Buddhism in Thailand

Buddhism in Thailand

Introduction

Running parallel to the weakening authority and influence of institutional Buddhism in Thailand, and set against a backdrop of a democratization process that has liberated religious practice from the diktats of state control, has been the emergence, revival or flourishing of a myriad of alternative practices, movements and cults, especially in urban areas where the process of change has been most intense, and among a growing urban middle class (Suwanna 1990). These have been described by Pattana (2005:462) as emerging forms of “civic religion” which may have little to do with mainstream Buddhism, or “civil religion.” Swearer (1999:224) claims these movements represent efforts to revitalize Buddhism as the foundation for Thai social and cultural identity.  

Discussion

The last two decades have been a period of significant change in Thai Buddhism. Observers have described ongoing processes of fragmentation (Keyes 1999), commercialization, diversification, decentralization, purification and hybridization, often involving the declining centrality of officially sanctioned and regulated institutional Theravada Buddhism. A series of public scandals involving Buddhist monks and perceived shortcomings of the institutionalized Sa?gha (monastic community)1 as a moral and authoritative force (Somboon 1977)have created a growing popular disenchantment with mainstream Buddhism and stimulated a search for alternative forms of religiosity which cater more effectively or convincingly to society's spiritual, ritual and practical needs. Thai society is changing in response to processes of development, modernization and globalization, and the social position of Buddhism is being adjusted and overhauled. This is in part to accommodate and respond to the process of change itself, and the growing diversity of social niches that must be catered for, but it is also partly because mainstream Buddhism has not apparently kept pace with its changing social, economic and political context. Peter Jackson describes (1997:79) the “disintegration of an organized, overarching religious system” in Thailand, and suggests there has been an “exodus from institutional Buddhism” and a “decentralization of religiosity” (ibid.:76).

There is even talk of a transition to a post Buddhist society (Tiyavanich 1997), or at the very least a thoroughgoing process of Buddhistic transition. Running parallel to the weakening authority and influence of institutional Buddhism in Thailand, and set against a backdrop of a democratization process that has liberated religious practice from the diktats of state control, has been the emergence, revival or flourishing of a myriad of alternative practices, movements and cults, especially in urban areas where the process of change has ...