The Relevance Of Buddhism To Thais Today

[camerata]

This is taken from the Daily Xpress:

Nearly four out of 10 people say they have lost respect for monks after reading reports about their misbehaviour, a recent survey said.

Nearly 6 per cent of the respondents said they had lost faith in Buddhism altogether.

The survey, conducted by the Family Network Foundation from May 7 to 12, covered 466 Bangkok residents. The study was conducted to see how relevant Buddhism is in Thai families today and what was people's reaction to reports on bad behaviour by monks.

"Some people say they don't want to undertake religious activities because they've lost faith in monks," Surin Kijnitchee of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation said yesterday at a press conference.

However, he said only five in 100 families would not participate in religious activities on Visakha Bucha Day, which falls on Monday this year.

The day, marking Buddha's birthday, enlightenment and nirvana, is very important in the Buddhist calendar.

Something left

"Nearly 40 per cent of Thais will give alms to monks and some 30 per cent will attend a candlelit procession on Visakha Bucha Day," Surin added.

Thung Pai Temple's abbot Phra Ajarn Dusadee Methang-guro said social problems today resulted from people's failure to follow dharma or Lord Buddha's teachings.

"When people fail to follow dharma at home, they do not know about sacrifice and sharing. They don't know how to live together," the abbot said.

The monk also said that since so many families nowadays focused on their rights, they simply forgot about their duties. The abbot said dharma taught its followers to uphold virtues like patience, compassion, mindfulness and sacrifice.

XTRA

What the young say

To mark Visakha Bucha Day, Bangkok University Research Institute conducted a survey among 1,233 youths - all of them between 13 and 25 years old. These are the findings:

>> 55.6 per cent don't know that Visakha Bucha marks Buddha's birthday, enlightenment and nirvana.

>> More than 90 per cent feel dharma is important.

>> More than 84 per cent have relied on Buddha's teachings when facing problems.

>> More than 90 per cent say they can find peace of mind in temples.

>> More than 90 per cent agree that Thai youths today have drifted away from spirituality, feeling that hanging out with friends, playing games and visiting entertainment venues are more interesting. Others say no one has urged them to go to the temple. Some say they don't have enough time.

[camerata]

An extract from an article by Phra Paisan Visalo that contains some statistics on Thai monks:

The Sangha Council and temples around the country receive massive amounts of donations from the public. Where does the money go? To buildings, mostly. A hundred million, or sometimes a billion baht, can be spent on majestic chapels and temples, but little can be found to sponsor education for monks and novices, or to organise courses on moral ethics for youngsters. The irony is that whereas some urban temples have in their coffers billions of baht, many rural-based ones struggle with scarcity -- some cannot provide enough food for their monks and novices.

The problem with Buddhism, therefore, is not the lack of support from the government but the lack of awareness among Buddhists of all levels of the woes within. Try contemplating these questions: How much better Buddhism would be if richer temples were to help with or sponsor the education of monks and novices from poor, rural temples? How much in terms of Buddhist education would we have gained from the money that goes straight into the construction of grandiose edifices or the making of talismans?

The responsibility lies at all levels, starting with the Sangha Council, the Buddhist clergy's governing body. For the record, the education of monks is at a crisis stage. More than 80% of monks and novices flunk either the Dharma or Pali studies while 100,000 of them do not have the chance to study for the entry-level Nak Tham Tri Dharma examination. This is not to mention the quality of the education. At present, each temple is responsible for the education of its monks. The Sangha Council only takes care of the examination. Even though repeated calls have been made that a reform of monks' education be conducted, the council has consistently ignored them, despite its having the full authority to do so.

Source: Bangkok Post.

[rockyysdt]

It sounds like the central organisation which governs Buddhism in Thailand needs to be over hauled.

They need to restructure their organisational group utilising worlds best practice in order to reinvigorate Buddhism in Thailand.

Camerata I would vote for you as a key facilitator in such a project group.

You are well learned in the subject and have much to contribute towards such an over haul.

I suppose this would be dreaming as those that are in power have forgotten what Buddhism is all about.

They are too busy wallowing in power.

It's a pity because there is much power in their product.

It just needs to be managed appropriately in order to unleash its potential.

[mizzi39]

The late Buddhadasa, probably the greatest and most revered monk that Thailand has ever known summed up the reasons why Buddhism in Thailand is "going down the tubes". I would encourage anyone who has not read his book "The truth of nature" to pick up a copy.

It is important to keep in perspective that Buddhism in Thailand (along many places in the east) is more of a religion than a practice.

To many people simply believing and not enough searching for, finding, and embracing the truth. After all, how relevant were beliefs to the Buddha?

Edited September 22, 2008 by mizzi39

[PeaceBlondie]

If I may ask - is this neglect of clergy education a mirror image of the low performance of secular education in Thailand?