Wat Dhammakaya

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by TRobinson465 »

slimdabuddhist wrote: Lol you know what sounds crazy?....

Haha, okay i just had to respond to this. You seriously think seeing past lives is crazy in a religion where people battle Nagas and ogres, face off against an army of demons, take field trips to Heaven, get into debates with Brahma beings, make copies of themselves, fly, talk to and see angels and other supernatural beings, use telekinesis, and visit other universes?

Yeah, totally a cult by Buddhist standards. After all its not like other monks have made similar statements. Especially not in the super always right Forest tradition.


"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by TRobinson465 »

slimdabuddhist wrote: I never heard of buddha meditating and telling others of how their past lives were.

Lol. yeah that's totally not anywhere in the scriptures haha.
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by TRobinson465 »

Turmeric wrote:
To let everyone here know, I've been informed that the bangkok post and thenation delete pro Dhammakaya comments. I have a friend that told me they tried to post there and they get deleted. So if you go into the comment section you might find that every comment is anti Dhammakaya. I think this says something about the credibility of these websites and it raises suspicion about what their intentions actually are.

This is true btw. i have tried commenting on Bangkok Post and the Nation. You are free to try this out and test this for yourselves on all of the news articles coming out of Juntaland regarding Dhammakaya (ehippasiko). Particularly the big ones like Bangkok Post and the Nation, whose content is frequently used here and whose reporters are afraid of getting put into "attitude adjustment" camps.
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
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suriyopama
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by suriyopama »

It is easy to understand why the Thai authorities are not rushing to nab the fugitive Dhammachayo. They must be very careful, because the members of the cult are eagerly trying to take a picture that may portray themselves as victims of police brutality. They want to become martyrs at the front page of the international media.

At Twitter you can see how the Dhammakaya media-machinery hordes are actively trying to pose themselves as victims of violation of Human Rights.

Yesterday, as the police was getting close to the temple, the acolytes started to spread panic messages using hashtags like #Dhammakaya #Humanrights #HRW #UN #DSIAttack #DSIattackBhuddhisttemple #askforbasichumanrights

They have even presented a letter to the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
https://www.facebook.com/dhammakayainte ... 3186439140

The latest chapter of the Thai Soap Opera:
Monk to be nabbed 'when time is right'
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... e-is-right
Last edited by suriyopama on Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
slimdabuddhist
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by slimdabuddhist »

Let me rephrase myself someone who isn't buddha, and isn't exploiting people for money by making them believe they are a godlike diety. :alien:
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suriyopama
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by suriyopama »

TRobinson465 wrote: This is true btw. i have tried commenting on Bangkok Post and the Nation. You are free to try this out and test this for yourselves on all of the news articles coming out of Juntaland regarding Dhammakaya (ehippasiko). Particularly the big ones like Bangkok Post and the Nation, whose content is frequently used here and whose reporters are afraid of getting put into "attitude adjustment" camps.
I would not say that Bangkok Post is juntalandist at all. On the contrary, they are intensely criticizing and denouncing it, barely inside the limits of what is allowed.

It is in the interest of some groups to politicize the Dhammakaya issue, and use it as a tool to polarize and create resentment against the junta.

e.g: the redshirters are igniting flames with articles like this one: https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpres ... hammakaya/ But that theory cannot be sustained, because there are several core-yellowshirters that are fully dhammakayized (that is not my invention, just have a look to people like @issarar and his followers on Twitter and you’ll see for yourself). The dhammakaya tentacles are too large to rely on just one political faction; they are “universal”.

It is becoming a ball of fire, and the junta is in a lose-lose situation. Whatever they do, action or inaction, there will be discontentment and a spark for conflict.

I feel sorry for all the good monks that may be inside the temple and are being used as a weapon by the power game players :alien:
Turmeric
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by Turmeric »

suriyopama wrote:
TRobinson465 wrote: This is true btw. i have tried commenting on Bangkok Post and the Nation. You are free to try this out and test this for yourselves on all of the news articles coming out of Juntaland regarding Dhammakaya (ehippasiko). Particularly the big ones like Bangkok Post and the Nation, whose content is frequently used here and whose reporters are afraid of getting put into "attitude adjustment" camps.
I would not say that Bangkok Post is juntalandist at all. On the contrary, they are intensely criticizing and denouncing it, barely inside the limits of what is allowed.

It is in the interest of some groups to politicize the Dhammakaya issue, and use it as a tool to polarize and create resentment against the junta.

e.g: the redshirters are igniting flames with articles like this one: https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpres ... hammakaya/ But that theory cannot be sustained, because there are several core-yellowshirters that are fully dhammakayized (that is not my invention, just have a look to people like @issarar and his followers on Twitter and you’ll see for yourself). The dhammakaya tentacles are too large to rely on just one political faction; they are “universal”.

It is becoming a ball of fire, and the junta is in a lose-lose situation. Whatever they do, action or inaction, there will be discontentment and a spark for conflict.

I feel sorry for all the good monks that may be inside the temple and are being used as a weapon by the power game players :alien:
Why don't you ever share anything good about the Dhammakaya. Such as....

The massive ordination of 100,000 monks and the training of one million female lay devotees.

10,000 monk alms round in china town.

1,200+ monk dhutanga walk around bangkok in homage of the Buddha.

Mass food donation to 2 million monks in order to decrease selfishness in society and increase people's generosity. Non-perishable foods received in the project were sent to help victims of civil unrest in the south of Thailand as well as victims of natural disasters in Thailand and abroad.

Donating a portion of the money they receive to other temples.

The v-star project to get children to follow the 5 precepts and practice meditation. The project was such a success that around one million school children flooded the temple gates. There, they meditated together and sang for world peace. Perhaps one of the most amazing moments in Buddhist history.

Contributing billions of baht to public charities.

Resurrecting up to 1,900 abandoned temples in the country.

Spreading 80-90 temples throughout the world, including Africa, to propagate the religion and keep it from dying.

The list goes on.
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suriyopama
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by suriyopama »

Turmeric wrote: Why don't you ever share anything good about the Dhammakaya. Such as....
Because all cults, from Opus Dei to Scientology or Mormons, have a beautiful and benevolent side that makes them very alluring and seductive.

e.g:
I’VE HEARD THAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ARE DOING GOOD THINGS FOR SOCIETY. WHAT ARE SOME
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES?
Implicit in the Scientology worldview is a mandate to employ the truths of Scientology to uplift Mankind. Consequently, as Scientology grows, so too the humanitarian programs Scientologists support. Those programs now include:
• The world’s largest nongovernmental anti-drug campaign, reaching tens of millions of at-risk youth each year;
• The establishment of drug rehabilitation centers in more than 40 nations;
• The world’s largest nongovernmental human rights public information campaign, broadly promoting the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
• Global education programs bringing the gift of literacy to tens of millions of students in America, Europe, Asia and Africa;
• A Way to Happiness movement spanning 135 nations, uplifting populations and restoring the brotherhood of Man.
• The Scientology Volunteer Minister program bringing emergency relief to more than 10 million people at every major disaster site through the last twenty years.
Additionally, through the Citizens Commission on Human Rights Scientologists have further spotlighted and worked to outlaw the enforced drugging of schoolchildren, the psychiatric brutalities of electric shock and lobotomy, and biological warfare experiments.
Finally, the Church was among the original champions of the Freedom of Information Act and other access laws to protect the public interest and end government human rights abuses.
In conclusion, then, the Church of Scientology and Scientologists work in alignment with the Aims of Scientology and the dream of a “civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights.”
https://www.scientology.org/faq/sciento ... -good.html


Does all that sound familiar? :alien:
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

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First off, you can accuse anyone of doing something for money, including monks who make similar statements from the super always right forest tradition. im guessing slim didnt bother watching my video.

As identification mentioned, there is supernormal abilities all through buddhism, he discussed it at a forest monastary, when i was a monk in thailand we also discussed such things, including things monks who were not the abbot of dhammakaya could do that make seeing past lives look like a card trick. that is something that is all throughout buddhism, in fact, when i was a monk in thailand we visited a Dhammayut temple of the forest tradition. what was the first thing the abbot of that temple told us? About his master's visions foreseeing the future.

I will rephrase my question to only include things not unique to the Buddha then. You seriously think seeing past lives is crazy in a religion where people who arent the Buddha fight Nagas, use telekinesis, manipulate fire and water (the buddha could do this simultaneously while its stated others who meditate deeply could do one at a time, so this still counts), talk to supernatural beings, fly, make copies of themselves, and visit other universes?
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

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First off, i dont even think of Mormons as a cult. i think they sort of were at first, but how they developed now isnt cultish in my opinion. just my own thoughts. of course cult has no agreed upon definition, ive seen ppl on TV who dont like Islam call it a cult. (which is a stupid thing to do, it isnt one). And ppl use it nowadays as an ad hominem attack on any different belief system basically. kinda like calling some1 corrupt or a communist or a Nazi without giving any kind of real explanation.

Second, from what ive read BkkPost seems to be pretty pro-Junta, but since i never sat down and read every article they make i wont argue. I do however, know that BkkPost has written about Dhammakaya many times, all of which were extremely negative. They also do not have any pro-dhammakaya comments in thier articles, its not a coincidence. They delete prodhammakaya comments. Everyone reading this has Internet access. Test it for yourselves. Its good to at least know the angle they are writing at when you get news from them. They are biased, in fact some1 wrote a piece mentioning how the leading english newspapers in Juntaland mislead foriegners into thinking differently about the politics in thailand than ordinary Thais.

http://www.newmandala.org/the-weakness- ... royalists/

Third, latest news. Juntaland now has over 200 charges agaisnt WPD. (link below) They must be going for a record. Not only are we accused of forest encroachment for a building we had for 20 years. Our chapel that we built 35 years ago that was endorsed by the princess of Thailand herself is now all of a sudden built illegally. Wow, how could we have gotten away with so many crimes for so many decades? This government must be really good at catching law breakers. Im sure thats the reason half of the evangelicals here said this government has to get rid of us. This military dictatorship known for extreme human rights violations that arrests thaksin supporters over a FB post is so not behind it.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/massed-poli ... tidu4.html

Also, id like to point out something about the supreme patriarch, as stated in the link here.

http://www.newmandala.org/can-thailand- ... -buddhism/

The Sangharaja of Thailand is chosen by seniority. The current candidate, our abbot's preceptor, is simply the most senior monk on the council. Unlike many of the claims of the people here, the leading candidate for Supreme Patriarch wasnt nominated by the council because Dhammakaya used secret brain washing machines to make all 17 members of the council vote for him. It is just his turn because he happened to be the most senior monk and that is the system they go by. (not saying its the best system, just saying its not exactly a Dhammakaya conspiracy to take over the world)

Of course he hasnt been appointed officially since the secular government has to approve it and the dictator of Thailand refuses to forward his nomination, citing some "controversies" that all of a sudden emerged after the coup. They can't do this forever of course. so looks like they are planning to fix their problem permanently by changing the law regarding the Sangharaja. Much easier to control a country when you control the clergy also.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30303058
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
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suriyopama
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by suriyopama »

TRobinson465 wrote: The Sangharaja of Thailand is chosen by seniority. The current candidate, our abbot's preceptor, is simply the most senior monk on the council. Unlike many of the claims of the people here, the leading candidate for Supreme Patriarch wasnt nominated by the council because Dhammakaya used secret brain washing machines to make all 17 members of the council vote for him. It is just his turn because he happened to be the most senior monk and that is the system they go by. (not saying its the best system, just saying its not exactly a Dhammakaya conspiracy to take over the world)
Wat Paknam is as close to Wat Dhammakaya as the Sistine Chapel to the Vatican.

Anyway, Somdet Chuang may be the most senior monk, but is he the most appropriate person to be the Supreme Patriarch of Thai Buddhism? Even before he was accused of owning an illegally imported Mercedes Benz on his collection of luxury cars, he was accused of corruption and distortion of buddhist teachings. Of course, you will dismiss all the accusations by saying that they come from “juntaland”.

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mikenz66
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by mikenz66 »

TRobinson465 wrote:First off, you can accuse anyone of doing something for money, including monks who make similar statements from the super always right forest tradition. im guessing slim didnt bother watching my video.

As identification mentioned, there is supernormal abilities all through buddhism, he discussed it at a forest monastary, when i was a monk in thailand we also discussed such things, including things monks who were not the abbot of dhammakaya could do that make seeing past lives look like a card trick. that is something that is all throughout buddhism, in fact, when i was a monk in thailand we visited a Dhammayut temple of the forest tradition. what was the first thing the abbot of that temple told us? About his master's visions foreseeing the future.

I will rephrase my question to only include things not unique to the Buddha then. You seriously think seeing past lives is crazy in a religion where people who arent the Buddha fight Nagas, use telekinesis, manipulate fire and water (the buddha could do this simultaneously while its stated others who meditate deeply could do one at a time, so this still counts), talk to supernatural beings, fly, make copies of themselves, and visit other universes?
I think that the point that most of what goes on at Dhammakaya is not so different from other Thai monastic organisations seems to be lost in translation somewhere.

All Wat's encourage donations, many running fairs and so on to raise money. Dhammakaya's scale is larger, but not different in principle. There are all kinds of social ways that pressure is applied to generate donations in all organisations. Unfortunate, but true.

Clearly seemingly-supernatural phenomena, recollection of past lives and so on, have always been a part of Buddhism. Nothing unique there. .

Dhammakaya have some non-standard-Theravada meditation techniques and non-standard-Theravada ideas about not-self and citta. That is hardly unique:
A list of Theravada teachers that teach a true self?
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=23338

Dhammakaya have a TV station. Many Wats have at least radio.

Dhammakaya have established many monasteries overseas. That's quite common. My local Wat is linked to a Bangkok Wat (which has a couple of other overseas branches) and has sub-branches in two other smaller cities. Dhammakaya, of course, has a much large scale, is much more organised, and is aggressive about "capturing" cities that have no other Thai monasteries. They also provide sponsorship to Universities, which generates faculty, students, and research aligned to Dhammakaya.
http://www.otago.ac.nz/religion/staff/chaisit.php

Of course, nothing would excuse illegal activities, and if Dhammakaya has been acting illegally, then of course, they should be prosecuted, but, as has been pointed out already, a lot of criticisms made on on this thread are not about things that are specific to Dhammakaya.


:anjali:
Mike
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

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Whether or not Somdet Chuang is the most qualified candidate is a matter of debate. Honestly i dont think a system of strict seniority will guarantee the best. That still doesnt change the fact that certain ppl on this thread tried to pretend his nomination was a conspiracy from dhammakaya to take over the world. It is not. regardless of whether or not he has ties to WPD, he was chosen because that is the rule. Thats it. its not a conspiracy as stated earlier in the thread.

I dont know much about Somdet Chuang actually, maybe you can provide some sources about his past controversies? i would like to know about them. Just dont use the same source where you got that info that Dhammakaya bribed every member of the Sangha council to vote for him. Because you know, you totally need to bribe people to get some1 nominated who would have been nominated by normal procedure anyways. BTW that car was a donation and its pretty old, its just for decoration. you cant drive to a Nirvana concert with it.

Whether or not Dhammakaya is guilty of anything illegal is relavent but i dont think thats where we need to go on this thread. Perhaps one of the 200 charges that suddenly emerged actually has a basis. Because you know, nothing suspicious about charging some1 for building something 35 years ago, 20 years ago, or receiving donations in front of a crowd of donors on satellite TV from 7 years ago. They did pass the Sangha reform act though, so its clear the dictatorship has an interest in religious affairs at the very least.
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We do need to get a find a productive direction in the thread though. and i think Mike has pointed us in that direction.
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by TRobinson465 »

mikenz66 wrote: I think that the point that most of what goes on at Dhammakaya is not so different from other Thai monastic organisations seems to be lost in translation somewhere.
I do think we are getting somewhere in this thread. I feel that the majority of the ppl reading this just seek to understand Dhammakaya and the less we bicker about things that other temples do anyways the more we can get out of it. Going off of what Mike said i wanna try and steer this thread into that direction, fundraising, yes other temples do it. many host fairs to raise money. As stated here, Dhammakaya doesnt really support the notion of fairs.



But then again, we dont really need to host fairs, many people are willing to donate and attend regularly. The point is all organizations need money to support themselves (lets remember the Buddha had to perfect generosity as prince Vessatara and it was largely because Siddhartha was a wealthy prince that he was able to leave his family) and different organizations have different ways to meet those needs. The fundraising criticisms are not totally unfounded. Dhammakaya does do them more aggressively, but as you can see we are big and do a lot of activities. Some Buddhist temples eschew the idea of donations as "merit making" and have rejected this notion. However it is prevalent in Thai culture and Dhammakaya keeps that aspect to use in their favor.

As for meditation, honestly there are tons of different techniques in Buddhism. and ours is not that different.
http://en.dhammakaya.net/the-meditation ... -practice/
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If you look at the 7 bases of the mind, it follows the path of the breathe. not that much different than more common mindfulness of the breathe used in many other temples.

We are a large, centralized Buddhist organization. we have many followers and a large main temple. that is perhaps unique to thailand but not unique in Buddhism. you guys should check out Taiwanese Buddhism. Taiwanese Buddhism focuses on large buddhist organizations with large central temples and a large network of temples. This isnt Nazi-ism tho. You can call any large gathering of ppl a Nazi rally. Heres one from the US in 1963.
mlk.jpg
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Also known as the place where MLK gave his I Have a Dream speech. for those familiar with US history.
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
TRobinson465
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Re: Wat Dhammakaya

Post by TRobinson465 »

To capitalize on the epiphany i think this thread is having. ill share some of my own thoughts about dhammakaya. From what ive seen. Wat Phra Dhammakaya is big on propagating. This is fairly unique, even among the Dhammakaya tradition. the other major temples of our tradition, Wat Paknam and Wat LP Sodh Dhammakayaram do not emphasize propogation as much. For many Buddhists the practice is seen as the most important. Many westerners have this idea of buddhist "ultimatism" where they eschew making merit in favor of the deeper teachings of ending suffering and whatnot. I think this is one reason the forest tradition is quite popular in the west and where a lot of the criticisms of dhammakaya come from.

What Wat Phra Dhammakaya does do differently from what ive seen is they focus heavily on quantity. Many people will say the path of detaching oneself from world and ending suffering is better, i agree with this and so do many people at Wat Phra dhammakaya. However, this does not appeal to many people (or most Buddhist people from what ive seen). They just want to improve thier lives (or future lives). Yes it is better to focus on the deep teachings so they can end dukkha once and for all etc. but that doesnt appeal to many people and the position WPD seems to take is that they target people who would otherwise not be practicing Buddhists. The goal is not to help people who would get the most benefit from Buddhism or to simply provide a place of practice, it is to use Buddhism to benefit the most people that they can. thus why we do stuff on much larger scales. There are already many people who would already be interested in Buddhism and many of them criticize our methods, but they have other temples to go to including other temples of the Dhammakaya tradition (wat paknam and wat lp sodh dhammakayaram).

This is why even though the Dhammakaya tradition itself tries to get rid of some of the cultural folk stuff in Buddhism, WPD has kept the concept of making merit and whatnot. it appeals to many people, and of course you can have more impact if you have money.

This goal is why Dhammakaya does some of the things it does. Heres a good example. one of the anti-dhammakaya ppl criticized us for our Hell videos earlier on this thread. heres one here.



All this does is take things the Buddha described and put it into video form. Yes it is "scary" and yes it would be better if ppl kept precepts out of personal choice rather than out of fear. But this is the real world. Many people dont do that, and many wont sit there and read the Buddha's descriptions of hell. the point is it is better for someone to keep precepts out of fear, than to not keep precepts at all and that is what the video is aimed at. I have met many people (Dhammakaya and non-dhammakaya ppl) who saw our "literalistic" videos and started keeping precepts and quit taking intoxicants. it works. If you believe in the Buddhas teachings regarding kamma, scaring some1 into keeping precepts can save them a lot of suffering compared to doing nothing at all or something that doesnt even work on them.

In short, WPD focuses on Buddhism for the masses, and to use Buddhism to benefit the most people that it can, this is of course, at the cost of emphasis on the super deep enlightening stuff, in favor of stuff that simply focuses on improving ppls lives (or future lives) such as merit and kamma. its a typical local community temple packaged into a large organization with more modern methods. from what ive seen that seems to be the key difference between WPD and the forest tradition temples (as seen thru my visits to forest temples and what ive read online and on this forum).

Also, keep in mind we wouldnt have Buddhism today unless there were people actively propogating it. and the folk religion stuff in Buddhism now was one way to make it more accessible to more ppl back then. Better Buddhism make changes to adapt to a new country than to disappear from the world completely.
"Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism" - the 14th Dalai Lama

"The Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahmins, devas, Maras, Brahmas or anyone in the cosmos." -Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
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