The Dhammayuttika Nikaya or Thammayut Nikaya (Thai: ธรรมยุต (ทำมะยุด) นิกาย; Khmer: ធម្មយុត្តិក និកាយ) is an order of Theravada Buddhist monks in Thailand and Cambodia. Its name is derived from the Pali dhamma ("teachings of the Buddha") + yutti (in accordance with) + ka (group).
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Founding in Thailand
The Dhammayuttika Nikaya, or simply Thammayut, began in 1833 as a reform movement by Prince Mongkut, son of King Rama II. Thammayut remained a reform movement until passage of the Sangha Act of 1902 formally recognized it as the lesser of Thailand's two Theravada denominations.[1]
Prince Mongkut was a bhikkhu (ordination name: Vajirañāṇo) for 27 years (1824-1851) before becoming the King of Siam (1851-1860); in 1836 he became the first abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. After the then 20-year-old prince entered monastic life in 1824, he noticed what he saw as serious discrepancies between the rules given in the Pali Canon and the actual practices of Thai monks; and aimed to upgrade monastic discipline to make it more orthodox. Mongkut also made an effort to remove all non-Buddhist, folk religious, and superstitious elements that had become part of previous practices.[2] Thammayut monks were expected to eat only one meal a day and the meal was to be gathered during a traditional alms round.
The Thammayut Nikaya has produced two particularly highly revered forest monks: Phra Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera (1861-1941) and Phra Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta (1870-1949). Their bone fragments were distributed to various people and Thai provinces after the cremation and have since, according to their followers, transformed into crystal-like relics (Pali: śarīra-dhātu) in various hues of translucency and opacity.
The current Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana, is a member of the Thammayut Nikaya.
Dhammayuttika Nikaya in Cambodia
In 1855, the Khmer King Norodom invited Preah Saukonn Pan, also referred to as Maha Pan, a Khmer monk educated in the lineage of Thailand's King Mongkut, to establish a branch of the Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia.[1][2] Maha Pan became the first Supreme Patriarch of the Cambodian Dhammayuttika lineage, residing at Wat Botum Vaddey, a new temple erected by the king specifically for the purpose of housing Dhammayuttika monks.[1] The Dhammayuttika Nikaya in Cambodia benefited from royal patronage, but was also sometimes regarded with suspicion due to its ties to the Thai monarchy.[1]
The Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia suffered greatly under the Khmer Rouge, being particularly targeted due to their perceived ties to the monarchy and a foreign power, in addition to the Khmer Rouge's general repression of the Buddhist hierarchy in Cambodia.[3] Between 1981 and 1991, the Dhammayuttika Nikaya was combined with the Cambodian Mohanikay under a unified sangha system established under Vietnamese auspices.[4] In 1991 King Sihanouk returned from exile and appointed the first new Dhammayuttika sangharaja in ten years, effectively ending the policy of official unification.[4] The Dhammayuttika continues to exist in Cambodia, though its monks constitute a very small minority of the sangha in Cambodia. On issues such as the role of monks in HIV/AIDS treatment and education, its current sangharaja Bour Kry has adopted a more liberal position than that of Mohanikay head Tep Vong, but less radical than that of certain Engaged Buddhist elements of the Mohanikay order.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b c (Harris 2001, p. 83)
- ^ (Keyes 1994)
- ^ (Harris 2001, p. 84)
- ^ a b (Harris 2001, p. 75)
- ^ (Harris 2001, p. 87)
References
- Harris, Ian (August 2001), "Sangha Groupings in Cambodia", Buddhist Studies Review (UK Association for Buddhist Studies) 18 (I): 65–72
- Keyes, Charles F. (1994), "Communist Revolution and the Buddhist Past in Cambodia", Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai`i Press, pp. 43–73
See also
External links
- Thai Forest Tradition
- Thudong Tradition
- Forest Sangha
- Kammatthana
- Ajaan Mun Relics
- History of the Movement by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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