MONKS AND TEMPLES

During our time in Thailand, our group had the opportunity to visit several Buddhist temples. Many of the sites and sounds that we experienced were common from one temple to the next: multiple, gold Buddha images of various shapes and sizes, candles, burning incense and lotus flowers, bells, gongs, and temple mural paintings depicting the life of the Buddha, the ever present chedi (sometimes called stupa or pagoda) that contains relics of the Buddha, temple dogs in various states of dis-ease having been dropped off at the temple for safe keeping with the monks. Monks, more than 300,000 at any given time in Thailand, are seen everywhere: in special seating areas in the airports, riding on trucks to city superstore, walking for morning alms in their golden-yellow or orange-yellow robes, smoking and drinking coca cola, teaching and visiting the terminally ill, chanting their morning prayers.

Every temple has numerous and often very large Buddha images made from plaster, rock, gold, jade, metal, etc. Buddha images are consecrated by monks upon their completion so that it is believed they actually contain the Buddha nature. Several monks stay up all night chanting in front of the image. The image is covered with a cloth and its eyes are sealed in bees wax. Three mirrors are placed in front of the image, facing the image. At the conclusion of the chanting, the eyes are opened, the cloth removed and the mirrors turned outward. The image has now been charged with power. Upon entering a temple that contains a Buddha image, devotees are expected to prostrate themselves three times before the image. Each day of the week has assigned a certain Buddha image with a particular posture. For instance, Saturday is the day for the Buddha image that is shaded by snakes heads. At one temple, in the north of Thailand, it is believed that the Buddha himself actually came to Thailand in the 1300's and left several very large foot prints along with orders to build a temple on that site. Temples sell all sorts of Buddha images but the ones that are deemed to be temple relics cannot be purchased without written permission from the Thai government. While I was in Thailand, I purchased a small metal Buddha image that is 400 years old. I was attracted to it because it seemed to have very African features. All of the traditional Thai Buddha images depict the Buddha with a large flame coming out of his head, symbolizing his enlightenment. At Ayyutya, the former capital of the Sukothai Kingdom, ruins of temples feature decapitated and restored Buddha images, having been destroyed in one of the many wars with Burma.

In every temple, there are numerous bodhi trees, called poh trees in Thailand,grafted from the original tree in India, beneath which the Buddha received his enlightenment. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu notes that the Bodhi tree, ficus religiosa, differs from other trees because it is empty at its core, it does not contain "heartwood." Thus the bodhi tree becomes a symbol of one of the important teachings of Buddhism: sunnyata or emptiness. Bodhi trees are often wrapped in yellow robes. Many of them are hundreds of years old. During my time in Thailand with the Warren Wilson students, one of the students, Kate, who is a professional rock climber, had the opportunity to climb an ancient bodhi tree to rescue a cat, as monks from the temple looked onward.

During our time in Thailand, we witnessed the ways that thousands of Thai Buddhists make pilgrimage to the holy sites during the holiday season between Christmas and New Years, Jan. 1. While there, devotees circumambulate temples, offer flowers, candles and incense, ring bells, go to the monks for blessings to bind their souls to their bodies and ensure a longer, safer life, buy Buddha images and other religious paraphernalia, prostrate themselves to the monks and the Buddha images, which, having been consecrated are believed to contain the Buddha nature within them. Relics of the Buddha are contained in the temple and often relics of former abbots at the temples are brought to be enshrined, as happened when the famous meditation monk Achan Mun's molars that were brought to Wat Chedi Luange in January 2002.

Temple compounds tend to be rather large and ornate in Thailand. Lay Buddhists gain merit that will affect their post-death after life in a helpful way by increasing the amount of positive karma to which they have access through the offering of money to the temples for its building and upkeep. Young men, from age eight onward, can enter into the Buddhist system as a monk, taking on the robes for either a short time (a few weeks) or a lifetime. Typically, all male Buddhists in Thailand are encouraged to enter the monastery during the three month rainy season. It is thought that a man who has done this is truly mature, "ripe" for marriage. Even the current Buddhist King Bhumipol took on the robes when he was much younger. The fact that the monkhood is not a lifetime commitment means that Thailand has typically not had a shortage of monks. At any given time there are some 300,000 monks. This number nearly doubles during the rainy season. Buddhist monks are not allowed to marry. In fact they are not allowed to touch women, even their mothers and sisters, once they are ordained. For a monk to receive something from a woman, the woman must place the offering on another surface, such as a piece of paper, then the monk takes the piece of paper and removes the offering. (click here for more information about the sangha)

There are several reasons why men or boys become monks:

1. To make merit for their parents, especially their mothers who cannot legally become monks.
2. To get an education and basic sustenance, as all needs of the monk are provided for by the laity and the government.
3. Because they have an attraction to the basic principles of Buddhism and the practice of meditation. These monks tend to become forest monks instead of city monks.

The fact that the monastic system in Thailand is not a lifetime commitment has its pros and cons. It gives all boys and men the chance to have an intimate experience of Buddhism and has the potential to train men to lead on the basis of Buddhist virtues as opposed to those of the secular realm. On the other hand, the large numbers of men who enter the monastery without any personal inclination toward the disciplines and the meanings of Buddhism, other than to make merit for family members or to have personal security, means that at any given time there is the potential for increased corruption and less serious consideration of the truth of Buddhism.

Buddhist monks are not allowed by law to vote. They are discouraged, by custom, from involvement with political and other worldly affairs. When an earlier Thai king, Rama V tried to purify the Sangha, he removed the Buddhist monk even farther from the every day life of the people; and when the Thai government, as it has entered the industrial era, has taken many of the tasks of the monastery and given them to government or other agencies, the strength of the monkhood has been further eroded. Some Buddhists have challenged this tendency to avoid politics as monks. The heretical Buddhist sect, Santi Asoke, had their own political party in the 1980's and eventually--some say in part because of the political threat they posed through their successes--were dismissed by the official Buddhist council of Thailand, no longer to be considered "real Buddhists." They are not allowed to wear the yellow robes in part because their leader, Phra Bodirak, is a self identified arahat, or fully realized being (something one is not supposed to claim about oneself according to Theravada teaching). (click here for more information about Santi Asoke)

Within the last 10 years, the newspapers in Thailand have been replete with scandals involving noted Thai monks. People, in their efforts to make merit, give monks money, cars, and other material goods. Some monks take their popularity with the masses and try to use it for the greater good of the nation. Phra Bua, a well known forest meditation master, for instance, has in the last several years donated millions of dollars to the Thai National Treasury for debt relief, the need for which has increased substantially since the Asian Economic crisis of the late 1990's. When I was in Chiangmai in January of 2002, I had the opportunity to witness Phra Bua's arrival at Wat Chedi Luang. He brought with him the molars (relics) of the great mediation master Achan Mun, who had served at Wat Chedi Luang for a time. The Thai military accompanied him to the Wat and sat armed around the temple compound to protect him. 100's of people came from the surrounding countryside and offered 1000's of dollars of Thai baht to this esteemed monk. Speeches were made, offerings given, and the local Buddhist monks accepted the offerings of the relics, to be housed thereafter at the temple. This is one form of social engagement that I was not expecting!

Not all monks appear so eager to hand over their finances to anyone, let alone to the government. Monks have been known to have whole fleets of Mercedes, have embezzled temple funds for their own use, and have been involved in sexual indiscretions. While the institution of Buddhism remains one of the three major components of Thai identity, along with the monarchy and the nation state, the institution has been weakened by its own internal forces, corruption, and increasing secularization of Thai society. More and more middle-class Thai people look to Buddhism as a vestige of the past, devoid of meaning in an increasingly complex society. This has led some new reform movements within Thailand to arise. These movements speak to the Middle Class desires for success and personal well being. Movements such as Dhammakai give promises of reward to those who engage in the meditation practices and they employ large scale evangelical techniques and modern technology to appeal to masses of Thai people.

During out time in Thailand we had the opportunity to meet with several monks and Buddhist communities who seek to maintain the integrity of the Thai Buddhist tradition and who are challenging the integrity, in some cases to the point of being dismissed as official Buddhists. To get to know some of these monks and their work, click on the following links: