Religion in Cambodia

Religion in Cambodia
Thearavada Buddhism is the official religion in Cambodia which is practiced by 95 percent of the population-- just like that of Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka. However, Christianity and Cham Muslim are being active and popular among a large number of population as well in the capital and provinces, showing a sign of growth. Daoism and Confuism are also commonly practiced among the Chinese people. Indochina tours Cambodia
Buddhist monks are highly disciplined and must follow 227 rules in addition to the ten basic precepts of being a good Buddhist. Monks cannot take part in entertainment. They lead simple lives dedicated to Buddhism and the temple.
Buddha
Buddhists see the universe and all life as part of a cycle of eternal change. They follow the teaching of Buddha, an Indian prince born in the sixth century B.C. Buddhists believe that a person is continually reborn, in human or nonhuman form, depending on his or her actions in a previous life. They are released from this cycle only when thy reach nirvana, which may be attained by achieving good karma through earning merit and following the Buddhist path of correct living. Cambodia travel tours
Earning merit is an important of Buddhist life. Buddhists in Cambodia earn merit by giving money, goods, and labor to the temples, or by providing one of the two daily meals of the monks.
Children often look after the fruits trees and vegetable gardens inside their local wat, or temple. Boys can earn merit by becoming temple servants or novice monks for a short time. Most young men remain monks for less than a year.

Theravada Buddhism is Cambodia’s state religion and has been since the 13th century, except during the Khmer Rouge period. During that time, all monks were disrobed or killed and most religious scholars were murdered or fled into exile. Today the country is about 95 percent Buddhist. There are also two Muslim communities, the Cham and the Malay, making up 3 percent of the population. Just under 3 percent are Christians, plus there is a substantial population of Western missionaries trying to raise that figure. In the northeast of the country, many of the ethnic minority groups practice tribal religions.

cambodia monk religion
Religion is important in Cambodia, and monks are revered. The country also has a sizable Cham Muslim population, too.
Before Cambodia embraced Buddhism, there was Hinduism. Back in the day, Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire’s official religions. In fact, Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple in the world, and one of the only dedicated to Brahma. And while Hinduism is no longer directly practiced in Cambodia, it influences Khmer Buddhist practices, such as weddings, funerals, and the use of astrology to find auspicious dates for important events.
The Cambodian approach to Buddhism is the same as their approach to most things: relaxed. Most Cambodians visit the pagodas for the major Buddhist holidays, such as Pchum Ben (Ancestor’s Day), and this is often the extent of their religious observances. Few Cambodians abstain from all of the Five Precepts of Buddhist belief, which prohibit killing, stealing, fornication, lying, and drinking. While they may not follow all of the rules, Cambodians still believe in reincarnation and the idea that one’s position in life is derived from past actions. (This may explain why, as a rule, they treat their dogs so poorly.)
Most Cambodians identify as Buddhist, but their version of Buddhism includes forms of ancestor worship, shamanism, and animism that predate Buddhism. In almost all Cambodian homes (and even at the temples), you’ll find spirit houses, small shrines to appease bad spirits and keep them away from the homes’ residents. Most Cambodians, particularly in the provinces, believe in ghosts and spirits. There are myriad folk tales about sorcery and ghosts that many Khmers accept as fact. One such is the story of a half-ghost, half-girl who slips through the windows of houses after pulling out her internal organs and leaving her corpse outside. Khmers call this spirit arb, or arb thmob. Shamans are often consulted for illnesses which are believed to have been caused by evil spirits.
Religion in Cambodia
Older women, particularly widows, often choose to live at Cambodian pagodas as helpers.
Unlike in most Christian religions, Buddhists who take vows to become a monk do not commit to this calling for life. It is common for Cambodian men to become monks for a short period of their life — usually a few weeks or a few months — to bring merit to their parents and to become closer to their Buddhist faith. This is usually done earlier in life, starting at age 13. The most common reason, though, that low-income Cambodians choose to become monks is to gain access to education that they might not be able to get otherwise. And for poor families in the provinces, having one less mouth to feed is a tempting proposition (long-term monkhood is much more common among Khmer youth from the countryside). Today less than 5 percent of men become monks, compared to 50 percent in the pre-Khmer Rouge days and close to 100 percent a century ago.

Wedding in Myanmar

Wedding in Myanmar
Ways of Love
As devout Buddhists, most of Myanmar people take to heart the teachings of the Buddha in their daily lives. Among those teachings, metta or loving-kindness plays an important role and the Buddha Himself was the greatest practitioner of loving-kindness in the whole world. Indochina travel Myanmar
It was out of this immense love toward all creatures and living beings that He had resolved to become a Buddha at the beginning of a series of existences so that He could help them get out of their vicious circles. In one of His sermons, the Buddha exhorted His followers to regard all living creatures as the only son of one's own.
Because of this particular teaching of the Buddha that Myanmar people have come to acquire such positive characteristics as being kindhearted, helpful, sympathetic, benevolent, tolerant and forgiving. Myanmar travel tours
However, you may be taken by surprise if you are informed of the exact number of ways (or rays) of love nominally existent among Myanmar people. Sometimes, they might mention the 528 or 1,500 ways of love in the Myanmar tradition. People mention the 528 ways of love to indicate pure, selfless, platonic love between two human beings, and the 1,500 ways refer to love of a passionate and selfish nature especially between man and woman.

Although both numbers are generally talked about as love, only the 528 way is the real loving-kindness while the 1,500 way is not genuine love but only base passion and lust looked upon as defilements in Buddhism.
These exact numbers originated in Buddhist scriptures. The scriptures divide people, mind and matter, direction, type of love and defilement into different categories and add them up or multiply them with each other.
Wedding
When a boy and a girl come of age and, love one another and will want to marry and live happy ever after, a wedding ceremony will be performed for them where their parents, relatives, honourable guests and friends are invited, so that they will be recognized as a newly married couple. This wedding ceremony we present, celebrated according to Myanmar Traditions and computable to the modern age.
As marrying is a once in a life time occasion, Myanmar women regard the wedding ceremony very seriously, and you can be sure the bride will be having cold feet, butterflies in her stomach and perspiration on her forehead as she faces this very special day of her entire life. On this day of matrimony, it's a custom for the bride's family: parents, brothers and sisters, to dress her up in the finest of attire and bedeck her with the best jewelleries they can afford.
With her hip-length jacket….long-length silk or satin “ htain-me-thein”, the bride looks somewhat like a princess of the Royal Court in the olden days of the Myanmar kings. And the bridegroom surely looks elegant an handsome in this traditional Myanmar men's attire which consists of a head-dress called “ gaung baung”, a long sleeve stiff collared shirt, a double length men's silk longyi called a “ taung shay longyi”, a traditional men's jacket and a velvet slipper.
It's a very encouraging and practical custom for the friends and relatives who attend the nuptial ceremony to shower the couple with gifts such as household items and personal affects that will help the marrying couple get on their feet with their life-long journey. To watch parents of the bride and bridegroom heartily welcoming their guests with smiles and handshakes, and observe the wedlock couple give away thank-you card will you warm-up to these delightful traditional customs. The wedding hall is filling up with the invited guests….and as it was the custom in the days of our king to entertain guests with the traditional glass mosaic embedded gold-gilded Myanmar Orchestra. Nowadays, due to time changes, guests are entertained with modern musical instruments. Guests are arriving in full swing; time for the wedding couple to appear is drawing near. You can be sure the bride and groom hearts are beating much faster.
Buddhist wedding ceremonies in Myanmar are more than religious occasions. The bridal couple solemnizes the union by paying obeisance to parents and elders rather than making vows in front of God or a cleric. For a Myanmar Buddhist couple, the union is legal if they live together and this fact is recognized by their neighbours and society. In other words, if they declare themselves wed, it is so. But now the popular modern method is for the pair to sign the marital contract in the presence of a judge and some witnesses.
Though a Myanmar bride does not give a dowry, it is more normal for man to offer some jewellery, property or money or to pay for the expenses of the wedding when asking for the hand of his lover. This, however, is not a strict rule and is an individual decision. After signing the contract, a reception is held for friends and relatives of both sides.
A wedding reception can be held at a hotel ballroom, community hall, monastery chamber, makeshift auditorium, or even at home depending on the preference and budget of the couple. It can be a formal ceremony with certain rituals or an informal ceremony, again depending on the choice of the couple. In formal ceremonies, a reception hall with a stage is hired and guests are sent invitations in advance.
At the specified time of the ceremony, the couple makes an entry into the hall followed by parents and family members to the accompaniment of the traditional wedding march played by a band. A master of ceremonies then presides over the occasion and recites an elaborately written profile of the bridal couple. After the master of ceremonies has formally announced the couple as husband and wife, the guests feast on refreshments while the music plays on. Finally, the newly weds and their parents greet each guest and express words of thanks.
In an informal ceremony, the venue can be anywhere and no master of ceremonies, band of musicians, or a wedding march is required. The couple's dress, as well as those of the guests, are less formal, ornate or showy. The guests can come at their convenience during the reception hours and are served with a meal or refreshments upon arrival. After greeting the newly wedded couple, the guests can also leave at their convenience.
In both formal and informal ceremonies, it is necessary for the guests to bring a gift for the couple as a token of good will and as contribution toward the new family.