Buddhist monk

A young monk, wearing monastic robes and carrying an alms bowl, stands quietly. Even today, Buddhist monks in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia go out every day at dawn to accept offerings of food and flowers from pious members of the community. This is not “begging”; the monks are doing a favor for those who give them food by providing them an opportunity to do good and gain merit. When the monks go to collect food they keep their eyes cast down and maintain an air of self-containment so as not to seem interested in the food or who is giving it.
The laypersons who donate food or flowers often hope that they may eventually accumulate enough merit for a better rebirth, or to be reborn in the paradise of the future buddha Maitreya.
A great deal of Southeast Asian sculpture must have been made from the region’s plentiful high-quality woods. Because of the hot, damp climate and the region’s many insects, however, relatively little wooden sculpture of earlier periods has survived.