Thai buddhists find a home in south florida

[Sawatdee]

Thai Buddhists find a home in South Florida with new temple in the Redland

Miami Herald, 7th June 2003
BY DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE


Phra Arjan Pornsak and Phramaha Songma Phawady stroll around temple grounds.

Lynda Little makes a monthly -- sometimes twice monthly -- pilgrimage to the new Thai Buddhist temple in the Redland.

It's not an easy trek -- 84 miles round trip from her North Miami Beach home.

But wandering around the temple, amid its mango and lychee groves, and watching the orange-robed monks chant make the trip worthwhile.

''It's the most peaceful place,'' says Little, of Wat Buddharangsi, the first Thai Buddhist temple to be built in South Florida, a nearly 20-year undertaking that will culminate next week in five days of dedication ceremonies.

The $1.5 million temple in South Miami-Dade is the latest in a Thai Buddhist building boom: A temple was dedicated last week in Albuquerque, N.M.; another in Houston last June.

Thais practice Theravada Buddhism, the oldest, most traditional, form of the worldwide faith, whose main tenets focus on people living a series of lives, each influenced by their previous incarnations. In addition to Thailand, most followers live in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

In the United States, Thai Buddhist congregations have grown from seven to 100 in 20 years -- ''with more to come,'' says Phra Kru Sripipatanaporn, the 65-year-old abbot of Wat Buddharangsi.

What's fueling the surge is the growth of Asian immigrants, second only to Hispanics in terms of the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, according to the 2000 Census. Broward alone saw the number of Asians double in the 1990s.

Our fascination with Asian culture, too, is spawning the interest.

Khanya Moolsiri, president of the Thai American Association of South Florida, cautions the U.S. Census figures may be low since there are Asian immigrants here who won't step forward to be counted.

The 2000 Census, for example, counted 869 Thais in Miami-Dade and 849 in Broward. Moolsiri of Cooper City said there may be at least 1,000 Thai families in South Florida, including Thais married to American-born spouses. They tend to live, Moolsiri says, in South Miami, Kendall and North Miami Beach as well as in Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City and Weston.

Thais follow an ancient form of Buddhism, one whose teachings are linked to the original Buddha, the Indian Prince Siddhartha Gautama who started the faith 600 years before the birth of Jesus. A council of monks wrote down Buddha's teachings between 89 and 77 BC and this became the core of Theravada Buddhist teachings.

Thai Buddhism is considered more traditional than Mahayana Buddhism practiced in China and parts of Vietnam and Tibet.

STRICT REGIMEN

Theravada Buddhists, for example, still chant in the ancient Pali language of the original Siddhartha. And the monks follow a strict regimen: They eat only before noon and must remain celibate, unlike Mahayana Buddhist monks who can marry.

''They can't even take something from the hand of a woman, so they are completely beyond repute,'' adds Warren Bock, spokesman for the Palm Beach Thai Buddhist congregation.

All Buddhist sects share the core belief that members must lead a good life to have good karma and a better next-life. All Buddhists believe in reincarnation, Bock says.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Roberto E. Hernandez believes becoming a Thai Buddhist has made him a better man.

''It is very peaceful,'' he says. ``It has changed me a lot.''

Born a Catholic, Hernandez says he became a Buddhist after being stationed in Thailand and becoming impressed how generous members were.

''If you don't have a place to sleep, they give you one,'' he says. ``If you don't have money to eat, they give that to you, too. They help people without expecting things back.''

His faith was sealed when he married his Thai Buddhist wife of 16 years, Noppaladt, whom he met once he was back in the United States.

But even non-Buddhists, such as Little, a Christian, find the services comforting.

''You don't have to be a Buddhist to love it here,'' says Little, a member of New First Christian Church of North Dade.

It's no problem, she adds, that she doesn't understand the monks' chants. ''Serenity and peace need no translation,'' she says.

Abbot Sripipatanaporn finds Americans worry too much about buying things. Better to slow down to savor the spiritual, he recommends.

Still, he can relate to many of today's youth not being interested in religion.

He says he reluctantly fulfilled his own religion's requirements that put him in a monk's robes in Thailand at age 20. (Young Theravada Buddhist men are expected to serve as a monk for typically three months.)

The older monks -- the lifers -- he dismissed as ``crazy.''

But he says he became hooked when he started reading the required Buddhist teachings.

''Now I've been a monk for 45 years,'' he says. ``I'm happy.''

CULTURE SHOCK

In the early '80s he was sent over from Thailand to establish the South Florida congregation.

He encountered culture shock early: As he was going through U.S. Customs, an agent wanted him to lift his robe so she could check for drugs or other contraband.

Knowing his religion didn't allow a woman to touch him, he panicked. He told her he couldn't. She said he could.

But he managed to convince her that he wasn't hiding anything and to let him go, unchecked. Now he laughs about it.

That was only the first of his travails. For years, he and his fellow Thai Buddhists couldn't find a home for their temple in Miami-Dade.

Homeowners banded together in 1985 to prevent them from building a temple in a South Dade mango grove just north of its present site. Residents complained the Asian-style shrine would disrupt the tranquillity of their neighborhood.

The Metro Zoning Appeals Board sided with the homeowners. No zoning change for the congregation.

Crushed, the immigrants regrouped, says Moolsiri, and went looking farther south. They bought five acres in the Redland at 15200 SW 240th St.

The strategy: Let the monks move into the existing home on the property and ''let the neighbors get to know us,'' Moolsiri says.

The monks planted a meditation grove of mango and lychee trees. They opened their doors to neighbors.

REJECTED AGAIN

Still, nearby residents decided to fight when the monks wanted to build their temple. Once again, Miami-Dade's zoning board sided with residents and said no to the zoning change.

Soon after, two men on motorcycles stoned the monks' home.

But the congregation didn't give up.

''We needed a place to pray just like anyone else,'' says Moolsiri.

This time, members persuaded Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Hindu leaders to plead their case to Miami-Dade commissioners.

''Freedom to practice one's religion is a fundamental human right,'' declared the late Monsignor Bryan Walsh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami at the hearing.

Commissioners voted unanimously to overrule the zoning board and allow the Thais to build their temple.

Neighbor Osa Burrichter said many residents' distrust has evaporated.

''I see them [the four monks] occasionally working on their property,'' she says. ``We all smile.''

Moolsiri says the congregation of about 500 families tries to work with the neighbors. Members don't attend regular services, rather they come as often as they want, from daily to once a year. Most go once a month, he noted.

Members support the monks, bringing them food and cooking for them.

Take Prapai Conley of Cutler Ridge.

Once she sees her husband off to work in the morning, Conley heads over to the temple to volunteer. She finds comfort in the traditional ways of the temple, what she learned as a little girl in Thailand.

''They welcome everybody,'' she says.

''We have a small group,'' says the abbott, ``but we have a big heart.''

[delawang]

Quote[/b] (sawatdee @ June 08 2003,10:51)]In the United States, Thai Buddhist congregations have grown from seven to 100 in 20 years -- ''with more to come,''

Does anyone know if there is a listing of all the Thai temples in the US? I have searched the internet but still can not find one.

[Sawatdee]

Maybe you can help us start to make one that we can put on thaibuddhist.com!

[delawang]

Ok- I will try

[Sawatdee]

Buddhists to dedicate temple

Sun Sentinel
By James D. Davis
Religion Editor
Posted June 10 2003

Starting Sunday, Khanya Moolsiri will lose her husband. Having his scalp and eyebrows shaved, setting aside regular clothes for yellow robes, Somsak will chant and meditate in the way of a Buddhist monk.

At least, he will for three days. With his wife's blessing. After all, she'll be blessed in return for her part in Miami's new Wat Buddharangsi temple.

"I want this to happen," Khanya, of Cooper City, says as she and Somsak prepare for the four days of dedication ceremonies. After all, she says with a light chuckle: "The merit of the good deed goes to the wife."

The Moolsiris will be among roughly a thousand people who will attend four days of festivities and mystical ceremonies, as monks from around the United States and Thailand turn five acres into sacred space.

Besides local attendees, the event will bring in 150 monks from 62 temples around the United States, plus four abbots from Thailand. It will mark a coming of age for the 500 families of Wat Buddharangsi, one of only two Thai congregations in South Florida.

Also attending will be about 50 people from Mahadhatujetiyaram Temple near West Palm Beach. "This is a very important occasion," says the Ven. Ajahn Thoonthawai Thuaprakhon, a spiritual leader. "It's a happy time to join together, to do a good thing. To make a pure land for the temple."

At the opening ceremonies at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the monks will chant in Pali, a Sanskrit-based language, to bless the land.

"We believe that everything on Earth has a spirit," explains Khanya Moolsiri, also the president of the Thai American Association of South Florida. "So before we do anything to the Earth, we show respect in ceremony."

The monks also will pray for the temple's 21-foot-tall image of the Buddha, which was created for Wat Buddharangsi by a craftsman in Bangkok. The gold-covered, haloed statue will be infused with spirit by the monks' chants.

Thursday and Friday will feature the annual Conference of Thai Bhikkus in the United States, the first time the monks will have met in South Florida. On Saturday, the monks will chant to clear all evil spirits from the site. They also will bless holy water from the 150-year-old Marble Temple in Bangkok.

On Sunday, the monks will pray for good spirits to inhabit Wat Buddharangsi, preparing for the Demarcation Ceremony at 3:59 p.m. Nine 50-pound marble stones will have been suspended in rattan scaffolds over holes around the perimeter. Selected temple members will use sharp knives to cut the supporting rattan cords. From then on, the temple grounds will be officially holy ground.

The holes also will contain 79,999 smaller Buddha images placed by temple members, as a way of sharing in the blessings. "In Thailand, they like the number 9; it means progress," Moolsiri says.

With the spiritual completion of the religious hall, the 20 men and boys will be ordained monks -- although some, such as Somsak, won't be monks for life. But he says he will feel honored to take part.

"It's an honor and a tradition, says Somsak, who runs an aircraft repair service at Fort Lauderdale's Executive Airport. "You make yourself empty, give up your job, your wife, your love and anger. You repair your mind, get a good way of thinking. When you come out, you feel better."

##################

Dedication of Wat Buddharangsi, a Thai Buddhist temple
Where: 15200 SW 240th St., Miami
When: Welcoming ceremony, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; dedication rituals, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday; Demarcation Ceremony, 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday
Admission: Free
Info: Call 954-431-7484

[Sawatdee]

Thai Buddhist monks dedicate area temple
Miami Herald, June 15 2003
BY ADRIANA CORDOVI

Dressed in their bright saffron garb, about 150 Thai Buddhist monks -- some who traveled from as far as Bangkok -- chanted inside Wat Buddharangsi in the Redland to cleanse the new temple of any evil spirits and make it a sacred place.

After seven years of construction, South Florida's Thai Buddhist community gathered at the temple, 15200 SW 240th St., Saturday for part of the religious hall's dedication ceremonies.

''Today our dream of a Thai Buddhist temple in Miami has come true,'' said Khanya Moolsiri, president of the Thai-American Association of South Florida.

Moolsiri, one of the temple's original members who lobbied county officials for approval to build the $1.5 million project, says Wat Buddharangsi is the only Thai Buddhist Temple in South Florida, where about 1,000 Thai Buddhist families live. About 500 people were at Saturday's ceremony.

''We have to admire and appreciate the effort of the Buddhists here,'' said Phrasripariyattimoli, a monk who traveled from Bangkok for the occasion. ``It's important for South Florida and Miami.''

Plans for the temple were drawn up in the mid-1980s, but funding, Hurricane Andrew and the zoning permit process delayed construction. The cost of building the temple complex, which includes two classrooms, an all-purpose building and a bell tower, was $1.5 million -- $1 million of which was donated by members. The rest came from bank loans.

The fundraising continued Saturday with plants -- ''Money Trees'' -- set up around the temple grounds for contributors to tape on dollar bills. This traditional custom is usually followed in homes or businesses to allow friends to help each other. Thai Buddhist tradition holds that those who contribute to their friends and family will be with them again in the next life.

Among those attending were Duba Leibill, an American who spent part of her childhood in Bangkok, and her husband Arthur, who were part of a group that petitioned the Dade County Commission in 1989 for final zoning approval. The couple was married on the temple grounds in 1988.

''It made me cry today,'' she said of the dedication ceremonies. ``Fifteen years ago, we were trying to get the zoning to build the temple.''

In addition to attending the main ceremony, the bhikkhus (monks) were also meeting for the 27th Annual Conference of Thai Bhikkhus, held on the temple grounds.

Kneeling on the red carpet, the monks faced a five-ton gold-plated Buddha image, which was imported from Thailand, and chanted away any lingering spirits.

Four of those monks have been living in a monastery on the temple grounds. They follow a simple way of life, wearing brightly colored robes and keeping their heads shaved to symbolize that they don't depend on lay people to groom them.

The ground's dedication ceremonies will end today when nine monks are ordained and the nine marble stone structures surrounding the temple are buried. The stones -- Nine Steps of Buddha -- symbolize protection. ''For us, burying it is like midnight at Times Square,'' Moolsiri said.

During historic occasions, they are displayed for followers to mark with gold before being buried. The burial signifies that the temple is now a religious area used for religious functions.

''This is a very good event and an opportunity for our members to come here and celebrate,'' said Phramahasonema Phawdy, one of the monks living on the South Miami-Dade property.


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For more information on Wat Buddharangsi, call 305-245-2702 or visit www.watbuddarangsi.org.

[delawang]

While collecting names for a list on temples, I found the Thai embassy in Washington DC already has one! Their list even has the one in Maimi, FL

http://www.thaiembdc.org/directry/wat_e.htm