>On Wednesday, December 21 Ian posted: > >I'm just curious, what Buddhist country do you live in, if you don't >mind? How is do you see Buddhism represented there? > >Gassho >Ian
I live in the mountains of central Thailand in the province of Petchabun. If you look on a map it's about 350 km north and a little east of Bangkok. Thailand is 94% Buddhist by official state estimates. There are some concentrations of Muslims in the southern provinces bordering Malaysia and a smattering of Christians here and there. The Buddhism practiced here is Theravada which was reportedly brought to Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka in the 3rd century. It's based on the Pali Canon which is a collection of sutras organized into three 'baskets': Basket of Discipline, Basket of Discourses and Basket of Doctrine. The Pali Canon was originally transcribed by monks-scribes in Sri Lanka and are written in the Pali language which was the language spoken in India at the time of Siddhartha Buddha. To this day the sutras are still chanted in the Pali language. I view Buddhism as practiced here from three perspectives: - as practiced by the lay-populace - as practiced by the rank-in-file monks - as practiced by the high-ranking Buddhist officials I just now discovered there is a lot more that would need to be said about my observations on Buddhist practice in Thailand than is appropriate for a post. It would make a good section to put on my website, and there I could include some photos. I'll might start working on that. Right now I'll just briefly state: - the lay-populace uses the local wat (Buddhist temple) as a community focal point but are generally not really involved with Buddhism. They leave that to the clergy (monks). They believe if they support the local wat and monks, the clergy will take care of all the religious obligations of the community. - the rank-in-file monks live in a wat and serve a local congregation. They go to bed at sunset (about 1900) and arise at 0400. They go out into the community in a group about 0630 and walk the streets to receive alms (cooked food, bottled water, flowers - no money accepted). In some wats the monks do not go out so the alms are brought to them. The monks perform a lot of community ceremonies: weddings, funerals, blessing new houses and businesses, etc... It is expected to give them a donation for doing these. Money is accepted. The ceremonies are highly ritualistic and are conducted with a lot of chanting of the sutras in Pali. It is my understanding that NONE of the monks know Pali and do not know what the words they are chanting mean. They have a vague understanding of the theme of the sutras they chant, but are taught from other texts written in Thai. Another key activity they practice is meditation which they call Samadhi. In talking with many of them they apparently are not taught any meditation techniques but are just left on their own to sit in contemplation. They are not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages or have sex (in fact women are not even allowed to touch them or hand them something directly). They do eat meat of all kinds but are not allowed to kill or prepare the meal themselves. They can't eat after 12 noon. They aren't really supposed to own anything but most have a mobile phone and have some pocket money given to them by supporting family. Most monks smoke cigarettes. Most monks aren't 'lifers'. They become a monk at some period in their lives (usually some problem period), and then return to lay-life after a year or two. Most monks have a wife (or wives) and children to return to. Every young man when he is about 18-20 shaves his head (and eyebrows) and goes into a wat for a period of at least 2-weeks. This is a Thai-wide tradition and is one experience all Thai men have in common. (I do not know the content of the training they receive there, but I am planning to do this myself sometime in 2006 to become more a part of the community and learn firsthand what goes on there.) Women cannot be monks but can be nuns. The nuns either live separately from the monks, or can live in the same wat and act as housekeepers/cooks for the monks. I have never seen a nun perform any religious ceremony. - The high-ranking Buddhist officials are not well known to me. They do have a definite political hierarchy and are closely aligned with the Thai royal family and civil government. All for now... Gassho...Bill! ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
