Phra Maha Vuthichai Vachiramethi

Phra Maha Vuthichai Vachiramethi

Fears have been expressed that Thai Buddhism is in jeopardy of having no one to fill the role played by Phra Panyanandha Bhikkhu - to act as a guiding conscience for society.

Sathienphong Wannapok, a Buddhist scholar, lamented the passing on Wednesday of one of Thailand's most revered monks, Phra Panyanandha.

"Now Buddhism in Thai society won't have any direction. Superstitious materials will become the focus of all, although the main duty of the monks is to practice the Dhamma and teach the people to understand the essence of Buddhism," he said.

"Monks in the old days had a very high spirit. Nowadays we can find very few of them."

Phra Panyanandha followed the tradition of Phra Buddhadas Bhikkhu, the well-known reformist monk who advocated Buddhism in its purest form without any embellishments. Phra Buddhadas' scholarly writings and preaching sparked a reform movement in Buddhism in this country by calling for Buddhists to return to the original texts or original teaching of the Lord Buddha.

While Phra Buddhadas, who died in 2003, devoted his teaching on Buddhist metaphysics at the highest level, Phra Panya-nandha applied the Buddha's teaching in easy terms so that common people could understand it. Both monks broke away from mainstream Buddhism, which comes with heavily coated rituals that have nothing to do with the essence of Buddhism.

Sathienphong said there were few monks who follow the tradition of Phra Buddhadhas and Phra Panyanandha. The only rare exception, he said, was Phra Payut Payuto, who is now 68 years old.

Phra Payut Payuto is an internationally acclaimed Buddhist scholar of the highest order. His religious writings are broad in scope, covering questions and answers to the problems of the New World Order - from human rights and war - to the environment and economics.

But the problem is common Thais do not have the intellectual capacity or interest to try to understand his work, which has been translated into several languages and is very popular among Buddhist academics worldwide.

Other well-known monks are also ageing and have their own focus.

Luang Phor Khoon of Wat Baan Rai Nakhon Ratchasima, who is widely respected among the people and politicians in the Northeast, makes his own amulets.

Luangta Mahabua of Wat Pa Baantad belongs to the tradition of meditation practice. He has come out from time to time to comment on politics and take a clear political stand. Both are in their eighties.

Luang Phor Thammachayo of Wat Thammakai in Pathum Thani, who also focuses on meditation practice and has a huge support base that includes politicians and big-time business people.

Phra Phayom focuses more of his work on tackling social problems at the community level. He can preach to the common people, yet has no academic background.

Other notable, "young turk" monks who might be able to carry the torch are Phra Maha Vuthichai Vachiramethi of Wat Benjamaborphit, and Phra Maha Sompong Talputto of Wat Soi Luang in Bangkok.

At only 34, Phra Maha Vuthichai is young and energetic. He has turned his pocketbooks on Dhamma into best-sellers. This is unprecedented in the Thai book industry.

"I have been propagating Buddhism for five to six years, doing it quietly in my own way. But when my pocket book, "Dhamma Tid Peak" (Dhamma on the Wings) was launched, there was an enthusiastic response from the readers. This has created a Dhamma trend," he said.

Dhamma on the Wings has also been produced into a TV series.

Old books or old texts about Buddhism are boring to read because the way they're designed and published is very outdated. Phra Maha Vuthichai triggered a revolution by writing his Dhamma works in an easy-to-read way and publishing them in newly designed pocketbooks.

"Dhamma is not a difficult thing to understand. But it has been made difficult because of the old technique. The language used also follows the style of the old temples. It can't communicate with the people."

Phra Maha Sompong also represents a new force among Thai Buddhist monks. At the age of only 28, he is so good at preaching he commands a huge audience and followers, who are swayed by his witty and humorous style. He is so popular he has been dubbed "Dhamma Delivery".

"It is not necessary for Dhamma to only stay in the temple. Dhamma can go everywhere, or wherever that it is needed," Phra Maha Sompong said.

When he delivers his Dhamma preaching, he makes sure he can attach the underlying message with five components. They are fun to listen to, carry substance, give out a sense of peace, remind the consciousness and bring back the conscience.

Phra Maha Sompong began his "Dhamma Delivery" project as an outreach programme by working with 500 other monks to educate Thai youth. He made the youths laugh with his preaching and encouraged them to love the Dhamma.

"Dhamma Delivery is not something new. It happened during the time of the Lord Buddha. After the Buddha attained enlightenment, he did not stay still but went out to propagate his Buddhism to other people. I am just following the Buddha's footsteps," Phra Maha Sompong said.