Thai monks' livestream mixes Buddhism and jokes but not all are laughing

[Jonathan Fairfield]

A phone screen is seen as Buddhist monks Phra Maha Sompong Talaputto and Phra Maha Paiwan Warawanno host a chat show during a Facebook live, at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, September 17, 2021. REUTERS/Arthon Pookasook

 

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panu Wongcha-um

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two Buddhist monks in Thailand have become social media stars with Facebook livestreams that combine traditional teachings with non-traditional jokes and giggles. Some of the country's religious conservatives, however, are not so amused.

 

With an impressive fluency in youth slang, Phra Maha Paiwan Warawanno, 30, and Phra Maha Sompong Talaputto, 42, have captured the imagination of a generation who find the formal temple decorum and Sanskrit chanting of traditional Buddhism outdated and inaccessible.

 

On a recent Friday night, the bespectacled Paiwan set his phone up on a tripod and clipped a microphone onto his saffron robe, sitting alongside Phra Maha Sompong in a small study in Wat Soi Thong temple in Bangkok.

 

In the livestream that followed, the two men talked through a myriad of issues, mixing Buddhist teachings, known as Dhamma, with modern life advice and a hefty dose of humour.

 

"I want Dhamma and the young generation to coexist," Paiwan told Reuters. "Without reaching out to the young, what will be the place of religion in the future?"

 

Paiwan and Sompong's weekly livestreams attract hundreds of thousands of viewers within minutes, once reaching a peak of two million.

 

Paiwan, whose Facebook follower count skyrocketed by more than 800% to 2.5 million in just over a month, said he wanted to keep Buddhism relevant to Thai society in the wake of scandals at temples over murder, drugs, sex and money laundering.

 

The upbeat sessions also provided much needed relief for many Thais confined to home during night-time curfews to stifle the country's COVID-19 outbreak.

 

"We have bad days and we are stressed with work, with money, with family, with the pandemic and everything that's going on with the lockdown," said Onravee Tangmeesang, 32, who watches every Friday night session from her bed.

 

"Those giggles can really brighten up my day."

 

But the weekly livestreams have not been greeted so favourably by Buddhist conservatives keen to uphold the religion's conventions and formalities.

 

The two monks were summoned last month to a parliamentary committee on religion to explain their online activities, while senior government figures have warned them to tone down the jokes and "inappropriate behaviour."

 

"Monks' behaviour has to be respectable in the public eye. It doesn't have to change with the time to appease young people," said Srisuwan Janya, head of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution.

 

"That will lead to the decline of Buddhism, which has already existed for nearly 2,600 years without needing to change before."

Paiwan responded with typical levity when asked to comment on the summons: "Laughing has become a national problem!"

 

SHAKING IT UP

 

Buddhism is one of the three traditional pillars of Thai society, alongside the nation and monarchy, but it has largely become performative, its role in society largely diminished to one-off events such as funerals, religious festivals and royal events.

 

For many fans, the monks' willingness to break conventional barriers to reach out to them and speak their language makes them worthy of reverence.

 

The livestreams allow the pair to engage directly with their audience, reading comments and answering questions, a tactic that breaks the long-standing Buddhist convention of one-way preaching.

 

In a recent livestream the pair riffed on the concept of "merits" and whether they could be shared.

 

"Lord Buddha said merits are like candles," said Paiwan. "You can light other candles without dimming the flame of the first."

Sompong, who has 1.4 million followers on Facebook, chimed in: "Just be careful not to burn your friends."

 

Both men burst into giggles.

 

Pongsak Sangla, 36, said the pair allowed people to find space for Buddhism again, without time-consuming rituals, in their busy modern lives.

 

"Times have changed," said Sangla. "Realness is what people want."

 

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panu Wongcha-um; Additional reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa and Artorn Pookasuk; Writing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Kay Johnson and Jane Wardell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-10-13

 

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[VincentRJ]

"Monks' behaviour has to be respectable in the public eye. It doesn't have to change with the time to appease young people," said Srisuwan Janya, head of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution.

 

As I understand, a basic principle of Buddhism is that nothing is permanent, and everything is subject to change.

[mark131v]

Prudes and hypocrites seem to be some of the main things holding back Thailand, these two guys would seem to have more in common with the next generation and the precepts of Buddhism than the boring, corrupt stick in the muds that want to turn Thailand's clock back a thousand years.... 

[RichardColeman]

11 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

said he wanted to keep Buddhism relevant to Thai society in the wake of scandals at temples over murder, drugs, sex and money laundering.

Temples recently seem to have had more fingers in more dodgy pies than Al Capone had dodgy tax dealings

[sirineou]

If one needs to intelligently  communicate a concept, one need to speak the language of his subjects.  Humor is IMO, the only true measure of intelligence.  

[zzaa09]

I've been watching them daily on their Youtube channel for months. 

Both are quite gifted communicators. 

 

 

....and then, the puritan critics forget what great charity work they do for their community.

[Aussieroaming]

I can't stand their babbling and giggling myself, I told my wife to watch them on a device far, far away from me.

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

"That will lead to the decline of Buddhism, which has already existed for nearly 2,600 years without needing to change before."

Paiwan responded with typical levity when asked to comment on the summons: "Laughing has become a national problem!"

That depends on what or who you're laughing at.

 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, mark131v said:

Prudes and hypocrites seem to be some of the main things holding back Thailand, these two guys would seem to have more in common with the next generation and the precepts of Buddhism than the boring, corrupt stick in the muds that want to turn Thailand's clock back a thousand years.... 

Thailand has an issue with evolution.. just take a look at Gov house.

[Phuketshrew]

It seems that most puritanical, hypocritical religious folks are bereft of any sort of sense of humour. God bless, I will say a prayer for them.

[khaowong1]

I actually think they are on to something.  Monks some times joke around among themselves, if these two monks want to teach Buddhism with a little humor, more power to them.  Look at that space temple in Bangkok, if that's not a joke I don't know what to tell you.  At least they are not riding around in Roll Royces and stealing money.  

[khaowong1]

7 minutes ago, Phuketshrew said:

It seems that most puritanical, hypocritical religious folks are bereft of any sort of sense of humour. God bless, I will say a prayer for them.

I agree with you, those big wigs Buddhist leaders in Bangkok have no sense of humor. 

[brianthainess]

Yeah Stop trying to make people happy !  That little tu tu's job ! 

[VocalNeal]

"

Quote

Monks' behaviour has to be respectable in the public eye. It doesn't have to change with the time to appease young people," said Srisuwan Janya, head of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution. Thailand's complainer-in-chief.

There FTFY

 

[Bluespunk]

17 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

"That will lead to the decline of Buddhism, which has already existed for nearly 2,600 years without needing to change before."

Now that is some good dinosaur speak...

[Burma Bill]

21 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

outdated and inaccessible.

Just like a "certain" Government????

[trainman34014]

No doubt these knockers are the same Charmless Nerks that complain about two people having a Cuddle or Holding Hands walking down the road !

[khaowong1]

1 hour ago, trainman34014 said:

No doubt these knockers are the same Charmless Nerks that complain about two people having a Cuddle or Holding Hands walking down the road !

Or cuddling up to a rubber tree. 

[khaowong1]

These are the same dinosaurs who want you to believe those are the Buddha's footprints at Wat Phra Phutthabat in Saraburi.  Go check them out.  First of all they don't look like footprints and second, they are huge.  Buddha would have been 50' tall to leave a footprint like that, and they don't look like any foot print I've ever seen.  

[BangkokReady]

On 10/13/2021 at 8:53 PM, VincentRJ said:

As I understand, a basic principle of Buddhism is that nothing is permanent, and everything is subject to change.

Just not Buddhism itself...

[BangkokReady]

An interesting and challenging idea.  The things is, if you have the precepts of Buddhism on one hand and the ideas of the younger generation on the other, should they be in conflict, then you really have to make a choice.  Either force the young people to act more in line with the precepts, or abandon them.

 

If you're a monk and your business is Buddhism, you have to follow the rules, or the blessings and merits won't work.  Then you cannot claim the right to not have to work.

[HappyGoLuckyLife]

18 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

I've been watching them daily on their Youtube channel for months. 

Can you DM me the link to their channel? Or share here if allowed?

[HappyGoLuckyLife]

Many religions have learned that they needed to change with the times to communicate with the generation at that time. I would think Buddhism to be no different. Sure, they use humor and slang, but with over 2 million people tuning in to hear what they have to say, surely it can be seen as a positive thing.

[khaowong1]

11 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

An interesting and challenging idea.  The things is, if you have the precepts of Buddhism on one hand and the ideas of the younger generation on the other, should they be in conflict, then you really have to make a choice.  Either force the young people to act more in line with the precepts, or abandon them.

 

If you're a monk and your business is Buddhism, you have to follow the rules, or the blessings and merits won't work.  Then you cannot claim the right to not have to work.

The Buddha pointed out a middle way.  These two younger monks seem to have found a middle ground that makes Buddhism interesting to a younger audience.  As long as they are following the precepts I see nothing wrong with it. 

[VincentRJ]

9 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

The Buddha pointed out a middle way.  These two younger monks seem to have found a middle ground that makes Buddhism interesting to a younger audience.  As long as they are following the precepts I see nothing wrong with it. 

Exactly! Except the precepts are not always clearly and consistently defined because Gautama Buddha lived during a period in India when there was no written script. Everything the Buddha taught was passed down by memory for hundreds of years before his teachings were eventually written in the Pali language, in Sri Lanka, during the 1st century BCE. 

 

However, the Buddha lived during the 5th century BCE, and spoke a language which was different from Pali, so already there is a language-translation issue which could distort to some degree what the Buddha actually meant during his speeches.

 

Also, we tend to categorize Buddhism into just a few major sects, such as Theravada which is prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand, and Mahayana which is prevalent in Tibet, and Zen which is a mixture of Mahayana and Taoism, and prevalent in Japan.
However, since the time of the Buddha there has evolved literally dozens of different sects with different interpretations and/or different emphases on the Buddha's teachings.

 

The following Wiki article provides a very detailed overview of the many different sects or schools of Buddhism. However, I couldn't find any mention in the Wiki article of the recent Thai sect named Santi Asoke. This is a Buddhist reform movement which has been heavily criticized by the established Buddhist authority in Thailand, probably because the communities refuse to accept monetary donations, insist on being vegetarian, and support themselves by growing vegetables which they sell at a low price in the local markets.

 

They also allow women to become fully ordained and allow the monks to work within the community, which is very controversial. ????

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_Buddhism
 

[khaowong1]

3 hours ago, VincentRJ said:

Exactly! Except the precepts are not always clearly and consistently defined because Gautama Buddha lived during a period in India when there was no written script. Everything the Buddha taught was passed down by memory for hundreds of years before his teachings were eventually written in the Pali language, in Sri Lanka, during the 1st century BCE. 

 

However, the Buddha lived during the 5th century BCE, and spoke a language which was different from Pali, so already there is a language-translation issue which could distort to some degree what the Buddha actually meant during his speeches.

 

Also, we tend to categorize Buddhism into just a few major sects, such as Theravada which is prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand, and Mahayana which is prevalent in Tibet, and Zen which is a mixture of Mahayana and Taoism, and prevalent in Japan.
However, since the time of the Buddha there has evolved literally dozens of different sects with different interpretations and/or different emphases on the Buddha's teachings.

 

The following Wiki article provides a very detailed overview of the many different sects or schools of Buddhism. However, I couldn't find any mention in the Wiki article of the recent Thai sect named Santi Asoke. This is a Buddhist reform movement which has been heavily criticized by the established Buddhist authority in Thailand, probably because the communities refuse to accept monetary donations, insist on being vegetarian, and support themselves by growing vegetables which they sell at a low price in the local markets.

 

They also allow women to become fully ordained and allow the monks to work within the community, which is very controversial. ????

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_Buddhism
 

"However, the Buddha lived during the 5th century BCE, and spoke a language which was different from Pali, so already there is a language-translation issue which could distort to some degree what the Buddha actually meant during his speeches."  Vincent, I got in trouble when I was a monk by pointing this out.  ha ha ha , and I agree with you.  

[zzaa09]

On 10/13/2021 at 2:03 PM, RichardColeman said:

Temples recently seem to have had more fingers in more dodgy pies than Al Capone had dodgy tax dealings

Recently? Such suspicions have been ongoing for quite some time. 

Besides all the suspected dodgy scallawaggery, the basic concept of the Wat and monkhood could be questioned. 

 

The contemporary practices of desiring material goods, becoming financially healed, heeding to earthly pleasures, etc is becoming much more acceptable than of yesteryear. 

It's become an employment conduit, less a calling. 

[VincentRJ]

13 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

"However, the Buddha lived during the 5th century BCE, and spoke a language which was different from Pali, so already there is a language-translation issue which could distort to some degree what the Buddha actually meant during his speeches."  Vincent, I got in trouble when I was a monk by pointing this out.  ha ha ha , and I agree with you.  

Thanks for your response. I've never experienced life as a monk, although I have at times considered trying it, because I have a general interest in religious matters, as well as the 'truth' (whatever that is), and I like experimentation.

 

However, the strict adherence to hundreds of rules has put me off life as a Buddhist monk. I'm not a 'conformist'. I prefer to work things out for myself and do what I think is sensible and ethical.

 

I'd be interested to know why you are no longer a monk, and what you gained from the experience.

[fusion58]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:31 AM, Jonathan Fairfield said:

With an impressive fluency in youth slang, Phra Maha Paiwan Warawanno, 30, and Phra Maha Sompong Talaputto, 42, have captured the imagination of a generation who find the formal temple decorum and Sanskrit chanting of traditional Buddhism outdated and inaccessible.

Good on them. ????????

 

BTW, “Sanskrit chanting?”

 

Wouldn’t that be Pali chanting since Thailand is a Theravada Buddhist country?

[fusion58]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:58 AM, BangkokReady said:

Just not Buddhism itself...

Depends on who you ask.

 

The Dalai Lama has said that if science proves any of the suppositions of Buddhism incorrect, then Buddhism needs to change accordingly.