Get snow effect

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Monk eating curry noodles

Enjoying curry noodles
Sat 26/12/09 Food stall near the Kajang wet market

I noticed this monk eating curry noodles in a roadside stall in the neighbourhood of the Kajang wet market. Nobody seemed to take notice of him as he hungrily chomped down the noodles.

In accordance to traditional Theravada monastic practice at dawn the monk will go out  bare-footed on alms-round and will have the only meal of the day before noon by eating from the bowl by hand. This one is acting like normal folks taking their morning meals and eating out of chopsticks in the hawker stall. From his body girth he looks well-fed, in stark contrast to monks who follow the teachings of the Buddha strictly who are usually ematiated due to ther ascetic lifestyles. How can you be fat when you only consume one meal a day?

In modern time it is not feasible to adhere strictly to the traditions of yesteryears likely eating out of the bowl on the alms begging rounds. Besides due to the modern materialistic lifestyle and the loss of interest in dhamma pactice there is little or no community support from laity to preserve the traditional practice of the dhamma. So sad. Interest in the dhamma among young people is definitely on the decline.

1 comment:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...