November 2, 2018 Friday
In the 1950s construction of the government-owned Erawan Hotel encountered many problems. Just like Filipinos, Thais were also superstitious. The laborers were afraid to continue working because they believed that the land spirits were against the construction.
A shrine to honor the Brahma God was deemed to be the most auspicious solution.
Construction of the hotel continued and the hotel became a symbol of Thai luxury for three decades. It was torn down to give way to the new Grand Hyatt Hotel to compete with the more modern hotels that have sprouted through the years but the Thao Maha Phrom Shrine or more popularly called Erawan Shrine remained.
The shrine houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Hindu god of creation Lord Brahma.
The Brahma has many names and meanings, one of those is elephant of the clouds.
It is advised that you pray to all the four sides because Brahma is four-faced.
Incense is an aromatic stick that releases a fragrant smoke when burned. It’s commonly used in Southeast Asian countries to honor Buddha or Hindu god.
Our tour guide Olive told us the story about her mom’s friend. The daughter came to the shrine and thoughtlessly dared the Brahma god to make her win in the lotto. She continued with what Thai people believed to be a mockery of their god by daring to dance nude at this shrine in front of the god if she wins in the lotto. She did win. She fulfilled her side of the bargain by dancing totally naked around the four sides of the shrine. However to shield her from the public’s eye, she arranged for people to cover the area with a cloth so that no other person could see her naked body except the god.
She died 3 months after that famous dance at the age of 30s.
Thai people believed that a person should not dare God. They believed that their god got mad at that woman because she disrespected Him. One must not mock God. One must be sincere and honest when making any wishes or requests and must not make fun of religion or else something tragic could happen.
They also believe that when you ask for something, you should also be ready to give or give-up something. Merong kapalit daw. In that woman’s case, the god made her win the lotto, but the payment was not the nude dance because that was an insult to the god. He took her life as payment.
That made Oyen and I think. We always ask for God’s help. In our Christian faith, we are taught to believe that God is kind, forgiving, compassionate and generous. He doesn’t ask for anything in return. Maybe this is the reason why I have become so reliant on God. I keep asking for help every single day. Lahat na lang, “naku Lord, please help me, Lord please….”
After hearing the Thai’s own beliefs, I am now more conscious about asking God for this and that. I am changing (trying) to change my impulse not to ask ask ask. But instead, I just thank thank thank. But teachings could be confusing and contradictory. They say we have to be specific when we pray.
We have to tell God exactly what we want, how much we need, etc.
I think they are following the very human “gusto mo pala bakit hindi ka nagsabi, bakit hindi ka humingi?”. Our religion trained us to ask.
“Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you”. But Christianity also made us believe that God is all-knowing. That He already knows where we are going even before we are born. Following that line of thought, that means God knows every nook and cranny of my being. He knows when and what kind of assistance from Him I need up to the day I die. That means we don’t have to ask and be specific. Religion could be confusing. I will just trust and rest my case with the notion that God knows everything about us and will continue to take care of me, my family and the whole world.
