Kris Snibbe

The Lotus Field 2000 - 2002

"The Lotus Field"

The Lynn Museum, Lynn, Mass.

March 15 - April 22, 2007.

The Lotus Field: Photographs of Cambodian Khmer Theravada Buddhist Communities in the Boston Area. This project was funded by the Harvard University Pluralism Project where Snibbe was an affiliate from 2000-2002.

A little girl circles beneath her parents as they offer rice into each monk's bowl.
  
Ven. Sao Khom, Abbot (far right) watches monks folding their new robes during the Kathina ceremony.
   
Ven. Thon So Paon receives offerings from lay Buddhists during the Kathina ceremony, which is held for monks who have come out of an annual 3 month retreat that typically ends sometime between October and December.
     
  
As a result of witnessing the killing fields in Cambodia, this former monk suffered a stroke and lost his ability to speak. Here he offers rice into the bowl of each monk, which is a ritual offering performed when somebody in the community dies. The tattoos on his arms are written in Hindi and Pali and were done with the belief that they would strengthen and protect his body from guns and bombs.
   
Nuns pray together at the temple.
   
This representation of Shakyamuni Buddha symbolizes the protection of the world and freeing all sentient beings from suffering. The crossed arms symbolize the Buddha's meditation while sitting, standing, walking and sleeping. On the left is a picture of Ven. Joun Nam who died in 1969 and is venerated as "the king of monks" in Cambodia.
     
  
A woman offers incense.
   
During a funeral service at a graveyard in Lynn, Mass., senior monks join temporarily ordained young men while circling the coffin of their recently deceased grandmother in a clockwise direction.
   
Members of the Cambodian community carry a coffin during a funeral service in Lynn, Mass.
     
  
A young man visits the temple to pray with his friends (in the background) who have taken temporary ordination during the funeral of their grandmother. Temporary ordination is taken in order to benefit the future lives of their grandmother.
   
A mother and her two daughters rise together after a long ceremony. Behind them are huge paintings that depict the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha.
   
A lay Buddhist listens and chants with monks during the Kathina ceremony.
     
  
Alter inside the Sanghikaram Wat Khmer temple.