Kathina Robe-Offering Ceremony: Historical and Spiritual Significance
Bhikkhu Dhammasami
Today we have been engaged in a series of programme that are part of Kathina robe-offering ceremony. It is important that we understand about what we are doing -- in this particular case, about Kathina ceremony; to be aware of some thing we are undertaking is Buddhist way of doing things which is technically called Right Understanding. There is more chance for Right Understanding when Right Mindfulness is present.
So today it is nothing but appropriate for us to reflect on the practice of Kathina -- the Theravada traditional robe-offering ceremony.
The word 'Kathina' is Pali in origin. It means a frame used in sewing robes those days in India. However, before we talk about this Kathina let us look at some other monastic practices related to it so that we can understand Kathina ceremony in a broader perspective.
PRACTICE OF RETREAT
Kathina ceremony is necessarily a monastic one, supported by the generous devotees. It is essentially connected to the three months retreat that ends on 16th this month (October, 1997).
We need to discuss about Buddhist Monastic Retreat as a background before we actually take on Kathina issue. Buddhist retreat came into existence as a result of complaint made by the people. Jaina monastic order was already practising this Vassana Retreat practice before the Buddha made His follower Bhikkhus do the same. The people expected monks, both Buddhist and non Buddhist, to stay in one place at least for a certain period. They complained that the monks were moving from place to place all the time without a permanent dwelling. During rainy season, the monks did damage the plants and crops. The Jaina monks and other mendicants observed a treat during rainy season staying in one place for a period. People were wondering why the disciples of the Gautama Buddha did not do so.
This prompted the Buddha to lay down a rule that Buddhist monks should observe Retreat and stay in one place for three months. People wanted them to do that during rainy season and it became known as Rainy Retreat (Vassana). But strictly speaking the three months retreat can now take place at any season -- maybe in winter or summer, although almost all have been observed during rainy season according to meteoric calendar in India.
The period is the same -- three months. This practice has been mostly observed during rainy season because the people wanted the monks to do so in ancient India -- that is mainly, as I said earlier, for agricultural reason.[1] There were no high ways during the Buddha's time. One had to across farm lands to travel. Therefore, this practice has its relevance in that 6th century BC Indian society.
Nevertheless, even in India at that time the approval of the three months retreat practice was by no means limited to the agriculturists. It was seen as a means to spiritual progress as well. That was why during the time of the Buddha itself, Bimbisara, the King of Magadha sent an envoy to the monks asking them to come and observe a retreat in his kingdom. But it happened to be in summer and the monks first didn't accept it. Instead they referred it to the Buddha, who then relaxed the rule by adding that a monk could make a retreat during summer provided it is the wish of the ruler of the land. Therefore, the monks can also observe this practice of retreat in any other seasons other than rainy one if there are circumstances we have just described.
Before this rule was there, the monks including the Buddha Himself travelled around the year and they still did so for nine months after the rule was laid down. Travelling and meeting people at different places is a kind of missionary life that the Buddha envisaged. It helps the monks not to be attached to dwelling places and people. It enables them to render their service to as many as possible. It frees them from a huge burden of constructing, maintaining and developing a big temple or monastery. It helps the teachings to spread everywhere as they travel. Travelling made them encounter with different cultures. It gave them an understanding of real nature of life. Roaming around empowers them to endure hard life. When you have to move from one place to another almost all the time, you do not gather things. You start gathering things only when you have the idea to settle. Since they wander most of the time their way of thinking, their attitude towards life and their spiritual practices are very pragmatic, realistic and are based on facts.
You can see now some development was taking place in monastic life. With this Rainy Retreat (Vassana) practice coming along, the monks got a bit comfortable shelter. The devotees who approach them can enjoy the opportunity of learning the Dhamma from the monks: they have regular and appropriate receivers in performing their act of generosity. Therefore, the benefit of the three months retreat is mutual. (Samyutta Nikaya)
I think that with the introduction of this Vassana practice, Buddhist monastic life came to balance its way of life. Brahmanism has secular lay life as its core while Jaina monastic life encouraged no shelter whatsoever such as a place for three months retreat. Buddhist Vassana practice could be viewed as middle way in this context.
A monk can choose his own time to start Rainy Retreat. There are two commencing dates different from one another exactly a month. But he is entitled to receive Kathina-civara (Kathina-robe) only if he starts his retreat with an earlier date -- not the later one. This is quite important condition required of a monk to be entitled to Kathina-robe. Within three months retreat he must not break the rule of retreat by spending nights somewhere else without a valid reason consented in the Vinaya (Buddhist Monastic Disciplinary Rules). If there is emergency reason to travel, he can do so even during the retreat.
To make the offering of robe especially valid as Kathina-civara these rules are much essential. Failing to comply with either of the two conditions will affect the validity of Kathina-robe. Invalid Kathina-robe, of course has more to do with the monks than the devotees. Though the devotees got the same merits whether the Kathina-robe is considered valid or not, the monks will lose the advantages associated with Kathina.
It means they will get the robe but he can not enjoy five relaxations on Vinaya that come necessarily with the validity of Kathina procedure. Once being offered a valid Kathina-robe in this way during this particular one month's time the monks can remain without following five of the 220 disciplines -- known as 'Vinaya Sikkhapada' for four months starting exactly a month after the end of the retreat. This is something about Retreat which is a precondition to Kathina-robe offering.
INVITATION CEREMONY
The second important procedure that must be done before Kathina ceremony is Invitation Ceremony (Pavarana). This is again purely monastic practice.
Invitation means at the end of retreat the monks must get together and invite one another to point out at one's fault if they have seen it themselves or have heard from some one or are just in doubt. This would help them in purifying themselves. A Bhikkhu has to be open to any criticism from his colleagues regarding his behaviour. He can not say, "Is it your business?" or "This is my life".
Being open was a way of life the Lord Buddha led. The monks have to be sensitive to a complaint made by the people in order to win their respect and in order to encourage them to learn the Dhamma. They have to be sensitive towards the remarks made by their fellow monks. This, according to the Buddha, could maintain both unity and purity in the Buddhist Monastic Order. It could also help keep the Monastic Rules and Regulations (Vinaya) alive. It is a kind of check-and-balance system between individual Bhikkhus as well as between the seniors and the juniors. This is exactly the core of Monastic Discipline as much as of the Teachings.
Every fortnight there has to be a meeting between the higher ordained ones, known as Bhikkhu (monks) or Bhikkhuni (nuns) in the case of ordained female. In that kind of assembly, a learned monk recites the 220 rules to the monks. Before he recites there has to be a procedure of confession, which means every individual has to inform the Sangha of the offense he has committed. This kind of confession can clear him from 203 kinds of offenses out of 220. Confession can psychologically relieve someone who has committed a grave evil like patricide. The story of King Ajatasattu who killed his father is an example. He could not sleep until he confessed his sin to the Buddha. Confession did not put his sin away but practically relieved him from psychological burden.
In being open to others the Buddha Himself was the best example. At every fortnight meeting the Lord Buddha would start inviting anyone present there to point out His fault if any. He encouraged people to be open making Himself the subject of openness. That must be the reason why people felt so close to Him. They did respect Him for a reason. They spoke so openly their opinion to the Buddha. They knew well that the Buddha did not take their offense.
Venerable Sariputta, the most important figure apart from the Buddha would ask the monks to point out his fault too. In this way, the invitation was to be offered by any monk present. Actually, what we call Arahat means the one who has no longer secret. He is perfectly open to anyone especially regarding his behaviour.
The Buddha wanted His disciples, at least those who have been ordained, to be as close as possible in their spiritual quest helping one another along the way. The only way of doing it and maintaining it is to practice to become increasingly open to each other that we no longer have anything to hide. Public morality can be maintained in this way. Therefore, we can say that monastic life is where one has least privacy.
This Invitation Ceremony is so important ceremonially as well as spiritually. Without this there can not be a proper Kathina robe-offering -- it may become only ordinary robe-offering with whatsoever no advantage on the part of the monks themselves.
The two ceremonies -- the Ceremony of Invitation and that of Offering Robe -- mark the termination of the Retreat.
KATHINA CEREMONY
Now let us pick up our main topic 'Kathina'. We may well imagine a situation during 6th BC where any advanced textile technology hardly known to the people. The monks had no choice but to do the sewing the robe and giving it a dye themselves. The Buddha asked them to help one another using the best technique then available. Some made a frame while some went out in search of needle and thread. Some sew pieces of clothe to make it a robe while others prepared for another process of making fire and getting a suitable colour ready. Dying a robe was extremely difficult because they had to boil the bark of the tree to get the colour they wanted. Just imagine how the monks were busy to get a robe done. It was a hard life collecting pieces of cloth from different places such as rubbish-heap, cemetery, and streets to get it sufficient for a robe. Ordinary life was at that time reasonably hard especially regarding clothes; the monks were no exception; they had to struggle for a robe.
But this became a kind of practice that trained monks to depend on themselves, to live in simple way creating no burden to the lay community and to be content with basic needs.
Though we could say that this practice would reflect the economic reality in India those days, when the Lord Buddha declared this practice it was automatically adopted as a social norm among the followers. Those monks with well-to-do family and royal family background were no exception. They all adopted the practice. As we all know the majority of the immediate disciples of the Buddha came from either royal families or families of noble background They were in comfort to ignore this practice of making a robe in such a difficult process. Instead, they took it as a way of life with a great honour. This humbleness and contentment clearly indicate high spiritual achievement.
The Buddha recommended this practice to be observed at the end of the Retreat because monks can still be found in a large number in one place at this time and they could help one another.
Once entitled to Kathina-robe, a Bhikkhu is permitted to ignore some five minor rules. The relaxation is mainly felt on travel and invitation for alms-giving. Normally a Bhikkhu, senior or junior has to inform his fellow Bhikkhu living in the same temple before he goes out. He can choose not to do it when he has received Kathina-robe. Usually he has to carry all the three pieces of robe wherever he goes. He can now leave one behind if he wishes after he has been offered Kathina-robe. He certainly has less restriction on travel. He can also accept as many robes if offered during the period of four months. Monks on the usual occasions are not supposed to accept food offered by someone using the terms of layman culture, the words normally employed by people in their social interaction. But once offered Kathina-robe(s) a Bhikkhu can receive such food given to him in that way.
This Kathina ceremony is, as far as I can see, recommended by the Lord Buddha mainly for the welfare of the Sangha (the Community of monks). The Lord Buddha did take into consideration how the Order He founded could survive. After the Mahaparinibbana (the Great Passing Away) of the Buddha Himself, the whole responsibility of both perpetuation and propagation of His Teachings would certainly fall on the Sangha. Therefore, the continuity of the Sangha means the continuity of the Dhamma itself. Moreover, after His Mahaparinibbana, we could see the Buddha Himself only once we see, understand and realise the Dhamma. This was the case even when the Buddha was still alive for He declared that one really sees Him only once one sees the Dhamma. Now we can see the logic behind the recommendation of this Kathina ceremony -- how it is important for the cause of Buddhism itself.
The Buddha did not start preaching to every one before He had had the Monastic Order well established. After His Enlightenment, He made a long journey to Benares -- a journey that took Him more than a week -- just to convert a group of five ascetics and made them a monk. He knew very well that all the five had a very high possibility of becoming a monk and forming the Order.
He continued focusing on establishing the Order until He became confident that the Order has been well established and was capable of helping Him to propagate the Dhamma. His teachings spread far and wide after He passed away. Despite the fact that the Buddha was no longer with us, the geographical expansion still took place in a greater scale. The Buddha Himself would have definitely foreseen this great service of His disciples that He put a lot of effort to establish the Monastic Order (Sangha).
The Monastic Order was firmly established when the Buddha had ordained sixty men -- all of whom came from either royal family or that of nobility. Missionary work in its true sense started only then with sixty deputies, despatching them to different directions asking two not to go in the same way.
The implication here is that the existence of the well-established monastic order is extremely essential if we are about to get the teachings of the Buddha across the people. The Arahat Mahinda simply had this in mind when he told King Devanam Piyatissa of Sri Lanka (3rd BC) that the Sasana (Buddha's Dispensation) will get rooted on Sri Lankan soil only when a Sri Lankan native monk has become well versed in Monastic Rules (Vinaya).[2]
There was a time in the West when European Buddhists used to consider that monkhood is nothing more than to set an exemplary life and to spread the words of the Buddha does not depend on the existence of Monastic Order.
Let us look at this attitude carefully from Buddhist History. Let us not forget to use our common sense. History always shows that the Buddhist Monastic Order was at the core of the matter -- whether Buddhism was on the decline or progress. The monks have to share more responsibility -- sometime for the degeneration and sometime for the growth. It is in the best interest of the whole Buddha's Sasana that Buddhist Monastic Order is properly maintained, purified and well supported. The Bhikkhus dedicate their whole life to the cause of Sasana -- studying, training, meditating, preaching, and writing about the Buddha's Dhamma.
In this respect, we should be encouraged to see the Amaravati Monastery (Theravada Forest Tradition) and its branches doing very well with the sons and daughters of the United Kingdoms at the helm. In other European countries, the natives have not been very successful in furthering the Dhamma despite having produced several distinguished Buddhist scholars.
In contrast, if I understand the situation correctly, the United Kingdom has been well ahead of other European countries in both academic field and monastic life. We owe a lot to the most venerable monks of true missionary spirit from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and other countries that we have made our way far in this new land. I am speaking about this just to remind ourselves that the Sangha of 19th and 20th century also deserve to be called a devout and true follower of the Lord Buddha. They -- like the late Venerable Narada of Vajirarama, Colombo and Venerable Dr. H. Saddhatissa -- should be credited for what we are here now. Venerable U Setthila (Thittila) of Burma who arrived here in England during World War II and Venerable Ajahn Chah, Thailand's best know meditation master of our time must not be forgotten for their great service rendered to the cause of Buddha Sasana in this United Kingdom.
Together with ceaseless support on the part of the devotees, the successive Kathina ceremonies held every year in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and other countries have enabled the monks to carry on their missionary work far and wide. The Kathina ceremony we are celebrating today will have the effect just as well like that./.
Bhikkhu Dhammasami
October 1997
[1] Mahavaga Pali, Vinaya Pitaka
[2] Mahavamsa / Samantapasadika commentary
History Of Buddhism In Cambodia
History Of Buddhism In Cambodia
Suvannabhumi
King Asohka sent missionaries to the land of Suvannabhumi (Suwannaphum), which has sometimes been identified as the mainland southeast Asian region of the Mon kingdoms of southern Thaton in Burma, central Thailand and Issan. The Mahavamsa, a Sinhalese Pali chronicle, mentions these missions.
"Unconfirmed Singhalese sources state that Buddhism was introduced to Suvannabhumi, or the 'Golden Peninsula', as mainland Southeast Asia was once referred to, in the 3rd century B.C. under the reign of King Ashoka, the great Buddhist ruler. According to these sources, two monks, Sona and Uttara, were sent to propagate the doctrine of the Master in this region following the great council of 274 B.C. held in Asoka's capital Pataliputta, India. While this mission may be legendary, it indicates that Buddhism has been present in Southeast Asia for a long time. Various Buddhist sects and schools, including Tantrism, vied or coexisted with a dominant Brahamanism and indigenous animistic faiths for centuries before the rise of the classical Southeast Asian empires beginning in the 9th century A.D. In part through Indian merchant traders, Indian cultural influence was pervasive in this early period. In Funan (1st to 5th century A.D.) the first organized Khmer polity, the Khmer people embraced not only the diverse Brahmanic and Buddhist religions but also the social customs and mores of India.
Funan Kingdom
In the period between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D, the Kingdom of Funan in the present-day Mekong Delta established a flourishing sea-faring trade between China, Indonesia, and India. This kingdom was Hindu, with the kings of Funan sponsoring the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Buddhism was already present in Funan as a secondary religion in these earliest times.
A Sanskrit inscription from 375 A.D documents the presence of Buddhism in Funan. King Kuandinya Jayavarman (478-514) cultivated Buddhism and sent a Buddhist mission complete with Funanese Buddhist images, carved in coral, to the Emperor of China.
Another early inscription in Sanskrit dated 586-664 at Wat Prey Vier notes that two Buddhist monks named Ratnabhanu and Ratnasimha were brothers. Chinese texts attest that Buddhism flourished in Cambodia in the last half of the 5th century, and that King Jayavarman sent the Indian monk Nagasena to present a memorial in the Chinese Imperial court.
Buddhism was clearly beginning to assert its presence from about year 450 A.D. onward, and was observed by the Chinese traveler I Ching toward the close of the seventh century.
Chenla Kingdom
The Kingdom of Chenla replaced Funan and endured from 500-700 A.D. Chenla extend from the Mekong Delta, and along the lands surrounding the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.
"According to Ma Touan-Lin, a 13th century Chinese chronicler, there were ten monasteries of Buddhist monks and nuns studying the sacred texts in the 4th and 5th centuries. He stated that two monks from Funan traveled to China in this period at the request of the Chinese emperor, to translate the Sanskrit Tipitika into Chinese. A passage from the History of Leang, a Chinese chronicle written in 502-556, tells us that King Rudravarman sent a mission of monks to China in 535 under the direction of an Indian monk, Gunaratana. The delegation arrived in China in 546, accompanied by 240 palm leaf manuscripts of Mahayana Buddhist texts. Evidence of a cult of Buddha's relics was seen in Rudravarman's request of the Chinese emperor for a 12-foot (3.7 m) long relic of Buddha's hair.
Buddhism was weakened in the Chenla period, but survived, as seen in the inscriptions of Sambor Prei Kuk (626 A.D.) and those of Siem Reap dealing with the erection of statues of Avalokitesvara (791 A.D.). Some pre-Angkorean statuary in the Mekong Delta region indicate the existence of Sanskrit-based Sarvastivada Buddhism.
Khmer-style Buddha images are abundant from the period of 600-800 A.D. Many Mahayana bodhisattva images also date from this period, often found alongside the predominantly Hindu images of Shiva and Vishnu.
An inscription from Ta Prohm temple in Bali province, dated about 625 A.D., states, that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are flourishing.
Angkor Kingdom
The transition from Hindu god-king to Mahayana Buddha-king was probably gradual and imperceptible. The cult of Shiva and Vishnu gradually blended into the cult of the Bodhisattva. The prevailing cult of Brahmanist worship of Vishnu and Shiva gave way to the worship of the Buddha and the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
King Jayavarman II (802-869) is the first real Khmer king of the Angkor Empire. He proclaimed himself god-king and began to establish the capital of Angkor (Rolous) near present day Angkor Wat.
The Buddhist Sailendra kingdom exercised suzerainty over Cambodia as a vassal state during the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth centuries. As a result, Jayavarman, as a young man, had lived in the court of Java and had visited Sumatra. When he returned to Cambodia, he proclaimed himself a god-king (deva-raja) according to Khmer traditions, identifying himself with Shiva. Nevertheless, he was increasingly friendly to and supportive of Mahayana Buddhist influence throughout his kingdom.
When King Jayavarman II returned to Cambodia from Java, he built three capitals in succession: Hariharalaya, Amarendrapura, and Mahendraparvata. One of these, Amarendrapura, identified with Banteai Chmar, was a Mahayana Buddhist city presided over by Avalokitesvara, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion.
Mahayana Buddhism therefore became increasingly established in his empire. The form of Mahayana Buddhism that was propagated in the Srivijaya lands was similar to the Pala Dynasty Buddhism of Bengal, and of the Nalanda University in northern India.
"The Bengal University of Nalanda in Megadha (now Behar) was the theological center of Mahayana Buddhism under the protection of the Pala Dynasty [750-1060]. Shivaist interpretations of Buddhism, tinged with Tantric mysticism (that may have revived portions of pre-Aryan northeastern Indian cults) were worked out in Megadha and then were exported throughout insular and peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly to Java. Yashovarman I (889-910), who ruled from the vicinity of Rolous in the late ninth century, seems to have been a Shivite Buddhist influenced by Nalanda syncretism. His successors (notably Jayavarman IV) dedicated themselves to Vishnu and Brahma, as well as to Shiva, with whom they continued to be identified by hereditary families of priests. Rajendravarman II studied Buddhism intensely.
The Sailendra dynasty also built the fantastic Mahayana Buddhist temple Borobudur (750-850) in Java. Borobudur appears to have been the inspiration for the later fabulous Angkor building projects in Cambodia, particularly Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
The primary form of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia during Angkor times was Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced with Tantric tendencies.
"The prevalence of Tantrayana in Java, Sumatra and Kamboja [Cambodia], a fact now definitely established by modern researches into the character of Mahayana Buddhism and Sivaism in these parts of the Indian Orient. Already in Kamboja inscription of the 9th century there is definite evidence of the teaching of Tantric texts at the court of Jayavarman II. In a Kamboja record of the 11th century there is a reference to the 'Tantras of the Paramis'; and images of Hevajra, definitely a tantric divinity, have been recovered from amidst the ruins of Angkor Thom. A number of Kamboja inscriptions refer to several kings who were initiated into the Great Secret (Vrah Guhya) by their Brahmanical gurus; the Saiva records make obvious records to Tantric doctrines that had crept into Sivaism."
"But it was in Java and Sumatra that Tantrayana seems to have attained greater importance. There Mahayana Buddhism and the cult of Siva, both deeply imbued with tantric influences, are to be seen often blending with one another during this period. The Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, consisting of Sanskrit versus explained by an Old Javanese commentary, professed to teach the Mahayana and Mantrayana.
The presence and growing influence of Buddhism continued as the Angkor empire increased in power. King Yosavarman built many Buddhist temples in 887-889, representing the mandala of Mount Meru, the mythical axis of the world. The largest of these temples is Phnom Kandal or "Central Mountain" which lies near the heart of the Angkor complex.
King Rajendravarman II (944-968) "studied Buddhism intensely. Although he decided to remain a Shivaist, he appointed a Buddhist, Kavindrarimathana, chief minister. Kavindrarimathana built shrines to Buddha and Shiva. Jayavarman V (son of Rajendravarman) also remained a devote of Shiva. He, too, permitted his own chief minister, Kirtipandita, to foster Mahayana Buddhist learning and divination.
Surayvarman I
Surayvarman I (1002-1050) is considered the greatest of the Buddhist kings, excepting only Jayavarman VII
Surayvarman was from present-day southern Thailand in the kingdom of Sri Dhammarat. He was a Tamil-Malay (Srivijaya) "usurper" to the Khmer throne, who claimed legitimate succession to the throne through his Khmer mother. His father was king of the Buddhist kingdom of Tambralingam on the Malay peninsula. He publicly venerated Shiva or Rama according to his official traditions, but was also a devout Mahayana Buddhist king.
A strong proponent of Mahayana Buddhism, he did not interfere or obstruct the growing presence and dissemination of Theravada Buddhism during his reign. "Indeed, inscriptions indicate he sought wisdom from wise Mahayanists and Hinayanists and at least somewhat disestablished the Sivakaivalya family's hereditary claims to being chief priests (purohitar). Surayvarman's posthumous title of Nirvanapada, 'the king who has gone to Nirvana' is the strongest evidence that he was a Buddhist.
Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII (1181-1215) was the greatest of all Khmer Buddhist kings. Jayavarman VII worked tirelessly to establish Buddhism as the state religion of Angkor.
He was already an elderly man, perhaps 60, when he ascended the throne. Before becoming king, he had devoted his long life to meditation and tantra.
Sensing his mortality he worked feverishly to accomplish his works in "saving" the Khmer people and establishing a Buddhist empire in a race against time.
In 1177, the Cham Kingdom of central Vietnam had invaded and sacked Angkor, creating a sense of trauma and crisis throughout the Khmer Empire by attacking and looting the capital. King Jayavarman VII ascended the throne in a climate of crisis, and war.
Jayavarman VII was a Mahayana Buddhist, and he regarded himself to be a Dharma-king, a bodhisattva, whose duty was to "save the people" through service and merit-making, liberating himself in the process.
Scholars speculate why Khmer royalty rejected Hinduism and embraced Buddhism definitively at this time. Perhaps, they suggest, Jayavarman and his people had become disillusioned with the Hindu gods because of their failure to protect the Angkor Empire from being sacked by their enemies, the Cham. The Cham themselves were Hindu and worshiped Shiva, and the Khmer may have therefore felt an instinctive revulsion at the religion of their enemies.
Jayavarman withdrew his devotion from the old gods and began to identify more openly with Buddhist traditions. His regime marked a clear dividing line with the old Hindu past.
Before 1200, art in the temples mostly portrayed scenes from the Hindu pantheon such as Vishnu reclining on a lotus leaf, or the churning of the primeval sea of milk of creation. After 1200, scenes from the Buddhist Jatakas, and life of the Buddha, along with scenes of the Ramayana began to appear as standard motif.
As a "bodhisattva king" Jayavarman VII was considered to be a living Buddha, or bodhisattva who turned his back from the brink of enlightenment to redeem or save his people from suffering; he imagined himself in a role similar to that of the present day Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Images of Jayavarman portray him in the ascetic pose seated in meditation with a serene, enlightened expression. He built numerous public works to serve the people, including waterworks, hospitals, temples, hospices for travelers.
Stone inscriptions say he "suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public griefs that make a king's grief, and not his own."
Another inscription reads: "Filled with a deep sympathy for the good of the world, the king swore this oath; 'All beings who are plunged in the ocean of existence, may I draw them out by virtue of this good work. And may the kings of Cambodia who come after me, attached to goodness...attain with their wives, dignitaries and friends, the place of deliverance where there is no more illness.'"
Profound psychological change was underway in Jayavarman VII's reign. There was a shift away from the cult of devaraja god-king, toward the cult of the Sangha, the cult of monks. In former times, great effort and resources were invested into building temples for elite brahman priests and god-kings. Under Jayavarman, these resources were redirected to building libraries, monastic dwellings, public works, and more "earthly" projects accessible to the common people.
His temple, the Bayon in Angkor Thom, is the first temple built without walls, indicating its openness to all the people, not exclusive to the god-king and his brahmin priests. The walls of the Bayon are decorated with scenes from the daily life of the people fishing, eating, gambling and cock-fighting, rather than the heroic deeds of gods and kings.
King Jayavarman considered the Bayon as his masterpiece, his "bride." A stone inscription says "the town of Yosadharapura, decorated with powder and jewels, burning with desire, the daughter of a good family...who married by the king in the course of a festival that lacked nothing, under the spreading dais of his protection."
The purpose of this mystical marriage of King and people, the inscription goes on to say, was the "procreation of happiness throughout the universe."
The building projects commissioned by Jayavarman were redolent with tantric Buddhist symbolism. The word "bayon" means "ancestor yantra" - a magic symbol of geometric shape of tantric Buddhism. In the center of the Bayon temple was an image of Buddha-Mucalinda: the Buddha sitting on a seven-headed cobra, with the serpent's hood unveiled above the Buddha as protection from the elements. The Buddha image has the features of Jayavarman VII himself.
Jayavarman other major temple projects included Preah Khan and Ta Prohm.
While Jayavarman VII himself was Mahayana Buddhist, the presence of Theravada Buddhism was increasingly evident. "This Singhalese-based Theravada Buddhist orthodoxy was first propagated in Southeast Asia by Taling (Mon) monks in the 11th century and together with Islam in the 13th century in southern insular reaches of the region, spread as a popularly-based movement among the people. Apart from inscriptions, such as one of Lopburi, there were other signs that the religious venue of Suvannabhumi were changing. Tamalinda, the Khmer monk believed to be the son of Jayavarman VII, took part in an 1180 Burmese-led mission to Sri Lanka to study the Pali canon and on his return in 1190 had adepts of the Sinhala doctrine in his court. Chou Ta-Laun, who led a Chinese mission in to Angkor in 1296-97 confirms the significant presence of Pali Theravada monks in the Khmer Capital.
Decline of Angkor & the Emergence of a Theravada Kingdom
After the 13th century Theravada Buddhism became the state religion of Cambodia.
King Jayavarman VII had sent his son Tamilinda to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a Buddhist monk and study Theravada Buddhism according to the Pali scriptural traditions. Tamalinda then returned to Cambodia and promoted Buddhist traditions according to the Theravada training he had received, galvanizing and energizing the long standing Theravada presence that had existed throughout the Angkor empire for centuries.
During the time Tamalinda studied at the famous Mahavihara Monastery in Sri Lanka (1180-1190), a new dynamic type of Theravada Buddhism was being preached as the "true faith" in Sri Lanka. This form of Buddhism was somewhat militant and highly disciplined in reaction to the wars with the Tamil that nearly destroyed Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 9th and 10th centuries. As Theravada Buddhism struggled for survival in Sri Lanka, it developed a resiliency that generated a renaissance throughout the Buddhist world, and would eventually spread across Burma, Chang Mai, the Mon kingdoms, Lana, Sukothai, Laos, and Cambodia.
In the 13th century, wandering missionaries from the Mon-Khmer-speaking parts of Siam, Burma, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka played an important part in this process.
When Prince Tamalinda returned after ten years of ordination, he was a Thera, a senior monk, capable of administering ordination into this vigorous Theravada lineage, which insisted on orthodoxy and rejected Mahayana "innovations" such as tantric practices.
The mass conversion of Khmer society to Theravada Buddhism amounted to a nonviolent revolution every all level of society. All monumental building projects that had characterized the Angkor empire came to a sudden end. Scholars struggle to account for this sudden and inexplicable transformation of Khmer civilization.
Theravada Buddhism succeeded because it was inclusive and universal in its outreach, recruiting the disciples and monks from not only the elites and court, but also in the villages and among the peasants, enhancing its popularity among the Khmer folk.
"Their message succeeded because it provided a meaningful way of relating to the world for many who had been marginal to the classical civilizations or who had been seriously affected by the disruption of the classical civilizations in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Journalist Elizabeth Becker explained the phenomenon: "Cambodians were ripe for conversion. The political integrity and morality of the kingdom were thrown into question at the time, and Cambodians converted en masse to this new faith that offered social tranquility without striving for material gain or power. The modest Buddhist bonzes were a welcome change from the arrogant and wealthy priests of the kings. The new Buddhists dressed in simple saffron robes. They possessed a sense of responsibility for all, not just the nobility. Eventually they became as revered as the devaraja, who in turn became a Theravada Buddhist himself as patron of the faith.
Other scholars suggest that the classical Angkor Empire collapsed from desertion from within and assault from without, from growing external threats and assaults from Siam and Vietnam which were both in ascendancy at the time.
"The post-Angkor period saw the dramatic rise of the Pali Theravada tradition in Southeast Asia and concomitant decline of the Brahmanic and Mahayana Buddhist religious traditions. A 1423 Thai account of a mission to Sri Lanka mentions eight Khmer monks who again brought orthodox Mahavihara sect of Singhalese order to Kampuchea. This particular event belied, however, the profound societal shift that was taking place from priestly class structure to a village-based monastic system in Theravada lands. While adhering to the monastic discipline, monks developed their wats, or temple-monasteries, not only into moral religious but also education, social-service, and cultural centers for the people. Wats became the main source of learning and popular education. Early western explorers, settlers, and missionaries reported widespread literacy among the male populations of Burma, Thailand, Kampuchea, Laos, and Vietnam. Until the 19th century, literacy rates exceeded those of Europe in most if not all Theravada lands. In Kampuchea, Buddhism became the transmitter of Khmer language and culture.
The Theravada revolution was therefor a grassroots movement of the Khmer people rejecting the oppressive burden of maintaining the god-king religion of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. The monumental temples that had countless thousands of slaves attached to them were gradually abandoned to the jungles.
With the rise of Siam in the west and Vietnam in the east, the classical Angkor empire disappeared and the beginning of present day Cambodia began. The center of government began to migrate away from Angkor to a more central location in the center of Cambodia, in the regions near present day Phnom Penh.
Cambodia became from this time forward a Theravada Buddhist nation. "Theravada Buddhism, unlike almost all the previous religions of the country, its doctrines were not imposed from above but were preached to the people. It was simple, required no expensive priesthood or temples and little ceremonial. Its missionaries practiced austerity, solitude, humility, and poverty. Their example and their direct contact with the people started to undermine the old state religion and the monastery which rested upon it. Theravada Buddhism remained the great belief and comfort of the Khmer people until 1975.
Zhou Daguan, a Chinese visitor to the Royal Court of Cambodia at this time wrote of the presence of Theravada Buddhist monks in the latter days of Angkor.
Zhou Daguan was an emissary from the court of Timur Khan, Emperor of China. Daguan lived in Angkor Thom for one year 1296-7 and wrote a small book about his observations in which he described Theravada monks with shaved heads, yellow robes and one shoulder bare, walking barefoot throughout Cambodia. Their temples were simple, he said, containing one image of Sakyamuni Buddha. The image was draped in yellow cloth.
The Theravada monks ate meat or fish but did not drink wine. They ate only one meal a day. They did not cook in the temple, but lived on alms food.
"The books they recited from were very numerous. These were made of neatly bound palm leaves covered with black writing. Some of the monks were royal counselors, and therefore had the right to be conveyed in palanquins with gold shafts accompanied by umbrellas with gold or silver handles. There were no Buddhist nuns.
Buddhist Middle Ages
The Jinakalamali gives an account of the cultural connections between Cambodia and Sri Lanka in the fifteenth century. It states that 1967 years after the Mahaparinibbana of the Buddha, eight monks headed by Mahananasiddhi from Cambodia with 25 monks from Nabbispura in Thailand came to Sri Lanka to receive the umpasampada ordination at the hands of the Sinhalese Mahatheras.
As Angkor collapsed under the advancing jungles, the center of power of the Theravada Cambodia moved south toward present day Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh was originally a small riverside market center where the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River converge.
Phnom Penh was founded when Lady Penh found a "four-faced Buddha" floating down the river on a Koki tree during the flooding season. She retrieved the Buddha image and had the Wat Phnom constructed to house the image. The four-faced Buddha [Buddha facing the four directions] is important in Khmer Buddhist iconography, signifying the establishment of the kingdom of the Buddha of the Future, Maitreya, who is often identified with the Buddha-king of Cambodia.
After 1431 when the Cambodian kings permanently abandoned Angkor due to a Siamese invasion, the royal court was located on Udon Mountain, a few miles north of Phnom Penh. Siamese incursions from the west and Vietnamese invasions from the east weakened the Khmer empire. The Vietnamese invaders attempted to suppress Theravada Buddhism and force the Khmer people to practice Mahayana Buddhism. The Siamese, on the other hand, would periodically invade Cambodia and attempt to drive out the "unbelievers" in an attempt to protect the Theravada religion. This power-struggle between the two ascendant powers continued until the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century.
Colonial Era
Buddhism continued to flourish in Cambodia in the sixteenth century. King Ang Chan (1516-1566), a relative of King Dhammaraja, was a devout Buddhist. He built pagodas in his capital and many Buddhist shrines in different parts of Cambodia. In order to popularize Buddhism, King Satha (1576-1549), son and successor of King Barom Reachea, restored the great towers of the Angkor Wat, which had become a Buddhist shrine by the sixteenth century.
When Western merchants and missionaries first made contact with Cambodia, they discovered a three-tiered society consisting of the nobility, the common people (who were primarily rice farmers), and the Buddhist monks who were custodians of Khmer culture and identity.
Each successive wave of European influence was accompanied by Catholic missionaries, but Theravada Buddhism proved surprisingly resistant to foreign attempts to convert the Khmer people.
In 1556, the Portuguese missionary Gaspar de Cruz spent about a year in Cambodia and visited the capital at Lovek where King Cham reigned. The missionary complained bitterly of his inability to convert the Khmer people to Christianity, and blamed the Buddhist monks for his failure: The monks, he said, are "exceedingly proud and vain...alive they are worshiped for gods, in so that the inferior among them do worship the superior like gods, praying unto them and prostrating themselves before them; and so the common people have great confidence in them, with great reverence and worship; so that there is no person that dare contradict them in anything... [It] happened sometimes that while I was preaching, many round me hearing me very well, and being very satisfied with what I told them, that if there came along any of these priests and said, 'This is good but ours is better,' they would all depart and leave me alone.
During the colonial period, the peace was periodically breached by outbreaks of religiously-motivated violence. Periodic millenarian revolts, often lead by charismatic monks or self-proclaimed holy men. In 1820-21, a Millennial uprising was led by a former monk named Kai, who was recognized as a holy man with supernatural powers. He organized a revolt against the Vietnamese overlords from his hideout in Ba Phanom.
During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, Thailand's involvement in Cambodian politics extended Thai influence into religious matters as well. In 1855, King Norodom invited monks from the Thai Dhammayuttika Nikaya to establish a Dhammayuttika presence in Cambodia. Maha Pan, a Khmer monk who had studied under some of the same teachers as Thailand's Mongkut, was appointed the first sangharaja of the new Khmer Dhammayuttika tradition (usually referred to as 'Thommayut'), taking up residence at Wat Botum Vaddey, a new temple built adjacent to the palace in Phnom Penh.
The newly-formed Thommayut order benefited from royal patronage, but frequently came into conflict with the existing Mohanikay (Mahanikaya) lineage. The Thommayut were sometimes accused of holding loyalty to the Thai court, rather than to the Khmer nation.
Cambodia was recognized by the West as a "protectorate" of France in 1867. Over the course of the next forty years, the territory of modern Cambodia was integrated as a colony into French Indo-China through a series of "protective" agreements with the Vietnamese, and treaty concessions from Thailand. Periodic convulsions of violence, led by Buddhist holy men, would periodically break out against the French.
During the era of French rule, significant advances were made in the education of Cambodian monks, both in specifically Buddhist topics and more general studies. In Phnom Penh, a Pali high school for monks was created in 1914, and later converted into a college. This four-year diploma granting program for monks included not only education in the Pali language and Buddhist canon, but also basic education in modern, secular topics Beginning in 1933, elementary Pali schools were established to provide new monks with a shorter introduction to Pali. These schools eventually developed into broader monastic schools, where all monks were given basic education in the dhamma-vinaya. In 1961, a Buddhist university, the Buddhist University of Phra Sihanu-Raja began instruction.
Primary education of Cambodian children continued to take place at temple schools. Monks were also encouraged to become involved in community development projects.
Khmer Rouge Era
In 1975 when the communist Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, they tried to completely destroy Buddhism and very nearly succeeded. By the time of the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, nearly every monk and religious intellectual had been either murdered or driven into exile, and nearly every temple and Buddhist temple and library had been destroyed.
The Khmer Rouge policies towards Buddhism- which included the forcible disrobing of monks, the destruction of monasteries, and, ultimately, the execution of uncooperative monks effectively destroyed Cambodia's Buddhist institutions. Monks who did not flee and avoided execution lived among the laity, sometimes secretly performing Buddhist rituals for the sick or afflicted.
Estimates vary regarding the number of monks in Cambodia prior to the ascension of the Khmer Rouge, ranging between 65,000 and 80,000. By the time of the Buddhist restoration in the early 1980s, the number of Cambodian monks worldwide was estimated to be less than 3,000. The patriarchs of both Cambodian nikayas perished sometime during the period 1975-78, though the cause of their deaths is not known.
Due to their association with the Thai monarchy, monks of the Thommayut order may have been particularly targeted for persecution.
Post-Khmer Rouge Era
Today Buddhism is struggling to re-establish itself although the lack of Buddhist scholars and leaders and the continuing political instability makes the task difficult.
Following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge by forces of the Vietnamese government, Buddhism initially remained officially suppressed within Cambodia. Following challenges to the legitimacy of the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, policies towards Buddhism began to liberalize starting in the summer of 1979. A group of monks who had been exiled and re-ordained in Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge period were sent to Cambodia , and in 1981 one of their number, Venerable Tep Vong, was elected the first sangharaja of a new unified Cambodia sangha, officially abolishing the division between the Thommayut order and the Mohanikay. The ordination of new monks was sponsored by the government as a public show of piety and lifted restrictions on ordination.
Following the withdrawal of the Vietnamese military, the newly-renamed Cambodian People's Party sought to align itself with the Buddhist sangha, declaring Buddhism to be Cambodia's 'state religion' in a 1991 policy statement In 1991, King Sihanouk returned from exile and appointed a new sangharaja for each of the Thommayut and Mohanikay orders, effectively marking the end of the unified system created under Vietnamese rule in 1981.
The Cambodian Sangha
Since 1855, the Buddhist monastic community in Cambodia has been split into two divisions, excepting a brief period of unification between 1981 and 1991: the Maha Nikaya and the Dhammayuttika Nikaya. The Maha Nikaya is by far the larger of the two monastic fraternities, claiming the allegiance of a large majority of Cambodian monks. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya, despite royal patronage, remains a small minority, isolated somewhat by its strict discipline and connection with Thailand.
The Maha Nikaya monastic hierarchy- headed by the sanghreach (sangharaja)- has been closely connected with the Cambodian government since its re-establishment in the early 1980s High-ranking officials of the Maha Nikaya have often spoken out against criticism of the government and in favor of government policies, including calling for the arrest of monks espousing opposition positions. Officials from the Maha Nikaya hierarchy appoint members to lay committees to oversee the running of temples, who also act to ensure that temples do not become organizing points for anti-government activity by monks or lay supporters. Nevertheless, divisions within the Maha Nikaya fraternity do exist.
Modernists and Traditionalists
Divisions within the sangha between "modernists" and "traditionalists" were recorded in Cambodia as early as 1918. Broadly speaking, "modernists" have attempted to respond to Western criticism of Buddhist institutions by re-interpreting Buddhist teachings- particularly those related to philosophy and meditation- in light of both modern secular knowledge and the textual source of Theravada teachings- the Pali Canon. "Traditionalist", on the other hand, prefer to stick to the practices and teachings handed down through the monastic oral tradition, which have traditionally centered on the performance of merit-making ceremonies and the attainment of "heightened states" through concentration meditation. Traditionalists have tended to reject modern interest in vipassana meditation as a foreign affectation, and have focused on the rote memorization and recitation of Pali passages rather than attempts to study, translate, and interpret the contents of the Pali tripitaka.
For many years, Maha Ghosananda remained the most visible and recognizable figure of the Maha Nikaya modernists. Through his Dhammayatra program and other attempts to use the influence of the sangha to effect social change in Cambodian society, Maha Goshananda brought to Cambodia a form of Engaged Buddhism not previously seen among Cambodian religious institutions. This form of modernist, Engaged Buddhism has proved very popular with Western Buddhists and NGO's, who have lent their support and funding to efforts by Maha Goshananda and other modernist leaders.
High officials of the Cambodian government, by contrast, have tended to support the most conservative of the Maha Nikaya monks, particular the members of a segment known as the boran, an ultra-conservative movement that touts the worldly efficacy of the rote recitation of various Pali and Khmer prayers and discourses. Monks in the boran movement do not typically possess a significant knowledge of Pali, instead focusing on the rote memorization and recitation of certain verses and scriptures considered powerful. Boran monks maintain that by sponsoring recitations of these verses, lay supporters can accrue great merit that will result in immediate, worldly benefits, such as financial or career success. A large number of senior Cambodian officials (including Hun Sen) have patronized boran temples, providing for extensive expansions and rich decoration of the most popular temples. Boran monks also teach the efficacy of 'group repentance' rituals, where through the recitation of Pali texts the karmic fruit of earlier misdeeds can be avoided or moderated. These rituals, which developed from New Years repentance ceremonies, have become very popular among certain segments of Cambodian society, and have been conducted by the current Maha Nikaya sangharaja, Tep Vong.
The Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia seems to occupy a middle position between the Maha Nikaya modernists and traditionalists. Like the Dhammayuttika order in Thailand, they place a higher premium on scriptural study and knowledge of the Pali language than the monks of the traditionalist camp. At the same time, they have not embraced the modernist/Engaged notion of monks as agents of social development, preferring instead to stick closely to traditional monastic roles of study, meditation, and providing merit-making opportunities for lay supporters.
"Young Monks" Movement
Another division in the Cambodian sangha can be seen in what has been called the "young monks" movement, a small group of politically active monks (primarily Maha Nikaya) voicing public opposition to the current government. The "young monks" are primarily junior members of the clergy, drawn from temples in and around Phnom Penh. Unlike the Engaged modernists, their interest is not in using the authority of the sangha to aide social development programs, but rather to express direct opposition to government policies and corruption. Since the 1993 UN-monitored elections, monks have been permitted to vote in Cambodia (a move opposed by some senior monks). While this has not resulted in any large-scale mobilization of the sangha as a political force, it has drawn some young monks farther into participation in parliamentary politics. Many of these young monks are associated with opposition figure Sam Rainsy and his political party, the SRP.
Members of the young monks movement have participated in and organized public demonstrations in Phnom Penh, aimed at drawing attention to perceived government misdeeds. The Maha Nikaya hierarchy has condemned this form of political activism, calling for the arrest of some monks and defrocking others.
Khmer Nationalism and Buddhism
Cambodian Buddhism was instrumental in fomenting Khmer national identity and the independence movement in the 20th century, leading to Cambodian independence as a sovereign state.
In their attempt to separate the Khmer people from their cultural allegiance to the neighboring Theravada kingdom of Siam, the French "protectors" nurtured a sense of Khmer identity by emphasizing Khmer-language studies and Khmer Buddhist studies. They established Pali schools within Cambodia to keep the Cambodian monks from traveling to Siam for higher education. These Khmer-language study centers became the birthplace of Cambodian nationalism.
Cambodian adaptations
Cambodian Buddhism has no formal administrative ties with other Buddhist bodies, although Theravada monks from other countries, especially Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Sri Lanka, may participate in religious ceremonies in order to make up the requisite number of clergy. Cambodian Buddhism is organized nationally in accordance with regulations formulated in 1943 and modified in 1948. During the monarchical period, the king led the Buddhist clergy. Prince Sihanouk continued in this role even after he had abdicated and was governing as head of state. He appointed both the heads of the monastic orders and other high-ranking clergy. After the overthrow of Sihanouk in 1970, the new head of state, Lon Nol, appointed these leaders.
Two monastic orders constituted the clergy in Cambodia. The larger group, to which more than 90 percent of the clergy belonged, was the Mohanikay. The Thommayut order was far smaller. The Thommayut was introduced into the ruling circles of Cambodia from Thailand in 1864; it gained prestige because of its adoption by royalty and by the aristocracy, but its adherents were confined geographically to the Phnom Penh area. Among the few differences between the two orders is stricter observance by the Thommayut bonzes (monks) of the rules governing the clergy. In 1961 the Mohanikay had more than 52,000 ordained monks in some 2,700 wats, whereas the Thommayut order had 1,460 monks in just over 100 wats. In 1967 more than 2,800 Mohanikay wats and 320 Thommayut wats were in existence in Cambodia. After Phnom Penh, the largest number of Thommayut wats were found in Batdambang, Stoeng Treng, Prey Veng, Kampot, and Kampong Thum provinces.
Each order has its own superior and is organized into a hierarchy of eleven levels. The seven lower levels are known collectively as the thananukram; the four higher levels together are called the rajagana. The Mohanikay order has thirty-five monks in the rajagana; the Thommayut has twentyone . Each monk must serve for at least twenty years to be named to these highest levels.
The cornerstones of Cambodian Buddhism are the Buddhist bonze and the wat. Traditionally, each village has a spiritual center--a wat--where from five to more than seventy bonzes reside. A typical wat in rural Cambodia consists of a walled enclosure containing a sanctuary, several residences for bonzes, a hall, a kitchen, quarters for nuns, and a pond. The number of monks varies according to the size of the local population. The sanctuary, which contains an altar with statues of the Buddha and, in rare cases, a religious relic, is reserved for major ceremonies and usually only for the use of bonzes. Other ceremonies, classes for monks and for laity, and meals take place in the hall. Stupas containing the ashes of extended family members are constructed near the sanctuary. Fruit trees and vegetable gardens tended by local children are also part of the local wat. The main entrance, usually only for ceremonial use, faces east; other entrances are located at other points around the wall. There are no gates.
Steinberg notes the striking ratio of bonzes to the total population of Cambodia. In the late 1950s, an estimated 100,000 bonzes (including about 40,000 novices) served a population of about 5 million. This high proportion undoubtedly was caused in large part by the ease with which one could enter and leave the sangha. Becoming a bonze and leaving the sangha are matters of individual choice although, in theory, nearly all Cambodian males over sixteen serve terms as bonzes. Most young men do not intend to become fully ordained bonzes (bhikkhu), and they remain as monks for less than a year. Even a son's temporary ordination as a bonze brings great merit to his parents, however, and is considered so important that arrangements are made at a parent's funeral if the son has not undergone the process while the parent was living. There are two classes of bonzes at a wat--the novices (samani or nen) and the bhikkhu. Ordination is held from mid-April to mid-July, during the rainy season.
Buddhist monks do not take perpetual vows to remain monks, although, in fact, some become monks permanently. Traditionally, they became monks early in life. It is possible to become a novice at as young an age as seven, but in practice thirteen is the earliest age for novices. A bhikkhu must be at least twenty. The monk's life is regulated by Buddhist law, and life in the wat adheres to a rigid routine. A bhikkhu follows 227 rules of monastic discipline as well as the 10 basic precepts. These include the five precepts that all Buddhists should follow. The five precepts for monastic asceticism prohibit eating after noon, participating in any entertainment (singing, dancing, and watching movies or television), using any personal adornments, sleeping on a luxurious bed, and handling money. In addition, a monk also is expected to be celibate. Furthermore, monks supposedly avoid all involvement in political affairs. They are not eligible to vote or to hold any political office, and they may not witness a legal document or give testimony in court. Since the person of a monk is considered sacred, he is considered to be outside the normal civil laws and public duties that affect lay people. Some of these practices have changed in the modern period, however, and in the 1980s Buddhist monks have been active even in the PRK government.
Women are not ordained, but older women, especially widows, can become nuns. They live in wat and play an important role in the everyday life of the temple. Nuns shave their heads and eyebrows and generally follow the same precepts as monks. They may prepare the altars and do some of the housekeeping chores.
Role of Buddhism in Cambodian Life
Buddhist monks traditionally were called upon to perform a number of functions in Cambodian life. They participated in all formal village festivals, ceremonies, marriages, and funerals. They also might have participated in ceremonies to name infants and in other minor ceremonies or rites of passage. Monks did not lead the ceremonies, however, because that role was given to the achar, or master of ceremonies; the monk's major function was to say prayers of blessing. They were often healers and, in traditional Khmer culture, they were the practitioners whose role was closest to that of modern psychiatrists. They might also have been skilled in astrology. The monk traditionally occupied a unique position in the transmission of Khmer culture and values. By his way of life, he provided a living model of the most meritorious behavior a Buddhist could follow. He also provided the laity with many opportunities for gaining merit. For centuries monks were the only literate people residing in rural communities; they acted as teachers to temple servants, to novices, and to newly ordained monks. Until the 1970s, most literate Cambodian males gained literacy solely through the instruction of the sangha.
After independence from France, young Cambodian intellectuals changed their attitude toward the clergy. In describing a general shift away from Buddhism in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Vickery cites the early work of anthropologist May Mayko Ebihara and his own observations. He suggests that the Khmer Rouge was able to instill antireligious feelings in younger males because the latter were losing interest in becoming monks even during their teenage years, the traditional temporary period of service. The monks themselves had abandoned some of their traditional restrictions and had become involved in politics. At intervals during the colonial period, some monks had demonstrated or had rebelled against French rule, and in the 1970s monks joined pro- government demonstrations against the communists. Anticlerical feelings reached their highest point among the Khmer Rouge, who at first attempted to indoctrinate monks and to force them to pass anticlerical ideas on to the laity. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, monks were expelled forcibly from the wats and were compelled to do manual labor. Article 20 of the 1976 Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea permitted freedom of religion but banned all reactionary religions, that were "detrimental to the country." The minister of culture stated that Buddhism was incompatible with the revolution and was an instrument of exploitation. Under this regime, to quote the Finnish Inquiry Commission, "The practice of religion was forbidden and the pagodas were systematically destroyed." Observers estimated that 50,000 monks died during the Khmer Rouge regime. The status of Buddhism and of religion in general after the Vietnamese invasion was at least partially similar to its status in pre-Khmer Rouge times.
According to Michael Vickery, who has written positively about the PRK, public observance of Buddhism and of Islam has been reestablished, and government policies allow Cambodians freedom to believe or not to believe in Buddhism. Vickery cites some differences in this reestablished Buddhism. Religious affairs are overseen by the PRK's Kampuchean (or Khmer) United Front for National Construction and Defense (KUFNCD--see Appendix B), the mass organization that supports the state by organizing women, youths, workers, and religious groups (see The Kampuchean, or Khmer, United Front for National Construction and Defense, ch. 4). In 1987 there was only a single Buddhist order because the Thommayut order had not been revived. The organization of the clergy also had been simplified. The sangharaja (primate of the Buddhist clergy) had been replaced by a prathean (chairman). Communities that wanted a wats had to apply to a local front committee for permission. The wat were administered by a committee of the local laity. Private funds paid for the restoration of the wats damaged during the war and the Khmer Rouge era, and they supported the restored wats. Monks were ordained by a hierarchy that has been reconstituted since an initial ordination in September 1979 by a delegation from the Buddhist community in Vietnam. The validity of this ordination continues to be questioned. In general, there are only two to four monks per wat, which is fewer than before 1975. In 1981 about 4,930 monks served in 740 wats in Cambodia. The Buddhist General Assembly reported 7,000 monks in 1,821 active wats a year later. In 1969 by contrast, observers estimated that 53,400 monks and 40,000 novice monks served in more than 3,000 wats. Vickery sums up his observations on the subject by noting that, "The government has kept its promise to allow freedom for traditional Buddhism, but does not actively encourage it."
Martin offers another, more pessimistic, view of the religious situation in the late 1980s. In a 1986 study, she asserts that the PRK showed outsiders only certain aspects of religious freedom; she also states that the few wats that were restored had only two or three old monks in residence and that public attendance was low. The monks were allowed to leave the wats only for an hour in the mornings, to collect their food, or during holy days. Lay people who practiced their faith were about the same ages as the monks, and they were allowed to visit the wats only in the evenings. A government circular had also instructed civil servants to stop celebrating the traditional New Year Festival. Some traditional Buddhist festivals still were tolerated, but the state collected a 50 percent tithe on donations. Martin believes that Buddhism was threatened externally by state repression and by nonsupport and internally by invalid clergy. She noted that the two Buddhist superiors, Venerable Long Chhim and Venerable Tep Vong, were both believed to be from Vietnam. Venerable Tep Vong was concurrently the superior of the Buddhist clergy, vice president of the PRK's Khmer National Assembly, and vice president of the KUFNCD National Council. She quoted a refugee from Batdambang as having said, "During the meetings, the Khmer administrative authorities, accompanied by the Vietnamese experts, tell you, `Religion is like poison, it's like opium; it's better to give the money to the military, so they can fight'."
Buddhism is still strong among the various Cambodian refugee groups throughout the world, although some younger monks, faced with the distractions of a foreign culture, have chosen to leave the clergy and have become laicized. In the United States in 1984, there were twelve Cambodian wats with about twenty-one monks. In the 1980s, a Cambodian Buddhist wat was constructed near Washington, D.C., financed by a massive outpouring of donations from Cambodian Buddhists throughout North America. This wat is one of the few outside Southeast Asia that has the consecrated boundary within which ordinations may be performed.
Most of the major Cambodian annual festivals are connected with Buddhist observances. The chol chnam (New Year Festival) takes place in mid-April; it was one of the few festivals allowed under the Khmer Rouge regime. The phchun ben, celebrated in September or in October, is a memorial day for deceased ancestors and for close friends. Meak bochea, in January or February, commemorates the last sermon of the Buddha. Vissakh bochea, in April or in May, is the triple anniversary of the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. The chol vossa takes place in June or in July; it marks the beginning of a penitential season during which the monks must remain within the temple compounds. The kathen marks the end of this season; celebrated in September, it features offerings, especially of robes, to the monks. The kathen was still celebrated in the PRK in the late 1980s.
Cambodian Buddhism exists side-by-side with, and to some extent intermingles with, pre-Buddhist animism and Brahman practices. Most Cambodians, whether or not they profess to be Buddhists (or Muslims), believe in a rich supernatural world. When ill, or at other times of crisis, or to seek supernatural help, Cambodians may enlist the aid of a practitioner who is believed to be able to propitiate or obtain help from various spirits. Local spirits are believed to inhabit a variety of objects, and shrines to them may be found in houses, in Buddhist temples, along roads, and in forests.
Several types of supernatural entities are believed to exist; they make themselves known by means of inexplicable sounds or happenings. Among these phenomena are khmoc (ghosts), pret and besach (particularly nasty demons, the spirits of people who have died violent, untimely, or unnatural deaths), arak (evil spirits, usually female), neak ta (tutelary spirits residing in inanimate objects), mneang phteah (guardians of the house), meba (ancestral spirits), and mrenh kongveal (elf-like guardians of animals). All spirits must be shown proper respect, and, with the exception of the mneang phteah and mrenh kongveal, they can cause trouble ranging from mischief to serious life-threatening illnesses. An important way for living people to show respect for the spirits of the dead is to provide food for the spirits. If this food is not provided, the spirit can cause trouble for the offending person. For example, if a child does not provide food for the spirit of its dead mother, that spirit can cause misfortunes to happen to the child.
Aid in dealing with the spirit world may be obtained from a kru (shaman or spirit practitioner), an achar (ritualist), thmup (witch, sorcerer or sorceress), or a rup arak (medium, usually male). The kru is a kind of sorcerer who prepares charms and amulets to protect the wearer from harm. He can cure illnesses, find lost objects, and prepare magic potions. Traditionally, Cambodians have held strong beliefs about protective charms. Amulets are worn routinely by soldiers to ward off bullets, for example. The kru are believed to have the power to prepare an amulet and to establish a supernatural link between it and the owner. A kru may acquire considerable local prestige and power. Many kru are former Buddhist monks.
Another kind of magical practitioner is the achar, a specialist in ritual. He may function as a kind of master of ceremonies at a wat and as a specialist in conducting spirit worship rituals connected with life-cycle ceremonies. Rup arak are mediums who can be possessed by supernatural beings and communicate with the spirit world. The thmup are sorcerers who cause illnesses.
Fortunetellers and astrologers--haor teay--are important in Cambodian life. They are consulted about important decisions such as marriages, building a new house, or going on a long journey. They are believed to be able to foretell future events and to determine lucky or unlucky days for various activities.
Villagers are sensitive to the power and to the needs of the spirit world. According to observations by an American missionary in the early 1970s, villagers consulted the local guardian spirit to find out what the coming year would bring, a new province chief held a ceremony to ask the protection of the spirits over the province, and soldiers obtained magic cloths and amulets from mediums and shamans to protect them from the bullets of the enemy. Before embarking on a mission against enemy forces, a province chief might burn incense and call on a spirit for aid in defeating the enemy. Examples of Brahman influences were various rituals concerned with the well-being of the nation carried out by the ruler and the baku (a Brahman priestly group attached to the royal court). These rituals were reportedly stopped after Sihanouk's ouster in 1970.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Suvannabhumi
King Asohka sent missionaries to the land of Suvannabhumi (Suwannaphum), which has sometimes been identified as the mainland southeast Asian region of the Mon kingdoms of southern Thaton in Burma, central Thailand and Issan. The Mahavamsa, a Sinhalese Pali chronicle, mentions these missions.
"Unconfirmed Singhalese sources state that Buddhism was introduced to Suvannabhumi, or the 'Golden Peninsula', as mainland Southeast Asia was once referred to, in the 3rd century B.C. under the reign of King Ashoka, the great Buddhist ruler. According to these sources, two monks, Sona and Uttara, were sent to propagate the doctrine of the Master in this region following the great council of 274 B.C. held in Asoka's capital Pataliputta, India. While this mission may be legendary, it indicates that Buddhism has been present in Southeast Asia for a long time. Various Buddhist sects and schools, including Tantrism, vied or coexisted with a dominant Brahamanism and indigenous animistic faiths for centuries before the rise of the classical Southeast Asian empires beginning in the 9th century A.D. In part through Indian merchant traders, Indian cultural influence was pervasive in this early period. In Funan (1st to 5th century A.D.) the first organized Khmer polity, the Khmer people embraced not only the diverse Brahmanic and Buddhist religions but also the social customs and mores of India.
Funan Kingdom
In the period between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D, the Kingdom of Funan in the present-day Mekong Delta established a flourishing sea-faring trade between China, Indonesia, and India. This kingdom was Hindu, with the kings of Funan sponsoring the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Buddhism was already present in Funan as a secondary religion in these earliest times.
A Sanskrit inscription from 375 A.D documents the presence of Buddhism in Funan. King Kuandinya Jayavarman (478-514) cultivated Buddhism and sent a Buddhist mission complete with Funanese Buddhist images, carved in coral, to the Emperor of China.
Another early inscription in Sanskrit dated 586-664 at Wat Prey Vier notes that two Buddhist monks named Ratnabhanu and Ratnasimha were brothers. Chinese texts attest that Buddhism flourished in Cambodia in the last half of the 5th century, and that King Jayavarman sent the Indian monk Nagasena to present a memorial in the Chinese Imperial court.
Buddhism was clearly beginning to assert its presence from about year 450 A.D. onward, and was observed by the Chinese traveler I Ching toward the close of the seventh century.
Chenla Kingdom
The Kingdom of Chenla replaced Funan and endured from 500-700 A.D. Chenla extend from the Mekong Delta, and along the lands surrounding the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.
"According to Ma Touan-Lin, a 13th century Chinese chronicler, there were ten monasteries of Buddhist monks and nuns studying the sacred texts in the 4th and 5th centuries. He stated that two monks from Funan traveled to China in this period at the request of the Chinese emperor, to translate the Sanskrit Tipitika into Chinese. A passage from the History of Leang, a Chinese chronicle written in 502-556, tells us that King Rudravarman sent a mission of monks to China in 535 under the direction of an Indian monk, Gunaratana. The delegation arrived in China in 546, accompanied by 240 palm leaf manuscripts of Mahayana Buddhist texts. Evidence of a cult of Buddha's relics was seen in Rudravarman's request of the Chinese emperor for a 12-foot (3.7 m) long relic of Buddha's hair.
Buddhism was weakened in the Chenla period, but survived, as seen in the inscriptions of Sambor Prei Kuk (626 A.D.) and those of Siem Reap dealing with the erection of statues of Avalokitesvara (791 A.D.). Some pre-Angkorean statuary in the Mekong Delta region indicate the existence of Sanskrit-based Sarvastivada Buddhism.
Khmer-style Buddha images are abundant from the period of 600-800 A.D. Many Mahayana bodhisattva images also date from this period, often found alongside the predominantly Hindu images of Shiva and Vishnu.
An inscription from Ta Prohm temple in Bali province, dated about 625 A.D., states, that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are flourishing.
Angkor Kingdom
The transition from Hindu god-king to Mahayana Buddha-king was probably gradual and imperceptible. The cult of Shiva and Vishnu gradually blended into the cult of the Bodhisattva. The prevailing cult of Brahmanist worship of Vishnu and Shiva gave way to the worship of the Buddha and the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
King Jayavarman II (802-869) is the first real Khmer king of the Angkor Empire. He proclaimed himself god-king and began to establish the capital of Angkor (Rolous) near present day Angkor Wat.
The Buddhist Sailendra kingdom exercised suzerainty over Cambodia as a vassal state during the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth centuries. As a result, Jayavarman, as a young man, had lived in the court of Java and had visited Sumatra. When he returned to Cambodia, he proclaimed himself a god-king (deva-raja) according to Khmer traditions, identifying himself with Shiva. Nevertheless, he was increasingly friendly to and supportive of Mahayana Buddhist influence throughout his kingdom.
When King Jayavarman II returned to Cambodia from Java, he built three capitals in succession: Hariharalaya, Amarendrapura, and Mahendraparvata. One of these, Amarendrapura, identified with Banteai Chmar, was a Mahayana Buddhist city presided over by Avalokitesvara, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion.
Mahayana Buddhism therefore became increasingly established in his empire. The form of Mahayana Buddhism that was propagated in the Srivijaya lands was similar to the Pala Dynasty Buddhism of Bengal, and of the Nalanda University in northern India.
"The Bengal University of Nalanda in Megadha (now Behar) was the theological center of Mahayana Buddhism under the protection of the Pala Dynasty [750-1060]. Shivaist interpretations of Buddhism, tinged with Tantric mysticism (that may have revived portions of pre-Aryan northeastern Indian cults) were worked out in Megadha and then were exported throughout insular and peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly to Java. Yashovarman I (889-910), who ruled from the vicinity of Rolous in the late ninth century, seems to have been a Shivite Buddhist influenced by Nalanda syncretism. His successors (notably Jayavarman IV) dedicated themselves to Vishnu and Brahma, as well as to Shiva, with whom they continued to be identified by hereditary families of priests. Rajendravarman II studied Buddhism intensely.
The Sailendra dynasty also built the fantastic Mahayana Buddhist temple Borobudur (750-850) in Java. Borobudur appears to have been the inspiration for the later fabulous Angkor building projects in Cambodia, particularly Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
The primary form of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia during Angkor times was Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced with Tantric tendencies.
"The prevalence of Tantrayana in Java, Sumatra and Kamboja [Cambodia], a fact now definitely established by modern researches into the character of Mahayana Buddhism and Sivaism in these parts of the Indian Orient. Already in Kamboja inscription of the 9th century there is definite evidence of the teaching of Tantric texts at the court of Jayavarman II. In a Kamboja record of the 11th century there is a reference to the 'Tantras of the Paramis'; and images of Hevajra, definitely a tantric divinity, have been recovered from amidst the ruins of Angkor Thom. A number of Kamboja inscriptions refer to several kings who were initiated into the Great Secret (Vrah Guhya) by their Brahmanical gurus; the Saiva records make obvious records to Tantric doctrines that had crept into Sivaism."
"But it was in Java and Sumatra that Tantrayana seems to have attained greater importance. There Mahayana Buddhism and the cult of Siva, both deeply imbued with tantric influences, are to be seen often blending with one another during this period. The Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, consisting of Sanskrit versus explained by an Old Javanese commentary, professed to teach the Mahayana and Mantrayana.
The presence and growing influence of Buddhism continued as the Angkor empire increased in power. King Yosavarman built many Buddhist temples in 887-889, representing the mandala of Mount Meru, the mythical axis of the world. The largest of these temples is Phnom Kandal or "Central Mountain" which lies near the heart of the Angkor complex.
King Rajendravarman II (944-968) "studied Buddhism intensely. Although he decided to remain a Shivaist, he appointed a Buddhist, Kavindrarimathana, chief minister. Kavindrarimathana built shrines to Buddha and Shiva. Jayavarman V (son of Rajendravarman) also remained a devote of Shiva. He, too, permitted his own chief minister, Kirtipandita, to foster Mahayana Buddhist learning and divination.
Surayvarman I
Surayvarman I (1002-1050) is considered the greatest of the Buddhist kings, excepting only Jayavarman VII
Surayvarman was from present-day southern Thailand in the kingdom of Sri Dhammarat. He was a Tamil-Malay (Srivijaya) "usurper" to the Khmer throne, who claimed legitimate succession to the throne through his Khmer mother. His father was king of the Buddhist kingdom of Tambralingam on the Malay peninsula. He publicly venerated Shiva or Rama according to his official traditions, but was also a devout Mahayana Buddhist king.
A strong proponent of Mahayana Buddhism, he did not interfere or obstruct the growing presence and dissemination of Theravada Buddhism during his reign. "Indeed, inscriptions indicate he sought wisdom from wise Mahayanists and Hinayanists and at least somewhat disestablished the Sivakaivalya family's hereditary claims to being chief priests (purohitar). Surayvarman's posthumous title of Nirvanapada, 'the king who has gone to Nirvana' is the strongest evidence that he was a Buddhist.
Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII (1181-1215) was the greatest of all Khmer Buddhist kings. Jayavarman VII worked tirelessly to establish Buddhism as the state religion of Angkor.
He was already an elderly man, perhaps 60, when he ascended the throne. Before becoming king, he had devoted his long life to meditation and tantra.
Sensing his mortality he worked feverishly to accomplish his works in "saving" the Khmer people and establishing a Buddhist empire in a race against time.
In 1177, the Cham Kingdom of central Vietnam had invaded and sacked Angkor, creating a sense of trauma and crisis throughout the Khmer Empire by attacking and looting the capital. King Jayavarman VII ascended the throne in a climate of crisis, and war.
Jayavarman VII was a Mahayana Buddhist, and he regarded himself to be a Dharma-king, a bodhisattva, whose duty was to "save the people" through service and merit-making, liberating himself in the process.
Scholars speculate why Khmer royalty rejected Hinduism and embraced Buddhism definitively at this time. Perhaps, they suggest, Jayavarman and his people had become disillusioned with the Hindu gods because of their failure to protect the Angkor Empire from being sacked by their enemies, the Cham. The Cham themselves were Hindu and worshiped Shiva, and the Khmer may have therefore felt an instinctive revulsion at the religion of their enemies.
Jayavarman withdrew his devotion from the old gods and began to identify more openly with Buddhist traditions. His regime marked a clear dividing line with the old Hindu past.
Before 1200, art in the temples mostly portrayed scenes from the Hindu pantheon such as Vishnu reclining on a lotus leaf, or the churning of the primeval sea of milk of creation. After 1200, scenes from the Buddhist Jatakas, and life of the Buddha, along with scenes of the Ramayana began to appear as standard motif.
As a "bodhisattva king" Jayavarman VII was considered to be a living Buddha, or bodhisattva who turned his back from the brink of enlightenment to redeem or save his people from suffering; he imagined himself in a role similar to that of the present day Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Images of Jayavarman portray him in the ascetic pose seated in meditation with a serene, enlightened expression. He built numerous public works to serve the people, including waterworks, hospitals, temples, hospices for travelers.
Stone inscriptions say he "suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public griefs that make a king's grief, and not his own."
Another inscription reads: "Filled with a deep sympathy for the good of the world, the king swore this oath; 'All beings who are plunged in the ocean of existence, may I draw them out by virtue of this good work. And may the kings of Cambodia who come after me, attached to goodness...attain with their wives, dignitaries and friends, the place of deliverance where there is no more illness.'"
Profound psychological change was underway in Jayavarman VII's reign. There was a shift away from the cult of devaraja god-king, toward the cult of the Sangha, the cult of monks. In former times, great effort and resources were invested into building temples for elite brahman priests and god-kings. Under Jayavarman, these resources were redirected to building libraries, monastic dwellings, public works, and more "earthly" projects accessible to the common people.
His temple, the Bayon in Angkor Thom, is the first temple built without walls, indicating its openness to all the people, not exclusive to the god-king and his brahmin priests. The walls of the Bayon are decorated with scenes from the daily life of the people fishing, eating, gambling and cock-fighting, rather than the heroic deeds of gods and kings.
King Jayavarman considered the Bayon as his masterpiece, his "bride." A stone inscription says "the town of Yosadharapura, decorated with powder and jewels, burning with desire, the daughter of a good family...who married by the king in the course of a festival that lacked nothing, under the spreading dais of his protection."
The purpose of this mystical marriage of King and people, the inscription goes on to say, was the "procreation of happiness throughout the universe."
The building projects commissioned by Jayavarman were redolent with tantric Buddhist symbolism. The word "bayon" means "ancestor yantra" - a magic symbol of geometric shape of tantric Buddhism. In the center of the Bayon temple was an image of Buddha-Mucalinda: the Buddha sitting on a seven-headed cobra, with the serpent's hood unveiled above the Buddha as protection from the elements. The Buddha image has the features of Jayavarman VII himself.
Jayavarman other major temple projects included Preah Khan and Ta Prohm.
While Jayavarman VII himself was Mahayana Buddhist, the presence of Theravada Buddhism was increasingly evident. "This Singhalese-based Theravada Buddhist orthodoxy was first propagated in Southeast Asia by Taling (Mon) monks in the 11th century and together with Islam in the 13th century in southern insular reaches of the region, spread as a popularly-based movement among the people. Apart from inscriptions, such as one of Lopburi, there were other signs that the religious venue of Suvannabhumi were changing. Tamalinda, the Khmer monk believed to be the son of Jayavarman VII, took part in an 1180 Burmese-led mission to Sri Lanka to study the Pali canon and on his return in 1190 had adepts of the Sinhala doctrine in his court. Chou Ta-Laun, who led a Chinese mission in to Angkor in 1296-97 confirms the significant presence of Pali Theravada monks in the Khmer Capital.
Decline of Angkor & the Emergence of a Theravada Kingdom
After the 13th century Theravada Buddhism became the state religion of Cambodia.
King Jayavarman VII had sent his son Tamilinda to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a Buddhist monk and study Theravada Buddhism according to the Pali scriptural traditions. Tamalinda then returned to Cambodia and promoted Buddhist traditions according to the Theravada training he had received, galvanizing and energizing the long standing Theravada presence that had existed throughout the Angkor empire for centuries.
During the time Tamalinda studied at the famous Mahavihara Monastery in Sri Lanka (1180-1190), a new dynamic type of Theravada Buddhism was being preached as the "true faith" in Sri Lanka. This form of Buddhism was somewhat militant and highly disciplined in reaction to the wars with the Tamil that nearly destroyed Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 9th and 10th centuries. As Theravada Buddhism struggled for survival in Sri Lanka, it developed a resiliency that generated a renaissance throughout the Buddhist world, and would eventually spread across Burma, Chang Mai, the Mon kingdoms, Lana, Sukothai, Laos, and Cambodia.
In the 13th century, wandering missionaries from the Mon-Khmer-speaking parts of Siam, Burma, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka played an important part in this process.
When Prince Tamalinda returned after ten years of ordination, he was a Thera, a senior monk, capable of administering ordination into this vigorous Theravada lineage, which insisted on orthodoxy and rejected Mahayana "innovations" such as tantric practices.
The mass conversion of Khmer society to Theravada Buddhism amounted to a nonviolent revolution every all level of society. All monumental building projects that had characterized the Angkor empire came to a sudden end. Scholars struggle to account for this sudden and inexplicable transformation of Khmer civilization.
Theravada Buddhism succeeded because it was inclusive and universal in its outreach, recruiting the disciples and monks from not only the elites and court, but also in the villages and among the peasants, enhancing its popularity among the Khmer folk.
"Their message succeeded because it provided a meaningful way of relating to the world for many who had been marginal to the classical civilizations or who had been seriously affected by the disruption of the classical civilizations in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Journalist Elizabeth Becker explained the phenomenon: "Cambodians were ripe for conversion. The political integrity and morality of the kingdom were thrown into question at the time, and Cambodians converted en masse to this new faith that offered social tranquility without striving for material gain or power. The modest Buddhist bonzes were a welcome change from the arrogant and wealthy priests of the kings. The new Buddhists dressed in simple saffron robes. They possessed a sense of responsibility for all, not just the nobility. Eventually they became as revered as the devaraja, who in turn became a Theravada Buddhist himself as patron of the faith.
Other scholars suggest that the classical Angkor Empire collapsed from desertion from within and assault from without, from growing external threats and assaults from Siam and Vietnam which were both in ascendancy at the time.
"The post-Angkor period saw the dramatic rise of the Pali Theravada tradition in Southeast Asia and concomitant decline of the Brahmanic and Mahayana Buddhist religious traditions. A 1423 Thai account of a mission to Sri Lanka mentions eight Khmer monks who again brought orthodox Mahavihara sect of Singhalese order to Kampuchea. This particular event belied, however, the profound societal shift that was taking place from priestly class structure to a village-based monastic system in Theravada lands. While adhering to the monastic discipline, monks developed their wats, or temple-monasteries, not only into moral religious but also education, social-service, and cultural centers for the people. Wats became the main source of learning and popular education. Early western explorers, settlers, and missionaries reported widespread literacy among the male populations of Burma, Thailand, Kampuchea, Laos, and Vietnam. Until the 19th century, literacy rates exceeded those of Europe in most if not all Theravada lands. In Kampuchea, Buddhism became the transmitter of Khmer language and culture.
The Theravada revolution was therefor a grassroots movement of the Khmer people rejecting the oppressive burden of maintaining the god-king religion of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. The monumental temples that had countless thousands of slaves attached to them were gradually abandoned to the jungles.
With the rise of Siam in the west and Vietnam in the east, the classical Angkor empire disappeared and the beginning of present day Cambodia began. The center of government began to migrate away from Angkor to a more central location in the center of Cambodia, in the regions near present day Phnom Penh.
Cambodia became from this time forward a Theravada Buddhist nation. "Theravada Buddhism, unlike almost all the previous religions of the country, its doctrines were not imposed from above but were preached to the people. It was simple, required no expensive priesthood or temples and little ceremonial. Its missionaries practiced austerity, solitude, humility, and poverty. Their example and their direct contact with the people started to undermine the old state religion and the monastery which rested upon it. Theravada Buddhism remained the great belief and comfort of the Khmer people until 1975.
Zhou Daguan, a Chinese visitor to the Royal Court of Cambodia at this time wrote of the presence of Theravada Buddhist monks in the latter days of Angkor.
Zhou Daguan was an emissary from the court of Timur Khan, Emperor of China. Daguan lived in Angkor Thom for one year 1296-7 and wrote a small book about his observations in which he described Theravada monks with shaved heads, yellow robes and one shoulder bare, walking barefoot throughout Cambodia. Their temples were simple, he said, containing one image of Sakyamuni Buddha. The image was draped in yellow cloth.
The Theravada monks ate meat or fish but did not drink wine. They ate only one meal a day. They did not cook in the temple, but lived on alms food.
"The books they recited from were very numerous. These were made of neatly bound palm leaves covered with black writing. Some of the monks were royal counselors, and therefore had the right to be conveyed in palanquins with gold shafts accompanied by umbrellas with gold or silver handles. There were no Buddhist nuns.
Buddhist Middle Ages
The Jinakalamali gives an account of the cultural connections between Cambodia and Sri Lanka in the fifteenth century. It states that 1967 years after the Mahaparinibbana of the Buddha, eight monks headed by Mahananasiddhi from Cambodia with 25 monks from Nabbispura in Thailand came to Sri Lanka to receive the umpasampada ordination at the hands of the Sinhalese Mahatheras.
As Angkor collapsed under the advancing jungles, the center of power of the Theravada Cambodia moved south toward present day Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh was originally a small riverside market center where the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River converge.
Phnom Penh was founded when Lady Penh found a "four-faced Buddha" floating down the river on a Koki tree during the flooding season. She retrieved the Buddha image and had the Wat Phnom constructed to house the image. The four-faced Buddha [Buddha facing the four directions] is important in Khmer Buddhist iconography, signifying the establishment of the kingdom of the Buddha of the Future, Maitreya, who is often identified with the Buddha-king of Cambodia.
After 1431 when the Cambodian kings permanently abandoned Angkor due to a Siamese invasion, the royal court was located on Udon Mountain, a few miles north of Phnom Penh. Siamese incursions from the west and Vietnamese invasions from the east weakened the Khmer empire. The Vietnamese invaders attempted to suppress Theravada Buddhism and force the Khmer people to practice Mahayana Buddhism. The Siamese, on the other hand, would periodically invade Cambodia and attempt to drive out the "unbelievers" in an attempt to protect the Theravada religion. This power-struggle between the two ascendant powers continued until the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century.
Colonial Era
Buddhism continued to flourish in Cambodia in the sixteenth century. King Ang Chan (1516-1566), a relative of King Dhammaraja, was a devout Buddhist. He built pagodas in his capital and many Buddhist shrines in different parts of Cambodia. In order to popularize Buddhism, King Satha (1576-1549), son and successor of King Barom Reachea, restored the great towers of the Angkor Wat, which had become a Buddhist shrine by the sixteenth century.
When Western merchants and missionaries first made contact with Cambodia, they discovered a three-tiered society consisting of the nobility, the common people (who were primarily rice farmers), and the Buddhist monks who were custodians of Khmer culture and identity.
Each successive wave of European influence was accompanied by Catholic missionaries, but Theravada Buddhism proved surprisingly resistant to foreign attempts to convert the Khmer people.
In 1556, the Portuguese missionary Gaspar de Cruz spent about a year in Cambodia and visited the capital at Lovek where King Cham reigned. The missionary complained bitterly of his inability to convert the Khmer people to Christianity, and blamed the Buddhist monks for his failure: The monks, he said, are "exceedingly proud and vain...alive they are worshiped for gods, in so that the inferior among them do worship the superior like gods, praying unto them and prostrating themselves before them; and so the common people have great confidence in them, with great reverence and worship; so that there is no person that dare contradict them in anything... [It] happened sometimes that while I was preaching, many round me hearing me very well, and being very satisfied with what I told them, that if there came along any of these priests and said, 'This is good but ours is better,' they would all depart and leave me alone.
During the colonial period, the peace was periodically breached by outbreaks of religiously-motivated violence. Periodic millenarian revolts, often lead by charismatic monks or self-proclaimed holy men. In 1820-21, a Millennial uprising was led by a former monk named Kai, who was recognized as a holy man with supernatural powers. He organized a revolt against the Vietnamese overlords from his hideout in Ba Phanom.
During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, Thailand's involvement in Cambodian politics extended Thai influence into religious matters as well. In 1855, King Norodom invited monks from the Thai Dhammayuttika Nikaya to establish a Dhammayuttika presence in Cambodia. Maha Pan, a Khmer monk who had studied under some of the same teachers as Thailand's Mongkut, was appointed the first sangharaja of the new Khmer Dhammayuttika tradition (usually referred to as 'Thommayut'), taking up residence at Wat Botum Vaddey, a new temple built adjacent to the palace in Phnom Penh.
The newly-formed Thommayut order benefited from royal patronage, but frequently came into conflict with the existing Mohanikay (Mahanikaya) lineage. The Thommayut were sometimes accused of holding loyalty to the Thai court, rather than to the Khmer nation.
Cambodia was recognized by the West as a "protectorate" of France in 1867. Over the course of the next forty years, the territory of modern Cambodia was integrated as a colony into French Indo-China through a series of "protective" agreements with the Vietnamese, and treaty concessions from Thailand. Periodic convulsions of violence, led by Buddhist holy men, would periodically break out against the French.
During the era of French rule, significant advances were made in the education of Cambodian monks, both in specifically Buddhist topics and more general studies. In Phnom Penh, a Pali high school for monks was created in 1914, and later converted into a college. This four-year diploma granting program for monks included not only education in the Pali language and Buddhist canon, but also basic education in modern, secular topics Beginning in 1933, elementary Pali schools were established to provide new monks with a shorter introduction to Pali. These schools eventually developed into broader monastic schools, where all monks were given basic education in the dhamma-vinaya. In 1961, a Buddhist university, the Buddhist University of Phra Sihanu-Raja began instruction.
Primary education of Cambodian children continued to take place at temple schools. Monks were also encouraged to become involved in community development projects.
Khmer Rouge Era
In 1975 when the communist Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, they tried to completely destroy Buddhism and very nearly succeeded. By the time of the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, nearly every monk and religious intellectual had been either murdered or driven into exile, and nearly every temple and Buddhist temple and library had been destroyed.
The Khmer Rouge policies towards Buddhism- which included the forcible disrobing of monks, the destruction of monasteries, and, ultimately, the execution of uncooperative monks effectively destroyed Cambodia's Buddhist institutions. Monks who did not flee and avoided execution lived among the laity, sometimes secretly performing Buddhist rituals for the sick or afflicted.
Estimates vary regarding the number of monks in Cambodia prior to the ascension of the Khmer Rouge, ranging between 65,000 and 80,000. By the time of the Buddhist restoration in the early 1980s, the number of Cambodian monks worldwide was estimated to be less than 3,000. The patriarchs of both Cambodian nikayas perished sometime during the period 1975-78, though the cause of their deaths is not known.
Due to their association with the Thai monarchy, monks of the Thommayut order may have been particularly targeted for persecution.
Post-Khmer Rouge Era
Today Buddhism is struggling to re-establish itself although the lack of Buddhist scholars and leaders and the continuing political instability makes the task difficult.
Following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge by forces of the Vietnamese government, Buddhism initially remained officially suppressed within Cambodia. Following challenges to the legitimacy of the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, policies towards Buddhism began to liberalize starting in the summer of 1979. A group of monks who had been exiled and re-ordained in Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge period were sent to Cambodia , and in 1981 one of their number, Venerable Tep Vong, was elected the first sangharaja of a new unified Cambodia sangha, officially abolishing the division between the Thommayut order and the Mohanikay. The ordination of new monks was sponsored by the government as a public show of piety and lifted restrictions on ordination.
Following the withdrawal of the Vietnamese military, the newly-renamed Cambodian People's Party sought to align itself with the Buddhist sangha, declaring Buddhism to be Cambodia's 'state religion' in a 1991 policy statement In 1991, King Sihanouk returned from exile and appointed a new sangharaja for each of the Thommayut and Mohanikay orders, effectively marking the end of the unified system created under Vietnamese rule in 1981.
The Cambodian Sangha
Since 1855, the Buddhist monastic community in Cambodia has been split into two divisions, excepting a brief period of unification between 1981 and 1991: the Maha Nikaya and the Dhammayuttika Nikaya. The Maha Nikaya is by far the larger of the two monastic fraternities, claiming the allegiance of a large majority of Cambodian monks. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya, despite royal patronage, remains a small minority, isolated somewhat by its strict discipline and connection with Thailand.
The Maha Nikaya monastic hierarchy- headed by the sanghreach (sangharaja)- has been closely connected with the Cambodian government since its re-establishment in the early 1980s High-ranking officials of the Maha Nikaya have often spoken out against criticism of the government and in favor of government policies, including calling for the arrest of monks espousing opposition positions. Officials from the Maha Nikaya hierarchy appoint members to lay committees to oversee the running of temples, who also act to ensure that temples do not become organizing points for anti-government activity by monks or lay supporters. Nevertheless, divisions within the Maha Nikaya fraternity do exist.
Modernists and Traditionalists
Divisions within the sangha between "modernists" and "traditionalists" were recorded in Cambodia as early as 1918. Broadly speaking, "modernists" have attempted to respond to Western criticism of Buddhist institutions by re-interpreting Buddhist teachings- particularly those related to philosophy and meditation- in light of both modern secular knowledge and the textual source of Theravada teachings- the Pali Canon. "Traditionalist", on the other hand, prefer to stick to the practices and teachings handed down through the monastic oral tradition, which have traditionally centered on the performance of merit-making ceremonies and the attainment of "heightened states" through concentration meditation. Traditionalists have tended to reject modern interest in vipassana meditation as a foreign affectation, and have focused on the rote memorization and recitation of Pali passages rather than attempts to study, translate, and interpret the contents of the Pali tripitaka.
For many years, Maha Ghosananda remained the most visible and recognizable figure of the Maha Nikaya modernists. Through his Dhammayatra program and other attempts to use the influence of the sangha to effect social change in Cambodian society, Maha Goshananda brought to Cambodia a form of Engaged Buddhism not previously seen among Cambodian religious institutions. This form of modernist, Engaged Buddhism has proved very popular with Western Buddhists and NGO's, who have lent their support and funding to efforts by Maha Goshananda and other modernist leaders.
High officials of the Cambodian government, by contrast, have tended to support the most conservative of the Maha Nikaya monks, particular the members of a segment known as the boran, an ultra-conservative movement that touts the worldly efficacy of the rote recitation of various Pali and Khmer prayers and discourses. Monks in the boran movement do not typically possess a significant knowledge of Pali, instead focusing on the rote memorization and recitation of certain verses and scriptures considered powerful. Boran monks maintain that by sponsoring recitations of these verses, lay supporters can accrue great merit that will result in immediate, worldly benefits, such as financial or career success. A large number of senior Cambodian officials (including Hun Sen) have patronized boran temples, providing for extensive expansions and rich decoration of the most popular temples. Boran monks also teach the efficacy of 'group repentance' rituals, where through the recitation of Pali texts the karmic fruit of earlier misdeeds can be avoided or moderated. These rituals, which developed from New Years repentance ceremonies, have become very popular among certain segments of Cambodian society, and have been conducted by the current Maha Nikaya sangharaja, Tep Vong.
The Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia seems to occupy a middle position between the Maha Nikaya modernists and traditionalists. Like the Dhammayuttika order in Thailand, they place a higher premium on scriptural study and knowledge of the Pali language than the monks of the traditionalist camp. At the same time, they have not embraced the modernist/Engaged notion of monks as agents of social development, preferring instead to stick closely to traditional monastic roles of study, meditation, and providing merit-making opportunities for lay supporters.
"Young Monks" Movement
Another division in the Cambodian sangha can be seen in what has been called the "young monks" movement, a small group of politically active monks (primarily Maha Nikaya) voicing public opposition to the current government. The "young monks" are primarily junior members of the clergy, drawn from temples in and around Phnom Penh. Unlike the Engaged modernists, their interest is not in using the authority of the sangha to aide social development programs, but rather to express direct opposition to government policies and corruption. Since the 1993 UN-monitored elections, monks have been permitted to vote in Cambodia (a move opposed by some senior monks). While this has not resulted in any large-scale mobilization of the sangha as a political force, it has drawn some young monks farther into participation in parliamentary politics. Many of these young monks are associated with opposition figure Sam Rainsy and his political party, the SRP.
Members of the young monks movement have participated in and organized public demonstrations in Phnom Penh, aimed at drawing attention to perceived government misdeeds. The Maha Nikaya hierarchy has condemned this form of political activism, calling for the arrest of some monks and defrocking others.
Khmer Nationalism and Buddhism
Cambodian Buddhism was instrumental in fomenting Khmer national identity and the independence movement in the 20th century, leading to Cambodian independence as a sovereign state.
In their attempt to separate the Khmer people from their cultural allegiance to the neighboring Theravada kingdom of Siam, the French "protectors" nurtured a sense of Khmer identity by emphasizing Khmer-language studies and Khmer Buddhist studies. They established Pali schools within Cambodia to keep the Cambodian monks from traveling to Siam for higher education. These Khmer-language study centers became the birthplace of Cambodian nationalism.
Cambodian adaptations
Cambodian Buddhism has no formal administrative ties with other Buddhist bodies, although Theravada monks from other countries, especially Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Sri Lanka, may participate in religious ceremonies in order to make up the requisite number of clergy. Cambodian Buddhism is organized nationally in accordance with regulations formulated in 1943 and modified in 1948. During the monarchical period, the king led the Buddhist clergy. Prince Sihanouk continued in this role even after he had abdicated and was governing as head of state. He appointed both the heads of the monastic orders and other high-ranking clergy. After the overthrow of Sihanouk in 1970, the new head of state, Lon Nol, appointed these leaders.
Two monastic orders constituted the clergy in Cambodia. The larger group, to which more than 90 percent of the clergy belonged, was the Mohanikay. The Thommayut order was far smaller. The Thommayut was introduced into the ruling circles of Cambodia from Thailand in 1864; it gained prestige because of its adoption by royalty and by the aristocracy, but its adherents were confined geographically to the Phnom Penh area. Among the few differences between the two orders is stricter observance by the Thommayut bonzes (monks) of the rules governing the clergy. In 1961 the Mohanikay had more than 52,000 ordained monks in some 2,700 wats, whereas the Thommayut order had 1,460 monks in just over 100 wats. In 1967 more than 2,800 Mohanikay wats and 320 Thommayut wats were in existence in Cambodia. After Phnom Penh, the largest number of Thommayut wats were found in Batdambang, Stoeng Treng, Prey Veng, Kampot, and Kampong Thum provinces.
Each order has its own superior and is organized into a hierarchy of eleven levels. The seven lower levels are known collectively as the thananukram; the four higher levels together are called the rajagana. The Mohanikay order has thirty-five monks in the rajagana; the Thommayut has twentyone . Each monk must serve for at least twenty years to be named to these highest levels.
The cornerstones of Cambodian Buddhism are the Buddhist bonze and the wat. Traditionally, each village has a spiritual center--a wat--where from five to more than seventy bonzes reside. A typical wat in rural Cambodia consists of a walled enclosure containing a sanctuary, several residences for bonzes, a hall, a kitchen, quarters for nuns, and a pond. The number of monks varies according to the size of the local population. The sanctuary, which contains an altar with statues of the Buddha and, in rare cases, a religious relic, is reserved for major ceremonies and usually only for the use of bonzes. Other ceremonies, classes for monks and for laity, and meals take place in the hall. Stupas containing the ashes of extended family members are constructed near the sanctuary. Fruit trees and vegetable gardens tended by local children are also part of the local wat. The main entrance, usually only for ceremonial use, faces east; other entrances are located at other points around the wall. There are no gates.
Steinberg notes the striking ratio of bonzes to the total population of Cambodia. In the late 1950s, an estimated 100,000 bonzes (including about 40,000 novices) served a population of about 5 million. This high proportion undoubtedly was caused in large part by the ease with which one could enter and leave the sangha. Becoming a bonze and leaving the sangha are matters of individual choice although, in theory, nearly all Cambodian males over sixteen serve terms as bonzes. Most young men do not intend to become fully ordained bonzes (bhikkhu), and they remain as monks for less than a year. Even a son's temporary ordination as a bonze brings great merit to his parents, however, and is considered so important that arrangements are made at a parent's funeral if the son has not undergone the process while the parent was living. There are two classes of bonzes at a wat--the novices (samani or nen) and the bhikkhu. Ordination is held from mid-April to mid-July, during the rainy season.
Buddhist monks do not take perpetual vows to remain monks, although, in fact, some become monks permanently. Traditionally, they became monks early in life. It is possible to become a novice at as young an age as seven, but in practice thirteen is the earliest age for novices. A bhikkhu must be at least twenty. The monk's life is regulated by Buddhist law, and life in the wat adheres to a rigid routine. A bhikkhu follows 227 rules of monastic discipline as well as the 10 basic precepts. These include the five precepts that all Buddhists should follow. The five precepts for monastic asceticism prohibit eating after noon, participating in any entertainment (singing, dancing, and watching movies or television), using any personal adornments, sleeping on a luxurious bed, and handling money. In addition, a monk also is expected to be celibate. Furthermore, monks supposedly avoid all involvement in political affairs. They are not eligible to vote or to hold any political office, and they may not witness a legal document or give testimony in court. Since the person of a monk is considered sacred, he is considered to be outside the normal civil laws and public duties that affect lay people. Some of these practices have changed in the modern period, however, and in the 1980s Buddhist monks have been active even in the PRK government.
Women are not ordained, but older women, especially widows, can become nuns. They live in wat and play an important role in the everyday life of the temple. Nuns shave their heads and eyebrows and generally follow the same precepts as monks. They may prepare the altars and do some of the housekeeping chores.
Role of Buddhism in Cambodian Life
Buddhist monks traditionally were called upon to perform a number of functions in Cambodian life. They participated in all formal village festivals, ceremonies, marriages, and funerals. They also might have participated in ceremonies to name infants and in other minor ceremonies or rites of passage. Monks did not lead the ceremonies, however, because that role was given to the achar, or master of ceremonies; the monk's major function was to say prayers of blessing. They were often healers and, in traditional Khmer culture, they were the practitioners whose role was closest to that of modern psychiatrists. They might also have been skilled in astrology. The monk traditionally occupied a unique position in the transmission of Khmer culture and values. By his way of life, he provided a living model of the most meritorious behavior a Buddhist could follow. He also provided the laity with many opportunities for gaining merit. For centuries monks were the only literate people residing in rural communities; they acted as teachers to temple servants, to novices, and to newly ordained monks. Until the 1970s, most literate Cambodian males gained literacy solely through the instruction of the sangha.
After independence from France, young Cambodian intellectuals changed their attitude toward the clergy. In describing a general shift away from Buddhism in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Vickery cites the early work of anthropologist May Mayko Ebihara and his own observations. He suggests that the Khmer Rouge was able to instill antireligious feelings in younger males because the latter were losing interest in becoming monks even during their teenage years, the traditional temporary period of service. The monks themselves had abandoned some of their traditional restrictions and had become involved in politics. At intervals during the colonial period, some monks had demonstrated or had rebelled against French rule, and in the 1970s monks joined pro- government demonstrations against the communists. Anticlerical feelings reached their highest point among the Khmer Rouge, who at first attempted to indoctrinate monks and to force them to pass anticlerical ideas on to the laity. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, monks were expelled forcibly from the wats and were compelled to do manual labor. Article 20 of the 1976 Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea permitted freedom of religion but banned all reactionary religions, that were "detrimental to the country." The minister of culture stated that Buddhism was incompatible with the revolution and was an instrument of exploitation. Under this regime, to quote the Finnish Inquiry Commission, "The practice of religion was forbidden and the pagodas were systematically destroyed." Observers estimated that 50,000 monks died during the Khmer Rouge regime. The status of Buddhism and of religion in general after the Vietnamese invasion was at least partially similar to its status in pre-Khmer Rouge times.
According to Michael Vickery, who has written positively about the PRK, public observance of Buddhism and of Islam has been reestablished, and government policies allow Cambodians freedom to believe or not to believe in Buddhism. Vickery cites some differences in this reestablished Buddhism. Religious affairs are overseen by the PRK's Kampuchean (or Khmer) United Front for National Construction and Defense (KUFNCD--see Appendix B), the mass organization that supports the state by organizing women, youths, workers, and religious groups (see The Kampuchean, or Khmer, United Front for National Construction and Defense, ch. 4). In 1987 there was only a single Buddhist order because the Thommayut order had not been revived. The organization of the clergy also had been simplified. The sangharaja (primate of the Buddhist clergy) had been replaced by a prathean (chairman). Communities that wanted a wats had to apply to a local front committee for permission. The wat were administered by a committee of the local laity. Private funds paid for the restoration of the wats damaged during the war and the Khmer Rouge era, and they supported the restored wats. Monks were ordained by a hierarchy that has been reconstituted since an initial ordination in September 1979 by a delegation from the Buddhist community in Vietnam. The validity of this ordination continues to be questioned. In general, there are only two to four monks per wat, which is fewer than before 1975. In 1981 about 4,930 monks served in 740 wats in Cambodia. The Buddhist General Assembly reported 7,000 monks in 1,821 active wats a year later. In 1969 by contrast, observers estimated that 53,400 monks and 40,000 novice monks served in more than 3,000 wats. Vickery sums up his observations on the subject by noting that, "The government has kept its promise to allow freedom for traditional Buddhism, but does not actively encourage it."
Martin offers another, more pessimistic, view of the religious situation in the late 1980s. In a 1986 study, she asserts that the PRK showed outsiders only certain aspects of religious freedom; she also states that the few wats that were restored had only two or three old monks in residence and that public attendance was low. The monks were allowed to leave the wats only for an hour in the mornings, to collect their food, or during holy days. Lay people who practiced their faith were about the same ages as the monks, and they were allowed to visit the wats only in the evenings. A government circular had also instructed civil servants to stop celebrating the traditional New Year Festival. Some traditional Buddhist festivals still were tolerated, but the state collected a 50 percent tithe on donations. Martin believes that Buddhism was threatened externally by state repression and by nonsupport and internally by invalid clergy. She noted that the two Buddhist superiors, Venerable Long Chhim and Venerable Tep Vong, were both believed to be from Vietnam. Venerable Tep Vong was concurrently the superior of the Buddhist clergy, vice president of the PRK's Khmer National Assembly, and vice president of the KUFNCD National Council. She quoted a refugee from Batdambang as having said, "During the meetings, the Khmer administrative authorities, accompanied by the Vietnamese experts, tell you, `Religion is like poison, it's like opium; it's better to give the money to the military, so they can fight'."
Buddhism is still strong among the various Cambodian refugee groups throughout the world, although some younger monks, faced with the distractions of a foreign culture, have chosen to leave the clergy and have become laicized. In the United States in 1984, there were twelve Cambodian wats with about twenty-one monks. In the 1980s, a Cambodian Buddhist wat was constructed near Washington, D.C., financed by a massive outpouring of donations from Cambodian Buddhists throughout North America. This wat is one of the few outside Southeast Asia that has the consecrated boundary within which ordinations may be performed.
Most of the major Cambodian annual festivals are connected with Buddhist observances. The chol chnam (New Year Festival) takes place in mid-April; it was one of the few festivals allowed under the Khmer Rouge regime. The phchun ben, celebrated in September or in October, is a memorial day for deceased ancestors and for close friends. Meak bochea, in January or February, commemorates the last sermon of the Buddha. Vissakh bochea, in April or in May, is the triple anniversary of the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. The chol vossa takes place in June or in July; it marks the beginning of a penitential season during which the monks must remain within the temple compounds. The kathen marks the end of this season; celebrated in September, it features offerings, especially of robes, to the monks. The kathen was still celebrated in the PRK in the late 1980s.
Cambodian Buddhism exists side-by-side with, and to some extent intermingles with, pre-Buddhist animism and Brahman practices. Most Cambodians, whether or not they profess to be Buddhists (or Muslims), believe in a rich supernatural world. When ill, or at other times of crisis, or to seek supernatural help, Cambodians may enlist the aid of a practitioner who is believed to be able to propitiate or obtain help from various spirits. Local spirits are believed to inhabit a variety of objects, and shrines to them may be found in houses, in Buddhist temples, along roads, and in forests.
Several types of supernatural entities are believed to exist; they make themselves known by means of inexplicable sounds or happenings. Among these phenomena are khmoc (ghosts), pret and besach (particularly nasty demons, the spirits of people who have died violent, untimely, or unnatural deaths), arak (evil spirits, usually female), neak ta (tutelary spirits residing in inanimate objects), mneang phteah (guardians of the house), meba (ancestral spirits), and mrenh kongveal (elf-like guardians of animals). All spirits must be shown proper respect, and, with the exception of the mneang phteah and mrenh kongveal, they can cause trouble ranging from mischief to serious life-threatening illnesses. An important way for living people to show respect for the spirits of the dead is to provide food for the spirits. If this food is not provided, the spirit can cause trouble for the offending person. For example, if a child does not provide food for the spirit of its dead mother, that spirit can cause misfortunes to happen to the child.
Aid in dealing with the spirit world may be obtained from a kru (shaman or spirit practitioner), an achar (ritualist), thmup (witch, sorcerer or sorceress), or a rup arak (medium, usually male). The kru is a kind of sorcerer who prepares charms and amulets to protect the wearer from harm. He can cure illnesses, find lost objects, and prepare magic potions. Traditionally, Cambodians have held strong beliefs about protective charms. Amulets are worn routinely by soldiers to ward off bullets, for example. The kru are believed to have the power to prepare an amulet and to establish a supernatural link between it and the owner. A kru may acquire considerable local prestige and power. Many kru are former Buddhist monks.
Another kind of magical practitioner is the achar, a specialist in ritual. He may function as a kind of master of ceremonies at a wat and as a specialist in conducting spirit worship rituals connected with life-cycle ceremonies. Rup arak are mediums who can be possessed by supernatural beings and communicate with the spirit world. The thmup are sorcerers who cause illnesses.
Fortunetellers and astrologers--haor teay--are important in Cambodian life. They are consulted about important decisions such as marriages, building a new house, or going on a long journey. They are believed to be able to foretell future events and to determine lucky or unlucky days for various activities.
Villagers are sensitive to the power and to the needs of the spirit world. According to observations by an American missionary in the early 1970s, villagers consulted the local guardian spirit to find out what the coming year would bring, a new province chief held a ceremony to ask the protection of the spirits over the province, and soldiers obtained magic cloths and amulets from mediums and shamans to protect them from the bullets of the enemy. Before embarking on a mission against enemy forces, a province chief might burn incense and call on a spirit for aid in defeating the enemy. Examples of Brahman influences were various rituals concerned with the well-being of the nation carried out by the ruler and the baku (a Brahman priestly group attached to the royal court). These rituals were reportedly stopped after Sihanouk's ouster in 1970.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
ការរក្សាសេចក្តីសម្ពន្ធ ៦ទិស
ការរក្សាសេចក្តីសម្ពន្ធ ៦ទិស
ដើម្បីធ្វើគ្រប់ទិសឲ្យក្សេមក្សាន្ត ខ្លួនយើងគ្រប់រូបត្រូវប្រតិបត្តិនាទី ចំពោះបុគ្គលដែលពាក់ពន្ធជាមួយនិងខ្លួនឲ្យត្រូវតាមឋានទាំង៦ដូចតទៅនេះ
ទិសទី ១ ក្នុងឋានៈជាបុត្តធិតា ត្រូវគោរពមាតាបិតា អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងមុខដូច្នេះ
១. លោកចិញ្ចឹមយើងមកហើយ ចិញ្ចឹមលោកតប។
២. ជួយធ្វើកិច្ចធុរៈការងាររបស់លោក។
៣. តម្រុងវង្សត្រកូល។
៤. ប្រព្រឹត្តខ្លួនឲ្យសមជាមួយភាពជាទាយាទ។
៥. ពេលលោកស្លាប់ទៅហើយ ធ្វើបុណ្យឧទ្ទិសឲ្យលោក។
ចំពោះបិតាមាតាអនុគ្រោះបុត្រ តាមគោលបដិបត្តិយ៉ាងនេះ
១. ហាមប្រាមការពារអំពីសេចក្តីអាក្រក់។
២. មើលថែហ្វឹកអប់រំឲ្យតាំងនៅក្នុងសេចក្តីល្អ។
៣. ឲ្យសិក្សាសិល្បៈវិទ្យា។
៤. ជាធុរៈពេលដល់វេលា នឹងមានគូគ្រងដ៏សមគួរ។
៥. ប្រគល់ទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិឲ្យ ពេលដល់ឱកាស។
ទិសទី ២ ក្នុងឋានៈជាសិស្ស ត្រូវសំដែងសេចក្តីគោរពគ្រូអាចារ្យ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងស្តាំដូច្នេះ
១. ក្រោកឡើងទទួល សំដែងសេចក្តីគោរព។
២. ចូលទៅជិតដើម្បីបំរុងបម្រើ ប្រឹក្សា សាកសួរ ទទួលណែនាំ ជាដើម។
៣. ស្តាប់ដោយល្អ ស្តាប់យកជាការបាន ចេះស្តាប់ឲ្យកើតបញ្ញា។
៤. ប្រណិប័តន៍ ជួយបរិការ។
៥. រៀនសិល្បៈវិទ្យាដោយគោរព ចាត់ទុកថាជាកិច្ចសំខាន់។
ចំពោះអាចារ្យអនុគ្រោះសិស្ស តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ណែនាំហ្វឹកអប់រំ ឲ្យជាមនុស្សល្អ។
២. បង្រៀនឲ្យយល់ពិតប្រាកដ។
៣. បង្រៀនសិល្បៈវិទ្យាឲ្យទាំងអស់
៤. ទំនុកបម្រុងសេចក្តីល្អ សេចក្តីជំនាញការឲ្យប្រាកដ។
៥. សាងគ្រឿងការពារភ័យក្នុងសារទិស គឺ បង្រៀនសិស្សឲ្យប្រើវិជ្ជាចិញ្ចឹមជីព
បានពិត និងចេះតម្រុងខ្លួនដោយល្អ ដែលនឹងធានាជីវិតដំណើរបានល្អប្រសើរ ដោយសវត្ថីភាព មានសេចក្តីសុខសេចក្តីចម្រើន។
ទិសទី ៣ ក្នុងឋានៈជាស្វាមីត្រូវឲ្យកិត្តិយសភរិយា អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងក្រោយដូច្នេះ
១. លើកដំកើង ឲ្យកិត្តិយស សមតាមឋានៈជាភរិយា។
២. មិនមើលថោក។
៣. មិនក្រៅចិត្ត។
៤. ប្រគល់សេចក្តីជាធំក្នុងការងារផ្ទះ។
៥. រកគ្រឿងសម្អាងមកឲ្យជារង្វាន់តាមឱកាស។
ចំពោះភរិយាអនុគ្រោះស្វាមី តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. រៀបចាំការងារផ្ទះឲ្យរៀបរយ។
២. សង្រ្គោះញាតិមិត្តទាំង ២ ខាងដោយល្អ។
៣. មិនក្រៅចិត្ត។
៤. រក្សាទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិដែលរកមកបាន។
៥. ព្យាយាម ខំតែចាត់ ខំតែធ្វើ ការងារគ្រប់បែបយ៉ាង។
ទិសទី ៤ ក្នុងឋានៈជាមិត្តសហាយ ត្រូវបដិបត្តិចំពោះមិត្តសហាយ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងឆ្វេងដូច្នេះ
១. ផ្សព្វផ្សាយបែងចែក។
២. និយាយស្តីមានទឹកចិត្ត។
៣. ជួយផ្ចុងផ្តើមយឹតយោងគ្នា។
៤. ដាក់ខ្លួនស្មើរួមសុខរួមទុក្ខជាមួយ។
៥. ស្មោះត្រង់ពិតប្រាកដចិត្ត។
ចំពោះមិត្តសហាយអនុគ្រោះតប ដោយគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ពេលមិត្តប្រមាទ ជួយរក្សាការពារ។
២. ពេលមិត្តប្រមាទជួយរក្សាទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិរបស់មិត្ត។
៣. ក្នុងគ្រាមានភ័យជាទីពឹងបាន។
៤. មិនលះបង់ក្នុងយាមទុក្ខលំបាក។
៥. គោរពរហូតដល់វង្សត្រកូលរបស់មិត្ត។
ទិសទី ៥ ក្នុងឋានៈជានាយឈ្នួល ត្រូវបម្រុងអ្នកបម្រើនិងកម្មករ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងក្រោមដូច្នេះ
១. ចាត់ការងារឲ្យធ្វើ តាមការគួរសម តាមកម្លាំង, ភេទ, វ័យ, សមត្ថភាព។
២. ឲ្យប្រាក់ឈ្នួលជារង្វាន់សមគួរនឹងការងារ និងជីវភាពការរស់នៅ។
៣. រៀបចំសុវត្ថិភាពល្អ មានជួយរក្សាព្យាបាលរោគយាមឈឺថ្កាតជាដើម។
៤. មានអ្វីពិសេសយកមកបែងចែកឲ្យ។
៥. ឲ្យមានថ្ងៃឈប់និងសម្រាកបន្ធូរចិត្ត តាមឱកាសដ៏សមគួរ
ចំពោះអ្នកបម្រើ កម្មករត្រូវសម្តែងទឹកចិត្តដល់នាយខ្លួនដូច្នេះ
១. ចាប់ផ្តើមធ្វើការងារមុន។
២. បញ្ចប់ការងារក្រោយ។
៣. យកតែរបស់នាយឲ្យ
៤. ធ្វើការងារឲ្យរៀបរយនឹងល្អឡើង។
៥. នាំសេចក្តីល្អនិងកិច្ចការរបស់នាយទៅផ្សព្វផ្សាយ។
ទិសទី ៦ ក្នុងឋានៈជាពុទ្ធសាសនិកជន ត្រូវសម្តែងសេចក្តីគោរពចំពោះព្រះសង្ឃ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងលើដូច្នេះ
១. នឹងធ្វើអ្វី ក៏ធ្វើដោយមេត្តា។
២. នឹងនិយាយរឿងអ្វី ក៏និយាយដោយមេត្តា។
៣. នឹងគិតរឿងអ្វី ក៏គិតដោយមេត្តា។
៤. ទទួលដោយសេចក្តីពេញចិត្ត។
៥. ឧបត្ថម្ភដោយបច្ច័យ៤។
ចំពោះព្រះសង្ឃអនុគ្រោះគ្រហស្ថ តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ហាមប្រាមប្រដៅឲ្យវៀរសេចក្តីអាក្រក់
២. ណែនាំប្រៀនប្រដៅ ឲ្យតាំងនៅក្នុងសេចក្តីល្អ
៣. អនុគ្រោះដោយសេចក្តីប្រាថ្នាល្អ។
៤. ឲ្យបានស្តាប់បានដឹងនូវអ្វីដែលមិនទាន់បានស្តាប់បានដឹង។ ៥. ចង្អុលបង្ហាញ់ អធិប្បាយនូវរឿងដែលមិនធ្លាប់បានស្តាប់ ហើយឲ្យយល់ ច្បាស់ប្រាកដឡើង។
អត្តបទដកស្រង់ចេញពីធម្មនុញជីវតរបស់ព្រះព្រហ្មគុណាភ័ណ
ដើម្បីធ្វើគ្រប់ទិសឲ្យក្សេមក្សាន្ត ខ្លួនយើងគ្រប់រូបត្រូវប្រតិបត្តិនាទី ចំពោះបុគ្គលដែលពាក់ពន្ធជាមួយនិងខ្លួនឲ្យត្រូវតាមឋានទាំង៦ដូចតទៅនេះ
ទិសទី ១ ក្នុងឋានៈជាបុត្តធិតា ត្រូវគោរពមាតាបិតា អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងមុខដូច្នេះ
១. លោកចិញ្ចឹមយើងមកហើយ ចិញ្ចឹមលោកតប។
២. ជួយធ្វើកិច្ចធុរៈការងាររបស់លោក។
៣. តម្រុងវង្សត្រកូល។
៤. ប្រព្រឹត្តខ្លួនឲ្យសមជាមួយភាពជាទាយាទ។
៥. ពេលលោកស្លាប់ទៅហើយ ធ្វើបុណ្យឧទ្ទិសឲ្យលោក។
ចំពោះបិតាមាតាអនុគ្រោះបុត្រ តាមគោលបដិបត្តិយ៉ាងនេះ
១. ហាមប្រាមការពារអំពីសេចក្តីអាក្រក់។
២. មើលថែហ្វឹកអប់រំឲ្យតាំងនៅក្នុងសេចក្តីល្អ។
៣. ឲ្យសិក្សាសិល្បៈវិទ្យា។
៤. ជាធុរៈពេលដល់វេលា នឹងមានគូគ្រងដ៏សមគួរ។
៥. ប្រគល់ទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិឲ្យ ពេលដល់ឱកាស។
ទិសទី ២ ក្នុងឋានៈជាសិស្ស ត្រូវសំដែងសេចក្តីគោរពគ្រូអាចារ្យ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងស្តាំដូច្នេះ
១. ក្រោកឡើងទទួល សំដែងសេចក្តីគោរព។
២. ចូលទៅជិតដើម្បីបំរុងបម្រើ ប្រឹក្សា សាកសួរ ទទួលណែនាំ ជាដើម។
៣. ស្តាប់ដោយល្អ ស្តាប់យកជាការបាន ចេះស្តាប់ឲ្យកើតបញ្ញា។
៤. ប្រណិប័តន៍ ជួយបរិការ។
៥. រៀនសិល្បៈវិទ្យាដោយគោរព ចាត់ទុកថាជាកិច្ចសំខាន់។
ចំពោះអាចារ្យអនុគ្រោះសិស្ស តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ណែនាំហ្វឹកអប់រំ ឲ្យជាមនុស្សល្អ។
២. បង្រៀនឲ្យយល់ពិតប្រាកដ។
៣. បង្រៀនសិល្បៈវិទ្យាឲ្យទាំងអស់
៤. ទំនុកបម្រុងសេចក្តីល្អ សេចក្តីជំនាញការឲ្យប្រាកដ។
៥. សាងគ្រឿងការពារភ័យក្នុងសារទិស គឺ បង្រៀនសិស្សឲ្យប្រើវិជ្ជាចិញ្ចឹមជីព
បានពិត និងចេះតម្រុងខ្លួនដោយល្អ ដែលនឹងធានាជីវិតដំណើរបានល្អប្រសើរ ដោយសវត្ថីភាព មានសេចក្តីសុខសេចក្តីចម្រើន។
ទិសទី ៣ ក្នុងឋានៈជាស្វាមីត្រូវឲ្យកិត្តិយសភរិយា អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងក្រោយដូច្នេះ
១. លើកដំកើង ឲ្យកិត្តិយស សមតាមឋានៈជាភរិយា។
២. មិនមើលថោក។
៣. មិនក្រៅចិត្ត។
៤. ប្រគល់សេចក្តីជាធំក្នុងការងារផ្ទះ។
៥. រកគ្រឿងសម្អាងមកឲ្យជារង្វាន់តាមឱកាស។
ចំពោះភរិយាអនុគ្រោះស្វាមី តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. រៀបចាំការងារផ្ទះឲ្យរៀបរយ។
២. សង្រ្គោះញាតិមិត្តទាំង ២ ខាងដោយល្អ។
៣. មិនក្រៅចិត្ត។
៤. រក្សាទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិដែលរកមកបាន។
៥. ព្យាយាម ខំតែចាត់ ខំតែធ្វើ ការងារគ្រប់បែបយ៉ាង។
ទិសទី ៤ ក្នុងឋានៈជាមិត្តសហាយ ត្រូវបដិបត្តិចំពោះមិត្តសហាយ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងឆ្វេងដូច្នេះ
១. ផ្សព្វផ្សាយបែងចែក។
២. និយាយស្តីមានទឹកចិត្ត។
៣. ជួយផ្ចុងផ្តើមយឹតយោងគ្នា។
៤. ដាក់ខ្លួនស្មើរួមសុខរួមទុក្ខជាមួយ។
៥. ស្មោះត្រង់ពិតប្រាកដចិត្ត។
ចំពោះមិត្តសហាយអនុគ្រោះតប ដោយគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ពេលមិត្តប្រមាទ ជួយរក្សាការពារ។
២. ពេលមិត្តប្រមាទជួយរក្សាទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិរបស់មិត្ត។
៣. ក្នុងគ្រាមានភ័យជាទីពឹងបាន។
៤. មិនលះបង់ក្នុងយាមទុក្ខលំបាក។
៥. គោរពរហូតដល់វង្សត្រកូលរបស់មិត្ត។
ទិសទី ៥ ក្នុងឋានៈជានាយឈ្នួល ត្រូវបម្រុងអ្នកបម្រើនិងកម្មករ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងក្រោមដូច្នេះ
១. ចាត់ការងារឲ្យធ្វើ តាមការគួរសម តាមកម្លាំង, ភេទ, វ័យ, សមត្ថភាព។
២. ឲ្យប្រាក់ឈ្នួលជារង្វាន់សមគួរនឹងការងារ និងជីវភាពការរស់នៅ។
៣. រៀបចំសុវត្ថិភាពល្អ មានជួយរក្សាព្យាបាលរោគយាមឈឺថ្កាតជាដើម។
៤. មានអ្វីពិសេសយកមកបែងចែកឲ្យ។
៥. ឲ្យមានថ្ងៃឈប់និងសម្រាកបន្ធូរចិត្ត តាមឱកាសដ៏សមគួរ
ចំពោះអ្នកបម្រើ កម្មករត្រូវសម្តែងទឹកចិត្តដល់នាយខ្លួនដូច្នេះ
១. ចាប់ផ្តើមធ្វើការងារមុន។
២. បញ្ចប់ការងារក្រោយ។
៣. យកតែរបស់នាយឲ្យ
៤. ធ្វើការងារឲ្យរៀបរយនឹងល្អឡើង។
៥. នាំសេចក្តីល្អនិងកិច្ចការរបស់នាយទៅផ្សព្វផ្សាយ។
ទិសទី ៦ ក្នុងឋានៈជាពុទ្ធសាសនិកជន ត្រូវសម្តែងសេចក្តីគោរពចំពោះព្រះសង្ឃ អ្នកប្រៀបដូចទិសខាងលើដូច្នេះ
១. នឹងធ្វើអ្វី ក៏ធ្វើដោយមេត្តា។
២. នឹងនិយាយរឿងអ្វី ក៏និយាយដោយមេត្តា។
៣. នឹងគិតរឿងអ្វី ក៏គិតដោយមេត្តា។
៤. ទទួលដោយសេចក្តីពេញចិត្ត។
៥. ឧបត្ថម្ភដោយបច្ច័យ៤។
ចំពោះព្រះសង្ឃអនុគ្រោះគ្រហស្ថ តាមគោលបដិបត្តិដូច្នេះ
១. ហាមប្រាមប្រដៅឲ្យវៀរសេចក្តីអាក្រក់
២. ណែនាំប្រៀនប្រដៅ ឲ្យតាំងនៅក្នុងសេចក្តីល្អ
៣. អនុគ្រោះដោយសេចក្តីប្រាថ្នាល្អ។
៤. ឲ្យបានស្តាប់បានដឹងនូវអ្វីដែលមិនទាន់បានស្តាប់បានដឹង។ ៥. ចង្អុលបង្ហាញ់ អធិប្បាយនូវរឿងដែលមិនធ្លាប់បានស្តាប់ ហើយឲ្យយល់ ច្បាស់ប្រាកដឡើង។
អត្តបទដកស្រង់ចេញពីធម្មនុញជីវតរបស់ព្រះព្រហ្មគុណាភ័ណ
កាលាមសូត្រ
កាលាមសូត្រ
សូត្រនេះព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទទ្រង់ត្រាស់ទេសនា ដល់ជនអ្នករស់នៅកាលាមគ្រាមកុំឲ្យជឿក្នុងរឿង ១០យ៉ាងដូចខាងក្រោមនេះ
១ មា អនុស្សវេន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដែលឮតៗ មិនមានហេតុផល។
២ មា បរម្បារាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដែលគេនិយាយតៗគ្នាមិនមានដើមចុង។
៣ មា ឥតិកិរាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយការភ្ញាក់ផ្អើល។
៤ មា បិដកសម្បទានេន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វី ដោយមើលឃើញសមតាមកគម្ពីររបស់ខ្លួន។
៥ មា តក្កហេតុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វី ដោយការនឹកដៅឬស្មានយក។
៦ មា នយហេតុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងការគេ្នគ្នាន់ឬកាត់តម្រូវ។
៧ មា អាការបរិវិតកេ្កន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងការត្រិះតិះតាមអាការះ។
៨ មា ទិដ្ឋិនិជ្ឈានក្ខន្តិយា កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងថាត្រូវនឹងទិដ្ឋិរបស់ខ្លួន។
៩ មា តព្វរូបតាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿថាអ្នកនេះជាអ្នកបា្រជ្ញគួរជឿតាម។
១០ មា សមណោ នោ គរុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿថាសមណះជាគ្រូយើង។
សូត្រនេះព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទទ្រង់ត្រាស់ទេសនា ដល់ជនអ្នករស់នៅកាលាមគ្រាមកុំឲ្យជឿក្នុងរឿង ១០យ៉ាងដូចខាងក្រោមនេះ
១ មា អនុស្សវេន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដែលឮតៗ មិនមានហេតុផល។
២ មា បរម្បារាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដែលគេនិយាយតៗគ្នាមិនមានដើមចុង។
៣ មា ឥតិកិរាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយការភ្ញាក់ផ្អើល។
៤ មា បិដកសម្បទានេន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វី ដោយមើលឃើញសមតាមកគម្ពីររបស់ខ្លួន។
៥ មា តក្កហេតុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វី ដោយការនឹកដៅឬស្មានយក។
៦ មា នយហេតុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងការគេ្នគ្នាន់ឬកាត់តម្រូវ។
៧ មា អាការបរិវិតកេ្កន កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងការត្រិះតិះតាមអាការះ។
៨ មា ទិដ្ឋិនិជ្ឈានក្ខន្តិយា កុំប្រកាន់ជឿអ្វីដោយអាងថាត្រូវនឹងទិដ្ឋិរបស់ខ្លួន។
៩ មា តព្វរូបតាយ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿថាអ្នកនេះជាអ្នកបា្រជ្ញគួរជឿតាម។
១០ មា សមណោ នោ គរុ កុំប្រកាន់ជឿថាសមណះជាគ្រូយើង។
ពិធីបុណ្យមាឃបូជា
ពិធីបុណ្យមាឃបូជា
មាឃបូជា ជាពីធីបុណ្យមួយដែលមានសារៈសំខាន់នៅក្នុងពុទ្ធសាសនា ដែលរួមមាន : មាឃបូជា ពិសាខបូជា អាសាឍបូជា និងបុណ្យបវារណា (ចេញវស្សា)។ បុណ្យមាឃបូជាប្រារព្ធឡើង ដើម្បីរំលឹកដល់ថៃ្ងដែល ព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ប្រកាសបង្កើត ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាឡើងក្នុងលោកនាប្រទេសឥណ្ឌាកាលពី ៥៨៨ ឆ្នាំ មុនគ្រិស្តសករាជ នាថៃ្ងទី ១៥កើត ខែមាឃ ក្រោយពីការត្រាស់ដឹងរបស់ព្រះអង្គចំនួន ៩ ខែគត់។ ការបង្កើតព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា ក្នុងឋានៈជាអង្គការសាសនាមួយនេះ ធ្វើឡើងនៅ ក្នុងចំណោម ព្រះសង្ឃចំនួន ១២៥០ អង្គ ជាសមាជិក ក្នុងអង្គមហាសន្និបាតមួយ ដែលបាននិមន្តមកពីគ្រប់ស្រទាប់វណ្ណៈទាំងអស់។ នៅក្នុងមហាសន្និបាតនោះ ព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ ទ្រង់បានប្រកាសនៅគោលការណ៍ ចំនួន១១ ប្រការ សម្រាប់ឲ្យសមាជិកមហាសន្និបាត ទាំងអស់កាន់យកជាវិថីជីវិត និងសម្រាប់យកទៅ ផ្សព្វផ្សាយ ដល់ជនដទៃទៀត ឲ្យបានយល់ពី ពុទ្ធសាសនា ។ គោលការណ៍ ទាំង១១ប្រការនេះ មានឈ្មោះជាភាសាបាលីថា "ឱវាទបាដិមោក្ខ" ដែលពុទ្ធសាសនិកជនម្មាក់ៗ ត្រូវយកមក សិក្សាឲ្យ យល់ដឹង និងអនុវត្តដូចតទៅ :
1. គោលបំណងៈ គោលបំណងរបស់របស់ ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា ឬក៏ដូចជា គោលបំណងរបស់ ពុទ្ធសាសនិកម្នាក់ៗ គឺ សែ្វងរកនិព្វានដែលប្រែថា សភាវប្រាសចាក ទុក្ខមិនមាន សេចក្តីទុក្ខ មិនមានបញ្អា នៅក្នុងដួងចិត្តរបស់ខ្លួន ពាក្យនិព្វាននេះ មានន័យស្មើនិង ពាក្យថា "សន្តិ "ដែលប្រែថា" សេចក្តីស្ងប់ " ។ យើងអាចនិយាយថា គោលបំណង របស់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា គឺការបង្កើតឡើងនូវ សន្តិភាព ក្នុងដួងចិត្តនេះដែរ ក៏ជាមូលដ្ឋានគ្រឹះនៃ សន្តិភាពក្នុងសង្គម ដែលខ្លួនរស់នៅផង។ ការកាន់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា គឺជាការប្រឹងប្រែង ដើម្បីបង្កើតសន្តិភាពដល់ខ្លួន និងចូលរួមចំណែកដល់ សន្តិភាពសង្គម និងពិភពលោក នេះជាកាតព្វកិច្ច ដែលពុទ្ធសាសនិកម្នាក់ៗ ត្រូវប្រឹងប្រែង ធ្វើអោយសម្រេច ។
2. គោលដៅ :សន្តិភាព ប្ញនិញ្វន មិនមែនកើតឡើងដោយការសុំបន់ស្រន់បួងសួងទេ និងក៏មិនអាចកើត ឡើងដោយសារផ្តល់ ឬប្រទានឲ្យ ដោយចិត្តស្រឡាញ់ មេត្តារបស់ អាទិទេព ឬព្រះជាម្ចាស់ អង្គណាមួយឡើយ សន្តិភាពនេះ កើតដោយសារការសន្សំ របស់សកម្មភាព៣យ៉ាងគឺ:
1. ការមិនធ្វើអាក្រក់ ការកម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់ ការកម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់ និងការពារអំពើអាក្រក់គ្រប់ប្រភេទ មិនឲ្យកើតក្នុងជីវិតរស់នៅទាំងផ្លូវកាយនិងផ្លូវសម្តី។
2. ការធ្វើអំពើល្អ បង្កើតអំពើល្អ និងរក្សាអំពើល្អឲ្យ ស្ថិតសេ្ថរគង់វង្សក្នុង ជីវិតរស់នៅប្រចាំថៃ្ង ទាំងអំពើល្អខាងផ្លូវកាយនិងផ្លូវសម្តី។
3. ពង្រឺងចិត្តដែលជាមូលដ្ឋាននៃអំពើ ដោយកម្ចាត់កិលេស ឬមេរោគដែលតោង ចិត្តឲ្យអស់ទៅ រហូតដល់ចិត្តស្អាតបរិសុទ្ធ មិនមានសភាវៈអាក្រក់ស្ថិតនៅ។
3. លក្ខណៈរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនិកជន ៖
1. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី១៖ មានការអត់ធ្មត់ក្នុងការធ្វើអំពើល្អ និង កម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់។
2. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី២៖ មិនប្រើអំពើហិង្សាក្នុងការរស់នៅ។
3. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៣៖ មិនប្រើពាក្យបៀតបៀននិងតិៈដៀលអ្នកដទៃ។
4. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៤៖ រក្សាសីល រស់នៅក្នុងច្បាប់ យកច្បាប់ជាធំ។
5. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៥៖ បរិភោគ ប្រើប្រាស់វត្ថុទាំងទ្បាយដោយសន្សំសំចៃនិងស្គាល់ប្រមាណ។
6. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៦៖ ចូលចិត្តភាពស្ងប់ស្ងាត់ និង បង្កើតបរិយាកាសស្ងប់ស្ងាត់។
7. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៧៖ មានសេចក្តីព្យាយាមក្នុងការសម្អាតចិត្ត ធ្វើឲ្យចិត្តមានសមាធិ។
4. មេរៀនពីបុណ្យមាឃបូជា ៖ថៃ្ងនេះជាថៃ្ងដែល ព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គទ្រង់ប្រកាសគោលការណ៍ទាំង១១ ប្រការនេះ សម្រាប់ជាប្រយោជន៍ដល់បរិស័ទយកទៅប្រើប្រាស់ៈ
1. ចំណុច១៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាបរិស័ទ ការអនុវត្តន៍តាមប្រការទាំង១១នេះ នឹងនាំទៅរកសន្តិភាពផ្លូវចិត្តជាពិតប្រាកដ។
2. ចំណុច២៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាពលរដ្ឋ ក្នុងសង្គមការមាន គោលបំណង រួមមានគោលដៅដូចគ្នា និងការប្រព្រឹត្តប្រហាក់ប្រហែលគ្នានេះ នឹងអាចនាំមកនូវ សន្តិភាព និង ការអភិវឌ្ឍន័ដែលប្រកបដោយនិរន្តភាព។
3. ចំណុច៣៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាក្រុមបក្សនៅ ក្នុងសង្គម ឬប្រទេសជាតិមួយ ដែលព្យាយាម សែ្វងរកនូវឱកាស ដើម្បីរក្សាសន្តិភាព និងជំរុញដល់ ការអភិវឌ្ឍន៍ដល់ ប្រទេសជាតិតែឯងនោះ ការគោពតាមគោលការណ៍ទាំង ១១ប្រការនេះ នឹងកាត់បន្ថយបាននូវអស្ថិរភាព ជម្លោះ និងអំពើ ហិង្សា ដែលកើតមកពីការប្រកូតប្រជែងគ្នាបាន។
4. ចំណុច៤៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាអ្នកផ្សាយសាសនា ការប្រព្រឹត្តទៅតាមគោលការណ៍នេះ នឹងនាំឲ្យមានការយោគយល់ការផ្តល់កិត្តិយស ដល់គ្នានិងគ្នា និងការរស់នៅជុំគ្នា ក្នុងឋានៈជាមនុស្សជាតិបាន បើទោះជាមាន សាសនាខុសគ្នាៗក៏ ដោយ។ ចំណុច៥ ក្នុងឋានៈជាអន្តរជាតិ ការគោរពតាមគោលការណ៍នេះ នឹងនាំមកនូវនិរន្តរភាព របស់មនុស្សជាតិ បរិស្ថានធម្មជាតិ ពិភពសត្វ និងអាកាសធាតុដ៏យូរអងែ្វងបាន ដោយមិនបាច់ ព្រួយបារម្ភក្នុងការដណ្តើមគ្នា ដើម្បីរស់ឡើយ។
សង្ឃឺមថា យើងម្នាក់ៗអាចទាញយកប្រយោជន៍បានខ្លះពីថៃ្ងមាឃបូជានេះ នឹងអញ្ជើញនាំគ្នាធ្វើបុណ្យទានរក្សាសីល និងសមាធិសម្អាតចិត្ត របស់ខ្លួនក្នុងថៃ្ងនេះ ដើម្បីបូជា និង រំលឹកចំពោះគុណព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធដែលព្រះអង្គ បានបង្កើត ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាសម្រាប់ជាមាគ៌ាជីវិតដល់ពួកយើងទាំងអស់គ្នា។
ឯកសារយោង
អត្ថបទរបស់លោកធម្មបណ្ឌិត ហេង មណីចិន្តា នាយកអង្គការពុទ្ធសាសនាដើម្បីអភិវឌ្ឍន៍
មាឃបូជា ជាពីធីបុណ្យមួយដែលមានសារៈសំខាន់នៅក្នុងពុទ្ធសាសនា ដែលរួមមាន : មាឃបូជា ពិសាខបូជា អាសាឍបូជា និងបុណ្យបវារណា (ចេញវស្សា)។ បុណ្យមាឃបូជាប្រារព្ធឡើង ដើម្បីរំលឹកដល់ថៃ្ងដែល ព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ប្រកាសបង្កើត ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាឡើងក្នុងលោកនាប្រទេសឥណ្ឌាកាលពី ៥៨៨ ឆ្នាំ មុនគ្រិស្តសករាជ នាថៃ្ងទី ១៥កើត ខែមាឃ ក្រោយពីការត្រាស់ដឹងរបស់ព្រះអង្គចំនួន ៩ ខែគត់។ ការបង្កើតព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា ក្នុងឋានៈជាអង្គការសាសនាមួយនេះ ធ្វើឡើងនៅ ក្នុងចំណោម ព្រះសង្ឃចំនួន ១២៥០ អង្គ ជាសមាជិក ក្នុងអង្គមហាសន្និបាតមួយ ដែលបាននិមន្តមកពីគ្រប់ស្រទាប់វណ្ណៈទាំងអស់។ នៅក្នុងមហាសន្និបាតនោះ ព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ ទ្រង់បានប្រកាសនៅគោលការណ៍ ចំនួន១១ ប្រការ សម្រាប់ឲ្យសមាជិកមហាសន្និបាត ទាំងអស់កាន់យកជាវិថីជីវិត និងសម្រាប់យកទៅ ផ្សព្វផ្សាយ ដល់ជនដទៃទៀត ឲ្យបានយល់ពី ពុទ្ធសាសនា ។ គោលការណ៍ ទាំង១១ប្រការនេះ មានឈ្មោះជាភាសាបាលីថា "ឱវាទបាដិមោក្ខ" ដែលពុទ្ធសាសនិកជនម្មាក់ៗ ត្រូវយកមក សិក្សាឲ្យ យល់ដឹង និងអនុវត្តដូចតទៅ :
1. គោលបំណងៈ គោលបំណងរបស់របស់ ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា ឬក៏ដូចជា គោលបំណងរបស់ ពុទ្ធសាសនិកម្នាក់ៗ គឺ សែ្វងរកនិព្វានដែលប្រែថា សភាវប្រាសចាក ទុក្ខមិនមាន សេចក្តីទុក្ខ មិនមានបញ្អា នៅក្នុងដួងចិត្តរបស់ខ្លួន ពាក្យនិព្វាននេះ មានន័យស្មើនិង ពាក្យថា "សន្តិ "ដែលប្រែថា" សេចក្តីស្ងប់ " ។ យើងអាចនិយាយថា គោលបំណង របស់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា គឺការបង្កើតឡើងនូវ សន្តិភាព ក្នុងដួងចិត្តនេះដែរ ក៏ជាមូលដ្ឋានគ្រឹះនៃ សន្តិភាពក្នុងសង្គម ដែលខ្លួនរស់នៅផង។ ការកាន់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា គឺជាការប្រឹងប្រែង ដើម្បីបង្កើតសន្តិភាពដល់ខ្លួន និងចូលរួមចំណែកដល់ សន្តិភាពសង្គម និងពិភពលោក នេះជាកាតព្វកិច្ច ដែលពុទ្ធសាសនិកម្នាក់ៗ ត្រូវប្រឹងប្រែង ធ្វើអោយសម្រេច ។
2. គោលដៅ :សន្តិភាព ប្ញនិញ្វន មិនមែនកើតឡើងដោយការសុំបន់ស្រន់បួងសួងទេ និងក៏មិនអាចកើត ឡើងដោយសារផ្តល់ ឬប្រទានឲ្យ ដោយចិត្តស្រឡាញ់ មេត្តារបស់ អាទិទេព ឬព្រះជាម្ចាស់ អង្គណាមួយឡើយ សន្តិភាពនេះ កើតដោយសារការសន្សំ របស់សកម្មភាព៣យ៉ាងគឺ:
1. ការមិនធ្វើអាក្រក់ ការកម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់ ការកម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់ និងការពារអំពើអាក្រក់គ្រប់ប្រភេទ មិនឲ្យកើតក្នុងជីវិតរស់នៅទាំងផ្លូវកាយនិងផ្លូវសម្តី។
2. ការធ្វើអំពើល្អ បង្កើតអំពើល្អ និងរក្សាអំពើល្អឲ្យ ស្ថិតសេ្ថរគង់វង្សក្នុង ជីវិតរស់នៅប្រចាំថៃ្ង ទាំងអំពើល្អខាងផ្លូវកាយនិងផ្លូវសម្តី។
3. ពង្រឺងចិត្តដែលជាមូលដ្ឋាននៃអំពើ ដោយកម្ចាត់កិលេស ឬមេរោគដែលតោង ចិត្តឲ្យអស់ទៅ រហូតដល់ចិត្តស្អាតបរិសុទ្ធ មិនមានសភាវៈអាក្រក់ស្ថិតនៅ។
3. លក្ខណៈរបស់ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនិកជន ៖
1. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី១៖ មានការអត់ធ្មត់ក្នុងការធ្វើអំពើល្អ និង កម្ចាត់អំពើអាក្រក់។
2. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី២៖ មិនប្រើអំពើហិង្សាក្នុងការរស់នៅ។
3. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៣៖ មិនប្រើពាក្យបៀតបៀននិងតិៈដៀលអ្នកដទៃ។
4. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៤៖ រក្សាសីល រស់នៅក្នុងច្បាប់ យកច្បាប់ជាធំ។
5. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៥៖ បរិភោគ ប្រើប្រាស់វត្ថុទាំងទ្បាយដោយសន្សំសំចៃនិងស្គាល់ប្រមាណ។
6. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៦៖ ចូលចិត្តភាពស្ងប់ស្ងាត់ និង បង្កើតបរិយាកាសស្ងប់ស្ងាត់។
7. លក្ខខណ្ឌទី៧៖ មានសេចក្តីព្យាយាមក្នុងការសម្អាតចិត្ត ធ្វើឲ្យចិត្តមានសមាធិ។
4. មេរៀនពីបុណ្យមាឃបូជា ៖ថៃ្ងនេះជាថៃ្ងដែល ព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គទ្រង់ប្រកាសគោលការណ៍ទាំង១១ ប្រការនេះ សម្រាប់ជាប្រយោជន៍ដល់បរិស័ទយកទៅប្រើប្រាស់ៈ
1. ចំណុច១៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាបរិស័ទ ការអនុវត្តន៍តាមប្រការទាំង១១នេះ នឹងនាំទៅរកសន្តិភាពផ្លូវចិត្តជាពិតប្រាកដ។
2. ចំណុច២៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាពលរដ្ឋ ក្នុងសង្គមការមាន គោលបំណង រួមមានគោលដៅដូចគ្នា និងការប្រព្រឹត្តប្រហាក់ប្រហែលគ្នានេះ នឹងអាចនាំមកនូវ សន្តិភាព និង ការអភិវឌ្ឍន័ដែលប្រកបដោយនិរន្តភាព។
3. ចំណុច៣៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាក្រុមបក្សនៅ ក្នុងសង្គម ឬប្រទេសជាតិមួយ ដែលព្យាយាម សែ្វងរកនូវឱកាស ដើម្បីរក្សាសន្តិភាព និងជំរុញដល់ ការអភិវឌ្ឍន៍ដល់ ប្រទេសជាតិតែឯងនោះ ការគោពតាមគោលការណ៍ទាំង ១១ប្រការនេះ នឹងកាត់បន្ថយបាននូវអស្ថិរភាព ជម្លោះ និងអំពើ ហិង្សា ដែលកើតមកពីការប្រកូតប្រជែងគ្នាបាន។
4. ចំណុច៤៖ ក្នុងឋានៈជាអ្នកផ្សាយសាសនា ការប្រព្រឹត្តទៅតាមគោលការណ៍នេះ នឹងនាំឲ្យមានការយោគយល់ការផ្តល់កិត្តិយស ដល់គ្នានិងគ្នា និងការរស់នៅជុំគ្នា ក្នុងឋានៈជាមនុស្សជាតិបាន បើទោះជាមាន សាសនាខុសគ្នាៗក៏ ដោយ។ ចំណុច៥ ក្នុងឋានៈជាអន្តរជាតិ ការគោរពតាមគោលការណ៍នេះ នឹងនាំមកនូវនិរន្តរភាព របស់មនុស្សជាតិ បរិស្ថានធម្មជាតិ ពិភពសត្វ និងអាកាសធាតុដ៏យូរអងែ្វងបាន ដោយមិនបាច់ ព្រួយបារម្ភក្នុងការដណ្តើមគ្នា ដើម្បីរស់ឡើយ។
សង្ឃឺមថា យើងម្នាក់ៗអាចទាញយកប្រយោជន៍បានខ្លះពីថៃ្ងមាឃបូជានេះ នឹងអញ្ជើញនាំគ្នាធ្វើបុណ្យទានរក្សាសីល និងសមាធិសម្អាតចិត្ត របស់ខ្លួនក្នុងថៃ្ងនេះ ដើម្បីបូជា និង រំលឹកចំពោះគុណព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធដែលព្រះអង្គ បានបង្កើត ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាសម្រាប់ជាមាគ៌ាជីវិតដល់ពួកយើងទាំងអស់គ្នា។
ឯកសារយោង
អត្ថបទរបស់លោកធម្មបណ្ឌិត ហេង មណីចិន្តា នាយកអង្គការពុទ្ធសាសនាដើម្បីអភិវឌ្ឍន៍
បុណ្យកឋិនទាន
បុណ្យកឋិនទាន
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ពាក្យថា “ កឋិន” ជាភាសាបាលី សំដៅយកក្របក្តារ ដែលភិក្ខុសង្ឃសម័យបូរាណឥណ្ឌា ប្រើសម្រាប់ដេរសំពត់ឆ្វើជាស្បង់ចីវរ ។ សំពត់ ដែលបានរៀបចំតាក់តែងឡើងនោះ មានឈ្មោះថា “ សំពត់កឋិន “ ។
បើតាមអដ្ឋកថា សំដៅយកពុទ្ធដីកាដែលព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់បានបញ្ញត្តិទុកមកថាៈ កឋិន គឺការប្រជុំរួបរួម រូបធម៌និងនាមធម៌ ដែលប្រព្រឹត្តទៅក្នុងអត្ថន័យពីរយ៉ាងគឺ៖
១• “ រស់បានដោយកម្រ “ សមដូចវិគ្គហៈថា “ កថតិ កិច្ឆេន ជីវតីតិ កឋិនោ។“ ប្រែថា “ សភាវឯណារស់នៅបានដោយកម្រ សភាវនោះហៅថា កឋិន” ។ ព្រោះលោកប្រៀបប្រដូចជាឈើស្នឹងដែលបុគ្គលកាត់ចាកចេញពីដើម ហើយយកទៅបោះ ភ្ជាប់នឹងដី រមែងដុះលូតលាស់ឬរស់នៅដោយកម្រយ៉ាងណា ឯកិច្ចដែលនឹងកើតឡើង ឬក៏តាំងឡើងជាកឋិនពេញទី គឺបានដោយកម្រពន់ពេកណាស់ ក៏យ៉ាងនោះដែរ ។
២. “ ពោលសរសើរ ” ព្រោះចីវរទាន ដែលយើងបានកសាងជាកឋិននោះ ជាទានពិសេសជាងទានដទៃ ដែលព្រះអរិយទាំងឡាយ មានព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធជាប្រធាន តែងពោលសរសើរថា ជាទានវិសេស អាចរួបរួមឬសង្គ្រោះ នូវអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង របស់ភិក្ខុអ្នកក្រាលគ្រង មិនអោយទៅគ្រងនៅទីដទៃបាន សមដូចវិគ្គហៈថា “ បញ្ច អានិសំសេ អញ្ញត្ថ គន្តុំ អទត្វា កថិតិ សង្គណ្ហាតីតិ កឋិនំ ។” ប្រែថា “ ធម្មជាតិឯណាក្រៀកទុកឬសង្គ្រោះនូវអានិសង្សទាំង៥ មិនអោយទៅក្នុងទីដទៃបាន ធម្មជាតិនោះឈ្មោះថា “ កឋិន ។“
កឋិន នេះ អាចអោយសម្រេចផលដល់បុគ្គលទាំងពីរផ្នែក គឺ៖
(១). ទាយក ឬ ទាយិកា ដែលជាអ្នកអោយ ត្រូវបានទទួលអានិសង្សច្រើន បានទទួលផលច្រើន ក្នុងអនាគតកាល មានការទទួលនូវសម្បត្តិ ក្នុងឋានទេវលោកជាដើម។
(២). បដិគាហកៈ ដែលជាភិក្ខុអ្នកក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន ឬបុគ្គល ឬគណៈ ឬសង្ឃ ដែលបានអនុមោទនា ក៏ត្រូវបានសម្រេចនូវអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ពេញលេញគ្រប់ក្រាន់ ដរាបដល់រយៈកាលនៃកឋិនខេត្ត។
ពិធីដែលទាយកនិងទាយិកានាំយកសំពត់កឋិនទៅប្រគេនចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដែលបានគង់ចាំវស្សា អស់មួយត្រៃមាស(៣ខែ) ក្នុងអវាស(វត្ត)ណាមួយ ក្នុងកំណត់២៩ថ្ងៃ(ចាប់តាំងពីថ្ងៃ១រោច ខែអស្សុជ រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើតពេញបូណ៌មី ខែកក្តឹក) អោយលោកក្រាលគ្រង មាន ឈ្មោះថា “ បុណ្យកឋិន ” ឬ “ កឋិនទាន “ ។
ចីវរកឋិន មិនខុសគ្នាអំពីចីវរទាន ដទៃទៀតទេ គ្រាន់តែការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិនចីវរ មានកំណត់កាលបរិច្ឆេទច្បាស់លាស់ និងមានប្រជាប្រិយភាពច្រើន ដែលហៅថា “ កាលទាន”។ បុណ្យកឋិនមានលក្ខណៈប្លែក៥យ៉ាង អំពីបុណ្យផ្សេងៗ និងក្លាយជាបុណ្យដ៏មានសារៈសំខាននៅក្នុងវត្តពុទ្ធសាសនា និងនៅក្នុងចំណោមពុទ្ធបរិស័ទទូទៅ ។
លក្ខណៈប្លែក៥យ៉ាងនោះគឺ៖
១. ប្លែកដោយកាល
ព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់អនុញាតកឋិនកាល មានតែចំនួន២៩ថ្ងៃ គឺៈ ១៤ថ្ងៃក្នុងខែអស្សុជ(កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១រោច រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៤រោចឬខែដាច់) និង១៥ថ្ងៃក្នុងខែកក្តឹក (កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១កើត ដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ពេញបូណ៌មី)។ រយៈពេលនេះ ហៅតាមពាក្យសាមញថា “ រដូវកឋិន “ ។ បុណ្យកឋិនធ្វើបានតែម្តងគត់ ក្នុងមួយឆ្នាំ សាំរាប់វត្តមួយ និងត្រូវធ្វើតាមពេលកំណត់ មិន មានមុន និង មិនមានក្រោយ។ ភិក្ខុអាចទទួលសំពត់កឋិនបាន តែមួយដងគត់ក្នុងមួយរដូវកឋិន។
២. ប្លែកដោយវត្ថុ
សំពត់ដែលជាអង្គកឋិន នោះមានៈ ស្បង់ ចីវរ និងសង្ឃាដី ដេលបានធ្វើត្រឹមត្រូវតាមពុទ្ធបញ្ញត្តិ។ យោងតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ ទោះបីជាទាយកឬទាយិកា នាំសំពត់មួយត្រៃមកប្រគេនភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ក៏ភិក្ខុសង្ឃអ្នកក្រាលគ្រង លោករើសយកតែមួយមុខ មកធ្វើជាអង្គកឋិន។ តាមធម្មតាភិក្ខុច្រើនតែរើសយកសង្ឃាដីធ្វើជាអង្គកឋិន ពីព្រោះសង្ឃាដីជាសំពត់ធំជាងគេបង្អស់ ក្នុងត្រៃចីវរ ហើយអាចប្រើសម្រាប់ដណ្តប់ដូចជាភួយ នៅពេលរងា ក៏បាន។
៣. ប្លែកដោយអំពើ
តាមទំនៀមទម្លាប់ ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទតែងតែមានជំនឿថា ការធ្វើបុណ្យចំពោះភិក្ខុមួយអង្គៗ ពុំសូវមានអានិសង្សច្រើន ដូចជាធ្វើនឹង សង្ឃ ទេ ( សង្ឃ សំដៅយកភិក្ខុ ចំនួនពី៤អង្គឡើងទៅ)។ យោងតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ អង្គកឋិនអាចវេរប្រគានចំពោះសង្ឃ យ៉ាងហោចណាស់ ក៏មានវត្តមានភិក្ខុ៥អង្គដែរ ដើម្បីអោយកើតជាកឋិនពេញលក្ខណៈបាន។
៤. ប្លែកដោយបដិគ្គាហកៈ (ដោយអ្នកទទួល)
មានតែភិក្ខុទេ ដែលអាចទទួលសំពត់កឋិនបាន ( រីឯសាមណេរនិងអ្នកដទៃទទួលពុំបាន )។ ភិក្ខុនោះត្រូវតែគង់ចាំវស្សាគម្រប់៣ខែ ក្នុងវត្តឬអាវាសណាមួយ។ ភិក្ខុមិនបានគង់ចាំវស្សាគ្មានសិទ្ធិទទួលអង្គកឋិនទេ។
៥. ប្លែកដោយអានិសង្ស
នៅក្នុងការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិន ទាយកនិងទាយិកា តែងទទួលបានអានិសង្សច្រើន។ យោងតាមវិន័យបិដក ភាគ៨ ត្រង់កឋិនក្ខន្ធកៈ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលជាអ្នកអនុមោទនា និងក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន ត្រូវបានទទួលអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ក្នុងរយៈពេល៥ខែ។ អានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាងនោះគឺៈ
(១). អនាមន្តចារោ : ភិក្ខុត្រាចទៅកាន់ទីដទៃ ដោយមិនបាច់លាភិក្ខុផងគ្នាបាន និងមិនមានទោស(ត្រូវអាបត្តិ)ឡើយ។
(២). អសមាទានចារោ : ភិក្ខុត្រាច់ទៅដោយមិនបាច់យកសំពត់ណាមួយ ឬត្រៃចីវរគ្រប់ប្រដាប់ ជាប់ជាមួយបាន។
(៣). គណភោជនំ : ភិក្ខុអាចឆាន់គណភោជនបាន។
(៤). យាវទត្ថចីវរំ : ភិក្ខុអាចទុកអតិរេកចីវរ (ចីវរដែលលើសអំពីសេចក្តីត្រូវការ) ចំនួនប៉ុន្មានក៏បាន។
(៥). យោ ច តត្ថ ចីវរុប្បាទោ សោ នេសំ ភវិស្សតិ : ចីវរណាកើតឡើងក្នុងអាវាសនោះ ចីវរនោះនិងមានដល់ភិក្ខុនោះ។
វិន័យបិដក ភាគ៨ កឋិនក្ខន្ធកៈ បានចែងអំពីប្រភពនៃបុណ្យកឋិនថាៈ “ នៅក្នុងសម័យពុទ្ធកាល ព្រះសម្ពទ្ធជាម្ចាស់ ទ្រងពុទ្ធានុញ្ញត្តិឱ្យភិក្ខុប្រើប្រាសតែបង្សុកូលចីវរ ទ្រង់ពុំទាន់បានអនុញត ឱ្យប្រើគហបតីចីវរ នៅឡើយ។
សម័យមួយនោះ នៅក្នុងរវាងមជ្ឈិមពោធិកាល ព្រះពុទ្ធកំពុងគង់ចាំព្រះវស្សា ក្នុងវត្តជេតពន ដែលជាអារាមរបស់អនាថបណ្ឌិកសេដ្ឋីសាងថ្វាយ នៅទៀបក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ គ្រានោះ មានភិក្ខុ៣០រូប ឈ្មោះថា “ ភទ្ទវគ្កិយត្ថេរ “ ក្នុងដែនបាថេយ្យ ជាអ្នកប្រព្រឹត្តធម៏នៅក្នុងព្រៃ។ល។ បាននាំគ្នាចេញអំពីទីនោះ មកកាន់ក្រុងសាវត្ថី ដើម្បីចូលគាល់បំរើព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគ។ ប៉ុន្តែ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ បានមកដល់តែត្រឹមសាកេត(ភូមិមួយជាប់នឹងទីក្រុងសាវត្ថី) ស្រាប់តែថ្ងៃចូលវស្សាក៏មកដល់ និងស្រូតមកទៀតមិនទាន់ ក៏នាំគ្នាផ្អាកធ្វើដំណើរ ស្វែងរកទីសេនាសនៈនៅចាំវស្សា៣ខែ នាពាក់កណ្តាលផ្លូវនោះតែម្តងទៅ។ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃទាំង៣០រូបមានសេចក្តីអផ្សុក កើតទុក្ខតូចព្រះទ័យជាខ្លាំង ដោយគិតឃើញថាព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់គង់នៅទីនោះ ចម្ងាយតែ៦យោជន៍ទៀតសោះមិនសមយើងទាំងឡាយស្កុនដំណើរ មិនបានគាល់បំរើព្រះអង្គដូចបំណងសោះ។
លុះដល់ថ្ងៃចេញវស្សា បវរណាស្រេចហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ក៏នាំគ្នាប្រញាប់ប្រញាល់ចូលទៅកាន់ក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ នៅទីនោះ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃទាំងអស់បានចូលធ្វើសាវនាការជាមួយនឹងព្រះពុទ្ធ ដោយមានស្បង់ចីវរទទឹកជោក។ ព្រះមានព្រះភាគទ្រង់មានបន្ទូលរាក់ទាក់ទៅកាន់ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! សរីរយន្តរបស់អ្នកទាំងឡាយល្មមអត់សង្កត់បានឬទេ? ល្មមប្រព្រឹត្តទៅបានឬទេ? តើអ្នកទាំឡាយមានសេចក្តីព្រមព្រៀងស្មោះស្មើ អត់មានវិវាទទាស់ទែងគ្នា ទេឬ? អ្នកទាំងឡាយនៅចាំវស្សាសោត ស្រួលបួលមិនលំបាកដោយអាហារបិណ្ឌបាត ទេឬ?
ភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយនោះ ក៏ក្រាបបង្គំទូល នូវសេចក្តីលំបាករបស់ខ្លួនដែលមានមកតាមផ្លូវ ដោយសព្វគ្រប់តាមដំណើរ។
លំដាប់នោះ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់សំដែងធម្មីកថា ប្រារពអំពីសង្សារវដ្តមិនមានទីបំផុត ប្រោសប្រទានដល់ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ។ លុះចប់ធម៌ហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់នោះ បានជាអរហន្តទាំងអស់អង្គ រួចហើយក៏នាំគ្នាក្រាបថ្វាយបង្គំលាព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធ វិលទៅកាន់លំនៅរបស់ខ្លួនវិញ។
បន្ទាប់អំពីនោះមក ព្រះមានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះតម្រិះថា បើប្រសិនជាតថាគតបានតែងតាំងកឋិនត្ថារកិច្ច ទុកពីគ្រាមុន ម្លេះសមភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយនោះបានលះចីវរមួយទុកនៅទីកន្លែង ជាប់មកតែស្បង់ចីវរតែប៉ុណ្ណោះ មានអត្ថភាពស្រាលមិនលំបាកយ៉ាងនេះសោះឡើយ។ ហើយកឋិនត្ថារកិច្ចនេះ ព្រះពុទ្ធរាល់ព្រះអង្គ ក៏តែងអនុញ្ញាតទុកដល់សាវក ពុំដែលលះបង់ផង។ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះតម្រិះដូច្នេះហើយ ទើបទ្រង់ហៅភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយមក រួចហើយក៏ទ្រង់អនុញ្ញាតកថិនត្ថារកិច្ច ដោយព្រះពុទ្ធដីកាថា៖ “ អនុជានាមិ ភក្ខវេ វស្សំ វុដ្ឋានំ ភិក្ខុនំ កឋិនំ។ អត្ថរិតុំ អត្ថតំ កឋិនទានំ វោ ភក្ខវេ បញ្ច កប្បិស្សន្តិ។ “ ប្រែថា “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ តថាគតអនុញ្ញាតឱ្យភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ ដែលបាននៅចាំវស្សារួចហើយ ទទួលក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន។ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! កាលបើភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ បានក្រាលគ្រងកឋិនហើយ នឹងបានសម្រេចអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការ។”
បន្ទាប់មក ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ពុទ្ធានុញ្ញាត ឱ្យភិក្ខុទទួលស្បង់អំពីពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ និងគហបតីទាំងឡាយ ក្នុងពេលមួយខែ កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១រោចខែអស្សុជ រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើតពេញបូណ៌មី ខែកក្តឹក(រវាងពាក់កណ្តាលខេតុលា រហូតដល់ពាក់កណ្តាលខេវិច្ឆកា)។ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះមេត្តាប្រោសអនុញ្ញាត ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលអនុមោទនា និងក្រាលគ្រង កឋិននោះ បាននូវអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការ។ ជនមានសទ្ធា ដែលបានធ្វើកឋិនទាន ឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកបានគោរពនូវព្រះពុទ្ធដីកាដែលទ្រង់បានអនុញ្ញាតអោយភិក្ខុសង្ឃបានទទួលនូវអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការផង ជាអ្នកមានចិត្តអាណិតអាសូរចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដែលគង់ចាំវស្សាអស់មួយត្រៃមាសនោះផង និងជាអ្នកតអាយុព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាអស់កាលជាយូរអង្វែងទៅផង។
ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់សំដែងថា៖ “ សុខស្ស ទាតា មេធាវី សុខំ សោ អធិគច្ឆតិ។ “ ប្រែថា “ ជនដ៏មានប្រាជ្ញា(ណាមួយ) បានធ្វើនូវសេចក្តីសុខស្រួល(ដល់អ្នកដទៃ) ជននោះឯង រមែងបានជួបប្រទះនឹងសេចក្តីសុខស្រួល(ជាពិតប្រាកដពុំខានឡើយ)។ “ សេចក្តីអធិប្បាយយ៉ងនេះថា៖ ជនណាបានធ្វើកឋិនទាន ដែលនាំអោយព្រះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ បានអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ក្នុងរវាង៥ខែ បានឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកអោយសេចក្តីសុខស្រួលដល់អ្នកដទៃ នៅក្នុងបច្ចុប្បន្នជាតិ ជននោះឯងតែងតែបានសុខ ក្នុងមនុស្សលោកនិងទេវលោក ក្នុងពេលអនាគត។ ដោយអំណាចផលានិសង្សនៃកឋិនទាននោះ ក្នុងអនាគតកាលជននោះនឹងបានជាឯហិភិក្ខុឬឯហិភិក្ខុនី ដេលមានត្រៃចីវរកើតឡើងឯកឯង ដោយឫទ្ធិ នៅពេលបព្វជ្ជាជាបព្វជិតក្នុងសាសនាព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គណាមួយ ហើយក៏នឹងបានសំរេចមគ្គផល និព្វានក្នុងពេលបច្ចុប្បន្ននោះ ជាពិតប្រាកដពុំខានឡើយ។
តាំងពីពេលនោះមក បុណ្យកឋិនបានក្លាយជាបុណ្យទំនៀមមួយរបស់ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ ដើម្បីបំពេញនូវសេចក្តីត្រូវការស្បង់ចីវរដ៏វិសេសនេះ។
វេលារាត្រី មុនថ្ងៃបុណ្យកឋិន ទាយក-ទាយិកាម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនិងញាតិមិត្ត នាំគ្នា យកត្រៃចីវរ និងគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារផ្សេងៗ ទៅកាន់ទីវត្តដែលគេបានទាក់ទងស្និទ្ធស្នាល រួចមកហើយ និងធ្វើកុសលខ្លះៗដូចជាៈ ថ្វាយបង្គំព្រះរតនត្រ័យ អារធនាព្រះសង្ឃចំរើនព្រះបរិត និងស្តាប់ព្រះសង្ឃសំដែងធម្មទេសនា(ស្តីអំពីអានិសង្សកឋិន)។
លុះព្រឹកស្អែកឡើង ទាយក-ទាយិកា និងពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ ម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនាំគ្នាទៅកាន់វត្តម្តងទៀត។ គេប្រារព្ធពិធីថ្វាយបង្គំព្រះរតនត្រ័យសមាទានសីល៥ ឬសីល៨ ដាក់បាត្របង្សុកូល និងវេរភត្តប្រគេនព្រះសង្ឃ។
បន្ទាប់ពីថ្ងៃត្រង់ ទាយកទាយិកា ម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនិងញាតិមិត្ត នាំគ្នាទូលពានត្រៃចីវរ និងកាន់ទ្រនូវគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារជាបរិវារកឋិនផ្សេងៗ ដើរប្រទក្សិណព័ទ្ធជុំវិញរោងឧបោសថ(ឬព្រះវិហារ) ចំនួន៣ជុំ។ អ្នកទាំងអស់ត្រូវបាននាំមុខដោយក្រុមភ្លេងកំប្លែងឆៃយ៉ាំ និងភិក្ខុសង្ឃសូត្រធម៌ ព្រមទាំងមានពុទ្ធបរិស័ទទាំងហ្វូងដង្ហែតាមពីខាងក្រោយ។
បន្ទាប់មក ត្រៃចីវរ និងគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារជាបរិវារកឋិន ត្រូវបានវេរប្រគេនចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដោយអនុលោមតាមក្បួននិងទម្រង់ការដែលបានបញ្ញត្តិទុកមក។
ពេលពិធីវេរអង្គកឋិនបានចប់សព្វគ្រប់ហើយ គឺជានាទីរបស់សង្ឃដើម្បីជួបជុំសារជាថ្មីឡើងវិញ នៅក្នុងរោងឧបោសថឬព្រះវិហារ និងដើម្បីប្រារព្ធពិធីឆ្លងកឋិនទាន(សម្ពោធកឋិន) ទៅតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ។
តាមធម្មតា គ្រូចៅអធិការឬថេរភិក្ខុ នៅក្នុងវត្តត្រូវធ្វើសំណូមពរអោយមានភិក្ខុមួយរូប ជាតំណាងសង្ឃ ដើម្បីអនុមោទនានិងក្រាលគ្រងអង្គកឋិន។ ជាយថាហេតុ ភិក្ខុអង្គណាដែលមានស្បង់ចីវររហែកដាចនិងត្រូវជ្រើសរើសឡើង។ រោងឧបោសថ ឬ ព្រះវិហារ គឺជាកន្លែងសម្រាប់ធ្វើសង្ឃកម្មពិសេស(សម្ពោធកឋិន)នេះ។ ពិធីនេះ ដោយឡែកសម្រាប់តែសង្ឃ ពួកគ្រហស្ថមិនអាចចូលរួមជាមួយបានឡើយ។
ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទមានជុំនឿថា ការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិន នៅវត្តដែលមានព្រះវិហារបញ្ចុះសីមារួចហើយ ទើបបានអានិសង្សច្រើន។
នៅប្រទេសខ្មែរ បុណ្យកឋិន គឺជាបុណ្យសប្បាយអឹកធឹក មានពណ៌ចំរុះឆើតឆាយមានទិដ្ឋភាពជាបុណ្យពុទ្ធសាសនាយ៉ាងមហោឡារឹក។
ជាការពិតណាស់ បុណ្យកឋិន គឺជាឱកាសមួយ សម្រាប់បណ្តុះបណ្តាលអំពើល្អ និងគុណធម៌ នៅក្នុងដួងចិត្តយើងគ្រប់ៗគ្នា។
ចប់
ស្រង់ចាក បុណ្យទំនៀមខ្មែរ ក្រាំងបុណ្យទាំង ១២ ខែ ភាគទី២ ឆឹង ផានសុផុន បោះពុម្ព ថ្ងៃទី ១ ឧសភា ២០០០
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ពាក្យថា “ កឋិន” ជាភាសាបាលី សំដៅយកក្របក្តារ ដែលភិក្ខុសង្ឃសម័យបូរាណឥណ្ឌា ប្រើសម្រាប់ដេរសំពត់ឆ្វើជាស្បង់ចីវរ ។ សំពត់ ដែលបានរៀបចំតាក់តែងឡើងនោះ មានឈ្មោះថា “ សំពត់កឋិន “ ។
បើតាមអដ្ឋកថា សំដៅយកពុទ្ធដីកាដែលព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់បានបញ្ញត្តិទុកមកថាៈ កឋិន គឺការប្រជុំរួបរួម រូបធម៌និងនាមធម៌ ដែលប្រព្រឹត្តទៅក្នុងអត្ថន័យពីរយ៉ាងគឺ៖
១• “ រស់បានដោយកម្រ “ សមដូចវិគ្គហៈថា “ កថតិ កិច្ឆេន ជីវតីតិ កឋិនោ។“ ប្រែថា “ សភាវឯណារស់នៅបានដោយកម្រ សភាវនោះហៅថា កឋិន” ។ ព្រោះលោកប្រៀបប្រដូចជាឈើស្នឹងដែលបុគ្គលកាត់ចាកចេញពីដើម ហើយយកទៅបោះ ភ្ជាប់នឹងដី រមែងដុះលូតលាស់ឬរស់នៅដោយកម្រយ៉ាងណា ឯកិច្ចដែលនឹងកើតឡើង ឬក៏តាំងឡើងជាកឋិនពេញទី គឺបានដោយកម្រពន់ពេកណាស់ ក៏យ៉ាងនោះដែរ ។
២. “ ពោលសរសើរ ” ព្រោះចីវរទាន ដែលយើងបានកសាងជាកឋិននោះ ជាទានពិសេសជាងទានដទៃ ដែលព្រះអរិយទាំងឡាយ មានព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធជាប្រធាន តែងពោលសរសើរថា ជាទានវិសេស អាចរួបរួមឬសង្គ្រោះ នូវអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង របស់ភិក្ខុអ្នកក្រាលគ្រង មិនអោយទៅគ្រងនៅទីដទៃបាន សមដូចវិគ្គហៈថា “ បញ្ច អានិសំសេ អញ្ញត្ថ គន្តុំ អទត្វា កថិតិ សង្គណ្ហាតីតិ កឋិនំ ។” ប្រែថា “ ធម្មជាតិឯណាក្រៀកទុកឬសង្គ្រោះនូវអានិសង្សទាំង៥ មិនអោយទៅក្នុងទីដទៃបាន ធម្មជាតិនោះឈ្មោះថា “ កឋិន ។“
កឋិន នេះ អាចអោយសម្រេចផលដល់បុគ្គលទាំងពីរផ្នែក គឺ៖
(១). ទាយក ឬ ទាយិកា ដែលជាអ្នកអោយ ត្រូវបានទទួលអានិសង្សច្រើន បានទទួលផលច្រើន ក្នុងអនាគតកាល មានការទទួលនូវសម្បត្តិ ក្នុងឋានទេវលោកជាដើម។
(២). បដិគាហកៈ ដែលជាភិក្ខុអ្នកក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន ឬបុគ្គល ឬគណៈ ឬសង្ឃ ដែលបានអនុមោទនា ក៏ត្រូវបានសម្រេចនូវអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ពេញលេញគ្រប់ក្រាន់ ដរាបដល់រយៈកាលនៃកឋិនខេត្ត។
ពិធីដែលទាយកនិងទាយិកានាំយកសំពត់កឋិនទៅប្រគេនចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដែលបានគង់ចាំវស្សា អស់មួយត្រៃមាស(៣ខែ) ក្នុងអវាស(វត្ត)ណាមួយ ក្នុងកំណត់២៩ថ្ងៃ(ចាប់តាំងពីថ្ងៃ១រោច ខែអស្សុជ រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើតពេញបូណ៌មី ខែកក្តឹក) អោយលោកក្រាលគ្រង មាន ឈ្មោះថា “ បុណ្យកឋិន ” ឬ “ កឋិនទាន “ ។
ចីវរកឋិន មិនខុសគ្នាអំពីចីវរទាន ដទៃទៀតទេ គ្រាន់តែការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិនចីវរ មានកំណត់កាលបរិច្ឆេទច្បាស់លាស់ និងមានប្រជាប្រិយភាពច្រើន ដែលហៅថា “ កាលទាន”។ បុណ្យកឋិនមានលក្ខណៈប្លែក៥យ៉ាង អំពីបុណ្យផ្សេងៗ និងក្លាយជាបុណ្យដ៏មានសារៈសំខាននៅក្នុងវត្តពុទ្ធសាសនា និងនៅក្នុងចំណោមពុទ្ធបរិស័ទទូទៅ ។
លក្ខណៈប្លែក៥យ៉ាងនោះគឺ៖
១. ប្លែកដោយកាល
ព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់អនុញាតកឋិនកាល មានតែចំនួន២៩ថ្ងៃ គឺៈ ១៤ថ្ងៃក្នុងខែអស្សុជ(កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១រោច រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៤រោចឬខែដាច់) និង១៥ថ្ងៃក្នុងខែកក្តឹក (កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១កើត ដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ពេញបូណ៌មី)។ រយៈពេលនេះ ហៅតាមពាក្យសាមញថា “ រដូវកឋិន “ ។ បុណ្យកឋិនធ្វើបានតែម្តងគត់ ក្នុងមួយឆ្នាំ សាំរាប់វត្តមួយ និងត្រូវធ្វើតាមពេលកំណត់ មិន មានមុន និង មិនមានក្រោយ។ ភិក្ខុអាចទទួលសំពត់កឋិនបាន តែមួយដងគត់ក្នុងមួយរដូវកឋិន។
២. ប្លែកដោយវត្ថុ
សំពត់ដែលជាអង្គកឋិន នោះមានៈ ស្បង់ ចីវរ និងសង្ឃាដី ដេលបានធ្វើត្រឹមត្រូវតាមពុទ្ធបញ្ញត្តិ។ យោងតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ ទោះបីជាទាយកឬទាយិកា នាំសំពត់មួយត្រៃមកប្រគេនភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ក៏ភិក្ខុសង្ឃអ្នកក្រាលគ្រង លោករើសយកតែមួយមុខ មកធ្វើជាអង្គកឋិន។ តាមធម្មតាភិក្ខុច្រើនតែរើសយកសង្ឃាដីធ្វើជាអង្គកឋិន ពីព្រោះសង្ឃាដីជាសំពត់ធំជាងគេបង្អស់ ក្នុងត្រៃចីវរ ហើយអាចប្រើសម្រាប់ដណ្តប់ដូចជាភួយ នៅពេលរងា ក៏បាន។
៣. ប្លែកដោយអំពើ
តាមទំនៀមទម្លាប់ ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទតែងតែមានជំនឿថា ការធ្វើបុណ្យចំពោះភិក្ខុមួយអង្គៗ ពុំសូវមានអានិសង្សច្រើន ដូចជាធ្វើនឹង សង្ឃ ទេ ( សង្ឃ សំដៅយកភិក្ខុ ចំនួនពី៤អង្គឡើងទៅ)។ យោងតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ អង្គកឋិនអាចវេរប្រគានចំពោះសង្ឃ យ៉ាងហោចណាស់ ក៏មានវត្តមានភិក្ខុ៥អង្គដែរ ដើម្បីអោយកើតជាកឋិនពេញលក្ខណៈបាន។
៤. ប្លែកដោយបដិគ្គាហកៈ (ដោយអ្នកទទួល)
មានតែភិក្ខុទេ ដែលអាចទទួលសំពត់កឋិនបាន ( រីឯសាមណេរនិងអ្នកដទៃទទួលពុំបាន )។ ភិក្ខុនោះត្រូវតែគង់ចាំវស្សាគម្រប់៣ខែ ក្នុងវត្តឬអាវាសណាមួយ។ ភិក្ខុមិនបានគង់ចាំវស្សាគ្មានសិទ្ធិទទួលអង្គកឋិនទេ។
៥. ប្លែកដោយអានិសង្ស
នៅក្នុងការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិន ទាយកនិងទាយិកា តែងទទួលបានអានិសង្សច្រើន។ យោងតាមវិន័យបិដក ភាគ៨ ត្រង់កឋិនក្ខន្ធកៈ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលជាអ្នកអនុមោទនា និងក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន ត្រូវបានទទួលអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ក្នុងរយៈពេល៥ខែ។ អានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាងនោះគឺៈ
(១). អនាមន្តចារោ : ភិក្ខុត្រាចទៅកាន់ទីដទៃ ដោយមិនបាច់លាភិក្ខុផងគ្នាបាន និងមិនមានទោស(ត្រូវអាបត្តិ)ឡើយ។
(២). អសមាទានចារោ : ភិក្ខុត្រាច់ទៅដោយមិនបាច់យកសំពត់ណាមួយ ឬត្រៃចីវរគ្រប់ប្រដាប់ ជាប់ជាមួយបាន។
(៣). គណភោជនំ : ភិក្ខុអាចឆាន់គណភោជនបាន។
(៤). យាវទត្ថចីវរំ : ភិក្ខុអាចទុកអតិរេកចីវរ (ចីវរដែលលើសអំពីសេចក្តីត្រូវការ) ចំនួនប៉ុន្មានក៏បាន។
(៥). យោ ច តត្ថ ចីវរុប្បាទោ សោ នេសំ ភវិស្សតិ : ចីវរណាកើតឡើងក្នុងអាវាសនោះ ចីវរនោះនិងមានដល់ភិក្ខុនោះ។
វិន័យបិដក ភាគ៨ កឋិនក្ខន្ធកៈ បានចែងអំពីប្រភពនៃបុណ្យកឋិនថាៈ “ នៅក្នុងសម័យពុទ្ធកាល ព្រះសម្ពទ្ធជាម្ចាស់ ទ្រងពុទ្ធានុញ្ញត្តិឱ្យភិក្ខុប្រើប្រាសតែបង្សុកូលចីវរ ទ្រង់ពុំទាន់បានអនុញត ឱ្យប្រើគហបតីចីវរ នៅឡើយ។
សម័យមួយនោះ នៅក្នុងរវាងមជ្ឈិមពោធិកាល ព្រះពុទ្ធកំពុងគង់ចាំព្រះវស្សា ក្នុងវត្តជេតពន ដែលជាអារាមរបស់អនាថបណ្ឌិកសេដ្ឋីសាងថ្វាយ នៅទៀបក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ គ្រានោះ មានភិក្ខុ៣០រូប ឈ្មោះថា “ ភទ្ទវគ្កិយត្ថេរ “ ក្នុងដែនបាថេយ្យ ជាអ្នកប្រព្រឹត្តធម៏នៅក្នុងព្រៃ។ល។ បាននាំគ្នាចេញអំពីទីនោះ មកកាន់ក្រុងសាវត្ថី ដើម្បីចូលគាល់បំរើព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគ។ ប៉ុន្តែ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ បានមកដល់តែត្រឹមសាកេត(ភូមិមួយជាប់នឹងទីក្រុងសាវត្ថី) ស្រាប់តែថ្ងៃចូលវស្សាក៏មកដល់ និងស្រូតមកទៀតមិនទាន់ ក៏នាំគ្នាផ្អាកធ្វើដំណើរ ស្វែងរកទីសេនាសនៈនៅចាំវស្សា៣ខែ នាពាក់កណ្តាលផ្លូវនោះតែម្តងទៅ។ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃទាំង៣០រូបមានសេចក្តីអផ្សុក កើតទុក្ខតូចព្រះទ័យជាខ្លាំង ដោយគិតឃើញថាព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់គង់នៅទីនោះ ចម្ងាយតែ៦យោជន៍ទៀតសោះមិនសមយើងទាំងឡាយស្កុនដំណើរ មិនបានគាល់បំរើព្រះអង្គដូចបំណងសោះ។
លុះដល់ថ្ងៃចេញវស្សា បវរណាស្រេចហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ក៏នាំគ្នាប្រញាប់ប្រញាល់ចូលទៅកាន់ក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ នៅទីនោះ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃទាំងអស់បានចូលធ្វើសាវនាការជាមួយនឹងព្រះពុទ្ធ ដោយមានស្បង់ចីវរទទឹកជោក។ ព្រះមានព្រះភាគទ្រង់មានបន្ទូលរាក់ទាក់ទៅកាន់ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! សរីរយន្តរបស់អ្នកទាំងឡាយល្មមអត់សង្កត់បានឬទេ? ល្មមប្រព្រឹត្តទៅបានឬទេ? តើអ្នកទាំឡាយមានសេចក្តីព្រមព្រៀងស្មោះស្មើ អត់មានវិវាទទាស់ទែងគ្នា ទេឬ? អ្នកទាំងឡាយនៅចាំវស្សាសោត ស្រួលបួលមិនលំបាកដោយអាហារបិណ្ឌបាត ទេឬ?
ភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយនោះ ក៏ក្រាបបង្គំទូល នូវសេចក្តីលំបាករបស់ខ្លួនដែលមានមកតាមផ្លូវ ដោយសព្វគ្រប់តាមដំណើរ។
លំដាប់នោះ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់សំដែងធម្មីកថា ប្រារពអំពីសង្សារវដ្តមិនមានទីបំផុត ប្រោសប្រទានដល់ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ។ លុះចប់ធម៌ហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់នោះ បានជាអរហន្តទាំងអស់អង្គ រួចហើយក៏នាំគ្នាក្រាបថ្វាយបង្គំលាព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធ វិលទៅកាន់លំនៅរបស់ខ្លួនវិញ។
បន្ទាប់អំពីនោះមក ព្រះមានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះតម្រិះថា បើប្រសិនជាតថាគតបានតែងតាំងកឋិនត្ថារកិច្ច ទុកពីគ្រាមុន ម្លេះសមភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយនោះបានលះចីវរមួយទុកនៅទីកន្លែង ជាប់មកតែស្បង់ចីវរតែប៉ុណ្ណោះ មានអត្ថភាពស្រាលមិនលំបាកយ៉ាងនេះសោះឡើយ។ ហើយកឋិនត្ថារកិច្ចនេះ ព្រះពុទ្ធរាល់ព្រះអង្គ ក៏តែងអនុញ្ញាតទុកដល់សាវក ពុំដែលលះបង់ផង។ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះតម្រិះដូច្នេះហើយ ទើបទ្រង់ហៅភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយមក រួចហើយក៏ទ្រង់អនុញ្ញាតកថិនត្ថារកិច្ច ដោយព្រះពុទ្ធដីកាថា៖ “ អនុជានាមិ ភក្ខវេ វស្សំ វុដ្ឋានំ ភិក្ខុនំ កឋិនំ។ អត្ថរិតុំ អត្ថតំ កឋិនទានំ វោ ភក្ខវេ បញ្ច កប្បិស្សន្តិ។ “ ប្រែថា “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ តថាគតអនុញ្ញាតឱ្យភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ ដែលបាននៅចាំវស្សារួចហើយ ទទួលក្រាលគ្រងកឋិន។ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! កាលបើភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ បានក្រាលគ្រងកឋិនហើយ នឹងបានសម្រេចអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការ។”
បន្ទាប់មក ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ពុទ្ធានុញ្ញាត ឱ្យភិក្ខុទទួលស្បង់អំពីពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ និងគហបតីទាំងឡាយ ក្នុងពេលមួយខែ កំណត់ពីថ្ងៃ១រោចខែអស្សុជ រហូតដល់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើតពេញបូណ៌មី ខែកក្តឹក(រវាងពាក់កណ្តាលខេតុលា រហូតដល់ពាក់កណ្តាលខេវិច្ឆកា)។ ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគទ្រង់ព្រះមេត្តាប្រោសអនុញ្ញាត ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលអនុមោទនា និងក្រាលគ្រង កឋិននោះ បាននូវអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការ។ ជនមានសទ្ធា ដែលបានធ្វើកឋិនទាន ឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកបានគោរពនូវព្រះពុទ្ធដីកាដែលទ្រង់បានអនុញ្ញាតអោយភិក្ខុសង្ឃបានទទួលនូវអានិសង្ស៥ប្រការផង ជាអ្នកមានចិត្តអាណិតអាសូរចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដែលគង់ចាំវស្សាអស់មួយត្រៃមាសនោះផង និងជាអ្នកតអាយុព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនាអស់កាលជាយូរអង្វែងទៅផង។
ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់សំដែងថា៖ “ សុខស្ស ទាតា មេធាវី សុខំ សោ អធិគច្ឆតិ។ “ ប្រែថា “ ជនដ៏មានប្រាជ្ញា(ណាមួយ) បានធ្វើនូវសេចក្តីសុខស្រួល(ដល់អ្នកដទៃ) ជននោះឯង រមែងបានជួបប្រទះនឹងសេចក្តីសុខស្រួល(ជាពិតប្រាកដពុំខានឡើយ)។ “ សេចក្តីអធិប្បាយយ៉ងនេះថា៖ ជនណាបានធ្វើកឋិនទាន ដែលនាំអោយព្រះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ បានអានិសង្ស៥យ៉ាង ក្នុងរវាង៥ខែ បានឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកអោយសេចក្តីសុខស្រួលដល់អ្នកដទៃ នៅក្នុងបច្ចុប្បន្នជាតិ ជននោះឯងតែងតែបានសុខ ក្នុងមនុស្សលោកនិងទេវលោក ក្នុងពេលអនាគត។ ដោយអំណាចផលានិសង្សនៃកឋិនទាននោះ ក្នុងអនាគតកាលជននោះនឹងបានជាឯហិភិក្ខុឬឯហិភិក្ខុនី ដេលមានត្រៃចីវរកើតឡើងឯកឯង ដោយឫទ្ធិ នៅពេលបព្វជ្ជាជាបព្វជិតក្នុងសាសនាព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គណាមួយ ហើយក៏នឹងបានសំរេចមគ្គផល និព្វានក្នុងពេលបច្ចុប្បន្ននោះ ជាពិតប្រាកដពុំខានឡើយ។
តាំងពីពេលនោះមក បុណ្យកឋិនបានក្លាយជាបុណ្យទំនៀមមួយរបស់ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ ដើម្បីបំពេញនូវសេចក្តីត្រូវការស្បង់ចីវរដ៏វិសេសនេះ។
វេលារាត្រី មុនថ្ងៃបុណ្យកឋិន ទាយក-ទាយិកាម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនិងញាតិមិត្ត នាំគ្នា យកត្រៃចីវរ និងគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារផ្សេងៗ ទៅកាន់ទីវត្តដែលគេបានទាក់ទងស្និទ្ធស្នាល រួចមកហើយ និងធ្វើកុសលខ្លះៗដូចជាៈ ថ្វាយបង្គំព្រះរតនត្រ័យ អារធនាព្រះសង្ឃចំរើនព្រះបរិត និងស្តាប់ព្រះសង្ឃសំដែងធម្មទេសនា(ស្តីអំពីអានិសង្សកឋិន)។
លុះព្រឹកស្អែកឡើង ទាយក-ទាយិកា និងពុទ្ធបរិស័ទ ម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនាំគ្នាទៅកាន់វត្តម្តងទៀត។ គេប្រារព្ធពិធីថ្វាយបង្គំព្រះរតនត្រ័យសមាទានសីល៥ ឬសីល៨ ដាក់បាត្របង្សុកូល និងវេរភត្តប្រគេនព្រះសង្ឃ។
បន្ទាប់ពីថ្ងៃត្រង់ ទាយកទាយិកា ម្ចាស់ដើមបុណ្យនិងញាតិមិត្ត នាំគ្នាទូលពានត្រៃចីវរ និងកាន់ទ្រនូវគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារជាបរិវារកឋិនផ្សេងៗ ដើរប្រទក្សិណព័ទ្ធជុំវិញរោងឧបោសថ(ឬព្រះវិហារ) ចំនួន៣ជុំ។ អ្នកទាំងអស់ត្រូវបាននាំមុខដោយក្រុមភ្លេងកំប្លែងឆៃយ៉ាំ និងភិក្ខុសង្ឃសូត្រធម៌ ព្រមទាំងមានពុទ្ធបរិស័ទទាំងហ្វូងដង្ហែតាមពីខាងក្រោយ។
បន្ទាប់មក ត្រៃចីវរ និងគ្រឿងបរិក្ខារជាបរិវារកឋិន ត្រូវបានវេរប្រគេនចំពោះភិក្ខុសង្ឃ ដោយអនុលោមតាមក្បួននិងទម្រង់ការដែលបានបញ្ញត្តិទុកមក។
ពេលពិធីវេរអង្គកឋិនបានចប់សព្វគ្រប់ហើយ គឺជានាទីរបស់សង្ឃដើម្បីជួបជុំសារជាថ្មីឡើងវិញ នៅក្នុងរោងឧបោសថឬព្រះវិហារ និងដើម្បីប្រារព្ធពិធីឆ្លងកឋិនទាន(សម្ពោធកឋិន) ទៅតាមវិន័យបញ្ញត្តិ។
តាមធម្មតា គ្រូចៅអធិការឬថេរភិក្ខុ នៅក្នុងវត្តត្រូវធ្វើសំណូមពរអោយមានភិក្ខុមួយរូប ជាតំណាងសង្ឃ ដើម្បីអនុមោទនានិងក្រាលគ្រងអង្គកឋិន។ ជាយថាហេតុ ភិក្ខុអង្គណាដែលមានស្បង់ចីវររហែកដាចនិងត្រូវជ្រើសរើសឡើង។ រោងឧបោសថ ឬ ព្រះវិហារ គឺជាកន្លែងសម្រាប់ធ្វើសង្ឃកម្មពិសេស(សម្ពោធកឋិន)នេះ។ ពិធីនេះ ដោយឡែកសម្រាប់តែសង្ឃ ពួកគ្រហស្ថមិនអាចចូលរួមជាមួយបានឡើយ។
ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទមានជុំនឿថា ការធ្វើបុណ្យកឋិន នៅវត្តដែលមានព្រះវិហារបញ្ចុះសីមារួចហើយ ទើបបានអានិសង្សច្រើន។
នៅប្រទេសខ្មែរ បុណ្យកឋិន គឺជាបុណ្យសប្បាយអឹកធឹក មានពណ៌ចំរុះឆើតឆាយមានទិដ្ឋភាពជាបុណ្យពុទ្ធសាសនាយ៉ាងមហោឡារឹក។
ជាការពិតណាស់ បុណ្យកឋិន គឺជាឱកាសមួយ សម្រាប់បណ្តុះបណ្តាលអំពើល្អ និងគុណធម៌ នៅក្នុងដួងចិត្តយើងគ្រប់ៗគ្នា។
ចប់
ស្រង់ចាក បុណ្យទំនៀមខ្មែរ ក្រាំងបុណ្យទាំង ១២ ខែ ភាគទី២ ឆឹង ផានសុផុន បោះពុម្ព ថ្ងៃទី ១ ឧសភា ២០០០
បុណ្យចេញវស្សា
បុណ្យចេញវស្សា និងព្រះពុទ្ធ ទ្រង់សម្តែងអភិធម្មទេសនាប្រោសអតីតវរមាតា
លុះផុតកំណត់ចាំវស្សា៣ខែហើយ នៅថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ពេញបូណ៌មីខែភទ្របទ(ពាក់កណ្តាលខែតុលា) ភិក្ខុសង្ឃត្រូវធ្វើកិច្ចចេញវស្សារបស់ខ្លួនវិញ ដែលហៅថា “បុណ្យចេញវស្សា ” ឬ “ បុណ្យបវរណា ”។ ពិធីបវរណានេះ ភិក្ខុមួយអង្គៗត្រូវប្រកាសខ្លួនដាក់កាយឱ្យសង្ឃ ឬបុគ្គលគ្នាឯងធ្វើការរិះគន់ ក្រែងមានប្រព្រឹត្តខុសឆ្គងឬលើសបញ្ញត្តិណាមួយ ក្នុងការចាំវស្សា៣ខែកន្លងមកនោះ ទោះដោយការឃើញក្តី ការស្តាប់ឮក្តីនិងការរង្គៀសក្តី ក៏សួមឱ្យលើកឡើងនិងបង្ហាញនូវភ័ស្តុតាងច្បាស់លាស់ដើម្បីភិក្ខុប្រព្រឹត្តខុសធ្វើការកែប្រែ ឱ្យប្រសើរឡើងវិញ។
មានរឿងមួយទាក់ទងនឹងភិក្ខុសង្ឃធ្វើបវរណាចេញវស្សានេះថា៖ “ សម័យមួយ ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់គង់នៅក្នុងវត្តជេតពន ដែលជាអារាមរបស់ អនាថបណ្ឌិកសេដ្ឋី ជិតក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ គ្រានោះឯង មានភិក្ខុជាច្រើនដែលជាមិត្រស្និទស្នាលនឹងគ្នា បានជួបជុំគ្នាចូលវស្សាក្នុងអាវាសវត្តមួយក្នុងកោសលជនបទ។ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់បានត្រិះរិះថា ' តើយើងត្រូវធ្វើដូចម្តេចដើម្បីឱ្យបានសុខ កុំឱ្យមានការទាស់ទែងខ្វែងគំនិតគ្នា នៅពេលចាំវស្សា និងមិនឱ្យមានការលំបាក ដោយអាហារបិណ្ឌបាត្រផង?' ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ ក៏ព្រមព្រៀងគ្នាថា ' យើងមិនត្រូវនិយាយរកគ្នា មិនត្រូវចរចាររកគ្នាទៅវិញទៅមកទេ។ បើយើងត្រូវការពឹងពាក់គ្នា ត្រូវតែប្រើកាយវិការជាសញ្ញា' “។ កាលបានព្រមព្រៀងគ្នាយ៉ាងដូច្នោះហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ ក៏លែងស្តីរកគ្នា រហូតគ្រប់៣ខែ។
លុះចេញវស្សាហើយ បន្ទាប់ពីបានរៀបចំទុកដាក់សេនាសនៈរួចមក ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ ប្រដាបដោយបាត្រ និងចីវរ ចេញដំណើរទៅកាន់ទីក្រុងសាវត្ថី ដើម្បីចូលទៅគាល់ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគ ក្នុងវត្តជេតពននោះ។
ព្រះសាស្តាក៏ទ្រង់ត្រាស់សួរថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! អ្នកទាំងឡាយ ល្មមអត់ធន់នូវសេចក្តីទុក្ខលំបាកបានដែរឬទេ? ឥរិយាបថប្រព្រឹត្តទៅបានស្រួលដែរឬទេ? ចុះអ្នកទាំងឡាយ ជាបុគ្គលព្រមព្រៀងគ្នា ស្រុះស្រួលគ្នា មិនទាស់ទែងគ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសុខសប្បាយហើយឬ?”។
ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះក្រាបទូលថា៖ “ បពិត្រព្រះអង្គដ៏ចំរើន! យើងខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គទាំងអស់គ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយ ក៏ព្រោះតែយើងខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គ មានគំនិតឯកភាពគ្នាថា ' យើងខ្ញុំទាំងឡាយ មិនគប្បីហៅរកគ្នា មិនគប្បីចរចាររកគ្នាទៅវិញទៅមក នោះទើបមានឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកព្រមព្រៀងគ្នា ស្រុះស្រួលគ្នា មិនទាស់ទែងគ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយ ”។
កាលទ្រង់ព្រះសណ្តាប់នូវពាក្យយ៉ាងនេះហើយ ព្រះសាស្តាក៏ទ្រង់មានព្រះបន្ទូលថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! អ្នកនៅចាំវស្សាបែបនេះ ពិតជាមិនសប្បាយទេ។ ប៉ន្តែ អ្នកទាំងឡាយបែរជាប្តេជ្ញាថា ខ្លួនជាអ្ននៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយទៅវិញ។ ការចាំវស្សារបស់អ្នកទាំងឡាយ ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់បសុសត្វ (សត្វដែលគេចិញ្ចឹម) ឬក៏ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់សត្វពពែ ឬក៏ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់បុគ្គលប្រមាទ តែនៅប្តេជ្ញាថាខ្លួនជាអ្នករស់នៅដោយសប្បាយ។ ម្នាលមោឃបុរស! អ្នកមិនសមបើនឹងសមាទាននូវ មូគវត្ត (វត្តរបស់មនុស្សគ) ដែលជា តិតិ្ថយសមាទាន (សមាទានរបស់ពួកតិរ្ថិយ)ទេ អំពើទាំងនេះ មិនមែនជាអំពើដែលនាំឱ្យគេជ្រះថ្លាទេ “។
ព្រះសាស្តាទ្រង់បន្ទោសភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ យ៉ាងដូច្នោះហើយ ក៏ទ្រង់សម្តែងនូវធម្មីកថា ថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! ភិក្ខុមិនត្រូវសមាទាននូវមូគវត្តដែលជាតិតិ្ថយសមាទានទេ ភិក្ខុណាសមាទាននឹងត្រូវអាបត្តិទុក្កដ “។
ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់បញ្ញត្តិ ដោយបទបាលីថា៖ “ អនុជានាមិ ភិក្ខវេ វស្សំ វុត្ថានំ ភិក្ខុនំ តីហិ ឋានេហិ បវារេតុំ ទិដ្ឋេន វា សុតេន វា បរិសង្គាយ វា “ ប្រែថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! តថាគតអនុញាតឱ្យភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ ដែលនៅចាំវស្សារួចហើយ អាចបវរណាដោយស្ថាន៣យ៉ាងគឺ៖ ដោយឃើញក្តី ដោយឮក្តី និងដោយរង្គៀសក្តី “។
បុណ្យចេញវស្សានេះ ក៏មានប្រវត្តិជាប់ទាក់ទងទៅនឹងរឿង ព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គផ្ទាល់ដែរ។ យោងតាមរឿងនេះថា៖ “ ពេលមួយ ព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់គង់ចាំព្រះវស្សាអស់ត្រៃមាស នៅឯតាវតឹង្សសួគ៌ាឋាន ជាកន្លែង ដែលព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់សម្តែងព្រះអភិធម្មទេសនា ប្រោសមាយាទេវបុត្រ (ដែលត្រូវជាអតីតព្រះមាតារបស់ព្រះអង្គ) និងពួកទេវតាដទៃទៀត។ នៅពេលចេញវស្សា ព្រះអង្គក៏យាងចុះមកកាន់ឋានមនុស្សលោកវិញ ដោយមានការទទួលស្វាគមន៍និងបដិសណ្ឋារកិច្ច យ៉ាងសប្បាយរីករាយក្រៃលែង។ រឿងនេះបានកើតឡើង៧ឆ្នាំ បន្ទាប់អំពីព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់បានត្រាស់ដឹង។ ពិធីយ៉ាងអ៊ឹកធឹកនេះ ប្រារព្ធឡើងដើម្បីរំឭកដល់ព្រឹត្តិការណ៍ ដ៏សំខាន់នេះ។ កន្លែងទ្រង់យាងចុះនោះឈ្មោះ “ ក្រុងសង្កសៈ “ ស្ថិតនៅខាងជើងប្រទេសឥណ្ឌា។
ក្នុងពេលធ្វើបុណ្យចេញវស្សានេះ ជាទូទៅនៅពេលល្ងាចឬយប់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ខែអស្សុជ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលគង់ចាំវស្សា អស់ត្រៃមាស ក្នុងអាវាសណាមួយ ត្រូវជួបជុំគ្នាក្នុងព្រះវិហារ ដើម្បីនមស្សការព្រះរតនត្រ័យ និងសម្តែងអាបត្តិ។ ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃសម្តែងធម៌ទេសនា “ រឿងព្រះវេស្សន្តរ “ គឺជារឿងព្រះពោធិសត្វ ដែលយោនយកកំណើតក្នុងជាតិចុងក្រោយបង្អស់ ដើម្បីបំពេញទានបារមី។ ទេសនាមហាជាតក៍ត្រូវយកមកសម្តែងជូនពុទ្ធបរិស័ទជាទីសណ្តាប់ ក្នុងរាត្រីនោះដែរ។
ព្រឹកឡើង ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទយកស្រាក់បាយ សម្លនិងចង្ហាន់ផ្សេងៗមកឈរតម្រៀបគ្នាជាជួររង់ចាំដាក់បាត្រ ព្រះសង្ឃដែលមានភ្នែកដាក់ចុះនិងកាន់ទ្រនូវបាត្រ និមន្តសន្សឹមៗតាមជួរសប្បុរសជន ដើម្បីទទួលចង្ហាន់បិណ្ឌបាត្រ ប្រកបដោយសេចក្តីមេត្តានិងកាយវិការស្រគត់ស្រគំសមរម្យ។
បន្ទាប់មក សប្បុរសជនទាំងអស់នាំគ្នាទៅជួបជុំនៅក្នុងសាលាធំ ជាកន្លែងដែលពុទ្ធបរិស័ទប្រារព្ធពិធីផ្សេងៗ ដើម្បីសមាទាននិច្ចសីលឬឧបោសថសីល ស្តាប់ព្រះសង្ឃសម្តែងធម្មទេសនា និងធ្វើសមាធិ។
កម្មវិធីប្រជាប្រិយផ្សេងៗ ត្រូវបានយកមកសម្តែងនិងអប់រំប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។ ការកំសាន្តសប្បាយ និងការធ្វើបុណ្យតែងប្រព្រឹត្តឡើងក្នុងពេលជាមួយគ្នា៕
ស្រង់ចាក បុណ្យទំនៀមខ្មែរ ក្រាំងបុណ្យទាំង ១២ ខែ ភាគទី២ ឆឹង ផានសុផុន បោះពុម្ព ថ្ងៃទី ១ ឧសភា ២០០០
លុះផុតកំណត់ចាំវស្សា៣ខែហើយ នៅថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ពេញបូណ៌មីខែភទ្របទ(ពាក់កណ្តាលខែតុលា) ភិក្ខុសង្ឃត្រូវធ្វើកិច្ចចេញវស្សារបស់ខ្លួនវិញ ដែលហៅថា “បុណ្យចេញវស្សា ” ឬ “ បុណ្យបវរណា ”។ ពិធីបវរណានេះ ភិក្ខុមួយអង្គៗត្រូវប្រកាសខ្លួនដាក់កាយឱ្យសង្ឃ ឬបុគ្គលគ្នាឯងធ្វើការរិះគន់ ក្រែងមានប្រព្រឹត្តខុសឆ្គងឬលើសបញ្ញត្តិណាមួយ ក្នុងការចាំវស្សា៣ខែកន្លងមកនោះ ទោះដោយការឃើញក្តី ការស្តាប់ឮក្តីនិងការរង្គៀសក្តី ក៏សួមឱ្យលើកឡើងនិងបង្ហាញនូវភ័ស្តុតាងច្បាស់លាស់ដើម្បីភិក្ខុប្រព្រឹត្តខុសធ្វើការកែប្រែ ឱ្យប្រសើរឡើងវិញ។
មានរឿងមួយទាក់ទងនឹងភិក្ខុសង្ឃធ្វើបវរណាចេញវស្សានេះថា៖ “ សម័យមួយ ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់គង់នៅក្នុងវត្តជេតពន ដែលជាអារាមរបស់ អនាថបណ្ឌិកសេដ្ឋី ជិតក្រុងសាវត្ថី។ គ្រានោះឯង មានភិក្ខុជាច្រើនដែលជាមិត្រស្និទស្នាលនឹងគ្នា បានជួបជុំគ្នាចូលវស្សាក្នុងអាវាសវត្តមួយក្នុងកោសលជនបទ។ ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់បានត្រិះរិះថា ' តើយើងត្រូវធ្វើដូចម្តេចដើម្បីឱ្យបានសុខ កុំឱ្យមានការទាស់ទែងខ្វែងគំនិតគ្នា នៅពេលចាំវស្សា និងមិនឱ្យមានការលំបាក ដោយអាហារបិណ្ឌបាត្រផង?' ភិក្ខុទាំងអស់ ក៏ព្រមព្រៀងគ្នាថា ' យើងមិនត្រូវនិយាយរកគ្នា មិនត្រូវចរចាររកគ្នាទៅវិញទៅមកទេ។ បើយើងត្រូវការពឹងពាក់គ្នា ត្រូវតែប្រើកាយវិការជាសញ្ញា' “។ កាលបានព្រមព្រៀងគ្នាយ៉ាងដូច្នោះហើយ ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ ក៏លែងស្តីរកគ្នា រហូតគ្រប់៣ខែ។
លុះចេញវស្សាហើយ បន្ទាប់ពីបានរៀបចំទុកដាក់សេនាសនៈរួចមក ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ ប្រដាបដោយបាត្រ និងចីវរ ចេញដំណើរទៅកាន់ទីក្រុងសាវត្ថី ដើម្បីចូលទៅគាល់ព្រះដ៏មានព្រះភាគ ក្នុងវត្តជេតពននោះ។
ព្រះសាស្តាក៏ទ្រង់ត្រាស់សួរថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! អ្នកទាំងឡាយ ល្មមអត់ធន់នូវសេចក្តីទុក្ខលំបាកបានដែរឬទេ? ឥរិយាបថប្រព្រឹត្តទៅបានស្រួលដែរឬទេ? ចុះអ្នកទាំងឡាយ ជាបុគ្គលព្រមព្រៀងគ្នា ស្រុះស្រួលគ្នា មិនទាស់ទែងគ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសុខសប្បាយហើយឬ?”។
ភិក្ខុទាំងនោះក្រាបទូលថា៖ “ បពិត្រព្រះអង្គដ៏ចំរើន! យើងខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គទាំងអស់គ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយ ក៏ព្រោះតែយើងខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គ មានគំនិតឯកភាពគ្នាថា ' យើងខ្ញុំទាំងឡាយ មិនគប្បីហៅរកគ្នា មិនគប្បីចរចាររកគ្នាទៅវិញទៅមក នោះទើបមានឈ្មោះថា ជាអ្នកព្រមព្រៀងគ្នា ស្រុះស្រួលគ្នា មិនទាស់ទែងគ្នា នៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយ ”។
កាលទ្រង់ព្រះសណ្តាប់នូវពាក្យយ៉ាងនេះហើយ ព្រះសាស្តាក៏ទ្រង់មានព្រះបន្ទូលថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! អ្នកនៅចាំវស្សាបែបនេះ ពិតជាមិនសប្បាយទេ។ ប៉ន្តែ អ្នកទាំងឡាយបែរជាប្តេជ្ញាថា ខ្លួនជាអ្ននៅចាំវស្សាដោយសប្បាយទៅវិញ។ ការចាំវស្សារបស់អ្នកទាំងឡាយ ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់បសុសត្វ (សត្វដែលគេចិញ្ចឹម) ឬក៏ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់សត្វពពែ ឬក៏ដូចជាការរស់នៅរបស់បុគ្គលប្រមាទ តែនៅប្តេជ្ញាថាខ្លួនជាអ្នករស់នៅដោយសប្បាយ។ ម្នាលមោឃបុរស! អ្នកមិនសមបើនឹងសមាទាននូវ មូគវត្ត (វត្តរបស់មនុស្សគ) ដែលជា តិតិ្ថយសមាទាន (សមាទានរបស់ពួកតិរ្ថិយ)ទេ អំពើទាំងនេះ មិនមែនជាអំពើដែលនាំឱ្យគេជ្រះថ្លាទេ “។
ព្រះសាស្តាទ្រង់បន្ទោសភិក្ខុទាំងនោះ យ៉ាងដូច្នោះហើយ ក៏ទ្រង់សម្តែងនូវធម្មីកថា ថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! ភិក្ខុមិនត្រូវសមាទាននូវមូគវត្តដែលជាតិតិ្ថយសមាទានទេ ភិក្ខុណាសមាទាននឹងត្រូវអាបត្តិទុក្កដ “។
ព្រះសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់បញ្ញត្តិ ដោយបទបាលីថា៖ “ អនុជានាមិ ភិក្ខវេ វស្សំ វុត្ថានំ ភិក្ខុនំ តីហិ ឋានេហិ បវារេតុំ ទិដ្ឋេន វា សុតេន វា បរិសង្គាយ វា “ ប្រែថា៖ “ ម្នាលភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ! តថាគតអនុញាតឱ្យភិក្ខុទាំងឡាយ ដែលនៅចាំវស្សារួចហើយ អាចបវរណាដោយស្ថាន៣យ៉ាងគឺ៖ ដោយឃើញក្តី ដោយឮក្តី និងដោយរង្គៀសក្តី “។
បុណ្យចេញវស្សានេះ ក៏មានប្រវត្តិជាប់ទាក់ទងទៅនឹងរឿង ព្រះពុទ្ធអង្គផ្ទាល់ដែរ។ យោងតាមរឿងនេះថា៖ “ ពេលមួយ ព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់គង់ចាំព្រះវស្សាអស់ត្រៃមាស នៅឯតាវតឹង្សសួគ៌ាឋាន ជាកន្លែង ដែលព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់សម្តែងព្រះអភិធម្មទេសនា ប្រោសមាយាទេវបុត្រ (ដែលត្រូវជាអតីតព្រះមាតារបស់ព្រះអង្គ) និងពួកទេវតាដទៃទៀត។ នៅពេលចេញវស្សា ព្រះអង្គក៏យាងចុះមកកាន់ឋានមនុស្សលោកវិញ ដោយមានការទទួលស្វាគមន៍និងបដិសណ្ឋារកិច្ច យ៉ាងសប្បាយរីករាយក្រៃលែង។ រឿងនេះបានកើតឡើង៧ឆ្នាំ បន្ទាប់អំពីព្រះពុទ្ធទ្រង់បានត្រាស់ដឹង។ ពិធីយ៉ាងអ៊ឹកធឹកនេះ ប្រារព្ធឡើងដើម្បីរំឭកដល់ព្រឹត្តិការណ៍ ដ៏សំខាន់នេះ។ កន្លែងទ្រង់យាងចុះនោះឈ្មោះ “ ក្រុងសង្កសៈ “ ស្ថិតនៅខាងជើងប្រទេសឥណ្ឌា។
ក្នុងពេលធ្វើបុណ្យចេញវស្សានេះ ជាទូទៅនៅពេលល្ងាចឬយប់ថ្ងៃ១៥កើត ខែអស្សុជ ភិក្ខុសង្ឃដែលគង់ចាំវស្សា អស់ត្រៃមាស ក្នុងអាវាសណាមួយ ត្រូវជួបជុំគ្នាក្នុងព្រះវិហារ ដើម្បីនមស្សការព្រះរតនត្រ័យ និងសម្តែងអាបត្តិ។ ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃសម្តែងធម៌ទេសនា “ រឿងព្រះវេស្សន្តរ “ គឺជារឿងព្រះពោធិសត្វ ដែលយោនយកកំណើតក្នុងជាតិចុងក្រោយបង្អស់ ដើម្បីបំពេញទានបារមី។ ទេសនាមហាជាតក៍ត្រូវយកមកសម្តែងជូនពុទ្ធបរិស័ទជាទីសណ្តាប់ ក្នុងរាត្រីនោះដែរ។
ព្រឹកឡើង ពុទ្ធបរិស័ទយកស្រាក់បាយ សម្លនិងចង្ហាន់ផ្សេងៗមកឈរតម្រៀបគ្នាជាជួររង់ចាំដាក់បាត្រ ព្រះសង្ឃដែលមានភ្នែកដាក់ចុះនិងកាន់ទ្រនូវបាត្រ និមន្តសន្សឹមៗតាមជួរសប្បុរសជន ដើម្បីទទួលចង្ហាន់បិណ្ឌបាត្រ ប្រកបដោយសេចក្តីមេត្តានិងកាយវិការស្រគត់ស្រគំសមរម្យ។
បន្ទាប់មក សប្បុរសជនទាំងអស់នាំគ្នាទៅជួបជុំនៅក្នុងសាលាធំ ជាកន្លែងដែលពុទ្ធបរិស័ទប្រារព្ធពិធីផ្សេងៗ ដើម្បីសមាទាននិច្ចសីលឬឧបោសថសីល ស្តាប់ព្រះសង្ឃសម្តែងធម្មទេសនា និងធ្វើសមាធិ។
កម្មវិធីប្រជាប្រិយផ្សេងៗ ត្រូវបានយកមកសម្តែងនិងអប់រំប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។ ការកំសាន្តសប្បាយ និងការធ្វើបុណ្យតែងប្រព្រឹត្តឡើងក្នុងពេលជាមួយគ្នា៕
ស្រង់ចាក បុណ្យទំនៀមខ្មែរ ក្រាំងបុណ្យទាំង ១២ ខែ ភាគទី២ ឆឹង ផានសុផុន បោះពុម្ព ថ្ងៃទី ១ ឧសភា ២០០០