A story on Thai and Japanese Buddha statue

It can be said that the “Buddha statue” is the object of worship (the form that expresses the figure of the Buddha) that respects Buddha who has gained “enlightenment” as the object of worship. In Theravada Buddhist country (Thailand) and Mahayana Buddhist country (Japan), the objects that appear in the original scriptures are Buddhist statues and stupas.

This article gives an overview of the differences between Thai and Japanese Buddha statues. In Thai it is called Probate Loop, and in English it is called Image of Buddha.

*Wat Pak Num (Zen Dhyana Mudra)
*Wat DHAMMAKAYA (abhayamudra and Yogan-in)
*Sakyamuni (sage of the Sakyas) in my home and Moji Mandra (character Mandala) of Nichiren sect of Japan

Shaka Nyorai statues are common in Thailand, but there are also Kannon Bodhisattva statues. In Japan, there are the Amida Nyorai statue of the Jodo sect and the Dainichi Nyorai statue of the Shingon sect. In the Zen sect, the statue of Shaka Nyorai is the principal image, and there is also a mandala of the Nichiren sect.

Nyorai → Bodhisattva → Myo → Tenbe and the statue of the grand master (founder) are also included. (Left to right, higher rank)

The color and shape are generally gold colored (gold) sitting or standing in Thailand. In Japan, sitting statues are mainly made of the ground color of the material rather than gold. There are also eleven-faced Kannon and horse-headed Kannon with different faces, and there is also Senju Kannon with plenty of hands. There is also a statue with one leg upright

In Thailand, there are many seals* (traditional seals) such as legal seals “Hokkaijo-in” (zen seals), abhayamudra (a symbolic gesture of fearlessness, protection and peace), Yogan-in (wish-granting mudra), and Sokuchi-in (Earth-Touching Mudra)

In addition, there are various shapes of hands in actual meditation (Zen Dhyāna Mudrā). The statue of Amida Nyorai in Japan is generally a combination of nine types of seals.

In Thailand, there is a Wat Traimit Golden Buddha with a purity of 60%, but when installing it outside, it is mostly made of stone (concrete), and indoors it is mostly made of gold and copper. In Japan, the Todaiji Temple and the Great Buddha of Kamakura are mostly made of gold and copper. Some statues are made of wood, dry lacquer, or clay.

In Thailand, the life of a monk is enough with “one garment, one bowl” (deemed as the minimum required clothes and eating utensil), so he doesn’t have anything to bring. In Japan, as represented by the statue of Yakushi Nyorai, there are many Buddhists implements that you can hold in your hand or use for events. There are also “armpit samurai” pairs.

*The shape that the Buddha image represents with the fingers of both hands is called a symbolic sign.  The hands of the Buddha statue have meaning in all its shapes.

A typical form is the Buddhist meditation (Zen meditation), which represents the state of stabilizing the mind and entering into meditation. The shape of Shaka (Nyorai) has forms such as preaching, wishes and exorcism, and mitigate of awe.

@The Homepage for Wat Japan (Japanese temple in Thailand)
http://kawai.servebeer.com/~masahiro
http://marsk.html.xdomain.jp

A story on Chiang-Rai & Chiang-Mai in Thailand

Of the nine prefectures in northern Thailand, Chiang-Rai has the famous Golden Triangle. Chiang-Mai prefecture is the second largest city in Thailand, and as the name suggests, it was the last new city (Chiang-Mai) during the Lanna Thai dynasty.

If you compare these two prefectures to Japan, the difference between Kyoto (Chiang -Mai) and Nagano (Chiang-Rai) lies in the climate and personality. What the two prefectures have in common is the landlocked prefecture that borders Myanmar, which are probably the Mecca of Japanese long stay visitors (especially about 4,000 in Chiang-Mai and about 400 in Chiang-Rai).

*Chiang-Mai railway station

In particular, quite a number of women from around Chiang-Rai went to work in various parts of Japan when they were in the Dust Bowl days, became close Japanese men and got married, returned to their hometowns, and lived with husbands.

Chiang-Rai and Chiang-Mai is often mistaken for “Chennai” in India. When I booked a flight ticket to Chiang-Rai in Japan, but I almost made a mistake for Chennai India.

Chiang-Rai Prefecture has many historical heritage sites during the Chiang-Rai Dynasty (the founding was King Mengrai).
The two prefectures are sandwiched between steep mountains and are more than 200 kilometers apart. Roads are widening now, and railroads from Bangkok are being considered in the future. Chiang-Rai, the northernmost part of Thailand, is a prefecture that has the momentum and competitiveness to catch up with and overtake that Chiang-Mai.

*This hot spring is located near Meten in a suburb of Chiang-Mai.
Volunteers from the Japanese Association of Chiang-Mai are responsible for the maintenance of the hot springs.

@In Mae-Sai, the border town between Chiang-Rai and Myanmar, the validity of VISA for land routes has been changed from 15 days to 30 days from November 2013 when entering Thailand.

@VISA conditions change from time to time in Thailand under the military government. VISA extension for land route is currently restricted to twice a year (visa free entry: 30 days * 2).

*The border checkpoint at MaeSai

@The missing case of 12 soccer boys and 1 coach in Tham Luang (King’s Cave: [Tam = Cave, Luang = King’s]) on the outskirts of Chiang-Rai prefecture is the first resolved safely in nine days. (July 2, 2018)
There was quite a lot of access to this BLOG (post) as well. There are many caves in the towering mountains along National Highway 1. It is often a cave temple*.

It is a cool and quiet space where you can meditate. I presume that the reason why the children entered the cave was just for fun. Please note that there is a lot of rain in Thailand (flash floods).

Having an interest in such local information in Japan might be only if it includes information on incident or accident.

*A meditation temple on the mountain of WAT JAPAN (Japanese Temple of Thailand), there is also a cave meditation ground in the Anakaric temple in the Tham Patong Village.

There are always fights with water (flash floods), wild mice, scorpions, ants, mosquitoes, etc. I hope you know about a life like this.

http://marsk.html.xdomain.jp
http://kawai.servebeer.com/~masahiro