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11 The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist Ecology Movement in Thailand Susan M. Darlington A Buddhist ecology movement, developing in Thailand and other Buddhist nations, addresses local and national problems of deforestation and ecological destruction. While this is only one aspect of the growing environmentalism in Thailand (Hirsch 1996), the Buddhists involved in this movement see their religion as critical for providing practical as well as moral guidelines for ecological conservation. This focuses on how Buddhists, especially monks, put their concepts of Buddhism and ecology into action, and the consequent reinterpretations of both sets of concepts that result from such behavior. As Buddhism is increasingly used to promote social activism such as conservation, its role in Thai society is also being implicitly challenged and reworked. While the exact changes that will occur are unknown, the Buddhist ecology movement’s potential direction may be glimpsed by examining how rituals, particularly ordaining trees, promote the ecology movement, lending it economic, political, social, and moral force. “Ecology monks” are those actively engaged in environmental and conservation activities who respond to the suffering which environment degradation causes. A major aim of Buddhism is to relieve suffering, the root causes of which are greed, ignorance, and hatred. The monks see the destruction of the forests, pollution of the air and water, and other environmental problems as ultimately caused by people acting through these evils, motivated by economic gain and the material benefits of development, industrialization , and consumerism. As monks, it is their duty to take action against these evils. Their actions bring them into the realm of political and economic debates, especially concerning the rapid development of the Thai economy and control of natural resources. ecology monks In Thailand, the self-proclaimed “ecology monks” (phra nak anuraksa) are at the core of the Buddhist ecology movement. Although some participate 144 / Susan M. Darlington in the scholarly debate on the issue, their priorities lie in action to preserve vanishing forests, watersheds, and wildlife and mitigate the negative consequences of their disappearance on people’s lives. To understand the current ecology movement in Thailand, and ultimately in other Buddhist nations , it is important to examine the effect of the practice of the ecology monks on religion in Thailand to see how they base their projects on Buddhism , reinterpreting and rearticulating religious concepts, the role of the Sangha (the order of Buddhist monks), and the function of Buddhist rituals in the process. The number of monks involved in the ecology movement in Thailand, although small, has recently grown rapidly,1 with the popularity of environmentalism currently sweeping Thailand. Given the respect the Sangha commands in Thai society, the potential for their ecological activism is high. This can be illustrated through the analysis of an ecology project conducted in 1991 in Nan Province, northern Thailand. This project, coordinated by a Buddhist monk, involved the creation and sanctification of a protected community forest through the ordination of the largest remaining tree in the forest. The tree ordination provides insight into how the ecology monks throughout Thailand are rethinking Buddhism and adapting Buddhist rituals to promote their cause. Their concern is as much to maintain the relevance of the religion in a rapidly changing world of industrialization and modernization as to create an environmental awareness among local people and the Thai nation as a whole. Over the past century, the government has taken over many traditional activities of Thai village monks. While the temples remain the spiritual heart of villages, they only occasionally still house schools or serve as health care centers or community centers (Darlington 1990; Kingshill 1965; Tambiah 1970). To compensate and maintain close contact with the laity, many monks perform an increasing number of ritualistic ceremonies. The more active , visible, and, in many ways, controversial response has been to move toward socially engaged action. This first manifested itself in Thailand in the 1970s through the rise of the development monks (phra nak phadthanaa), who promote grassroots economic development throughout the country (Darlington 1990; Somboon 1987, 1988). From the development monks emerged the ecology monks, who see their work as monks and Buddhists as promoting human responsibility toward the natural (and inherently social) environment. They stress an interpretation of the religion that emphasizes the Buddha’s connection with nature and the interdependence of all things. While many of these monks work independently in their conservation programs, they are aware of the actions of other monks, share ideas, information, and experiences, and participate in regional and national training seminars...

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