พุทธไทย: ภายในวัดพระธรรมกาย Thai Buddhism: inside Wat Phra Dhammakya, 2023
35mm black & white, color negatives shot on film
Wat Phra Dhammakaya (Thai: วัดพระธรรมก“ย, is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Khlong Luang district, in the Pathum Thani province north of Bangkok, Thailand. It was founded in 1970 by the maechi (nun) Chandra Khonnokyoong and Luang Por Dhammajayo. It is the best-known and the fastest growing temple of the Dhammakaya tradition. This tradition, teaching Dhammakaya medi- tation (Vijja Dhammakaya), was started by the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro in the early-20th century. Wat Phra Dhammakaya plays a leading role in Thai Buddhism, with theologian Edward Irons describing it as “the face of modern Thai Buddhism’’. With its increasing influence, more voices outside of the Buddhism community, take the Thai government for an example, start to question the integrity of Wat Dhammakaya, accusing its involvement with illegal activities such as money laundering. In 2016, the police force of the Thai government entered the Dhammakaya temple and searched for its hosting master, but never found him. The evidence of its illegal slowly solidifies, and the general community of Thai Buddhism quickly formed two parties: one disapproves the Dhammakaya temple to continuous to be the face of its religion, the other however criticizes the government for its violent involvement in this matter, stating that the freedom of belief is endangered. In This serie invites the reader to see the landscape of some of the most famous Buddhist temples in Thailand, and more importantly, to read an interview’s transcription of a high-level master, which spend his whole life in Wat Dhammakaya practicing, speaking with Huilun about his views on Buddhism’s role in current days. To be aware, the interview was done with the assistance of an English-Thai interpreter who works for the Dhammakaya temple, and Huilun did not directly communicate with the master. The questions asked were later realised to be heavily censored by the interpreter during the transcribing process.
Master ฉัน
