I was in Thailand a few months back and among other thing I always like to find out about the religion of a country.

The majority of Thai people are Buddhists and follow the teachings of Buddha. It’s more a philosophy than a god-based religion originating from the teachings of an insightful and intelligent man, Siddhartha Gautama. He was the indulged son of an Indian warrior-king around 500 BC but renounced his title and became a monk. Today he is known as Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.”

Buddhism has a complex belief system but basically the philosophy is  simple – if you do good things, good things will happen to you.

 

 

It’s very common to see monks in Thailand in their orange robes. This is because most Thai men devote at least a small period of their lives to being a monk. This can be for a few weeks, months or years, depending on the individual. They leave their families, shave their heads and live in a temple during this period learning the teachings from the elder monks. They are revered across Thai society giving them status in the community.

I’m off the Bali tomorrow so keep reading and I’ll give you nuts and bolts of Hinduism and what’s hot in Seminyak.