A Buddhist Temple Offers Enlightenment in Aldie
Photos by Joe Motheral
Inside the Aldie Buddhist temple.
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The temple from the outside.
By Joe Motheral
atpa Nanachart, often called “Wat Pa,” is one of four Buddhist temples in Loudoun County. Located on ten acres in Aldie near Gilberts Corner since 2003, a Thailand flag sits at the entrance to the driveway. Khun Tuk, originally from Thailand, an American citizen and an area resident for 30 years, recently offered a visitor a tour of the facility The main room, with shiny gold statues of Buddha and a low table with plates of food, was filled with advocates, all kneeling. The monk would offer a chant and the crowd repeated it. Occasionally a late arrival would come in, put a plate of food on the table and find a spot to sit. This went on for almost an hour before everyone moved to another room and sat down to eat lunch. “People come everyday and bring food and then they have some kind of food offering (chanting),” Kuhn Tuk said. “Everyone is welcome. And we try to make sure we have temples at locations convenient for people to come.” One devotee said, “I come here to learn how to pray and to relieve anger.” Said another, “It brings me peace.” According to Kuhn Tuk, “There are four monks and one nun. On a typical day the monks wake up early, collect food and chant and eat at noon, but after that they cannot eat. And at 1 p.m. they do some kind of meditation—speeches and some kind of teaching.” The rules are rather strict—no foul language, no alcohol or smoking, and the monks must refrain from using high level luxurious beds or tables. Ms. Siriluck, the daughter of a Wat Pa nun, said, “There is no weekly holiday (as in other religions). Every day is a holiday. Sometimes we have ten or twenty come, sometimes hundreds if we have a special event.” There are a number of special days each year in Buddhism, one being their New Year, celebrated some time in April based on the lunar calendar. According to legend, 2,500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, was a Hindu prince who left his palatial home in northern India and renounced his position and wealth to seek enlightenment as a spiritual ascetic. He attained his goal and, in preaching his path to others, founded Buddhism. Gautama’s odyssey toward enlightenment led him into a period of self deprivation and finally to the belief that the best road through life is the middle one—neither vast wealth nor denying oneself the essentials of life. Buddhism spread all over Asia and eventually the world. Thailand is 90 percent Buddhist, a Sanskrit word that means enlightenment. Early every morning in Bangkok, monks with shaved heads walk the streets in orange saffron robes, clutching metal vessels known as “beggar bowls.” Merchants and other individuals have set food out on tables and the monks pause to gather their morning meal. Every Thai male is expected to spend at least two weeks in a monastery. According to the Abbot, most of the visitors who come to the Loudoun Wat are Thai, Korean or Chinese, though everyone is welcome. Surely, Gautama never could have dreamed that the religion he founded would have a presence in Loudoun County.
MIDDLEBURG SUSTAINABLE COMMITTEE| Holiday 2023
