Empire of Crystal and Utopian Commune: Two Types of Contemporary Theravada Reform in Thailand

Abstract

This paper examines the cultural formation of two contemporary Thai religious movements, Thammakaay and Santi Asok. Both combine, in different manners, certain traditional cultural elements with modern urban life-style and outlook. Thammakaay, as a conformist, revitalizes Theravada belief and practice through accommodation with consumerism. The hierarchical social relations, order, and discipline are restored within a modernized organizational structure and mass rituals. Asok' s rituals, practices, merit activities, and model communities, on the other hand, manifest the combination of a post-Modernist and anti-capitalist social outlook with what it perceives as characteristics of a rural community. Different self-perceptions also lead to different attitudes towards the Sangha Order and the state.

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