Funny video of Thai Buddhist lottery
Buddhism is being revived and spread in many parts of the world, and more and more people, including Europeans and Americans, are interested in Buddhism. Some people come to Thailand to study Buddhism and practice here. In Europe and America, Buddhist temples have been built. In China and many Asian countries, with the change of policies, the number of Buddhists is increasing. In view of this, we would like to introduce some Buddhist situations in Thailand to you in the form of questions and answers.
Q: Thailand is famous as the "yellow robe Buddha country". How many Buddhist monks and temples are there in Thailand now?
A: According to the statistics of the Buddhist Office, by the end of 1992, there were 29,322 Buddhist temples in Thailand, while 19858 had only 20,944. As for the monks living in these temples and novice monks (young monks), the statistics in 1958 are 65438+ respectively. And 1992 are 285068 and 104492 respectively. It is worth noting that these figures change every quarter or even every day, because some people may convert to Buddhism every day, while others return to the secular world.
Q: Do Thai monks and temples have a certain organizational system?
A: The administrative system of Buddhist monks in Thailand is divided into four domains, with Dazuo as the head of the domain, and 18 departments under the domain, each of which governs three or four prefectures. The highest leader of monks is the monk king, who has a deputy monk king.
Q: What is the status of monks in Thailand?
A: Buddhist families in Thailand generally have Buddhist altars. Every housewife must light candles, burn incense and offer flowers in the morning and evening to pray for good luck and prosperity. Thai people are convinced that if there is a Buddha in their bodies, they can keep peace forever, receive blessings and ward off evil spirits, so everyone likes to hang one or more Buddha statues around their necks. The Buddha statue of this necklace varies from person to person. The rich bring Buddha statues carved in gold or jasper, while ordinary people bring Buddha statues carved in brass, porcelain or wood. These Buddha statues are all bought from gold shops that customize or specialize in Buddha statues. However, in order to show respect for the Buddha, people used the word "rent" instead of "rent". Thais worship Buddha devoutly. Generally, Buddhists who believe in Buddhism become monks once in their lives, and the age and time of becoming monks are not limited, which can be a week, a few months or a week. Being a Thai monk is a great event. When a person decides to become a monk, his relatives and friends will tell each other and get together to congratulate him. Everyone made great efforts to donate net capital, buy fragrant flowers and valuables to worship Buddha and offer sacrifices to monks. On the day of seeing off, men, women and children came in droves, all dressed up, holding fragrant flowers and flags, playing gongs and drums, and people sang as they walked and sent them to the temple. He gave gifts to all the monks when he held the ceremony of becoming a monk, and then went home happily. Monks stay in the temple to recite scriptures and worship Buddha.
Q: Who is the most outstanding monk in Thai history?
A: There has never been a public opinion poll on this issue before. However, if the test is conducted now, Zhao Huaku (185 1- 1868), the fourth king of Bangkok Dynasty, will definitely be elected. This is not because the fourth king is a king, but because of his great achievements. In fact, many kings in Thai history, including the present King IX, became monks when they were young. The reasons why King IV is different are as follows: firstly, he had lived as a monk for many years before he became king, which was longer than other kings; Secondly, he is a knowledgeable scholar who is very proficient in Pali language of Hinayana Buddhism. Furthermore, he initiated the innovation movement, aiming at getting rid of the things that were inconsistent with Hinayana Buddhism, spared no effort to reform the life of monks and compile Tibetan scriptures, and paid special attention to monks' statutes and manners.
Q: In Thailand, a country where Hinayana Buddhism prevails, can Mahayana Buddhism also exist?
A: Thailand has freedom of religious belief, and no religion will be discriminated against. Buddhism is the state religion, Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism are both Buddhism. In fact, there are several China Buddhist temples belonging to Mahayana Buddhism and some Chinese Buddhist associations in Bangkok alone. Among these Buddhist temples, two are worth mentioning. One is Longlian Temple in Chinatown, and the other is Pumenhunji in Tongma Haman. There are also several Vietnamese temples belonging to Mahayana Buddhism.
Q: What is the difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism?
A: Hinayana Buddhism takes Sakyamuni Buddha as its leader, attaches importance to self-discipline, only seeks self-liberation, and takes "destroying wisdom with ashes" as its highest goal. Mahayana Buddhism attaches great importance to him in order to free all beings. Therefore, in Mahayana Buddhism, there is the idea of "willing to return", which advocates great compassion and takes the establishment of pure land of Buddhism as the highest goal.
Q: What is the difference between Mahayana monks and Hinayana monks?
A: China Mahayana Buddhist monks are all vegetarians. They never go out for alms, but only prepare meals in the temple. Vietnamese monks, like China monks, belong to Mahayana Buddhism and wear robes, but when they go out for alms, they are not only vegetarian; Hinayana monks eat all kinds of meat dishes, go out for alms early in the morning, and don't cook in temples themselves.
Q: In many Buddhist temples, people worship an idol. But this god is not a Buddha, but a Guanyin bodhisattva. But in the history of Buddhism, no woman reached a higher position, and even the mother of Buddha was not worshipped as a god. Why is her hometown an exception?
A: The word Bodhisattva means someone who inspires people with strength. When this word was first used, it meant Gautama Sakyamuni (the name of the founder of Buddhism). Later, it was used by Mahayana Buddhists to refer to those who tried to guide people into the Buddhist realm through kindness, sadness and kindness. Mahayana Buddhism worships not only Sakyamuni, the Lord of Heaven and Man, but also the third generation (past lives).
Like other bodhisattvas, Guanyin is also a human being. According to the expression of Buddhist sculpture, Guanyin can change itself into 33 shapes when giving people enlightenment. The best and most famous change is the image of a woman, so she is gradually called a woman.
Q: Since Thailand is a country where Hinayana Buddhism prevails, why do so many Thais worship the bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism in addition to the Buddha itself?
A: There are three possible explanations. First, there is no doctrinal conflict between Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva. Second, Guanyin's motherly figure gives people a cordial feeling. Third, people can "communicate" with ideas through the media, which is impossible in orthodox religion.
More than 90% of Thai people believe in Tanawada Buddhism (mainly Southern Buddhism, namely Hinayana Buddhism), and about 260,000 people become monks (professional monks), which greatly affects their daily lives. Thai Buddhism originated in the third century BC, and it first rose in the Buddhist building where the highest Buddhist monument in the world was located in 267 BC.
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In 227, the Indian Buddhist dynasty Asoka sent monks to preach in Southeast Asia. After a group of them arrived at the Buddha's Mansion, they used it as a missionary base. Islam is the second largest religion in Thailand, and its followers are mainly Malays and foreign Muslims, as well as Malay Thais in four provinces in southern Thailand and Hui ethnic groups in China and Yunnan in northern Thailand. Christians are less than 1%, and a few people believe in Hinduism and Taoism.
Buddhism is the "code" of moral ethics in Thailand, and it is the driving force to maintain social harmony and promote art, similar to Catholicism in medieval Europe. Buddhism has a high status in Thailand, and the Constitution stipulates that the king must be a Buddhist. The overlapping eaves of countless temples in Thailand can inspire people's creative inspiration. Another reason why Buddhism is deeply influenced by the people is that most Thai Buddhist families must have a man to stay in the temple to study Buddhism. According to Buddhist custom, men who believe in Buddhism and are over 2 1 year-old must shave their hair once in their lives to practice Buddhist life, and the time varies from five days to three months. Usually, shaving is held during the annual rain festival. During the three-month sanctuary festival, every monk avoided traveling abroad and stayed in the temple for retreat.
In addition to being the center of Buddhist activities, temples in Thailand are usually news release centers, labor and employment centers, news release offices, drug distribution stations and community centers in small towns, and are sometimes used as schools and medical clinics. In a word, temples in Thai society have diversified uses. Thais also emphasize religious freedom, so Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism, Sikhism and other religions coexist.