At 07:52 AM 12/23/2005 +0700, you wrote: > >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!
Hey Bill - thanks for this, very interesting! I would imagine that Buddhism as it is widely practiced in a thoroughly Buddhist country like Thailand will have a lot of, well, curious features that probably aren't the best example of the Buddha's way. I suppose this is what happens when a religion becomes a state religion. Great idea to try that temporary ordination - I hope you'll tell us all about it. Have you heard at all of the Thai "Forest Tradition"? It sounds like those guys are the hard-core real deal. I read a book called "Food for the Heart - the collected teachings of Ajahn Chah" (now deceased) who was from that tradition. I thought the book was excellent and cleared up a lot of questions for me. In my opinion, for what that's worth (not much) he was a true master. He established Wat Pah Nanachat (The International Forest Monastery) near Ubon Rachathani, geared especially for westerners. http://www.watpahnanachat.org/ You might be interested in them. There's also Ajahn Buddhadasa http://www.suanmokkh.org/ who I'm a big fan of. So much liveliness and non-stuffiness in both of these teachers. I'm willing to bet that Zen is appreciated there. Ian ------------------------ 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/
