Instructor:
Kanya Wattanagun, Ph.D.
Thai Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Kanya.W@chula.ac.th
Course Overview:
This course is aimed to introduce fundamental concepts and distinct characteristics of Thai Buddhism to beginners. The twelve lectures cover essential aspects of Thai Buddhism, ranging from its institutional and doctrinal components to beliefs and practices adopted by Thai Buddhists at the vernacular level. The emerging Buddhist movements and phenomena in Thailand’s socio-political context will also be discussed to highlight the role of Thai Buddhism as an adaptive and dynamic religious tradition. Overall, the course is intended to give students an overview of Buddhist beliefs and practices as shaped by Thailand’s historical, social, and cultural environments.
Course Assignments:
Students have to turn in three writing assignments:
- Response Papers
The course consists of six double-session lectures given over the period of six weeks. At the end of week three, students are required to turn in a response paper (400-600 words in length), which discusses a topic in the first half of the class that students find most interesting. The response paper should include the following components:
- A brief summary of the selected issue
- Students’ remarks/comments on the issue
- Questions for further discussion
The second response paper is due at the end of week six. Students can choose any topics that are covered in the latter half of the course.
- Term Paper
At the end of the course, students are required to submit a term paper of 3,000-4,000 words in length. Students can choose any aspects of Thai Buddhism and discuss them in the term paper. Some feasible topics are:
- The doctrine of karma in Thai Buddhism
- Buddhism and Thai polity
- Buddhist doctrines and local supernatural beliefs in Thai context
- Thai Buddhism and social changes
- Buddhist ceremonies in the Thai’s everyday life
Topics listed above are not mandatory. Each student may also tailor the term paper topic that best suits his/her interest.
A properly formatted bibliography of all works cited must be included at the end of the paper. Chicago style of citation is recommended.
Tentative Schedule:
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Date
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Topic
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Assigned Readings
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Week 1 May 18, 2018
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Session 1
What is a Religious Tradition Called “Thai Buddhism”?
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Payutto (1984) “Thai Buddhism: The overall picture”
Kirsch (1977) “Complexity in the Thai religious system: An interpretation”
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Session 2
Case study
The Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand’s banishment of non-Buddhist images
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Week 2 May 25, 2018
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Session 1
Thai Buddhism: Fundamental Doctrines and Precepts
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Harvey (2000) “Rebirth and Karma”, “The Four Noble Truths”, “The Lay Precepts”
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Session 2
Case Study
Buddhist doctrines translated into practices: official and folk interpretations
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Week 2 May 26, 2018
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Session 1
Buddhism and the Thai State
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Tambiah (1976) “The Early Buddhist Conception of World Process, Dharma,
and Kingship”
“The Sangha and the Polity: From Ayutthaya to Bangkok”
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Session 2
Case Study
The Dhammakaya controversy
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First response paper due date: June 5, 2018 (Tuesday) via email
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Week 3 June 8, 2018
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Session 1
Buddhism in the Thai’s everyday life
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Wells (1975) “Temple-Centered Ceremonies”
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Session 2
Case Study
Buddhism and spirit cults in Thailand
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Week 3 June 09, 2018
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Session 1
Thai Buddhism and social change
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O’Connor (1993) “Interpreting Thai Religious Change: Temples, Sangha Reform and Social Change”
Taylor (1993)
“Buddhist Revitalization, Modernization, and Social Change in Contemporary Thailand”
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Session 2
Case Study
Thai Buddhism as the “religion of prosperity”
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Week 4 June 22, 2018
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Session 1
Making sense of Thai Buddhism
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Kitiarsa (2005) “Beyond Syncretism: Hybridization of Popular Religion in Contemporary Thailand”
McDaniel (2011) “On Syncretism and Repertoire”
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Session 2
Conclusion
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Second response paper due date: June 26, 2018 (Tuesday) via email
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Term paper due date: July 6, 2018 (Friday) via email
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Score distribution
Two response papers 50%
Term paper 50%
Total 100%
Ethics
Plagiarism (copying others’ works and presenting them as your own) will not be tolerated. Assignments proved to be guilty of plagiarism will be automatically given an F.
Required Readings
Harvey, P. 2000. An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values, and Issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kirsch, A.T. 1977. "Complexity in the Thai Religious System: An Interpretation." Journal of Asian Studies 36 (2): 241-266.
Kitiarsa, Pattana. 2005. "Beyond Syncretism: Hybridization of Popular Religion in Contemporary Thailand." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 36 (3): 461-487.
McDaniel, Justin. 2011. The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Modern Thailand. New York: Columbia University Press.
O'Connor, R. 1993. "Interpreting Thai Religious Change: Temples, Sangha Reform, and Social Change." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 24 (2): 330-339.
Payutto, P.A. 1984. Thai Buddhism in the Buddhist World. Bangkok: Unity Progress Press.
Tambiah, Stanley J. 1976. World Conquerer and World Renoucer: A Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical Background. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, J. 1993. "Buddhist Revitalization, Modernization, and Social Change in Contemporary Thailand." Sojourn 8 (1): 61-91.
Wells, K.E. 1975. Thai Buddhism: Its Rites and Activities. Bangkok: Suriyabunn.
Suggested Readings
Anderson, Benedict. 2012. The Fate of Rural Hell: Asceticism and Desire in Buddhist Thailand. Calcutta: Seagull Books.
Anuman Rajadhon, Phya. 1986. Popular Buddhism in Siam and Other Essays on Thai Studies. Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development and Sathirakoses Nagapradipa Foundation.
Appleton, Naomi. 2010. Jātaka Stories in Theravāda Buddhism: Narrating the Bodhisatta Path. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Cassaniti, Julia. 2015. Living Buddhism: Mind, Self, and Emotion in a Thai Community . Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Engel, David M., and Jaruwan S. Engel. 2010. Tort, Custom, and Karma Globalization and Legal Consciousness in Thailand. Standford: Standford University Press.
Gombrich, R.F. 1988. Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Banares to Modern Columbo. London: Routledge.
Hanks, L.M. 1962. "Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order." American Anthropologists 64: 1247-1261.
Ishii, Y. 1986. Sangha, State, and Society: Thai Buddhism in History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Jackson, Peter A. 1999. "Royal Spirits, Chinese Gods, and Magic Monks: Thailand's Boom-Time Religions of Prosperity." South East Asia Research 7 (3): 245-320.
Jackson, Peter A. 1999. "The Enchanting Spirit of Thai Capitalism: The Cult of Luang Phor Khoon and the Post-Modernization of Thai Buddhism." South East Asia Research 7 (1): 5-60.
Kitiarsa, Pattana. 2012. Mediums, Monks, and Amulets: Thai Popular Buddhism Today. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
McMahan, David L. 2008. The Making of Buddhist Modernism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reynolds, F.E., and M.B. Reynolds. 1982. Three Worlds According to King Ruang: A Thai Buddhist Cosmology. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.
Satha-anand, Suwanna. 1990. "Religious Movements in Contemporary Thailand." Asian Survey 30 (4): 395-407.
Sivaraksa, Sulak. 1999. Socially Engaged Buddhism for the New Millenium. Bangkok : Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation.
Swearer, D. K. 1984. The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Bangkok: Silkworm Books.
Tambiah, Stanley J. 1970. Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in Notheast of Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
________. 1984. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, Jim. 1999. "(Post-) Modernity, Remaking Tradiiton and the Hybridization of Thai Buddhism." Anthropological Forum 9 (2): 163-187.
Terwiel, B.J. 1984. Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies . Copenhagen : NIAS Press.
Wattanagun, Kanya. 2017. "Karma versus Magic: Dissonance and Syncretismin Vernacular Thai Buddhism." Southeast Asian Studies 6 (1): 115-137.
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