March 23, 1999
We care   Dharma and development   In many rural areas across the Kingdom there are monks who have dedicated themselves to helping the poor. Phra Khru Supajarawat of Wat Tha Laad in Yasothon, is one shining example of monks working in community development Sanitsuda Ekachai Ask Phra Khru Supajarawat what is the driving force behind his lifetime dedication to the monkhood and he will simply say it is just what he "sees". "I am a rural monk. What I see around me is the poverty and suffering of rural folk. It's my duty to help," says the 59-year-old abbot of Tha Laad Temple in Yasothon's Kudchum district. The temple is as simple as the abbot is matter-of-fact and self-effacing. There is no grandiose praying hall. No awesome rows of gold-gilded Buddha images. No amulet booths. No ubiquitous donation boxes. Yet, the shady Wat Tha Laad is famous nationally for its non-mainstream development work that focuses on villagers' well-being and self-reliance instead of money. The work includes encouraging villagers' self-care through traditional medicine, self-sufficiency farming, chemical-free agriculture and a community rice mill for chemical-free, unpolished rice that is now popular in Thailand. Amid cynicism following misconduct by some monks, Phra Supajarawat's role is living proof that monks-who stay true to Buddhist teachings-can play an important role as community leaders and can help ease the suffering of the poor. Like most rural villages in Thailand, the close-knit Kudchum communities became virtually bankrupt after being wooed by the state's promotion of single cash crop farming. Many farmers found themselves in debt due to price fluctuations and the rising cost of farm chemicals. So how is it possible to help? Buddhism, says the abbot, teaches him to look beyond the surface to the root of the suffering. As he sees it, the problems faced by many rural people do not lie in poverty per se, but in a lack of self-esteem after being systematically brainwashed to believe they are backward hill-billies. Consequently, he argues, villagers adopt whatever the city "masters" tell them to do. The young and able-bodied leave their villages and go to the city in search of money. Communities gradually disintegrate unable to cope with an influx of new problems. "All around me, I see people deep in debt, struggling to survive and beaten down with illnesses. And they seek the wrong way out by gambling, borrowing and drinking. "Essentially, all this is a result of villagers looking down on themselves. If they don't realise the dangers of city values, they will always be the tools of the rich and the state," he argues. He aims to help villagers realise the root of their problems and show how they can use the Buddha's teachings to relieve their hardships and become self-reliant. In 1983, he turned the temple into a centre of traditional medicine. As well as alleviating the villagers' dependency on expensive Western medicine, Phra Khru Supajarawat saw such a move as a means to restoring the communities self-esteem. Initially, the villagers came to the temple for herbal medicines, traditional massage and to use the herbal sauna. Later, they grew their own herb gardens. Then the young people in the village started visiting the temple to learn how to make basic herbal medicines-and to value their ancestors' wisdom once again. The abbot also helped non-governmental organisations set up a folk doctors group at Tha Laad. Villagers' acceptance grew when medicinal herbs were later adopted by their community hospital. And one thing led to another. The old knowledge encouraged villagers to question mainstream chemical farming. Although recognising chemical farming could affect their health and their financial independence, many villagers were initially fearful of change. Thus the abbot urged his relatives to set an example by going self-sufficient. More and more villagers were won over. And he set about easing the cost of their change by using traditional pha pah fundraising ceremonies to organise a land-adjustment fund. Before long, the community had turned to natural farming which, says the abbot, is both "kind to nature while reducing our greed". A community mill for pesticide-free rice was set up, cutting out exploitation by middlemen, and ensuring quality control for rice buyers. The mill now has a cash flow of more than 20 million baht. There has been important knock-on effects. Village youths now realise there is work and hope back home even during a recession. And the rice project has ushered a broader popularity in brown, organic rice consumption even in Bangkok. In honour of his insight and dedication, the prestigious Komol Kheemthong Address recently featured Phra Khru Supajarawat as a keynote speaker. Apart from discussing his work and inspiration, he stressed the importance of monks' roles in addressing poverty and restoring rural pride. "Monks still command respect in the countryside as community leaders. We can do so much to help if we choose to" he said. The successful conservation of Don Kaen community forest in Tha Laad is a case in point. Once it was a fast disappearing woodland due to farmland expansion. To keep it as a community wood and a source of medicinal herbs, he worked for a community consensus to turn it into a religious sanctuary. Impressed by his dedication, nearby farmers donated connecting land to the sanctuary which now covers more than 1,000 rai. The wood is now used to teach villagers meditation so they can put their lives into perspective and counter the constant attack from consumer culture. "Development must be balanced by dharma," he said. If not, he said, more money will only plunge people deeper into the seas of greed and vice. To revive the monks' roles as community leaders and agents of change, Phra Khru Supajarawat has formed a network of monk volunteers in his province called Sangha Arsa Pattana. They also link with like-minded monks in the Northeast and with the Sekhiyadharma group, a national network of development-minded monks. Their mutual aim is to sensitise monks to the dangers of consumerism and allow them to learn from one another how to help villagers restore self-sufficiency and self-esteem, and to boost their morale so they don't feel isolated in their development attempts. (See sidebar)Unfortunately, the abbot comments, many monks have strayed from the paths of purity, compassion and insight. "The public faith has been eroded basically because monks are not virtuous. As monks we must ask ourselves if we have been true to our duty to help others with their suffering, or whether we are making money from rites and rituals."For the monks who do care for the rural poor, Phra Khru Supajarawat stresses the importance of insight: "Things can fall apart if we don't comprehend contemporary change. "We must understand how the state, society, rural communities, and the Sangha Council operate at this time and age and we must understand the problems. "We must then apply Buddhism as a way to understand modern changes and use dhamma so villagers can solve their problems through selflessness, honesty, unity, perseverance and contentment in a simple life based on self-reliance," he says. He has many other pearls of wisdom for socially-minded monks who often work in intense situations trying to balance the various conflicts of interests fairly. He urges them to: "Practise meditation. Without a strong spiritual back-up, we can not survive the conflicts. "Also, visit the villagers regularly and use dhamma to pacify things when acting as a mediator. Always avoid self interest. And never to be trapped by praise."Monks, he warns, cannot help society unless they are free from egoism and the pursuit of personal benefit. Monks, he adds, must also "learn to listen". "Instead of being intent on giving sermons, we must learn from villagers about their problems. And what they honestly think about us." Despite Kudchum's success, the abbot is not free of worries. Success is a double-edged sword and profit-seeking can easily become the main focus for villagers, he warned. "We must constantly ask ourselves if business success has made us forget the community in any way," he cautioned. "And no matter what future steps we take, we must always look back to remember our original goal is community self-sufficiency." To keep oneself in check, villagers must ask if they still live a moral, modest life putting community before personal interests, he said. Monks, meanwhile, must check their conduct to ensure they are good role models. And concerned development workers must ask themselves whether they put their organisational interests before those of the villagers. According to social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, Phra Khru Supajarawat is a gem in the Thai Sangha whose work has shown how Buddhist ethics of self-reliance and humility can save Thailand from the economic crisis. For Phra Khru Supajarawat, it is easy to check if the country has followed the right path of development. "See if families are still together or not," he said. Any development policies that take parents away from their children cannot be right, he said. "If we want to solve our crisis, we must stop thinking money," he stressed. "We also must stop depending on outside help. The answer is self-reliance."*"We Care" is a weekly series honouring people who believe in giving. You can show you care by supporting the projects featured here each week. You can also let us know about people who selflessly help others so we can honour them in these pages. Fax "We Care" on 240-3666, or call 240-3700 ext 3208 or 3212. Alternatively email sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net   Expanding their horizons Although he has a formal education of only Prathom four, Phra Khru Supajarawat says his community work significantly benefits from his being part of a socially-concerned monks network. "As members, we learn what other monks are doing in other places. We attend seminars to study each other's problems, to understand the roots of rural sufferings, and to exchange ideas on how monks can better help the poor," he says. To revive the role of monks as community leaders and agents of change, he says monks urgently need an education which sensitises them to the complexity of modern problems and on how to apply Buddhist ethics to strengthen communities. The Sekhiyadharm Witthayalai Project is trying to do just that. Founded in 1991, the Sekhiyadharm academy is run by the Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development (TIDC), a non-profit organisation, which provides training and workshops for monks and nuns. Such workshops need public funding. But they provide monks and nuns a forum to discuss ways to rebuild their communities based on respect for cultural roots and on Buddhist principles on self-reliance. To expand the network, the academy also publishes a journal called Sekhiyadharm. Apart from featuring the various community work being undertaken by monks and nuns across the country, the journal also covers current religious and development topics to keep the clergy up to date. Its latest issue, for example, discusses the necessity for Sangha reform, women's roles in Buddhism, and the controversial draft Nun Bill. While Buddhism provides a strategy for tackling suffering, the Sekhiyadharm academy believes monks need help to comprehend the nature of today's sufferings so they can apply Buddhist teachings to modern problems. Phra Khru Supa of Yasothon said; "If we can expand our monks' network and educate a younger generations of monks to be socially concerned, it is the weak and poor who will benefit."   Info for donations: You can support Sekhiyadharm's training programmes or sponsor the Sekhiyadharm journals for monks and nuns. *Name of Project: Sekhiyadharm Witthayalai Project*Name of Organisation: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for *evelopment*Contact person: Preeda Ruangwichatorn*Address: 124 Soi Wat Thongnopphakun, Somdej Chaophya, Klong San, Bangkok 10600. *Tel: 437-9445, 437-9450*Fax: 437-9450*Savings bank account name: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development (Khana Kammakarn Sasana Peur Karn Pattana); account number: 068-2-58583-8; Thai Farmers' Bank, Klong San branch. Alternately, send your cheque payable to Post Publishing Public Company Limited (For Sekhiyadharm) to Kusuma Mintakhin, Editorial Manager, 136 Na Ranong Road, off Sunthorn Kosa, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110. Her telephone number is 240-3700 ext 3224-5. Please also include your name and address with your cheque so we can send you a receipt.		Current Issues in Thailand Bangkok Post Year-end Economic Review AutoWeb Classifieds Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Learn English Weekly Database Horizons Motoring NiteOwl Real Time Student Weekly Special We Care Street Art Back Issues Last Month Archive Company Services Subscriptions Advertising Annual Report
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