Thai Forest Tradition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Thai Forest Tradition is a loosely organized "movement" within Thai Theravadin Buddhism, emphasizing meditation and strict adherence to the vinaya over intellectual pursuits. As the name suggests, it originated in Thailand, primarily among the Lao-speaking community in Northeastern Thailand. Followers of the Forest tradition believe that their lifestyle most closely resembles what it would have been like to live in India during the time of the Buddha as a monastic in his Sangha. Because of this reaching backward in time, the Forest tradition is widely perceived as "ultra-orthodox", "conservative", and "ascetic", all of which is added onto the fact that Theravada is generally and on the whole perceived as an orthodox and conservative branch of Buddhism. Yet the tradition has garnered a great deal of respect and admiration from Thai culture. Outside of Thailand it exists in the United States (Thanissaro Bhikkhu and also the community of Abhayagiri), Australia (Ajahn Brahm,Bodhinyana Monastery,Bodhivana Monastery), New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom (The Forest Hermitage, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, Harnham Buddhist Monastery and Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) and Italy with the monastery of Santacittarama. Perhaps its most widely known adherent was Ajahn Chah.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
Thai Forest Tradition was firmly established in the early 1900s, by the famous forest monk, Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera and his student, the widely venerated Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta. It was later spread globally by Ajahn Sao's student, the well-known Ajahn Chah and his successor, Ajahn Sumedho. Exactly when the movement began is not clear, but it is believed to have existed for quite some time, undergoing a revival led by Ajahns Mun Bhuridatta and Sao Kantasilo Mahathera.
In Asia, Buddhism plays a central role in social life. Monasteries are often seen in cities, and such urban locations serve as the centers of scholastic learning. Monks usually receive their education in monasteries and earn the rough equivalent of "graduate degrees" in the studies of Buddhism. This highly intellectual approach is characteristic of the larger urban monasteries generally. Yet it was the reaction against this backdrop which led Ajah Sao and Ajahn Mun to the simpler life associated with the Forest tradition, which again as the name suggests includes monasteries situated far away from urban areas, usually in the wilderness or very rural areas of Thailand. Because of this abstract tendency in urban monastic life, some monks believed the original ideals of the Sangha had been compromised. The Forest Tradition is, then, primarily an attempt to reach back 25 centuries, to the time of the Buddha himself to reclaim the old standards of discipline, an attempt to stave off perceived corruption of the monastic life.
[edit] Practices
[edit] Meditation
Meditation is a central component of Buddhist practice in the Thai forest tradition. Methods of meditation are numerous and diverse. Samatha meditation is used for the attainment of Jhana, or meditative absorption, while Vipassana meditation is used for cultivating wisdom. Commonly, the two are used in conjunction, although different teachers place different emphasis.
Luangpor Teean was a forest monk and a contemporary meditation master. He developed a meditation technique called Mahasati Meditation. This method is a short cut to cultivate awareness. The practitioner pays attention to his or her body movements in all positions: standing, walking, sitting and lying. If the practitioner is aware of him or herself, then moha (delusion) will disappear.
Mahasati Meditation do not call for reciting "in" or "out". There is no need to know that it's a long/short exhalation or inhalation or it's a fine or coarse one, no need to follow any rituals. This practice has frequently been called satipatthana (the grounds of awareness), but whatever people call it the point is to be aware of oneself.
When thought arises the practitioner sees it, knows it and understands it. When he or she sees it, thought stops by itself. When thought stops, panna (knowing) arises, and she or he knows the source of dosa – moha – lobha (anger – delusion – greed). Then dukkha (suffering) will end.
[edit] Vassa (Rains Retreat)
Vassa (in Thai, phansa), is a period of retreat for monastics during the rainy season (from July to October in Thailand). Many young Thai men traditionally ordain for this period, before disrobing and returning to lay life.
[edit] Precepts and Ordination
There are several precept levels: Five Precepts, Eight Precepts, Ten Precepts and the Patimokkha. The Five Precepts (Pañcaśīla in Sanskrit, or Pañcasīla in Pāli) are practiced by laypeople, either for a given period of time or for a lifetime. The Eight Precepts are a more rigorous practice for laypeople. Ten Precepts are the training-rules for samaneras (male) and samaneris (female), novice monks and nuns. And the Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for monks (bhikkhus) and 311 for nuns (bhikkhunis).
Temporary or short-term ordination is so common in Thailand that men who have never been ordained are sometimes referred to as "unfinished." Long-term or lifetime ordination is deeply respected. The ordination process usually begins as an anagarika, in white robes.
[edit] Customs
A prominent characteristic of the Forest tradition is great veneration paid toward Sangha elders. As such, it is vitally important to treat elders with the utmost respect. Care must be taken in addressing all monks, who are never to be referred to solely by the names they received upon ordination. Instead, they are to be addressed with the title "Venerable" before their name, or they may be addressed using just the Thai words for "Venerable," "Tahn" or "Ayya" (if they are female). All monks, on the other hand, can be addressed with the general term "Bhante". For monks and nuns who have been ordained 10 years or more, the title "Ajahn", meaning "teacher", is reserved. For community elders the title "Luang Por" is often used, which in Thai can roughly translate into "Venerable Father".
It is considered impolite to point the feet toward a monk or a statue in the shrine room of a monastery. It is equally considered impolite to address a monk without making the anjali gesture of respect. When making offerings to the monks, it is considered inappropriate to approach them at a higher level than they are at - for instance, if a monk is sitting it would be inappropriate to approach that monk and stand over them while making an offering.
In practice, the extent to which this code of behavior is enforced will vary greatly, with some communities being more lax about such codes than others. The one element which the communities are not lax about is the Vinaya, which is very strictly maintained according to the Pali Recension version, the standard of Theravada.
Because the Forest tradition in part is a reaction against a highly intellectual approach to Buddhism, the Dhamma is studied in a much simpler fashion. Members of the tradition, like those found in Zen, are widely known for their suspicion of any attempt to convey the Dhamma in an overly intellectual fashion. The Forest tradition, again like Zen, favors a more direct approach to understanding the Dhamma in everyday life. Yet it places a great deal of value on meditation, and followers of the tradition are also generally perceived to be excellent meditators.
Although Forest monasteries exist in extremely rural environments, they are not isolated from society. Monks in such monasteries are expected to be an integral element in the surrounding society in which they find themselves. Again, this is in part a reaction against the huge urban monastic communities which were primarily concerned with scholarly study and scriptural translation, which thus effectively shut their communities off from the surrounding environment.
Forest monks sometimes meditate using the mantra buddho as a samatha object.
[edit] Important Figures
- Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera
- Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta Thera
- Luang Por Waen Sujinno
- Ajahn Plien Panyapatipo
- Ajahn Li Thammatharo
- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
- Luang Ta Maha Bua
- Ajahn Chah
- Ajahn Sumedho
- Ajahn Khemadhammo
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu
- Ajahn Sona
- Ajahn Pasanno
- Ajahn Brahm
- Ayya Tathaaloka
- Luangpor Teean
- Luangpor Thong
[edit] References
- A taste of Freedom, Ajahn Chah, Bung Wai Forest Monastery, 1991
- A Still Forest Pool, Jack Kornfield, Theosophical Publishing House, London, 1986
- J.L.Taylor. Forest Monks and the Nation-State: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeastern Thailand, Singapore: ISEAS, 1993 [1996]. ISBN 981-3016-49-3 (original study of forest monks in Thailand)
- Tiyavanich, Kamala. Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in 20th Century Thailand. University of Hawaii Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8248-1781-8.
[edit] External links
- An essay on the origins of the Thai Forest Tradition by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
- Forest Sangha Website
- List of Figures
- santifm1.0: Santi Forest Monastery website
- Abhayagiri Monastery
|
|||||||||||
