Sekhiyadhamma Network:

Monks & Nuns working for the Dhammic Society

The following was written in the late 1990s while Santikaro was still living in Thailand. Phra Sekhiyadhamma is still active. Their Thai website is at www.skyd.org.

Phra Sekhiyadhamma is a small but growing network of grassroots monks and nuns struggling to integrate our study and practice of Buddha-Dhamma with responsibility for the communities, culture, and society we see crumbling around us. Modernity brings many wonders but we ponder why so much is destroyed in exchange. Further, we ask why the poor, ordinary majority of the people seem to pay the most for and benefit the least from the wonders of "spinning according to the world" (the literal meaning of lokanuiwat, the most common Thai translation for "globalization"), while having little or no say in the decision making. We believe that Buddha-Dhamma is relevant to all forms of suffering, including these. We believe that Sangha is more than yellow-robed shavelings chanting for meals and ought to be a "Sangha of the People" fully engaged in solving their communal, ecological, and economic problems (dukkha). (It is still too controversial to suggest that monks might have a role in solving political problems, although senior monks have been meddling for centuries and local monks are allowed to broker villages votes in so-called "elections.") We dedicate ourselves to "the Dhamma for training ourselves" (the literal meaning of sekhiyadhamma) that enables us to effectively serve the Triple Gem and all beings within the present realities and structures of dukkha.

Phra Sekhiyadhamma is a network of Thai monks (phra) and nuns (maechi) who share a concern for the suffering of the majority of Siam's people, especially the poor and others marginalized by modern "development." As committed religious, we strive to live out the Buddha's teaching in a way that is both personally and socially liberating. We strive to bring the Lord Buddha's teaching to the people not only through teaching and meditation, but through community based activities that

• Promote morality & the balanced lifestyles required by morality;
• Rejuvenate community life & preserve local cultural autonomy;
• Protect and nurture the ecosystems on which they depend;
• Develop the people's capacity to determine the courses of their own lives, in line with the Buddhist emphasis on self-reliance;
• Promote Buddhist alternatives to the mainstream paradigm of competition, consumption, & materialism.

Most of our members work in their local communities and areas, visiting and helping other members when opportunities arise. There are increasing efforts to coordinate their activities around different parts of the country. Some members help to coordinate such cooperation and to support local members with trainings, seminars, workshops, field trips, and information.

For a short piece on Thai monks working to protect forests: "Being There"

For a talk on the life and perspective of forest living "Forest Wat Wild Monks"

Dhammayatra for Songklha Lake

As an experiment in non-violent social movement grounded in local culture & traditions, Phra Sekhiyadhamma were the primary organizers of Thailand's first large scale Peace Walk, which was also a Green Walk. For more information on one of our most successful (and blossoming) efforts, please visit the following links:

Information on Dhammayatra II (April 20 - May 20 1997)

Summary of Dhammayatra I (March 18 - April 10 1996)

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