Words Are Empty

What a tragic morning. What a devastating  shock. This hits very close to home, not just as a Buddhist, but as a friend, as I have a few students and colleagues in affected areas. So much damage. So much loss. Holy sites ravaged. 

Words cannot describe.  Words are hollow sounds. Words are empty.

Please keep Nepal in your minds. Whether you are religious or not, whether you pray or not, please keep Nepal in your thoughts.

I will be having 10 minutes of silent contemplation on the top of every hour for 3 days to show support in my own small way. It is so little, so very little, but it is what I can, and will, do. Please join me, if not for 10 minutes then for 1 minute,  if not at the top of every hour, then just once.

Words are so empty.

Strength,  Solidarity, Support.

Nepal will survive.

Full Circle

I am lucky enough to have the Most Venerable Phra Suthithammanuwat Thiab as my Pali Professor at Mahachulalongkorn University. As well as being the dean of the Buddhist Studies Department, Most Venerable Phra Thiab is also a skilled Pali scholar and an expert of linguistics.

Most Venerable Phra Suthithammanuwat Thiab is also a resident monk at the world famous Wat Pho, where American President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited on their trip to Thailand in 2012. Here is a  short video of the visit.

Here I am, with my classmates, next to Most Venerable Phra Suthithammanuwat Thiab after a tiring day of Pali lessons.

Most Venerable Phra Suthithammanuwat Thiab also taught my father  many years ago. I was raised Buddhist by my father and have been close to Mahachulalongkorn University my whole life. The Buddhist temple I went to as a child was Wat Buddhawararam in Denver, Colorado, which is a missionary branch of Mahachulalongkorn University. When I went off to college, my father moved to Bangkok and became a Buddhist Studies lecturer at the university (just as I am now) where Most Venerable Phra Thiab instructed him in Pali as well.

Life... comes full circle.

The World of Sectarian Buddhism

Approximately 100 years after the Buddha's death his followers started separating into sects, which began the age of Sectarian Buddhism; Buddhism before this is referred to as presectarian. 

The first two sects were-

Mahasangani- which eventually led to the Mahayana tradition- Zen, Pure Land, Vajrayana.

Sthavira- which laid the foundation for the Theravada tradition.

This is my graduate class at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, which is comprised of several sects of Buddhism (as well as a Catholic Priest)  from all over the world. I am incredibly lucky to be immersed in such a rich diversity of culture.

Top row, left to right: Chinese Chan, Burmese Theravada, American Theravada (me), Bangladesh Theravada, Farther Daniele (Catholic Priest from Rome), Bangladesh Theravada, Vietnamese Mendicant, Myanmar Theravada, Vietnamese Theravada.

Back Bottom Row, left to right: Vietnamese Pure Land, German Theravada, Vietnamese Mendicant, Cambodia Theravada, Vietnamese Mendicant.

Front Bottom Row: Our most venerable professors and meditation masters, all Thai Theravada.

Nuns, left to right: Thai Dhamakaya, Korean Won, Vietnamese Mendicant.

The Future Is Right In Front Of Us.

Thai novices in summer training (Thai summer is April-May). These children are being trained in the Theravada tradition of meditation, learning how to develop concentration and ways to sharpen mindfulness from a Thai meditation master.  

 The meditation master instructs the novices to contemplate food before eating. Even though they are hungry from working so hard, they are trained to look at desire and acknowledge it, becoming aware of our motivations and the causes of our action.

A well deserved meal for the future of the Thai Sangha.

Photos by Beyboy Manyou 

Questions of Purity

One of the graduate classes I took last semester was Buddhism in Thailand, which is a course that covered a wide range of subjects, from art and culture to the laws of the constitution (state laws help govern Buddhism in Thailand). At the end of the course, we had a guest speaker who discussed rituals such as funerals, ordinations, and blessing ceremonies.

One such ritual involved statue making. This particular ritual happened to have brahmins present (brahmins are Hindu priests) and the speaker asked me a very interesting question. He said his American friend witnessed one such ritual and declared that there was no pure Buddhism in Thailand, and if I had anything to say about that. I responded that this person didn't know what he was talking about. The speaker seemed taken aback and reassured me that his friend did, in fact, know what he was talking about. This led me to wonder about my response. Was it too harsh? Was there really an issue with the purity of Buddhism in Thailand? At first I thought I had no right to even consider such a thing, but then I remembered that an American said there was no pure Buddhism in Thailand. At the very least, as an American, I could respond to him.

First of all, one must understand that Thailand used to be a culture of animist belief, then it was under the Khmer empire where the religion became Hinduism. Many of these traditions are still relevant today. Not only brahmins being present at rituals. There are many statues that seem to depict Hinduism as well as traditions that have roots in both Hinduism and animism, such as offering gifts to trees. Instead of seeing these cultural norms as a threat to Buddhism, I suggest looking at it is a preservation of  community.

Thailand was the only Theravada Buddhist country that was not colonized, it was also the only one not ravaged by war. Thailand literally gave Buddhism back to Sri Lanka; as Sri Lanka had lost many monks, Thai monks came to help teach novices and ordain new monks. Thai monks also brought copies of the Pali Canon, the scripture of Theravada Buddism, as most had been lost or destroyed. Part of the reason Thailand was such a strong nation for Buddhism may be due to the fact that Thailand was such a strong nation culturally, never forgetting its roots.

This issue demands further study and writing, and this post is in no way an attempt to resolve the issues a statement like that raises. However, as an American responding to an American when confronted with the question of whether or not there is  pure Buddhism in Thailand, I say that this is the wrong question. The right question is whether or not Thai Buddhism is pure. Of course it is. Or rather, as pure as anything else in this world.

Baby Rice

One piece of rice is ridiculously inconsequential. A field of rice feeds a nation.  Livelihood and culture all bound together in one tiny  insignificant plant struggling to survive itself.

Nothingness Conditions Negation

I am Phra Seth, a PhD student at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (that's the correct spelling), in Bangkok, where I also teach western and eastern philosophy. I am also a monk, in case you missed the robe, in the Theravada tradition.

This whole introduction thing is really awkward... am I doing this blog thing correctly?

I'll be posting thoughts, photos, and ridiculous ideas here, so come back. Or don't. Whatever makes you happy.