History Of Buddhism In Thailand

fHE HIUORY OF HUOOHUH

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BUD,DH1SM IN THA ILA NO '

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',WAIIG BORIBAL BURIBANDH translated by

, 'Or. Luall SurlyalteDls, M.D. ,

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'former d8Y~. 88y50 years ago, Thai1a~d :was mostly only .ll, ':Nknown from boo'ksand colourful deSCrIptions made by a :few privileged persons who had ventured to visit this country. It 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 up~ 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 Commun~sm. the eyes of the world are focussed upon Thailand as a possible future victim of Com­ munistaggressio~. , It is receiving the attention of both sides, precisely because of its privileged position. It 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 peace~ fully togetl,1er because of their Buddhist tolerance 'and because ~here.is abundant food,for all. Where foreigners of every race and coUntry are met with a smile. And where the subtle tactics ~nd s'L\bversive activities of Communism have not as yet met with succesa worth speaking of, because of the peo~ ple'\i deep faith in their Religion and because of their inborn love of personal freedom, and their loyalty. to their Rulers who ~nce .ancient times have cared for their peoples as a Father would look after his children. Today. most peoples of the world have become air~, 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 own eye. they see how the Buddhist religion is be­ iDg faithfully ,prae~d ~y monks 'and laymen alike; and, at the aame ti~e.,how people enjoy the many amenities of mo­ deln,ci~tiOn,imported from the West. ThOle who have

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visited Thailand before. SaY 20 or 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; the 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 clOH contact with our people and have effected a better mutual understanding. 1 he only barriers. besides tlle inoon'V,enience of paeaporta and v~as. 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 PP 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 conw::e~eoce oJ the m$ny fri~nds of Thailand. And to make it more readily, under.tood. a .hol't introduction to the Buddha'. Doctrine hn been added which t!:>gether will. it i, hoped, enluUlce gC',)04, under.landin'S between East and West, so much deeded'. in th~.e pre.eot days of fru$trati!:>n. of fear and of mutual dlstnlat and ant"'lomam be~een the people. of the: world•.

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Peace ttl all BeingsJ

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BUDDHISM 'IN THAILAND

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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 botnm6.22 B.C. (80 year. before the BuddhistEraHn Lumbini Park, near Kappillavatthu, as the son of King Sud~ dhodana.. and Queen Maya who reigned over an Indo-Aryan tribe caI~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 ~omplete 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~ur 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 fi.,. .. the;WhM of Rebirth" aud bom all Suffering

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, In hi. aeareh for Salvation, he first went to Alara Kala. ma and la~t oh to Uddaka Mt advice; but he found that all tL~ doctrine'S of his teache~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 ~al'1deted 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 abea~tiful 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 \ ~dee8.·' 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 ~erei.et., "

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Finally the Buddha rea~i$ed that these Ascetic.eiercillles Were not the right way to attain to Salvation. He· had pr~ctis­ 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 stren~th again he began topractise meditation which finally led to his Enlightenm~nt under the Holy Bodhi tree near the river Naranya by 'U~vela 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 (Anicca·Dukkha­ 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.

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(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 self·created Karma ( will-actions) which none can escape. All beings exist because of their individual Karma. ~nd 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. whi~h 'causes c~ntinaed, 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 extingui~hed. No . soul! not even consciousness, passes over to the new Being, but only that part of Karma whic'll has not yet been e~hau.ted ill th~ pre.en~ 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~ated in the ~ast:' This re~idual Karm.a i. somewhat diR,~t ,'.of:

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(~oti.:~Karm8: of· .the deceased, as it only consists of the Karnla~ left·~ 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 own from this reeidual Karm:a and ullder the inRuence of ignorance and ite inhe~ent 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. "

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Life consist. of a specific· stream 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.dividual·life-stream which will continue to ~ow without a break i.n. it from life to life until no more Karma is Cl'.eated; until no more attach~ent to life exist~. that is until the individual has destroyed the Thirst of Existence and Ig­ norance which are the causes of Karma. of renewed con­ sciou~hess ~nd of rebirth. When all eonscioU:sness has- com. pletely ceased all life ceases. :~ " Namean9, Form· (our corporeal organism) die out,

le~ving po tracebehin'd". as the J;luddha says. With the com­ plete~x:tinction

of consciousness. the state of nothingness is attained which is Nirvana, the consummation of man's spirit­ ual struggle. the goal of all 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 A~chrnent of whicbOU'tpersonality conslets;-all these are

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'·Sufferiilg". The origin of 8'Uikrintt i.· tbe Threefold C-i• •&' namely, .exual de.ite. thed4lti:r6 to live, and the du!r& ~··te 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. i~r*l1ee of theae true fael'8· of li~ weare attached to'aU tharwe 'can gra.p with. our.Dc _lea ( the mind being the sixth l5en.~). 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 spiritual.tr"'I1*~ of having dvdcome the 'f Ten Fetter.'o which bin~ 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 ez:perieneed~ eatb by' hiJneell and. for himself. The Eightfold Path of Enlightenment ~perieft~ed 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~M "pon Man "whe1lthe tearathat.Roware the hea1l:"'1 . BIle· .. that ia not all. . Beinl aware € t ithe tlU6'Mctl Of life.':wW . 6

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.,~u' _.umd beasts alike are brothers iD. the same boat .UD high seas of life, each' seeking happiness and peace , endtryiog desperatel" to escape bom suffering fr:~ life to ~£e until· the oommon soal t Nirvana, is reached.

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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 eman~ipate 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 reasont the introduction of Lanka­ HihaYlJna Buddhism to this c~untry is the most important period iQ the history of Buddhism in Thailand.

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Opinion .as to w.hen Buddhism C4me to Thailand is still divided. Some believe it was 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.

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From archaeological findings, a 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 Buddhi.m~ 4. As Lanka.-Hinayana Buddhism~ In the following pages, these four periods shall be deiilt

within detail.

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HINAYANA THERAYADA BUDDHISM 'r,t'

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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 menlio~ed 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. aU du:ough the lik 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.

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The truth is that Buddhism only began to spread out­ side India in the reign of King Asolea the Great, under whose auspices the third· Buddhist 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. Rakkhita·thera went to Vanavarsi, a province north of Gandhara. 4. Dhammatakkhita-thera went to Paranta·kayona, 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 th~ ~ (ban).

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7. Majjhima-thera went to Himmavanta provinces at the foot of the Himalaya mountains, fol' example Nepal.

8. Sona-thera and Uuara-thera were sent to Suvarna­ bhumi. 9. Mahinda-thera, son of King Asoka, together with many other Bhikkhus, went to the Isle of Lanka, the present Ceylon. Of all the names of countries and theras mentioned in the Maha Wongse History of Lanka the statement that Sona­ thera and Uttara-thera went to Suvarnabhumi has a special interest lor us and should be more closely studied. For a considerable time, the exact location of Suvarnabhumi has been a much disputed question.

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Thai scholars say Nagor Pathom was the capital of Suvarnabhumi, while Burmese scholars maintain that the town of Saterm (Thaton), a Mon town in the south, was the capital. The Khmer, the people of Luang Prabang and of Viengchan all say their country is Suvarnabhumi. Whoever claims his country to be Suvarnabhumi is perfectly right, because ~he territory of Suvarnabhumi covers all these southern countries. According to Rhys-Davids, the frontiers of Suvarnbhumi ex' tended from the country of the Ramans (Southern Burma) to that of the Annamites, lrom Pagan to the Malay Penimlula; which means, in short, that all territory lying between India in the West and China in the East (i.e; the whole of Indo­ China) was called Suvarnabhumi in those days. It can also be said that Suvarnabhumi included all the late Mon and Thai territories, in the same way as we speak of "All India", and therefore all countries in the Indo-China peninsula claim­ ing Su varnabhumi to be their Capital is' without any doubt correct. But the all.important question is, where was the

Capital of Suvarnabhumi. From archaeological and historical evidence, it appears that Indians settled down in this country during the life. time of the Buddha or even before His Advent. namely at a period when it still was inhabited by the original La'!as; but· owing to their greater knowledge and ability the Indians became: their rulers. This is convincingly proven by the Indi(ln mn:ne"

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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 Further­ in America, such as New York and New London. ,more, there were several trade routes used in those days by the Indians'in their intercourse with this country. Coming ,fr<;lm India, they landed at the mouth of the Salween river and entered this country at Mae Sod to T aka Another famous entrance was by way of the "Three Pagodas" to Kanchana­ puri, or they landed at Marit, passed the town of Tanaosri, crossed the mountains at the octroi of Singkorn and went up the coast of Koh' Lak. Two further routes were from T akuapa to Jaiya in the p,resent province of Surashdradhani, and from Saiburi to the province of Patani. Yet another sea route was from India around the Malay Peninsula.

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This is how Indians came to settle down. bringing with them Hinayana Theravada Buddhism for the first time to this country in the reign of King Asoka of India, in B.E. 300 (264­ 2~7 B.C,). We Thai claim Nagor Pathom to be the capital of Suvarnabhumi, because the province of Nagor Pathom is a large one, and archaeological objects were found all over the country. But whether or not it was the capital of Suvarna­ bhumi can only be assumed. Nagor Pathom must really have been the capital of Suvarnabhumi because its name became well-known in India as well as in Lanka. and was referred to in Jhe Maha Wongse History of Lanka, saying that Sona-thera and Uttara-thera brought the Buddhist religion to Suvarna­ bhumi which was the reason for calling, a great stupa in S~varnabhumi Phra Pathom Chedi, which was the'very first Stupa built in this eastern country. Furthermore,when the old capital had to be abandoned and a new one was established further north in the valley of the'same river near the present town of Supan, they used the same name of.Suvarnabhumi for their new Capital. When. later on, the Thai coming down to the South conquered this tenitory, they translated the name of Suvarnabhumi into their ' Thai language and called it th4 country of U-Thong ("The

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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 ~hat about B.E.1600 King Anu­ rutha or Anorata-Manchor ~ho 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 is·no 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 Sa 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~wn 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 a,gai~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: fotinst~e thie Temple of the Seven Spires in Chiensmai whj~h~_8 Anurutha copied from Buddha Gaya and Gf wlUcll. he Wit

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in PJl.ke.,m. At that time Chi~mai 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 easternc~un.try of the Khmer people and received it. cuI. Part of this territory included ture and it. arts from India. 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 80~thern 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 U·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.

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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)un~. 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. B~h the history of Suvarnabhumi and of Dvaravatiapea,k of one and .the same country, the difference only being that in. the h~tory 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 archaeol~gieal objects bearing fhe n~t\ ,Qf S"vwnal;humi .consist :of a Dha.mmtlp(:lkka ~d ..

13

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 1S 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 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 onl~ symbolic of the Buddha. This Indian custom was strictly followed until after the reign of King Asoka. Even in the reign of King hoka 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. It 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 mad~ under the auspices of King Melinda of India between B.E. 363.387. King Melinda was a Greek, and the Indians soon followed his esa~ple. The various objects of wd:rahip I

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

14

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, found in Nagor Pathom, such, as the Dhammacakka and a deer show the same design and. craftsmanship as those art of making these objects of worship was br~ught and taught to the local inhabitants by Buddhist missionaries who came to this country in thQse ancient days. All these objects of 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 Dhamma Kalha is en­ graved are in Magadha language (PaIn, showing that the Buddhist religion came from the land of Magadha.

ม ส ด ุ อ กลาง ห ก ั น ำ ส

From this short summary of archaeological evidence given above, the Capital of Suvarnabhumi cannot have been any other town but Nagor Pathom. It 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 Qf 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 eheras used In•. I)

diaae ta ttenelate their sermona to the meal people of this country and thus. acbiev~d good and quick results. A'ff regarde archaeological findings pertaining to,Dvara­ van, t~ere are many B~ddha images similar in iconography to those made in India in the Gupta period to be feund in Nagor Pathom from the largest size to the smallest one. and are made of stone or ,bronze. For e:lample~ the large Buddha image in the Phra Vbosot of Wat Yai in Nagar Pathom which originally was in the Wat Phra Meru. This image re­ presents the Buddha p~eaching his ·first sermon; and Phya Kong and Phya Pan at the back of the Vihara facing towards the Stupa probably date back to the time when Nagor Pathom was at its height: Many Buddha images of the same type are found in other provinces, such as in the' provinces of Rajpuri, Subanpuri, Lobpuri, Prachinpuri and Nagor Raiasima (Korat), which goes to' show that the territory of Suvarnahhumi was very far flung. In Rajpuri; there is an important Buddha image of this period in the Hermit C~ves of Khao Ngu (Sel'" pent's Hill). It represents the Buddha preaching the First Ser­ mon and bears an inscription saying that this image was made "by the Hermit Samati Gupta". All of these Buddha images are the same type as, those made in India in the Gupta period and found at ditferent places in India, for instance in the Ajanta Caves. which proves that the Chinese records­ were right when they said that Dvaravati received its culture and arts from India. Furthermore, there also exists a large number of votive tablets (Phra Phim) similar in design and craftsmanship to those of the Gupta ,period in India. It is theref$>re certain that the capital of Dvaravati ~a. the present town of Nagor Pathom.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

The statement that Buddhism came to Thailand for the first time a8 Hinayana Theravada Buddhism is baaedupoll the following facts. After the Buddha had attained to. Nibb&na. Buddhism in India became divided. into two ditfereJlt schools after the Second Council. One school strictly adhered to the Dhamma ViIiayana as laid down by the First CaUDell held under Ka8&a.pa Thera. They were of the ,opinion .that the Vinayaua·laiddown by the Buddha himaelf.hould .ble MliOt.­ 1~

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
หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

Hinayana Theravada Buddhism.

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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 whos~ Capital was the town of Burushbura. the present Peshav8. His empire extended t~ 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.

ม ส ุดกลาง อ ห ก ั น ำ ส

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 to NirvilOa "lone, which is of no help to others. One should, op the

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_COftbaty, endeavour only to become a Bud.dhabhumi o~ 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 ~nd 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 As this was their common belief. the Mahayana beings. monks taught all people to endeavour to become Bodhisattva. I instead of striving to achieve the fruits of the Holy Eightfold Path of EnJjghten~ent 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. ­

ม ส ด ุ อ กลาง ห ก ั น ำ ส

-'.

As there also existed a strong rivalry between the Bud~ 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 •there would oome a further athagata (Buddha) in the distant future, into quite a new doctrine. They said that there exists universal Buddha called Adi~Buddha who came into existence at th~ same time with the world and rules eternally over the 'universe; tbatheaides this universal Buddha there are yet five Ohyani Buddhas, naniely: Vairocana~Buddha. Akahobhaya Buddha, Ratana Sambhava Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, -and Amoghasiddha Buddha. who all came info exifltence by the heavenly power of Adi·Buddha and under ,whose rule they live in the higher Heavenfl. It was also AdiBuddha 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 anothe~ human Buddha.

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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 sc~ool 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 be sent to the world of man to assist m~nkind in times of calamity.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

The five most important Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism are:

1. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the guard~~n()f the religion of the Kakusandha Buddha. 2. Vajrapani Bodhisattva, guardian of ,Konagama Buddha:

there~ionof .

3. Ratnapani Bodhisattva, the guardian .()f the religion of Kassapa 'Buddha. 4. 'Avalokitesavara BO'dhisattva, r~H.giortof Gotama Buddha.

th~"guardian of the

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 whenev~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 Qf Sumatra and then to Java (the present Indonesia) and to Kampuja. These Buddhist missionaries were.northern

20

..

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

,~" 'oI4~. S i~I .. . . . . .1 .~ . I . .... 1.....· .1 .~. ...... ~ 10.

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,lndlahswho came from Kasmira (Kashmir) and were Ma­ .;hayana monks. They came to Sumatra about RE. 960 when the Empire of Srivijaya was at its height. The King of Srivijaya h~d become very powerful. He

extended his empire to the Malay Peninsula of Thailand and

. rel:}ched as far as Plltani and Surashdradhani where Mahaya­ na 'Buddhism was taught to the people by their conquerors. of which ample evidence is found in this country. For exam­ 'pIe. the Phra Maha Dhatu of Jaiya and the·Phra Maha Dhatu bf Nagor Sridharmaraj are stupas in Srivijaya ,style, the same as in Jaiya; but the present one is in Lanka. style and was re­ c.onstructedbyCeylonese in theSukhodaya Qeriod. The votive tablets of the Srivijaya period are quite different from those of other periods; th~y are made of unburned earth which were customary to Mahayana Buddhists who made them in memo­ . ry of their deceased teachers (Acariya). This custom is still practised in Tibet. They are made as follows: When one of thei~ teachers dies and has been cremated, they mix the ashes of the deceased with unburned earth and make votive tablets out of them for the future benefit of the deceased. These vo­ tive tablets are never made of lasting material such as of metal or burned clay as in other periods to keep the Buddhist ,'faith alive. The reason why they were not made of-burned earth is,oecause the ashes of the deceased had already been burned once., They are found in many caves in the province of Nagor Sridharmaraj and further south in Patani. The Bud­ dha images and Bodhi&attva images found in Southern Thai­ land are ,all made in Mahayana style and are the same type as those found in Java. Therefore Mahayana Buddhism of the Srivijaya period did not spread to Central and to Northern ,Thailand. although objects of the Srivijaya school were found in CE:ntral and Northern Thailand, such as the Bodhisatt~a im~ge of Avalokita-shavara popularly called Roop Yai Harm (the .old woman) in the province of Nagor Pathom and the image of Maitreya-Bodhisattva in Mahasarakham province. They are of small siZE: and might ~ave been brought there from the South at a later time.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

At the period 'when,the Dynasty of Suriyavaraman rul­

21 ,)

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~pital of the highlands in the South. and in Sakol Nagor, which was the' ~ntre 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 theiro~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 Ii large number of . Wats and monuments for the worship pfDevas(deities)which are commonly. called Prasat Hin (Stone Monuments). for instance the Prasat Hin of Bimai and the Prasat Hin on the hill of Banom Rang.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

All Bud~hist 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 im~ges. 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.

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PUKAM HINAYANA BUDDHISM 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.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

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 to 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 ~pread to the Thai people living in the circle of Bayab, which has been proved by the fad that no Mah~yana 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 .tate~ 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, .

23

a process which began ever since before RE. 400; therefore the Thai migrated in st~~es 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. It 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 ~outh; 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 whate~er seemed useful to them or improved upon them. For example they changed and improved the Khmer alphab~t to a Thai alphabet.

ม ส ด ุ อ กลาง ห ก ั น ำ ส

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 ~dhered 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,

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

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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 alph~bet in­ v~rited 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 alphabet~ 1\ aroused their patriotism. But the alphabet invented by King Ramkamha~ng 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 th~ 'eonsonants except which follow the consonants. Np vowels were placed above and below the consonants as in But King Ramkamhaen'g's the untidy Khom alphabet. alphabet was only used as long as he lived, and in later reign. the vowels were placed partly in front, partly', behind Or 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 R~mkamhaeng we have become le.s patriotic. We do not r,ea:lise the neces,sity nor th~ 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.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส ,0,:;

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LANKA BUDDHISM The 'fourth period is of great importance as it marks the period in which all Siamese a~opted Hinayana Buddhism as their only Buddhist Faith and ever since the~ 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. It 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.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

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

,

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. S ridharmarai was repaired. and. changed. Irom its original Sri. vijaya style into a Lanka type of Stupa which still exists to~ day. In Wat Phra Mahadhatu. a Buddha image made of iade was also found which shows Lanka craftsmanlhip of that ~etiod. 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.

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

They all came from Nagor Sridharmaraj." Thus. it is certain that the Lanka monks firlt came to Nagor Sridharmarai. and when their fa~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 mut~aJ 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 that the Lanka Buq.?hilts uSed Pali according, to Hinayana Buddhism f

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whlle thelormet monks Used San8k~idn accordance ~ Mahayana religion which had been. introduced to this ~ountry by.the Khmers. Furthermore, the rOYBf wats (monasteries) in Su­ khodaya.· Lanna and Lanchang. erect 2 Sema, (Skt. BU.). boun~ary stones around the most holy part of·th,e·teinple~ ~r in ~ome 3 or~ '4 Bemas, which probably ·i.du~ the fact that when the La~ka monks came to this country· they objected to the local . monks, because they were' pS:rtly Mahayana and partly Hinayana monks mixed ·to.thet~ and would not consent to ordain. their. disciples.. witbinthe precincts. of the Semas erected by Mahayana monk~.Thi. 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.

to

wats

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

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 by both the former monks and the new monkia for ordination purposes.

.'

Some Wilts had 3 or 4 SemtfS, because Lanka monk. who cam~ 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 pe'ople~~~te'a Lanka. Buddhism, and 'in increasing numbers h~itheir .cl.il­ dren ordained by monks of this sect. The former monkalo..t 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 styl~&nd according to Lanka doctrine. For instance. diey b4nev.4. that itwal 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 ~t '-""'

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~w· '1W..W¥'t~"i6r ...nCe the &uPS at Wat 'Chang Llml insY~J.t.k;v' Lifo erect a Parihhoga Chedi (a. sbrim. tontaiaibif .~ineoli;e_ l~ behind: by the Buddha, luch al Buddha. ~footprin~), they went to Lanka to eopy the Buc:ldha fuQt~nt .aid to have been 'actually made by the Buddha at t'bc niounwn of Sumanakut and built an esact r~licaof t~~ ioqtprint at the hill of Phrabat and changed the Deane Ql the hill to Sumanakut, giving it the same nam~ as the in Lanl$a. ' Forprejithiag tbe .Dhamma (doctrine), Pali was Wled u the fUD4a.eatallanguage of the Buddhist religion. and the aludy of PallbecatQe c~totnary and spread widely, whereas Sanakri~ was used to triln.lf,te Pali into Thai. Sanakrit is uaed ..: itit were, actu~1iy the Thai, language. For instanc;e. ., Auho is espressed in 1fhai as Artha; SfUtha i. e;xprelled Sasda. and meenl teacher or master; Satlnam is eapre••ed .. S4Ira.-mca»ins weapon.' Pali is raised to aholy laQsuage, .,;hile Sanskrit is used ~s a Colloquial or ordinary laquase•.

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หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส "

a.

. Wl1en Ud<1eeika Chedi. (Buddha hnase. for the pur­ poseG£. worshipping) were created, an intensive study o.f the .it ofm~kini Buddha imaie. ~as made, which resulted in the cr,ation of Buddha images of the Sukhodaya.stlle~ Characterittic .of these Buddha images ate the Ions rlJ4mi or jeWelled ~J{Qn the head of an image of the Buddha re~re. sentirig ray. of glory, and tne han,d. with four equall)!' long ~nlJer~. , Ex~l'l_ are the rhra Buddha jinaraja .nel. Phra . S4dd~.:Jin.~it"im·alies. " . - .... .. ' . . "

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T"·~ of the:Pht!i Ruang Dynasty were Jreat

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U.vel'.:ill:l.anIu. hd<1b.iam; 80· much so that .orne of them, ~ _hJ.~ .,Phr. Mal}a'Dharmaraia Lithai, even entet;ed the H~lY'~_N._of,he Lanka Met IU)d became for Jaome-lm.e a BWk\.hu; all ,,*,,1l\P!e wbich 'Wu followed by the Kinp of -t\YQdhYJl ~;h,''''' KiQ~.of the Re.ta.-koaindra peri9d.~d i .. ~,tbe' ca.'"m:for Thai YO'Gths to enter t~e hI~ly B,.th.~bQod {Qr. at .I

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".at a shott period in their life•

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Kms Jlboifb.caja u.~aj wes • lIe.t.fCaolilr, an authari. IJ:enHto.l1IucWhitl"''';.b&Wldte .·:tr.atiac on ·Budc:Q,._ 21.

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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.

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, 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$ana Dhara land endeavoured to attain to Vimutti or emancipation from suffering an d rebirth. They lived in forest wats (Van(.l$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•. \

หอสมุดกลาง ก ั น ำ ส

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. It 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\Ud invited ?hra Ma­

Lasami, the Patri~rch of Lanka, to be his Upajjhaya(ordinat­

~ing thera} for his ol'dinatlon at Wat Chulamani in Bisnulok. ' He dedicated hi~ 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 Sukho~ daya stupa. For instance, they chanjited the square type ·of the Sukhodaya Stupa into a duodecahedral stupa (n'~mJ'~611 ftf)~); Examples ale' the Phrachedi Sri Suriyodaya and the Phrachedi at WatJumbor Nikayaram. They furl~r l'eceived

. luggestions diree:.tly from Lank,. for the cre~~on of Bl.idd\l_t

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shrine~.:FQr¢xample, 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 Buddha~s sacred foot print~at 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 gre~t importance. Many laymen and m9nks go yearly to Phiabat to worship the Buddha's footprint.

ม ส ด ุ อ กลาง ห ก ั น ำ ส

. 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 Bor51~akot 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 "Say",m i. Wonpe " or " UpaI'1 Wongse "to. th'IS 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 of Lanka; in fact. to lIIuchan extent that a book was written in Ceylon .entitled uA Textbook on the Ordination of Thai Monk•. " (Sa~amup$ampaflat) which still exists today.

:U:

In the Ratana'k.o&i.ndra period. 1-aD\aB~ddhi.~ a.a practised durina the Ayudhya period, still ~ontinued in.the ..meW4ly.The making of Buddha Chedis,theobservanpe.of the Dhamma Vinaylt- rules and tbe .tudy of the Buddha Do~,:, trine conlinued to be pr~ctised. as in the Ayudhya period. For instance, the Temple of the Emerald. ~uddha 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 neW 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 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. "

ม ส ด ุ อ ก'0ลาง ห ก ั น ำ ส

The practice of the Buddhist reltaion in Thail.nd since the Sukhodaya period should therefor~ be considered as .pecificall~ Thai in the same way as wall the Hinayana Buddhism of King Anurutha. And, for this reason, the ~ntroduction 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 th~n the Thai people have been Hinayana Buddhists.

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