Hello darling,
How are you happy? Hope you're doing’ fine just to know it means so much to me.
On Sunday special family. Today we intend to make merit.
Early in the morning, monks leave their temple barefoot to go on their alms round. Sometimes they go alone with a temple boy or sometimes they go with a group. My mother, my son and I always waits outside our house for the monks to come. We wakes up early to prepare food for the monks. When they come, We puts some food into their alms bowl. The monk then blesses we.
Late in the morning, I go to the temple with My mother, my son and I to make merit. We buy lotus flower, candle and three incense sticks which we use to worship the Buddha image. First we prostrate in front of the Buddha image three times. We then put the flowers in the vase. We then light the candle and put it in the candle holder. Finally, We light the three incense sticks and hold them between my palms while we pay respect to the Buddha image. When we have finished, we put the incense sticks into the urn. We then put some gold leaf onto the Buddha image.
On holy days and religious holidays there are more things for us to prepare before we go to the temple. We cook some food for the monks and buy some essentials for the monks to use. These include things like toothpaste, soap, washing detergent and toothbrush. At the temple we make merit by offering food and essentials to the monks. Afterwards, we take part in chanting and then listen to a sermon.
If this is the holy days, I went to the temple with my family in the evening. We went there to take part in the candle-light procession. We first listened to the monks chanting and then they led us in a procession around the main temple building. Between our palms we held a lotus flower, incense sticks and candles. We held them at chest level. We then walked around the chapel three times in a clockwise direction.
I miss Jeff, I miss you. Want to make merit together?
It's not about who you've been with,
it's about who you end up with.
Sometimes the heart doesn't know what it wants
until it find what it needs.