Khem woke up at four in the morning, looked around the room, didn't see anyone, so he quickly sat up. Glancing at the clay pot, he saw it was tightly closed, realizing his mother had returned inside it.
Knock knock
"Khem, are you awake?" Jett's voice called out, waking him. Khem replied that he was awake, then got up to tidy his bed before hurrying out.
Master Pharan was waiting on a bamboo platform not far from the kitchen, with a cup of black coffee beside him, and a dog named Ai Dang was lying guard underneath.
"Go wash your face and come help prepare things." Master Pharan said quietly without turning to look. At that moment, he was wrapping tobacco, betel nut, and miang into bite-sized portions on a tray with banana leaves.
Jett and Khem took turns washing up and brushing their teeth before rushing into the kitchen. Jett had steamed the sticky rice in a pot since three in the morning before going back to sleep. Now, with the rice cooked, he took it out of the pot, flipped it onto a tray, and used a clean stick to spread it out, letting the steam escape.
Khem took charge of preparing the savory dishes, which included fried pork and fried fish, simple meals as instructed by Jett.
Once done, they both carried the food out to Master Pharan's bamboo platform, then found low stools to sit on below while Master Pharan sat alone on the platform.
"Oh, damn, I forgot I asked the village chief to buy some sweets." Jett said as he remembered, scratching his head, putting down the banana leaf, and standing up. Khem was also startled.
"Should I go with you, Jett?"
"No need, you stay here to help Master Pharan. I'll go quickly and come back. Master, may I borrow your bike, please?" When Master Pharan nodded, Jett ran to grab the master's bike with a front basket, pulled it from under the house, and cycled off immediately.
Khem could only watch with drooping eyes as he was abandoned by his friends, before he made up his mind and slowly turned back to look at Master Pharan, who was wrapping sticky rice and fried pork in banana leaves. He watched Master Pharan's slender, veined hands, observing his movements and trying to mimic them.
But the oppressive atmosphere emanating from Master Pharan made Khem feel like he couldn't breathe properly, so he gathered his courage to strike up a conversation, figuring if he got scolded, he'd just stay quiet.
"Uh, what is this called, Master?" Pharan glanced at Khem's face for just a moment before answering calmly:
"Small rice packets." Seeing that Master Pharan was willing to respond, Khem's spirits lifted, and he immediately asked another question.
"What are they for?"
"They're placed at the base of trees around a few temples, as an offering for the spirits." Pharan, seeing Khem listening intently with wide eyes, continued to explain when, where, why, and how, until Jett returned on his bicycle with a bag of sweets. Then Master Pharan stopped his explanation and focused back on wrapping the rice in banana leaves.
Khem understood from what Master Pharan had explained that this tradition is also known as "The Merit-making Ceremony of Decorating the Earth with Rice." a long-standing practice in the Northeastern part of Thailand.
On the fourteenth day of the waning moon in the ninth month of every year, villagers would bring various foods, both savory and sweet, fruits, betel nuts, and cigarettes, wrap them in banana leaves, and place them under large trees, on the ground near the temple area, around the stupa, or the ordination hall, to make merit for the spirits of deceased relatives or ancestors, as well as for wandering spirits, those without kin, and hungry ghosts.
Jett handed a bag of sweets to Khem to wrap in banana leaves, then went to cut a banana bunch that Khem had received from the villagers the day before into small pieces to be placed in bowls.
Once everything was prepared, Jett and Khem followed Master Pharan into the woods behind the house. Not far into the woods, Master Pharan placed nine small rice packets at the base of a Bodhi tree, lit one candle and one incense stick, chanted an invocation for the spirits in the area to come and receive the food, and then planted the incense into the ground.
"Stay here." Master Pharan turned to say briefly before, carrying a bag of small rice packets, he walked further into the woods.
Once alone with Jett, Khem quietly asked:
"Jett, Master said this tradition is held in the ninth month, but it's only the fourth month now. Why are we doing it so early?" Jett scratched his head, having completely forgotten to tell Khem about this.
"It's about the incident where the spirits invaded the village two days ago.
Today is the Buddhist holy day, so Master Pharan suggested to the other shamans who came that day that we should hold this ceremony now, rather than waiting for the ninth month when the spirits might come out to cause trouble again." Khem said with a nod of understanding, pursing his lips.
"I'm sorry." Jett shook Khem's head back and forth.
"Don't overthink it, it's over now. No one wanted it to happen. Better to spend your time thinking about how to deal with the spirits or karmic debts." Khem nodded, and Jett was right again.
After a while, Master Pharan returned. Jett explained that Master Pharan had gone alone because he was worried about their safety, as there were not only many spirits but also potentially harmful animals in there.
Then Master Pharan went back inside the house. Meanwhile, Jett and Khem cycled around on Master Pharan's bike, placing offerings at various locations from the rubber plantation, banana grove, the village's three-way junction, to the temple area. Several volunteer students who were interested in local culture also joined in. Although it was done quietly, the atmosphere was quite lively.
Wherever Jett and Khem cycled, they were greeted and called to by villagers all along the way. When they met Chan, Khem quickly pulled Jett's shirt collar to make him stop the bike.
"Ack, let me go, Khem!"
Khem ignored Jett's whining and greeted Chan.
"Chan, you're out too?"
Chan had just finished watering the plants by the roadside and stood up with a polite smile.
"Hello, Khun Khem, where are you heading?" Jett was about to curse, but Khem covered his mouth.
"We're going to the temple. Want to join, Chan?" At first, Chan was going to decline, as he had already done his merit-making, but seeing Jett's glare, he nodded in agreement. Khem immediately jumped off the bike to walk
with Chan, forcing Jett to get off and push the bike, restraining himself from cursing the thick-skinned Chan since they were now near a sacred area.
The three of us arrived at the area beside the temple's ordination hall and sat next to Grandma Si, a seventy-year-old woman lighting incense, clasping her hands together, calling out for her relatives and ancestors to come and receive the merit.
"Come, dear parents and siblings, grandparents, today we offer food and alms. There's plenty to eat, a big fish cake, rice, water, sweets, bananas, sugarcane. May all suffering be relieved, may all karmic debts be resolved, may you ascend to heaven. Amen."
As Grandma Si said "Amen." Jett, Khem, and Chan followed suit, then helped her up from the ground.
"Oh, thank you very much, boys. Go, go get the sweets from home, there are plenty."
After receiving the sweets, Chan parted ways with Khem and Jett at Grandma Si's house. Each went back home to bathe and get dressed, preparing to return to the temple to offer food to the monks and listen to the sermon at eight in the morning.
After Khem had bathed and dressed, he prepared food in a lacquered food container while waiting for Jett. The food had been set aside earlier for offering to the monks.
"Khem, are you done?" Jett, dressed in a white round-neck shirt and baggy jeans styled like the 90s, asked while putting on his sneakers at the bottom of the stairs. Khem nodded after neatly stacking the food containers.
"Done, just wait a moment. I need to get my mother's pot first." After saying this, Khem ran past Jett upstairs to the bedroom to get his mother's pot, wrapped it in white cloth, tied it up, and placed it in a yellow shoulder bag.
"Here we go." Khem said after slinging the bag over his shoulder and picking up the food container. Jett went to fetch the priest's bicycle again.
"Get on." Khem hesitated, not daring to move forward, secretly looking up to the balcony to see if anyone was watching.
"Uh, is it okay to take the priest's bicycle, Jett?"
"It's fine. At this time, the priest is asleep and not going anywhere. Don't worry." Khem made a doubtful face but then agreed to sit on the back of the bicycle.
"Wait, isn't the priest coming to the temple?"
"No, he usually doesn't go to the temple much, only when there's something important. But later in the morning, there will be a spirit worship ceremony, I'll come back to pick him up."
Khem nodded in agreement to whatever Jett said.
Once they arrived at the temple, the first thing to do was to deliver his mother's pot to one of the senior monks.
"You wait here, I'll go invite the abbot." Jett said, leaving Khem standing under a tree while he went to the monk's quarters. Soon, a monk returned with Jett. Seeing the monk, Khem quickly knelt down, placed his mother's wrapped pot beside him, and bowed three times on the ground.
"Paying respects, father abbot."
"Blessings to you, benefactor."
Jett came around to sit beside Khem after paying respects with his hands over his head and introduced the monk to his close friend.
"Khem, this is Luang Por Sua, the abbot of this temple." Khem's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly bowed again, not expecting his friend to bring such an esteemed monk.
"Na...Namaste, Luang Por Sua. My name is Khem."
"Hmm. No need for too much formality. Your mother is in there, right?
Bring her here; I will perform the rites." The abbot said, his eyes softening with compassion, knowing this child's karma was unusually heavy.
"Here, thank you very much, father abbot." Khem said after handing over the pot. He stepped back and bowed three more times.
"You don't need to worry. Your mother's spirit is a good one; her path ahead is certainly not one of hardship." Hearing this, Khem felt relieved, quickly wiping away his tears and smiling.
"Understood, father abbot, thank you for your trouble."
After that, Khem and Jett joined the other villagers and students in the temple's pavilion. They began the ceremony of offering alms for the morning meal to the monks and novices. After the offering, Khem returned to the same Bodhi tree to perform the water pouring ritual to transfer merit to his mother.
"I wish for my mother to have only happiness, to become an angel in heaven, and for us to be mother and child again in the next life, mom." With delicate hands, he poured water from a brass vessel onto the ground,
unaware that behind him appeared the figure of his mother, waiting to receive the merit.
Kekai's beautiful face smiled brightly, her body glowing with a golden radiance. Her hand gently stroked her son's hair as he performed the ritual, though Khem could neither see nor feel it.
"Thank you, my child." Then, Kekai's spirit slowly dispersed into golden particles that floated up into the sky, leaving only a warm breeze to embrace her beloved son before departing forever...
Pharan woke up again in the morning, about an hour before the scheduled ceremony.
Today, he dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, black well-fitted slacks, matching leather shoes, and sunglasses to shield his eyes. Once properly dressed, he walked to the area designated for parking bicycles.
However, there was nothing...
Pharan looked up at a window of a bedroom, made of fine golden teak wood, which had been blocked off with decayed wooden shutters without permission, and at the bicycle parking spot that was now empty, he could only close his eyes to suppress his feelings, and decided to walk into the village like this...
In the center of the village, where the ceremony to worship the heavens and earth was taking place, the square table, formed by connecting four tables, was now laden with offerings. There were the Brahmin and the Hindu celestial offerings, five kinds of savory dishes, nine types of auspicious sweets, including boiled pig's head, boiled duck, boiled chicken, and steamed snakehead fish, each one, nine types of fruits and various grains in one bowl, two bouquets of flowers in vases, betel nuts, tobacco, two garlands of marigolds, popped rice, and incense with four incense holders at the corners, all in adherence to the twelve traditional items.
Jett and Khem were so busy helping the villagers set up for the ceremony that they completely forgot something important, and by the time they remembered, it was too late.
Khem's jaw dropped when someone appeared, while Jett slapped his forehead loudly.
"Damn it, I forgot to pick up the master!"
After this event, it was expected that Jett would certainly be cut out of the inheritance by the priest...
The atmosphere at the worship ceremony changed immediately when Master Pharan appeared. His handsome face, though partially hidden by sunglasses, and his strong, confident demeanor made it impossible for onlookers to look away, especially the women. Some even tried to position themselves closer to the priest, but they were pushed back by his disciples.
Master Pharan, accustomed to ignoring his surroundings, was only focused on fulfilling his duties so he could return home to sleep early.
"Jett, why do the women in the village seem so excited?" Khem asked upon seeing the slight commotion at the front, while he was holding his hands in prayer, watching Master Pharan light nine incense sticks to worship the Triple Gem from afar.
Jett, also with his hands in prayer, replied:
"I could tell you about this all day and still not finish. Let's just say the priest usually keeps to himself at home, he rarely comes out among people like this." Khem nodded in understanding, the vibe was like when a friend who rarely comes to class shows up, and everyone gets excited to see him.
Pharan performed his duty as the master of ceremonies, his large hands holding sixteen lit incense sticks at chest level, his lips moving in chants to invite and praise the gods and deities.
"I invoke the gods and deities, the sacred Phra Pirun and Mother Earth, to protect and safeguard the lives of the villagers here from all inauspicious things..."
The villagers all clasped their hands in prayer while Master Pharanconducted the ceremony step by step. Those close to the ritual area satcross-legged on the mats, while those further away stood with handsclasped in prayer, mostly the volunteer student members.
Suddenly, it began to rain, amidst the sound of traditional Thai musicbeing played and the dancers performing to honor the gods.
Master Pharan stood tall in front of the altar, his white shirt soaked bythe rain, clinging to his body, revealing the intricate tattoos by a renownedmonk covering his back. Despite the rain, the incense and candles stillburned. No one moved to seek shelter; instead, they all raised their hands inreverence, covering their heads in respect.