The Monk with a Cell Phone
Lessons learned on the holy day of Visak Bochea in Siem Reap
We arrived at Angkor Thom on May 22, 2024, along with a bus full of monks. Not together, but simultaneously, all seeking inspiration and education in the Angkor complex. A day which happened to be a major Buddhist holiday- Visak Bochea.
I nodded in reverence to one of the monks as he knelt in front of the gates at Angkor Thom, and he… took out his cell phone?
Even Cambodian monks aren’t entirely off the grid- a reminder that devout belief and modern-day practicality aren’t mutually exclusive.
I laughed with one of my friends at the seeming irony of a monk, often known for their prayerful solitude, with a cell phone in tow while arriving at one of the largest Buddhist holy sites in the world. On a national Buddhist holiday, renowned for marking the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing.
In conjunction, I also appreciated how people are people, no matter how far-flung our travels take us throughout the world.
I was no stranger to the odd coexistence of being “in the world but not of it-” trying to maintain a spiritual focus while fighting the pulls of daily life. How many times have I, as a relatively devout, church going Christian, sat in the back of a service reading text messages or acknowledging emails? Or on Christmas, Easter, thinking more about the meals and socialization of the day than the birth or resurrection of Jesus?
I watched this man take a photo of the ancient complex before him. Then I saw him kneel in his orange garb, with his matching orange umbrella, in seeming deep thought and prayer. I wanted to capture the moment, to remember the poignancy of a devout man appreciating the splendor of a temple and community that served as a holy pilgrimage for his faith.
I had long found faith-based pilgrimages deeply intriguing. Hindu voyages to the Ganges River, Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca, and Christian and Jewish visits to Jerusalem. There was something so awe-inspiring about seeking the God (or gods) of one’s faith in a land of historical importance and sacred reverence.
Our tour guide directed our group through the 216 stone faces at the front of the gate, explaining the Buddhist and Hindu significance of this lost city. He explained the historical significance of the ruins, once populated with potentially as many as 100,000 people, shifting its allegiance from Hinduism to Buddhism throughout its existence.
We hopped back in the bus and drove over to Angkor Wat. I was in eager anticipation of this leg of our journey. One of my well-traveled friends back home, who had been to countless countries around the world, had shared years prior that Angkor Wat was her favorite place that she had ever visited. She said that she was deeply moved and taken by the history of the monument, the beauty of the architecture, and the devastation of the killing fields outside of the complex.
We arrived at the gate and were met with a picture-perfect view of the stately temple, which happens to be the largest religious monument in the world. Our tour guide explained the five central towers and their representation of the five peaks of Mount Meru. We looked in awe at the over 800 meters of scenes carved and painted on the inner walls of the Hindu epics.
I continued to find the consistent transition from Hinduism to Buddhism quite interesting. In my mind, I was likening it to transitioning a mosque to a church and vice versa. The prominence of this site as an active temple for those practicing Buddhism was astonishing as well. How many churches could I point to in my Christian faith that had held such a place of prominence and longevity?
As we departed the complex for the day, our tour guide took us to “the perfect spot” in front of Angkor Wat to obtain “the photo for Facebook or Instagram.”
We took the pictures by the reflecting pool, with the famous UNESCO heritage perfectly mirrored in the background. We snapped the obligatory group and individual photos.
As we prepared for a night out in the local markets upon return to our hotel, I looked at our photos once again. As happy as I was to have a “bucket list” snap in front of the reflective pool of Angkor Wat, something was resonating deeper.
Sure, the Pinterest-level pictures, the videos of the monkeys, and the history lessons were engaging and interesting. I knew that I didn’t just want a social media moment, though.
A photo couldn’t accurately capture the context and emotions of that moment at the first gate. A flood of thoughts filled my brain.
Humans are humans on every inch of this earth, whether a self-actualized monk in the temples of Cambodia or a sometimes struggling Christian woman from the United States. The awe and worship of something or someone bigger than ourselves is deeply holy. The sacred moments can quickly overpower the ordinary, superficial, and mundane.
All wrapped up in a monk, umbrella in hand, kneeling in front of one of the most well-respected and renowned Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world, on a deeply holy day, taking a picture with his cell phone.