Buddhism in the Modern Day
Cambodia
Posted by Khmer Buddhist
Network on January 5, 2012 at
7:56am
Dwindling
congregations, a weakened grasp on the young generation and a
clergy tainted by scandal. The Catholic Church might be the first
association to come to mind. Yet similar challenges confront faiths
all around the world, and Buddhism is no
exception.
In Cambodia,
Buddhism was forced to go underground during the secular tyranny of
the Khmer Rouge communist regime. As Buddhist monks and leaders
were among the country’s intellectual elite, many were persecuted
and killed in the 1970s. Rebuilding the Buddhist community—known as
the sangha—has been an ongoing effort ever
since.
Moreover, modern ways of
life divergent from traditional Buddhist values hardly provide a
breeding ground for faith, especially for the young people. Add in
a few recent incidences of shameful monk behaviour and it might
even be said that the state religion is in
crisis.
Or is
it?
Buddhism became
the primary religion of what is now Cambodia in the thirteenth
century, although pre-Angkor relics reveal Buddhist iconography
dating back to the fifth century. As most visitors to Angkor Wat
discover, King Jayavarman VII is credited with turning the formerly
Hindu kingdom into a Buddhist realm.
Fast forward
numerous centuries. Theravada Buddhism is the
official state religion of current-day Cambodia, according to
article 43 of the country’s constitution. Approximately 4,000
Buddhist pagodas, known as wats, are found throughout the country
and around 95 percent of Cambodians are said to be
Buddhists.
Yet how many are
practicing? “I go to the pagoda only for Khmer New Year, Pchum Ben
holiday and Water Festival,” says a Cambodian bartender in Phnom
Penh. “I don’t want to be a monk,” says a tuk-tuk driver. “I want
to work.”
A monk and
university student, Kim Song, finds that the lack of knowledge
about Buddhist beliefs is a problem. “How can
the younger generation of Cambodia practice Buddhism if they don’t
know about Buddhism? If the older generation did not teach them,
how could they know?” he asks.
Absorbing
Buddhist principles could be even more difficult for a generation
with short attention spans and a myriad of
distractions.
“It is hard for
young people to go hear monks teach the dharma [Buddhist faith],”
says Em Chamnan, another young monk and university student. “They
can’t sit for a long time they get a headache they don’t have
anything to watch. They fall asleep.”
With the rise of
globalisation, Cambodia is no haven from outside influences and the
storms of cultural change. Rampant consumerism, high-speed
technology and changing perception of morality can encourage a
lifestyle that is the antithesis of the traditional Buddhist
principles of life. Humility, reflection and charity are simply not
the ideals of the modern age.
“They [the
younger generation] go different ways from the Buddha’s teachings,”
says Pheak, a monk who is studying English. “They think that money
is important and that happiness is money, but they don’t think that
knowledge and morality is important to them. They like drugs and
alcohol, they like girls.”
The
Monkhood Meets Modernity
The monkhood is
not exempt from the shifts occurring within today's Cambodia.
“Monks are basically a reflection of the society around them,” says
Peter Gyallay-Pap, a doctor of political science and the founder
and executive director of NGO Khmer-Buddhist Educational Assistance
Project (KEAP). “Even though they’re supposed to aspire to be
ascetic virtuosos, it’s hard. All the lures, the consumerism that’s
so rampant, especially in Phnom Penh, I’m sure it has an effect on
the monks here.”
Whereas all
Buddhists are expected to hew to five precepts in daily
life—referred to colloquially as no killing, no stealing, no sexual
misconduct, no lying and no indulging in drugs and alcohol—ordained
Theravada Buddhist monks must adhere to 227 precepts. Whether
through intentional adaptation to the modern age or slack
regulation from Buddhist leaders, these precepts are not always
obeyed.
Monks using cell
phones and riding motorcycles—those scenes of traditionalism
intersecting modernism captured by many a tourist’s digital
camera—are emblematic of a changing way of life for the Buddhist
clergy.
“They have to
adapt with the modern day, we cannot see that as bad,” says Say
Amnann, a lecturer at a Buddhist university, department director at
the Ministry of Cult and Religion and former monk. “Buddhism
accepts change. If the Buddha were here, he would allow monks to
use cell phones.
”Other Buddhists
hold on to more traditional expectations of the monkhood. “I see
monks at the shopping mall eating ice cream,” says Sorn Chantha, a
sales professional in her late twenties. “It’s weird to me. The
monk is supposed to live lightly, not have anything except
knowledge. But in Phnom Penh, what I see is exactly
different.”
Purity of mind,
body and action is seen by some to be the essence of the
monkhood—the reason why monks are considered worthy mentors for
their believers. When the line between monks and laypeople becomes
blurred, respect for Buddhist leadership may be
tested.
“In my opinion,
what I hear and what I see, monks can have girlfriends. That’s why
it’s hard to believe anymore. It’s impossible to trust,” says Sorn.
“When I ask a monk for advice, sometimes I am not sure that this
person is able to advise me or if what he advises me comes from a
clear mind.”
Deviant
behaviour by some Buddhist monks contributes to her sense of
disillusionment in the monkhood. Sorn cites a much publicised case
from last year, when a well-known monk was arrested for producing
and distributing pornographic material, made when filming women at
a Phnom Penh pagoda in secret.
But Say Amnann
warns against letting such incidents blight perceptions of the
monkhood as a whole. “If we see that those monks are bad, we start
to think all monks are bad,” he says. “But we forget to look at the
history, everything is interconnected and interrelated. We have to
compare with the good things. I think that the good things are more
than the bad things.”
A
Pathway to Education
Gyallay-Pap
takes a more proactive stance towards the potential corruption of
the monkhood. “The number of bad and rotten apples is maybe
growing,” he says. “To me that’s all the more reason to be engaged
and involved. It means that there’s trouble and help is needed.
These people need good education and good
teachers."
Strengthening
education of monks is a priority of KEAP, which states its mission
as to “promote the recovery, renewal and development of the
Cambodian people and society through their own spiritual and
cultural heritage.” KEAP has run a scholarship programme since 2002
to provide monthly stipends for Buddhist monks so that they can
attend universities. It’s part of an effort to reestablish Buddhism
as a “wisdom tradition.”
Historically,
Buddhist temples were at the centre of academia in Cambodia. But,
according to Gyallay-Pap, a national movement to adopt standards
from the West and secularise the school system in the 1950s
eliminated religious curriculum, and brought education away from
Buddhist Sangha control.
Although today
Cambodia is abound with state and private schools, education comes
at a cost that many of Cambodia’s poorest families cannot
afford—the price of books, transportation, uniforms and teacher
fees are a barrier for many children.
For
young boys, the monkhood offers a pathway to education. Monks are
taught elementary courses at the temple, and can receive discounts
or free tuition to study at universities.
"My family was
very poor after the Pol Pot regime and war in Cambodia,” says
Pheak. “If I did not become a Buddhist monk, I could not study at
all. I would maybe be a farmer. My father did not want me to follow
him, so he sent me to be a Buddhist monk.”
His story is
common. At a class at the Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University,
nearly all monks present raised their hands when asked if they
entered the monkhood younger than age 20. Several students
explained that being monks allowed them to pursue an education they
would not otherwise have had the opportunity to
access.
The Preah
Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University is one of two Buddhist
universities in Phnom Penh, offering free enrolment to monks and
laypeople who pass the entrance examination. The university was
founded in 1954 but closed down in 1972 with the onset of civil
war. In 1997, the institution reopened and now offers bachelor
degree courses in the faculties of Khmer literature, Pali and
Sanskrit studies, philosophy and religion, educational and
information technology and teacher training—with plans to offer a
Master’s of Arts programme in Buddhist Studies. Courses such as
accounting and English provide more practical career prospects for
those who are not a part of, or do not remain in, the
monkhood.
Training
the Mind
Lifelong
commitment to the monkhood can seem daunting. Often, student monks
choose to follow a different life path.
“When they finish education, some want to
live as normal people,” says Pheak. “Because Buddhist monks have many
rules.”
However, the
practice of short ordination can be viewed as a threat to the
monkhood’s credibility. “Monks can study for free,” says Sorn
Chantha. “They can go to collect money or food in the day so they
can survive. They get a degree, and then they become a normal
person and get a job. For me it’s not moral to use the monkhood.
It’s hard to respect the people like that.”
Heng Sreang
expresses similar sentiments. “If they just get ordained
temporarily for study, do they still have honest devotion to do the
learning or not?” he asks. “We have a lot of temples, we have a lot
of Buddhist monks, but the quality is
questionable.”
Viewed from a
different perspective, the monkhood’s loss could be seen as lay
society’s gain. “A lot of our early scholarship recipients, as soon
as they graduate, they disrobe,” says Gyallay-Pap. “That’s okay.
It’s just a common social rite of passage. You take the vows then
you can disrobe whenever you want.”
Up until the
1950s, he explains, it was a common practice for families to send
their sons to become monks for a short period of
time.
Even if former monks no
longer follow the more extensive list of precepts, they may be
better steered by Buddhist principles in their actions. They have
had an exposure to Buddhist thought and philosophy that many
laypeople have not had.
Say Amnann left
the monkhood after 22 years. “Being a monk is a nice life,” he
says. “However, I felt like I wanted to experience things that I
couldn’t [as a monk].” Nonetheless, his background continues to
shape his moral judgement. “Decision-making is still connected with
Buddhism,” he says.
Although Pheak
might not stay in the monkhood for life, he plans to continue being
an educator, one of his main functions today, but in a secular
capacity.
“It’s really important for
us to help people,” he says. “I cannot give money, I cannot give
food, but I can give ideas and knowledge. It’s the best way for
people to change.”
Buddhist
by Nature
Adherence to
traditional Buddhist strictures may be increasingly difficult in
the modern age, but conversely, some argue it may be more important
than ever—and not just in Cambodia.
“In Western
countries nowadays, why are people growing more interested in
Buddhism?” asks Em Chamnan. “Because they have a lot of money but
they are not happy. They want their minds to be peaceful, so they
read the teachings of the Buddha they go to Vipassana
[meditation].”
Compared with
other faiths, Buddhism is more about attaining a peaceful mindset
and way of life than religious obligation. Measuring the extent
that one is Buddhist has little to do with pagoda attendance. For
Cambodians, being Buddhist may simply be engrained in the
predominant Khmer culture and patterns of
thought.
Gyallup-Pap
refers to the recovery and reconstruction process after the Khmer
Rouge regime fell. He recounts how people flocked to the wat
structures across the country, donating what little they had to
strengthen what had been “the social safety net in the country for
centuries,” he explains.
That function of
Buddhism can still apply today. “[Buddhism is] the social glue in
this country,” says Gyallup-Pap. “[Consumerism] is anything but
glue, it acts as a solvent on culture and on social
cohesion.”
Gyallup-Pap
believes that no matter how the young generation may be affected by
the modern age, Buddhism is likely to provide an unshakeable
foundation for generations of Cambodians to come.
“While the leaves and the branches may be decaying
and showing signs of wear, I think the roots, deep down, are still
pretty healthy,” he says.
Source: www.asialifeguide.com