I Was a Buddhist

AS TOLD TO “AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN LAOS

BEFORE dawn I got up, put on my sarong and went to the kitchen to start the day. First the kerosene stove must be lit. Then a large pot of water was set on it. Finally, a large cone-shaped basket full of rice which had soaked in water all night was set into the pot of water. The rice was barely cooked and packed into its carrying basket when the drum at the nearby temple or wat boomed out dully.

That’s right. I was not up at five o’clock preparing rice for myself. It was for the monks at the neighboring wat. The drumbeat sounded the signal for me and my neighbors to take our rice baskets out into the street and await the arrival of the monks. We were all carefully dressed in our best silk sarongs, with silk stoles draped over our left shoulders. We knelt down in a long line on the road, and soon through the war gate came the procession of barefoot, saffron-robed monks.

How we respected these men! Had they not given their lives, or at least part of them, in devotion to Buddha and his teachings? What a privilege we considered it to be able to offer them support in this way. As each monk passed by me I took a handful of rice from my basket and placed it in the proffered bowl. None of the monks spoke a word, not even the customary “khob chai” (thank you). Ours was the privilege to give. Indeed, by giving gifts to these “holy men” we fully believed that we were making “boon” that is, building up merit for ourselves so that in our reincarnation we would be happy and rich and have a large house and many servants.

When the last monk had received his rice, I took out a small phial of water and poured its contents on the ground. That was our way of calling Nang Thorani, the goddess Earth, and our dead ancestors to bear witness to our good deeds. As the monks departed we each meditated silently with bowed heads, filled with satisfaction at a deed well done.

Yes, I loved my religion and took every opportunity to arrange a special feast for my friends or go to the wat to help the monks with their work. I obeyed the precepts of Buddhism and felt that I was laying a splendid foundation for my next life.

A New Experience

At that time I was living in a town in southern Laos. I was employed as a librarian. One day a woman came into the library and introduced herself as a missionary of Jehovah’s witnesses. That was something new to me, but I felt attracted by her warm, friendly personality. She told me something about her beliefs and they sounded so good that I thought to myself: “It’s just the same as Buddhism.”

Soon after, I moved farther south to where my parents lived, and where there were no witnesses of Jehovah at all. At the same time the missionary moved to the capital, so that in the course of the following two years I met her only once during a visit to Vientiane. Again I came away with the thought that her religion closely resembled mine.

To explain this apparent similarity, I should mention that Buddhism teaches that salvation is gained by following the noble Eightfold Path: (1) Right view​—viewing the world realistically; (2) Right resolution​—trying to free oneself from such qualities as pride and resentment, and striving to love one’s enemies; (3) Right speech​—which Buddha defined as “abstinence from lying speech, from backbiting and abusive speech and from idle babble”; (4) Right conduct​—being peaceful, pure, honest; (5) Right livelihood​—avoiding work that causes suffering to others; (6) Right effort​—strenuously developing good states of mind; (7) Right mindfulness​—being vigilant or mentally alert so as to avoid thoughtless speech or conduct; and (8) Right concentration, that is, meditation.

In the matter of conduct, the Bible teaching sounded to me quite similar to Buddhist teaching. There is a particularly close resemblance between the commandments listed at Exodus 20 and four of the “five precepts” that Buddhists recite in the temple on holy days:

“I take the precept to abstain from killing;

I take the precept to abstain from stealing;

I take the precept to abstain from adultery;

I take the precept to abstain from lying;

I take the precept to abstain from liquor that causes intoxication and heedlessness.”

Back at that time I thought of the Bible as another book of religious rules. It never occurred to me that it was divinely authored, and that it contained evidences that proved it to be no mere work of man. At the same time I had been taking it for granted that the missionary was a Roman Catholic. I figured that just as there are many variants of Buddhism (as practiced in India, Laos, Japan, and so on), so Jehovah’s witnesses and Catholics were variants of the same religion.

After two years in the south I obtained employment in Vientiane. When I got settled there I decided to visit the missionary at the address she had given me. I really liked her. She took the occasion to invite me to attend meetings of the Witnesses, but I was not sufficiently interested to accept. I recall at that time trying to read the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained and not being able to understand it. Besides, I had my religion.

A Turning Point

My missionary friend kept in touch with me, and at every opportunity urged me to attend the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. Finally I consented and began to learn many good things from the Bible. Since I had always had a high regard for sacred things, I enjoyed the study of the Bible, even though I did not yet see any clear distinction between its teaching and Buddhism.

A turning point arrived for me when the missionary gave me a copy of Awake! magazine one day. It was an issue dealing with family life. Buddhist teaching has little to say on this subject, and as a result polygamy, divorce, common-law marriage, desertion and prostitution are quite common. But now I found out that the Bible specifically lays down the duty of the father to support his family, to teach and discipline, and to take the lead in worship and all other vital matters. (Prov. 29:17; Eph. 6:4; 1 Tim. 5:8) And I learned that the wife’s position is to show respect for her husband while busying herself around the home for the benefit of her family.​—Titus 2:4, 5.

Demonism Exposed

Another magazine that impressed me tremendously was an issue of The Watchtower with an article on “Repelling the Attacks of Wicked Spirits.” You see, demon worship abounds in Laos. Though not strictly a part of the Buddhist religion, thousands believe in and seek to appease the demons. For example, you can see in one corner of the yard of many homes a tiny house provided for the spirit to whom that plot of land is supposed to belong. It could be a good or an evil spirit, but in any event it must be appeased with offerings of food, flowers, incense, and so on. The householder expects by such gifts to gain the protection of the spirit.

Demons are supposed to be the spirits of dead people come back to earth. Most Laotians are very much afraid of them, thinking that they can cause sickness and death and other mischief, while they themselves are helpless to keep free of their influence.

Imagine what a revelation it was to me to read in the Bible that demons are really disobedient angels, wicked creatures, enemies of God and man! (2 Pet. 2:4; Matt. 4:24) More than that, I learned that the only way to get free from their baleful influence was to get rid of anything connected with them, statues, pictures, charms, books on magical arts, and to rely on God’s help.​—Eph. 6:10-18; Acts 19:19.

Once the matter of demons was clear in my mind I found it easy to accept the explanation of some of our Buddhist ceremonies, unexpected though they were. For example, the favorite Laotian ceremony​—baci (pronounced bah-see)—​is closely related to demonism. It is performed on special occasions, such as when someone is sick, or going on a long journey, or when a child has been born. A long string of cotton is cut up into short lengths and those present tie the pieces around one another’s wrists. The result is that each one will have many such strings on his wrists. These, we had always been taught, were to bring good luck.

The missionary pointed out that these strings were connected with the idea that each of the thirty-two vital organs of the body is inhabited by a “soul.”a The purpose of the baci is to call back any of these “souls” that may have departed. If one has a headache, for instance, it is because that particular “soul” has wandered off somewhere, and must be called back if a cure is to be effected. And if one is about to take a long journey it is vital that all his “souls” be present at such an undertaking. Needless to say, when I learned the facts I stopped participating in such ceremonies right away.

Grateful to Be Free of Babylon

Another surprise for me was to learn that Jehovah God is the One who created earth. (Isa. 45:11, 12) From childhood I had been taught, with fellow Buddhists, that everything came about by chance. We have many legends in Laos about the origin of the human race, but none of them, as I recall, mention a Creator. Now I began to see the reasonableness of God’s written Word. Surely everything we see around us in life proclaims the existence of a Creator!​—Rom. 1:19, 20.

Eventually I learned, through regular Bible study, that there is true religion and false religion. I was amazed to find out that all false religion in its various manifestations finds root in the ancient religion of Babylon​—a religion that confused men and dishonored God, a religion that stressed rites and ceremonies and imparted no genuine education in righteousness to its devotees.

When I finally had the opportunity of attending a large assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses I saw for myself that the Bible’s teaching about having love among themselves was indeed being put into practice. (John 13:35) From this point on I never looked back. I knew I was on the right track.

In due course I symbolized my dedication to the Creator by water baptism at the district assembly in Chiengmai, northern Thailand, and since then I have been trying hard to aid others to find the true religion. Jehovah has blessed my humble efforts, for my young brother, who had at one time entered a Buddhist wat as a novice monk, has now dedicated his life to Jehovah, and another member of my family has started to study the Bible.

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