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Buddhist monk builds temple in local area
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| Buddhist monk Pramaha Watama Panyavalo is at home at the temple in Aransas County. Contributed photo |
By SANDRA MUSGROVE, Contributing Writer
After driving south on the Highway 35 bypass and turning left on 16th Street we began looking for the buildings of Wat C.C. Dhamma Ratanaram, the Buddhist Temple, where we met Shirley who introduced us to Pramaha Watama Panyavalo. The first name is his Thai title, the middle name is his given name, and the third is used for western culture's purposes.
After explaining this, Shirley introduced us to Ajhon, meaning teacher, as he is called by his followers. He is referred to as Watama, spoken phonetically as it is spelled.
With Shirley's assistance, who is helping Ajhon learn English, and my husband, Fred, who lived in the Far East for many years, we talked for more than an hour.
Before Ajhon came out of the largest building, the temple, Shirley, told us, “No one wears shoes inside.”
As we removed our shoes she also advised me Ajhon's sect of monks never touch women, nor do they touch him. As I tend to be a hugger, particularly after meeting such a charming person, this was much more difficult for me than removing my shoes.
Moving into the temple, we were enthralled. It is a beautiful, huge, single room, with a magnificent wooden floor covered in random orderly fashion with oriental rugs, and large squared white columns holding the roof high.
Ajhon said, “There are 4,005 planks in the floor. I measured and placed each myself.”
In front, a raised stage is filled with different sized Buddhas in colors of every hue. Each of them is a gift from followers.
Ajhon built it all, sometimes aided by followers, including the 6'x8' columns holding the ceiling many feet above the floor. A vineyard is planned in the near future.
The construction on the entire 10 acres is the result of Ajhon's efforts, talents, and beliefs. Certainly, this man many call teacher, and whom lesser monks refer to as master, would attribute all he's accomplished to his faith - though our limited shared languages left much to be desired in this aspect of our talk.
Ajhon was born April 2, 1959, in Thailand, the sixth of 10 siblings - three girls, seven boys. His parents are deceased. He said life expectancy in his country is much shorter than in western nations. His siblings live in Thailand. He has never returned to his homeland since coming to the United States more than a decade ago.
Ajhon entered a monastery in Thailand when he was nine years old. At that time, there were about 4,000 monks studying in Thailand, though we could not understand whether it was the same sect as Ajhon's. His studies focused on philosophy and on all eastern religions.
There are literally hundreds of sects in Buddhism. One might liken it to Christianity in which there are many branches. Though each has a variety of differing practices, the base belief is in Christ. The base belief for Buddhists is Buddha.
Shirley noted the basis of Buddhism is the by-product of “happiness.”
Ajhon came to the United States, and lived in New York where he was at a temple for a lengthy period. He moved to San Antonio, and is now in Rockport.
He said there are 322 Buddhist temples in the 50 states, including four temples in Houston and one in Rockport.
Time passed quickly in the company of this “Master Teacher.” We spoke, laughed, drank water and learned.
As we rose to depart, stepping back into the bright sunshine and putting on our shoes, I wanted to embrace the entire complex, as well as the beautiful monk who'd built it as a tribute to his Buddha.
Certainly, his followers share in his wisdom and the beauty of his teachings.
Services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays and are open to the public.
After explaining this, Shirley introduced us to Ajhon, meaning teacher, as he is called by his followers. He is referred to as Watama, spoken phonetically as it is spelled.
With Shirley's assistance, who is helping Ajhon learn English, and my husband, Fred, who lived in the Far East for many years, we talked for more than an hour.
Before Ajhon came out of the largest building, the temple, Shirley, told us, “No one wears shoes inside.”
As we removed our shoes she also advised me Ajhon's sect of monks never touch women, nor do they touch him. As I tend to be a hugger, particularly after meeting such a charming person, this was much more difficult for me than removing my shoes.
Moving into the temple, we were enthralled. It is a beautiful, huge, single room, with a magnificent wooden floor covered in random orderly fashion with oriental rugs, and large squared white columns holding the roof high.
Ajhon said, “There are 4,005 planks in the floor. I measured and placed each myself.”
In front, a raised stage is filled with different sized Buddhas in colors of every hue. Each of them is a gift from followers.
Ajhon built it all, sometimes aided by followers, including the 6'x8' columns holding the ceiling many feet above the floor. A vineyard is planned in the near future.
The construction on the entire 10 acres is the result of Ajhon's efforts, talents, and beliefs. Certainly, this man many call teacher, and whom lesser monks refer to as master, would attribute all he's accomplished to his faith - though our limited shared languages left much to be desired in this aspect of our talk.
Ajhon was born April 2, 1959, in Thailand, the sixth of 10 siblings - three girls, seven boys. His parents are deceased. He said life expectancy in his country is much shorter than in western nations. His siblings live in Thailand. He has never returned to his homeland since coming to the United States more than a decade ago.
Ajhon entered a monastery in Thailand when he was nine years old. At that time, there were about 4,000 monks studying in Thailand, though we could not understand whether it was the same sect as Ajhon's. His studies focused on philosophy and on all eastern religions.
There are literally hundreds of sects in Buddhism. One might liken it to Christianity in which there are many branches. Though each has a variety of differing practices, the base belief is in Christ. The base belief for Buddhists is Buddha.
Shirley noted the basis of Buddhism is the by-product of “happiness.”
Ajhon came to the United States, and lived in New York where he was at a temple for a lengthy period. He moved to San Antonio, and is now in Rockport.
He said there are 322 Buddhist temples in the 50 states, including four temples in Houston and one in Rockport.
Time passed quickly in the company of this “Master Teacher.” We spoke, laughed, drank water and learned.
As we rose to depart, stepping back into the bright sunshine and putting on our shoes, I wanted to embrace the entire complex, as well as the beautiful monk who'd built it as a tribute to his Buddha.
Certainly, his followers share in his wisdom and the beauty of his teachings.
Services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays and are open to the public.
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ZAGDA wrote on Feb 14, 2009 3:53 PM:
Instead of presenting this to the scientific world in a peer reviewed journal, these guys publish it in this book in an attempt to sway public opinion. I could go on as many of the statements in this article are misleading, or blatantly ludicrous. Suffice it to say, it looks to me like this book is much more about influencing public opinion than any scientific review of whether human activity is causing climate change.
It is sad some people will believe this as fact. "