Dhammayuttika Nikāya
56-547: Mahā Nikāya The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from Pali : kammaṭṭhāna [kəmːəʈʈʰaːna] meaning "place of work" ), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition , is a lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism . The Thai Forest Tradition started around 1900 with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto, who wanted to practice Buddhist monasticism and its meditative practices, according to
112-412: A cultural modernization of the entire region. This modernization included an ongoing campaign to homogenize Buddhism among the villages. Chulalongkorn and Wachiraayan were taught by Western tutors and held distaste for the more mystical aspects of Buddhism. They abandoned Mongkut's search for the noble attainments , indirectly stating that the noble attainments were no longer possible. In an introduction to
168-638: A following of influential conservative-loyalist Bangkok elites. He was introduced to the Queen and King by Somdet Nyanasamvara Suvaddhano (Charoen Khachawat), instructing them how to meditate. In recent times, the Forest Tradition has undergone a crisis surrounding the destruction of forests in Thailand. Since the Forest Tradition had gained significant pull from the royal and elite support in Bangkok,
224-419: A hereditary local governor, and while independent, paid tribute to Bangkok, the most powerful central city-state in the region. Each region had its own religious customs according to local tradition, and substantially different forms of Buddhism existed between mueangs. Though all of these local flavors of regional Thai Buddhism evolved their own customary elements relating to local spirit lore, all were shaped by
280-453: A more rigorous practice for laypeople. Ten Precepts are the training-rules for sāmaṇeras and sāmaṇerīs (novitiate monks and nuns). The Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for bhikkhus and 311 for nuns bhikkhunis (nuns). 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
336-491: A noble attainment was met with mixed reactions among the Thai clergy. The ecclesiastical official Ven. Chao Khun Upali held Ajahn Mun in high esteem, which would be a significant factor in the subsequent leeway that state authorities gave him and his students. Tisso Uan (1867–1956), who later rose to Thailand's highest ecclesiastical rank of somdet, thoroughly rejected the authenticity of Ajahn Mun's attainment. The tension between
392-559: A small number of monks, inspired by his contacts with Western intellectuals. He rejected the local customs and traditions, and instead turned to the Pali Canon, studying the texts and developing his own ideas on them. Doubting the validity of the existing lineages, Mongkut searched for a lineage of monks with an authentic practice, which he found among the Burmese Mon people in the region. He reordained among this group, which formed
448-488: Is deeply respected. The ordination process usually begins as an anagarika , in white robes. Maha Nikaya The Mahā Nikāya (literal translation: "great order ") is one of the two principal monastic orders, or fraternities, of modern Thai and Cambodian Buddhism. The term is used to refer to any Theravada monks not within the Dhammayuttika Nikaya , the other principal monastic order. The Maha Nikaya
504-538: Is directed away from the body. While it leads to a state of calm-abiding , it also leads to visions and out-of-body experiences. He then turned to his keeping awareness of his body at all times, taking full sweeps of the body through a walking meditation practice, which leads to a more satisfactory state of calm-abiding. During this time, Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), the fifth monarch of the Rattanakosin Kingdom , and his brother Prince Wachirayan, initiated
560-603: Is recognized as having authority over both the Maha Nikāya and the Dhammayuttika Nikāya. In recent years some Maha Nikāya monks have campaigned for the creation of a separate Maha Nikāya patriarch, as almost all recent Thai supreme patriarchs have invariably been drawn from the royalty-supported Dhammayuttika Nikāya, despite Dhammayuttika Nikāya monks making up only six percent of the monks in Thailand. [REDACTED] Cambodia portal This Thailand -related article
616-539: Is sometimes referred to as the " Chanthaburi Line". An influential Western student in the line of Ajahn Lee is Thanissaro Bhikkhu . Forest monasteries in the South Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (May 27, 1906 - May 25, 1993) became a Buddhist monk at Wat Ubon, Chaiya, Surat Thani in Thailand on July 29, 1926, when he was twenty years old, in part to follow the tradition of the day and to fulfill his mother’s wishes. His preceptor gave him
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#1732773109189672-581: Is the largest order of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand and Cambodia, in Thailand taking up over 90% of the Buddhist monks in the country. After the founding of the Dhammayuttika Nikāya by the then-monk Prince Mongkut in 1833, decades later all recognized monks not ordained in the Dhammayuttika order were considered to be part of the maha nikāya , the "great collection" of those outside
728-561: The Rattanakosin Kingdom (Siam), was ordained as a Buddhist monk before rising to the throne later in his life. He traveled around the Siamese region and quickly became dissatisfied with the caliber of Buddhist practice he saw around him. He was also concerned about the authenticity of the ordination lineages, and the capacity of the monastic body to act as an agent that generates positive kamma (Pali: puññakkhettam , meaning "merit-field"). Mongkut started to introduce innovations and reforms to
784-618: The Save Thai Nation campaign in the late 1990s. This led to Ajahn Maha Bua's striking back with heavy criticism, which is cited as a contributing factor to the ousting of Chuan Leekpai and the election of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister in 2001. The Dhammayut hierarchy, teaming-up with the Mahanikaya hierarchy and seeing the political influence that Ajahn Maha Bua could wield, felt threatened and began to take action. In
840-520: The de facto head of the Forest Tradition until his death in 1994. The relationship between the Thammayut ecclesia and the Kammaṭṭhāna monks changed in the 1950s when Tisso Uan become ill and Ajahn Lee went to teach meditation to him to help cope with his illness. Tisso Uan eventually recovered, and a friendship between Tisso Uan and Ajahn Lee began, that would cause Tisso Uan to reverse his opinion of
896-603: The normative standards of pre-sectarian Buddhism , which Ajahn Mun termed "the customs of the noble ones". While ordained in the Dhammayut movement, Ajahn Sao (1861–1941) questioned the impossibility to attain nibbana. He rejected the textual orientation of the Dhammayut movement and set out to bring the dhamma into actual practice. In the late nineteenth century he was posted as abbot of Wat Liap, in Ubon. According to Phra Ajahn Phut Thaniyo, one of Ajahn Sao's students, Ajahn Sao
952-595: The normative standards of pre-sectarian Buddhism . After studying with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo and wandering through the northeast of Thailand, Ajahn Mun reportedly became a non-returner and started to teach in Northeast Thailand. He strove for a revival of the Early Buddhism , insisting on a strict observance of the Buddhist monastic code known as the Vinaya and teaching the practice of jhāna and
1008-507: The Bo Tree, Keys to Natural Truth, Me and Mine, Mindfulness of Breathing and The A, B, Cs of Buddhism etc. On October 20, 2005, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced praise to “Buddhadasa Bhikkhu”, an important person in the world and celebrated the 100th anniversary on May 27, 2006. They held an academic activity to disseminate the Buddhist principles that Ajahn Buddhadasa had taught people around
1064-430: The Buddhist monastic code written by Wachirayan, he stated that the rule forbidding monks to make claims to superior attainments was no longer relevant. During this time, the Thai government enacted legislation to group these factions into official monastic fraternities. The monks ordained as part of the Dhammayut reform movement were now part of the Dhammayut order, and all remaining regional monks were grouped together as
1120-571: The Buddhist name “Inthapanyo” which means “The wise one”. He was a Mahanikaya monk and graduated at the third level of Dharma studies in his hometown and in Pali language studies at the third level in Bangkok. After he finished learning the Pali language, he realized that living in Bangkok was not suitable for him because monks and people there did not practice to achieve the heart and core of Buddhism. So he decided to go back to Surat Thani and practice rigorously and taught people to practice well according to
1176-504: The Dhammayut monks with a crisis of identity. In the tradition's beginning the founders famously neglected to record their teachings, instead wandering the Thai countryside offering individual instruction to dedicated pupils. However, detailed meditation manuals and treatises on Buddhist doctrine emerged in the late 20th century from Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Sao's first-generation students as the Forest tradition's teachings began to propagate among
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#17327731091891232-599: The Kammaṭṭhāna tradition, inviting Ajahn Lee to teach in the city. This event marked a turning point in relations between the Dhammayut administration and the Forest Tradition, and interest continued to grow as a friend of Ajahn Maha Bua's named Nyanasamvara rose to the level of somdet and later the Sangharaja of Thailand. Additionally, the clergy who had been drafted as teachers from the Fifth Reign onwards were now being displaced by civilian teaching staff, which left
1288-518: The Mahanikai order. After his stay at Wat Liap, Ajaan Mun wandered through the Northeast. Ajahn Mun still had visions, when his concentration and mindfulness were lost, but through trial and error he eventually found a method for taming his mind. As his mind gained more inner stability, he gradually headed towards Bangkok, consulting his childhood friend Chao Khun Upali on practices pertaining to
1344-460: The Mahanikaya who had more exposure to Ajahn Mun. His connection to the Forest Tradition was publicly recognized by Ajahn Maha Bua. The community that he founded is formally referred to as The Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah . In 1967, Ajahn Chah founded Wat Pah Pong . That same year, an American monk from another monastery, Venerable Sumedho (Robert Karr Jackman, later Ajahn Sumedho ) came to stay with Ajahn Chah at Wat Pah Pong. He found out about
1400-453: The Mons, an ethnic minority, to be improper, and built a monastery on the outskirts of Bangkok. In 1836, Mongkut became the first abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara , which would become the administrative center of the Thammayut order until the present day. The early participants of the movement continued to devote themselves to a combination of textual study and meditations they had discovered from
1456-631: The Thai Forest Tradition's exposition, awareness of the deathless is boundless and unconditioned and cannot be conceptualized, and must be arrived at through mental training which includes states of meditative concentration (Pali: jhana ). Forest teachers thus directly challenge the notion of "dry insight" (insight without any development of concentration ), and teach that nibbāna must be arrived at through mental training which includes deep states of meditative concentration (Pali: jhāna ), and "exertion and striving" to "cut" or "clear
1512-597: The Thai Forestry Bureau decided to deed large tracts of forested land to Forest Monasteries, knowing that the forest monks would preserve the land as a habitat for Buddhist practice. The land surrounding these monasteries have been described as "forest islands" surrounded by barren clear-cut area. In the midst of the Thai Financial crisis in the late 1990s, Ajahn Maha Bua initiated Save Thai Nation —a campaign which aimed to raise capital to underwrite
1568-500: The Thai currency. By the year 2000, 3.097 tonnes of gold was collected. By the time of Ajahn Maha Bua's death in 2011, an estimated 12 tonnes of gold had been collected, valued at approximated US$ 500 million. 10.2 million dollars of foreign exchange was also donated to the campaign. All proceeds were handed over to the Thai central bank to back the Thai Baht. The Thai administration under Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai attempted to thwart
1624-414: The West. Underlying attitudes of the Thai Forest Tradition include an interest in the empirical effectiveness of practice, the individual's development, and the use of skill in their practice and living. Before authority was centralized in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region known today as Thailand was a kingdom of semi-autonomous city-states (Thai: mueang ). These kingdoms were all ruled by
1680-461: The accounts is like tying the necks of all Thais together and throwing them into the sea; the same as turning the land of the nation upside down." In addition to Ajahn Maha Bua's activism for Thailand's economy, his monastery is estimated to have donated some 600 million Baht (US$ 19 million) to charitable causes. Throughout the 2000s, Ajahn Maha Bua was accused of political leanings—first from Chuan Leekpai supporters, and then receiving criticism from
1736-435: The basis for the Dhammayut movement. Mongkut then searched for replacements for the classical Buddhist texts lost in the final siege of Ayutthaya. He eventually received copies of the Pali Canon as part of a missive to Sri Lanka. With these, Mongkut began a study group to promote understanding of Classical Buddhist principles. Mongkut's reforms were radical, imposing a scriptural orthodoxy on the varied forms of Thai Buddhism of
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1792-470: The cave. Ajahn Mun returned to the Northeast to start teaching, which marked the effective beginning of the Kammatthana tradition. He insisted on a scrupulous observance of the Vinaya , the Buddhist monastic code, and of the protocols, the instructions for the daily activities of the monk. He taught that virtue was a matter of the mind, not of rituals, and that intention forms the essence of virtue, not
1848-508: The core teachings of the Buddha. Then he established Suanmokkhabālārama (The Grove of the Power of Liberation) in 1932 which is the mountain and forest for 118.61 acres at Pum Riang, Chaiya district, Surat Thani Thailand. It is a forest Dhamma and Vipassana meditation center. In 1989, he founded The Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage for international Vipassana meditation practitioners around
1904-569: The development of insight (Pali: paññā , also meaning "wisdom" or "discernment"). He then left for an unspecified period, staying in caves in Lopburi, before returning to Bangkok one final time to consult with Chao Khun Upali, again pertaining to the practice of paññā. Feeling confident in his paññā practice he left for Sarika Cave. During his stay there, Ajahn Mun was critically ill for several days. After medicines failed to remedy his illness, Ajahn Mun ceased to take medication and resolved to rely on
1960-406: The directive was eventually dropped. In the late 1930s, Tisso Uan formally recognized the Kammaṭṭhāna monks as a faction. However, even after Ajahn Mun died in 1949, Tisso Uan continued to insist that Ajahn Mun had never been qualified to teach because he hadn't graduated from the government's formal Pali studies courses. With the passing of Ajahn Mun in 1949, Ajahn Thate Desaransi was designated
2016-414: The five "root meditation themes": the hair of the head, the hair of the body, the nails, the teeth, and the skin. One of the purposes of meditating on these externally visible aspects of the body is to counter the infatuation with the body, and to develop a sense of dispassion. Of the five, the skin is described as being especially significant. Ajahn Mun writes that "When we get infatuated with the human body,
2072-447: The forest tradition and the Thammayut administrative hierarchy escalated in 1926 when Tisso Uan attempted to drive a senior Forest Tradition monk named Ajahn Sing—along with his following of 50 monks and 100 nuns and laypeople—out of Ubon , which was under Tisso Uan's jurisdiction. Ajahn Sing refused, saying he and many of his supporters were born there, and they weren't doing anything to harm anyone. After arguments with district officials,
2128-423: The infusion of Mahayana Buddhism and Indian Tantric traditions, which arrived in the area prior to the fourteenth century. Additionally, many of the monastics in the villages engaged in behavior inconsistent with the Buddhist monastic code (Pali: vinaya ), including playing board games , and participating in boat races and water fights. In the 1820s young Prince Mongkut (1804–1866), the future fourth king of
2184-401: The late 2000s bankers at the Thai central bank attempted to consolidate the bank's assets and move the proceeds from the Save Thai Nation campaign into the ordinary accounts which discretionary spending comes out of. The bankers received pressure from Ajahn Maha Bua's supporters which effectively prevented them from doing this. On the subject, Ajahn Maha Bua said that "it is clear that combining
2240-574: The monastery from one of Ajahn Chah's existing monks who happened to speak "a little bit of English". In 1975, Ajahn Chah and Sumedho founded Wat Pah Nanachat , an international forest monastery in Ubon Ratchatani which offers services in English. In the 1980s the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah expanded to the West with the founding of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the UK. Ajahn Chah stated that
2296-441: The new Dhammayuttika fraternity. As such, most monks in Thailand belong to the Maha Nikāya more or less by default; the order itself did not originally establish any particular practices or views that characterized those adhering to its creed. There were in reality hundreds of different Nikayas throughout the Thai areas that were lumped together as the "Maha Nikāya". In Cambodia , a similar situation exists. The Dhammayuttika Nikāya
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2352-513: The other side after his vehement condemnations of Thaksin Shinawatra. Ajahn Maha Bua was the last of Ajahn Mun's prominent first-generation students. He died in 2011. In his will he requested that all of the donations from his funeral be converted to gold and donated to the Central Bank—an additional 330 million Baht and 78 kilograms of gold. The purpose of practice is to attain the deathless (Pali: amata-dhamma ), i.e. Nibbāna . According to
2408-454: The path" through the "tangle" of defilements, setting awareness free, and thus allowing one to see them clearly for what they are, eventually leading one to be released from these defilements. Kammaṭṭhāna , (Pali: meaning “place of work”) refers to the whole of the practice with the goal of ultimately eradicating defilement from the mind. The practice which monks in the tradition generally begin with are meditations on what Ajahn Mun called
2464-447: The power of his Buddhist practice. Ajahn Mun investigated the nature of the mind and this pain, until his illness disappeared, and successfully coped with visions featuring a club-wielding demon apparition who claimed he was the owner of the cave. According to forest tradition accounts, Ajahn Mun attained the noble level of non-returner (Pali: "anagami") after subduing this apparition and working through subsequent visions he encountered in
2520-494: The proper conduct of rituals. He asserted that meditative concentration was necessary on the Buddhist path and that the practice of jhana and the experience of Nirvana was still possible even in modern times. Ajahn Mun's approach met with resistance from the religious establishment. He challenged the text-based approach of the city-monks, opposing their claims about the non-attainability of jhāna and nibbāna with his own experience-based teachings. His report of having reached
2576-420: The realization of nibbāna . Initially, Ajahn Mun's teachings were met with fierce opposition, but in the 1930s his group was acknowledged as a formal faction of Thai Buddhism, and in the 1950s the relationship with the royal and religious establishment improved. In the 1960s, Western students started to be attracted to the movement, and in the 1970s branch monasteries of the tradition began to be established in
2632-410: The skin is what we are infatuated with. When we conceive of the body as being beautiful and attractive, and develop love, desire, and longing for it, it's because of what we conceive of the skin." Advanced meditations include the classical themes of contemplation and mindfulness of breathing: Mindfulness immersed in the body and mindfulness of in-and-out breathing (ānāpānasati) are both part of
2688-559: The spread of Communism in Southeast Asia motivated him to establish the Forest Tradition in the West. The Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has since expanded to cover Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Brazil, and the United States. With the passing of Ajahn Thate in 1994, Ajahn Maha Bua was designated the new Ajahn Yai . By this time, the Forest Tradition's authority had been fully routinized, and Ajahn Maha Bua had grown
2744-521: The ten recollections and the four satipatthana, and are commonly given special attention as primary themes for a meditator to focus on. There are several precept levels: Five Precepts , Eight Precepts , Ten Precepts and the patimokkha . The Five Precepts ( Pañcaśīla in Sanskrit and Pañcasīla in Pāli) are practiced by laypeople, either for a given period of time or for a lifetime. The Eight Precepts are
2800-619: The texts they had received. However, Thanissaro notes that none of the monks could make any claims of having successfully entered meditative concentration (Pali: samadhi ), much less having reached a noble level. The Dhammayut reform movement maintained a strong footing as Mongkut later rose to the throne. Over the next several decades the Dhammayut monks would continue with their study and practice. The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition started around 1900 with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto, who studied with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo , and wanted to practice Buddhist monasticism, and its meditative practices, according to
2856-417: The time, "trying to establish a national identity through religious reform." A controversial point was Mongkut's belief that nibbana can't be reached in our degenerated times and that the aim of the Buddhist order is to promote a moral way of life and preserve the Buddhist traditions. Mongkut's brother Nangklao , King Rama III, the third king of the Rattanakosin Kingdom , considered Mongkut's involvement with
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#17327731091892912-432: The urbanities in Bangkok and subsequently take root in the West. Ajahn Lee , one of Ajahn Mun's students, was instrumental in disseminating Mun's teachings to a wider Thai lay audience. Ajahn Lee wrote several books which recorded the doctrinal positions of the forest tradition and explained broader Buddhist concepts in the Forest Tradition's terms. Ajahn Lee and his students are considered a distinguishable sub-lineage that
2968-462: The world. So, he was the practitioner of a great Thai Forest Tradition who practiced well and spread Dhammas for people around the world to realize the core and heart of Buddhism. Ajahn Chah (1918–1992) was a central person in the popularisation of the Thai Forest Tradition in the west. In contrast to most members of the Forest Tradition he was not a Dhammayut monk, but a Mahanikaya monk. He only spent one weekend with Ajahn Mun, but had teachers within
3024-473: The world. There is a 10-day silent meditation retreat that starts on the 1st of each month for the whole year which is free, of no charge for international practitioners who are interested in practicing meditation. He was a central monk in the popularization of the Thai Forest Tradition in the South of Thailand. He was a great Dhamma author who wrote many well-known Dhamma books: Handbook for Mankind, Heart-wood from
3080-399: Was "not a preacher or a speaker, but a doer," who said very little when teaching his students. He taught his students to "Meditate on the word 'Buddho,'" which would aid in developing concentration and mindfulness of meditation objects. Ajahn Mun (1870–1949) went to Wat Liap monastery immediately after being ordained in 1893, where he started to practice kasina -meditation, in which awareness
3136-489: Was supposedly imported from Thailand in 1855, and those monks remaining outside the Dhammayuttika order were recognized as being members of the Maha Nikāya ( Khmer : មហានិកាយ Mohanikay ). A separate supreme patriarch for the Dhammayuttika Nikāya was appointed by King Norodom . The previous national supreme patriarch then became the titular head of the Cambodian Maha Nikāya. In Thailand, a single supreme patriarch
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