5. The Undefined Direction of Thai Sangha

It should be noted that nearly all of the above-mentioned programs and initiatives have been the efforts of private or lay sectors. Generally speaking, the progress and success of the Thai Buddhist activities in the latter part of the modern period, both local and abroad, must be credited to private personalities and organizations.

Usually, the Thai Sangha administration does not show either active support or active opposition to the initiatives and activities of the private sectors. Thus, rarely, if ever, do strong visible conflicts arise and hardly do violent challenges develop. And, it is in this way that the Sangha has maintained its power and the status quo.

Besides, the traditional Thai Sangha has a strong tie with the polity and has developed a tendency to place reliance on the secular government. Thus, usually, it readily joins or cooperates in the programs and activities that are operated or supported by the government or government agencies, although such undertakings might have a tone of some modern social or even political idealogies. This has been evident in the Dhammaduta or Dhamma Messengers Project, the Dhammacarika or Dhamma Wanderers Project and the presently highly-stressed training of monks in the dissemination of the four according to His Majesty the King's admonition to the Thai people during the Rattanakosin Bicentennial and the Five Fundamental Values enuciated by then Prime Minister in the same period of time^[1]. In recent years, however, possibly after having seen familiarized with some modern social ideas through government-supported programs and activities, some top Sangha administrators have implemented new Sangha programs of their town, namely, the Commune Unit for Public Instruction Project and the Project for Training Monks in Basic Health Care.

On the whole, the Thai Sangha is weak in its structure and in practice and action, but it finds its strength in a negative way, in inaction and the attitudes of indifference and strict traditionalism. Under such a condition, it is not difficult to begin any new endeavor without opposition from or conflict with the Thai Sangha.

However, in spite of no strong visible conflicts and violent challenges, many undesirable consequences may lie in wait, particularly in the form of a vaguely unharmonious development. Neglected unsolved problems will pile up and increase in intensity. There may develop a latent or passive, not readily visible, conflict —perhaps worse than strong visible conflicts —which leads to disadvantages in the long run. This is evident in the problem of ecclesiastical education, which is a fundamental problem lying at the bottom of all other problems.

Under the attitude of strict traditionalism, the Thai Sangha takes responsibility for maintaining the traditional system of education. But, under the attitude of indifference, various modern systems of ecclesiastical education have sprung up in the presence of the old traditional one, staggering in coexistence with it and without significant degree of confusion and Thailand's ecclesiastical systems of education have become complicated, a tangle of systemless systems. Furthermore, there have developed latent or passive conflicts, the conflicts between the various systems themselves and the conflicts in the monks' minds^[2]. While resistance and opposition remain passive and there is no real action towards rectification, old problems remain unsolved and new ones are on the increase, and there prevails, on the other hand, a state of uncertainty, undependability, insecurity and stagnation, and also develop the habits and attitudes of inactivity, idleness, unconcernedness, nonparticipation, non commitment, withdrawal and defeatism. Undoubtedly, these can eventually lead to decline and decay of Thai Sangha and of course, Buddhism.

Moreover, the traditional system of monastic education, the one under the charge of the Sangha, has been in a state of rapid decline: Many big Pali schools have closed, while those, which continue, suffer from sharply decreasing numbers of students. By contrast, modern schools for monks and novices, both those recognized and those passively recognized by the Sangha, including those which teach exclusively secular subjects and those run by outsiders, lay parties and even businessmen, enjoy a rapidly increasing number of monks and novices as their students to the dissatisfaction and out of the control of the Sangha administration. This well represents the many unsolved problems, the passive and the indifferent attitudes and the latent conflicts prevailing in the Thai Sangha of today.

On the plus side, however, inspite of all the drawbacks and shortcomings, the Thai Sangha, in comparison with the ecclesiastical institution in other countries, is well organized. Thousands of monasteries and over a quater of a million monks and novices are unified under one and the same administration. With this national organization of the Sangha, the Thai monkhood enjoys the full recognition and the official support of the state and the uniformity of all ecclesiastical affairs and religious activities such as education, ritual and observances. Under the centralized pyramidal hierarchical system, all ecclesiastical activities can be kept under close supervision, relatively good monastic discipline can be maintained, and the quick dissemination of instructions and prompt dispatch of information can be carried out between the distant local monasteries and the top administration in Bangkok. With ecclesiastical organization and hierarchy paralleling that of the secular government, full cooperation and concord between the Sangha and the state are secured. Under these circumstances, the monks have been able to play many roles that contribute to the unity of the people and national security.

With the huge national Sangha under such a centralized administration, however, Thai Buddhism may be either very strong and steady on the move towards prosperity and the realization of its benevolent objectives, or exceedingly clumsy and sluggish to be left behind to either the effective or ineffective central administration and leadership. With the current latent conflicts unrectified under the attitude of indifference and inaction, the direction of Thai Sangha seems unpredictable.

Concealed behind all the conflicts is the conflict between traditionalism and modernization. Strict traditionalism becomes an extreme which not only hinders effective adjustment but also causes a reaction in the form of another extreme, usually the opposite one, that is, extreme modernization. By modernization is meant good and effective adjustment to the modern changing world. But extreme modernization will go so far as to result in secularization or even politicalization. In the age of social change and political instability of today, there is a fear of going from one extreme to the other. A mistake of this type would mean a danger and perhaps even a discredit to Buddhism. To void this the Middle Way must be secure.

As is well-known to all, the Middle Way begins with Right Understanding as its first factor. To be sure, this Right Understanding^[3] involves in the first place the intellectual responsibility on the part of the Thai monkhood to define its identity and to identify its specific function that will distinguish itself from other institutions of the society. This knowledge is a prerequisite for the monks' survival and for their meaningful existence. Without it, they will not know even where to start and where to stand. Thai Buddhism is now just on the way to finding is Middle Way.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Dhammapitaka,Phra (P.A.Payutto),The Lessons of 25 Years: Have the Thai People Learnt?, p.89.

[2]:

For more details ; Buddhajayamongkhon 8 phraratchkamnot phrachao krung Thonburi wa duei sin sikkha (The Eight Blessings of Buddhism, and Royal Decrees of the King of Thonburi Concerning the Precepts of the Monastic Life), pp.201-203.

[3]:

Sammadițțthi.