8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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fHE HIUORY
OF
HUOOHUH
IN
THAliA
S
8Q
55
8
67
C 3
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2/39
., .
,
.
BUD DH1SM N TH IL
NO
'
tJ
,WAIIG
BORIBAL BURIBANDH
tr nsl ted y
, 'Or.
Luall
SurlyalteDls M.D.
, '
. "
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
3/39
,
Pre ace
:N
former
d 8 Y ~ .
88y50
years ago,
h a i 1 a ~ d :was
mostly only
, known from
boo'ksand
colourful deSCrIptions
made
by a
:few privileged
persons who
had
ventured to visit this country.
t was
ktlown
as
~ h ~ Land of
White
Elephants
t
of gilded
temples
apd
pag()das.
as
ci
the
Land
of Yellow
Robes and
., the Landof Smiles
II
It was described as
an
island of peace
and
tral)quility, a
haven
far
away
from the high
seas
,of
u p ~
heaval
and
pOlitical unrest.
Today
particularly since
the
armed
conflict in Korea,
where, the free nations
of
the
world
struggled to contain the
disruptive
fo,rcesof
C o m m u n ~ s m
the
eyes of
the world
are
focussed
upon Thailand as
a possible future victim of Com-
m u n i s t a g g r e s s i o ~ .
, It is receiving the attention of both sides,
precisely
because of
its privileged position.
t
is still
an
island
of
peace
and
relative prosperity, where there are class dis .
tinctiQns
y ~ t
no class
hatred.
Where rich
and poor
live p e a c e ~
fully togetl,1er
because
of their Buddhist tolerance and because
~ h e r e . i s
abundant
food,for all.
Where
foreigners of every
race
and
coUntry are
met
with a smile.
And
where
the
subtle
tactics ~ n d s L\bversive activities of Communism
have
not as
yet met with succesa worth speaking of, because of the
p e o ~
ple \i deep faith
in
their Religion and because of their inborn
love of personal freedom, and their loyalty. to their Rulers
who ~ n c e
.ancient times
have
cared
for their
peoples as
a
Father
would
look after his children.
Today. most
peoples of
the
world
have become
a i r ~
minded. And
because of the
ease and
comfort
and speed
with which
.it
i . possible to travel by air, hundreds of people
from all corners of the earth
and
of every description now
come
to
see
for themselves the wonders of this country,
of
whlchtney'have
read
in
old books
and
in magazines or which
they
saw
in the picture..
They
come into personal contact
widl ordinary folk, they learn to
laugh and
play,
with them.
Withthelr
ow
eye.
they see how the Buddhist religion
is
be-
iDg
faithfully
p r a e ~ d
~ y
monks
and laymen alike;
and, at
the
aame t i ~ e . h o w people
enjoy
the
many
amenities of
mo-
d e l n c i ~ t i O n i m p o r t e d
from
the
West. ThOle
who have
I
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4/39
visited Thailand before. SaY
20 r
30 ';years ago. ,1so notice
the sad decline of our highly spiritual Culture which once
had gained the
respect
of foreign countries
and which
in the
process of rapid
sectilarisation
has
become
less
apparent in
the larger cities.
but
still lives on in the hearts of the ordinary
Thai
in rural areas and in the ,older
generations.
The
great attractions of Thailand alld her
people
fot
'foreigners
are
stjU the fairylike
beauty of
our
temples and
ch dis; the picturesque sight of ancient cuitUTaI monuments
and modem buildings standing side by side in complete har-
mony; th highly spiritual culture of
the ordinary
Thai their.
traditional
hospitality
and
their extreme tolerance
toward. all
fO'feigneH and their creeds. In short. better communications
have brought Westernera
into c lOH contact with
our
people
and have effected a better
mutual
understanding. 1
he
only
barriers.
besides
tlle inoon'V,enience
of
paeaporta
and v ~ a s fo'
a still greater knowledge of each other. are those imposed
by
the limited knowledge
of
foreign
languages.
The eultitree
and
religious beliefs
of
Eastern peoples.
their cuatoms and
habits. are
an enisma
to most and are
not 'Yet
well known
enGugh eVen to
higher
educated people in the
West.
The1'e
is slill a
wide gap
to be bridged.
and
as long as this
P P
Cit
tha:e
is
bound
to be misunderstanding
and mutual di.truet
among
the peoples of the world. Therefore there is a great
need for more books on the various aspects of the Eastern
Way of Life;
books
that are baaed on facts aDd ligurea and
written with
thorough knowledge of the subject
at hand
.
In
consideration of this very acute need fo, mOl'e books
to
fill
the gap between
Weat
and East,
,tllia
Hiatory
of
the
Buddhist Religion in Siam. written by an eminent Siamese
8cl10Ial'. ha. been translated into English for the c o n w : : e ~ e o c e
oJ
the m$ny
r i ~ n d s
of
Thailand. And
to make
it more
readily,
under.tood.
a .hol't introduction to
the
Buddha'. Doctrine hn
been
added
which
t :>gether
will.
it
i ,
hoped,
enluUlce
gC',)04,
under.
landin'S between
East
and
West,
so much deeded'. in
t h ~ e pre.eot
days of
fru$trati :>n.
of
fear
and of
mutual
dlstnlat
and ant 'lomam
b e ~ e e n the
people. of the:
world
.
Peace tt
all
eingsJ '1
:
;:
.
;
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BUDDHISM IN THAILAND
11'
The,
Buddha s Doctrine
The
toun4e
of the BGddhiat Religion was Gotama the
Buddha., who lived.
.bout
60(} years before the Christian era.
He wae botnm6.22B.C. (80
year.
before the BuddhistEraHn
Lumbini Park, near Kappillavatthu, as the son of King S u d ~
dhodana.. and Queen Maya who reigned over an Indo-Aryan
tribe a I ~ d Saldya, in the North
of
India
at
the foot of the
Himalaya'mountains and at the border of Nepal. When he
wae horn; it
had
been predicted that
he
would either become
the Ruler of ,tLeWorld or a Buddha. As his parents did not
wi.h
him to become a Buddha, they sUfleJunded him only
with
YOWlg
'folk and tried to keep 'him in ~ o m p l e t e ignorance
of the aiUferinga of man; but they did not succeed. The sight
of
a decrepit old man, a sick man, a dead man
and a
mendi
cant monk-'lhese F ~ u r Signs left such a deep impression
uPOn hi.
tnirtd
that,
atfheage
of 29, he decided to leave
his
home
and
to enter the homeless life u
of
a
monk
to seek the
Truth
and
fO
'titl
a we.,
to
Sal-vatisn fer aU Sentient Beings,
an cape
f i . , .
.. the;WhM of
Rebirth
aud bom all Suffering
, In hi. aeareh for Salvation, he first went to Alara Kala.
ma
and
l a ~ t oh to Uddaka t advice; but he found that all
t L ~
doctrine'S
of
his
t e a c h e ~ 8
were ., insufficient, n,ot leading to
A.wllkenitlg,
to
Extinction and to Enlightenment
and
Insight ,
a he
himself laid. Not satisfied with their teachings, he
~ a l 1 d e t e d
up and down in the hind of Ml1ghadha from place
to'l'lace and arrived ne'ar the town of Uruvela, the present
Btiddha
Gaya. Here he
saw
.. a delightful piece
of
country
, with
a b e a ~ t i f u l
foreat and a dear river most suitable 'for
Lathiftg; I l l< 'el, place surrounded by meadows and fields
then came to me the thought, ye Brethren. this il.'l, indeed, Ii
delightful
.pot
on
eatth; this plaee
will
,
suffice for ascetic
\
~ d e e 8 . ' H.ne.
in
Uruvela; he met the Five Ascetics (Panca
VtIg ji)
whb offeltd their services 10 him. With greatest :zeal
'Repraetiaeic:l aelf-.orti6catioft
fOtmany
years, and the, Five'
AKetiee followed kim tn
evtrytLing'hedid,
but w,de unable
..,\bathimmrheit e r e i . e t .
3
"
t
. ,
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6/39
Finally
the Buddha
r e a ~ i e d
that these Ascetic.eiercillles
Were not
the
right way to
attain
to Salvation. He
had
p r ~ c t i s -
ed
self-mortification to the limit
of his endurance
and felt
much weakened without a.chieving anything. So he 'partook
of
food and having gained s t r e n ~ t h again he began topractise
meditation which finally led to his E n l i g h t e n m ~ n t
under
the
Holy Bodhi tree near
the
river Naranya
by
U ~ v e l a
when he
was
35 years
old.
The Supreme Knowledge he attained through his intui
tive insight
in his
Enlightenment under.
the Holy
Bodhi tree'
were: (J) The Doctrine of Anatta,
namely that
everything is
transient, miserable,
and
not
self.contained
AniccaDukkha-
Anatta
.
All phenomena. nay
the
whole universe, is
subject'
to change. It
is
a fleeting
process of
arising and disappearing,
without
any perceivable break in it. t There is no primary
cause apparent, but all things
arise and
cease in dependence
of
each other
in a long chain of
cause and
effect.
All
is
,. Be,:
coming without permanent substance;
put
together. unatable
and
changeable , says the Buddha.
(J
1 The Doctrine of
Karma
and Rebirth,
namely
that
all sentient beings. including tIlen.
are
born
according
to their,
good and evil deeds, each merely consisting of wLat
he
has
thought, sPoken and
done
before. and only differs from others
by
his
own
selfcreated
Karma
( will-actions) which none
can
escape. All beings exist because of their individual Karma.
~ n
as
long
as
his
will
actions are misguided
by
ignorance of
the'true facts of life. by
Greed.
UI.will.
and
Delusion of,Self.
he is bound
to
create new Karma. h i ~ h 'causes c ~ n t i n a e d ,
Suffering and Rebirth. In man there is no abiding principle"
he
has
no eternal Soul, as all
the Five
Aggregates of which
lJ,is ..
personality
consists are subject .to constant
change
and'
at
the moment of death are
completely e x t i n g u i ~ h e d . No
. soul not
even
consciousness,
passes
over
to
the new
Being,
but only that part of Karma whic'll has
not
yet been ~ h a u . t e d
ill
t h ~ p r e . e n ~
life is reborn in anot)ter form. in another bodY.
and either in
this
realm
of
existence or in
any
otherl'ealtQ.
such as in hea\l'en or in hell,
depending
upon'
the
Kan::na
< : r ~ a t e d in the a s t : This e ~ i d u a l Karm.a
i
somewhat i R , ~ t
, .of:
I
; ,
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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own
~ o t i . : ~ K a r m 8 : of .the
deceased,
as it only consists of the
K a r n l a ~
l f t ~ by
the deceased.
It constitutes a
separate
entity
in the
individual life stream and
becomes
the
One
to
f;,e,born
Gandhabba)
which
creates consciousness of its
from this reeidual Karm:a and ullder the inRuence of
_. I
ignorance and ite i n h e ~ e n t desire to live Tanha). This new
conscil;)usnes. of. the
one
to be born
eventually descends
intot:h.e maternal womb' as the
Buddha
says, and creates a
new
set
of Five Aggregates
of
Existence
and
is
born
a.8 the
new Being. Thus Rebirth
takes
place without transmigration
of
any
.purlou.
soul or
Ego
and
eyen
without
any
passing
over
of
consciousne.s.
Life consist. of a specific stream 01 Karmic.
causes
and effects created by each. individual life.
This
continuity
of life, this indiv;dual life stream manifests itself a,s man or
beast or in any other kind of being in the various realms of
existence depending upon the
good
or bad will-actions of its
past
life.
Birth, Death and Rebirth are but manifestations of
one
and
the
same
in.dividuallife-stream
which
will continue to
~ o w
without a break
i.n. it
from life to life until no more Karma
is Cl .eated; until no more a t t a c h ~ e n t to life e x i s t ~
that
is until
the individual has destroyed the Thirst of Existence and Ig
norance
which
are the causes of Karma. of renewed con
s c i o u ~ h e s s ~ n d of rebirth. When all eonscioU:sness has- com.
pletely ceased all life ceases.
Namean9, Form (our corporeal organism) die out,
l e ~ v i n g po tracebehin'd . as the J;luddha says. With
the
com
p l e t e ~ x : t i n c t i o n
of consciousness. the state of nothingness is
attained which is Nirvana, the consummation of man's spirit
ual
struggle. the goal
of ll
Buddhists.
tU) The Foul'
'Noble
Truths. namely the Truth of
Sqift)ring, ite origin. its cessation; and the Holy Eightfold
Path
that
leads to the cessation of suffering. The Four Noble
Truths constitute
the
eS,sence pf the
Buddha's
teachings. Birth.
disease, old age
death:
not to attain what
one
desires; to be
separated from those we love; even the
Five
Aggregates of
~ c h r n e n t of
whicbOU'tpersonality
conslets;-all these are
5
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8/39
'Sufferiilg".
The origin of 8'Uikrintt
i.
tbe Threefold i
'
namely, .exual de.ite. thed4lti:r6 to live,
and
the
du!r& ~ t e
be
what one dislike.. T ~
Cl'avifts'is
due
1:0
ianorance
of the
true facts of life; namely, thai aD
ill
itn'Pftl'llanent, mWerable,,'
and
not self-contained.'
In.
~ r * l 1 e e of theae
true fael'8
of
i ~
weare attached to'aU tharwe 'can gra.p with. our.Dc _ l e a
( the mind being the sixth
l 5 e n . ~ ) .
Heaee. the ceseation of
suffering is effected by conquering r be Threefold Cranag
which is the cause of attachmerit.
and of .n
euffering;by radic
al destruction of greed, hatred
and
dedu.ion.
and b)
destroying
ignorance by following the Noble F4*htfold
Path
of Ealighten
ment which leads to the cessation of all.ufferlng.
The
Fourth
Noble Truth conl1ists
of
the
Holy
Eithtfold
P ~ h .
namely:
Right Underatanding:
Richt
Mindedne
;
Right
Speech; Right
AdM&,
Right Living;
R.ight Effort:
Right
Attepti"ene
;
atkl
Right Concentration.
By following conscientiously .the Holy Path of rili.ght
enment one attains
to Nirvii.na. .
tt.
i. the
goal of perfection,
,he
consummation of the
p i r i t u a l . t r ' I 1 * ~
of
having dvdcome
the
'f
Ten Fetter.'o which b i n ~ Olen to the "Circle
of
Rebirth".
It
i the extinction of greed, hatred
aftd
cteI\urion; the
eetilft.tioft
of all individual life
and
of
an
sulferin&
This is in brief the Supreme Knowledge of which the
, Buddha became cognisant in his Englightenmerit under the
Holy Bodhi tree
2,500
years ago.
He
discovered the workinat
of
the Laws of Nature which form
the
'baais of
hi.
whole
Doctrine. They constitute the Absolute Trttth wlUch camrot
be tenoned but must be e z : p e r i e n e e d ~ eatb by' hiJneell and.
for
himself.
The
Eightfold Path of Enlightenment ~ p e r i e f t ~ e d by
the Buddha and taught to mankind i . the only way
to
attain
t'olialvation by oneself
and
, thour any external help.
AM
the
power inherent in his nature
to
seek
and
achieve !iw
0W1l
.salvation. That is the beauty of the Buddhist' Rebaion.
Buddhism
i
a
docrtril)e of Cogniti9D';
it
the
truth
tp:at. d ~
pon Man "whe1lthe tearathat.Roware n the
hea1l:"'1 . BIle
. . that ia not all.
.
Beinl aware ithe
t lU6'Mctl
f l i fe. :wW .
6
. ,
.
.
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9/39
I
; . ~ u _ u m d beasts
alike are brothers
iD the same boat
.UD he
high seas
of life, each' seeking happiness
and
peace
,
endtryiog
desperatel" to escape bom suffering f r ~ life to
~ e
until the
oommon
soal
t
Nirvana, is reached.
Thi.
sen.e of common
brotherhood
in suffering, the
ewarcDeU ()f each forming
an
integral
part
of the universe,
this
Oneness
with all there has been and
can ever
be,
becomes
the source
of
unlimited loving
kindness and compassjon
(
Metta-Kar ,na) and
toleranee
lowards
all beings.
And
this
universal. all-embracing loving kindness and
compassion
is
the
fundamental principle underlying the 'whole Doctrine of
the Buddha, unsurpassed
by
any
other
religion. The Buddha's
foremost
aim was to
encourage
man
to purify
his
heart from
all passion (Kilesa); to contemplate himself
ob
iectively in
, order to free himself fr.om the delusion
of
self; and, to attain
to supreme wisdom and insight by meditation a ~ d
by
leading
a
pure
life which is
to
!!void evil
and
to
do
good . The
Buddha's teachings must be experienced
by
oneself
in
order
to
be able
to
e m a n ~ i p a t e
oneself from
the
"Circle of
Rebirth
and of all suffering.
His
philosophy is difficult and hard to
understand
by
those who
love pleasure and
seek
it
.
But
the
greatest
and
irre.istable altraction Buddhism has had and still
has
for ordinary
men
and women is the all-embracing loving
kindness
and
compassion
of the
Buddha
for
the
sJliferings of
all sentient beings. No other religious teacher has laid so
much emphasis upon
suffering
as
the fundamental attribute .
of all life as
the
Buddha. ' Hi. Noble
Truth
of Suffering, its
origin, it cessation, and
too
Eightfold
Path that
leads to the
Cessation
of
Sufferins..,
are
the greatest gifts ever
made
to
mankind.
In
the
Holy Scripts
of
the
Pan Canon
of the
Theravada
School, there lives
the
Spirit of our Lord
Buddha
and of his
immediate Disciples.
unchanged
and
unspoiled
after 2,500
years. It haa stood the acid test of time and lives on in the
hearts
of the
Thai
people,
who ever
since HinaYIJNJ LlJnka
Buddhism
was
introduced in Thailand have
remained
faithful
to their reliKion.
For
this reason
t
the introduction of Lanka
HihaYlJna Buddhism
to this
~ u n t r y
is the
most important
period iQ the history of Buddhism in Thailand.
7
,
'
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10/39
Opinion .as to w.hen Buddhism C4me to Thailand s st ll
divided. Some believe i t w s introduced
by
King A.oka: the
Great who sent .Earth Buddhist missionaries to numerous
countries in order to
spread
the Teachings of our Lord Btid
dha.
Others
think it.
came
at a much larerpel'iod, while some
. believe that Buddhism was introduced to Thailand as J'ecently ,
as at the Sukhodaya period.
From archaeological findings, nd
judging frorn his
torical records, we may
assume
that Buddhism spread to
Thailand at four qifferent periods:
I. As Hinayana Theravada Buddhism
.
2. As Mahayana Buddhism.
3.
As
Pukam Pagan) Hinayana B u d d h i m ~
4. As Lanka.-Hinayana B u d d h i s m ~
In the following pages, these four periods shall
be
deiilt
within
detail.
; .
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
11/39
n.
,
. . .",4
1044u,
. . . . . ;
. . . . . . . . . 100
. . . .
I ....
l044u I.
n
..
l ,
,
. ,
I
6 . 4
0
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
12/39
n.. ( ,14 t . 4 4 ~ . ...... ;..........
' ' ' ' '
. I
t 4 ~ I.
n.
l l
..
4
I .
'M
1
I
6 04
P. I . ,
..
......
. .
;
I
. . . . . .
,
.
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
13/39
n . ( ..... .
h ....
~
0
;.
.. .. ;
0 1 ~
1 1 1
1>00,'
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I
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....
1
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Go
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r.
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8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
14/39
HIN Y N THER Y D BUDDHISM
r,t
Hinayana
Theravada
Buddhism was for the first time
. !
introduced into Thailand when this territory was still
inhabited
by
the
Laos
or
Lawa. Their Capital
was
Nagor
Pathom, which
is m e n l i o ~ e in the
Maha
Wongse hiltory of Lanka
as
Su-
varnabhumi,
and
figured in the Chinese chronicles
as
Davara
vati. As you all know; Buddhism originated in
India
and.
a
du:ough
the l ik
of
Lord Buddha.
never spread
outside
India. Therefore the
story that Lord Buddha visited
the
Isle
of Lanka Ceylon) and
even came
to Thailand, leaving a
footprint
on
Saccabhanda
hillside,
named
after a hermit
named
Saccabhanda to whom
it
is said the Buddha preached
a sermon, is only a legend believed l:ty some
Lanka
people.
The truth is that Buddhism only
began
to spread out-
side India in
the
reign
of
King Asolea the Great, under whose
auspices
the thirdBuddhist Council
was
held in B.E. 303,
which i . a little more than 300 yeaflll after the Buddha attained
to
Nibbana
Sid.
Nirvana . After
the
Third
Council waS
held, King Asoka
invited the Rev.
Bhikkhu
MoggallipuUa-
tina-thera
to
select a
number
of
Arahants whom
he sent forth
to
various
countries as missionaries, the first missionaries sent
in world history.
In the Maha Wongse History
of
Lanka., the following
countries and Arahants are named.
I
Majjhantika.ihera
went
to
Kashmira
and
to
Gandha
rat the present Afghanistan.
f3
Mahadeva-thera went to the province
of
Mahisa,
south
of
river Kotavari. the present Mysore.
8.
Rakkhitathera went
t
Vanavarsi, a province north
of Gandhara.
4.
Dhammatakkhita-thera went to
Parantakayona,
the
province
of
the
northern
sea
border
of
Bombay,
.
6. Mahadhammarakkhita-thera went to Maharatha, the
country near the springs of the
Kotavari
river.
6. Mahar:.t1tkkhita-th ra went to Yonaloka,
the
country
cotIqueud
by the
Yonaka
Greek) people who liv.ed in
t ~
P.,. ban).
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\
.
of the towns they founded in this country, for instance
Beira.
puri,
Rajpuri, Kanchanapuri and Ayodhya,
in
the
same
way
as
the
British
gave old
English
town names
to
their new
cities
in America,
such
as
New
York
and
New
London.
Further
,more, there were several
trade
routes used in those days
by
the
Indians'in their intercourse with
this
country.
Coming
,fr
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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Golden ,Land ). The town
of
U-The..g and
ot
S\W,WII.
bhumi are one and the same town.
The
reason
why the
people
of
Pukam
(Pagan)
claim
the town of Saterm
(Tllaton)
to be
Suvarnabhumi
is that, in
Burmese history, it
is stated
~ h a t about B.E.1600 King Anu
rutha
or
Anorata-Manchor ~ h o reigned
overPukam
wi.hed
to'
obtain
the Holy Pali Scripts as well as Buddhist monks
from Suvarnabhumi. which was refused by the Governor of
Suvarnabhumi on account of the Pukam people
being
non
believers
in
Buddhism.
This
so
much
aroused
the wrath
of
King Anurutha
that
he made war
against
the country of Su -
varnabhumi. In Burmese records it is claimed
that
the town
of Saterm (Thaton) was in the territory of Suyarnabhumi; but
there
isno
evidence
to substantiate
this claim. The
archaeo
logical
objects
said
to
have been
taken
as trophies by King
Anurutha at that
time, such
as
coins
and
votive tablets
or
types
of
stupas
built in
Pukam,
have
not
been
f.ound
in
the
town
of
term nor at any other place nearby, whereas they
have
been found in abundance in the province of N g ~ Pa
thorn. Furthermore.
Pukam
(or Pagan) and the t ~ w n of
Thaton
are
not far distant from one another .and King Anu
rutha's realm only reached that far. It is most probable that
he had already
annexed
the
town of Sa term (or Thaton) to
his
Kingdom
as
all K.ings of Burma who used to wage war g a i ~ t
the
Thai
people
had already
subdued the country of
the
Mons: The boundaries of Nagor Pathom were far eno},lgh
from the frontiers of
Pukam,
which makes it ut:l.der,standable.
why
the Governor
of Suvamabhumi. in ignorance of the
habits
and
customs of the
people
of Pukam believed the
Pukam
inhabitants
to
be
non-believers in the Buddhist religion, ani l
therefore refused to
send
the
Holy
Scripts
and
Buddhiat
monks from
Suvamabhumi
to
Pukam.
Nagor
Pathom
,was
much
more likely to be the capital
of
SuvarnabhJlmi than
Thaton.
It
is furthermore generallyacknowledge.d
that
Kjpa
Anurutha's realm at the time
extended
to ThaiterritOl lY:
and
there are many archaeological monuments pa:e serYc:d
this
day
which were built by King Anurutha:
f o t i n s t ~ e thie
Temple of the Seven Spires in
Chiensmai w h j ~ h ~ _
Anurutha
copied
from
Buddha
Gaya
and
f
wlUcll
he
Wit
b
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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. , _ ~ n ~ J . e p l i c a
in
PJl.ke.,m.
At that time
C h i ~ m a i
wa,
1I.oown
as Mehraming.
These are
,briefly' the facts recorded
in the hwtory
of
L.anka.
and
of
Pukam.
According
to Chinese records.
Dvaravati was
a
large
00llMrY between 'the country of Srikashetr
i.e.
Burma)
and
the
e a s t e r n c ~ u n . t r y
of
the Khmer people
and
received it. cuI.
ture
and it. arts
from India.
Part
of this territory included
southern
Thailand.
at the' time when the original Lawa
people still inhabited this country,
At that time. it
was divided
into three great territories.
The
8 0 ~ t h e r n
part was
called
Dvaravati.
the
northern
part was
named
Yang or yono},. the eastern part was called .. Kotra-
bur . That Dvaravati was actually
the name
of this country
may be
seen
from
the
fact that. when King Thong founded
his capital
of
Sri Ayudhya, its full name was .. Krungdeb
DvaravatiSri Ayudhya ", which indicates that Sri
Ayudhya
waS
the .capital of the
Kingdom of
Dvaravati. Krungdeb meaning
Capital.
Dvaravati
is the former
name
of
this country,
and
the name
of
Sri AyudhY l is
a
transformation of
Ayodhya.
The
reason why, according to Chinese records of B.E.
1150,
Nagor Pathom
was
believed to be the capital of
Dvara.
vati
is
because in Nagor Pathom there are many ruins of an
ancient
town larger
than any other
town in this country. In
th.e
prpvince of Nagor
Pathom and
in neighbouring
province.
many Buddha images
were
f i ) u n ~ .
Their iconography
shows
much simi1aa:ity wi(h Indian craftsmanship of the period of the
G1lPtJl Dynasty (J3. E.
,863-1023,
) leav:ing ,no
doubt
that the art
of makin,gBlld,dha hna,ges
was
brought to this cO, IJntrY from
India. which
proves
the correctness of the Chine&e xecords.
~ h the history of
Suvarnabhumi
and of
Dvaravatiapea,k
of
one and
.the same country,
the
difference only being that in.
the
h ~ t o r y
of
Lanka
this
country
is
aUed
Suvarnabhutni
.
and
in. Chinese reoords pvaravati. Furthermore. the assumption
that the caPital of both countries
named
was Nagar Pathom
is mplyproved
by
the fact that ,in Nagar Pathol)l. many
alchaf,elogical findings b.ear both the name.s
of
S1;IvarnabhuJ;Qi
frnd,of Dvaravati. The
a r c h a e o l ~ g i e a l
objects bearing fhe
n ~ t Qf S vwnal;humi .consist :of a Dha.mmtlp :lkka
~ d ..
13
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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deer.
various seats
or pedestals;
stupas and
footprints
of
the
Buddha,
all
being
used
instead of actual Buddha
images for
wors hipping. The
Dhamm ICakka reminds the
worshipper
of
the
Buddha s
first
sermon,
and the
Deer
S an
allusion
to the
deer
park of lsipatana (or
Migatayavan)
near
Benares
where
the
Buddha preached his
first
sermon
to the Five Ascetics
PancaTJaggi).
The
pedestals
are symbolic of the
place
where
the Buddha attained to Enlightenment under the Holy Bodhi
tree at
Buddha Gaya, whereas the Stupas
often containing re-
lics of the Buddha
remind
the
worshipper of the
Buddha s
attainment
tO
I
Nibbana;
and the Buddha
footprints are wor-
lhipped
instead
of standing Buddha images.
These
archaeo-
logical findings were all reminders of
the Buddha and
were
the
only
objects of
worship used
before it
became the custom
to create
Buddha images.
Since
ancient
times. the
Indians
thought it
unseemly to make
Buddha
portraits
or
images;
and
whenever the
necessity arose to worship Lord
Buddha,
they
used objects
which were
o n l ~ symbolic
of
the Buddha. This
Indian custom
was
strictly followed until after the reign of
King
Asoka. Even in
the reign of
King hok
drawings
and
pictures
describing
the
Life
of the Buddha
always
used
sym-
bols
to signify
the Person of
the
Buddha or
the
design$ only
hinted
at the
Buddha.
For
example,
in
the
scene
describing
\ the
Buddha
leaving
his
royal
palace
to enter the ..
homeless
life" of a Bhikkhu,
one sees only his saddled
horse. but with
no Bhodisattva
sitting
on
horse.
back.
t
was
only after King
Asoka s
reign that
Buddha
images' were made for the purpose
of worship. And
it
was
not the Indians who created them. but
the
Greeks
who settled down in India
and
made Buddha images. They
were
not forbidden by
their religion to make
images
for
worshipping, but
on
the contrary had long been
making
images of the Gods
they
worshipped.
Thus
when
the
Greeks
in
India
adopted Buddhist religion they
began
to
create
many Buddha images
for themselves to
worship.
According
to history, the first Buddha image was m d ~
under the
auspices of
King Melinda
of
India between B.E.
363.387.
King
Melinda was a Greek, and the
Indians soon
followed
his e s a ~ p l e
The
various objects of
wd:rahip
4
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, found in Nagor
Pathom,
such, as
the
hammacakka and a
deer
show
the
same
design and. craftsmanship
as those
art of making these objects of worship was r ~ u g h t and
taught
to
the
local
inhabitants
by
Buddhist
missionaries
who
came to this country in thQse ancient days. All these objects
'
o
worship were made at a time when it was not yet the cus
tom to
make
Buddha images.
They
are
found
abundantly in
the
province
of
Nagor
Pathom but not
in
the
town
of Saterm
nor
at
any other place. Furthermore, the Stupa of Nagor Pa
thorn and other stupas of the. same' period. when
the
upper
part
which was
added at
a later
period
is
taken
off, will
show
exactly the same construction and style
as
the Stupa of Sand
in
India.
It is therefore certain
that
the
Stupa
of Nagor Pa
thom
is
an
exact replica
of the one
erected
by
King
Asoka:
the
design
of which was brought to this country by Buddhist
misssionaries sent forth by King Asoka. Besides this, the
character in which for instance the Ye hamma Kalha is en
graved
are in
Magadha
language (PaIn, showing
that
the
Buddhist religion came from
the
land of Magadha.
From this short summary of archaeological evidence
given above, the Capital of
Suvarnabhumi
cannot
have
been
any other town but Nagor
Pathom.
t is also evident that
Buddhism
came
for the first time to thi$ country in B.E. 300
and
was' brought by
two missionaries, namely Sona-thera
and
Uttara-thella.
Another
thing worth mentioning and
f
whieh former
historians apparently had not thought
of, is the
common
be
lief that any
language
spoken
by
any race can be understood
by people of all races without ado. For example, it is stated
that when Sona-thera and Uttara-thera preached the Brahma
iala-Sutta to
the people
of Suvarnabhumi. those who listen
ed
at once
won
faith
in
the
Buddha's
Doctrine. which
if we
come
to think of
it today does
not seem as
easy
as that, as
told
in those historical records. The
only explanation
is that
many Indians
had
lived already
for a
long
time in
Suvarna
bhumi, who had come
to
settle down
as traders.
and it was
probably
to the.se Indians that
the
two missionaries first
t ught the Buddha.Dhamma or possibly the eher s used In
I
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ly observed and no alterations
whatever
should be
made.
These
monks
were called the Theravada school. The other
8chool maintained that the Buddha in
his last days
had con-
sented
that
minor
and
less
important
rules
of
the
Vinayana
might be changed. They therc
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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MAHAYAJt _8U_QIlHISM
Long after
Buddhism
in IndIa
had been divided
into
two schools,
into
Hinayana
and
Mahayana Buddhism,
there
ruled over
India in,B.E. 6.13 a King named Kanishaka w o s ~
Capital was
the town
of
Burushbura. the present
Peshav8.
His
empire
extended ~ the.South. He was a great believer
in Mahayana Buddhism whkh
W8S
brought
to
his
country
by
Bhikkhus
of the Acariyavada school, wL; had Red to the
North
in
great
numbers
since the reign
of
King Asoka.
It
was
his greatest
ambition
,to become' 8S great 8 protector
and
supporter of Mahayana
Buddhism
as King Asoka had, sup ;.
ported Hinayana. He built numerous
Chedl
(Buddhist shrines)
'
and
temples
and thus contributed much to the prosperity of
the Holy Sangha
in the country of
Gandhara
in th e same
way
as King Asoka
had
fostered Hina'yana
Buddhism
in the land
of Magadha. King
KanJshaka's endeavour was
to unite the
two
schools
into a single great Nikaya, but was
unable
to
succeed
because
the
schism
between the two
schools had al-
ready
existed
t09 long, so he,
ordered
a Council to be
held
of
only Mahayana monks whose task it was to revise and
make
changes,
in tI:e
Dhamma
Vinaya.
This
Council
was held in
Peshava
in
B.E. 624, and the
Holy
Scripts (the Dhammavina
ya) were recited in Sanskrit
which
was
the cause
for the
Tri
pitakas to
become
widely different from the original Canon,
namely
the northern
school
believed in the Sanskrit Tripitakas
and
the southern school remained
faithful to the
Tripifaka
in Magadha
or
Pili language as
fixed
by
the
Third
Council
under the auspices
of King
A.oka.
The Acariyavada monks, who since the foundation of
their Order had
already
made minor changes to the
Buddha's
Doctrine, now
gradually undertook
more
radical
and greater
deviations from the original Doctrine. for inatance
as, regarp.
Nibbana Sltt.
Nirvltna).
According
to
the Hinayana
Doctrine, man is
able to
attain
to Nibbana
by becoming
a
Buddha,
a
Pacheka Buddha
or
an Arahant, and
therefore
Arahantship was
their goal.
But
the Mahayana Buddhists say that one should nol aim at be-
coming an Arahant.
becaus.e one would altain
t
NirvilOa
lone, which is
of
no
help
to others.
One
should,
op
the
e
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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_COftbaty,
endeavour
only to
become
a Bud.dhabhumi
~
Sod.hi
attve.
in
order
to be able to help others get a.cross the
Wheel
-of Rebirth, Suffering
and
Samsara first, after which one
would
: attain to Nirva,na.
To
support
their view, they cite
the example
of
t ~ e
Buddha himself, who in one of his previous incarna
tions
was
a hermit
named Sumedha
Dabot.
He was
then
.till
a
Bodhisattva
~ n d he
refused to
accept
the prediction of
a Brahmin
who
predicted
that
he would attain to Nirva.na in
this life.
but
made a wish to
be
r,eborn
as
a
Buddha in order
to
be able
to show
the Way
to Salvation to ait sentient
beings.
As
this
was
their
common
belief.
the Mahayana
monks
taught all
people
to
endeavour
to
become Bodhisattva.
instead of
striving to
achieve
the fruits of
the Holy
Eightfold
Path
of n J j g h t e n ~ e n t as was
practised
before.
Whoever
lives this high ideal
is an
Ariya, a potential Bodhisattva.
Hence the
worship of the Bodhisattva principles in
Mahayana
Buddhism.
As
there
also
existed a
strong
rivalry between the
B u d ~
dhist
religion
and Hindu
religion, the
Mahayana
school
made
further changes to their Doctrine to fall in line with
Hinduism.
For example they
changed the
oIiginal Buddhist teaching that
there
had been Buddhas in
the past before the
present one
and
here would oome a further t athagata (Buddha)
in the
distant
future, into quite a new doctrine.
They
said that there
exists universal
Buddha
called
A d i ~ B u d d h a
who came
into
existence
at ~ same
time
with the
world
and
rules eternally
over the 'universe;
tbatheaides this universal
Buddha
there
are
yet
five
Ohyani
Buddhas,
naniely: V a i r o c a n a ~ B u d d h a
Akahobhaya Buddha, Ratana Sambhava Buddha,
Amitabha
Buddha,
-
and Amoghasiddha
Buddha.
who
all came info
exifltence
by the
heavenly power
of AdiBuddha and under
,whose
rule they live in
the
higher Heavenfl.
t was
also Adi-
Buddha
who
caused
to Bodhisattva to
be
born
in
the world of
man
as
Manuahya Bodhisattva (or Human
Bodhisattva)
to
teach
the Ohamma to all Beings. Later the
Mahayana
Bud
dhists created a new
Buddha image
which they called
Bhaya
aajuguru , which some believe to
represent
the
Dhyani
Buddha,
while
others
believe it to be yet
a n o t h e ~
human
Buddha.
9
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Whereas accol i:Hng to the Hinayana Doctrine. Bodhi. ,
sattva
was the name given to Lord Buddha in .his former
existences before
his
attainment
of
Buddhahood,
and that
only
one more Bodhisattva will
be born
in the future,
namely
Maitreya Bodhisattva {the Buddha.to.be}. the Mahayana
s c ~ o o l bhanged this Doctrine into a new complicated
cosmo
logy.
They taught that
there
will
be many future Dhyani
Bodhisattvas, Manu
Bodhisattvas (human Bodhisattvas) with
the same characteristics of
the
Buddha. Besides
Bodhiaattvas.
they discerned more deities such as Nang Daras, the wives
of
Bodhisattvas,
aU
possessing heavenly powers, who'will
e
sent to the world of
man
to assist m ~ n k i n d in times
of
calamity.
The five most important Bodhisattvas in Mahayana
Buddhism
are:
1.
Samantabhadra
Bodhisattva,
the
g u a r d ~ ~ n ) f
the
religion of the Kakusandha Buddha.
2. Vajrapani Bodhisattva, guardian of t h e r e ~ i o n o f
,Konagama Buddha: .
3. Ratnapani Bodhisattva, the guardian . )f the religion
of
Kassapa
'Buddha.
4. 'Avalokitesavara BO dhisattva, t h ~ g u a r d i a n of the
r ~ H g i o r t o f Gotama
Buddha.
5.
Visvapani Bodhisattva, the guardian of the religion
of Maitreya Buddha
who will
be born in the future. ,
The belief in so many Bodhisattvas is most reassuring
to
believers,
in Mahayana Buddhism, ~ s they can be
invoked
w h e n e v ~ r
people are
indi'stress.
Thus. people feel themselv-
es
at no
disadvantage
to believers
in
Brahmanism.
Mahayana came to
Thailand
at two different
period.,
namely at the
time,when
the empire of Srivijaya was at its
height
and
for the second time when the Khmer were ,ruling
over this country, namely in ,the period of Lobpuri. When
Mahayana Buddhism
was
at its height
in
India. Indians
spread
this doctrine to
adjoining
countries. It first spread to
the Isle
f
Sumatra and
then to
Java
(the
present
Indonesia)
and to Kampuja. These Buddhist missionaries
were.northern
20
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, ~ '
o I 4 ~
S ~ 1 . ~ . I 1
1
~ 10
n l I , . , I
. .
1
.
1
N
i 1 M
. .
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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ed over Kampu]a
( ea mbodia) between
B f 1545- t
725. they
probably extended
their sovereignty over
the
whole of pre8ent.
day
Thailand.
establishing capitals for administrative pur
poses
in Lobpuri. which wae the administrative centre for
Dvaravati.
and
in Srideb.
the
Centre of Pasak river valley; in
Bimai. which was the c ~ p i t l of the
highlands
in the South.
and in Sakol Nagor, which
was
the' ~ n t r e of adminiatration
of the highlands i ~ the North. Lobpuri was the most im
portant
Capital of all these vassal states of the Khmer empire.
Therefore
historians call this period the .. Lobpuri
period .
The
Khmer
Kings
and
their people were
Mahayana Bud.
dhists
whose
Doctrine
came
from Sumatra. But, for centuries
before, the Khmers
had
developed t h e i r o ~ n arts which were
different from that of India and ofSumatra. Thus arose another
separate
school of arts called Khmer craftsmanship. When
the
Khmers conquered this country, they built i large number of .
Wats and monuments for the worship
pfDevas(deities)which
are
commonly. called Prasat
in
(Stone Monuments). for
instance the
Prasat
Hin of Bimai and the Prasat Hin
on
the
hill of Banom Rang.
All u d ~ h i s t temples ,built in thie period
by
the Khmer.
are dedicated
to
Mahayana
Buddhism.. Besjdea the above
mentioned monuments, there are yet more archaeoloaical
findings
such
as
Buddlla
i m ~ g e s
Bodhisattva images
and'
Deva
images. But the original inhabitants
did not
all follow
the
Mahayana
Buddhism of the Khmers but still were faithful
to
Hinayana Buddhism
inherited from generation to genera
tion since
the
Dvaravati period.
And
a stoneinaciption
was
found in the
Hindu Temple
(fl1i 1Wum\,\,) of Lobpuri, written
in Khmer language, stating that in this town of Lobpuri there
are
monks of
the Sathaviranikaya , which
was
the first Bud
dhist
sect
that came
in the Dvaravati period.
u
well
as
Maha
yana monks who
only
prospered
since the Khmer became the
masters
of this town
and
since Mahayana began,080urish in
the country at that time; and
who
used the Sanskrit language
to preach the
Dhamma.Vinaya
instead of PAli language ae
was the custom before. That is all there i.-to be
said
about
the
spread
of
Mahayana
Buddhiam
in
Thailand
in
the period
of Srivijaya and of Lobpuri.
22
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PUK M HIN Y N UDDHISM
IN B.E. 1600 King Anurutha, after having
conquered
all
.the country:
of
Raman
(Southern Burma), established
his
Capi
tal
in Pukam.
then pushed
his frontiers further north to
the Thai
country of
Lanna.
the
present
circle of Bayab. and southwards
down
to the
province
of Lobpuri.
spreading
at
the
same time
the Buddhist
religion
to all the
territories of his
realm, while
Buddhism in India was
rapidly
declining and almost became
extinguished by
the general adoption
of
Brahmanism and the
Mohammeda.n religon by
the peoples
of India.
Originally, the people
of
Pukam had
adopted
Hinayana
Theravada
Buddhism
which
had been brought
to
them
from
the counh:yof
Magadha
in
the same
way
as
ithad
been
brought
t
the territory of the Thai. But later
on.
when they lost more
and more contact
with India, their religion developed. into
the
so-called
Pukam
Hinayana
Buddhism;
and
when they
con-
quered the
country of
the Thai. their religion
~ p r e a d
to
the
Thai people living in the
circle
of Bayab, which has
been
proved
by
the fad
that
no a h ~ y a n a Bodhisattva images
are
found in northern
Siam,
while
they
are abundantly encountered
in
Southern Siam.
The
reason
for this
probably is that
the
Burmese only established themselves in northern Siam which
they
conquered and which was
wit \tin easy
reach
of
Burma;
whereas they
left
the South
to
be ruled by
the
Khmers 8S vassal
t a t e ~ c f Pukam in their capital
of
Lobpuri, which was also
the
realon
why Mahayana Buddhism
still continued to
exist
in the
South for a long time
.Thi,
period
coincides with the
era in
which many Thai
people
migrated
southwards
into
the
present Siam from
their
original homeland which today
lies within
Southern China,
which
consists ofthe provinces of
Hunnan,
Kiew Chiu, Kwan.
tung
aad Kwangsi.
Each
of
these provinces
had
their own in
.ciependent
rulers
( Chao
and
their
own realm. The reason
why these Thai people migrated from their original homeland
into
the
preMnt
.
Siam waa that they had been conatantly
hara
ctd
by the
Chineee
who
gradually
took. their
land.away,
3
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
30/39
a
process
which
began ever
since
before RE.
400; therefore
the Thai migrated in s t ~ ~ e s to
the
territory of Lanna
(Chieng-
mai)
and of Lanchang
Luang Phl abang).
These Thai
already
were Buddhists, but
of
the
Mahayana
school which had
been
brought to
them whim
they were still living in
their
original
homeland.
t was onlY when King Anurutha brought Hina,-
yana Pukam
Buddhism
to the territories of Lanna and
of
Lan-
chang
that
the Thai adopted the
Hinayana
religion in the
Pukam venion.
Later on. after
the
reign
of
King
Anurutha. when the
. mighty Kingdom of Pukam and the Empire of the
Khmers
declined,
the
Thai became
more and. more
powerful,
both
in
the north as well as in the
~ o u t h but
whereas the Thai in the
north still had their
own
customs and original culture, the
Thai
in the
south
who
had
been
dominated
by the
Khmers
for a long time and to whom Mahayana Buddhism
had
been
brought by
their former masters,
forcing
them
to
use
the
,Khmer alphabet
and language. still commonly used
Khmer
customs
even
after they had liberated
themselves
and were
now free people ruling themselves. But as the Thai have a
born
ability
to. discern what is good or bad
in
foreign
customs,
, they adopted
w h t e ~ e r
seemed useful to them
or
improved
upon
them. For example they changed and improved
the
Khmer
a l p h a b ~ t
to a
Thai alphabet.
As
regards the
Buddhist
religion. the Thai in this period
were
divided; the Thai
of
Lanna and of Lanchang were
Hina.
yana
Buddhists,
which
doctrine
had been brought to
them
from Pukam ( Burma , whereas the Thai
South
of
Sukhodaya
still ~ h e r e to
Mahayana
Buddhism as taught to them by the
Khmer
in this third
period.
. I may
now
be
allowed
to say a few words about the
Thai alphabet invented by King Ramkamhaeng. Formerly
the alphabet used
in
this cO untry was of Grintha
characters
of
Southern India which later
on
were
changed
into
MOn
and
Khom letters.
When
the
Khmer ruled over this country, Khom
letters (or
Khmer)
were used in official
correspondence.
But
the Khom alphabet could
only
be used
for
writing
Pali
and
Sanskrit or Khmer
words:
but could not be used to write Thai
24
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31/39
~ 8. 46' Ji I . I
ho
1
01 810
, .1 . .
I. . .
. . . . .
. . . . . . . .
.
,.,41 I
. .
. .
010
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
32/39
, , .
language,
because
the alphabet had
not
sufficient vowels nor
,had it any accents to
express
the low and high tones
of
the
Thai
language,
and
the
characters themselves
were too ornate
and
could not
be
written quickly. So King Ramkamhaeng
alten=d and improved
upon
the existing
characters
so
as
to
render
them more
suitable for writing
Thai words
easily. He
invented
additional vowels and accents for expressing
the
right tones.
The
introduction
of
this first Thai
l p h ~ b e t
in-
v ~ r i t e by King
Ramkamhaeng,
besides being most useful for
writing
Thai. was
a brilliant
beacon
to
demonstrate
that
the
Thai
had
shaken
off their Khmer
yoke
under
which they had
been suffering for many centuries. and that they now were free
people
(Thai)
in every respect
and
even possessed their own
l p h b e t ~
\ aroused their patriotism. But the alphabet
invented by King a m k a m h a ~ n g differs from the one
used
today as in his alphabet the vowels
as
well
as
the consonants
are written all in one row. All vowels are
placed
in front of
t h ~ eonsonants except
0 :;
which follow the consonants. Np
vowels were placed above and below the
consonants
as in
the untidy Khom alphabet. But King Ramkamhaen g s
alphabet was only
used
as long as he lived, and in later
reign.
the vowels were
placed
partly in front, partly , behind
r
above
or
below
the consonants as practised
today. Thus.
ill ,the end, we only inherited from King Ramkamhaenghis
vowela.but
not
the way
of
writing; the
reason
for
which
is
that generations after King ~ m k a m h a e n g
we have
become
le.s patriotic.
We
do
not
r,ea:lise the neces,sity
nor t h ~
pride
of
pOl8essinK
something of
our
own
as King Ramkamhaeng
and
his people
did. Otherwise the
way
of writing our own
language might
have
been
as
advanced
and
modern
as
all
other
foreign languages.
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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L NK BUDDHISM
The
fourth
period is
of
great
importance
as
it
marks
the period in which all Siamese a ~ o p t e d
Hinayana
Buddhism
as their
only Buddhist Faith and ever
since t h e ~
have
faith.
fully kept it to this day.
In
RE.
1696
King
Para Kama Phahu
the Great of
Lanka
brought about a revival of Buddhism on the isle of
Lanka by
inviting
Maha
Kassapa-thera
to
preside
over
a
council, the object of which was to revise the Buddha
Dham
ma
Vinaya.
t
was the 7th Council held
by
Southern Bud-
dhists. News of this great Council held under the auspices of
King
Para Kama Phahu
reached
aU eastern
countries
of
Buddhist Faith, and delegations of monks from Pukam, M6n,
Siam
and Kambuja (Cambodia)
were
sent
to the isle
of Lanka
to
study
the
newly
revised
Buddhist Holy
Scripts
in
order
to
bring
back home
what
they had learned.
But
the
Holy
Sangha
of Ceylon would not accept
these
foreign Bhikkhus into their
Order unless they consented to
be
reordinated in the Lanka
Nikaya
(sect). All
the
monks.
who
had
seen for themselves
the practice of the Dhamma Vinaya of this new monk
Order
6f Lanka,
agreed to be reordinated
in
the Lanka Sangha.
Since that time, the
revised procedure
of
ordination
as laid
down
at this Council
appears ip
the
Canon of Southern Buq
dhism. After studying the
revised.Canon,
the foreign mission-
aries returned to their respective home countries. Some of
them invited Lanka monks to accompany them
back
to their
country to
teach
the revised Dhamma Vinaya to the local ~ n
habitants,
who became much
impressed
by
the
Lanka monk.,
and allowed their sons and grandsons to be ordained in this
Lanka Monk
Order
in
increasing
numbers. Thus, Lanka
Bud-
dhism spread rapidly to
Burma.
the M6n country, Thailand
and as far
as
Kambuja.
In
Thailand these Lanka monkssettled nrstin
NagorSri.
dharmaraj about
B.E. 1800.
as evidenced by
archaeological
nndioss
discovered when the
Phra Maha Dhatu of Nasor .
~ Q
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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..
.
Sridharmarai
was repaired. and. changed. Irom its original Sri.
vijaya
style into a
Lanka
type
of Stupa which
still exists
t o ~
day.
In Wat
Phra Mahadhatu.
a
Buddha image made of
iade
was
also found which
shows Lanka craftsmanlhip of that
~ e t i o d As
further evidence, a stone inscription
dated
B.E.
1630) was found with the following inscription:
King
Ramkamhaeng gave alms (Dana)
to
the 'Holy
Th,ras (Elders) who had completed the study of the Tripitaka
and were appointed to higher ranks than any other
monks
residing in this country.
They all c me from Nagor Sridharmaraj.
Thus.
it
is certain that
the Lanka monks
firlt
came to
Nagor Sridharmarai. and
when their
f a ~ e reached the
town
of
Sukhodaya which at that
time was the
capital
of King
Ramkamhaeng, the
King invited these Theras to come and
\
settle
down in
his Capital.
At
the
same time, the King ordered
the
Governor of
Sridharmaraj
to
negotiate the transfer of
the
Phra
Buddha
Sihing image from
Lanka
to Siam.
Mahayana Buddhism; which had
been
adopted when
the
Khmer ruled
over the
country. declined and finally dis-
appeared.
Nevertheless.
at
the
beginning of
this
fourth period,
the Holy Sangha in
Siam
was still
divided
into two sects.
namely
those monks
who belonged to the original Nikaya
and
those who were ordained according to the Lanka religion.
Even
in Burma,
the
M6n country
and Cambodia, the monks
in
the
beginning were still
divided into the
two
above-mention
ed
Nikayas.
but
finally
joined
together in
one
single sect. In
the
M6n country,
the
unification
had
to
be
enforced
by
the
King, as
stated on
a stone inscription, whereas in Siam the
unification took place by
m u t ~ a
consent, for
which
there is
evidence found today, namely, the formalities of an ordination
used
in former days or practised even at the present day
in
some
rural districts
was
to let the novice repeat twice
the CfTlu ee Refuges" (Trisaranagama), once in Pali and for
the second
time
in
Sanskrit,
which
shows
the
Lanka
.
that
Buq.?hilts uSed
Pali
according,
to Hinayana Buddhism
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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whlle thelormet monks Used
S a n 8 k ~ i d n
accordance
Mahayana religion which had
been.
introduced to this
~ o u n t r y
by.the
Khmers.
Furthermore, the
rOYBf
wats
(monasteries) in
Su-
khodaya. Lanna and
Lanchang.
erect 2
Sema,
(Skt. BU. .
b o u n ~ a r y stones around the most
holy part
o f t h , e t e i n p l e ~
~ r in
~ o m e
w ts 3 '4
Bemas,
which probably i . d u ~
to
the
fact
that when
the
L a ~ k a monks came to this country they
objected to the local .monks, because
they
were' pS:rtly
Mahayana and
partly
Hinayana monks
mixed t o . t h e t ~
and
would
not
consent to
ordain.
their.
disciples..
witbinthe
precincts. of the Semas
erected
by
Mahayana m o n k ~ . T h i .
was
most
embaraasing to parents who wished to have their
sons
ordained
by Lanka monks in
the village
or townwatJ,
as the
Lanka
monks lived in
forest
wats far outside the vil-
Jages ot towns. On the
other
hand, the wats near their
hOJ;lles
belonged to the local monks.
1n order to make it
more
convenient
for his people.
the King
allowed
the Lanka
monks
to add the new Semf#
to
the
old ones in
the
.town and village wats, so thattney
could be
used y both the
former monks and
the new monkia
for
ordination purposes.
Some
Wilts had 3 or 4 SemtfS, because Lanka monk.
who
c a m ~ later objected to the
old
ones and therefore added'
new
ones of their
own,
considering it of great
importance.
The
main
reason why
the
unification of
the
l\vo .Becta wall
posaible
was the fact.
that
the majority
of p e o p l e ~ ~ ~ t e a
Lanka.
Buddhism,
and in
increasing
numbers
h ~ i t h e i r .cl.il-
dren
ordained by monks
of
this
sect.
The
former
monkalo
..
more and more disciples and finally
had
to join with the
Lanka monks.
Since Lanka
Buddhiam
began to
prosper
undeJ'the
Phra
Ruane J}ynalty. all Chedis were built in Lanka t y l ~ n d
according
to
Lanka
doctrine. For instance. diey b4nev.4. that
i twal
po.sible to find
retli
e
of the. Biaddha (PM4 StJril iJ...:
dn , :), and
it
became the .custom to build Stupae for
a..dd1.
renal.
The.G JuP
wefe
:built.in Lanka .ty , '- ' .e,
http:///reader/full/built.inhttp:///reader/full/built.in8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
36/39
< .
~ w ' 1 W . . W ' t ~ i 6 r . . .
nCe
the
&uPS
at Wat 'Chang
Llml i n s Y ~ J . t . k ; v '
Lifo
erect a Parihhoga Chedi (a. sbrim.
tontaiaibif ~ i n e o l i ; e _ l ~ behind: by the Buddha,
luch
al
Buddha.
f o o t p r i n ~ ) ,
they
went
to
Lanka
to
eopy the
Buc:ldha f u Q t ~ n t .aid to
have been 'actually made by the
Buddha at t bc niounwn of Sumanakut
and
built an esact
r ~ l i c a o f t ~ ~ ioqtprint at the hill of Phrabat and changed
the Deane
Ql
the hill to Sumanakut, giving
it
the same n a m ~
as the
"e in Lanl$a. '
Forprejithiag tbe .Dhamma (doctrine), Pali was Wled
u
the
fUD4a.eatallanguage
of
the Buddhist religion. and the
aludy of PallbecatQe c ~ t o t n a r y and spread widely, whereas
S a n a k r i ~ was used to triln.lf,te Pali into Thai. Sanakrit is
uaed
..:
i t i t were a c t u ~ 1 i y the Thai, language. For instanc;e.
. ,
,
Auho
is espressed
in
1fhai as
Artha SfUtha i.
e;xprelled
a
Sasda and
meenl teacher or master;
Satlnam is
eapreed
. . S4Ira.-mcains weapon.' Pali is raised to aholy laQsuage,
.,;hile Sanskrit is used ~ s a Colloquial or ordinary
laquase
.
.
Wl1en
Ud
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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I
Qoftmology, called the 44:Tri Bhumi
K.adaa.
( Tehbhumikaluunii.)
of 'phra 'Ruang". It is the oldest work of
Thai
literature
apart
from the stone inscriptions,
much older
than
any
other
, Thai books.
, After their unification into one single sect, the Thai.
Buddhist
monks
divided theniselves into: two groups. One
group of
monks made
it their
task
to study the
Palitexts and
the Doctrine. They were called
\
Gamavasi Bhikkhus or
Ganthadhuram,
meaning U occupied with study" and lived in
the
wats
of the towns where they inaugurated Buddhist schools.
The
other group of
monks
practised meditation (Vipal ana
Dhara land endeavoured to attain to Vimutti or emancipation
from suffering an d rebirth. They lived in forest wats an(.l i).
These
forest dwellers were called in Lanka Aranyavasi.
The
isle of Lanka being'mountainous and the mountain. forests
beii:lg within
easy reach
of towns, the
monks
in town
wats
called the other monks Vanavasi. They still use'their forest
wats
in
Lanka
today.
In
the
Ayudhya period, Buddhism in
Thailand
remained
much the same as it was in the Sukhodaya period, which was
. Lanka
Buddhism, except that
in' the
beginning
the
Stupas
'were buUt in Khmer stYle. t was only after the reign of King
Parama
TraUokanat that
Chedis
were built in
Sukhodaya
style. King Parama
Trailokanat
followed the example of
King Dharmaraja Llthai of Sukhodaya ~ i \ d invited ?hra Ma-
Lasami, the P a t r i ~ r c h of Lanka, to
be his
Upajjhaya(ordinat-
~ i n g thera} for his ol'dinatlon
at
Wat
Chulamani
in Bisnulok. '
He dedicated
i ~ royal palace to be used
as
a Buddhist Chapel,
and
in the reigns of later Kings
stupas
and
Buddha
1majites
were added to this place which now is the present Wat Phra
'Sri Sanbejra,
which was
a t:eplica ,of
Wat
Mahadhatu' in
Su.
khodaya; they made Stupas more beautiful
than
the
u k h o ~
daya stupa.
For instance, they chanjited
the
square type of
the Sukhodaya Stupa into a duodecahedral stupa
( n ~ m J ~ 6 1 1
f t f ) ~ ) ; Examples ale' the Phrachedi Sri Suriyodaya and the
Phrachedi at WatJumbor Nikayaram. They f u r l ~ r l'eceived
. luggestions diree: tly from Lank,. for
the
r e ~ ~ o n o Bl.idd\l_t
,
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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s h r i n e ~ . : F Q r x a m p l e , whereas the Buddha footprint which in
this country
was
originally believed to
be
only a
Uddesika
Chedi was in Lanka regarded as a Paribhoga Chedi. a real
relic belonging to
the
Buddha, meaning that the Buddha
actually left behind
his
footprint and the footprint was not
man-made. It was further learned that there
was
another
footprint of the Buddha,
namely
at the foot of the hill of Sac-
cabandha near Saraburi.
The
Buddha is said to
have
left a
footprint at this
place
when he delivered a sermon to the her-
mit
Saccabhanda. This
story was told to the Thai monks
when they visited the u d d h a ~ s sacred foot p r i n t ~ a t the hill of
Sumanakut in the isle
of Lanka.
On their return from Lanka,
these
Thai
monks reported this story to King Songdharm.
Whereupon
a
search
was
ordered by
the King
and
they
found
the Buddha's footprint on the hillside of Saccabhandhakiri
which is the present
Phrabat.
near Saraburi. Since
'that
time,
Phrabat
on 'Saccabhandakiri hill
has
been
regarded
as
a sa-
Cred Paribhoga Chedi, a shrine of g r e ~ t importance. Many
laymen
and m9nks go yearly to
Phiabat
to worship the
Buddha's footprint.
. Towards the end of the Ayudhya period, a great revolu-
tion
broke out
on
the
isle
of Lanka
in the course of which the
Lanka menkhood was wiped out. The King of Lanka there-
fore asked
the
King of Thailand to send a delegation of Thai
monks to Lanka and to preach
the
Dhamma Vinaya. King
B o r 5 1 ~ a k o t sent Phra UPali and Phra
Aryamuni as
leaders of
the Thai delegation of monks to Lanka. Ever since then
the
Lanka
Thai has
continued to exist
under the
name
of
onpe pa
1 to t
IS
.S
ay ,m
W
r
I
W
ongse
.h' d
ay.
Th
e mIs-
sion
of
Thai monks
was
of
great importance,
as
it
gave
us the opportunity to return
the
services once rendered to our
country by the Lanka Sangha
and
to
show our
gratitude to
them.At the same time, it greatly enhanced the prestige and
.the high esteem of our Sangha in the eyes of the people o
Lanka; in fact. to lIIuchan extent that a book
was
written in
Ceylon .entitled
uA
Textbook on the Ordination of Thai
Monk
.
( S a ~ a m u p a m p a f l a t ) which still exists today.
U
8/10/2019 History of Buddhism in Thailand
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In the Ratana'k.o i.ndra period. 1 a D \ a B ~ d d h i . ~ a.a
practised durina the Ayudhya period,
still
~ o n t i n u e d
in.the
meW4ly.The making of Buddha Chedis,theobservanpe.of
the
Dhamma
Vinaylt-
rules and tbe
.tudy
of
the
Buddha
D o ~ :
trine conlinued to be p r ~ c t i s e d as in the Ayudhya period.
For instance, the Temple of the Emerald.
u d d h a
in the GI'Uld
Palace was built in the aame style aa that. of the Ayudhy.
period. Although many
minions
were exchanged be.tween
Lanka
and Thailand
during those
day.,
no
ne
idea. were
brought to Thailand in regard to the Buddhist relision. The
Lanka miasionarie. brought
o01y
Buddha Relics to Thailand
and the Thai' mis.joltaries . sent 0 Lanka took no further
Improvements of the Doctrine except that they hrought back
with them a sapling of the Holy. Bhodi tree, said robe
from the original Bhodi tree in Buddha-gaya
hom
the: time
when Mabinda-thera brought
the
Buddha aTeaching to
the isle of Lanka
and
w hleh
i.
worahiprled
a.
~
Parlhhoja
Chedi, a relic used by the Buddha
himaelf,to
this day.
The practice of the Buddhist reltaion in
Thail.nd
since
the Sukhodaya period should
t h e r e f o r ~ be considered as
p e c i f i c a l l ~ Thai in the same way as wall the Hinayana
Buddhism of King Anurutha. And, for this reason, the
~ n t r o d u c t i o n
of Lanka Buddhipm should be regarded.a the
most important period of Buddhism in Thailand.
it
was
the
period:
ef
unification of all Buddhists in Thailand under one
single Faith. in Hinayana Buddhism. and ever since t h ~ n
the Thai people have been Hinayana Buddhists.
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