Making Thai Buddhism
relevant again
Sanitsuda Ekachai,
Bangkok Post, March 2, 2017
Bangkok, Thailand -- So the
Dhammakaya Temple is a cult. So its leader reportedly claims to be
a doomsday saviour who takes rich donors on a tour to heaven to see
the Buddha. So it teaches its followers to buy premium spaces in
heaven by donating to the temple. So its doctrine on the permanence
of self is against Buddhism. So what?
The problem of Dhammakaya is not so much what it
teaches. Very few Buddhist temples in Thailand do not cash in on
superstition. But its gigantic size, extensive reach and its grand
ambition to take over the whole clergy has engendered widespread
public concern. Its biggest problem -- a mistake to be precise --
is taking the wrong side of the political divide.
The Thaksin card played by Dhammakaya saved its
leader from a court case over temple theft in 2006. But this is
2017. The anti-Thaksin regime is determined to weed out any
perceived remnants of the Thaksin stronghold. It also probably
wants to revive its sagging popularity by showing its middle-class
supporters that only the regime can "protect Buddhism" and get rid
of the cultish Dhammakaya once and for all.
But can it?
After throwing out a pro-Dhammakaya elder from
the clergy's top job, and after staging three large-scale
crackdowns that ended in embarrassing failure, the government vows
to press on unless the Dhammakaya leader, Phra Dhammajayo, gives
himself up to face legal charges of fraud and theft. The response?
One suicide and signs of increasing defiance. A question arises:
Who will blink first?
Now, let me be clear. I don't like Dhammakaya. I
don't like it cashing in on people's superstitions and faith. I
don't like how it spins Buddhist teachings, how it quantifies merit
in monetary terms, how it caters to the rich, how it buys influence
in the clergy and officialdom, how the temple is entangled in a web
of corruption such as the Klongchan Credit Union scandal which led
to Phra Dhammajayo's legal charges, and how the ex-abbot is using
his supporters to protect himself which may cause
violence.
But I don't think military might is the answer
when you are dealing with religious beliefs -- unless you want to
see blood. I don't think if you don't like anything, you have the
right to destroy it either. Doesn't our constitution -- the one
already endorsed by the military -- ensure freedom of religious
beliefs? The regime is now caught in a dilemma. Backing off is a
huge loss of face. But continuing the raids cannot promise the
arrest of the fugitive abbot either.
Meanwhile, the regime's decision to fire the
head of the Office of National Buddhism, believed to be a
Dhammakaya sympathiser, will do little to ease resistance from the
pro-Dhammakaya authorities -- and the clergy. On the contrary, it
will intensify the resistance.
It is no secret that the majority of elders in
the Supreme Sangha Council (SSC) are Dhammakaya sympathisers. That
is why the previous supreme patriarch's ruling on Phra Dhammajayo
on theft and distortion of Buddhism -- which deserved defrockment
-- was never implemented. Instead, the SSC ruled to absolve Phra
Dhammajayo.
It is also no secret either that a large number
of temples and monks have been benefiting from financial support
from Dhammakaya for decades, thanks to the elders' poor job of
providing systematic support for temples and the need for better
education of young monks.
But resistance from the mainstream clergy goes
beyond short-term financial gifts from Dhammakaya; they fear for
their own survival.
Cleaning up temple corruption is one of the
regime's agenda items to win public support when it staged the
coup. We may take it as mere empty rhetoric, but for those who
prosper from this oppressive and corrupt system, the talk of reform
sends chills up their spine.
We may be unhappy with the obsolete and
inefficient clergy, but it is the only system open for poor, rural
boys to get an education and an automatically higher social status,
thanks to public respect for the saffron robes. The clergy's feudal
hierarchy also promises its members near-royalty status if they
successfully climb up the ecclesiastical ranks. It's understandable
why they want to keep this system.
The monks' fears of the domino effect are
fuelled by the fact that the main drivers of the anti-Dhammakaya
campaigns are the same fierce critics of the Sangha Council and
ardent pushers for the Sangha's restructuring. It's why they
believe that if Dhammakaya falls, they fall too.
It's also probably why an online message on the
alleged attempt to amend the Sangha Act has gone viral.
The message focuses on alleged plans to
restructure the Sangha Council, to dismantle the Office of National
Buddhism, to combine two Buddhist universities of the Mahanikaya
and Dhammayut sects, to force monks to reveal their bank accounts,
to audit temple donations and to prevent monks from taking temple
donations as their own. Interestingly, the message also claims
alleged proposals to force monks who graduate from the monks'
universities from leaving the monkhood.
Whether true or false, this viral message
reflects the clergy's deep concerns. Or could it even be a ploy to
instigate monks to protest against the junta? Indeed, can it cope
with the 300,000-strong clergy and millions of Dhammakaya
supporters combined?
What lies ahead? Ostracising the controversial
temple for distorting Buddhist teachings? This is highly likely.
This helps calm public fears of the Dhammakaya taking over the
clergy, but the government needs to convince SSC elders to take
this step. Even if they agree, we are only fooling ourselves in
thinking the move will help "purify" Thai Buddhism -- as claimed by
the anti-Dhammakaya camp.
In fact, the idea of purifying Thai Buddhism
itself is questionable. Please tell me who has the moral right to
judge what is "true" or "fake" Buddhism? The clergy? The elders who
are completely irrelevant to today's world? The monks who are loyal
to racist nationalism as opposed to the Buddha's teachings of
tolerance and compassion? The male-dominated system which looks
down on women? The so-called Buddhists who -- despite their claims
to be "true" Buddhists -- mocked with glee when a Dhammakaya
supporter hanged himself to protest the raids? Is hate part of
their Buddhism?
What to do to get out of the Dhammakaya debacle?
A better question is how to make Thai Buddhism more relevant to
society.
While transparency regarding temple donations is
necessary, it's not enough. The same goes for efficient temple
management. As long as the top-down feudal structure remains, monks
will continue to seek feudal perks and privileges, leaving their
spiritual mission and the poor behind.
As long as the clergy can still depend on state
subsidies and political support, they will refuse to fix their
flaws. The public will continue to be frustrated with the
clergy and -- if Dhammakaya no longer exists, which is not likely
in the near future -- people will still seek new religious groups
that can satisfy their needs. And as long as the SSC retains
authoritarian control over the whole clergy, there will always be
attempts to infiltrate the SSC, which is very easy given its
weakness.
The government is partly to blame. In a
departure from previous charters, the new one by the military
regime promises special support for Theravada Buddhism. It also
promises punishment for those who "destroy" Buddhism, an easy tool
to punish dissent.
To prevent the likes of the Dhammakaya, the
government should only focus on setting up effective mechanisms to
ensure transparency of temple donations and management with
community and civil society participation. It should not touch the
"faith" dimension. Nor the teachings. Let the people decide. Nor
should it lend support to Theravada monks specifically, which
perpetuates dependency and incompetence.
Cut the privileges. Temple donations, if managed
efficiently free of embezzlement, are enough to modernise Theravada
organisations.
Monks need to learn how to "swim" in the open
sea of highly competitive markets for faith to regain public trust.
Buddhism teaches the path toward inner peace. Live that path to
prove it's possible. It's the only way to become relevant to
society again. It's easy if monks let go of greed.