Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice Tradition and a Case Study

Thai Buddhist meditation practice tradition has its long history since the Sukhothai Kingdom about 18th B.E., until the present day at 26th B.E. in the Kingdom of Thailand. In history there were many well-known Buddhist meditation master teachers, i.e., SomdejPhraBhudhajaraya ( To Bhramarangsi ), Phraajarn Mun Puritatto , Luang Phor Sodh Chantasalo , PhramahaChodok Yanasitthi , and Buddhadasabhikkhu , etc. Buddhist meditation practice is generally regarded by Thai Buddhists to be a higher state of doing a good deed than doing a good deed by offering things to Buddhist monks even to the Buddha. Thai Buddhists believe that practicing Buddhist meditation can help them to have mindfulness, peacefulness in their own lives and to finally obtain Nibbana that is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. The present article aims to briefly review history, and movement of Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice Tradition and to take a case study of students’ Buddhist meditation practice research at the university level as an example of the movement of Buddhist meditation practice tradition in Thailand in the present. works done by scholars, for example, the research paper entitled “Effect of Meditation on Mental Health Measured by Center for Epidemiology Studies-Depression Scale” of and (1986, pp. 177-190) of the It studied a series of one hundred and thirty-six youths who spent one month during their summer vacation in the Buddhist center to practice meditation by utilizing the CES-D scale to evaluate their mood changes. The results have shown that there was a significant reduction of CES-D scores between pre- and post-training groups (t-test= 4.58) significant at alpha =.01).

©Center for Promoting Education and Research (CPER) USA www.cpernet.org International Journal of Business and Applied Social Science (IJBASS) E-ISSN: 2469-6501 VOL: 6, ISSUE: 7 July/2020 DOI: 10.33642/ijbass.v6n7p2 https://ijbassnet.com/ Bhikkhu (2449Bhikkhu ( /1906Bhikkhu ( -2536Bhikkhu ( /1993 of Suan Mokkh Temple, Suratthani province who himself directly learned Buddhist meditation from the Pali Canon (Tripitaka) was a Buddhist meditation teacher and preached the Buddha teaching especially "Sunyata" that shacked normative Thai Theravada Buddhist teaching at his time. Suan Mokkhabalarama (Garden of the Power of Liberation) is the chosen place to represent the meditation center in Southern Thailand. This place is internationally famous because it was once the hermitage of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. The meditation technique used here is the mindfulness of breathing. (Pataraporn Sirikanchana, 2010).
Again, in this period, there also was one of those famous meditation teachers in Thailand was named Phramaha Chodok Yanasiddhi (2461/1918-2531/1988) of Watmahathatu in Bangkok who learned Buddhist meditation form Myanmar. According to Phramaha Chodok Yanasiddhi, the meditation techniques are based on Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana) described in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta. Concentration is developed on the rise and fall of the abdomen, then awareness is directed to physical and mental sensations. (Pataraporn Sirikanchana, 2010).
Briefly, Thai Buddhist Meditation of these traditions has contributed to Thai Buddhists till the present. It might be said that this period of 2440/1897-2540/1997 can be regarded as the age of enlightenment of Buddhism in Thailand, because all these senior Thai Buddhist meditation teachers have awaked people from superstition then taught Thai Buddhists to turn back to the essence of the Buddha teaching i.e. mind purification by the method of Tranquility and Insight Meditation that leads those who paid attention to appropriate practice obtain the cessation of suffering (Nibbana).

Movement of Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice Tradition in the Present
As contributed by those previous meditation teachers, the trend of Buddhist meditation practice has been increased more and more in Thailand. Now there are more than 1,000 institutes of Buddhist meditation. Willpower Institute, for instance, of Phra Dhammongkolyarn (Luangphor Viriyang Sirintharo) who has followed the Buddhist meditation practice tradition of Phra Ajarn Mun Puritatto consist of 145 branches. Many people from Thailand and other counties, especially from Europe and America follow the meditation practice of this institute and also have been trained to be a Buddhist meditation teacher. Those people who interested in this institute can follow this website: http://www.willpowerinstitute.com/. International Meditation Center of Watmahathatu, Bangkok, follows the Buddhist meditation practice tradition of Phramaha Chodok Yanasiddhi who leaned Buddhist meditation practice tradition from Myanmar. Those people who interested in this institute can follow this website: http://www.msarc.info/.Also, Suanmokkhapalaram of Suratthani Province follows Buddhist meditation practice tradition of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu who directly learned Buddhist Meditation practice from the Pali Canon or Tripitaka. This is the link to the website of Suanmokkha: http://www.suanmokkh.org/.
Recently, in Thailand, there are not only Buddhist monks are Buddhist meditation practice teachers, but there are many Buddhist laymen are Buddhist meditation practice teachers, for instance, Sathira Dhammasathan Buddhist Meditation Center founded by Ms. Sansanee Satirasuta since 2530/1987 as the website: http://www.sdsweb.org/sdsweb. Sathian Thamma Sathan may be quite a special place for female meditation practitioners because the owner and the leader are a famous nun in Thai society today. Nun Sansanee is an engaged Buddhist and a meditation practice leader. As to the meditation practice, she uses the technique of mindfulness on breathing (Anapanasati). And the center of Meditation of Dr. Siri Krinchai in Surin Province as the website: http://junromsurin.org/menu03.html. Dr. Siri Krinchai learned the Buddhist meditation practice method from Phramaha Chodok Yanasiddhi of Watmahathatu, Bangkok.
In above mentioned Buddhist meditation tradition, the question may arise that which one is the real tradition that follows the real Buddha tradition as the Buddha's main doctrine of the Threefold Learning or the Threefold Training (Trisikkhā) namely, training in higher morality (Adhisila-sikkhā) training in higher mentality (Adhicitta-sikkhā) and training in higher wisdom (Adhipaññā-sikkhā). All these traditions have followed the doctrine of Trisikkhā of the Buddha. There is some difference of method of teaching among them, for example, the characteristic of Buddhist meditation tradition of Phra Ajarn Mun Puritatto and Phramaha Chodok Yanasiddhi seems to be focused on Adhicitta-sikkhā, while of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu seems to be focused on Adhipaññā-sikkhā. However, all these Buddhist meditation traditions still follow the Trisikkhā as taught by the Buddha.
Also, with the impact of Buddhist mediation, there are many movements of Buddhist meditation in academic institutions in Thailand in the present. There are many courses of the Buddhist meditation practice in curriculums used to teach students in many universities, for instance, CRRS 318 Practice of the Buddhist Meditation course of the College of Religious Studies, Mahidol University since 2540/1997 till the present. More than 700 graduates were trained in this course for 17 years since the course was set by the college as on the website: http://www. works done by scholars, for example, the research paper entitled "Effect of Meditation on Mental Health Measured by Center for Epidemiology Studies-Depression Scale" of Kasantikul D., Suttipan C. and Worakul P. (1986, pp. 177-190) of the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University. It studied a series of one hundred and thirty-six youths who spent one month during their summer vacation in the Buddhist center to practice meditation by utilizing the CES-D scale to evaluate their mood changes. The results have shown that there was a significant reduction of CES-D scores between pre-and post-training groups (t-test= 4.58) significant at alpha =.01).

A Case Study of Thai Buddhist Meditation Practice
In this paper, CRRS 318 Practice of the Buddhist Meditation course of the College of Religious Studies, Mahidol University will be taken as an example as a case study of the practice of Buddhist meditation at the university level. Samples T-Test. The results of the research indicated that learning achievement before and after participating in the project of Buddhist meditation practice course can vary significantly by 0.05. Learning achievement after joining the project is higher than before joining the project (t = 12.718). For the study of the comment and suggestion, the samples show the comments appreciated the project that it develops their minds to concentrate more and helps them get inner peace more than ever before. There are comments for development the project given by samples that should adapt to sitting meditation and walking meditation (chongkrom) during the first 2-3 days, with the number of drops and add more time to the following days for adjusting of the participants, and the discussion period should be added to query the mood from the meditation experience. (Somboon Watana, 2558/2015.
In 2557/2014, again, after development the teaching management of CRRS 318 course, based on the results of previous research in 2556/2013, I have done the research entitled " A comparison of learning of achievement of the Buddhist Meditation practice course" The research aimed to 1) compare learning achievement of Practice of Buddhist Meditation Course by comparing the achievement before joining the project, and after joining the project and 2) study the comments and suggestions regarding teaching and learning management. The samples are 66 students of B.A. degree, who learned Practice of Buddhist Meditation Course in 2nd Semester/2014. The tools of the research are questionnaires and a formal interview. The statistics are Means, Standard Deviation, and Paired Samples T-Test. The results of the research shown that learning achievement before and after learning the Buddhist meditation practice course differed significantly by 0.05. Learning achievement after joining the project is higher than before joining the project (t = 11.040). For the study of the comment and suggestion, the samples appreciated the course because it developed their minds to concentrate more, helps them get inner peace more than before, and lets them more understand and more recognize teachers and friends, therefore the program should maintain this course forever. The interviews showed that the teaching of all teachers helped students to gain knowledge and intellect for a better life. To practice Anapanasati Meditation along with a count of the number is useful for having mindfulness and cessation of anxiety in the last 3 days of the practice. All of them acknowledged that after 4 days the practice of the Buddhist Meditation Course helped them to more realize friendship among teachers and friends. They all suggested to keep this course for the future and to extend the course to the first and the third-year students of the program. (Somboon Watana, 2560/2017. In addition to supporting the finding, 10 students have been purposively interviewed. They said that they have learned how to have mindfulness in their own thinking and acting, breathing meditation with the help of counting number along with breathing made them more having concentration, for the earlier practicing this technique they felt they have very short concentration, however after practicing meditation more and more they found that they have more and more concentration and found mindfulness and peacefulness.
As now in the age of globalization, there are many interesting things that can inspire and please young people mostly in the material and mental realm. However, it seems that there is no room for young people to have a chance to develop themselves in the spiritual realm. Hence, to systematically provide a Buddhist meditation course in higher education or university level is a way to fill the gap. teaching and training all 70-80 students in the college to have learned and practicing Buddhist meditation. Therefore, it can be said that it is a way to maintain the Buddhist meditation tradition for the sake of the next generations to have a chance of experience of spiritual well-being which can lead to moral desirable society. Furthermore, to teach and practice Buddhist meditation at the university level should be supported and extended to many universities due to its significance and utility for human beings.

Conclusion and Discussion
Thai Buddhists are familiar with a statement of the Buddha about the sustainability of Buddhism that Buddhism can exist as long as human beings appropriately practice the Buddha's teaching, i.e., to practice in accordance with Adhisila-sikkhā, Adhicitta-sikkhā and Adhipaññā-sikkhā), and vice versa. To practice meditation is one way of practicing the Buddha's teaching and is regarded to be the best way to develop the human mind to have the higher sate of virtue and Nibbana in the last. Most Thai Buddhists who well understand the essence of the Buddha's teaching recognize meditation practice to be the appropriate way to achieve the perfection of Sila, Citta, and Paññā.
However, as at the present, Thai people are mostly influenced by materialism and consumerism, hence most of them practice meditation do not want to achieve the final goal, i.e., the perfection Sila, Citta and Paññā called Nibbana, but most of them practice meditation just for having good health and escaping from their boring lives at family and office in a peaceful place like the temples or hermitages. Among those people practicing meditation are the middle class who are traders' freelancers. They have good finance to support themselves and free time to go off to other places. Regarding the meditation practice of the middle class, the research of Pataraporn Sirikanchana (2010) has criticized this phenomenon "as long as the middle class does not take the dhammic practice seriously, their activities in meditation centers are still a waste of time. The dhammic practitioners should prepare themselves with some basic knowledge of the Buddhist teachings, e.g., the teachings of suffering and the cause of suffering, before going to join the meditation practice in a temple or in a hermitage. The owners of the meditation centers and the Masters of meditation should equip the dhammic practitioners with basic Buddhist teachings according to the Buddhist Scriptures in order to prepare them for a practical meditation. The Masters should be aware that practitioners should not be all expected to attain the highest goal of meditation as stated in the Buddhist Scriptures. They thus should set proper methods and procedures of training for their followers. Though a dhammic practitioner cannot attain the Buddhist highest goal, he/she can apply the dhammic expertise for his/her best and the society." However, in my view, to be qualified for the benefit of those people learning the Buddhist meditation practice the Buddhist meditation teacher masters must have experience of meditation in the sense of religious experience and well education in meditation theory and practice or for the highest benefit they should have experience in the higher goal of Buddhism. Again, the fashion of practicing Buddhist meditation for benefit of healthy may mislead Buddhist meditation practice to serve the only worldly need and decrease the higher value of Buddhist meditation that the Buddha taught for the ultimate goal i.e., Nibbana. This should be a big question to challenge the entire Buddhist meditation practice teacher master in Thai Buddhism in the present.