What do they believe?

What do you believe?

Why do I ask? Well, this post is all about belief. Specifically, it's about what people believe over here. Yes, I could bore you with a lecture about what Buddhism is, or how Hinduism works, but you know me... you know how I roll. I like to get you the real story. I want you to see the truth behind the lie. Yes, people believe in worshiping Buddha, Vishnu, and a whole host of other so-called 'gods' here, but what does that mean? Why is it important?

Let me show you.

Welcome to Cambodia! Land of ancient stone dudes that smile at you in vaguely threatening ways. :)

For starters, let me say that the majority of the non-Christian religions here tend to blend together. Hinduism, Buddhism, Animism and Ancestor Worship all get mashed together in strange combinations, leading to a very diverse system of beliefs for each individual. Yes, we have Islam here too, which also gets muddled in at times.

Temple number 273.5 out of like 3 million. Otherwise known as a 'Wat'. There's a lot of these here, if I was being too subtle. ;)

As I have mentioned before, certain aspects of these beliefs are prevalent in the Khmer people's everyday lives. Even if the individual doesn't necessarily believe in going to temple or bowing before a statue, they may still hold to tenants long passed down through their families.

This is a small spirit house. You see these literally everywhere.

You remember once I told you that the people tend to have a high awareness of the spirit world? Well, the photo above is a good example. This is a 'spirit house'. People build these and sell them at the little roadside stands you've seen in my photos. The purpose of these things it to appease spirits.

This one goes inside the house or business. Same purpose.

The people believe that there are spirits everywhere.. house spirits, spirits of their ancestors hanging about... and so on. In fact, you remember how I mentioned people tend to disregard their parents until they are dead, and then they honor them? Well, this is partly what I meant. The children will sacrifice to the spirits of their departed parent or parents by placing food, or incense in these little spirit houses. They believe that the spirits of their parents, or really any of the spirits, are angry with them and will come beat them up if they don't do this. They also believe that the sacrifice is accepted since the food disappears mysteriously (It's amazing how well-fed all the birds look...).

Vishnu. You can see the little offerings left by people at the base of the statue.

Why is this a problem? Well, let me pose to you a scenario:

You come home after a long week at work. All 5 of your family members work - wife, 16 year old daughter, and 2 boys 13, and 12. You all together make approximately 10$, lets say, in a month. Sounds bad already, yeah?

Now imagine you serve a spirit who will beat you up if you don't sacrifice to him, or you have to earn merit so you can reincarnate as something other than a cockroach or spider (Eww!).Take half your income, and burn it up in a fire as an offering to one or both of these.

Now you can go get food for your family and pay your bills and get gas for a moto.

See my point?

I found this on the street. How do I know it's counterfeit? Franklin's name is in Korean. :)

A great example of throwing money away comes in the form of something I found walking back from Aidan's favorite little green-mart. This 100$ bill is not a copy. It's actually a professional-esque counterfeit bill, and would get you arrested in the States. People buy stacks of these to burn and send to their ancestors in the afterlife. I got rid of it after snapping the photo because I didn't feel comfortable even having it in the house. Also, the eyes are very creepy looking.

The snake is Naga, spirit of destruction. The people here made a pact with it to keep the events of the Khmer Rouge from happening again. Now really, how many movies have you seen where making a deal with the big evil multi-headed snake actually turned out to be a good idea? Yeah, me either.

What else? Well, another aspect that's become ingrained in the culture is a lower regard for life. Specifically, people who have diseases or limbs missing. Because of the ingrained belief that these people must have been bad in a former life, they are treated as something to look down on. As you get further out from the Capital, the villages go so far as to treat them as non-humans, and therefore devoid of rights. Imagine being tied to a tree and beaten repeatedly, or killed, just because you don't speak well. Not cool.

Monks. Sorry, these guys don't fly around doing karate, or any of the other stuff you see on TV. They also don't hold to the 'all-life-is-sacred' Zen-ness you see either, as evidenced by the sacrificed animals and fish. They also trick-or-treat for money! :)

I'm not coming down on any specific religion - don't get me wrong. Seriously though, how do you feel when someone tells you that you are worthless, and your only hope is to give everything you have in hopes that your next life will be marginally better?

See the problem?

Supposedly, Buddha's teeth are buried here...

Well, enough soapboxing for today. I was asked to do a post on what people believe, but I've barely scratched the surface. We'll do some more lighthearted posts before I revisit the topic.

Until then, please don't take any phony bills, wooden nickels, or make the well-fed birds angry.

You wouldn't like them when they're angry. ;)