Wat's Up

Re the title: A wat is a place of Buddhist worship in Southeast Asia. The term is derived from the Sanskrit word vāta, meaning "enclosure". There are almost 40 000 active wats in Thailand alone.  


Some are only a skeleton of centuries past.  


Others are ornate, thriving, breathing testaments to the Buddha.  

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion and philosophy focused on achieving enlightenment and escaping the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Practitioners follow the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to eliminate suffering and attain Nirvana—a state of ultimate peace and spiritual awakening.

According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His core teachings are summarised in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes ethical training and kindness toward others, and meditative practices such as sense restraint, mindfulness, and dhyana (meditation proper).

Today, Buddhists make up between 4-7% of the world's population. Today, Thailand has the second most Buddhists after China. 


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