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Where does one begin to find religious diversity in southern New
Hampshire? How about 8 miles up the road? I had heard that there is a
small Lao community in Newmarket, and wanted to know more about its
religious life, but I had no contacts there and didn't know where to
begin. So I drove into town, went to the Post Office, and chatted with
people in a coffee shop. No luck. |
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There is a Buddhist study center in Newmarket, run by Friends of the
Western Buddhist Order, called Aryaloka, and I figured someone there
would know about the Lao community. Deep in a suburban neighborhood, I
found the center, but on this hot summer day no one was there to speak
to. I drove back into town. |
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A clerk at the Town Hall told me about a Lao interpreter who worked
at the nearby Lamprey Medical Clinic. Maybe she could help me. |
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She did. She explained to me that the Lao community did not have a
temple in Newmarket, but, she thought, some people went to a temple in
Lowell, Massachusetts. She gave me a phone number to try. After several
hours at home on the phone trying to find out the location of the Lao
temple in Lowell, I finally talked to a gentleman who fortunately spoke
more English than I did Lao, but all I could really establish was that
the temple was near exit 37 off of route 495, an outer loop beltway of
Boston, about an hour from home. The next morning, I set out for
Lowell. The exit 37 ramp ends in a modest older suburban neighborhood of
small houses. There was nothing I could do but drive around and look....
for what? a 20 foot high pagoda with a golden Buddha in the front yard,
perhaps? |
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Oh. |
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Wat Lao Mixayaram. A house beside a town park, refashioned as a
community center and home for 6 Laotian monks, with a 20 foot high pagoda
and a golden Buddha in the front yard. I parked beside the house,
knocked, explained the purpose, and was invited in to wait for the temple
president who would be coming soon. I was shown through the kitchen to
the living room to meet the monks. |
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I greeted them with Namaste's, and then settled in beside them to watch
the Weather Channel. One of the monks and I tested out his English until
the temple president arrived... |
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with his two daughters. Cindy, the elder, quickly became my friend and
guide. |
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