Housekeeping
by Danny Fisher
First, I have updated yesterday’s post about the death of Madeline Ko-i Bastis, the first Buddhist to be board certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Among the new inclusions are some lovely reflections that Chaplain Mikel Ryuho Monnett posted to the Buddhist_Chaplaincy Yahoo! Group. Please do take a look.
Second, hearkening back to Tuesday’s post about the contingent of Thai monks pushing for the establishment of Buddhism as the national religion in the new constitution, the Bangkok Post is reporting a new development: the drafting committee appointed by the military junta that led the coup last September has revealed its first draft of the constitution (which goes to the provinces for referendum later this year), and it does not name Buddhism as the national religion of Thailand.
- As a Buddhist, Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Prasong Soonsiri said he wants Buddhism to flourish, but it was not important to include such a declaration in the constitution.
[...]
Whether Buddhism will progress or decline depends on the ability of its followers, both laymen and monks, to maintain the religion, he said.
He was responding to a group of Buddhist advocates who yesterday presented a letter calling for Buddhism to be declared the national religion. The group was led by Phra Thepvisutthikavi of the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand.
“There are two things that Buddhists should concern themselves with. They need to study Lord Buddha’s teachings and then find an opportunity to try to empty their mind of all impurities,” Sqn-Ldr Prasong said.
Lastly, I really must apologize: I seem to have totally flaked out on the Buddhist Religions podcasts. I still intend to do what I set out to do, but I regret that I have not managed to do more than one at this point. I suspect that once the semester is over, I will be better. Thanks for your patience.
