Raksha wrote:Dear Ven. Gavesako,
It's not fair to take potshots at the Dhammakaya Temple
because essentially they mean well, and so everything will work out fine in the end, because good intentions have good results. I believe their legacy will be a completely reinvigorated Thai Buddhism. Instead of indolent, uneducated monks we will have multilingual, graduate monks skilled in satellite TV broadcasting. Instead of passivity and apathy we will have a tradition that is strong and not afraid to stand up for itself. Let's not forget that previously, apart from the odd forest saint, Thai Buddhism was in serious decline.
R.
I take your point about the declining state of the Thai Sangha which often does not seem that inspiring and the standards are pretty low. Compare this article:
"Beginnings of Dhammakaya in Isan"
http://isaan-life.blogspot.com/2012/09/ ... ndbut.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
On the other hand, I think your hope for a "brighter future" with Dhammakaya is naively optimistic, not realizing the danger behind the impressive facade:
3.7. Soon after Ānanda had left, Māra the Evil One came to the Lord, stood to one side, and said: 'Lord, may the Blessed Lord now attain final Nibbāna, may the Well-Farer now attain final Nibbāna. Now is the time for the Blessed Lord's final Nibbāna. Because the Blessed Lord has said this: "Evil One, I will not take final Nibbāna till I have monks and disciples who are accomplished, trained, skilled, learned, knowers of the Dhamma, trained in conformity with the Dhamma, correctly trained and walking in the path of the Dhamma, who will pass on what they have gained from their Teacher, teach it, declare it, establish it, expound it, analyze it, make it clear; till they shall be able by means of the Dhamma to refute false teachings that have arisen, and teach the Dhamma of wondrous effect."40
http://www.palicanon.org/en/sutta-pitak ... -days.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There are plenty of well-researched analyses of the Dhammakaya doctrines which are distorting the Theravada teachings in some crucial aspects. Anyone who is familiar with the Pali Tipitaka texts would be able to see that for themselves (even though Dhammakaya tries to prove that their doctrines
are really based on the original texts, though with little success).
However, what is more worrying and a reason for concern is their drive for domination of the Thai Sangha through fostering strong links with influential politicians and business people, and bribing their way to control even the Sangha hierarchy itself so that they can be presented as a new kind of "elite" and model for the rest of the country. They are indeed very well organized and impressively trained, but in a scary way reminiscent of some militaristic movements that we have seen in the past.
They are also trying to dominate the Thai missionary activities abroad: see this new logo of "Wat Europe" network -- their umbrella organization which is supposed to facilitate the propagation of Thai Buddhism in European countries, with the help of Swedish government apparently.
http://wateurope.eu/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;