‘Bending Like a Bamboo’ : Monks at Thai Buddhist Temple ‘Beg’ for Breakfast, Solve Parking Problems and Learn to Adapt

Every Saturday at dawn, Buddhist monks clad in saffron robes and carrying alms bowls leave their North Hollywood temple to “beg” for food from nearby suburban residents.

Their heads and eyebrows shaved, the ascetic monks form an unusual tableau as they stroll past comfortable ranch homes and shiny cars, stopping to accept such offerings as fried bananas, steamed rice and canned fish from the increasing number of Thais who live in the area.

One of those residents, Tawee Tiengerd, 50, placed Oriental pears in one monk’s bowl last Saturday, dropped to his knees near his white Nissan Sentra, clasped his hands and bowed reverentially. “Through good works like these, we have a chance to escape the trap of reincarnation and go to Nirvana,” Tiengerd said.

Performed daily in Thailand for hundreds of years, the alms-giving ritual has been practiced in North Hollywood on Saturdays for the past two years by monks from the Wat-Thai Temple on Cantara Street.

The 18-year-old temple, whose gold-crested pagoda is the largest in the United States, serves as a community center for many of the 200,000 Thai people in Southern California. And for those living near the temple, the alms-giving ritual is of special importance.

But the popularity of the temple has meant congestion and parking problems that began shortly after it was built in 1972. In years past, neighbors complained until temple leaders took the unusual step of using donations to buy the five nearest houses on Van Noord Avenue, a cul-de-sac on the temple’s east border, said Sam Wongskhaluang, president of the Thai Assn. of Southern California.

“They used to pull in our driveways and lock up and leave their cars,” said Marion Wygand, 65, who lives a few blocks from the temple and once helped organize residents upset about traffic and parking. “But things have gotten better since they bought all that land in the cul-de-sac.”

Wygand said the alms-giving ritual takes place so early in the morning that many residents are unaware it takes place. But it has special meaning for Thai Buddhists.

The concept of dhana , or charity, is one of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism, the religion of 95% of the Thai people, said Michael Moerman, an anthropology professor at UCLA who specializes in Southeast Asia. “By giving alms, the people earn tham bun , or religious merit,” Moerman said. “The more merit you have, the better your fate is in this and future lives.”

In Thailand, monks rarely touch money or cook food. Thus, they rely solely on the generosity of the people for their daily sustenance.

Here in Los Angeles, though, some customs had to change. Monks are still required to be celibate and must fast from noon until their morning meal. But the city’s car culture and its far-flung Thai community forced the monks to fend for themselves when they first arrived in 1972. They shopped for their own food at the supermarket, learned to cook and even to drive.

“Parallel parking was very difficult, but we practiced so much that we can do it now,” said Phramaharuam Sumetee, one of 17 monks in residence at the temple.

The monks, using umbrellas in rainy weather, were able to revive the alms-giving tradition once a week in North Hollywood because about 50 Thai families have moved into the neighborhood near the temple. From two to five monks typically spend about an hour collecting the food, which all the monks share at their 7:30 a.m. meal.

More than just a place to pray, Wat-Thai is the center of community life, which is why one nearby resident, Sriwong Ayasit Koziel, moved there with her family.

“My mother, she is 78, she likes to go to the temple every day,” said Koziel, 40, as she placed plastic containers of food in the monks’ cast-iron alms bowls.

In the past, some non-Thai residents complained that the temple caused congestion and parking problems in the neighborhood. The temple attracts as many as 10,000 people on Buddhist religious holidays, but has only 80 parking spaces. Responding to the complaints, the temple rented a large parking lot in Panorama City and hired a shuttle bus to transport people to services. Neighbors say that has greatly helped the situation.

The temple has also purchased homes on adjacent streets to reduce complaints, Wongskhaluang said. In the past 10 years, the temple bought five of the six houses on nearby Van Noord Avenue and uses them to house monks and guests, including visiting generals, from Thailand.

“It’s certainly a Thai custom to preserve amicable relations and adapt--to bend like the bamboo rather than have confrontations with people,” said Moerman, the UCLA professor, referring to the temple’s home purchases.

The lone holdout on Van Noord Avenue--Alisa Caraveo--is asking $300,000 for her three-bedroom, two-bath home, Wongskhaluang said. He said the temple has offered to pay $230,000.

There was no friction last Saturday when the monks sat down to eat their morning meal, including the fried bananas and other dishes donated by residents. Despite the long fast and the light meal, the monks were in strong voice at the end of the meal during their traditional prayer.

The monks will eat once more before noon, said Vara Wongskhaluang, a temple volunteer and the wife of the president of the Thai association. Much as the monks enjoy their native cuisine, she said, they have also learned to relish American fast-food for that second morning meal.

“Quarter-pounders are a big hit with them,” she said.