Similar to Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka, Thearavada Buddhism is the official religion of Cambodia and is practiced by 95% of the people. However, there is evidence that both Christianity and Khmer Islam are becoming more active and well-liked among huge populations in both the city and the provinces. The Chinese people also frequently practice Daoism and Confucianism.
The universe and all life are seen by Buddhists as being a part of an endless cycle of change. They adhere to the philosophy of the Indian prince born in the sixth century B.C., Buddha. Buddhism holds that a person continuously reincarnates, depending on their previous life’s deeds, either in human or nonhuman form. Only when they achieve nirvana, which can be obtained by developing good karma through merit and adhering to the Buddhist path of moral life, are they freed from this cycle.
A crucial aspect of Buddhist life is merit-earning. By contributing time, resources, and labor to the temples in Cambodia or by paying for one of the monks’ two meals each day, Buddhists can gain virtue.
In their neighborhood wat, or temple, kids frequently tend to the fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Boys might get virtue by temporarily serving as temple servants or novice monks. The average young man stays a monk for less than a year.
