Related Papers
Journal of Indian Philosophy
The Sutta on Understanding Death in the Transmission of Borān Meditation From Siam to the Kandyan Court
2012 •
Andrew Skilton
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 111, Pt. 1.
Manomayiddhi: Power of Mind Meditation
2023 •
Potprecha (Jak) Cholvijarn
This article discusses Manomayiddhi meditation as taught and popularized by Phra Ratchaphromyan (Wira Thāvaro) (1916-1992), or Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, the abbot of Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani province, Thailand. The method employs mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati), various usages of the mantras "na ma ba dha" and "namo buddhāya," other traditional techniques and rituals for the practitioner to gain manomayiddhi and project a mind-made body of him/herself to heaven, hell, and other cosmological realms. Mind-made body or what Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam terms "adissamāna-kāya" (invisible body) is defined as the meditator's "inner" and "overlapping" body that changes according to his/her mental state and corresponds to the realms (bhūmi) of Buddhist cosmology. The article establishes a connection between Manomayiddhi meditation and the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, especially, the meditation manual of Supreme Patriarch Don (1761-1842) of Wat Mahathat, Bangkok. It also incorporates the author's interview with Phra Khru Phawana Thamnithet (Achin Dhammacitto) (1950-), the head of meditation at Wat Tha Sung and a direct pupil of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam.
Journal of the Siam Society
Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha yantras: An Ayutthaya Period Meditation Manual from Wat Pradusongtham
2021 •
Potprecha (Jak) Cholvijarn
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.
The Dhammakāyānussati-kathā: A Trace of “Siam's Borān Buddhism” from the Reign of Rāmā I (1782-1809 CE.)
2019 •
woramat malasart
the Journal of Siam Society
The Dhammakāya Text Genre and Its Significance for Tai-Khmer Buddhism and Modern Marginalisation
2021 •
woramat malasart
The Dhammakāya text genre is a corpus of documents, such as manuscripts, inscriptions and printed books, that shares the same core Pāli passages called "Dhammakāya." The core Pāli Dhammakāya identifies the knowledge and qualities/virtues of the Buddha with physical attributes of his body. The Dhammakāya text genre can be found in Central Thailand, Northern Thailand and Cambodia, and played a significant role in a range of core Theravada practices, including meditation, Buddha-image consecration (buddhābhiṣeka) and individual recitation on the part of intellectuals and ordinary Buddhists in those regions. The earliest extant version of the Dhammakāya text genre can be dated back to the Ayutthaya period (1350-1767). Today, the Dhammakāya text genre is not well known in Central Thailand, but is still used in Northern Thailand and Cambodia during buddhābhiṣeka, as well as the ritual of installing the Buddha's heart into a Buddha statue or a chedī. The Dhammakāya text genre disappeared from Central Thai practice during the Fifth Reign of the Rattanakosin Era when the royal chanting curriculum was reformed under Supreme Patriarch Sā in 1880. Around this time, Siam's Tipiṭaka was also revised in 1893. In this article, I examine a corpus of documents belonging to the Dhammakāya text genre and its different functions, revealing how a single genre can, in fact, fulfil functions that we may have thought would be at opposite ends of the practice spectrum: from meditation, on the one hand, to consecrations and protective chanting on the other. I then conclude that the disappearance of the Dhammakāya text genre from Central Thai practice is further evidence for the suppression of Siam's "boran", 2 or pre-reform, Buddhism in response to modernist concerns about canonicity and textual authenticity.
Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. II, ed. by Jonathan A. Silk et al., Brill: Leiden, pp. 109-120
Buddhas of the Past and of the Future: Southeast Asia
2019 •
Nicolas Revire
This encyclopedia entry surveys the artistic, epigraphic, textual, and ritual evidence for the worship of the past and future Buddhas in mainland Southeast Asia.
In Early Theravadin Cambodia: Perspectives from Art and Archaeology, ed. by Ashley Thompson, Singapore: SOAS-NUS Press, pp. 231–268
Back to the Future: The Emergence of Past and Future Buddhas in Khmer Buddhism
2022 •
Nicolas Revire
This essay aims to survey the artistic, epigraphic, textual and premodern ritual evidence for the emergence of the cult of past and future Buddhas in Cambodia proper and its bordering regions. It also briefly compares these lists with material from Sri Lanka and other neighbouring countries, and examines their importance in understanding the advent and uniqueness of Theravada across the region. A recorded lecture on this topic has been given at the Sirindhorn Anthropological Center, Bangkok, in Nov. 22, 2017. It is available online here: http://channel.sac.or.th/th/website/video/detail_news/
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 98, pp. 75-115
Iconographical Issues in the Archeology of Wat Phra Men, Nakhon Pathom
2010 •
Nicolas Revire
Wat Phra Men, an important temple site at Nakhon Pathom in the Central Plains of Thailand from around the 7th to 8th centuries CE, is re-examined for the diverse conclusions that can be drawn from iconographical study of its Buddha images. Four or five colossal images, seated in the so-called “European fashion”, are reputed to have originated here although they are today displayed in different temples and museums. The history of the discoveries and restorations at the site is reviewed. While the precise nature and original appearance of the monument remain a mystery, the iconographical significance of the images lies in different possible interpretations according to the Buddhist traditions that were practiced here. The nature of Buddhism in the Dvāravatī period was evidently very heterogeneous; esoteric forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism may have evolved at Wat Phra Men in Theravāda guise. The results of this re-examination should hold implications for other Buddhist sites in Nakhon Pathom and neighboring provinces.
Buddhist Cultural Centre
Saddhatissa, H - Pali Literature of SE Asia, 2004 ss
2004 •
Adhisila BHikkhu
Buddhism in South and South East Asia
Ladwig, Patrice (2017). Contemporary Lao Buddhism. Ruptured histories. In: Jerryson, Michael (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Contemporary Buddhism, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 274-296
Patrice Ladwig
Lao Buddhism’s histories are deeply fragmented. Most Lao were deported to Siam in the nineteenth century, and after the demise of the French colonial regime, the country was drawn into the Second Indochina War. After two decades of brutal warfare and massive destructions, the Lao communist movement took power in 1975. This chapter examines the history of Lao Buddhism in the context of these events, and puts its main focus on the entanglement of religion and politics in the postcolonial phase, as the political polarization of the Lao sangha during the Cold War and the impact of the subsequent revolution remain crucial for understanding Buddhism’s position in the current Lao PDR. While under reformed socialism there has been a resurgence of Buddhism in the last two decades, the social and religious transformations resulting from rapid modernization through the capitalist economy and globalization bring new challenges for the Lao sangha.
