By Yu Xiaodong
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Every morning at dawn, monks and novices from dozens of Buddhism temple in Luang Prabang, a world heritage city, venture out in different city streets to collect alms from people. Almsgiving to monks is believed by Lao people to earn merit based on beliefs of Theravada Buddhism. The most common and traditional form of alms is sticky rice. To prepare it, people usually have to start cooking a day before, and get up very early (4 a.m.) to get the food all ready before the monks come. The younger generation tends to give other types of food, such as cookies, vegetables, and even meat.

Almsgiving is, to some extent, a religious ceremony. Well before the monks come, people would go out and kneel down along the street waiting, wearing in traditional Lao costumes. All the alms are put in elegant containers, often big shining ones that are made of silver or copper. The monks and novices will file up according to their age, with the oldest in the front, and the youngest one at the very end. As the monks and novices file by, people put a small handful of rice in the pots the monks hold. Many of the residents mutter prayers quietly or touch their heads with rice before giving it to the monks.

As the ceremony goes by in Luang Prabang every day, many foreign travelers come to observe this centuries-old Buddhism tradition. It’s been a really solemn and tranquil experience to me. To protect the ceremony, foreign travelers are only allowed to take pictures, and are discouraged from participating in the almsgiving ceremony. Instead of making the hard efforts to cook sticky rice, most foreign travelers would simply buy it from venders. According to Lao Buddhism tradition, anyone who buys to give is considered lazy and insincere. Moreover, the large volume of purchases would bring commercialism into this old religious ceremony, jeopardizing its spiritual significance and even its mere existence.

almsgiving 布施，下文的alms为“施舍（物），救济（物）”之意
Buddhism temple 佛教寺庙
commercialism 商业主义
container 容器
copper 铜
file v. 排成纵列行进
heritage 传统，遗产
insincere 虚伪的，不诚恳的
jeopardize 危及，损害
Laos 老挝，东南亚国家，下文的Lao指“老挝的，老挝人的” Luang Prabang 琅勃拉邦，亦名“銮佛邦”，老挝著名的古都和佛教中心，面积不到十平方公里，有五十多座庙宇，城市依山傍水，风景秀丽，气候宜人，被列为世界遗产城市
merit 【宗】（因行善获得的）功德
mutter 咕哝，嘀咕
novice 新信徒，新教徒
solemn 庄严的
sticky rice 糯米
Theravada 小乘佛教，主要流传于斯里兰卡、缅甸、泰国和柬埔寨等地。依据小乘佛教的信仰，老挝人认为对和尚施舍是一种积德的行为
tranquil 平静的
vender 售卖者
venture 敢于（去某处），冒险前进