The air smelled of winter freshness when I arrived outside the Wat Lao Buddhist Temple in Murfreesboro. As it happened, the timing of my visit was purely coincidental. We—some photographers and I—were searching for an abandoned motel just off Old Nashville Highway. Instead, we came across the temple.

It was the end of December, in the middle of the lull between Christmas and the anticipation of the American New Year. We stumbled upon a man with interesting features. Wearing a furry winter hat, he was updating the trimming outside of the worship center.

The photographers asked to take a photo of him. He seemed puzzled, yet excited to have them ask. He said his name was Hsi (pronounced like “sigh”). He posed in front of the prayer room, which was beautifully crafted. Concrete slabs carved with careful precision surrounded the four walls of this small building. Dragons, Dalmatians and snakes were carved separately to accent the concrete walls.

Photos by Scott Walker, smalltownbigworld.com

We were told the doors to this particular prayer building remain locked because female visitors who do not know of Buddhist traditions walk inside the structure, which is a worship building exclusively for men.

Just in front of the prayer room was a statue with four faces. The faces represent wealth, peace, protection and good blessings. Offerings such as bananas and water with incense were placed below the statue.

A red wall surrounded the entire worship grounds. The wall served as a burial ground for Buddhists. Cremated bodies were placed within the stone wall to honor them. Families and friends often bring offerings for them as well. Many flowers, foods and drinks accompany the photo and description of the person within.

Small pieces of rubble tarnish the beautiful barrier, remnants of a recent wreck that happened to knock it down. We were told a worker with a large truck got confused while trying to accelerate out of the ditch located in front of the wall and accidentally went flying backwards. Oddly, a box of arrows, PVC pipes and brick were part of the wreckage.

We made our way back to the main temple to explore more of the surroundings. Before entering the temple, we were instructed to take off our shoes.

“I used to be a Christian and I even read [the] Bible,” a Lao woman inside the main temple said on this Thursday afternoon. She proceeded to say that she had also read the Buddhist stories, which led to her conversion to Buddhism.

She believes that Christianity and Buddhism are very similar. The woman related the main beliefs of Buddhism to the Ten Commandments. “One, we must not kill humans or any other living things; two, we must not steal; three, we must remain faithful in marriage; four, we must tell the truth; five, we shall not drink alcohol.”

As part of tradition, monks do not touch women, even to shake hands. They are taught to bow. These beliefs originate from India native Buddha, who developed these beliefs around 500 B.C.

The main ceremony for worship includes a buffet. Other customs of the ceremony include moving along the sides of the temple, since this action represents deep reverence for the Buddha, and praying to your specific statue.

Statues to pray to are determined solely by your day of birth. The woman explained to me that if I were to come to a service, I would be praying to “Tuesday” (the day of the week on which I was born). The “Tuesday” statue is a statue of a reclining man.

Her favorite part of the ceremony is not the food or prayer, but wearing her fancy Lao skirt. She and her husband invited us to attend Sunday service.

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Hundreds of Laotian people gathered together inside the main temple for worship on Sunday morning. This service was dedicated to celebrating the New Year. Luckily, I remembered that stretching out my legs would be disrespectful, so I sat cross-legged. Our friend from earlier found me sitting alone. She handed me a silver offering plate.

“Do as they do,” she said. “I will explain later.”

The silver plate included bananas, seaweed wraps, water and sticky rice. I later found out that these foods represent an offering for deceased loved ones. In addition to gathering offerings, the Buddhists prayed to their ancestors.

A marketplace of food was set up outside the temple for people to buy offerings for their loved ones. I asked one of the sellers if she grew the food herself. She said, “No. I buy.”

A line formed along the edges of the temple as individuals made their way outside. Thinking the service was complete, I stood up with my offering plate and got in line as well.

To my surprise, we began circling around a table with bowls on it. We placed the food from our offering plates into the bowls and motioned with our hands. The motions were part of a mantra to honor the ancestors.

After all the offerings, we sat down inside. Five monks onstage began to chant in Lao while holding symbolic objects. One monk was holding fire while the other four monks held a rope together.

One other American man and his Laotian girlfriend attended the celebration. The Laotian girl spoke English well and leaned in closer to me. She whispered over the monks chanting in another language, “Go get water.”

I had no idea where to get the water, but I trusted her. As I got up, she mentioned needing cups as well. So, I went to the kitchen.

The kitchen across the room was massive. Inside this kitchen, women and children were cooking enough food to feed the crowds. Noodles, soups and rice of all kinds were spread out around the kitchen. I tried to focus on getting the water while wonderful smells interrupted my train of thought.

I found the water. On the way back to my spot on the rug, I located the cups.

Everyone around me began pouring water slowly into cups with one hand up in the air. They kept repeating the same word over and over, but they were all speaking Lao.

The main monk walked around with a pail of water and incense sticks. He dipped the sticks into the water and began tossing water drops into the crowd. Some of the drops of water were hefty, so a little Laotian boy next to me yelled, “That’s a lot of water!” All the adults laughed.

It is believed that water carries away sins and bad luck along with dispensing good wishes for a new year.

The same girl with the American boy stood up and began to walk outside. Before leaving the building, she gave me direction again.

“You go pour your water outside in the garden,” she said. “While you pour, you make a wish!”

Covered in droplets of water, we went outside and watered the garden. I wished for a good year for all the Laotian people and myself.

Finally, everyone began to migrate to the kitchen. We formed a line around the buffet table and gathered food for our plates. Spicy aromas filled the air along with laughter and joy. The Buddhists and I ate together where we sat previously for service.

Although the entire service was spoken in Lao, a Laotian man took the microphone from the stage while we ate together in harmony.

“To all you who speak English in here,” he said, “I want to thank you.”

He continued to thank the Americans for joining the Laotian Buddhists in service. He spoke with genuine gratitude and respect for the guests.

After the meal, I walked around the temple looking for my Laotian friends that invited me to celebrate the American New Year. They were nowhere to be found, so I returned to my car. Although I never got a full explanation of the service, celebrating and learning a new culture was intriguing and enjoyable.