Your mum was an exemplary Buddhist practitioner. Friends of mine still talk about her with great fondness and respect. She was tireless in her efforts to nurture and support Buddhism in England. Sadhu.
From your individual perspective I’m sure that there is ‘only one truth’, which is your personal version of Buddhism. There are actually as many versions of Buddhism as there are Buddhists.
As for ‘peasant animism’ it’s a very tired old shibboleth, rather like ‘original Buddhism’. Animism and shamanism are a universal substrate of religion because all of humanity once shared these beliefs, as did the archaic humans who preceded us. Apart from animal sacrifice none of these beliefs are in conflict with Buddhism which is why they were absorbed rather than destroyed. Buddhism is also an Indian religion so whatever ‘original Buddhism’ may have been there is no doubt that it was entirely supernatural.
I have not a shred of doubt that you are right, this always had the smell of army corruption about it. I think the OP is right too that the motivation for this is to steal Wat cash from this one and others besides – with due consideration passing a single step upwards of course. Two reasons for this:
Firstly the army is the largest and most corrupt mafia in Thailand. It even dwarfs police corruption and that’s a real achievement.
Secondly, that nice (but not very bright) Mr Prayuth has squandered quite a large sum of treasury reserves and needs to do some conjuring to prevent his incompetence coming to complete light. He’s started to walk it back a bit with the abrupt suspension of some of the grandiose rail projects, they were never, ever going to be a reality. Can you just imagine, a nation whose air force can’t stop crashing its airplanes into the ground and whose government can’t manage to keep an electrical grid from failing gets a world-class rail system? They wouldn’t know what to do with it, except transport their buffaloes perhaps..
I have a dream… and in that dream, someone with chutzpah holds the top echelon of the government responsible for the fiscal catastrophe that is Thailand, and reverses the pardon for treason they awarded themselves.and everyone else above the rank of captain is fired and their pension seized. All to be held personally responsible for the damage to the state a la Yingluck. Live by the sword…
Thank you for your fascinating analysis, which digs deep to reveal many insights.
As you have researched the Dhammakaya movement for many years, I wonder if as an anthropologist you have studied individual lives of followers/practitioners/devotees to see what impact it has, what it has meant to them, how their view of the world has evolved and so on. This ‘longitudinal’ perspective is something I have tried to present in ‘Thursday’s Lotus: The Life and Work of Fuengsin Trafford’, a biography of my mother, a Dhammakaya practitioner from around 1960 until her passing in 1995. http://fuengsin.org/lotus
I hope it is of interest, especially to scholars, to complement the macro socio-political perspectives.
“Manjit Bhatia is an Australian research scholar who specialises in the economics and politics of Asia and international political economy. He is also research director of AsiaRisk, an economic and political risk consultancy.”
Oh, really? How rare to see a ‘research director’ making one assumption after another without backing them up with facts, statistics or quotable quotes.
“Most credible economists, even the market type, know Malaysia’s official numbers are as rubbery as North Korea’s or China’s.” So who, really, are these ‘credible economists’?
“And Malaysians are struggling on a single income, where the ‘minimum’ monthly wage of MYR900 ($US200) is scarcely enforced.” Again, care to quote the source of information? Or just guesswork?
“Exacerbating Malaysians’ worries is inflation. At 3.2 per cent, it spiked after the introduction of a consumption tax. In Kuala Lumpur alone, credible estimates put inflation at least twice the “official” number.” Which “credible estimates”?
“Add the measly value of the Malaysian ringgit, inflation hits close to double-digits, in real terms, according to some investment banks’ research.” So which investment banks and what kind of research have they done in this regard? Are their papers publicly available? If not, why not?
“These days China demands 99-year leases among its preconditions of investing in Malaysia.” This line is simply to hoodwink readers not familiar with the issue. All foreign investors or property speculators know land in Malaysia and Singapore can be leased for up to 99 years and there is no need for China to demand for it. Truth be told, one incentive for Chinese investors or property buyers to choose Malaysia or Singapore is precisely because of the 99-year-lease which is not available in most of the Asean countries.
For someone with an ostensibly impressive credentials to come up with a badly written and ill-‘researched’ article is indeed disappointing. Then again, Malaysians love shallow piece of crap so long as it is bashing the utterly corrupt Najib. That Najib’s critics cannot rise above their biggest enemy is one reason why he is sitting comfortably in office until the next general elections and beyond.
Maybe. On balance I don’t think I agree (for whatever that might be worth). I believe that Prem would rather have poked himself in the eye than support the former CP, as is to attested by the Wikileaks docs. I also doubt that the delay was anything to do with striking deals but was possibly a shot across the bows of the army, including Prem who will not be unseated but will allowed to retain tenure for what is left of his life.
The pieces are being moved on the board, but I have to say the Dammakayo matter is a bit expected, together with the change in responsibility for appointing the supreme patriarch. I suspect Prayuth is being a very stupid man.
Hardly surprising perhaps because he may indeed be a very stupid man, possessed of a plentiful animal cunning rather than a great intellect. Time will tell.
Manjit Bhatia, I wish to point out to just one of the many gruesome factual errors that you could easily check before writing this. The link below is a link to easily available statistics on Malaysia’s job participation. Goes to show how much research you put into this.
I agree it’s a bit of a stretch only in that it’s lack of subtlety. This isn’t 1800 where wars were fought to seize another’s gold. Well, not so openly anyway.
There are no ‘versions’ of Buddhism, there is only Buddhism exactly the same there is only one ‘truth’. What you refer to as ‘previous versions of Thai Buddhism’ was/is animism predominantly practised by the overwhelming peasant class mixed in with the unwatered down version of Theravada Buddhism practised and imposed by the ruling class. Dhammakaya is one such deviant. But to pick it out for special attention, in my view, is specious at best.
Superb analysis Prof. Jim Taylor. You have really shown some great insight into the behind the scenes politics that pervades Thai Buddhism and did a fantastic job bringing it together regarding the current situation.
Have you been to the temple, Manfred? Heard the sermons? Participate in any of the temple events? If you answer no to any of the questions, then how can you justify that the temple “has nothing to do with real Buddhism” and that we, the followers of the temple, is being “manipulated and brainwashed”?
I think Jim T is right on the money when he points out that what is happening is that the régime is diverting the traditional charitable public contributions of the Thai people into its own pockets. But we also have to face up to the special likelihood of widespread fraud in the Dhammakaya system, not just its bad taste. Fraud is likely in any system where charity has grown into a very large flow of money. That is why Buddhist charity is traditionally in the form of food. Food is perishable, the charity must be dispensed quickly and directly, and it cannot easily be diverted to other purposes. Even people with a special tendency to divert resources to themselves can only eat so much of it.
This is exactly the kind of situation which the régime sees as an opportunity run off with the charity funds.
Whether you are a buddhist or not it does not matter.
It is the fundamental of being a human, that is being responsible of your speech and action.
Have you ever experience the meditation in the temple and talked to any of the devotees or teaching monks for you to come to the conclusion that the temple’s teaching is a joke and the abbot is a fraudster?
I remembered the first time i went to the temple, wanting to know if the temple is genuine. Joined their massive sunday meditation. Everyone were polite, with wide smiles and just sit down for meditation and when it ended they just left with all their belongings and no mess, no rubbish left behind. Toilets are extremely clean considering that hundreds and hundreds of people are using them in one session.
To me, if these mundane things are being cared for, the temple must have given a great form of education for hundreds and thousands of people to be considerate, to be responsible and to care for one another.
To think that all these people are almost down on their knees pleading for justice and freedom, my heart goes all out for them.
THANK YOU JIM TAYLOR for the insights and may your news goes far and wide for others to know too.
Pongsapak L. the issue is not whether we like the Dhammakaya or its modernist religious hype, but a question of human rights: Article 18, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. As you are not seemingly Buddhist, how can you make a judgement here on what is good and bad?
In regards to proposed changes to the sangha, perhaps the key here is political scientist ex-PDRC stage performer Paiboon Nititawan, who has been thrust by the amaat regime into prominence over the past decade. Paiboon (who has never ordained) has proposed to Prayut and the National Legislative Assembly sweeping changes to the sangha act in regard to managing the temple assets across the country. The National Buddhist Council Corporation will control assets. There are similarities to the 1941 Act. If the act passes then the implications will be to undermine and weaken the traditional monk-lay relations and between monarchy and sangha (monks as “fields of merit”; people give to monks with whom they have faith and respect); deserted temples (remember, not all temples are rich), renovations not carried out as people give to various temple projects. In rural areas, such as in the north, the act will have no meaning as many temples have novices as abbots because not enough monks, while laity stay overnight at temples. Local sangha (lay-monastic) communities will be destroyed. All finances will be controlled by the state. For a fuller discussion see (in Thai): http://talk–secret.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/blog-post_25.html?m=1
If you are not a Thai Buddhist then perhaps you should avoid speaking on their behalf, and giving your opinions on what constitutes ‘legitimate’ Buddhism.
‘Most people’…’majority of us agree’…this is just hearsay because there is no credible way of gathering such information in present day Thailand.
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The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Your mum was an exemplary Buddhist practitioner. Friends of mine still talk about her with great fondness and respect. She was tireless in her efforts to nurture and support Buddhism in England. Sadhu.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
From your individual perspective I’m sure that there is ‘only one truth’, which is your personal version of Buddhism. There are actually as many versions of Buddhism as there are Buddhists.
As for ‘peasant animism’ it’s a very tired old shibboleth, rather like ‘original Buddhism’. Animism and shamanism are a universal substrate of religion because all of humanity once shared these beliefs, as did the archaic humans who preceded us. Apart from animal sacrifice none of these beliefs are in conflict with Buddhism which is why they were absorbed rather than destroyed. Buddhism is also an Indian religion so whatever ‘original Buddhism’ may have been there is no doubt that it was entirely supernatural.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
I have not a shred of doubt that you are right, this always had the smell of army corruption about it. I think the OP is right too that the motivation for this is to steal Wat cash from this one and others besides – with due consideration passing a single step upwards of course. Two reasons for this:
Firstly the army is the largest and most corrupt mafia in Thailand. It even dwarfs police corruption and that’s a real achievement.
Secondly, that nice (but not very bright) Mr Prayuth has squandered quite a large sum of treasury reserves and needs to do some conjuring to prevent his incompetence coming to complete light. He’s started to walk it back a bit with the abrupt suspension of some of the grandiose rail projects, they were never, ever going to be a reality. Can you just imagine, a nation whose air force can’t stop crashing its airplanes into the ground and whose government can’t manage to keep an electrical grid from failing gets a world-class rail system? They wouldn’t know what to do with it, except transport their buffaloes perhaps..
I have a dream… and in that dream, someone with chutzpah holds the top echelon of the government responsible for the fiscal catastrophe that is Thailand, and reverses the pardon for treason they awarded themselves.and everyone else above the rank of captain is fired and their pension seized. All to be held personally responsible for the damage to the state a la Yingluck. Live by the sword…
No more coups détat after that.
Might just be a dream of course.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Thank you for your fascinating analysis, which digs deep to reveal many insights.
As you have researched the Dhammakaya movement for many years, I wonder if as an anthropologist you have studied individual lives of followers/practitioners/devotees to see what impact it has, what it has meant to them, how their view of the world has evolved and so on. This ‘longitudinal’ perspective is something I have tried to present in ‘Thursday’s Lotus: The Life and Work of Fuengsin Trafford’, a biography of my mother, a Dhammakaya practitioner from around 1960 until her passing in 1995.
http://fuengsin.org/lotus
I hope it is of interest, especially to scholars, to complement the macro socio-political perspectives.
Malaysia’s criminal state of mind
“Manjit Bhatia is an Australian research scholar who specialises in the economics and politics of Asia and international political economy. He is also research director of AsiaRisk, an economic and political risk consultancy.”
Oh, really? How rare to see a ‘research director’ making one assumption after another without backing them up with facts, statistics or quotable quotes.
“Most credible economists, even the market type, know Malaysia’s official numbers are as rubbery as North Korea’s or China’s.” So who, really, are these ‘credible economists’?
“And Malaysians are struggling on a single income, where the ‘minimum’ monthly wage of MYR900 ($US200) is scarcely enforced.” Again, care to quote the source of information? Or just guesswork?
“Exacerbating Malaysians’ worries is inflation. At 3.2 per cent, it spiked after the introduction of a consumption tax. In Kuala Lumpur alone, credible estimates put inflation at least twice the “official” number.” Which “credible estimates”?
“Add the measly value of the Malaysian ringgit, inflation hits close to double-digits, in real terms, according to some investment banks’ research.” So which investment banks and what kind of research have they done in this regard? Are their papers publicly available? If not, why not?
“These days China demands 99-year leases among its preconditions of investing in Malaysia.” This line is simply to hoodwink readers not familiar with the issue. All foreign investors or property speculators know land in Malaysia and Singapore can be leased for up to 99 years and there is no need for China to demand for it. Truth be told, one incentive for Chinese investors or property buyers to choose Malaysia or Singapore is precisely because of the 99-year-lease which is not available in most of the Asean countries.
For someone with an ostensibly impressive credentials to come up with a badly written and ill-‘researched’ article is indeed disappointing. Then again, Malaysians love shallow piece of crap so long as it is bashing the utterly corrupt Najib. That Najib’s critics cannot rise above their biggest enemy is one reason why he is sitting comfortably in office until the next general elections and beyond.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Maybe. On balance I don’t think I agree (for whatever that might be worth). I believe that Prem would rather have poked himself in the eye than support the former CP, as is to attested by the Wikileaks docs. I also doubt that the delay was anything to do with striking deals but was possibly a shot across the bows of the army, including Prem who will not be unseated but will allowed to retain tenure for what is left of his life.
The pieces are being moved on the board, but I have to say the Dammakayo matter is a bit expected, together with the change in responsibility for appointing the supreme patriarch. I suspect Prayuth is being a very stupid man.
Hardly surprising perhaps because he may indeed be a very stupid man, possessed of a plentiful animal cunning rather than a great intellect. Time will tell.
Malaysia’s criminal state of mind
Manjit Bhatia, I wish to point out to just one of the many gruesome factual errors that you could easily check before writing this. The link below is a link to easily available statistics on Malaysia’s job participation. Goes to show how much research you put into this.
https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=124&bul_id=VWl4c2VyZ0Q3MEUxU0NzOVBPMnlDUT09&menu_id=U3VPMldoYUxzVzFaYmNkWXZteGduZz09
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
In a case opened in 2016, the honorary abbot* of Wat Phra Dhammakaya (WPD), Phrathepyanmahamuni (Most Venerable Dhammajayo), has been accused of crimes he did not commit—money laundering and receiving stolen money— by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI). http://www.dhammakayauncovered.com/facts/2016/7/5/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dhammakaya-scandal-a-short-fact-sheet
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
I agree it’s a bit of a stretch only in that it’s lack of subtlety. This isn’t 1800 where wars were fought to seize another’s gold. Well, not so openly anyway.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
There are no ‘versions’ of Buddhism, there is only Buddhism exactly the same there is only one ‘truth’. What you refer to as ‘previous versions of Thai Buddhism’ was/is animism predominantly practised by the overwhelming peasant class mixed in with the unwatered down version of Theravada Buddhism practised and imposed by the ruling class. Dhammakaya is one such deviant. But to pick it out for special attention, in my view, is specious at best.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Superb analysis Prof. Jim Taylor. You have really shown some great insight into the behind the scenes politics that pervades Thai Buddhism and did a fantastic job bringing it together regarding the current situation.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Have you been to the temple, Manfred? Heard the sermons? Participate in any of the temple events? If you answer no to any of the questions, then how can you justify that the temple “has nothing to do with real Buddhism” and that we, the followers of the temple, is being “manipulated and brainwashed”?
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Thank you for sharing the truth to everyone.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
I think Jim T is right on the money when he points out that what is happening is that the régime is diverting the traditional charitable public contributions of the Thai people into its own pockets. But we also have to face up to the special likelihood of widespread fraud in the Dhammakaya system, not just its bad taste. Fraud is likely in any system where charity has grown into a very large flow of money. That is why Buddhist charity is traditionally in the form of food. Food is perishable, the charity must be dispensed quickly and directly, and it cannot easily be diverted to other purposes. Even people with a special tendency to divert resources to themselves can only eat so much of it.
This is exactly the kind of situation which the régime sees as an opportunity run off with the charity funds.
Malaysia’s criminal state of mind
the criminal mind indeed
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Whether you are a buddhist or not it does not matter.
It is the fundamental of being a human, that is being responsible of your speech and action.
Have you ever experience the meditation in the temple and talked to any of the devotees or teaching monks for you to come to the conclusion that the temple’s teaching is a joke and the abbot is a fraudster?
I remembered the first time i went to the temple, wanting to know if the temple is genuine. Joined their massive sunday meditation. Everyone were polite, with wide smiles and just sit down for meditation and when it ended they just left with all their belongings and no mess, no rubbish left behind. Toilets are extremely clean considering that hundreds and hundreds of people are using them in one session.
To me, if these mundane things are being cared for, the temple must have given a great form of education for hundreds and thousands of people to be considerate, to be responsible and to care for one another.
To think that all these people are almost down on their knees pleading for justice and freedom, my heart goes all out for them.
THANK YOU JIM TAYLOR for the insights and may your news goes far and wide for others to know too.
Looking forward to follow your news.
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
UN Declaration of Human Rights Article 18
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
Pongsapak L. the issue is not whether we like the Dhammakaya or its modernist religious hype, but a question of human rights: Article 18, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. As you are not seemingly Buddhist, how can you make a judgement here on what is good and bad?
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
In regards to proposed changes to the sangha, perhaps the key here is political scientist ex-PDRC stage performer Paiboon Nititawan, who has been thrust by the amaat regime into prominence over the past decade. Paiboon (who has never ordained) has proposed to Prayut and the National Legislative Assembly sweeping changes to the sangha act in regard to managing the temple assets across the country. The National Buddhist Council Corporation will control assets. There are similarities to the 1941 Act. If the act passes then the implications will be to undermine and weaken the traditional monk-lay relations and between monarchy and sangha (monks as “fields of merit”; people give to monks with whom they have faith and respect); deserted temples (remember, not all temples are rich), renovations not carried out as people give to various temple projects. In rural areas, such as in the north, the act will have no meaning as many temples have novices as abbots because not enough monks, while laity stay overnight at temples. Local sangha (lay-monastic) communities will be destroyed. All finances will be controlled by the state. For a fuller discussion see (in Thai): http://talk–secret.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/blog-post_25.html?m=1
The perplexing case of Wat Dhammakaya
If you are not a Thai Buddhist then perhaps you should avoid speaking on their behalf, and giving your opinions on what constitutes ‘legitimate’ Buddhism.
‘Most people’…’majority of us agree’…this is just hearsay because there is no credible way of gathering such information in present day Thailand.