The truth about The Dalai-Lama., page 4

Originally posted by HowlrunnerIV

Originally posted by Astyanax
I have seen, at first hand, the evil that Buddhism does to societies, to human relationships and aspirations. I'd be only too happy to share what I have learnt with others.

Which societies?

You ask a fair question, HowlrunnerIV. I have very good reasons for not answering it directly, but I'll admit that my experience of Buddhist societies doesn't include Cambodia.

Rather than pretend to knowledge I do not have, allow me to show, if I can, that the facts you present actually support my case. I'll do this by relating them to what I know about Buddhism, particularly Theravada, and its impact on society. I will also make reference to some well-known facts about Cambodia, most of which you have already stated.

Buddhism and the Cambodian State in recent times

You say that Buddhism was suppressed and Buddhists violently persecuted under the Khmers Rouges. True. You omitted to mention, however, that the Buddhist establishment in pre-revolutionary Cambodia actively supported the widely despised 'legitimate' government, even demonstrating in favour of it.

In the [pre-Khmer Rouge] 1970s monks joined pro-government demonstrations against the communists.

That quote is from a US Army handbook on Cambodia, reproduced on the US State Department Country Studies website. You can find it on this page.

I expect this toadying to power annoyed many ordinary, impoverished Cambodians, not just Pol Pot and his mob. But it was only to be expected of the monks, since they were very much part of the establishment. Here is another quote from the same page.

Cambodian Buddhism is organized nationally in accordance with regulations formulated in 1943 and modified in 1948. During the monarchical period, the king led the Buddhist clergy. Prince Sihanouk continued in this role even after he had abdicated and was governing as head of state. He appointed both the heads of the monastic orders and other high-ranking clergy. After the overthrow of Sihanouk in 1970, the new head of state, Lon Nol, appointed these leaders.

So while it is correct that Buddhism was briefly displaced from its position of eminence under the Khmers Rouges and the Vietnamese, it was, for 32 years before and 17 years after, the State religion. It is the State religion to this day.

The anti-social religion

There was another reason why Buddhism was growing unpopular in Cambodia, a notoriously poor country. It may be inferred from another passage on the same page. This is about Buddhism as practised in Cambodia:

The most effective way to work actively to improve one's karma is to earn merit... Cambodian Buddhists tend to regard opportunities for earning merit as primarily connected with interaction with the sangha [the Buddhist monastic order], contributing to its support through money, goods, and labour and participating in its activities... Activities that gain merit include sponsoring a monk or novice, contributing to a wat [Buddhist monastery], feeding members of the sangha at a public meal, and providing food for either of the two daily meals of the sangha.

Perhaps the Cambodians had begun to tire of lavishing their meagre substance on these State-sponsored freeloaders. It seems very likely, especially considering that

Some of the favourite ways for a [Cambodian] male to earn merit are to enter the sangha as a monk or as a novice.

In fact, being fed and pampered by one's doting, impoverished, worked-to-the-bone neighbours had become so popular in Cambodia that during the 1950s, the nation was blessed with 100,000 monks and novices out of a population of 5 million. One in every 25 Cambodian men had become a non-productive social parasite.

Here we have a fine example of the antisocial character of Buddhism. In order to attain enlightenment and set oneself on the path to nirvana -- a very personal goal, by the way -- it is necessary first to reject all one's social responsibilities, then to live as a parasite off the society one has rejected. If all men were to become true Buddhists, society would crumble and -- since sexual intercourse is prohibited to those who have embarked upon the Path -- mankind would ultimately die out. And remember that, according to Theravada doctrine there is no attaining nirvana without becoming a bikkhu, a 'world-renouncer'. No salvation for the layman, who can only expect, at best, to be reborn into happier circumstances.

So much for recent history. Let's go back a little further.

Buddhism in Cambodian history

As you point out, Buddhism was first imposed upon the people of Cambodia by royal fiat. The interlocking relationship between Buddhism and the State was established at the very outset. In fact, it was no mere relationship, it was identity. This is from another page on the Country Studies site:

Unlike his predecessors, who had adopted the cult of the Hindu god-king, Jayavarman VII was a fervent patron of Mahayana Buddhism. Casting himself as a bodhisattva[a Buddha-in-becoming], he embarked on a frenzy of building activity that included the Angkor Thom complex and the Bayon... The impressive stone buildings were... the focus of Hindu or Buddhist cults that celebrated the divinity, or buddhahood, of the monarch and his family.

What, you may ask, was this society like to live in? Well, it depended on who you were.

Angkorian society was strictly hierarchical. The king, regarded as divine, owned both the land and his subjects[my emphasis]. Immediately below the monarch and the royal family were the priesthood and a small class of officials, who numbered about 4,000 in the tenth century. Next were the commoners, who were burdened with heavy corvée (forced labour) duties. There was also a large slave class that, like the nameless multitudes of ancient Egypt, built the enduring monuments.

This Mahayana Buddhist society didn't last long. As you point out, Theravada began filtering into Cambodia and displaced it, overthrowing the old social order in the process. You suggest that this was a good thing because it helped rid the people of monarchic oppression. You don't mention that it also opened the door to the slow erosion and dissolution of Cambodian society by bringing the country increasingly under Siamese (Thai) influence. Theravada Buddhism contributed to the ruin of the old Khmer states; it was as political, in its way, as the Mahayana strain that preceded it.

In fact, Buddhism -- of one flavour or another -- has been, as I said earlier, 'closely linked to traditional and highly oppressive power structures' throughout Cambodian history. The recent interregnum was a mere tiff in a marriage that has lasted centuries.

[edit on 22-11-2006 by Astyanax]