Friday, January 8, 2016

A Closer Look at Buddhism in Thailand  - by Jack Nearing

(This entry has been written and graciously shared by Jack Nearing, a fellow retired colleague of CCSB, who has made several visits to Thailand and resides for most of the year in Calgary.)

“Over the years, some of you have heard me muttering that Thailand is different, and I couldn’t figure out why that was so. I noticed it on my first visit to Chiang Mai and each year thereafter. I came here in 2015 determined to find an answer to that question, and I wonder if I’m any closer. 

Thailand bills itself as ‘The Land of Smiles’, and that seems to be very true. However, that conjures up images of people standing around with idiotic grins on their faces, and that is simply not the case. Thais seem contented, not just on the surface, but way down deep. A favourite Thai expression is ‘Mai pen rai’, which means, ‘Relax’, ‘Take it easy’, ‘No big deal’, ‘Don’t sweat the small things’. and that sums up my impression of the Land of Smiles better than most. We are so much the opposite, the average Canadian having more in material goods than the average Thai, but complaining with more or less bitterness about our sorry lot. Why are they different from us? A favourite t-shirt here has ‘SAME SAME’ on the front, while the back declares ’BUT DIFFERENT’. But finding out WHY it is different is the challenge.

I did hear one explanation that helped, but I have no idea whether it is true. That explanation begins with a reference to the tradition of Buddhist monks begging in the streets. Each morning at about 7 you can see monks carrying alms boxes in their habits. As they move along, people give them food or money, kneeling humbly before the monk even though he may be only a boy, and they really seem to feel honoured that they have been selected to contribute. The monk responds with a wai, says a few words and moves on. I’ve seen the process many times and it never varies. The ‘explanation’ of this constitutes the Thai difference: children witness this act of charity first thing every morning from their earliest years and this is burned into their consciousness. The sight of charity every morning provides a foundation of caring about others into their adulthood, one of the basic teachings of Buddhism. True? I have no idea, but it does have some plausibility. Compare that with our earliest memories and I doubt that there are many with memories like that, certainly not me or our children.

Thailand is 95% Buddhist. Buddhism is noted for its disdain for living a life that gets its satisfactions from material things and encourages its adherents to shun such. What is important is to behave decently, cultivate self-discipline and practice mindfulness. These are done by right speech and right action. Briefly these mean that in dealing with other people, one does not lie or steal or harm them in any way. If each of us would live his/her life in this way, then our fellowman is looked after as a result.


Is there any evidence that Thailand is a Buddhist country? It is reported to be 95% Buddhist. Or thinking about a parallel question, is there any evidence that Canada is a Christian country? Google tells me that it is 90% Christian. When I visit Thailand, I sense immediately that it is different and that difference may be due to the influence of Buddhism as suggested above. Would a Thai coming to Canada notice that it’s different and that difference is due to the influence of Christianity? I leave the answer to this latter question with you. I know what my answer is.”

No comments:

Post a Comment