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| One of the temple buildings at Wat Chalong |
I had the honour of being invited to the ceremony of one of my Thai colleagues for the investiture of his son to become a monk. My comments and actual observations are a general guide. Cerremonies and practices will vary from location to location. For the purposes of this writing, I will use the identification for the young man as "B', his father goes by the name "A" in real life.
In Thailand most boys go into the temple and live as a monk for a period of time in their lives. The duration of stay can be from a month or so. Some will return many times in their lives for short periods of time and others will remain there for the rest of their lives. The practice has many purposes, but two of them are for the boy to spend time in reflection and concentration on the Buddhist life principals, and secondly by participating it is a sign of respect for your parents, where your act assist them in a form of merit making. The merit making is for the boy, and family members, both living and dead. There is a belief that you can make merit for those who have died.
