This was a PM I sent to Winding Vines (love you bella, wherever you are right now!) on Brokelight. She never got it because BL was revived that day... I took out all the personal stuff and left the actual story, which I think many would appreciate 
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I am so sorry I didn't get back to you as promised. But hear me out, I think you'll like this
As I was making my way back from the (successful!) interview, I noticed the typical constant traffic-jam was even more jammed. I had to take a boat taxi, but found the pier to be full of people, most holding out candles/incense set in origami-style lotuses made of banana leaves. There were also a lot of street vendors selling living things: fish, eels, turtles, snails, and birds in tiny cages... in the commotion I got on the first boat I found. While going up the river (it was twilight), I noticed something that amazed me (for the first time in Thailand...). There was a ship with a dragon head (you must have seen those thai ships), completely illuminated, with loudspeakers blaring out Buddhist chants in Pali. The sight was very mesmerizing. I thought there must be somekind of special event but I didn't know what.
Soon I discovered that this boat did not stop at the pier I was to get off at, and so I got off at the first one after to catch another boat back. Like the first pier, this one was full of people with the same items.
As I made my way through the crowds, I decided to inspect the "goods" that the animal merchants were selling. I found the eels (at least, I think they're eels) particularly interesting. Something made me decide to buy one, I guess I thought I wanted it as a pet. As I bargained with the vendor, the language barrier saw me buying an eel AND two fish (funny looking, with long whiskers).
I wandered around the crowds for about an hour, trying to figure out what was going on. The few people I tried to ask all plainly shooed me away, even though I started the conversation in Thai (many... no, most, Thais at least in bkk have this stupid habit of imagining that they will never understand what a foreigner says no matter what language he speaks). Also, I was the only foreigner in the area, it seemed.
I had a suspicion that my fish were to be released into the river. I knew already that many Buddhists release animals from cages in an act of Karmic relief, as you probably know as well. The fact that I found myself participating in a ceremony without knowing it made me decide that this was indeed destined to be. But I still didn't know where or when to do it.
At last I found a bunch of Ladyboys and thought that would be perfect: speaking English is fashionable, so they'll likely tell me. And I was correct, they were all delighted to tell me to take one of the small boats for 20B and release the animals in the river.
As expected, I was the only farang on that boat, and was quite a spectacle amongst the Thais who shared the same boat (I was photographed several times without my consent, lol). None of the thai had animals, they just had those candle things. I am guessing because the animals are much more expensive (costing the equivalent of a street meal each). I released the animals with a curiously blank state of mind, as though it was automatic. It felt wonderful afterwards.
I am learning to accept my dharmic place in this life. I ought not try to act higher than what I am meant to be. This life is a necessary evil for the sake of understanding That Which is Not. I strongly believe that my body is the karmic product of something horrible that happened in the distant past. This doesn't translate to me hating my body, just coming in terms with it. But I digress...
Anyway, the next day I was talking to my pharmacist (who speaks good english). She had been tending to my surgery wound for the past two weeks, so we got pretty familiar. I asked her about the day before and she explained that this was a festival for acknowledging the river boddhisattva. But get this: the candles are the people's way of apologizing to the river for making their sewage dump into it! For once, I found something Thai that I admire! It is also a very curious analogue to the Roman Cloacina, a goddess who makes interesting appearances in my life...
Hete is an idyllic photo I found on the net, featuring one of the lit boats and Wat Arun in the background:
Addendum: It is worthy of mention that only a few days after I did this, I received news from my mother that I had been relieved of a HUGE debt that had kept me shackled for a very long time... I am infinitely amazed, thankful, and still have a hard time believing what happened.
I decided that every year at this time I will buy three caged animals and release them (provided they can live outside their cages - fish would be perfect).
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I am so sorry I didn't get back to you as promised. But hear me out, I think you'll like this
As I was making my way back from the (successful!) interview, I noticed the typical constant traffic-jam was even more jammed. I had to take a boat taxi, but found the pier to be full of people, most holding out candles/incense set in origami-style lotuses made of banana leaves. There were also a lot of street vendors selling living things: fish, eels, turtles, snails, and birds in tiny cages... in the commotion I got on the first boat I found. While going up the river (it was twilight), I noticed something that amazed me (for the first time in Thailand...). There was a ship with a dragon head (you must have seen those thai ships), completely illuminated, with loudspeakers blaring out Buddhist chants in Pali. The sight was very mesmerizing. I thought there must be somekind of special event but I didn't know what.
Soon I discovered that this boat did not stop at the pier I was to get off at, and so I got off at the first one after to catch another boat back. Like the first pier, this one was full of people with the same items.
As I made my way through the crowds, I decided to inspect the "goods" that the animal merchants were selling. I found the eels (at least, I think they're eels) particularly interesting. Something made me decide to buy one, I guess I thought I wanted it as a pet. As I bargained with the vendor, the language barrier saw me buying an eel AND two fish (funny looking, with long whiskers
). I wandered around the crowds for about an hour, trying to figure out what was going on. The few people I tried to ask all plainly shooed me away, even though I started the conversation in Thai (many... no, most, Thais at least in bkk have this stupid habit of imagining that they will never understand what a foreigner says no matter what language he speaks). Also, I was the only foreigner in the area, it seemed.
I had a suspicion that my fish were to be released into the river. I knew already that many Buddhists release animals from cages in an act of Karmic relief, as you probably know as well. The fact that I found myself participating in a ceremony without knowing it made me decide that this was indeed destined to be. But I still didn't know where or when to do it.
At last I found a bunch of Ladyboys and thought that would be perfect: speaking English is fashionable, so they'll likely tell me. And I was correct, they were all delighted to tell me to take one of the small boats for 20B and release the animals in the river.
As expected, I was the only farang on that boat, and was quite a spectacle amongst the Thais who shared the same boat (I was photographed several times without my consent, lol). None of the thai had animals, they just had those candle things. I am guessing because the animals are much more expensive (costing the equivalent of a street meal each). I released the animals with a curiously blank state of mind, as though it was automatic. It felt wonderful afterwards.
I am learning to accept my dharmic place in this life. I ought not try to act higher than what I am meant to be. This life is a necessary evil for the sake of understanding That Which is Not. I strongly believe that my body is the karmic product of something horrible that happened in the distant past. This doesn't translate to me hating my body, just coming in terms with it. But I digress...
Anyway, the next day I was talking to my pharmacist (who speaks good english). She had been tending to my surgery wound for the past two weeks, so we got pretty familiar. I asked her about the day before and she explained that this was a festival for acknowledging the river boddhisattva. But get this: the candles are the people's way of apologizing to the river for making their sewage dump into it! For once, I found something Thai that I admire! It is also a very curious analogue to the Roman Cloacina, a goddess who makes interesting appearances in my life...
Hete is an idyllic photo I found on the net, featuring one of the lit boats and Wat Arun in the background:
Addendum: It is worthy of mention that only a few days after I did this, I received news from my mother that I had been relieved of a HUGE debt that had kept me shackled for a very long time... I am infinitely amazed, thankful, and still have a hard time believing what happened.
I decided that every year at this time I will buy three caged animals and release them (provided they can live outside their cages - fish would be perfect).
.