Except for the 4 noble truths, I know very little about Buddhism

The_Traveler · Dec 28, 2014

but I do know that public 'giving' seems to gain merit.
On my second trip to Viet Nam, I made a small donation in the middle of some sort of public ceremony and, besides the receipt, the man lettered my name on a red banner (red is the color of good luck in Asia) and pinned it on the wall.

(yes, there is a typo in the title, I hope a mod can fix it for me. AND DONE, thanks, John)

tirediron · Dec 28, 2014

Very cool Lew!

oldhippy · Dec 28, 2014

Lew that was a restaurant, you have two egg rolls and an order of fried rice still waiting. Just joking. Great shots, equally great experience. Ed

terri · Dec 29, 2014

Ed, you crack me up!!!

What a sweet gesture - from the giver as well as receiver! :icon_thumbsup:

The_Traveler · Dec 29, 2014

In a related kind of thing, several years later I was at Mt Popa, which is a temple built on an incredibly tall spire of rock, in the north west of Myanmar. The village at the base is solely to host Myanmar pilgrims and the very occasional tourist.

There is a stairway from the town that begins steep and gets worse. And of course the spire is inhabited by monkeys who are relatively unpleasant - obviously not Buddhist.

The view from the top is lovely, but, imo, not worth the 700 odd steps.

The_Traveler · Dec 29, 2014

All the while we were climbing and descending, there was a constant background noise from public address speakers in Burmese - which of course I ignored.

The Westerners are actually the three people I traveled with who were friends from a local camera club here in Maryland.

We had passed a little storefront where there were Monks collecting donations and, like the soft-hearted person I am, I gave them something in the neighborhood about $6 equivalent and received a receipt. Not three minutes later, in the midst of all the Burmese language, I hear over the public address system 'something, something, United States,something, something Lewis Lorton, something, something.'
I look around and everyone Burmese was looking at me and smiling.
I had gained merit.

oldhippy · Dec 29, 2014

terri · Dec 30, 2014

I wonder if the perception is that Westerners want/need the recognition? Wouldn't surprise me. :lol:

Very sweet picture of the monk.

Those monkeys in the stairwell, OTOH, look evil. Nasty creatures.

The_Traveler · Dec 30, 2014

terri said:
I wonder if the perception is that Westerners want/need the recognition? Wouldn't surprise me. Very sweet picture of the monk.

Those monkeys in the stairwell, OTOH, look evil. Nasty creatures.

I don't think that Westerners are given any more or less recognition than locals.
Giving money as an offering or gift is seen as a positive way to give.

from Wikipedia Red envelope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red envelopes are gifts presented at social and family gatherings such as weddings or on holidays such as the Chinese New Year. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.........................Red envelopes are usually given out by married couples to single people, especially to children or work colleagues.
...............

Red envelopes are also used to deliver payment for favorable service to lion dance performers, religious practitioners, teachers and doctors.

Public recognition of a gift or offering seems pretty standard.

We were at the Snake Monastery in Bago (at 1:00 PM and it was broiling) and having a look at the large, fairly sleepy python. When any visitor dropped an offering in the bowl, the man watching pulled out the note, smoothed it, laid it on the appropriate pile and then made a little announcement.
I dropped in a note, he did the same thing and all the Burmese smiled at me.