The Buddha Experience

We got up early this morning and there was a wonderful full line bus awaiting the group outside the courtyard of our hotel. I got on the bus and having scheduled many trips with large groups I realized the less than twenty of us were riding in a 47 passenger bus complete with television screens and “AIR CONDITIONING” The bus started down the many diverse Thai streets and we finally got to the Buda Temple. However the first thing we saw was a “Happy Buda” which was behind the real Buddhist temple. “I thought of my what is all the fuss about this small smiling happy Buddha, of course it was just a sign of things to come. We had to walk through an small area of street dressed construct ion workers who were generous enough to allow us to do so. They were painting and stacking scaffolding in the small corridor we walked through. As soon as we got through the corridor there was a curving driveway of which we walked down. I noticed as we walked down the corridor there were these Thai people taking pictures of us as if we were movie stars. HMMMM….Note to self YOU ARE NOT THAT SPECIAL. As we turned the final turn there to the side of us was this big massive section of all kinds of temples which cascaded around us as if we were enveloped inside their courtyards. Where to look first was the question and what were we looking at were the next our tour guide “TIFFY” that was with the organization which allowed us to be here “AEA”, was brimming with information. Her country pride and knowledge were exciting and I thought how many of us would be able to hold anyone else’s attention with the love and passion of our country, religion, and culture as she. Soon we found that in order for us to visit the Buddhist Temple were we to take off our shoes for it was considered holy. There at the entrance of the stairs was a contain filled with these colorful red bags, in these bags you were to deposit your shoes and retrieve them upon your return. We walked about ever so slowly and began to view all of the beautiful sites. It was like being in a history book turning the pages. The History was foreign but the excitement was real, It was like if you were trying to cram in hundreds of years of this culture within a few minutes our brains were in sponge overload. Yet we were tingling with information. Although there were many of us overtaken with the beauty of the temple it was irresistible to take pictures within the canvass of this beautiful temple and its surroundings. We all began to do what the herd was doing; posing and taking pictures. Many times during our sessions I thought I know this is a holy place but how exciting it is to be surrounded by at this glamour and sparkle of this temple.
This is a picture of the happy Budda not the real Budda. But at first I thought what is the big fuss?
This is the real sacred Budda. “Oh my” 5 and one half tons of sacredness.



Everywhere you looked there was Gold and complimentary colors in intricate design all around you. It was like walking through what we might relate to as OZ, in the middle of OZ the Holy Temple was a fleet of starts which led to the Buddha’s house. When we walked into the Hugh room light with gold and subdued light we saw in the middle of the room “BUDDA”. He was above us about 30-40 feet in the air. My surprise is that he was not fat but whether slim build and swan like in the design and lines of his body. We were in formed by our guide that he weighed approximately 51/2 tons which were solid gold. As I looked around the building or should I say temple I could not help but wonder if “Who takes care of all this glass, marble and gold. Because everything was sparkling. I later asked Tiffy and she told me the royal care takers took care of all of this assignments on a daily basis.