The History of the Thai Forest Tradition

The History of the Thai Forest Tradition

Story of the arising of the Thai forest tradition from Mon roots, that gave rise to Ajahn Mun, the most influential forest monk of the 20th century. The combination of factors that made Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto so influential. The Thai Forest Tradition is a tradition of Buddhist monasticism within Thai Theravada Buddhism. It uses remote wilderness and forest dwellings as training grounds for spiritu⋯⋯al practice. Maha Nikaya and Dhammayuttika Nikaya are the two major monastic orders in Thailand that have their own forest traditions. It originated in Thailand, primarily among the Lao-speaking community in Northeastern Thailand. The Thai Forest Tradition emphasizes direct experience through the practice of meditation and strict adherence to the monastic rules (vinaya) over scholastic study of the Pali Tipitaka. Forest monks are considered to be specialists in meditation. The Forest Tradition is usually associated with the attainment of certain supernatural powers (abhiñña). It is widely known among Thai people for its orthodoxy, conservatism, and asceticism. Because of this, it has garnered a great deal of respect and admiration from the Thai people. The adherents of this tradition model their practice and lifestyle on that of the Buddha and the early generations of his disciples. They are often referred to as 'forest monks' because they keep alive the practice of the historical Buddha, who himself spent a much time dwelling in forests during his spiritual quest. The Thai Forest Tradition draws its inspiration from teachings contained in the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas of the Pali Canon, where the Buddha is frequently described as dwelling in forests. In the Pali Canon discourses, the Buddha frequently instructs his disciples to seek out a secluded dwelling (in a forest, under the shade of a tree, mountain, glen, hillside cave, charnel ground, jungle grove, in the open, or on a heap of straw). The Buddha himself achieved Awakening in a forest, under the foot of a Bodhi tree. In the Bhaya-bherava Sutta, the Buddha explained that the mental challenge he faced during his stay in the forest had aided his quest for Awakening. There are many suttas in the Pali Canon where the Buddha instructs monks to practice in remote wilderness. The Forest Tradition was revived in the early 1900s in Thailand. The revival movement was led by Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera and his student, Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto. In the 20th century notable practitioners included Ajahn Thate, Ajahn Maha Bua and Ajahn Chah. Theravada Buddhists regard the forest as part and parcel of the monastic training ground. As such, this training method needed to be revived and maintained for the benefit of oneself and future generations. In Thailand, Buddhism plays a central role in social life. In the early 1900s, the urban monasteries often served as centers of scholastic learning. Monks usually receive their education in monasteries and earn the rough equivalent of "graduate degrees" in the studies of Pali language and the Tipitaka scriptures, without necessarily engaging in the meditative practices described in the scriptures. During that period, it was also generally believed that it was no longer possible to achieve awakening. Because of the tendency in urban monastic life towards scholarship, debate, greater social activity and so on, some monks believed the original ideals of the monastic life (Sangha) had been compromised. It was in part a reaction against this perceived dilution in Buddhism which led Ajahn Sao and Ajahn Mun to the simpler life associated with the forest tradition and the practice of meditation. Forest monasteries are situated far away from urban areas, usually in the wilderness or very rural areas of Thailand. One finds such monastic settings in other Buddhist countries as well such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Myanmar. The revival of the Forest Tradition is, then, an attempt to reach back to past centuries before modernization to reclaim the old standards of discipline, an attempt to stave off increasing laxness in contemporary monastic life. It was later spread globally by Ajahn Mun's students including Ajahn Thate, Ajahn Maha Bua and Ajahn Chah and several western disciples among whom the most senior is Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Pannavadho. The household life is close and dusty, the homeless life is free as air. It is not easy, living the household life, to live the fully-perfected holy life, purified and polished like a conch shell. What if I, having shaved off my hair & beard and putting on the ochre robe, were to go forth from the home life into homelessness?