PUBLIC WELFARE WORK MANAGEMENT OF BUDDHIST CLERGY IN PHUNPHIN DISTRICT, SURAT THANI PROVINCE

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The public welfare work is a work in the form of volunteering, which is ready to support. It shows loving-kindness and generosity to fellow humanity. The public welfare work is still a major duty of Buddhist monks from Buddha era to the present. The objectives of this research article were; To study the overall public welfare work, to study the problems and threats of the public welfare work, and to propose guidelines about the development of the public welfare work of Buddhist clergy in Phunphin district, Surat Thani province.

Methodology: The qualitative research was conducted for this study. The key informants consisted of Buddhist ecclesiastical official monks who were considered by purposive sampling. Nine individuals who were key informants participated in in-depth interviews. The in-depth interview with structured questionnaires was conducted as the research tool to collect data. Data analysis was conducted using contextual analysis techniques.

Main Results: The results indicated that the public welfare work management of Buddhist clergy in Phunphin district, Surat Thani province, consisted of facilitating the building and location, being the leader in event conducting and coordinating, and subsiding. The problems and obstacles were insufficient personnel, budget, coordination, and cooperation among community members.

Involvement to Buddhadhamma: The application of the Buddhist principles in the management of public welfare work of the Buddhist clergy to be appropriate and virtuous within the teaching and discipline of Buddhism is concerned with efficiency and effectiveness, which is the Buddhist innovation in Thai society both in the present and the future. It uses Saṅgahavatthu (The four bases of social solidarity), Sārāṇīyadhamma (The six states of conciliation), and Brahmavihāra (Four sublime states of mind) to support people, the community, and society. The major purpose and objective are for the Buddhist clergy to do public welfare work for those facing troubles. The guidelines include 1) To conduct for help, 2) To support others’ benefits, 3) To keep any public welfare, and 4) To help any people. These approaches are the important objectives of the Buddhist clergy for supporting people in the community with appropriateness according to place and time. These objectives are also making for a good relationship between households, temples, and schools in another way. These objectives are to develop a quality of life for people to be balanced mentally and physically concerning materialistic needs. They are also for developing people in physical, verbal, and mental by having temples and Buddhist monks take an important lead to develop the society in many aspects of the development of mentality, quality of life, community and society, and the preservation of art and culture. They can bring happiness to people, society, and the nation to further prosperity for developing public welfare work to be sustainable into the future.

Conclusions: According to the study, the proposed guidelines of solution for public welfare work management of the Buddhist clergy in Phunphin district, Surat Thani province, included preparing personnel, building networks with organizations, using social media to work, giving services by bringing community members to participate, coordinating with public organizations or any other organizations that could give full support, and providing the foundation for managing budget in public welfare work.