Thai Buddhism

This dissertation examines Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from its origin in the figure of Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro), the late abbot of Wat Paknam, Thonburi, as well as its transmission to Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo), the late abbot of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi, in the context of the history of Theravāda Buddhist meditation practices.

The second chapter of this dissertation analyses Luang Pho Sot Candasaro’s autobiography, his sermons, the teachings of two of his meditation teachers, namely Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti (Wat Noi, Suphanburi) and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo (Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi), and the meditation traditions of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi) and Wat Pradusongtham (Ayutthaya). It confirms that Luang Pho Sot has taken and adapted aspects of these teachers’ and traditions’ meditation practices and incorporated them into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The second chapter also seeks to clarify further the relationships of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition such as the meditation manual of King Taksin of Thonburi and other manuals preserved in the anthology, Phuttharangsi Thritsadiyan book of samatha and vipassanā meditation of the four reigns.

The third chapter accounts for the development of various lineages, networks and centres of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition after the death of Luang Pho Sot, with an emphasis on Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. The chapter also considers two meditation masters whose teachings and practices were influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, the founder of the Manomayiddhi meditation tradition, and Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh, who practiced and taught Sammā Arahaṃ along with four other meditation systems.

The fourth chapter examines and analyses Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo’s works. The dissertation argues that Achan Sermchai’s works provide a defence of the thought and practice of his tradition, which consists of demonstrating that they conform to Theravāda canonical and commentarial tradition. In his elaboration of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, Achan Sermchai’s works can also be characterized as an attempt to reinterpret and systematize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Moreover, in the fourth chapter, I gather opinions and discussions from different lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition regarding two particular issues: 1) the existence of a prior five-body system in Luang Pho Sot’s teaching; and 2) the practice of offering food to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna. This is to demonstrate that among the various lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, there are differing interpretations regarding aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ practices. This section also includes my interview with mae chi Wanchai Chukon, founder of the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre, Ratchaburi, and one of the few living direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot.

A richly illustrated Phra Malai text, held in the Chester Beatty collection of Thai manuscripts, was recently restored, so that it could be studied for the first time. It dates from the late 18th century when it was created for a Mon monastery located in present-day Thonburi District. The preliminary section that traditionally precedes the actual Phra Malai journey is identified as a condensed version of the Tipitaka. In many respects the illustrations conform with Thai works of the same era, but a number of anomalies were identified, all of which could be related to aspects of Mon culture. Either a skilled Thai artist introduced Mon elements in order to please his clients, or a Mon artist familiar with Thai art occasionally revealed aspects of his native culture. Thai illustrated manuscripts (สมุ ดภาพ samutphāp) that can be firmly traced to the late 18th century are rare. Recently at the Chester Beatty Collection in Dublin an illustrated Phra Malai manuscript that had badly deteriorated was painstakingly restored to such an extent that it could be handled and assessed for the first time. 2 The document is of interest because: it has a secure date; the illustrations are of superior quality; the monastery where it originated can be identified; and the iconography shows an interesting cultural mixture. In this article, I first discuss the date, origin and text of this manuscript before turning to examine the style and iconography of its beautiful and somewhat unusual illustrations. Date and origin On the final folio of CBL Thi 1314 the date of completion of the manuscript is given in Khom script (Figure 1): "The third day of the week, the tenth waning day of the tenth month, the seventh of the decade in the year of the hare". This translates to 12 September 1795.

1. Kristen og Buddhistisk diskurs
2. To diskurser - to sandheder
3. Dharma-diskurs
4. Personaliseret diskurs og væseners tomhed
5. Mahayanas tolkning af de to diskurser
6. Alt er litteratur
7. Den dobbelte diskurs i thai-munkes læseplaner
8. Buddhadasa Bhikkhus psykologiske tolkning
Konklusion: Forskellige diskurser kræver nuancerede tolkninger

In Gender and the Path to Awakening, Martin Seeger lays out the nuances and varying conceptions of female renunciation in modern Thai Buddhism. Centered on long-term textual and ethnographic research on six remarkable female practitioners, Seeger considers trends and changes over the last 140 years in the practices of female renunciants and their devotees. He also investigates understandings of female sainthood in Thai Buddhism, its expressions in material culture, and the importance of orality and memory in Thai Buddhist epistemology. Supported by interviews and careful study of sermons, hagiographies, and hitherto untranslated and rare Thai sources, this book examines the social backgrounds, modes of expression, veneration, and historical contexts of Thai women pursuing the Buddhist ideal. Rich in ethnographic detail and with additional grounding in foundational Indian Buddhist texts, this book off ers new insights into the complexities of female renunciation and gender relations in modern Thai Buddhism.

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing study of borān kammaṭṭhāna, the premodern Theravāda meditation tradition, by providing a detailed presentation and an analysis of a late Ayutthaya meditation manual, titled The diagrams/rooms of the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha, from Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. The history of Wat Pradusongtham goes back at least to the reign of King Songtham (Boromracha I, reigned 1608-1628), when it was an important borān kammaṭṭhāna centre and was associated with the forestdwelling monks' division of the Saṅgha. The manual describes the practice of visualisations of three yantra diagrams that represent the qualities (guṇa) of the Triple Gems and makes use of various bodily bases, canonical and paracanonical chants and mantras as aids to the practice of recollections and the development of concentration (samādhi). Its interpretation is based on the author's interview with a borān kammaṭṭhāna teacher, Phra Khru Sitthisangwon (Wira Ṭhānavīro), the meditation instructor at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi.

Thai Buddhism preserves and propagates many vital features of Theravāda Buddhism. These include traditions of forest monks, mindfulness meditation practices, and in-depth phenomenological analysis of the Buddhist Abhidhamma. Generally, Thai horror films have focused instead on the sensational aspects of popular Buddhism associated with superstitions in the country. Nang Nak (Nonzee Nimibutr, Thailand, 1999) and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethaku, Thailand, 2010) represent two treatments of these aspects.

การวิจัยนี้เป็นการวิจัยแบบผสมผสาน (Mixed Method Research) วัตถุประสงค์การวิจัยเพื่อศึกษาบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียน เพื่อเปรียบเทียบบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียน เพื่อหาความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนกับศีลธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียน และ เพื่อศึกษาศีลธรรมของนักเรียนที่เรียนกับครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนในเชิงคุณภาพ ประชากรและกลุ่มตัวอย่าง คือ ครูพระสอนศีลธรรม ผู้บริหารสถานศึกษา ครูพี่เลี้ยง นักเรียน และผู้ปกครอง จำนวน 1,200 รูป/คน ได้แบบสอบถามฉบับสมบูรณ์จำนวน 747 ชุด เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัย คือ แบบสอบถาม และแบบสัมภาษณ์. สถิติที่ใช้ในการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลเชิงปริมาณ ได้แก่ ความถี่ ร้อยละ ค่าเฉลี่ย ส่วนเบี่ยงเบนมาตรฐาน Krukal Wallis Test และ สัมประสิทธ์สหสัมพันธ์ของเพียร์สัน และสำหรับการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลเชิงคุณภาพใช้การวิเคราะห์เนื้อหา (content analysis)
ผลการวิจัย พบว่า โดยรวมและรายด้านครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนมีบทบาทอยู่ในระดับมากทุกด้านโดยเรียงลำดับจากมากไปหาน้อยได้แก่  ด้านปกครองคณะสงฆ์ ด้านการสาธารณูปการ ด้านการสาธารณสงเคราะห์ ด้านการเผยแผ่ศาสนธรรม ด้านศาสนศึกษา ด้านความเป็นครูพระสอนศีลธรรม และด้านการศึกษาสงเคราะห์ ตามลำดับ ผลการทดสอบสมมติฐาน พบว่า บทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมมีความแตกต่างกันอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ .05  ทุกด้าน และบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมมีความสัมพันธ์กับศีลธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียนอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติทุกด้านเช่นกัน ส่วนการศึกษาด้วยวิธีการสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึก พบว่า คุณธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียนที่เรียนกับครูพระสอนศีลธรรม ได้แก่ ไม่ดื้อ อ่อนน้อมถ่อมตน  พูดจาไพเราะ กตัญญูกตเวที ซื่อสัตย์สุจริต รู้จักบาป-บุญ และรู้จักไหว้พระ

Abstract
In Thailand, the relations between religion and politics are still grounded in ancient world-views wherein karma defines the person's individual situation and the king guarantees the Dharma (or World Order). Dharma has a religious side as well, as exposed in the Buddha's teachings and transmitted by the Sangha (community of Buddhist monks). Accordingly, the king could not only use the Sangha (religion) for the benefit of Dharma (politics), but even intervene in the Sangha' s life to make it truer to its own Dharma (the rule bequeathed by the Buddha, or Vinaya). Since the establishment of the constitutional monarchy, the king still benefits from this traditional view even though daily political responsibilities are no longer his. Governments have used the Sangha to implement some important policies such as the construction of a Thai identity or the struggle against communism. But now that society is more open, they lack the kind of legitimacy that used to allow the king to discipline the Sangha. For their part, the monks want both more protection and more independence.
Résumé
Les relations entre religion et politique en Thaïlande sont encore dépendantes d'anciennes représentations du monde où la situation individuelle des hommes est régie par leur karma tandis que l'Ordre du monde, le Dharma, est en principe garanti par le roi. Or ce Dharma possède également une face religieuse exposée dans l'enseignement du Bouddha dont le Sangha, Communauté des bonzes, est le dépositaire. Dans un tel ensemble, le roi pouvait se permettre non seulement d'exploiter le Sangha — la religion - pour les besoins du Dharma - la politique -, mais même intervenir dans la gestion du Sangha pour le rendre plus fidèle à son propre Dharma, la règle léguée par le Bouddha (ou Vinaya). Depuis l'établissement de la monarchie constitutionnelle, le roi profite encore de ce scheme traditionnel mais la gestion politique lui a été enlevée. Les gouvernements ont continué d'exploiter le SanghaK d'abord pour la construction de l'identité thaïe puis pour échapper au communisme. A présent, la libéralisation politique aidant, les gouvernements n'ont plus le type de légitimité qui permettait au roi de discipliner le Sangha tandis que les bonzes veulent à la fois plus de protection et plus d'indépendance.

Available records, when gathered together, could be seen as suggesting that in the past there have been both bhikkhunis and samaneris in the lands now known as Thailand, from the time of the Aśokan missions of arahants Sona and Uttara to Suvannabhumi, up until the Ayutthaya Period, and even into the twentieth century in the northern regions. However, there is little or no public knowledge nor a sense of connectedness to this distant and more recent past within contemporary Theravada Buddhist communities.  The updated version of this paper, originally published as an appendix to the 2007 First International Congress on Buddhist Women paper "Mining for Gold" and now republished indepedently in the July 2015 issue of Gautami Samayiki, gathers such records. It aims to share knowledge and foster a sense of connectedness with our shared past as well as to contribute to further reflection and consideration, potentially leading to a shift in perspective with regards Buddhist monastic women's history, the history of the monastic Sangha and the history of Buddha Catu Parisa (Buddha's Fourfold Community) in Southeast Asia, particularly in the region/s now known as Thailand.

การวิจัยนี้เป็นการวิจัยแบบผสมผสาน (Mixed Method Research) วัตถุประสงค์การวิจัยเพื่อศึกษาบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียน เพื่อเปรียบเทียบบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียน เพื่อหาความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนกับศีลธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียน และ เพื่อศึกษาศีลธรรมของนักเรียนที่เรียนกับครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนในเชิงคุณภาพ ประชากรและกลุ่มตัวอย่าง คือ ครูพระสอนศีลธรรม ผู้บริหารสถานศึกษา ครูพี่เลี้ยง นักเรียน และผู้ปกครอง จำนวน 1,200 รูป/คน ได้แบบสอบถามฉบับสมบูรณ์จำนวน 747 ชุด เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัย คือ แบบสอบถาม และแบบสัมภาษณ์. สถิติที่ใช้ในการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลเชิงปริมาณ ได้แก่ ความถี่ ร้อยละ ค่าเฉลี่ย ส่วนเบี่ยงเบนมาตรฐาน Krukal Wallis Test และ สัมประสิทธ์สหสัมพันธ์ของเพียร์สัน และสำหรับการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลเชิงคุณภาพใช้การวิเคราะห์เนื้อหา (content analysis)
ผลการวิจัย พบว่า โดยรวมและรายด้านครูพระสอนศีลธรรมในโรงเรียนมีบทบาทอยู่ในระดับมากทุกด้านโดยเรียงลำดับจากมากไปหาน้อยได้แก่  ด้านปกครองคณะสงฆ์ ด้านการสาธารณูปการ ด้านการสาธารณสงเคราะห์ ด้านการเผยแผ่ศาสนธรรม ด้านศาสนศึกษา ด้านความเป็นครูพระสอนศีลธรรม และด้านการศึกษาสงเคราะห์ ตามลำดับ ผลการทดสอบสมมติฐาน พบว่า บทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมมีความแตกต่างกันอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ .05  ทุกด้าน และบทบาทของครูพระสอนศีลธรรมมีความสัมพันธ์กับศีลธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียนอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติทุกด้านเช่นกัน ส่วนการศึกษาด้วยวิธีการสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึก พบว่า คุณธรรมพื้นฐานของนักเรียนที่เรียนกับครูพระสอนศีลธรรม ได้แก่ ไม่ดื้อ อ่อนน้อมถ่อมตน  พูดจาไพเราะ กตัญญูกตเวที ซื่อสัตย์สุจริต รู้จักบาป-บุญ และรู้จักไหว้พระ

Thai Buddhist Holy Water (Nam Montr)
Nam Montr (น้ำมนต์, Thai) is the name given to Holy water, the blessing water or magically empowered water. Thai grammatically, Nam means water. Montra (Mantra,Skt.) is kept and empowered in a special receptacle called a ‘Khan Nam Montr’, which exist in a multitude of forms, specialized purposes, and artistic interpretations. The prepared objects and tools for the ceremonies were; 1). the Khan Nam Montr is used for meditative empowerment methods as well as incantation and prayer as a method of transference of power. 2). the candles 3). the holy thread, 4). incenses, and 5). the use of added ingredients and sacred objects immersed in the holy prayer water are used as a magical fusion method to increase and amplify the power of the holy prayer water. The water is used to spray on the Lays, the devotees and any objects considered worthy of Blessing.

1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to present about Thai Buddha Images for the Days of the Week (Thai: Phra Prajum Wan Kerd). In Thailand, almost of all festivals, ceremonies and celebrations generally start with “merit-making” ceremonies. The merit-making is literally translated from Thai phrase “Tum Boon.” Thai word “Tum” means “to make, to do and to act” and “Boon” means “services to others such as providing food to the needy, contribution to education, hospitals and other charitable organizations, etc. However, when the phrase is mentioned as a part of festivity such as Tum Boon Wan Kerd (merit-making for a birthday), it usually means a traditional Thai Buddhist ceremony where excerpts from the Buddha’s teaching are recited and food is offered to Buddhist monks.   
If you have been to a temple (or 'Wat') in Thailand, you might have noticed that the Buddha appears in standing, sitting or reclining postures or in different position. In some temple you will even see seven (or sometimes eight) statues of Buddha aligned next to each other, and often with a donation cup or bowl in front of them. So what does it mean?  Many people see them without really knowing what these images mean or are for what. Each of them is for a day of the week, and you would pay respect to the statue representing the day you were born. There are of course a lot more than seven postures of Buddha and while we were researching we found different versions and explanations. That’s why on this paper I would like to study more about its historical background and the development of Buddha Images for the Days of the Week.

From bookstores to television, on the posters hanging in coffee shops and printed on t-shirts, meditation is everywhere in Thailand. Long considered an esoteric practice among ascetics, meditation is now celebrated as a technique to cultivate a “better you” and centrally featured in a nascent religious renewal that sees the rise in mindfulness meditation, active lay mobilization, proliferation of meditation centers and retreats, and thriving religious media economies. In order to examine such aspects critically, the objective of this article is twofold: first, I propose that these developments be considered in a larger historical context connected to the formation of modern state Buddhism, different waves of religious reform and shifting political-economic forces. In doing so, I hope to show the background as to why mass meditation is an important arena where religious change and its social and political impact could be studied. Second, I suggest that lay Buddhist associations (LBAs) represent a location from which the spread of meditation can be concretely explored, not the least due to their role in organizing religious learning and formulating innovative cultural practices aimed at cultivating ethical subjectivity of Buddhist masses. The profiles of two prominent institutions, Young Buddhist Association of Thailand and Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives, are presented to illustrate the significance that LBAs have in the current meditation trafficking. Studying these sites, I argue, presents a unique opportunity to see mass meditation from a standpoint that has by far received little scholarly attention.

A short presentation of Buddhadadasa Bhikkhu's life and work through the lens of "in", "out" and "beyond" Thai culture, Buddhist Sangha, Theravada Buddhism. The PDF version lacks some typographic features which can be found at http://www.suanmokkh.org/articles/13

A speech presented at The 8th International Buddhist Research Seminar & The 2nd International Conference on Buddhadāsa Studies on 25 May 2017 at the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives, Bangkok, in honour of the 111th Anniversary of Buddhadāsa.

In this paper I make proposals regarding
further advances in the studies of Theravada
Buddhism along the lines suggested by
Justin McDaniel in his The Lovelorn Ghost and
the Magical Monk (2011). The benefits of Mc-
Daniel’s approach lie in his de-emphasis of doctrinal
tradition and his focus on local frames of
reference in explaining Thai Buddhism. Its faults
lie in a disregard for the developments outside
the socio-cultural paradigm. I argue for the
integration of socio-cultural and naturalist approaches
to the study of religion. Balancing the
over-accentuation of the explanatory power of
either socio-cultural or cognitive concepts, such
integration would also permit a move from the
socio-cultural metaphorical models to causal
and more controlled explanations of religious
phenomena.
I illustrate my suggestions through an example
of a Thai wat (shrine/monastery). One of these
suggestions, implied by the de-emphasis of the
doctrinal tradition, is to recognize the predominantly
advertising and ritualistic function of
wats’ visuals, effigies, and architecture rather
than reading them as symbolic expressions of
doctrinal tenets.

The science of psychology is believed to consist of objective and meaningful knowledge about a realm of our own direct experiencing with which we are all intimate and familiar, yet about which we also feel we have very little understanding, and no real insight, and so feel inclined to submit to psychology as if it were revelatory and definitive. Society’s default attitude to psychology is one of deferential, if occasionally grudging, respect. The quasi-medical arm of psychology – psychotherapy - is accorded a similar authority even when it appears to employ questionable methods and dubious reasoning. Yet our submissive, compliant attitude to these disciplines is deeply counterproductive to any serious quest for authentic metaphysical knowledge and self-fulfilment, because it effectively neutralises sceptical enquiry and intellectual self-reliance, both of which are essential precursors to, and indispensable features of, any meaningful commitment to metaphysical gnosis. And if one is to achieve clarity of thought and observational accuracy, it is especially important to approach one’s psychological capacities directly – without intermediary - in an independent and self-reliant spirit, free of the misguided and inappropriate interventions of psychology and psychotherapy, however well intended they might be. One should never allow one’s judgement to be distorted by specious theories formulated by people who can never know more about you than you can know about yourself.

This chapter describes Patani’s Indic, Islamic and Thai pasts. The argu- ment is that the Malay kerajaan of Patani was similar to—rather than distinct from—other port city-states on the peninsula and islands of Southeast Asia where a Sanskrit cosmopolis existed for a millennium before the earliest chapters of Islam’s Southeast Asian expansion. Islam also circulated east and west of Patani through trade between the Middle East and China via the Indian Ocean. This created a range of Indian/Arab/Malay creole communities whose members played key roles in the adoption of, or adhesion to, Islam in Southeast Asian port city-states like Patani. India’s importance to the arrival of Islam to the Thai/Malay peninsula relates to what Islam came to, where Islam initially came from, and who Islam came through. Rather than refer to conversion, I refer to an adhesion to, or adoption of, Islam. The impact of Thai and Islamic influences in Patani/Pattani following its defeat in 1785 is described. The details of the process through which the Malay Kingdom (SM. kerajaan) of  became the Thai Province of Pattani, including Bangkok’s legislative and administrative initiatives are also provided. A central con- cern of this chapter is to highlight the fact that these developments coincided with a period of revolution and reform in the Hijaz. I describe how these developments impacted local religious life and thought through local luminaries such as Shaykh Daud Al-Fatani, Shaykh Ahmad Al-Fatani and Haji Sulong. The methodologies and contributions of present-day reformist revivalist movements are also described.

Buddhist encounters: A touch of Zen in Thai Buddhism - Modernity has forced Thai Buddhism into rethinking its apologetics regarding first cosmology and rebirth, and then social and political engagement. This has usually been done by going back to the Theravāda tradition, but has failed whenever the renewal claimed to be achieved through setting up a sectarian and exclusive group. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (1906-1992) has suggested a modernist apologetic renewal inspired by Zen which called into question traditional Theravāda Buddhist beliefs and practices without attempting to create a new sectarian group. He has been criticised either in the name of Theravāda orthodoxy or because he has been allegedly ineffective. The complexity of encounters between the different Buddhist traditions should lead historians to evaluate the past with the greatest caution.
Introduction
1. Le contexte de la modernité
1.1. Modernité et communisme
1.2. Modernité et vie ascétique
1.3. Modernité et méditation
1.4. Modernité et tradition locale
2. L'appel de Buddhadasa à une tradition étrangère: le Zen
2.1. Le Zen avant Buddhadasa
2.2. L'ombre du Soleil levant
2.3. Le Zen « emprunté » de Buddhadasa
2.3.1. Caractères généraux
2.3.2. Quelques débats autour du Zen
2.3.2.1. La querelle de l'esprit originel
2.3.2.2. La querelle de l'esprit pur
2.3.2.3. La querelle de l'esprit vide
2.3.3. Le Zen comme source d'inspiration mais non de communauté séparée
3. Le Zen « implanté »
3.1. Le Zen dans le paysage religieux: la critique de Santi Asoke
3.2. Le Zen dans le paysage littéraire
3.3. Le Zen dans le paysage artistique
Conclusion

'Kingdom's Edge' is a collection of photographs by photo-journalist Richard Humphries, focusing on Thailand's troubled deep South. The collection was compiled over a ten-year period.

The introduction to the collection is by Gerard McDermott.

'The collection captures the colourful and, at times, clashing identities and traditions of different peoples living together, yet separately; their histories and cultures sometimes overlapping, and sometimes conflicting. Some of the photos use allusions, symbolism and subtle references, while others make a virtue of plainness and immediacy. Richard's work maintains either a respectful intimacy or a sympathetic distance: at times, raw and immediate; at other times, detached.' - Gerard McDermott

Although actively preparing for increased integration in the region in 2015, Thailand is often cited as one of ASEAN's most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous member. This article considers Javanese presence, and influence in Central Thai between the Ayutthaya period and early Bangkok period, asking whether Siam's captivation with Javanese cultural forms represent an anomaly or reflect Ayutthaya' cosmopolitan past. I begin by summarising references to Javanese presence in Ayutthaya and Bangkok in a range of primary and secondary sources. These confirm that, although located inland on a navigable river, Ayutthaya resembled the maritime city-states of the era. Drawing extensively on the work of Davisakd Puaksom, I consider the personalities and processes involved in the arrival, adoption, and adaption of the Javanese epic, Panji, best known in Thailand as Inao. Far from a cultural anomaly, I argue that Siam's Inao fetish is a reminder about the region's connectedness, and that Ayutthaya was strikingly similar to cosmopolitan Melaka.

No credible claims can be made that the role of language – specifically Malay – has been entirely overlooked by those studying conflict dynamics in South Thailand. Nevertheless, those concerned with religious factors dwarf the number of studies interrogating language issues. Without suggesting that language represents some sort of silver bullet solution to this complex conflict, I argue that anyone pursuing peaceful, political resolutions to Thailand's southern impasse must be more informed about language policy, monolingual mind-sets, and linguistic justice, namely how linguistic repertoires and linked to inequality. My interests in this paper are theoretical (rather than empirical). The first of this paper's two substantive sections describes the nature of Thailand's (diverse) linguistic landscape and how the language policies pursued by Bangkok resemble those of other states between South and Southeast Asia. In light of Bangkok's policies towards southern Malays resemble those that impacted Lao and Khmer-speaking Buddhists in the northeast provinces, I suggest that some dynamics in South Thailand need to be de-exceptionalized. In the section the follows, I interact with recent treatments of how language and religion are involved in constructions of ethno-nationalisms, and linguistic injustice that leads to inequality among linguist minorities. I conclude suggesting reasons for anyone seeking peaceful political resolutions in South Thailand – where a nation linguistic minority possesses close connections to the Malay cosmopolis – needing address the politically sensitive issue of Thailand's (deeply entrenched) monolingual mind-set and discriminatory language policy that has led to widespread language loss.

This article offers an English translation of Tamra Kammathan khong Somdet Phra Chao Krung Thonburi (Meditation Manual of the King of Thonburi), dated 1775 CE. The manual, obtained from Wat Ratchadathitthan, Bangkok, is identified as belonging to the "borān kammaṭṭhāna", or "old meditation", tradition and records the practice of mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati), the attainment of divine eye (dibba-cakkhu), and the vision of a luminous sphere termed, the "Dhamma Sphere of the Buddha", at the bodily bases between the eyebrows and the navel. After obtaining the Dhamma Sphere, the meditator is instructed to visualise sacred Pāli syllables in Khom script inside the sphere. The practice described in the manual shares similar characteristics with two influential contemporary meditation systems of the Supreme Patriarch Suk Kai Thuean (1733-1822) and Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. The vision of the luminous sphere, which is a common feature of the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, is also depicted as the highest attainment in the Thonburi and Ayutthaya versions of the illustrated manuscripts of the Traiphum (Three Worlds cosmology).

This essay engages the question of Buddhism and its relation to power. The specific interest here is in how to think about the relation between religious practice and power in modernity, and what modern assumptions about religion and time prevent us from doing so.

This paper examines the terms 'nekkhamma' (renunciation) and the value of silence in Temiya Jātaka by drawing parallels with the various usages of renunciation and silence in other Jātakas and Pāli discourses and exploring the possibility that silence can be used as a powerful method of persuasion, as in the case of Prince Temiya's sixteen years of pretending to be deaf, mute and crippled, which contributed to the renunciation of four kingdoms. Moreover, this paper also examines the Jātaka’s understanding of the relationship between 'nekkhamma' and meditation, and its perceptions of family and filial piety. The final part of the paper discusses a recent operatic adaptation of Temiya Jātaka by the composer Somtow Sucharitkul, how it reinterprets the Jātaka and sheds light on its relevance to contemporary society.

Potprecha Cholvijarn. 2016. ‘Renunciation and the power of silence in Temiya Jātaka’ in Suradech Chotiudompant (ed.) ถกเถียงเรื่องคุณค่า (Debating Values) (Bangkok: Vibhasa), pp. 637-670.

Triggered by the sense of crisis, the Thai state and Thai Buddhism are renewing their traditional relationship kindled by the monarch-led reform over a century ago. Thai Buddhism is reviving its lost aura and hegemony while the political conservatives are looking for legitimacy and collective identity in a time of democratic regression. The result is the rise of the Buddhist-nationalistic movement, Buddhist-as-Thainess notion. The phenomenon has grown more mainstream in recent years. These extreme Buddhists pressure the government to adopt a new constitutional relationship that brings the two entities closer to a full establishment. They also target both religious minorities as well as non-mainstream Buddhists. The revival of Buddhist nationalism foretells rising tension as well as diminishing religious freedom.

Jean Boisselier stated confidently: 'Artists are of course unable to depict any aspect of nibbāna, since that world is by nature without form’. This article will show that more than two centuries ago Thai artists did just that which Boisselier proclaimed to be impossible.Some dew an emptly space, others a complex "City of Nibbāna

Abstract—Several catalogues of Pāli palm-leaf manuscript collections, preserved at the National Library of Thailand, have been published. These catalogues, however, are mere lists of titles and they do not record the number of physical manuscripts under each title. For instance, the Milindapañha (Questions of King Milinda) appears as a single entry in these catalogues, but, in fact, the library holds seventy copies. These seventy manuscripts, though not all are complete, are not necessarily direct copies of each other or of a single original exemplar: they are, rather, distinct recensions that were copied in different periods of Thai history. Therefore, they serve as a valuable repository for the study of the text’s diverse textual traditions to elucidate the background of its transmission. Moreover, there are other related works, like the Milindapañha-ṭīkā, the Milindapañha Saṅkhepa, and the Milindapañhagāthā, which is embedded in the Vaṃsamālinī. The last two are yet to be found outside Thailand. Thus, this short article aims to present a concise listing of them in the hope that they will facilitate further research into these texts.