Rendimiento total de una canal de bovino

puri f y i n g t h e m i n d and conduct. He argued t h a t communist

ideology appeal ed to people because of a world-wide mate- 81

rialism. Furthermore, he contended, communists always

c l a i m that t he i r doctrine is supported by scientific fact;

t h a t is, it denies all hypotheses and bel iefs which could

not be p r ove d scientifically such as belief in a world 82

beyond, rebirth and life after death. Seni sought to

dis count the communists' claims on both scientific and

political grounds in order to prevent a Marxi st takeover

in Thailand. He asserted that evolutionary theory was

based on the connection of all phenomena from the past,

the present, and the future. Consequently, Marxists erred

in claiming that scientific knowledge denied life before

the prese nt and after death. He also warn e d audiences of

the deceptiveness of terms used by communists such as

"liberal democracy (Thai— seri- pra c h a t h i p a t a i . Pa l i — seri-

p a i a dhi patav al "new democracy (Thai— prachathipatai-

majL)," or "democracy of the proletariat," because their

real meanings were distorted and misrepresented according 83

to M a rxist political purposes.

While Sarit and his supporters were wag ing a war

against communism in order to protect Buddhism and other

traditional institutions, one Thai monk interpreted B u d ­

dhism in another way. He did not wage a w a r against an y­

one or any doctrine. Instead, he spoke of the immediate

value and actual benefits of Buddhism for those w h o p r a c ­

ticed it properly. He was Buddhadasa-bhikkhu ("the s e r ­

vant of the Buddha") who is now teaching in Chaiya,

Southern Thailand. His w o r k during the period of an t i ­

communism is worth studying as a Buddhist "alternative"

to the chauvinistic nationalism of Sarit's period.

Buddhadasa's Work during the Period of

Eud dhadasa-bhikkhu (1906- ), one of the most

famous monks in Thailand today, has eschewed eccles iasti ­

cal office and has b een critical of the hierarchical

stru cture and institutional preoccu patio n of Thai monas-

ticism. He emphasized the "original situation" of early

Buddhism, that monks should live not too close or too far

from lay people, in order to h a ve the privac y to practice

a n d m e d itat e on the Buddha's teaching but, at the same

time, to be able to teach lay people and guide them in the

pr o p e r w a y of life. In 1932, he established Suan-Mokkha-

b a l a rama (the Garden of L i b e r a t i o n ) , a center of Buddhist

study and contemplation, in the isolated location of Chai-

y a in Southern Thailand. Buddhadasa's w o r k primarily c o n ­

cerns th e preserv ation and promulgation of the primordial

m e a n i n g of the Buddha's teachings as recorded in the Tipi-

taka. H e holds the Sutta, in particular, to be the B u d ­

dha's t ruth and the means to save humankind from suffering

in this world.

During Sarit's regime, Buddhadasa's w o r k was not

esp ecial ly critical of the Thai political and social sy s ­

tem, emphasizing rather a proper way of living and moral

cult ivati on in order for people to live happily t o ­

gether. His teaching focused on detachment from one's

self ( atta), and the concept of Empty Mind (s u n n a t a .

c h i t - w a n g . or khwam w a n e ) . Non-attachment was seen as

the k e y to human happiness. He empha s i z e d that by b eing

free from a ttachment to oneself, one w o u l d no longer desire

t o h av e o r to be anything and thus w o u l d be liberated from 84

the infl uenc e of defilements (kilesa). He further

insi sted that h u m a n b eings w aged w a r in order to rule the

w o r l d or to g ain v arious material benefits. War, t h e r e ­

fore, c o u l d not be eliminated until def ileme nts and ego-

cent e r e d n e s s w e r e overcome. A n d the only w a y to get rid

of defilements, according to Buddhadasa, was through

p r o p e r b e l i e f and practice co nforming to the Buddha's . . . 85

teaching.

A f t e r Sa rit' s d e ath in 1963, Budd hadas a's teaching

ass u m e d a more critical social and political posture.

T his ch a n g e m a y well have been due to m o r e freedom of

s p eech and political expression after t h e time of Sarit,

a l t h o u g h w e can also notice a shift in hi s u n d ersta nding of

the d h a m m a . I will discuss Buddhadasa's w o r k from 1964

to 1973 d u r i n g w h i c h time his teachin g w a s wi dely

publicized.

F r o m 1964, Buddhadasa be gan to r e fer mor e frequently

to the cu rrent social, political, and ec onomic situation.

H e still e mp hasiz ed the concept of the E mpty M i n d or the

e l i m i n a t i o n of attachment to one's self (t u a - k u . khoncr-ku

or "my-self-beloncrs-to-me" c o n c e p t ) , bu t these traditional

t e a c h i n g s wer e disc usse d in terms m o r e relevant to such

in Thailand:

An y o n e who works wit h an E mpty M i n d will not be c o n s cious of his own action. Wit h an E m pty Mind, a hum b l e laborer will not be so sensitive to his inferior status tha t he will adopt dishonest metho ds to fight capitalists. If a l aborer works w ith an E m pty Mind, h e will h av e no discomfort. But, if h e allows himself to t h i n k of his "self," he will fegl d i s a ppoi nted with his own d estiny as a p oor laborer.

It sh ould be noted here that Bu ddhadasa is not cr i ­