BANNER OF THE ARAHANTS

Chapter V - 

THE SANGHA NOW IN BUDDHIST COUNTRIES 2

 

The Sangha in Theravada countries has hardly ever been without some divisions. It is wrong to speak of ‘sects’ since most laypeople take little interest in such matters, which depend on interpretations of the Bhikkhus’ discipline or Vinaya. In Sri Lanka, for instance, there are three main groups, the Siam Nikāya (= group), the Amarapura Nikāya and the Ramanya Nikāya. The Siam Nikāya derives its lineage from Siam, before the fall of the capital of Ayudhya to the Burmese in 1767. About twenty years before this a delegation was sent by the king of Sri Lanka to Thailand for the purpose of re-establishing the Sangha in Sri Lanka where no pure Bhikkhus could be found, only novices living in a few of the temples. A number of Thai Theras were sent by the king of Ayudhya to restore the lineage of Acceptance or ordination and to establish the Sangha soundly in both study and practice. Much credit for the success of this mission and its lasting results must go to the untiring work of the venerable Sri Saranankara, a Sinhalese monk of great determination and devotion as well as scholarship and pure practice, who was later designated to be Sangharaja by the king, the last such leader of the Sangha in Sri Lanka. Later on, it is said that a man of low caste who had been accepted as a Bhikkhu, saluted the king. This calls for a few words of explanation. To begin with, caste was not a teaching that found favour in the Buddha’s eyes. He criticised Brahmins and other ‘high’ caste people frequently, for their haughty behaviour, as well as the oppression, which such a system brings to those of ‘lower’ castes. ‘High’ and ‘low’, according to the Buddha, are matters of conduct in mind speech and body

 

            One’s not by birth an outcast

            nor a brahmin by one’s birth,

            by kamma one’s an outcast,

            by kamma one’s a brahmin.

                        (Vasala Sutta, Verse 21, The Book of Discourses)

 

Therefore, men and women from all sections of society might be accepted into their respective Sanghas, provided that they were free from the obstacles to ordination (see Ch. VIII). The verses and stories which have been translated in this book of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis from all levels of society confirm that the Sangha was open to all. The Buddha also allowed Bhikkhus to conform to a royal (or government) law provided that it was in accord with Dhamma. We shall see the application of this shortly. Another point here is that Bhikkhus who respect Buddha-images and stupas like everyone else, among men only honour Bhikkhus senior to themselves, those who have more years or ‘Rains’ in the Sangha, and never laypeople even when they are kings and queens.

 

So that Bhikkhu, aforementioned, did wrong in honouring the king but the latter also, perhaps out of ignorance, did wrong in ordering that low-caste men should not be accepted into the Sangha. The Siam Nikāya, however, still upholds this royal law.

 

Caste has no place even in lay Buddhist society, what to speak of the Sangha, though Buddhists in Sri Lanka due to their proximity to India have been infected with this curse. ‘Lower’-caste men who desired the acceptance as Bhikkhus were disturbed by this ruling. A novice from this background having been refused acceptance, went to Burma and there became a Bhikkhu. On his return in the early years of the nineteenth century, he founded the Amarapura Nikāya, which continues to admit people from all sections of society. The third group, the Ramanya Nikāya, has some similarities with the Dhammayuttika in Thailand, which is also derived from Mon, or Ramanya practice. Reform of Vinaya practice, accurate calculation of the Uposatha days (full moon and new moon when special precepts are undertaken by laypeople and the Bhikkhus have recitation of the Pātimokkha) and emphasis on a return to simplicity and absence of luxury, are Ramanya principles. This group, though small in numbers, has a very considerable influence. To some extent, like the Dvāra Nikāya in Burma, this group was formerly exclusive, not eating or consorting with Bhikkhus of other groups. Laypeople supporting Ramanya temples usually did not invite or support Bhikkhus from elsewhere.

 

Each of these groups has its own administrative hierarchy with appointments and titles given to abbots in charge of the temples controlled by the respective groups in different places.

 

Differences in Vinaya between the three groups are only minor matters though noticeable in some respects. For example, most of the Siam Nikāya Bhikkhus cover only one shoulder with their robes when „among the houses“ while the groups derived from Burma cover both. Ramanya Bhikkhus use palm-leaf sunshades, not the western type of umbrellas used by other Bhikkhus.

 

The Buddha himself said that differences in Vinaya upon minor matters were not so important but differences in Dhamma would be serious: „Dispute about livelihood or about the Pātimokkha, (the fundamental rules), is trifling, Ananda. But should dispute arise in the Sangha about the Path or the Way (of practice), such dispute would be for the misfortune and unhappiness of many, for the harm, misfortune and suffering of gods and men.“[11]

 

In Burma, too, only varying Vinaya practice divides the two main groups of Bhikkhus. Sudhamma Nikāya is by far the largest. In the time of the Burmese kings, there was a Sudhamma council which governed the whole Sangha in Burma but gradually groups formed around one or two famous Teachers and became distinct from the Sudhamma tradition At present, Sudhamma monasteries vary in strictness with the discipline practised and enforced by their abbots. But there are many in this tradition, particularly small monasteries, where Vinaya practice is not strict and Bhikkhus from such places can be seen in the street smoking or chewing betel with their robes carelessly thrown over one shoulder. But it should be remembered that in all monastic traditions it is always laxity that is conspicuous, while well-behaved monks go unremarked.

 

The other main group, Shwejyin Nikāya, is named after the village from which its founder, Shwejyin Sayadaw, came. He was a teacher of the queen of King Mindon, last but one king of Burma. She persuaded the king to free this teacher from the jurisdiction of the Sudamma Council. Shwejyin Sayadaw and those who followed him were strict in Vinaya and emphasised that Bhikkhus should behave with restraint, making effort to conduct themselves well. The Bhikkhus of this tradition have no dispute with their brethren in the Sudhamma group.

 

This cannot be said of the third Nikāya, Dvāra, a small dissident body formed in the last century. Their first Teacher, Okpo Sayadaw, was contentious by nature though of great learning. He made much of a rewording of the usual way of paying respect to the Buddha - ’by body, speech and mind kammas’, teaching instead that one should say ‘by body, speech and mind-doors’. Since ‘door’ is dvāra in Pali, the group’s name has been derived from this. This group is exclusive and will not eat or live with other Bhikkhus. It is said to be gradually disappearing.

 

Formerly the Sangha in Burma was controlled by Council of Theras, a kind of Sangha-government, which has been dissolved under the present administration. Now each abbot is responsible for the discipline and practice of the Bhikkhus in his temple. If he is in charge of one of the very large monasteries, a number of related temples, headed by Bhikkhus trained by him, may also be his responsibility.

 

Thailand, formerly Siam has only two main Nikāyas. The largest by far is called now Mahānikai, the large group, which was the original line of ordination (acceptance) in Siam since ancient times when it was brought from Sri Lanka. In the turmoil which followed the sack of Ayudhya, Siam’s capital until just over two hundred years ago, many Bhikkhus took to wrong modes of livelihood or so defiled their robes that they were no longer Bhikkhus though they continued to appear as such. The standards of both scholarship and of practice sank low, a fact that was witnessed personally by Prince Mongkut, in the days of King Rama the second. He had entered the Sangha to be a Rains-Bhikkhu for the usual period of three months but his father, the king, died during this time and another prince was selected to be Rama III. Prince Mongkut decided to remain in the Sangha. He had a very intelligent and critical mind and always tried to find out what the Buddha’s words meant, removing in the process the layers of commentarial explanations, ritual and superstition, which clouded clear understanding. He excelled in the Pali language but spoke to people in the way that they could understand easily, thus attracting many intelligent Bhikkhus and lay people as his disciples. As he came to know more and more from his studies of the original teachings in Vinaya and Sutta, he became dissatisfied with the state of the Sangha in Siam and eventually was re-ordained by Mon Bhikkhus whose conduct was correct and who were learned as well. This was the origin of the Dhammayuttikanikai or Dhammayut for short, the group of those who adhere to Dhamma. This group is still small in Thailand but very influential and progressive. Mahanikai has now reformed and strengthened itself, due partly to the example set by Dhammayut.

 

Now that we have glanced in brief over the three main Theravada Buddhist countries a word or two can be said upon the position elsewhere. Cambodia adopted Theravada after the disappearance of the royal-supported northern Buddhist traditions, which were plentifully mixed with Hindu elements. Now the country has the same two groups in the Sangha as Thailand though the forest Bhikkhu tradition is uncommon there.

 

Laos is similar but Dhammayut is found mostly in the south and not recognised formally by the government. Forest dwelling Bhikkhus are to be found both in central and southern areas. Many mountainous parts of the country are not Buddhist, being inhabited by animist hill tribes.

 

In Vietnam, both south and central, Theravada is found in western Cambodian-speaking districts and along Vietnamese in some of the towns. Theravada is in a minority in this country where most temples are of northern Buddhist tradition, which has come down through China. Theravada Bhikkhus with those of Mahayana have formed a, united Buddhist Church but the formal acts of both Sanghas are kept separate. It remains to be seen what will happen to Buddhism in general and the Sangha in particular in the above three countries now that they have Communist governments. Events in Cambodia (Kambuja) have not been encouraging.

 

Bangladesh has a considerable Buddhist minority with a Sangha divided between two traditions. One is a small group of Bhikkhus, the Mahāthera-nikāya, who claim to be descended from Bhikkhus fleeing from Bihar at the time of the Moslem invasions. It is reported that they were corrupted in the course of time in their new home but refused the chance of re-ordination by Burmese Bhikkhus. This was taken by the great majority who now form the Sangharaja-nikaya. In fact the latter group alone can claim to be Theravada although the other group has reformed itself and is hardly distinguishable now.

 

India, Nepal and Indonesia are countries where the Sangha did not survive though pockets of lay Buddhists struggled on. Now in all these countries Theravada Bhikkhus are found. In India many have been accepted by the Bhikkhus of the Maha Bodhi Society, an organisation founded by the Sinhalese teacher, Anagarika Dhammapala, but training facilities after ordination have not been adequate. Very few Indian Bhikkhus are learned and fewer still are well practised in meditation. Very large numbers of people have become Buddhist - numbers are now into the tens of millions, so some improvement in the position of the Sangha there can be expected in future. An All India Sangha organisation has been formed. In Nepal, the position is different as a large lay Mahāyāna Buddhist, population has existed since ancient times. Bhikkhus had been forced to disrobe and marry by the Hindu kings of the past resulting in a gradual decline of Buddhist scholarship and practice. Since the Second World War and after the opening of Nepal’s frontiers, Nepali Buddhists have trained in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand and a small Sangha now exists there.

 

In Indonesia also, Mahāyāna has some influence through both Javanese traditions and the Chinese community. However, the majority of Bhikkhus are Theravada and friendly relations exist on the whole. Much credit for this revival must go to early Sinhalese initiative while later, Thai Bhikkhus have been active.

 

Although these divisions exist in the Theravada Sangha there is generally the minimum of sectarian feeling among Bhikkhus. One or two can always be found who are ready to paint the other party as the protagonists of Māra (the Evil One) himself but they are very few. This is due to the Buddha’s discourses on such subjects as the Six Conditions for Concord, a discourse that is included in the first appendix. He emphasised especially how the Sangha should remain in harmony and concord, without divisions. The present divisions have not come about through schism in the Sangha, which would imply strife indeed, but through re-ordinations or new lines of ordination or acceptance being introduced. Once groups have been established, even where there are only small points of Vinaya dividing them, it is difficult to get unity again. This was achieved in Sri Lanka by the great king Parakramabahu I who arranged union for the three groups then existing. Other kings in Burma have done the same but it is not easy to maintain unity for long periods of time in a body like the Sangha, which depends for this upon agreement of all the leading senior Bhikkhus. If one should disagree and wish to practise his own interpretation of Vinaya, then others cannot stop him. Governments have helped the Sangha’s unity by upholding correct Vinaya-decisions and backing up the Vinaya with secular laws.

 

It is common for Bhikkhus of all groups to invite each other to festivals and special gatherings in their monasteries. Only formal Sangha-acts are not performed together and in other respects, particularly in Dhamma, there is complete unity.

 

The last topic, which this chapter will outline, is a survey of the buildings to be found in a Theravada monastery. First, the word ‘monastery’ used to translate such words as Vihāra, āvāsa and ārāma, can be as misleading as using the word ‘monk’ (or even ‘priest’!) to render ‘Bhikkhu’ into English. Monks (from the Greek meaning ‘one who is alone’) in Christianity have a life style different from Bhikkhus (from Pali, bhik to beg, though as we have noted already and shall see again in the next, chapter, a Bhikkhu does not beg, not being allowed to ask for food). A Bhikkhu is not confined to his monastery and usually will leave the monastery at least once a day for his alms round. So a monastery does not have gatehouses with closed gates, on the contrary, where it is in an urban area the whole tide of local life sweeps in and out of its open gates. The area will be walled or fenced in some way and the area enclosed may be small, perhaps an acre or less or very large, thirty or forty acres in extent in some Bangkok Wats. This is the Thai word for the whole monastery-temple complex for which we have no corresponding word in English. If we call it a temple then that suggests only a place of worship without a monastic residence. But if it is called a monastery that does not imply a public area with a temple open to all people.

 

The original words were vihāra, meaning a dwelling place (for Bhikkhus) or āvāsa, having the same meaning. ārāma means originally a park but has come to mean the monastery temple built in the park. As each Buddhist country has its own words, Wat in Thailand, Phongyi-kyaung in Burma, or Pansala in Sri Lanka, it is better to use the well-known term vihāra for all monastery temples.

 

The town vihāra will be rather clearly divided into different areas sometimes by interior walls, or by lines of trees, paths and so on. One part will be the Buddha-vihāra that is where the large Buddha-images are found, either in or outside temples. The larger part of the area is called the Sangha-vihāra, the place for the Bhikkhus to stay. It will consist of a number of residential buildings in wood or brick, which may be large or small and house just one Bhikkhu or many together. A large building with many rooms, often ornately carved or decorated, may be the kuti (residence) of just one Bhikkhu if he is the abbot of an important vihāra. Or another large building may house many Bhikkhus, each with a room and a veranda linking them. Small wooden buildings will have usually a single Bhikkhu with perhaps a tiny room for novice or lay-pupil as well. Groups of these kutis in various sizes may be arranged in a rectangle round a square sometimes containing trees and having in its centre a sālā. This is an opensided hall in which Bhikkhus will gather for special invitations by lay people. Sālās may have an open area underneath which can be used as an informal kitchen by visitors, or an area for the storage of various things. Formerly vihāras in towns, if not by the side of a river or canal, will have had wells to supply water for drinking and washing. This is still common in the country. The construction of bathrooms, even of steam baths, is described in the Vinaya though the latter are not found now. Bathrooms and lavatories these days are often constructed in blocks away from the residential buildings. These are the main structures in the Sangha-vihāra.

 

To return to the Buddha-vihāra, the most impressive building there will have the largest Buddha-image. It may actually be called the vihāra and is often the building open for public worship. Also, it is sometimes the place where the Sangha go to pay their respects and if so it is common to find a raised area reserved for this purpose. But this may be done in another building, as may be the formal acts of the Sangha. The large Buddha-vihāra may be the area consecrated for such acts, or there may be a separate Sīmā-building. A sīma is a boundary for formal Sangha acts and is established round certain buildings or areas and marked in a special way so that Bhikkhus are aware of the boundary.

 

Also in the area of the Buddha-vihāra there may be a large wooden Sālā which will be the meeting place for large numbers of devotees on the Uposatha days. It may enshrine a small Buddha-image, and there is often a raised platform for Bhikkhus to sit on. A more or less elaborate Dhamma-seat for the Bhikkhu who expounds Dhamma is the only other item in the hall, the audience sitting on the wooden floor. Other smaller halls may accommodate overflows of the faithful on special days and provide sleeping space for pilgrim Bhikkhus and visitors. Ladies will sleep in the nun’s sālā where there is a section of the vihāra for nuns.

 

The only other important building is an especially Buddhist structure called a stupa or cetiya. This is, usually in the form of a spired dome and situated behind the largest temple enshrining a Buddha-image. When devotees revere the Buddha inside the temple they will also be paying respect to the stupa just behind the image. The earliest symbol of the Buddha to be revered was the stupa, the only way in which he was respected until the development of Buddha-images. A stupa enshrines relics of his person, or objects, which he has used, or it may be the repository of many Buddha-images, Buddhist texts hand-written upon palm-leaves, as well as gold and jewels. Buddha-relics usually do not resemble charred bone but are jewel-like crystals found only in the ashes after the cremation of Buddhas or Arahants. But there are certain body-relics, which are different, such as the Tooth-Relic enshrined in Kandy, Sri Lanka, or the Hair Relics, which are contained in the beautiful Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon, Burma. Articles used by the Buddha are such things as his alms bowl, fragment of which have been found in India. But the great majority of stupas contain the third kind of reminders of the Buddha - innumerable small Buddha-images and Buddhist texts.

 

Stupas may be small, perhaps only the height of a man, or any size up to 300 feet. The most, massive and ancient examples are to be found in Sri Lanka at Anuradhapura, while in Burma the Shwe Dagon is pre-eminent and in Thailand, Phra Pathom Cedi at Nakorn Pathom is revered as being the first stupa in the country as well as the largest.

 

Near to the main temple and the stupa there will be a scion of the Bodhi Tree under which the wanderer Gotama became Gotama the Buddha. This may be walled round in a decorative way and set into its walls will be niches where people can offer lights, incense and flowers. The most famous Bodhi Tree now is in Sri Lanka at Anuradhapura where, very ancient but still vigorous, is the southern branch of the tree under which the Buddha sat. It has recently been surrounded with an ornamental gilded fence and is the site of great devotion every day of the year. The Bodhi Tree at Buddha Gaya in India, the place of Enlightenment, is now a fourth generation tree planted on the spot where the Buddha awakened.

 

All these main shrines will have around them paved paths for honouring the Buddha by circumambulation. This is done with one’s right side towards the sacred object and devotees circle the shrine while repeating sacred texts and they may carry in their hands offerings of candles, incense and flowers. Silent recollection of the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha is also done at this time. At the time of Buddhist festivals thousands may join in this circumamblation.

 

Each village has its vihāra, a centre of village activity where a few Bhikkhus and samaneras may live. The buildings are usually less grand than town vihāras but more colourful than those in the forest where meditation is practised. There one finds a great simplification of the buildings. Only a large wooden sālā and a scattering of kutis in the forest are needed. The sālā will enshrine a Buddha-image and there will be the usual arrangements for seating but there will be no ‘glitter’ as in the large town vihāras. Everything is plain, the emphasis being on practicality and simplicity rather than grandeur. The kutis are small wooden structures for only one Bhikkhu or samanera and they are set well apart with forest between them. There may be a ‘fire-sālā’ where water can be heated for hot drinks or medicines. Also there may be small lavatories but where the vihāra is newly constructed even this function will be served by pits dug out in the forest. There will be more about the forest and the town vihāras in the next chapter.

 

In the different Buddhist countries some symbols of the Buddha receive more reverence than others. People in Sri Lanka particularly revere the great Bodhi trees, which are found in each vihāra. But in Burma it is rather the stupa (or cetiya), which receives most attention, and no vihāra will be complete without a spotlessly whitewashed ‘zedi’. Thai people, however, rather favour the Buddha-image as the centre of their devotions and many famous bronze images, some very large are the object of popular pilgrimages.

 

To close this chapter some of the ancient and popular Pali verses used in devotions both by Bhikkhus and by lay people, in Sri Lanka have been translated.

 

            With lights of camphor brightly shining

            destroying darkness here,

            the three worlds’ light, the Perfect Buddha,

            dispeller of darkness, I revere.

 

            With this incense sweetly scented

            prepared from blended fragrances

            Him I revere who is rightly revered,

            worthy of highest reverence.

 

            The Buddha I revere with varied flowers,

            by this, my merit, may there be release;

            even as this flower fades away

            so will my body be destroyed.

 

            With these flowers, as long as they last,

            colourful, fragrant and excellent,

            the Sacred Feet on the lotus

            of the Lord of sages, I revere.

 

            All the stupas in every place

            wherever they are found,

            the bodily relics, the great Bo-tree

            and Buddha-images, I revere.  

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