An Analysis of Socially Engaged Buddhism : A Case Study of Wat Phradhammakaya’s Project to Assist Buddhists in the Four Southern Provinces in Thailand

Abstract

This qualitative research objectives are 1) to study the concept of the socially engaged Buddhism 2) to study the concept of Wat Phra Dhammakaya's projects to assist Buddhists in the four southern provinces of Thailand 3) to analyze the principle of socially engaged Buddhism and Wat Phra Dhammakaya's projects to assist Buddhists in the four southern provinces in Thailand. This research used qualitative methodology aimed to study the socially engaged Buddhism : case study of Wat Phra Dhammakaya's project to assist Buddhists in the four southern provinces in Thailand and to study the method and activity used to assist Buddhists in the four southern provinces in Thailand by collecting data from related documents from reviewed news, journals, documents, literatures and interviewing 10 key informants on the field study.

The research result found that 1) Buddhism has incorporated the concept of socially engagement since the early era of Buddhism, starting from the intention of the Lord Buddha to teach Dhamma to be useful for the world. Buddhism has strong social engagement consistent with the idea to apply it to support the society in order to help solve social problems in the present and use Dhamma principles as a refuge for the mind. This will lead people to have the right way of living their lives based on Buddhism. 2) the concept of assisting Buddhist in the four southern provinces of Thailand is the intention of Luangpor Dhammajayo who has concern for the monks in the southern province as well as the Thai Buddhists who are affected by the situation in the four provinces. Therefore, he has supported all the activities such as Sangha dana offering, education funds and alms food offerings for 15 years. These peaceful activities will continuously support Buddhism in the southern provinces. 3) the concept of Wat Phra Dhammakaya's projects to assist Buddhist in the four southern provinces of Thailand is consistent with the Dhamma doctrines related to social work such as the four sublime states of mind, the four bases of sympathy and the six directions. Moreover, these project are related to the concept of socially engaged Buddhism because Buddhist concepts are used to support the society by solving societal problems. As a result, people will realize they are part of the world and will immediately offer help when they see other people's suffering.