Save true Thai Buddhism
Re: "Temple corruption erodes public faith", (Opinion, April 28).
While I appreciated Thanthip Srisuwannaket's timely essay making constructive suggestions for the salvation of Thai Buddhism from itself, some deeper reforms might also be worth considering.
The clue is in Thanthip's first sentence: "As corruption soars in predominantly Buddhist Thailand, its temples are also facing a serious erosion of public faith due to rife corruption in the closed, non-transparent clergy."
The fact is that as popular as it might be, it is false to claim that Thailand is predominantly Buddhist. It is not.
Thailand does not live according to the wise insights of the Buddha. On the contrary, it lives under the tradition-bound, legalistic sway of a religion known as "Thai Buddhism". This religion was made up over the centuries to serve an elite who wanted another prop for their ideology of control by legalism. Thai Buddhism thus reflects too well the status quo of many decades, if not centuries, that remains rampant.
Relevant to Thanthip's points, one example of the respect unreasonably accorded monks of the nationalistic religion known as Thai Buddhism is their treatment when found guilty of crimes, such as financial corruption to steal public money. They are disrobed.
This is wrong. It is a manifestation of moral corruption, of dishonesty, that has no place in a genuine respect for the Buddha's teachings. It falsely pretends that monks cannot be criminals, that monks are somehow holier than others: a manifestly false prejudice.
Going through a ceremony and putting on saffron robes does not make anyone more moral, more decent or a more respectable person than they were the day before, or than they will be the day after they exit the monkhood.
What, really, is merit making according to the preaching of Thai Buddhism? It is the trade in merit to get a better deal in the next life, either for the devotee who contributes to the temple or does suitable good deeds. But for the rich of Thai society, as for the rich of medieval Europe, the surest path to salvation in the next world is a generous donation to a monastery, or even to a revered monk himself.
It is the corruption of the karmic bureaucracy by money or other valuable consideration. Naturally, when this example is entrenched at the heart of the national religion, endorsed for centuries by those who profit from it, finally, devout Buddhists sincerely believed in, and repeated the same attitude.
But as the Christian Reformation and later Enlightenment showed, and as Thanthip Srisuwannaket optimistically suggests, reform is possible.
I would suggest that a concrete step to help Thai Buddhism become more Buddhist would be to put the Buddha's brilliant's teaching known as Kalama Sutta in a prominent position in spreading true wisdom.
Regular reading of and reflection on the Kalama Sutta could do much to counter the too pervasively anti-Buddhist deference that make people easily believe in authority merely because it is authority, whether based on tradition, popular social consensus, accident of birth, official position, or whatever.
None of these, as the Buddha bluntly reminds us, are inherently reliable guides to right understanding; all should be constantly subject to critical review and questioning, along with temple finances.
Seen in the right light, the erosion of public faith in Thai Buddhism due to repeated scandals is a sign of hope.
It can lead to a reformation of Thai Buddhism so that Thailand might indeed one day become a predominantly truly Buddhist nation.
Felix Qui