Theravada Buddhism in Thailand

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The Lord Buddha was neither god nor creator, but a human being who put forth and exceptional body of thought with both deep meaning and applicability to everyday life. His teachings spread throughout Asia two millennia ago and continue to flourish in harmony with the lives of millions.

Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha, the son of royalty, born in Northern India over 2,500 years ago, took up the life of a religious wanderer and is believed by adherents to have found the path to relief from life's suffering when he reached enlightenment or nirvana under a bo tree. Nirvana or nibbana can be described as a blissful liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.

After Buddha's death at age 80, his teachings were perpetuated by five disciples and a subsequently growing priesthood till they dominated the ideological facet of life throughout Southeast Asia. The Mahayana Buddhist faith first entered Thailand with the Mons who settled the Chao Phraya River Basin as they extended their domain beyond Burma during the Dvaravati Period (6th-llth cent.).

Sri Langka, previously Ceylon, is credited with developing the more orthodox Pali-based Theravada sect which came to dominate religious life in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia through the work of Sri Lankan monks who travelled widely. The Khmer (Cambodian) kingdom to the northeast had also first adopted Mahayana Buddhism along with their earlier Hindu beliefs during the Lopburi Period (llth-l4th cent.) before falling under Thai sovereignty.

Theravada Buddhism achieved its greatest upsurge in Thailand when the north-central Sukhothai Kingdom (l3th-l5th cent.) actively promoted the Theravada faith as Thailand formed its national identity.

Buddhism continued to flourish throughout subsequent Thai dynasties, most notably during the Ayudhaya Period (l4th-18th cent.) until the Burmese captured the Kingdom in l767. King Taksin restored the Thai nation in 1768 and established a brief, but important capital in Thonburi (l768-1781) prior to the beginning of the current Chakri Dynasty which began in the Late 18th cent. and is known as the Rattanakosin Period of art and history.

Most of the illustrations in this book are attributed to the Rattanakosin Period, for though many structures and Buddha images of prior periods have survived, few murals and manuscripts of the Pre-Rattanakosin Era have withstood the elements. Within the Rattanakosin Period, art and history are subdivided into the following nine reigns:

The Chakri Dynasty
Rama I (Rama Thibodi or Phra Putta Yodfar) 1782
Rama II (Isarasuntorn) 1809
Rama III (Chesda) 1824
Rama IV (Mongkut) 1851
Rama V (Chulalongkorn The Great) 1868
Rama VI (Vajiravudh) 1910
King Prajadhipok (did not use Rama title) 1925
Rama VIII (Ananda Mahidol) 1935
Rama IX (Bhumipol Aduyadej The Great) 1946

Theravada Buddhism in Thailand is based on an integrated set of principles and precepts. Underlying the complexity of Buddhist thought is the Triple Gem, a Buddhist trinity comprised of Buddha himself, his teachings known as the Dhamma and the priesthood or Sangha. The Dhamma begins with:

The Four Noble Truths:
1) Life is suffering.
2) The cause of misery is desire.
3) However, selfish desires and the resultant sufferings can be destroyed
4) By following the Noble Eightfold Path, one can destroy
unhappiness.

The eight steps are:
1. Right views (understanding)
2. Right motives (purpose or aspirations)
3. Right speech
4. Right action (conduct)
5. Right means of livelihood (vocation)
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness (alertness)
8. Right concentration



One of the important steps is "right action" which is summed up in the Law of Karma (kamma) which is the basic principle that good deeds build merit and bad deeds accumulate its counterpart.

A person is heir to his or her actions be they good or bad, and the fruits of one's deeds ripen in rebirth or reincarnation. However, prior to rebirth, one may wander awhile as a suffering ghost or spend time in either sawan (heaven) or naroke (hell). Whether one is destined to suffer for depravities or be rewarded for good deeds, neither judgement is eternal. Also, time spent in heaven or hell may not exhaust all of one's karma, which may also affect the quality of one's rebirth as well.

In their daily lives, Thais are able to attain merit and learn about the path that leads away from hell's suffering by giving alms, listening to sermons and viewing instructive murals at their local wat or Buddhist monastery. The wat is the socio-religious focal point of the community and some knowledge of its characteristic layout will help the reader locate and appreciate the various places and scenes noted in this book.

Most important rituals of the priesthood, such as a young man's ordination and the monks' daily chants, are performed within the main chapel called the bot. This is often the most ornate structure in the wat compound and houses the principal image of Buddha and the main altar. Within larger temples, there may also be one or more viharns, secondary chapels which may even be larger than the bot. The viharn is also used for rituals and to house important images, and most everyday worship is conducted here.

Since the bot and viharn often look similar, the easiest way to distinguish them is that the bot is surrounded by eight small edifices sheltering the sema marker stones which are erected above the subterranean look nimit or sacred boundary stones. The courtyard surrounding the viharn has no such markers.

It is within the bot or viharn that one can often find murals or pahp kian which depict scenes of the life of the Lord Buddha, Thai mythology and village life during former times. Here is where we also find depictions of the heavens and hells of the Thai cosmology. If the chapels are locked, polite requests to the residing monks often produce the keys.