World Conqueror and World Renouncer Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- 13 The Composition and Distribution of Religious Personnel: What the Figures Say
- 14 Monkhood as an Avenue of Social Mobility
- 15 Monastic Careers and Monastic Network
- 16 Patronage of the Sangha and the Legitimation of the Polity
- 17 Reformism and Ideological Transformation Based on Tradition
- 18 Missionary Monks (Thammathud) and National Development
- 19 The Politics of National Development and the Symbols of Legitimacy
- 20 Dialectical Tensions, Continuities, Transformations, and the Uses of the Past
- Bibliography
- Index
15 - Monastic Careers and Monastic Network
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- 13 The Composition and Distribution of Religious Personnel: What the Figures Say
- 14 Monkhood as an Avenue of Social Mobility
- 15 Monastic Careers and Monastic Network
- 16 Patronage of the Sangha and the Legitimation of the Polity
- 17 Reformism and Ideological Transformation Based on Tradition
- 18 Missionary Monks (Thammathud) and National Development
- 19 The Politics of National Development and the Symbols of Legitimacy
- 20 Dialectical Tensions, Continuities, Transformations, and the Uses of the Past
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
I have so far attempted to delineate the monastic educational network, its wide rural base in outlying provinces and its telescoping and narrowing toward the major cities. Let us now try to put some flesh on this skeleton by considering a few biographies of monks and novices. I present now four biographies, which are by no means atypical, to give us a wealth of qualitative detail denied us by quantitative measures.
Phra Maha T, Wat Chana Songkram, Banglampoo, Age 26 (1971)
I met Phra Maha T on July 11, 1971, and he freely talked about his career and his future plans.
He said that he was bom in the village called Baan Daunthan, located in the muang district of Sakon Nakhon province, northeastern Thailand. He went to the village primary school, passed prathom-4 grade, and then was ordained a novice at the village wat (Wat Daunthan). After nine years of study as novice he was ordained monk at the age of 21.
While a novice he began moving to other wats, thereby furthering his education. He first went to a small wat in Nakhon Sawan province (Wat Phudamongkonimit), where he lived for two years, attending school at Wat Potharam, which he said was famous for Pali studies. […]
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- Information
- World Conqueror and World RenouncerA Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical Background, pp. 313 - 364Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1976