Dhammayatra Lampatao Basin: Dhamma for Nature

Abstract

This article aims to review the meaning of the word Dhammayatra, the history of Dhammayatra in Thailand, and to review the operation of the Dhammayatra Lampatao Basin Project, Chaiyaphum Province by collecting the data from primary source as the Tripitaka, and secondary sources such as books, textbooks, journal articles and electronic media. The finding of the word Dhammayatra means travelling with Dhamma, a walking parade to conduct any activities which related to Buddhist doctrine and socially engaged that canonized in the Tripitaka: mindfulness by walking or walking with Dhamma was written evidence on the 8th Rock Edicts of King Ashokha the Great. The history of Dhammayatra in Thailand inspired by the Dhammayatra of Maha Ghosananda in Cambodia. The first Dhammayatra for Songkhla Lake in 1996 lead by Nawaka of the Sekhiyatham Group, to help the environmental problems of Songkhla Lake, was considered a model for Dhammayatra in Thailand. Dhammayatra projects were initiated by monks in conjunction with secularists. The main aims try to link the social development and religious together as social action, to solve problems and change society for the better. The operation of the Dhammayatra Lampatao Basin Project was first held in 2000 B.E. by the speech of Phrakru Banpotsuwankij regarding the local environmental deterioration and conduct by Phra Paisal Visalo, the abbot of Wat Pa Sukato Forest Monastery, Ban Mai Thai Charan Village, Tha Mafai Wan sub district, Kaengkhro district, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand. He has been continuously leading and driving the project for the past two decades. The objectives to apply Dhamma in everyday life, to conserve the environment and nature of the Lampatao Basin and to link the Buddhist values of simple living and respect for nature with a campaign to save the ecology of the basin, as an engaged Buddhism for environmental development guideline. The movement consists of monks and secularists. An important activity is walking, called Dhammayatra, a peaceful and conscious walk for nature, to walk with Dhamma, to restore the degraded forest while also developing their own thoughts and minds, as a meditation to refine themselves.