Thai Buddhist Monks Promote Activities To Attract The Faithful To Temples

[camerata]

Some useful statistics from Wat Yannawa in this article:

Thai Buddhist monks promote activities to attract the faithful to temples

Bangkok - Encouraging the practice of Buddhism among the faithful, under the slogan "Going to temple every Sunday, will make you happy." It is the spirit that marked celebrations for the feast of Asalhabucha - the day of the full moon of the eighth month of the lunar calendar - held July 7th in Thailand.

In the land of the elephants, 94% of the over 62 million people are Buddhist but only a small part follows the precepts of faith. According to a recent survey conducted at the temple of Yannawa - in central Bangkok - just 57% make food offerings to monks, 8.2% listen to sermons and 3.2% practice meditation. 42.7% attend religious services once a month, 30% said it "depended on the occasion",11.2% once every three months, 8.8% every six months and 7.1% once a year.

The abandonment of religious practice concerns Buddhist leaders, who have launched a project to invite the faithful to attend the places of worship with greater diligence. " Phraphromvajirayan, a member of the Association of Monks, confirms that people "go to the temple only on special occasions." He explains the goal of "giving life to special activities in the temples" targeting "children and young people." Among these "encouraging the reading of the Dhamma (the teachings of Buddha, ed), living the monastic experience for one day and one night and promoting voluntary action for the good of the community."

On the occasion of the feast of Asalhabucha, the supreme patriarch Somdejphrayanasungvorn urged the Buddhist faithful to peace and mercy, to bring joy to the community, society and the entire nation. "I call on the faithful - said the Buddhist leader - to take the opportunity to observe the precepts of the faith, to gain merit, listen to sermons and pray more for a life of peace. Prayers calm the spirit, a life of peace begins with peace in the mind through meditation. "

The Asalhabucha is one of the most important festivals for the Buddhist calendar, it recalls the first sermon - the Dharmajuckkappawattanasutra - the Enlightened One held before his five faithful. The day also coincides with the revelation of the three basic elements: the Buddha, the Dharma (the law) and the Sangha (the assembly of monks), which together form the Triratna (the three buds). The Buddhist day of celebration is followed by a day of fasting, which marks the beginning of three months of abstinence and prayer, where the monks lock themselves in temples and leave only if necessary, returning to the temple before sunset.

Source.

[phetaroi]

I'm glad you posted this article.

Two things I'll mention.

First, I have noted several posters, but here and upcountry, which (at least through the pictures) seemed to be encouraging people to come to the temple and interact with the monks.

Second, I was at a temple up in Ang Thong Province a few days ago where they weren't trying to attract lay people. They were trying to attract monks. Wat Tha Sutthawat, a rather important temple historically, has no monks at the present time. They are actively seeking out monks and restoring the rather nice temple...one that is under the auspices of Princess Sirindhorn.

[fabianfred]

The instruction on Dhamma here is no better than the other subjects they teach in schools......

I watched some school groups who attended three day dhamma camps at the temple. They are taught to repeat things out loud in a group endlessly, after the instructing monk.....learning by rote....just as bad as in school. They are told that meditation is good for you....that it teaches mindfulness...... but they are not told why and how.....nor why and how it is important....just that it is good.

Many of the teachers do not seem to have any better grasp than the students....they probably leaned the same way....book learning......no reasoning and questioning.

It was nice to see the school kids attending such a course....(although probably not of their own free will)...but I wonder if they really got much benefit.

[camerata]

They are taught to repeat things out loud in a group endlessly, after the instructing monk.....learning by rote....just as bad as in school. They are told that meditation is good for you....that it teaches mindfulness...... but they are not told why and how.....nor why and how it is important....just that it is good.

To be fair, though, it's difficult to teach Dhamma to kids. The groups I've seen at Wat Yannawa seemed to be around 9 years old. Calming their restless minds with chants or teaching inspiring stories of compassion from the Jakarta Tales might be the way to go at that age.

[Artabus]

They are taught to repeat things out loud in a group endlessly, after the instructing monk.....learning by rote....just as bad as in school. They are told that meditation is good for you....that it teaches mindfulness...... but they are not told why and how.....nor why and how it is important....just that it is good.

To be fair, though, it's difficult to teach Dhamma to kids. The groups I've seen at Wat Yannawa seemed to be around 9 years old. Calming their restless minds with chants or teaching inspiring stories of compassion from the Jakarta Tales might be the way to go at that age.

Yes, I'd agree with that. When my son turned 5, every evening for an hour, up until he turned 6, we'd sit in front of the altar - discuss stories from the life of Buddha, talk about the teachings, then finsih with some chanting and meditation. "Of all gifts, the Gift of the Dharma is the most sacred" I think it goes. He's now 15, and even though he doesn't meditate, he has high moral values and a sense of living your life in the right way, which I'm sure comes from the Buddhism.

So if schoolchildren are exposed to it, and even if they are taught by rote, over the longer term it's bound to sink in for some of them, and they will want to explore and understand (and practise...) Buddhism themselves. Which is how it should be, is it not?

A bigger question here might be how to reverse the decline of the application of Buddhism to daily life. Just as in other countries and religions, there is too much of a difference between the faith people profess to have, and how they act. Not judging them for occasional errors, we all have those, but commenting upon the larger problem of long term lack of understanding of the Middle Path.

[phetaroi]

Yes, I'd agree with that. When my son turned 5, every evening for an hour, up until he turned 6, we'd sit in front of the altar - discuss stories from the life of Buddha, talk about the teachings, then finsih with some chanting and meditation. "Of all gifts, the Gift of the Dharma is the most sacred" I think it goes. He's now 15, and even though he doesn't meditate, he has high moral values and a sense of living your life in the right way, which I'm sure comes from the Buddhism.

So if schoolchildren are exposed to it, and even if they are taught by rote, over the longer term it's bound to sink in for some of them, and they will want to explore and understand (and practise...) Buddhism themselves. Which is how it should be, is it not?

A bigger question here might be how to reverse the decline of the application of Buddhism to daily life. Just as in other countries and religions, there is too much of a difference between the faith people profess to have, and how they act. Not judging them for occasional errors, we all have those, but commenting upon the larger problem of long term lack of understanding of the Middle Path.

Kids pick up far more than one might think, particularly repeated messages. For many years I was a school principal in the States. At the end of the morning announcements each morning I concluded by saying, "Make it a great day, or not, the choice is yours." No big deal, at the beginning it was part of a packaged deal.

One morning I was in a snit and was kind of barking at the kids to get to homeroom on tiime. One girl said, "Mr. Lynch, what's the matter with you this morning." I said, "I'm in a bad mood." She said, "Remember, make it a great day, or not...the choice is YOURS."

The kind of moral lessons you were teaching your child may not have appeared to be doing much at the time. But they were making an impression every time you did it. Congratulations...you sound like a great dad!

[fabianfred]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28361002@N07/3729694752/ Edited July 17, 2009 by fabianfred

[camerata]

Inspiring.