Losing our religion?

With the exception of a few forest monasteries, the majority of Thai Buddhists are mired in materialistic and nominally religious pursuits to such an extent that the fundamental teachings of Buddhism and its real practice have been obliterated by a tidal wave of amulets, rituals, merit making and commercial enterprises.

An example of this may be observed in the Dhammakaya sect which has successfully transformed the time-honoured spiritual practice of renunciation into the conventional exercise of accumulation and excess.

The Sangha obviously requires reform. Women must be accorded their rightful place in Thai Buddhism. The archaic feudal administrative structure must be made functional with regard to the restoration, perpetuation and preservation of the Theravadin tradition as put forth in the dhamma texts. The crass commercialised corruption of the Buddha’s precious instruction must be rooted out, errant monks disciplined and religious institutions reformed at the highest levels.

Therefore, one might well ask whether the current choice for supreme patriarch is well suited to this task? Or is it to be more business as usual?