The mean of "bonn"
I felt very privileged to take part in bonn katin in Battambang with my mother last month. October is the month in which people make offerings to the temple. Since bonn katin involve a sizable donation (often several thousands of dollars) to the temple, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event that brings a lot of joy and bonn to the benefactor.
Cambodia is about 90-95% Buddhist, so you hear the word bonn being tossed around a lot. People "tver bonn" by giving to beggars and charities or by doing favors for others.
However, there seems to be some confusion as to what the word bonn really means. When people tver bonn, they usually expect something in return. Since many Buddhists believe in reincarnation, they usually expect their good deeds to reward them with a more favorable rebirth.
Although I'm not a Buddhist scholar, I don't think this the right way to look at bonn. Bonn is not a concept that can be described easily in words and is perhaps best understood in the meditative state. When I think of bonn, I think of benevolence, compassion, equanimity, and mutual prosperity for the present moment. Bonn is good deeds performed for the sake of goodness.
Bonn is present only when the benefactor does it without expecting anything in return. If I donate $1,000 to a temple and become upset if my name isn't announced to the crowd or scribed on a big poster, then I'm really not tver bonn; I'm just seeking attention and making a name for myself.
Bonn is an act of true compassion and selflessness that holds to the highest esteem the virtues of balance and mutual benevolence. It is an this unconditional goodness that inspires and brings out the best of everyone-- in the present moment, not in a future life.
If one does a good deed in hopes of being reborn into wealth rather than poverty, then it's really not bonn. The deed, however noble, is not done solely for collective benefit. It is, rather, a selfish and calculated move to profit in a future life. Deep down he or she really accepts and even espouses the injustices and disparities that exist in the world and wishes to end up on the favorable side of the imbalance.
I think random acts of kindness are the highest expression of bonn.
Cambodia is about 90-95% Buddhist, so you hear the word bonn being tossed around a lot. People "tver bonn" by giving to beggars and charities or by doing favors for others.
However, there seems to be some confusion as to what the word bonn really means. When people tver bonn, they usually expect something in return. Since many Buddhists believe in reincarnation, they usually expect their good deeds to reward them with a more favorable rebirth.
Although I'm not a Buddhist scholar, I don't think this the right way to look at bonn. Bonn is not a concept that can be described easily in words and is perhaps best understood in the meditative state. When I think of bonn, I think of benevolence, compassion, equanimity, and mutual prosperity for the present moment. Bonn is good deeds performed for the sake of goodness.
Bonn is present only when the benefactor does it without expecting anything in return. If I donate $1,000 to a temple and become upset if my name isn't announced to the crowd or scribed on a big poster, then I'm really not tver bonn; I'm just seeking attention and making a name for myself.
Bonn is an act of true compassion and selflessness that holds to the highest esteem the virtues of balance and mutual benevolence. It is an this unconditional goodness that inspires and brings out the best of everyone-- in the present moment, not in a future life.
If one does a good deed in hopes of being reborn into wealth rather than poverty, then it's really not bonn. The deed, however noble, is not done solely for collective benefit. It is, rather, a selfish and calculated move to profit in a future life. Deep down he or she really accepts and even espouses the injustices and disparities that exist in the world and wishes to end up on the favorable side of the imbalance.
I think random acts of kindness are the highest expression of bonn.
Views: 13
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Smey on -
Good point!
In other word, if you truely want to tver bonn, but you don't have money, bonn will get to you. For people have give lots and lots of money, but don't have true feeling of tver bonn, they won't get it.
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Permalink Reply by Smey on
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Uhmm am I religious? Not really. I would say the only person who try to get my dad, my brother and me to tver bonn is my mom. But telling you the truth, whenever I go, I feel so release, full of joy and happiness. I feel like I have done something good for myself, and I don't expect anything back.
I don't celebrate all kind of religious ceremony. Even when I'm here, I went to pagoda once when my mom visited me. She was kind of mad when I reject. I don't go to pagoda here because at my place there is only one pagoda and I know the monk doesn't follow the rules of being a monk, so what the point to go there. How could I obey him? He talks long hours on phone with girls, he goes on chat with girls, he rides on a car with girl ........ I don't know, I rather tver bonn at the country side in Cambodia where not many people have a chance to go.
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Permalink Reply by KC Admin on -
That is true. There are over 4,000 Buddhist temples in Cambodia, but I don't think they're doing a very good job at conveying Buddha's teachings. The practice of magic-- black and white-- by monks is so prevalent that people have come to accept and expect from them. There are monks who are involved in politics, street protests, swindling of temple funds, sexual misconduct, and even fist fights. You can go to any temple here and observe the behaviors of the monks, and you'll see that many of them carry themselves in ways that are unbecoming and un-Buddhist, such as flirting with young female temple visitors. Many people go to temples to play for good fortunes, make and break spells, but not so much to learn Dharma or seek guidance enlightened religious authorities
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Permalink Reply by KC Admin on
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Hi Lilly. I don't think so. Human beings are just highly complex and intelligent machines. When the machine dies, so will the concepts of heaven and hell created in the mind.
So, heaven and hell exist only in this life and on this world.
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Permalink Reply by Smey on
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I think your soul or your family go to heaven or hell depends on what they have done in life.
What you can help them is transfering your bonn to them in other words, "ou ter ko sol" to them or "banh joun ko sol" to them everytime you tver bonn. And that why when our family or eldiers passed away, we always tver bonn for them (new year, pchum ..etc) because we don't where they end up to.
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Permalink Reply by KC Admin on
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I only go to the temple or church on special occasions. I don't care for institutionalized religion but I go the temple anyway to fulfill my social responsibility.
We all different beliefs regarding the afterlife. No one really knows what happen. I think people should be honored that their remains will provide food for the worms and fertilizer for the grasses.
People have a tendency to think they're above nature. Belief in the soul, spiirit, or whatever, in my opinion, reflects their penchant for immortality. This desire often lead them to do things in a way that takes away from others' basic right to life.
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Permalink Reply by KC Admin on
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Yes, that is true. It is a way to raise money and supplies for the temple. Bonn katin often involves a sizable sum of money for the person who performs it. Everyone else can contribute smaller amounts to help raise even more money.
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Permalink Reply by Phallasambath on -
The original and the main purpose of Bonn takhean is to offer robe to monks who have stay at pagoda during raining season. Since a lot of people are happy to do good karma by donating money or something else, it is a good opportunities to raise money for the other purposes such as building or renovate the pargoda.Takhean in Barley mean robe.
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Permalink Reply by Phallasambath on
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That is interesting and have brought lot of debate.
We are human and anything we do is with purposes and reasons. We Do Bonn because we believe that bonn is good and it brings happiness to us, if not now, in the next life. The final destination of Buddhists is Nirvana but most Buddhists including me do not know exactly what is it, and people do good deep because it will lead us to that final destination. Buddha scarified himself and his wealth for billions of life with a purpose to be free from suffering and to help other free from suffering. In Buddhism, word "Sathear Chreas Thar" means "the strong believe". So we do good deed mean that we strongly believe in good deed and that good deed will bring us happiness. However, the concept of happiness itself is complicated. Buddha said that human are ignorant and most of us want worldly happiness which is impermanent and recommended us to seek a lasting happiness. The lasting happiness is the point you mention is that the sense of nothing. We have no attachment to anything earthly. But that is very hard to achieve and we need to accumulate good deed for thousand of life. That could be the reason lot of people become monk because they don't have to worries about earthly happiness but still with a purpose to seek Nirvana. Nirvana refer to the concept of "no self" which make many people do not really want to go because naturally we are ignorant and heavy with Bad Karmas. But as good deed accumulate a person will realize what is Nirvana and he or she will reach the destination. If not, he or she will be alternated in the hell, earth and heaven forever. Buddha himself had trapped in the cycle for billions of life before he found the right path. So, I don't blame them because they, including myself, are still ignorant.
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