Ordination: Sharing the merit earned by the ordination, 1987

Ordination: Sharing the merit earned by the ordination, 1987

1987-06-27

Venerable Sao Khon sprays the candidate then the laity with holy water. This is a means of sharing the merit earned by the ordination. Earning merit in order to gain power over the agents of causation, which determine worldly prosperity and the plane of existence of future lives, is at the heart of popular Buddhist belief. This marks the end of the first day of the ordination ceremony.

Ordination of Novice Monk, photograph 14 of 30, from Cambodian Traditional Crafts and Religious Ceremonies.

View the Ordination of Novice Monk group of photographs in order on the Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/OrdinationNoviceMonk.

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1 photograph; 8.8 x 12.6

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