River Side of SukoThai.In the ancient Thai city of SukoThai many of the people dreamed that the spirit or ghost which inhabits a giant Takean tree is calling to them. The ghost is tired of living under the water and is ready to be brought up from the cool murky depths of the river. They all agreed where in the river the tree would be found. The monks in the temple then organize a raising of the Takean tree. The odd part of this legend is that the tree is of a particularly hard wood which is very heavy and not at all buoyant, so how it moves within the river is a big mystery. It is also odd that the city is ancient, but this event happened in April of 2007.
The events was a bizarre happening to observe. We were driving down the street when we saw people flocking to the river. This was something strange considering it was a Tuesday in the middle of the day, but work came to a halt, and legend took the day's stage. At the river we witnessed a bit of ancient blending with the modern. Cranes and rescue crews were brought out to assist the monks in retrieving the ghost. Hard to believe? Not in Thailand where people believe in ghosts and spirits existing among us. Buddhists, to which 97% of Thai people consider themselves, have mystic roots and tend to focus on the idea that we shouldn't doubt things, but rather learn to accept them. If you ask a Buddhist if they believe in God, most will tell you they do. Why not? If God exists it doesn't phase their belief that we need to find our own enlightenment; if that comes through God or through meditation, through study or through faith, that is not important. It is the finding of it.
This video will show you a bit of what we saw. It ends with a bit of a surprise as the dreams seem to have come true.embed>
