The establishment in Grand Island of a local temple, or wat, was thanks in part to the arrival of a Buddhist monk, Khyo Phaaphay, left. The temple opened in late January after Phaaphay made a pilgrimage to India, where Buddha did most of his teaching, and to Laos. Before coming to Grand Island, Phaaphay lived in Rockford, Ill., and in California. Statues are part of the transformation of the former Faith United Methodist Church into a Buddhist temple.
By Harold Reutter / World-Herald News Service GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Laotian immigrants first began arriving in Grand Island in the early 1980s, attracted to town by the beef packing plant.
Almost from the beginning, those immigrants, who now work in many different occupations in Grand Island, longed for a local temple, needing both a physical space and a monk to make those hopes a reality.
That is why the arrival of Khyo Phaaphay to serve as the monk at the Budda Matta Phaaphayaram Lao Buddhist Temple was an event for which many Grand Island Laotians have been waiting 33 years. Other ethnic groups with Buddhist traditions are also part of the temple, including Vietnamese, Thais and Filipinos. Phaaphay and others said everyone is welcome to visit the temple.
Several Laotian women interpreted for Phaaphay, who said he served as a monk in Rockford, Ill., before serving as a monk for two years in California.
Phaaphay came to Grand Island because of one of the interpreters, who had relatives in Rockford who knew the monk and knew about the many Laotians living in Grand Island and central Nebraska.
When Faith United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church merged, Faith’s former church building at 724 W. 12th St. was put up for sale. In November, the building was purchased for use as a Buddhist temple, or wat.
Although Phaaphay briefly visited Grand Island last fall, he traveled to India and to Laos in November, December and much of January. Phaaphay and the women said it is common for Buddhist monks to return periodically to India, where Buddha taught, to meet with monks there and deepen their own understanding of Buddhism.
While Phaaphay was overseas, local Buddhists worked on the building, cleaning it, doing repairs and transforming it into a wat. As might be expected, an older building needs work. Phaaphay said new plumbing has been installed. He also said some of the stained-glass windows have cracked glass and are leaky, so they will eventually need to be replaced. He said that when replacement glass is installed, it will likely be clear panes rather than stained glass.
When asked about how the former church is working as a wat, Phaaphay answered, “Perfect.” Sitting on the raised portion of the former church sanctuary, he motioned toward the gently sloping floor, which has been cleared of pews. Buddhists traditionally sit on the floor when in the presence of a monk, often at a lower level than where the monk is sitting.
Phaaphay indicated his long-range plans are to make the floor level. He said he would like to sell the remaining church pews to help pay for the work. People come to pray morning, afternoon and evening, seven days a week.
Relatively few people — mostly older Buddhists — come to the wat to pray and meditate in the morning. More people come in the afternoon, and even more arrive in the evening. Phaaphay said the morning and afternoon prayer and meditation sessions are held in the former fellowship hall. Evening sessions are conducted in the former sanctuary.
Phaaphay and the women said the largest gatherings are once a month, whenever there is a full moon. He said about 40 families — about 200 people including children — belong to the Grand Island wat.
Phaaphay said the basement will be used as a school for children on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer to teach them about Buddhism as well as the Lao language. Before the wat was established, Buddhists in Grand Island would periodically travel to wats in Salina, Kan. — a trip of about three hours — or Des Moines, which is a bit more than a four-hour trip.
Now, Buddhists from Omaha, Lincoln, Columbus, Hastings and Lexington travel to Grand Island. Lam Sayasane, one of the women who helped interpret for Phaaphay, wrote a brief explanation of the wat, which said: “Wherever there’s a Lao wat, there’s a Lao community dedicated to preserving and practicing Buddhist precepts. “Traditionally, the majority of Lao-speaking people have been Theravada Buddhist. In recent years, Lao Buddhist temples, wats, have sprung up around the world to care for the spiritual needs of Lao immigrants. Buddhist temples welcome all seekers of knowledge regardless of ethnic background.”
The women and Phaaphay said they hoped that Faith United Methodist’s many years in the building at 12th and Eddy Streets might be a good omen for the wat. “We want the temple to be here for many generations,” Sayasane said. “That’s what everyone wants. That is everybody’s desire.”
