Novel Wish-Making Rituals: Case Study from Buddhist Thailand

A second-hand car dealer in Thailand struggled to sell a vehicle involved in a fatal accident. Potential buyers feared that a ghost lingered in the car and refused to purchase it. To dispel these concerns, the dealer brought the car to a temple, where a monk performed a cleansing ritual, sprinkling it with holy water and chanting blessings in Pali. After watching a video of the ceremony, customers felt reassured and became interested in buying the car. Drawing from the monastic repertoire, the spontaneous ritual not only eased fears but also facilitated a successful sale. Rituals help people to feel safe in modern-day Thailand, secure in their aspirations, and like it is possible to gain some control in their life’s outcomes and achievements. And rituals are getting even easier to enact when one does not even have to meet a monk. Instead, they can follow step-by-step ritual instructions planned out for them. 

Ritual plays a central role in most Buddhists’ lives, yet religious studies scholarship often overlooks the complexity of these practices—their textual foundations, historical developments, innovations, and practitioner communities. Rituals are not mere additions to doctrinal beliefs; they embody and transmit those beliefs, uniting body and mind in shared purpose. Through physical practice, rituals transform abstract doctrines into lived experience. Bruce Lincoln (2003) famously defined religion as comprising four elements: discourses, practices, communities, and institutions. He argues that religious practices activate discourse, shifting it from speech and thought to embodied action (7). This paper examines a ritual case study at a suburban temple near Chiang Mai, demonstrating how practice and discourse intersect in innovative ways within a contemporary Buddhist community.

This presentation examines a new Buddhist ritual that takes place at Wat Pa Daed and harnesses the spiritual power of a Hindu god without requiring a monk's presence. Designed by the temple’s abbot, Phra Ajahn Payoongsak—a renowned keji ajan or “magic monk”—the ritual is meant to offer an accessible alternative for laypeople who lack time for meditation. Recognizing that villagers prioritize practical concerns such as home repairs and their children's education, Phra Ajahn created the ritual to provide reassurance and inner calm. Participants express their aspirations before a Ganesh statue, moving through multiple temple buildings in a structured spiritual journey. This ritual has gained popularity beyond the local village, attracting visitors from distant provinces, largely due to its promotion on social media. As practitioners follow each step, which involves various activities such as ringing a bell nine times, whispering in the ear of a sacred statue, circling Ganesh three times with a wish in mind, they are engaging in “an act of world construction” (Seligman, Ritual and Its Consequences 2008), or co-construction, by both the individual and Phra Ajahn Payoongsak. Unlike traditional written wish-making practices (Shen, “The Power of Wish-Vows” 2023), participants silently articulate their desires to Ganesh, seeking divine intervention. Drawing from David Morgan (“The Ecology of Images” 2014), I interpret the Ganesh statue not merely as a representation of a deity but as part of a broader assemblage—an interconnected network of sacred elements within the temple. The ritual’s effectiveness stems from its immersive environment and the creative fusion of Buddhist and Hindu spiritual elements.

In essence, each step of this ritual aims to dissolve the boundary between human and divine during times of uncertainty. In her seminal work on ritual, Catherine Bell (Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice 1992) argues that belief, society, social solidarity, and ritual symbols interact in complex ways. Ritual efficacy does not rely on automatic belief; rather, the ritual provides structure, while personal beliefs give it meaning. Although ritual actions follow prescribed forms, individual interpretation remains flexible. While formality remains a key characteristic of ritual, it is not necessarily rigid or invariant, instead allowing for expressive spontaneity (Nelson, “Transformations: the social construction of religious ritual” 2012). Without a monastic intermediary, lay participants in Thai Buddhist wish-making rituals can adapt and expand upon given instructions, expressing their deepest desires in a culturally sanctioned setting, where each action and object involved becomes sacred. Seeking blessings from the Hindu god Ganesh may seem unorthodox to some Buddhists and religious authorities, yet from a lived religion perspective, the ritual reflects fluid boundaries that expand to accommodate community needs. Rooted in societal desires, this ritual reconfigures the sacred and divine, serving as a spiritual frame for individual practitioners.

This presentation examines the creation, evolution, and function of the Ganesh ritual at Wat Pa Daed, thus centering how ritual is produced and maintained. Drawing from multiple interviews with the abbot and ritual creator, Phra Ajahn Payoongsak, as well as conversations with community members, and lay Buddhist ritual participants, it explores how the ritual innovatively addresses the concerns of Thai Buddhists, while navigating the perpetual tension between creativity and tradition. My own repeated participation in the ritual provides additional insight into its role in offering spiritual reassurance while revealing the stories behind the ritual—how it works to innovatively solve problems and clarify aspirations.