2. The Roles on Social Welfare

Another role is that an important development in Thai Buddhism is monks’ involvement in community development. Some monks have been concerned about the problems of the relearning of Buddhism to the contemporary changing society. To these monks, and to a number of lay Buddhists, the monks’ loss of leadership in the modern westernized sector of Thai society, usually represented by urbanized communities, has affected the stability of the religion and partly accounted for the miss directed development of the society^[1]. In the modern westernized society, monks plays no role of real importance of unquestionable value, and the society has reached the current stage of development without their claim to help or guidance. Modern Thailand is, however, often branded with modernization without development or with misguided development. The lack of the monk's share in the process of development must have been a factor in this undesirable result. It may be too late for the monks to take up the responsibility in such an extremely secularized society and it will be difficult even to regain their status though many monks are now much concerned about this task.

In rural areas, by contrast, monastic leadership is still strong and the rural people still recognized their responsibility to the Buddhist institutions. Modernization has, however, started to run its course there and the monks, with their traditional roles of leadership, are far from prepared to apply the effectiveness of their leadership to the problems of modernization, that is, to help the rural people towards proper adjustment in the process of development.

The rural monks are recruited from among the rural people, more specifically the villagers, with a very disadvantaged educational background and with experiences limited to village situations. Lacking knowledge of modern society, its problems and the gap to fill, they themselves are subject to a misdirected development. They are just as the monks in the modernized sector once were and still mostly are. There is a fear that the story will repeat itself.

Such being the case, the monks and lay Buddhists who have been awakened to the problems direct their attention to rural society. With the purpose of awakening rural monastic leaders to the same problems and helping them to adapt their leadership to the modern process of development, monastic social programs for social welfare and rural uplift have been established by the Buddhist universities and other monastic institutions^[2]. Courses in the practical aspects of the propagation of Buddhism. Some of these programs have been criticized for secularization and some even for politicization.

Apart from programs for rural monks, the two Buddhist universities annually send a number of their graduates to take teaching positions and participated in local development programs and other social, educational and Buddhist activities. It is hoped that through these programs monks will be made effective in realizing the Buddhist ideal of “going for the welfare and happiness of the many” by helping and guiding the people through a process of right and real development, and their place of leadership will also be maintained.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Payutto,P.A., The History of the Thai Sangha’s Education, p. 102.

[2]:

Dept. of Religious Affairs Press, The Biography of the 19 Sangharajas of the Rattanakosin Period and the Events in Thailand for the last two Centuries, p.25.