Today is the first day of Vassa, also known as the “Rains Retreat” or “Buddhist Lent.”
For the past several weeks I have seen a number of invitations to monk ordinations being handed out, heard the music bumping from the big blow-out party that happens the night before the ordination and heard of teachers at other schools planning on going on meditation retreats for the rest of the week. But what does all of this have to do with Vassa?
By ascribing the Christian word “Lent” to this time period, things may be a little bit confusing. Monks are typically encouraged to go out and give sermons and find places to meditate. Sometimes the places they are called to meditate are beyond farmers’ fields in the woods or beneath a tree. In the past, the monks would inadvertently trample the new rice and crops that the farmers had planted, being that it is the rainy season. The story goes that the farmers went to the Buddha to seek reparations for the damaged crops. As a result, the Buddha told the monks that they must stay at the temple for the duration of three lunar months during the rainy season, from the 8th to the 11th lunar months.
Now because the senior monks must stay at the temple for three months, men who are seeking to enter the monkhood view this as a good time to do so. The senior monks will be available and have the time to really spend time teaching the dharma to them. They will also have plenty of time to learn the Pali cannon, the ancient language that the Buddhist chants are performed in.
Becoming a monk is a very important aspect of a Thai man’s life. While it is not required by law, there is a very strong social pressure to become a monk at least once in their life. Most women’s families will not allow their daughter to marry a man who has not been a monk. It is also something that constituents look for in electoral candidates. Not having been a monk can be a hindrance to a lot of things in Thai life.
Also, because the monks must be at the temple it is a good time for lay Buddhists to go to the temple and learn from them as well. This is where in some regards this time period resembles Christian Lent, in that some people will give up things that are considered “bad deeds,” such as drinking or smoking. These are things that are forbidden to monks and so the people will choose to imitate the monk’s life as a way to make merit.
Vassa begins the day after Asanha Bucha Day which celebrates the first sermon that the Buddha gave to his five associates. It is described as the “setting into motion the wheel of dharma.” It was the Buddha’s first sermon after attaining enlightenment and contained the essence of all the teachings that came after. After the sermon, one of the associates requested to be taken as a disciple, was granted the request and the first order of monks was established.