[Buddha-l] Dawkins: The God Delusion

[Tyler Cann]

Oh, goodness.  The above statement about the Thai caretaker is unfortunate, though not at all unsurprising.  I  live in Thailand, and materialistic interpretations of kamma abound.  Common Thais almost invariably tie material wealth in the present life to kusala kamma in previous ones, not realizing that wealth does not always connote a reduction in dukkha.   Is this part of  'Thai Buddhism'?  Who knows.  Thai religion is such an inextricable mass of Lankavamsa, Burmese Pagan, and Khmer Buddhisms, as well as Brahmanism and animism, that it is not possible to pin any modern outgrowth of Thai religious life on any particular historical influence.  

I can say for certain, however, that for many Thais, material success serves as the the primary indicator of kammic record.  Although religion has faded into the background for many modern, urban Thais I feel that this materialistic veiw of kamma has contributed to the avaricious outlook held so commonly in Thailand today.  I cannot help but thinking of the universiality and poignancy of Weber's 'Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism' here.  As worldly success supplanted religious ritual in early American Christianity, and eventually gave way to secularism, so has the centrality of the temple in Thai cultural life been replaced by that of teh Mercedes-Benz dealership.

As a bit of a more real-world example of the importance most modern, urban Thais place on wealth, which I, as said above, believe to be the long-term outgrowth of a skewed interpretation of kamma, I shall refer to a recent anecdote involving  my fiancee's co-workers.  This group of up-and-coming, female marketing professionals were discussing one colleague's new boyfriend.  The 32 year-old spoke of her new beau proudly and unabashedly, and all praised her 'good catch.'  There was no hint of disapproval or shock in the co-workers' congratulatory remarks, as the new boyfriend was the wealthy vice-president of a major technology company.  He is 77 years old.

Tyler
 
 Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/private/buddha-l/attachments/20061107/cc40bfe2/attachment.htm