Thailand are, of course, the Buddha and the various episodes in his life. When I saw that icons are another word for sacraments, all the statues, amulets, shrines, temples, even the Buddhist monks, made absolute sense to me. What impresses me is not that Thais are surrounded by Buddhist icons, for this is a Buddhist country, but that the Thai people live an iconic life in the same sense that a Catholic might be said to live a sacramental life. Thais bow, called the wai, with great reverence to any Buddhist imagery. Likewise, they bow to photos of their king and even kings no longer alive. Thai currency is considered sacred because it exhibits a photo of the king. For example, stepping on a Thai bill is punishable by law, for it is considered tantamount to stepping on the king himself. Small children barely able to walk will bow to me if I get their attention. Why? Thais believe all human beings are worthy of respect, as is the Buddha himself.

Thai Buddhists believe that a properly rendered Buddha image is a an actual spiritual emanation of the Buddha. These icons are believed to possess supernatural qualities. Although the Buddha is not a god, Thai Buddhists seek to communicate with the supernatural world through Buddha images, making offerings to them and praying before them. To believers, icons and sacraments bring the spiritual world and the physical world together. Seeing and worshiping the divine in the mundane is truly a joyful way to live. One-Not-One is how this belief, this insight into reality, is expressed.

In conclusion I believe that the Thai smile is iconic: being in the presence of a Thai when he or she smiles (which is quite often), very few can resist smiling back and feeling blessed and good about being alive.
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Could the Thai smile be a result of their centuries’ long devotion to the icons of the Buddha? Do we become what we believe and worship? There are certain prescribed attributes of the Buddha which must (in accordance with the Buddhist Cannon) be present in any image of the Buddha for it to be a legitimate and effective icon. Not all attributes have to be present, just those associated with the particular buddha being represented. One such attribute is the Buddha's smile. Since an icon is, by its definition, an emanation of the Eternal Buddha, of course the Thai people, surrounded by icons of the Buddha, would acquire the Buddha smile. It’s not a big have-a-nice-day smile. It’s more like the smile of the Mona Lisa, a great icon in Western art. Or the smile on the young Thai in the photo above. The Thai smile is an iconic smile, not a personal smile. For example, when you see the Mona Lisa smiling at you, it's not personal; it's just iconic. I do hope I live long enough here to acquire the Thai smile, the Buddha smile....[URL=http://media.photobuckeet.com/user ... .jpg[/img][/url]
muni
Posts: 5559
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:59 am

Re: Iconic Life in Thailand

Post by muni »

:smile:
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