Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice

Preface

Preface Surprisingly little material specifically related to Cambodian Buddhism has been written in English. A brief glance at the bibliography accompanying this book demonstrates the truth of this assertion. Rather more is available in French, as one would expect from the ex-colonial power, but much is out of print and can be consulted only in specialist libraries. In addition the bulk of French-language materials tends toward the recondite, and no introductory overview exists. The present book represents a modest attempt to fill the gap. In 1853 the Catholic priest Jean Claude Miche had been responsible for drafting King Ang Duang’s letter to Napoleon III, asking for French protection and aid in retrieving the provinces of Cambodia that had been lost to the neighboring powers of Thailand and Vietnam. Thus he was instrumental in establishing a European presence in the region. But he was also an early observer of the religious scene. Yet to his prejudiced eyes Cambodian Buddhism appeared a “vast and absurd Pantheism, which covers with its veil a hopeless atheism.” He wrote that it “defies the whole of nature,” for its sacred writings ranked “man in the same class with the brutes.” Its conception of heaven was likewise problematic , in that the blessed were supposed to experience various joys that “for the most part consist in carnal pleasures of which decency forbids the mention ” (Miche 1852, 605, 607–610). Such attitudes must be seen in their historical context, but they were quite long-lived and influential. Indeed, some of them have persisted down to the present. But they were soon to be challenged by a more careful and less ideologically charged approach to the study of Buddhism in the region. Adhémard Leclère had begun service as a fonctionnaire in Cambodia in 1866, but he is principally known today for his seminal work of 1899, Le buddhisme au Cambodge. This remarkable book is one of the very few works of Western vii scholarship to treat the subject in the round. It covers matters as diverse as cosmology and metaphysics, the annual cycle of the Buddhist year with its various festivals, and monastic ordination and contains materials that illuminate both ecclesiastical organization and discipline. It is therefore a fundamental starting point for anyone seriously wishing to understand the nature and practice of Buddhism in Cambodia. Yet it does, to my mind, suªer from a number of problems. From a practical perspective it is available only in French and, despite a relatively recent reprint, continues to be rather di‹cult to obtain. It is also quite weak from the historical standpoint, and it reveals a tendency, particularly in the more doctrinally oriented sections, to indulge in somewhat tangential discussion of issues of more interest to the Christian theologian than to the student wishing to know more about the nature of traditional beliefs and practices. Admittedly, Leclère has abandoned the coarser forms of Christian missionary rhetoric found in Miche, yet an unexamined European triumphalism remains. Leclère admits the “elevated” character of Buddhist philosophy and ethics yet regards the mass of ordinary Cambodian Buddhists as lacking intellectual strength: “[they] are excessively contemplative, slack, without initiative , very imaginative; they seem always to have had for their sacred domain absolute respect for their ancestors, even the most barbaric” (1899, xiii). Thus, his work acted as a lens through which Cambodian culture and history were refracted in support of those anxious to extend French influence in the region. Much of Leclère’s oeuvre is concerned with the traditions of the Cambodian court, but he also shows a strong concern for ethnology. Although many of the rustic practices he describes are no longer attested, his ethnological instincts appear to have been sound. In this respect he may also be identified as the progenitor of a line of fine scholars interested in Khmer folk traditions. The work of Éveline Porée-Maspero, culminating in her three-volume study entitled Étude sur les rites agraires des Cambodgiens (1962–1969), is the most obvious example, although more recently the baton has been taken up by Ang Chouléan, particularly in his Les êtres surnaturels dans la religion populaire khmère (1986). Both scholars shed new light on the nature of Cambodian religiosity, and, when relevant to Buddhist history and praxis, their insights have been incorporated into the fabric of my own work. Having acknowledged these debts, by far and away the most significant scholar in...