Thai Coffin Ritual
From: davidlai.me
I found this on the net I thought it was rather bizarre and fascinating at the same time. The Buddhist temple Wat Proman in Thailand offers a rather bizarre ritual to bless devotees in order to ease their problems. All they have to do is lie in a coffin, “die” and be reborn again anew and this whole process is believed to purify bad karma and bad luck.
This seemingly morbid ritual has its roots in traditional Buddhist contemplation of death and impermanence. The Buddha himself advocated meditating upon bones and corpses to remind ourselves of our mortality so that we realized the preciousness of our human life. This is to chance our view of life and is not meant for us morbid or suicidal in any way. As for the ritual, devotees lie in coffins while Buddhist monks chant a few verses and they can be reborn again. Some people claim that the ritual fools negative spirits that the devotee had died and so they stop bothering the devotee.
Some have reported seeing the spirits of dead loved ones while lying in the coffins, which is considered a bad omen to some. This ritual is not short of its detractors who had branded this as an occult practice while some say that it is inappropriate and inauspicious for a living person to lie in a coffin. Some detractors went as far to call this whole practice commercial, which is a degeneration of Buddhism.
No matter how this practice is judged, it does nothing to stave off the popularity of this ritual amongst the ordinary Thai folks. This ritual is performed in many monasteries and usually no fee is charged for the ritual but devotees often leave a donation.
(Taken from http://funstuffcafe.com/the-thai-coffin-ritual-for-the-living )
The devotee lie is a coffin with a simple flower offering for the ritual
Devotees are ‘reborn’ again after they emerge from the coffins
This Coffin Ritual is extremely popular with the general Thai population
The monk cover part of the coffin with a swath of cloth and start to recite sacred verses
Source: http://www.davidlai.me/2013/03/07/thai_coffin_ritual/
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Hi there,
Thanks for sharing the temple for Thai Coffin Ritual.
May we have the address of the Wat Proman in Bangkok?
Thank you!
Watched the Thai coffin ritual years back in the discovery channel and heard from my friends too from those who went to Thailand. But not have seen one in real. Some of us might have who view it as a bad omen for a living person to lie down in a coffin. But to the many people over there it seem sleeping in a coffin to to get rid of bad luck or bad karma or cleansed and reborn to start a new life. Thailand has always been a Land of Buddhism shrouded by Mysticism. This traditional Buddhist ritual has become increasingly popular in the last few years among locals and tourist. With hundreds of believers will be flocking to certain temple for this coffin ceremony
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article.
hello,
can i know where is the address of the famous coffin ritual in Thailand.
not sure about the purification but at least they get some idea or whats it like to die and be buried. Perhaps might inspire them to do the dharma seriously.
Thanks guys. Well, death meditation is an essential Buddhist form of contemplation that we should all engage in. The Buddha himself recommended this but I think that the people who engage in the coffin ritual are really not looking at the ritual for the contemplative experience but more for the change of fortunes that it promises. However, lying in the coffin and hearing the chants does give people a taste of what’s it like to die and that perhaps would plant spiritual seeds in their minds to think deeper. That’s what I think and there’s very few situations in which we get to meet death in the face. So, this is actually a good type of blessing.
Different nation have their own believe. but for chinese see this will say “touch wood” !! This is a temporary process to calm your mind but in long run we need to seek for spiritual path practice to get rid all the fear..
This is very interesting… It brings one face to face with our eventuality… Sometimes we get so caught up with our lives (samsara) that we “forget” the one truth, that is our mortality!
To give ourselves this rather stark reminder is fantastic… as in the 1st chapter of Lamrim, the topic of death is the first teaching that is tackled!
Read in newspapers about Coffin Ritual, but it’s more to Taoism side to use this ritual, Chinese believe after came out from Coffin Ritual, fortune will change to be good, bad luck will go off, and the ritual is popular in Asia country.
Believe or not to Believe?
Thank You Rinpoche and David for sharing this.
Best Regards : Eric kksiow
Dear Rinpoche, the chinese newspapers and magazines have featured this practice too though the focus on this practice was to rid spirits disturbances and bad luck. Having just attended my brother in law funeral yesterday and reading this article brings to mind that contemplation on the process of dying and mind change is the only way we can help ourselves. This ritual may be a temporary measure but when we are at our death bed, would it help us?
Oh my, i heard of this ritual before, but I didn’t know that it is so popular..They even made a movie out of this ritual. Have not watched it yet, though. Us as outsiders might find this weird and morbid, but it is part of the culture of the Thais.
Myself, personally, I wouldn’t have the courage to lie in the coffin just to get rid of my bad luck. Since i have the good fortune to be able to meet Rinpoche and the Dharma, i’d do more prayers and Dharma work to purify whatever bad luck or obstacles i encounter..
Each to his own. =)
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
This is an interesting practice, though i think the coffins could be more realistic! Seriously though, contemplating on death is a good practice and i like what Rinpoche shares here in a letter to his long-time student, Henry:
When you do your daily practices as written below, please add death meditation while you are doing them. Daily be focused on your death meditation. Be creative… sometimes see yourself dying in a car accident with all the pain and gore… see yourself with a disease and dying slowly, or suddenly in your sleep… die different ways daily in your practice…. Contemplate in detail the death of your body, how your body will rot and decay. How you have taken care of your body and give it so much ‘pleasures’ yet it is a traitor dying and rotting on you. Yes, your body is not yours. See your body rotting, stench filled, decaying and infested with maggots. See the maggots really eating away at your body, till it becomes bones… and identify that this body IS NOT HENRY. (extracted from http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/dear-henry-contemplate-daily.html)
i think this contemplation is more powerful than the rituals done by the Thai monks (no disrespect to them) but because our karma is controlled by our thoughts and actions and unless we can transform our thoughts and actions, we cannot change our karma. A simple ritual by monks while we lie in the coffin will bring some benefit through the prayers and virtues of the monks but i believe it will not have as much benefit as if we ourselves contemplate and change our attitude and actions as a result.