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Colors, Numbers & Buddha
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What day were you born?
Ask this question of most Westerners and they will generally tell you the date and month, as in 23rd of September or 12th of July.
But in Thailand, if someone asks you what day you were born, chances are they want to know the day of the week. When this becomes clear, most Westerners will stare befuddled. They just don’t know.
You can’t live in Thailand too long before you figure out that every Thai person knows what day they were born. Every day is associated with at least two things: a color and a Buddha image.
You would have had to have been in a coma to have been in Thailand for the past two years and not know that the King’s color is yellow. With the celebrations of the King’s 60th year on the throne and his 80th birthday Thais have celebrated by adopting yellow shirts and swathing the city in yellow.
The King’s color is yellow because he was born on Monday. Coincidentally, so was I.
I didn’t know that I had been born on a Monday until I came to Thailand, but I had to find out pretty quickly or face being stared at in dumb amazement whenever a Thai person asked me and I was unable to tell them the day of my birth.
So the King and I share some things in common. Because we were both born on a Monday, our color is yellow, and our Buddha image is called Pang Ham Yath, or the Peacemaker.
The Pang Ham Yath Image shows the Buddha dispelling fear, and also represents dispelling evil and prevention of conflict. This posture is sometimes called “stopping the relatives from fighting” because it depicts a point in his life when the Buddha returned form three months in Heaven and learned that his relatives were disputing the right to use water from a river flowing between their properties. The Buddha encouraged them to compromise.
The Pang Ham Yath Buddha is portrayed holding his right hand up to stop fighting.
I have put a photo of a Pang Ham Hath Buddha image at the top of this blog. I will reprint it here, beside a popular photo taken of the king during his jubilee:
If you recall that the King and I were both born on Monday you can begin to see the symbolism of the King’s posture and the colors he is wearing. With his right hand raised in blessing, he is reminiscent of the Pang Ham Hath Buddha.
One difference between the King and I is that he was born in the year of the Rabbit, and I was born in the year of the Pig (according to the Thai calendar).
Thais culture includes a strong reliance on numerology. One key factor in setting the most recent national elections on 23 December was that it was an auspicious day.
I haven’t lived in the United States for nearly 15 years, but when I did it was normal introductory conversation for young people to ask, “What’s your sign?” meaning your sign of the Zodiac, based on the month and day of your birth. It was believed that you could broadly identify a person’s personality based on their sign. I even knew girls who would only date guys who had specific zodiac signs.
Again, I don’t know if it’s still true, but a few years ago young Japanese would ask each other’s blood type for the same purpose.
In Thailand, it’s the day of your birth.
But to get beyond the general characteristics and down to the specifics of a person’s life requires the special art of numerology.
Approximately two and a half years ago I visited a numerologist at Wat Pho near the Chao Praya River. His name was K. Sawong Kontong. He was quite old, but if he’s still alive and practicing his art, he should be consulting from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. most days. His phone number at the time was 02 446 1321.
Here is what K. Sawong told me 2 1/2 years ago, when I was 45 years old (I turned 48 recently).
I was born on a Monday, in the Thai year of the Pig & the Chinese year of the Rat. My Buddha image has his right hand up to stop fighting, and sometimes his left hand open in a sign of blessing. He said that this makes me a PEACE LOVER, PEACE MAKER and PEACE BLESSOR.
He said that throughout my life I would stay in “another place” — I would not stay in my hometown. (I can say here that, although my parents were American, I was born in another country. I left the country of my birth at Age 3, and I have never returned).
K. Sawong told me that if I lived in an “island country” it would be lucky for me. (At the time I lived in Australia, the world’s biggest island, and I had been very lucky for more than a decade).
He told me that I am a very good businessman who would make many moves and live in many countries in my lifetime. He suggested that the type of work that suited me best would keep me in an office. (I had spent my professional life as a manager & financial advisor up till then).
He suggested that from 2004 (the previous year) until mid-2005 I should be saving to buy investments. (I didn’t do that successfully during that time period)
He then gave me a prediction about the remainder of my life in stages:
The previous 2 years (mid 03 to mid 05)
He said they had been “so so”. (I had made a lot of money, but my divorce had been finalized, my girlfriend had broken up with me, I had been made redundant from my high-paying job, and I’d lost a few hundred thousand dollars on a bad property deal. “so so” seems somehow to have failed to capture the true flavor of those two years).
He said that from age 41 to 46 it had been and would be “work hard time”. (He was right; I worked like a dog during those years).
29 June 05 to 2008
This would be a good time to move, according to K. Sawong. He said specifically that I should move after 25 October 2006, and that while I was aged 46 & 47 my life would be better after I moved. (In fact, I moved from Australia to Thailand in September 06, and this week will be my third move since arriving in Bangkok. I guess I’ve taken his advice)
He reiterated that my years from age 41 to 50 would be a time of many moves, and that if I wanted to be lucky and happy I would not live in my hometown.
He indicated that from age 48 to 50 I would be in a transition period between my earlier life and my future. (I hope this is a good omen. I celebrated my 48th birthday within the past month, and I am in the midst of trying to set up a new business here in Bangkok that I hope will make up for losing everything I had built through a bad divorce plus a bad property deal in 2004/5).
He said that from age 51 to 68 I would have “big money, happy time, money easy comes. easy comes easy goes” He warned me that I should be careful to save money, and he told me three or four times that I needed to buy property. (I hope this prediction about big money and happy time is correct; I guess he didn’t count on the big property loss in 05….)
He said that I should retire from work at age 69 or 70. This sounds good to me… I enjoy working, and I’d go crazy if all I had to do was golf or go fishing.
He promised me a happy life as an old man, saying that if I drank & smoked I could plan on 79 years, but if I didn’t then I could plan on living till the age of 87.
He told me that I was very intelligent, and repeated again and again that I could, and would, stay in many countries in my lifetime. (I’m on 4 countries and counting so far)
He said that I could marry again if I wanted. That my next wife would be both a good friend and a good wife, and that she would definitely not be the same nationality as me.
He promised me that I would be “natural dead; not die by accident”. Sounds good to me.
He said that “God & Buddha would protect me, but that whenever I spend big money it would not come back”. (He got that right… I’ve always been lucky at making money, but it’s always flowed through my hands like water. But hey! I’ve had fun….)
He reminded me that 25 October 2006 would be the best time to start a new life
Finally he told me that #1 is not good for me, the color red is not good, and I shouldn’t work on Sunday.
I know all this because his translator wrote it all down and gave me the written report at the end. I’ve kept it ever since.
This may give you a flavor of the importance that numerology can play in Thailand, and just how specific it can be.
I don’t know whether it is merely coincidence that my Buddha image is the Peacemaker, and that my zodiac sign is Aquarius, the peace lover. I don’t particularly believe in astrology, numerology or blood-type personality matching but many people in Thailand do.
When the King was released from the hospital a few months ago, he left wearing a pink jacket over a pink shirt — a very unusual color combination. It was chosen because of it’s auspicious nature. If the newspaper article I read was to be believed, it had much to do with being born in the year of the rabbit.
All I know is that millions of Thais ran out right away and bought pink shirts.
If you’d like to know what day you were born, click here
Color
Here is some information about colors and days of the week in Thailand. It was taken from a site written by Richard Barrow. You can reach his site by clicking here.
Did you know that in Thailand that each day of the week is assigned a different colour for clothes you wear? I didn’t really know about this at first but after a few years I was starting to get curious as to why people were giving me a different coloured shirt for my birthday. They were also telling me which day I should wear them! I started to get suspicious when they bought me a bright orange shirt and said I should wear it on Thursdays. That is when I discovered that each day of the week has its own colour.
Sunday - red
Monday - cream/yellow
Tuesday - pink
Wednesday - green
Thursday - orange/brown
Friday - blue
Saturday - black/purpleThese days I have to wear a white shirt and tie at school. So, I don’t pay attention to it so much any more. Anyway, you don’t see many Thai people wearing the correct colour clothes for each day. But, some might wear a small piece of clothing, like a tie or handkerchief, which is the correct colour.
I think many people pay more attention to the colour of their day of birth. This then becomes their lucky colour. Some households might tie two colours around the pole of a spirit house - one for the husband and one for the wife. Even royal flags show the day the person was born. For example, Princess Sirindhorn was born on a Saturday so her flag is purple. The King was born on a Monday so his flag is yellow. The Queen was born on a Friday so her flag is blue.
Buddha Images
As discussed above, the Buddha image associated with each day of the week is important in identifying your underlying nature. The information on Buddha images was taken from the sitandsmile.com website. That website has tons of good information.
The Seven Days of Thai Buddhas
Buddha Images are meant to represent moments in the Buddhas life story and some detailed accounts place these events on particular days of the week. The 7 images associated with the days are often displayed together at temples.
The day of birth is also a central element of Thai astrology and fortune-telling. Everybody knows their day of birth and people may pay particular respect to Buddha images matching their day of birth.
It is also believed to be very lucky to have a Buddha for the same day that you were born. The images associated with specific days are as follows:
1. Sunday , Following his enlightenment the Buddha spent seven days contemplating the suffering of all living things and the insignificance of all the prior events in his life.
2. Monday, Shows the Buddha dispelling fear. Also represents dispelling evil and prevention of conflict. This posture is sometimes called “stopping the relatives from fighting.” The Buddha returned form three months in Heaven and learned that his relatives were disputing the right to use water from a river flowing between their properties. The Buddha encouraged them to compromise.
3. Tuesday, The reclining Buddha represents the Buddhas passage to Nirvana and the death of his body. In Thai tradition this posture also represents a resting Buddha. It also evokes a story when the Buddha assumed enormous size in order to humble a giant.
4. Wednesday, Shows the Buddha holding an alms bowl, another pose is sometimes given because In accordance with Thai astrology, some people divide Wednesday into morning and evening. this is the retreat in the forest image; the Buddha accepts a beehive from a Monkey and a water pot from an Elephant (Palilaika). Just as Buddhism teaches respect for all living things, this posture represents the respect of all living things for the Buddha.
5. Thursday, Shows the Buddha in meditation, representing the perfection of mental discipline. Thursday born people are said to be naturally suitable as teachers, lawyers, and judges.
6. Friday, Shows the Buddha in contemplation of how he can teach the dharma to others. The Buddha is in a thoughtful, introspective attitude.
7. Saturday, Shows the Buddha in meditation and protected from a storm by Mucalinda, The Naga King . According to legend, the Buddha’s body exept the head, neck and shoulders was coiled four or five times by the naga to p
Quick & Handy Reference
If you want to impress your Thai Girlfriend du jour with your knowledge of colors and Buddha images, this website offers a quick & handy guide, and includes some useful information like personality traits as well.
For information on Thai Birthday Colours and Buddha Image click here.
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