On Saturday Ann and I went to the Wat Buddharangsee in Annandale, something that we do from time to time. Thai's have many reasons for visiting a wat and Ann's reasons can be quite esoteric. But I am happy to go anyway, because the experience is interesting and challenging and somewhat exotic to boot.

Being a Saturday, there were more congregants than usual and even a few of us poor farang. A service at the wat involves quite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing before the actual beginning, as people prepare lunch (monks eat first) and get the other accoutrements of the ceremony organised. This includes gift sets for the monks (with basic toiletries), small silver holy-water ewers and the orders of service. People finally settle when a leader (not a monk) begins reciting the liturgy, which is in Pali. I get to have one in romanised script, so most times, I can chant along too.

What we chant is (not unlike the creeds said in an Anglican Church) a statement of the beliefs of the faith, centred upon the Buddha and his followers. The world we think we see is an illusion and until such time as we see clearly, that is, we come to apprehend the world as it really is, we are stuck in it. This is the cause of all suffering and the latter can only be overcome by Buddhist practice.

On the way. At the wat.