Sangha Law (Thailand)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Thai Sangha Law ( Thai พระราชบัญญัติ คณะ สงฆ์ , RTGS Phraratchabanyat Khana Song ), in the literature mostly under the English name Sangha Act , is the legal regulation for the state control of the organization and administration of the Buddhist monastic community (Mahāsangha) in Thailand. It was first enacted in 1902 (45 paragraphs), revised in a democratic sense in 1941 (60 paragraphs) and revised to a strictly centralized design in 1962. The latter version is essentially in force to this day.

According to all versions, the chief monk patriarch ( Saṅgharāja ; สมเด็จพระสังฆราช , Somdet Phra Sangkharat) is at the head . The provisions of the current version give the Saṅgharāja and his Supreme Council ( Mahāthera samāgama , มหา เถร สมาคม , Mahatherasamakhom, literally "assembly of the elders") from the highest-ranking clergy far-reaching powers of control and instruction over the nominally independent abbots of the individual monasteries, which in this form are not covered by the teaching of the Buddha. This also led to the development of a system of "spiritual ranks" ( Samanasak , สมณศักดิ์ ) from which 62 are currently differentiated in Thailand.

1902

The law of 1902 created the Mahāthera samāgama (quorum 5) as the executive body . The practical organization of the administration was carried out by the king's son and tenth patriarch Vajirañāṇavarorasa . The additions to Law 1931 and 1933 stipulated that the approval of a temple district ( Sīmā, a kind of " sanctuary ") is to be published in the official gazette, or that a transfer of ownership of temple property requires a law.

1941

The democratically inspired Sangha law of 1941 copied the secular state structure almost one to one. It provided for the following institutions:

  1. Saṅghasabhā, ( สังฆสภา , Sangkhasapha) the "monk synod", with a maximum of 45 members - analogous to the secular national assembly (Ratthasapha)
  2. Gana vinayadhara ( คณะ วินัยธร , Khana Winaithon), the spiritual courts of justice, here too there was a three-instance train as in the ordinary courts in the secular area
  3. the "Cabinet" ( คณะ สังฆมนตรี , Khana Sangkhamontri) with an executive function, appointed by the Patriarch, with a maximum of ten members. Divided into four areas: administration, mission, training and buildings - an analogy to the secular government cabinet (Khana Ratthamontri). The cabinet was headed by a Sangha Nayok , a “Sangha Prime Minister”. This was the administrative head of the Sangha, while the Supreme Patriarch (Saṅgharāja) was only the ceremonial head (like the king in the constitutional monarchy)

The cabinet was subordinate to a territorial structure, which in turn was modeled on the secular structure of the state and went through regions (phak) , provinces ( changwat ) , districts ( amphoe ) , communities ( tambon ) down to the monasteries ( wat ) as the smallest unit. One goal of the law was to remove the supremacy of the previously privileged but much smaller order Thammayut-nikai over the Mahānikai, to which the great majority of the monasteries and monks belonged.

Decrees passed by the council ( saṅghāṇati , สังฆาณัติ , Sangkhanat) were passed indirectly through the patriarch.

According to the law, the schism, which has existed since the 19th century , should be overcome within eight years in two separate orders, the traditionally king-like, more elitist Thammayut-nikai and the more popular Mahānikai . As a model for this, the government founded the neutral Wat Samahathat in 1942, to which twelve Thammayut and just as many Mahanikai monks belonged. The reunification failed, however.

1962

The disputes between Mahānikai (92% of the temples) and Thammayut, who was overrepresented in the synod with almost half of the seats, over the successor to the Supreme Patriarch, who died in 1958, used the government of the dictator Sarit Thanarat as an excuse to enact the Sangha law of 1962 so that the organization is now strictly hierarchical and centralized. The Sangkhasapha and the other organs of the Sangha Law of 1941, modeled on a democratic government, were abolished by this.

Since then, the Saṅgharāja has exercised the Sangha-internal law-making, jurisdiction and administration. He presides over the authorized "Supreme Council" of the Mahātherasamakhom . This includes all ordained Somdet rank plus four to eight appointees. Theoretically, admission to the council takes place according to the seniority of abbots of certain important temples, who, however, can only reach these posts if they can prove loyalty to the regime. Members of heterodox movements such as Santi Asoke , Dhammakaya or the forest monk movement widespread in the northeast have little chance , although the latter have tended to be included in the mainstream since the 1960s. The separation and independence of the two orders - Thammayut and Mahanikai - was confirmed by the 1962 law.

At the regional level, the state is divided into provinces and amphoe . As the state controller, the general director of the department for religious questions in the Ministry of Education is ex officio as general secretary. The central authority received the right of censorship ( niggaha-kamma ) and may order the return of a monk to the lay status (จับ สึก, jap seuk ), which can be enforced using criminal law (§§ 206-8 ThaiStGB).

Government agencies

The state control bodies were last reorganized in 2002. The “Office for Religious Affairs” in the Ministry of Education was separated into a “Department for National Buddhism” in the State Chancellery and an “Office for Religious Affairs”, which is now part of the Ministry of Culture. While the former is responsible for administrative issues of the Theravada Sangha, the latter takes care of the few Mahāyāna temples, Christian churches, but also general cultural and religious activities such as temple festivals, etc. Below the level of the council, Mahanikai and Thammayut remain completely separate.

See also

literature

  • Peter A. Jackson: Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict. The Political Functions of Urban Thai Buddhism. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1989, Chapter 4, State Control of the Sangha in the Twentieth Century , pp. 63-93.
  • Aye Kyaw: The Sangha Organization in Nineteenth Century Burma and Thailand. In: Journal of the Siam Society (JSS), Volume 72, 1984, pp. 166-96
  • Handley, Paul M .; The King Never Smiles: a Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej; New Haven 2006 (Yale University Press); ISBN 9780300106824 [on the political background]
  • Mahāmakut Rājavidyālaya Education Council (Ed.): Acts on the Administration of the Buddhist Order of Sangha. Bangkok 1963; [Commentary on Sangha Law (1962)]
  • Mahāmakuta Educational Council, Mahāmakutrātchawitthayālai (ed.): Acts on the administration of the Buddhist order of Saṅgha. Volume 1: Act of the 121st Ratanakosin year, B.E. 2445 AD 1902, in the reign of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn). Volume 2: Act of the Buddhist era 2484, in the reign of King Rama VIII (King Ananda Mahidol). Volume 3: Act of the Buddhist era 2505, in the reign of King Rama IX (King Phumibol Adulayadej) . Bangkok 1989.
  • Sophana, Sāsana [Phra]; Mahāmakuta Educational Council [Mahāmakutrātchawitthayālai]; Maxims of the Sangharāja of the Thai sangha and the government of the Thai sangha; Bangkok 2510 B. E. [1967] (Siva Phorn Ltd.)
  • Sunthorn Na-rangsi: Administration of the Thai Sangha. Past, Present and Future. In: Chulongkorn Journal of Buddhist Studies , Volume 1, No. 2, 2002, pp. 59-74.
  • Wichīan 'ākātsarœk; Sunthōn Suphūtayōthin; Prawat samanasak læ phatyot; [Bangkok] 1985; [Thai: "History of Spiritual Ranks and Subjects."]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Current version adopted at the Mahātherasamakhom conference 6/2541 on Feb. 27, 2541 (1998). (Cf. John P. Ferguson: Monks and Hierarchy in Northern Thailand. In: Journal of the Siam Society , Volume 64, 1976, pp. 104-150, Tab. II on pp. 143f.)
  2. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติ ลักษณะ ปกครอง คณะ สงฆ์ . In: Royal Gazette . 19, No. 13, June 29, 1902, p. 214.
  3. ↑ Detailed: Who owns a monastery in Thai law? (accessed on May 14, 2015)
  4. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติ คณะ สงฆ์ พุทธศักราช ๒๔๘๔ . In: Royal Gazette . 58, No. 0 ก, October 14, 1941, p. 1391.
  5. ↑ Kamala Tiyavanich: Forest Recollections. Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand. University of Hawai'i Press, 1997, p. 189.
  6. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติ คณะ สงฆ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๐๕ . In: Royal Gazette . 79, No. 115 ก ฉบับ พิเศษ, December 31, 1962, p. 29.
  7. ↑ Jackson: Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict. 1989, p. 80.
  8. ↑ It is truly a "council of elders" ( Mahāthera ). In 2006 there were 21 members. Virtually no member was ever under 60, most gerontocrats are over 80. The parallels to Catholic Curia Cardinals and their deeply reactionary view of the world are obvious.
  9. ↑ Cf. on this: Tiyavanich, Kamala; Forest recollections: wandering monks in twentieth-century Thailand; Honolulu 1997 (University of Hawai'i Press); ISBN 0-82481781-8
  10. ↑ Jackson: Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict. 1989, p. 81.