Wat Lao Buddharam – Lao Buddhist Temple

A beautiful sacred place. I’m so glad Buddhism is alive and well right smack in the middle of the Bible belt. We need more culture here. I plan on visiting more often.

Over 30 years, this Lao Buddhist Temple has grown roots in Murfreesboro, becoming part of the quietly evolving diverse cultural landscape of Middle Tennessee.
I learned to read and write the Lao language from the kindly monks who served out their monastic duties right here in Murfreesboro.
Theravada Buddhism is what you will find here. You will hear the monks leading the laity chanting in their ancient language of Pali. Have a seat in the back, with your legs folded under you on the floor, place your palms together and open your mind and heart. If you can follow along, do what feels comfortable.
Ladies: special rules for us. No short skirts. Cover your legs and your shoulders. Don’t sit criss-​cross apple sauce. Assume the starting position from the child’s pose – hold that pose. Nice. Hard not to feel a little nervous when you hear these rules, but they’re simple and will help make your experience a good one and won’t stress out the regulars. No hand shakes with the monks. Or high fives. It’s part of their monastic code to keep separate from the women. Help them stay inside the lines and not inadvertently cross them b/​c you’re being polite in the way you know how to be polite. These are honest culture clashes where good intentions just don’t translate.
Having those rules in mind, you will nevertheless find the laity here is laid back, with over three decades of assimilating and you will likely find yourself greeted with a lovely southern twang and a y’all sprinkled in here and there.
You will see ancient ladies in their best Lao silk skirts – world class silk weaving that is only done in small pockets of the world like Laos. These skirts were treasured and handed down as heirlooms. You will see them shot through with gold and silver thread. Yes, actual gold and actual silver. You’ll see multiple generations. Some livin’ la vida loca with multi-​colored hair, all tatted and pierced, and the conservatives, holding on to the dignified old ways that you probably won’t find even in Laos today. Some see the hair and tatts as degeneration. I see them speaking Lao, gesticulating with tatted fingers and a mouthful of sticky rice and I see America. Give and take. Some things fade – some things were not so great anyway and some things were kind of good. All jumbled up and tumbled in the waves of time, space, and the confusing, punctuated, and irrational progress of humanity.
You’ll hear Lao-​lish. It’s fun. You might be able to follow along. The ancient ladies even use it somewhat and can’t help but pepper their speech with «OK.»
If you want to see a packed house service, go on Saturday. Don’t mind the pile of shoes outside, throw yours in a corner that you’ll remember and don’t wear your Jimmy Choos – they might mistakenly go home on other feet and then where would you be? Shoeless at a Buddhist temple in Murfreesboro. Actually, not bad considering what comes after service: tasty food!
Lao families bust a gut to make the best food they can to offer as alms during the weekends. In Laos, this was done every morning and the monks came around to each home with their alms bowls seeking food for their morning repasts. The Lao have adjusted to corporate schedules here in America and now focus their worshipping efforts on the weekends. The monks stay in the temples and the laity go to the monks.
So, the monks eat first. Afterwards, all that insanely delicious, exotic, savory, sweet, homemade best-​of-​the-​best dishes are offered up for all to eat. Yes, I said all. «All» means those who stay through service and who are still hanging around about noon-​thirty every Saturday.
That’s not all that goes on at the Lao Temple. Festivals abound and many Lao festivals follow the lunar cycle. The Lao New Year is celebrated with 3 days of festivals on the grounds on or about mid-​April, depending on the Moon and her schedule. Vendors from Georgia, South Carolina, and even as far away as California come to flog their wares, plants, fruits, and best of all, Lao street food. You can drink ice cold freshly pressed sugar cane juice – silky smooth and earthy. It’s not a syrupy sugar drink. Grilled pigeon on a stick. Grilled fish. Sticky rice. Coconut sweets. Cheap Chinese toys are usually available for the kiddos.
Ready to go yet?
If you are a denizen of the ‘Boro, you should at least drive by, see the cool Lao scrip on the sign. If you’re curious to know how these folks have made Murfreesboro, Tennessee their newly adopted home, if you’re curious about Theravada Buddhism, if you want to take a trip to another country without leaving Rutherford County, go visit the Lao Temple with your mind, eyes, ears, and heart open. (And if it’s eatin’ time, get that mouth open, too!)