Thursday, December 1, 2011

My First Fish Merit Experience in Thailand

A few Sundays ago, we visited our favorite Buddhist temple – The Wat Yannawa. Yannawa means “boat”.  So as its name implies, the temple is shaped like a boat. My husband loves to take pictures there and my daughter loves to feed the birds, turtles and the fishes along the Chao Phraya River. The river is right behind the Wat Yannawa temple.


While my husband takes pictures, my daughter feeds the fishes and I enjoy the views, three Thai students are performing a Fish Merit ceremony. They had a pail and in it were three fishes. After a ten-minute prayer, they released the fishes in the river. I wonder what’s behind this ceremony. Why do they do it? What happens when they practice it?


Below is the story on where and how did this merit-making start.

*In the time of the Lord Buddha, there was a temple named Chetawan Wihan which was under the charge of Saributr. One summer day, a young novice went to pay respect to Saributr. The abbot noticed an abnormal sign on the novice’s face and knew immediately that the novice would die seven days later. Out of pity, he told the poor novice about this and tried to console him. The novice then asked for leave to go home to bid farewell to his parents and relatives. He promised that he would come back to Chetawan temple within seven days in order to die there.

Two events happened on his way home. First, when he passed a water-hole and tried to get some water to drink, he saw fishes struggling in the mud. He felt pity on them, so he took off his robe, caught all the fishes and put them in his robe. He walked to a nearby pond and freed the fishes there.

Later, when the novice reached an old farm he saw three birds stuck in snares. He wanted to free them, but he couldn’t because that would mean violating the second precept of the Buddhist moral code (i.e. to abstain from stealing). So the novice just stood still looking at the birds and prayed for their safety. He prayed for a long time until there was a gust blowing in the direction where the birds were stuck. The snares shook until the wires broke and the birds flew away.

When the novice reached his home, he told his relatives about his imminent death, they were so sad that they decided to make merit for him. They weighed the novice and prepared a quantity of rice equaling the weight of the novice. They boiled the rice and presented it to the monks. They took good care of him day and night. Surprisingly, seven days passed and the novice was still alive and healthy, so he went back to Chetawan Temple.
When Saributr saw the novice, he was very surprised as his predictions had never failed before. So he asked the novice to tell to him what he had done in the past seven days. After hearing the story, Saributr realized that the novice’s escape from death was due to his meritorious acts done from his compassionate heart – freeing fishes, helping birds to flee and presenting boiled rice to the monks. All the merits done when added together were strong enough to prolong his life. This is believed to be the origin of the Buddhist tradition of freeing fishes and birds that has been observed by Thais as well as other Buddhists since the ancient times.

*Source: “Thaiways” Vol. 18, No. 15, 2001

From long ago until today, Thai Buddhists believe that they will make good merit if they release fishes, birds, and turtles at a temple. The idea is that you are doing good by giving a creature its freedom.

Of all the wonderful treasures in this world, there will be nothing more precious to someone than giving them a piece of your heart. Every time you share the goodness of your heart, you always end up winning, because LIFE IS AN ECHO. It bounces back to you what you have given.

5 comments:

  1. Liezel,

    I really believe in "life is an echo"....the more you give, the more you'll receive...and you'll feel better.

    This is the reason why I established Global Virtual Careers because I believe I can share some blessings to other people through online work. Visit www.globalvirtualcareers.net for more info.

    thanks,
    Ritchell

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    1. Thank you Ritchell. May you continue to be a blessing to others.

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  2. What a beautiful story, ninang. This is like the butterfly effect only on people. It really interests me to observe that even if this story came from Buddhism, other religions also have this kind of value. In Christianity, it's the golden rule and Islam also have their version, and other religions have their own versions, as well.

    I think it's amazing that although each one of us belong to different religions, we essentially have if not the same, then similar values. It's just proves that we're not really that different from each other.

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  3. That is true Jhobell. Loving is a universal emotion. Each person is inherently good. And when we are good to others, we are best to ourselves.

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  4. In whatever we do, we are always judged, not by people but by a higher power. thanks Liezel, truly an inspiration for all who read this.

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