Dhammakaya Movement

The Dhammakāya Movement is a Buddhist movement founded in Thailand in the 1970s.

Origins

It was founded by the Thai meditation master Phramongkolthepmuni(1885–1959) - a celebrated meditation master and the late abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Thonburi. The movement is primarily represented today by its non-profit foundation, the Dhammakaya Foundation, and the Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand.

Identifying features

This meditation school formally belongs to the ancient Maha Nikaya tradition of Thai Theravada Buddhism.,^[1] being correctly regarded as revivalist rather than a new movement or a fundamentalist movement.^[2][3] It supposedly has many doctrinal elements to distinguish it from conventional Theravāda Buddhism^{[citation needed]} and in some respects resembles schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism,^{[citation needed]} has not been taken as heterodox by most Buddhists in the country.^{[citation needed]} The Dhammakāya school of meditation is marked by its literal interpretation of Buddhist technical terms, (including the term dhammakāya) in their physical meaning, as described by Phramongkolthepmuni. Many sermons of Phramongkolthepmuni himself can be traced back to some schools of meditation in Southeast Asia preserved only in ancient meditation manuals.

Personalities

One factor which catalyzes this Foundation is the personality of Phramongkolthepmuni (1884–1959) . The account of his attaining dhammakāya in 1916 through his willingness to lay down his life evoked the image of 'self-sacrifice' in the minds of his disciples.

Dhammakaya Foundation

The Dhammakāya Foundation was founded in 1916 in Thailand by Phra Monkolthepmuni, the abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen. Following the death of Phra Monkolthepmuni, the Foundation's work was continued by his disciple, Khun Yay Mahā Ratana Upāsikā Chandra Khonnokyoong, a Buddhist mae chi. In 1970, a temple, called Wat Phra Dhammakaya, was constructed as a home for the movement. Located in Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani Province, the temple was intended to become an international center for the study of meditation.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya

Main article: Wat Phra Dhammakaya

The Memorial Hall of Phramonkolthepmuni

Ordination ceremony for new monks at Wat Phra Dhammakaya

Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Khlong Luang District, Pathum Thani Province north of Bangkok, Thailand. It was established on Magha Puja Day, 20 February 1970, on an eighty-acre (320,000 m²) plot of land donated by Lady Prayat Phaetayapongsa-visudhathibodi. The site, sixteen kilometres north of Bangkok International Airport, was originally called 'Soon Buddacakk-patipatthamm'. From acidic paddy fields, a woodland was created: a parkland for meditators. The foundation stone for the main chapel laid by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on behalf of H.M. the King in December 1977 marked the official foundation of the centre as a temple—Wat Phra Dhammakaya. The movement produced a CDROM^[4] of the Pali Buddhist Scriptures in cooperation with the Pali Text Society in 1995 and by the year 2000 its monastic students were the most successful Pali students in Thailand.^[5]

Public accusations of 1999-2002

The Dhammakāya Foundation has been subject to its share of controversy. In 1999^[6][7] and again in 2002,^[8][9] leaders of the organization were accused of charges ranging from fraud and embezzlement to corruption. At that time social critic Sulak Sivaraksa has criticized the Dhammakaya Movement for promoting greed by emphasizing donations to the temple as a way to make merit. Widespread negative media coverage a this time was symptomatic of the movement being made the scapegoat for commercial malpractice in the Thai Buddhist temple community^[10][11] in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.^[12][13]

In 2006 The Thai National Office for Buddhism cleared the Dhammakaya Foundation and Phrarajbhavanavisudh of all accusations^[14] when Phrarajbhavanavisudh agreed to return all the allegedly embezzled funds to name of his temple. Phrarajbhavanavisudh was subsequently restored to the position of abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.^[15]

Present

Under the leadership of president Phrarajbhavanavisudh (Luang Phaw Dhammajayo, b.1944), the image of the Dhammakāya Foundation has made a recovery, and in 2004-5 had received further recognition for its contribution to world peace from organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Thai Senate, and several peoples' associations in the South of Thailand. The Dhammakaya Movement continues to influence millions of people in Thailand and worldwide to practice Dhammakaya meditation. The movement has set up Dhammakaya Open University in Azusa, California in 2003 to offer degree courses in Buddhist studies. It has also encouraged Thais to quit drinking and smoking through the activities of Anti-Drinking and Anti-Smoking program. World Health Organization (WHO) presented the 2004 World No Tobacco Day Award for this work on 31 May 2004^[16] [4]

The movement has expanded branches to over eighteen countries worldwide and is promoted via a Buddhist satellite network or Dhamma Media Channel (DMC.TV) with a 24 hour-a-day Dharma and meditation teachings broadcast to the audience worldwide.

Accusations that the Thai Government had financed activities at Wat Phra Dhammakaya were made in a letter by Sulak Sivalaksa on 10 May 2010^[17] but the government gave a press release on 12 May 2010 to show these accusations were unfounded^[18]

References

1. ^ Swearer, D. K. (1991) Fundemantalistic Movements in Theravada Buddhism, in: M. E. Marty & R. S. Appleby (Eds) Fundamentalisms Observed (Chicago & London, University of Chicago Press), p.656
2. ^ Cousins, L. S. (1996) The Origins of Insight Meditation, in: T. Skorupski (Ed) The Buddhist Forum: Seminar Papers, 1994-1996 (London, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies), p.39.
3. ^ Heikkilä-Horn, M-J (1996) Two Paths to Revivalism in Thai Buddhism: The Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke Movements, Temenos 32, pp.93-111
4. ^ Dhammakaya Foundation (1995) Palitext Version 1.0: CD-ROM Database of the Entire Buddhist Pali Canon (Bangkok, Darnsutha) ISBN 978-9748235875
5. ^ Trainor, Kevin (2004) Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide (London, Duncan Baird), p.216.
6. ^ "'I Will Never Be Disrobed' says Thai abbot of Dhammakaya Temple", and "Between Faith and Fund-Raising", Asiaweek 17 September 1999
7. ^ David Liebhold (1999) Trouble in Nirvana: Facing charges over his controversial methods, a Thai abbot sparks debate over Buddhism's future Time Asia 28 July 1999 [1]
8. ^ Yasmin Lee Arpon (2002) Scandals Threaten Thai Monks' Future SEAPA 11 July 2002 [2]
9. ^ Controversial monk faces fresh charges The Nation 26 April 2002
10. ^ Wiktorin, Pierre (2005) De Villkorligt Frigivna: Relationen mellan munkar och lekfolk i ett nutida Thailand (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International) p.137 ISSN 1653-6355
11. ^ Julian Gearing (1999) Buddhist Scapegoat?: One Thai abbot is taken to task, but the whole system is to blame Asiaweek 30 December 1999 [3]<
12. ^ Bangkokbiznews 24 June 2001 p.11
13. ^ Matichon 19 July 2003
14. ^ Bangkok Post 23 August 2006
15. ^ Yuwa Song News Today 23 August 2006
16. ^ Tawandhamma Foundation (2007) The Sun of Peace (Bangkok: New Witek), p.180
17. ^ Chinnaworn halts moral conduct plan
18. ^ นายกฯ จี้ ศธ.เคลียร์ MOU สพฐ.-ธรรมกาย ให้กระจ่าง

Further reading

• McCargo, Duncan (1999) ‘The politics of Buddhism in Southeast Asia’, in Jeff Haynes (ed.), Religion, globalization and the political culture in the Third World, Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp. 213–39.
• Rahonyi, Reka (1996) Wat Phra Dhammakaya: "A Refuge in the Midst of a Turbulent World" - Analysis of a Contemporary Thai Buddhist Movement, Senior Thesis, Harvard University

External links

• Phra Dhammakaya Temple Controversy Bangkok Post/December 21, 1998
• "Thai monk defies arrest" BBC News, August 24, 1999
• "Trouble in Nirvana" by David Liebhold, Time Asia, June 28, 1999
• "Most Serene of Sects Creates Uproar in Buddhism" by Seth Mydans, Pathum Thani Journal, August 13, 1999
• Article on the Dismissal of the case against Dhammakaya
• Another Article on the Dismissal of the case against Dhammakaya

Official links

• Dhammakaya Foundation
• The Middle Way Meditation Retreat
• Dhammakaya's International Buddhist Monk Ordination Program
• DMC., Dhamma Media Channel
• Community and Media (Thai Language Only)