The Dhammadhara journal has entered its 6th year with the release of this 10th issue. In the month of January 2020, great news arrived: our journal passed the quality assessment by the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI) and has been categorized as tier 2. This enables writers who publish their articles in the Dhammadhara journal to present their work for consideration to advance their scholarly position or graduate from their doctoral degree. I would like to rejoice and express gratitude to the scholars who inspected the articles, the writers, the editorial team, the donors who sponsored the publishing and everyone else involved.
This issue contains various content, from Buddhism in Thailand and the original principles in the Tipiṭaka, to Mahāyana Buddhism and concepts from western philosophers that resemble that of Buddhism.
The article “A Comparative study on Patterns of Mind Development of five Meditation Lineages in Thai Society” by Phramaha Wutthichai Wutthichayo, Ph.D. (Pali IX) explores several Buddhist meditation practices: the ‘Bhud-dho’ practice, the breathing meditation practice, the abdominal expansion practice, the Rupa-Nama practice and the Sammā Arahang practice. It makes a sound comparison of these meditation techniques and the Tripitaka and Visuddhimagga scriptures. Readers who are interested in meditation should not miss out.
The article ‘Mahāyāna Buddhism: Reasons for Diversity in the Buddha’s Teachings’ translated by Phramaha Pongsak Thaniyo, Ph.D, was written by Prof.Dr. Sasaki Shizuka, a specialist on Theravāda Buddhism from the Mahāyāna-dominant nation of Japan. Therefore, we will see a unique perspective on Mahāyāna Buddhism, Theravāda Buddhism and the original teachings of the Buddha, as well as the bigger picture of how Buddhism developed and propagated throughout history for over 2500 years.
The article “Schopenhauer: a critique of arguments against pessimism” by Dr. Rungnipa Liang illuminates to us Schopenhauer – a German philosopher who expressed, almost two hundred years ago, a worldview that sees life as suffering. This stirred a great deal of criticism in the west. It was seen as pessimistic and opposed to happiness-first concepts, in which seeing things in a positive light would allow life to be more hopeful and prosperous.
However, when considered to the end of its progression, myopic optimism leads to material attachment or the concept of Cārvāka. Perhaps the Middle Way could be the answer. That is to be aware of the truth that life is suffering, whilst maintaining hope that we can overcome suffering by following the Noble eightfold path. This will bring about happiness and less suffering in this world and the next, and ultimately the end of suffering.
The most important collection of the Buddha’s teachings is the Pali canon, which was recorded by memorization and transmitted orally during the first 400 years after the Buddha’s passing away. It was eventually written down on palm leaf scriptures in 5 lineages which are Sri Lankan, with Singhalese script; Thai, with Khmer script; Burmese; Lanna, with Dhamma script; and Mon. Each lineage had to continually make new copies because of the limited lifespan of the palm leaf. Thanks to the amazing endeavor of the teaching monks in the past who preserved the Buddha’s teachings so marvelously, these different scripture lineages contain vastly similar content with only slight differences in detail.
The article “The Usage of Commentaries for Determining an Original Reading: A Case Study of the Dīghanikāya” by Dr. Bunchird Chaowarithreonglith clearly exhibits that we can use the Aṭṭhakathā commentary to search for the original words of the Tipiṭaka by studying 48 Palm leaf scriptures of Dīghanikāya from all lineages. This is extremely beneficial to the study of Buddhist scriptures globally. Additionally, this research study has used the highest number of palm leaf scriptures, and this effort has done a lot to help preserve the Buddha’s teaching in the purest and most complete way.
Finally, another interesting article is “Octagonal Pillar Inscription from Chainat : the Oldest Inscription Recording Abhidhamma Aṭṭhakathā Text in Thailand” by Dr. U-tain Wongsathit, who studied Pali texts found on Chainat Province’s 1,500 year old stone pillar from the Tolopoti era. The texts were compared with that from the Pali canon and the Aṭṭhakathā. It is delightful that such an exuberant study of an ancient Buddhist inscription in is in progress.
I hope the readers will gain every benefit from the various articles in this issue of the Dhammadhara Journal.
Phragrupalad Suvattanabodhigun (Somchai Thanavuddho)
20 February 2020
Published: 2020-03-30
