Chapter 16: every tradition · Buddhism
Theravada temple
A Theravada temple (wat, vihara) of an immigrant community, following the Pali Canon and the teaching of the elders, with monks living at the temple. Each temple belongs to a national tradition; Thai temples are the most common in America (the Council of Thai Bhikkhus counted 162 in 2014), so the temple as written is Thai, keeping the Thai and Lao lunar year, and its variants are Lao, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, and Burmese temples, which differ in language, names, and festivals (Sri Lankan temples keep the full-moon poya days and Vesak on May's full moon). The monks keep the Vinaya: they don't cook, handle money, or eat after noon, so families take turns by a rota to feed them each morning, and lay stewards handle the money. In America the observance days (Uposatha) at the full and new moons are kept on Sunday: the laity bow to the Buddha and the monks, receive the refuges and the Five Precepts in Pali, hear a Dhamma talk, and offer the monks their meal before noon, sitting on the floor with shoes off and feet turned away from the Buddha. The year's crowds come at the New Year in mid-April, at Vesak, and at Kathina, when the community offers robes and money trees after the rains retreat. A lay board owns the temple and controls its money while the abbot leads its religious life, and the two can clash. There is no formal membership and no dues: giving is dana, in boxes and monthly pledges, and festivals and food fairs fund the temple. Only men are ordained as monks at a heritage temple. Many temples began in a converted house; the kitchen and the monks' quarters are as essential as the shrine. Practice is less certain than for other bodies: much of what's here rests on general knowledge, marked so in the research note, and where it was thin the common Thai practice was chosen.
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Buddhism |
|---|---|
| Its words | temple, temple, shrine hall; the abbot leads the Sunday observance; the Dhamma talk; Sunday; the Tipitaka |
| Worship | image focus, chanted, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on floor |
| Music | organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; choir discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected; song leader discouraged |
| The room's sound | no strong preference |
| Its year | theravada; full observance; fasts none |
| Leans | conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones |
| Polity | congregational; leaders come by call; property local |
| Leaders | one leader, unpaid (monastics the temple keeps, leading full-time), trained by in house; marriage any |
| Belonging | moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy |
| Giving | tithing not emphasised; collected by boxes, pledges |
| Way of life | alcohol abstinence, dress modest, sabbath relaxed |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 9:30 am | Sunday at the wat (in Thai) | the abbot | expected |
| Tuesday | 7:00 pm | Meditation evening | the abbot | optional |
- Leader: an abbot. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the temple holds a Lay-led practice in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply abbot stands in ($800 a month).
- Alms round needs alms bowls: without it the rite is missed, and its regulars mind.
Rites
- Taking Refuge (per joining, +0.02 to those there): Someone becomes a Buddhist before the abbot: kneeling before the image, they take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, receive the Five Precepts, and are given a dharma name by the teacher who becomes their own.
- Alms round (monthly, +0.025 to those there): Once a month the monks walk barefoot with their bowls past a line of families kneeling with rice and food, as monks walk through the villages at home: the laity make merit by giving, and the children learn how.
- Vesak candle procession (yearly, +0.03 to those there): On the full moon of Vesak, which marks the Buddha's birth, awakening, and death, the monks lead the people three times round the temple by candlelight, carrying flowers, incense, and candles (wian tian), in memory of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
- Memorial service for the dead (on request, +0.015 to those there): Chanting for someone who has died: on the seventh days after a death through the forty-ninth, and on the anniversaries after, the family comes before the altar, the names are read, incense, tea, and food are offered, and the merit is dedicated to the one who died. The family gives the temple an offering.
- Blessing chanting (on request, +0.015 to those there, asked for 0.25 times a year by a household, at home (30 minutes and half an hour's journey each way)): Monks chant the protective verses (paritta) for a family: a new house, a birthday, a new business, a marriage, or the sick, holding a white thread that runs from the Buddha image to everyone there, and sprinkling blessed water.
Joining
- No formal membership: a content regular of three months belongs, without a vote.
- Joining age: 16.
- Kinds of belonging: devotees (votes, may hold office); received by the abbot.
- What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the dana, by boxes, and pledges. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service.
- Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
- Pledges: a pledge drive each November for the year to come: a household with a member pledges with a chance of 0.9 × its engagement (a household of regulars, 0.3), about three quarters of what it could give, paid monthly from January and falling behind as it grows unhappy.
- Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
- Owed above: nothing.
The abbot, the staff, and who decides
- How the abbot comes: advertised and called: the board of directors votes, consulting the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the USA, from the wider body's list.
- Paid: a monastic the temple keeps: unpaid, but a full leader caring for 150; housed by the congregation.
- Candidates: three apply; trained in-house (they ask 90%); men; never married (celibacy is required).
- Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
- Ranks: Samanera (novice), Bhikkhu, Thera (ten rains), Mahathera (twenty rains); a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Abbot (unpaid (a monastic the temple keeps); cares for 150)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Its boards: the board of directors (deciding, over everything).
- Renovations: The board of directors votes, consulting the abbot.
- New construction: The board of directors votes, consulting the abbot.
- Calling a leader: The board of directors votes, consulting the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the USA.
- Who votes: devotees, 16 and over.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Dharma school, Hospital and prison chaplaincy, Meditation for beginners, The monks' meal rota.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Kathina.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bake sale, Bingo night, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Parties and receptions.
- Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): The board and the abbot, Through the fence, Two communities, one temple.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.
What the building needs
- required Alms bowlsThe monks carry their alms bowls for the families to fill.
- required Buddha imageThe Buddha's image sits at the front of the hall, with offerings of light, flowers, and incense.
- required kitchenThe Theravada temple asks every temple for one.
- required monks' quartersThe Theravada temple asks every temple for one.
- expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
- expected Shoe rackShoes come off at the door of the hall, onto racks.
- discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
- discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
- discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
- discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: in its season, the vesak lanterns is worth up to ±0.027 (missing it, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
- The Dhamma talk lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the abbot's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
How each Dhamma talk lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Sanctity of Life+0.06
- Faith & Family+0.04
- Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
- Resisting Temptation+0.04
- The Five Precepts+0.04
- Compassion for All Beings+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Impermanence+0.015
- Interdependence+0.015
- Mindfulness in Daily Life+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- Suffering and Its End+0.015
- The Noble Eightfold Path+0.015
- Care for Creation-0.02
- Healing for All-0.02
- Welcome the Stranger-0.02
- Social Justice Call-0.03
- Interfaith Understanding-0.05
- Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
- Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
- Radical Inclusion-0.075
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
Variants
Chosen when you found the temple:
- Lao temple: its own services: Sunday at the wat, sunday at 9:30 am; Meditation evening, tuesday at 7:00 pm
- Cambodian temple: its own services: Sunday at the wat, sunday at 9:30 am; Meditation evening, tuesday at 7:00 pm; its own leaders
- Sri Lankan vihara: its own services: Sunday at the wat, sunday at 9:30 am; Meditation evening, tuesday at 7:00 pm; its own calendar; its own leaders
- Burmese monastery: its own services: Sunday at the wat, sunday at 9:30 am; Meditation evening, tuesday at 7:00 pm; its own leaders
Sources
- Wendy Cadge, Heartwood: The First Generation of Theravada Buddhism in America (excerpt), University of Chicago Press (link)
- Jiemin Bao, Not Simple Temple Food: Thai Community-Making in the United States, Journal of Global Buddhism 18 (2017) (link)
- Monastic Life, Theravada Dhamma Society of America, Carleton College exhibit (link)
- Laypersons' Duties, Carleton College exhibit (link)
- Uposatha, Wikipedia (link)
- Vesak, Wikipedia (link)
- Kathina, Wikipedia (link)
- Songkran Festival, Wat Thai Washington DC (link)
- Dispute between Buddhist temple's board and its congregation leaves monks out in the streets, Long Beach Post (link)