Buddha Monthon

[camerata]

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time, but all day I've been hearing on the radio that (with government support) Buddha Monthon will become an "international centre of Buddhism." I suppose we can be thankful that it hasn't been designated "the regional hub for Buddhism" since every other "hub" the government has announced has been pie-in-the-sky.

Without irony, I'll give this idea my vote. If a centre is needed for Buddhism, Thailand - with its centralized state-controlled Buddhism - should be an ideal choice.

[Abandon]

I would echo that. I can't really see what would change there with it being an international centre.

The original idea was that different temples and organisations would make different buildings to make it a kind of 'theme park' for Buddhism. However the economic crash a few years ago scuppered most of the plans from individual places. Three of the buildings were built by Wat Pak Nam, but other temples never stumped up the cash to do anything. This is why in the centre of the dome where the scriptures are displayed on marble slabs there is a picture of Luang Phor Sodh and a statue of him. People seemed to think that the Buddha should have been there, and maybe they are right, but it was built by Wat Pak Nam as a commemoration of Luang Phor Sodh, and was supposed to be one of many different projects paying tribute to different aspects of Thai Theravada Buddhism.

That temple also built the library, but never put any books in. Now the 'Library' has been usurped by the Minsitry for Culture and Buddhism, supposedly as a temporary measure - but it looks pretty permanent to me. If the Ministry cannot even finance and arrange for their own building how are they going to make Puttamonthon a real international centre??

A nice idea, and good luck to it, but I can't really see anything substantial being done there - it will continue to be a convenient centre for meetings and retreats just as before.