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Buddhist Monks and Monasteries in Thailand Part 2

Today, although the spread of the government system of education has brought modern schools to replace the traditional schools, and though fewer monks teach in schools of the new system, most of the public and government schools are still housed in monastery buildings or located in the compounds of monasteries. The abbot is still the spiritual leader of the community in whom the people put full trust and to whom they give hearty cooperation in all activities, both religious and secular. For the people it is still an honour and a means of gaining merit to do such a thing as feed the monks or give them other necessities of life. Usually each morning the monks still leave the monastery for the morning alms-round. In the monastery, there is also a special hall where the people can make merit by offering their gifts of food, by listening to regular sermons and by performing other meritorious actions.

The condition of the monastery always reflects the economy of the community. Monasteries in the provinces are therefore often small, while those located in great cities, especially in Bangkok, are quite large. In larger monasteries there are many structures for the use of monks and sacred buildings containing Buddha statues, images and other objects of worship. An average or typical monastery contains at least two types of buildings: living quarters for monks, or dormitories, and an Uposatha hall in which the monks perform ecclesiastical acts and ceremonies. In addition to these, there may be many other buildings such as a Viharn or repository of Buddha images, some types of stupas called Chedi or Prang, a bell tower or belfry, a square building for the Buddha's footprint, a scriptural library, a museum, a preaching and merit-making hall, a crematorium and buildings for religious studies and those for a public school.

There are usually a number of novices living with the monks in every monastery. In some monasteries there may also be a number of white-robed female devotees living in a separate section of the monastery. The numbers of monks and novices are not the same in all monasteries. In larger monasteries the numbers range from 100 to 600, but in smaller ones, especially in the far provinces, there are very few, usually fewer than ten. There may even be only one monk or one monk and one novice. On the average, there are about 8 monks and 4 novices .in a monastery. In the whole country, the total number of monks is 233,978 and that of novices is 105,670. Most of the younger monks are students. Elder monks work as teachers on religious and some secular subjects, as meditation-masters and practitioners, as preachers, and as ecclesiastical administrators, and sometimes as counselors of the villagers, especially on spiritual matters.

Ninety-nine percent of the novices are students under the guidance and guardianship of the monks.
Besides the monks and novices there are also a large number of temple boys or monastery boys. These boys, including many young men, live under guardianship of the monks, serving as their attendants, and use the monasteries as dormitories in which to live while attending public schools, secondary schools and universities.

There are two kinds of monasteries: the royal and the community or private ones. Royal monasteries are mostly large, having very beautiful and ornamental sacred buildings and many other artistic works. Among them are Wat Po (the Monastery of the Reclining Buddha), Wat Bencha (the Marble Monastery or, popularly called, the Marble Temple), Wat Arun (the Monastery of Dawn), Wat Srakes (the Monastery of the Golden Mount), Wat Phra Prathom Chedi (the Monastery of the First Stupa). Wat Phra Kaeo (the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha or the Chapel Royal) is also a royal Wat, but it cannot be called a monastery in the full sense of the term as it is the only Wat that has no living quarters for monks. The royal monasteries now number 186, while the number of community monasteries amounts to 28,010. By denomination, all monasteries fall under two groups, namely, Mahanikaya monasteries, numbering26,694, and Dhammayut monasteries, numbering 1,502.

Of whatever types or in whatever part of the country the monks and monasteries may be, they play important roles in the spiritual and cultural life of Thai society and have played these roles throughout her long history of more than 700 years.

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