Visiting Dr. Laow at Wat Mahathat Temple/Carlos Pueblo
Dr. Laow is
the head monk of Wat Mahathat Temple at Burton Upon
Trent,
Staffordshire, England just south of Birmingham. I met him about
4 ½ years
ago at the campus of Oxford University and would like to continue
our conversation
in regard to the Buddhism. Finally, I was getting very closed
to his
temple and made up my mind to pay him a visit. I took a train from
Birmingham
and after 5 stops reached Burton Upon Trent station. I walked
and passing
by a Coors-Molson Beers plant on my way to the city center to
take a bus
to advance more to the Temple. Burton has been in brewing
beers
business since 1777 and Coors has merged Molson in 2006. I didn’t get
a sample
testing at this plant like the one at Golden, Colorado.
Another bus
continued to take me further more in to the farm land. I saw
village after
village, lamb farm one after one. I was out a stop away from the
Temple;
therefore, I marched again to my final destination. The Temple has
been converted
from an old mansion with acreage deep in the village; therefore,
the location
is lonely and far away from the city. Dr. Laow had had some visitors
from nearby
Birmingham, from Ireland, several monks from Thailand, of course
myself from
Texas.
I was
invited to a lunch with fellow visitors after those monks finished their
mid-day meal
according to the Buddhist discipline. A Birmingham family provided
the food for
that day. The couple invited me to get a ride back to Birmingham;
however, Dr.
Laow had arranged an afternoon visit to a Cathedral nearby at a
township
called Lichfield. It was raining that day.
Lichfield
Cathedral have served the community for more than 1,300 years and the
Cathedral, a
huge one, has been built for nearly 1,000 years. A new Icon, a portrait
of Jesus and
His Mother Maria, was ready to be installed by a group of artists from
Greece. Dr.
Laow introduced us to the head artist and he introduced us their work.
I am very
impressed that a small city like Lichfield can host such a huge church
with a red Cardinal’s
office.
Dr. Laow had
his driver sent me to the train station of Lichfield and advised me come
through that
station and he would send a driver to pick me up next time. He also indicates
that he does
have room for me to stay for up to two days.
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