1000 posts!
One thousand...
I've been at this blog for a full decade now. A lot has changed in my life in the past ten years. I studied abroad in South Africa. I graduated from university and took a teaching job in Thailand. I quit that job, started my own business, and set off for a six-month adventure in Vietnam and Laos. I moved back to Bangkok and got engaged to my long-term girlfriend. And now, for my 1000th post, I'm going to share the most special and important day of my life: my wedding. How serendipitous that this post would be timed exactly right for this massive milestone on my blog!
Due to COVID-19, it was impossible for us to have our ceremony back in Thailand, but my lovely fiancée and I finally got our proper Buddhist blessing and Thai wedding ceremony performed at Wat Buddhamahamunee in my own hometown of Arlington, Texas!
A lot of folks were curious about my Thai wedding ceremony. For this very special 1000th post on my blog, I'm going to be telling you all about it!
We started the ceremony at 10:28 in the morning. Luang Por ("Father"), the monk who performed our wedding, had told us that we needed to start the ceremony at a time that ended in "8". This would be auspicious, as it looks like an infinity symbol, and would symbolize our eternity together. Luang Por had the timer on his iPad in front of him to make sure that we started precisely on time!
First, we joined hands and lit a candle from the holy flame which was burning in front of the Buddhist altar while the two monks (Luang Por and Luang Pi) began to chant.
Next, we allowed the melting wax from our candle to drip into a bowl of holy water, over which Luang Por chanted a prayer.
While he was chanting, Luang Por mixed up a dollop of sandalwood paste in water with the end of the sacred candle. He muddled the aromatic sandalwood paste, then placed a triangle of three white dots upon each of our foreheads.
These white dots symbolized past, present, and future, as well as our newly-formed family of mother, father, and spouse.
Then, it was time for my grandmother to do her part of the ceremony. We had carried our flower crown garland all the way from Thailand, and my Nana's job was to place it upon our heads, symbolically linking us together. This was the moment in the ceremony in which we were officially joined in marriage! This part of the ceremony is traditionally carried out by the oldest female member of the groom's family, and I feel so blessed that my grandmother was there to help us on our special day. It really meant the world to both of us.
Then, we got a blessing with holy water. While performing the Pali Sanskrit chant, the monks used a wooden brush to splash us and our family with the holy water.
Then, we moved to the back of the temple hall. It was time for the family blessing.
We had carried the porcelain shell with us from Thailand so that we could perform the ceremony properly. My grandmother, my parents, and our bridesmaid (one of my wife's friends who happened to be in California at the time and was able to fly in to Texas for the wedding) poured water out of the shell onto our hands while giving us their blessings for our future.
Read more: A Northern Wedding
The ceremony went on for about half an hour - a Buddhist wedding is even shorter than a Methodist wedding, and for precisely the same reason... everyone wanted to get to the food!
A wedding at a Buddhist temple is free - the only price is the cost of a meal for the monks. We wanted to make it special, so we ordered a feast from Hurdado BBQ, a super famous and popular new barbecue join in Arlington. Hurtado is kind of expensive, and is usually super hard to get into without a long wait, but we ordered our feast in advance.
The monks were thrilled! Luang Por even told me that even after 20 years as a monk in Texas, he had never had Texas barbecue before! Everyone always thinks that he must feel homesick for Thai food, and he only ever receives Thai food from his friends and congregation. He said that he only rarely gets American food.
It's a misconception that monks are vegetarian. In fact, they are allowed to eat anything, but can only eat one meal a day. They must eat that meal before noon (hence, we had to finish the wedding ceremony right on time!), and they are only allowed to eat what is donated to them. Both Luang Por and Luang Pi were very excited for their meal of real Texas barbecue (and amazing barbecue it was, I might add!).
We performed an informal sort of alms ceremony, then the two monks blessed the meal. Finally, it was time for us to eat as well!
And then, we were officially married!
It feels great.
Even though COVID made it impossible to have a big wedding, this ceremony was very special. In fact, it was far more special than a giant wedding would have been, because all the people who mattered most to us were there! I'm so glad to have been able to spend this special day with my parents and grandmother.
A huge thanks to all my readers who still keep up with this blog 1,000 posts later! I have no intention to quit posting! This is a massive milestone, and I still can't believe that I am still blogging 10 years and some change after my first post.
Thanks a million. Seriously.
Here's to another 1,000 posts!
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