Buddhism in Laos

Buddhism by country

Theravada Buddhism is the largest religion in Laos, which is practiced by 66% of the population. Lao Buddhism is a unique version of Theravada Buddhism and is at the basis of ethnic Lao culture. Buddhism in Laos is often closely tied to animist beliefs and belief in ancestral spirits, particularly in rural areas. However, Laos is a multi ethnic country with a large proportion of non Buddhist groups that adhere to religions that are often subsumed under the denominator "animism", but that can also substantially overlap with Buddhism, or a least contain Buddhist elements resulting from cross cultural contact. The percentage of the population that adheres to Buddhism in modern Laos is variously reported, the CIA World Factbook estimates 66% of the total population identify as Buddhist. Although this overall number is likely to be correct, there are large variations from province to province. Ethnic minority provinces like Sekong had only a quota of 20% of Buddhists in 2005, while provinces largely populated by ethnic Lao like Champassak reach 92% in the same year. There are also some Chinese or Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhists, primarily in urban centers.

Theravada Buddhism is believed to have first reached Laos during the 7th – 8th centuries CE, via the kingdom of Dvaravati. According to local historiography, Fa Ngum brought his Khmer Theravada teacher with him to act as adviser and head priest of the new kingdom. This Khmer monk named Phramaha Pasaman also brought to the kingdom a revered image of the Buddha that became known as the Phra Bang, the namesake of the city of Luang Prabang and the symbol of the Lao kingdom. This is also attested by the fact laws for governing the monastic order have been an important part of Buddhist statecraft in pre modern, but also colonial Laos.

The French colonial regime from early on sponsored Buddhism and its educational institutions. New curricula were set up, several monasteries were renovated and the educational system for monks was transformed so that it could serve colonial demands. During the 1920s, the administration of Buddhism in Laos was further reorganized by Prince Phetsarath and the French colonial regime. Lao monks first went to Phnom Penh to study at the Buddhist Institute, but Lao branches were finally opened in 1931, reflecting the peripheral position of Laos in the colonial project. The French introduced new curricula based on the study of selected and appropriate texts, awarded monks with certificates and printed Buddhist books. Gregory Kourilsky and Soren Ivarsson have explored this restructuring of Buddhist education under French colonialism. They argue that the agendas behind this reorganization of Buddhism in Cambodia and Laos were similar: In order to build a national Buddhism within the context of Indochina, Siamese influence had to be curtailed. Instead of Bangkok, the Khmer and the Lao branches of the Buddhist Institute were to become centers for the higher education for monks. This sponsorship and control of Buddhism was also grounded in Buddhism's potential for anti colonial resistance: During the early phase of French colonialism Buddhist millennial movements caused major troubles for the French regime, and parts of the Khmer sangha also opposed French influence. The influence of these colonial reforms in the field of monastic education were somewhat neutralized by the increasing political struggles during the 1950s, and finally the socialist revolution in 1975. However, during the first years of independence until 1975, signs of secularization also became visible in the domain of monastic education: While a state school system was spreading, monastic education became an increasingly specialized subfield.

Monks were the first to attend Pathet Lao political seminars. At first, they attended voluntarily but as these seminars became protracted re education classes, monks had to be forced to attend. In these seminars, the monks were taught the Pathet Lao interpretation of Buddhism. Monks were taught Marxism Leninism in Buddhist institutes. Both Marxism and Buddhism taught the equality of all men. The Sangha, as a community of men who lived and worked together without individual ownership of property, was similar to a Marxist collective. Both Marxism and Buddhism at an abstract level, aimed to liberate mankind from suffering and to attain happiness. The Pathet Lao tried to purge Buddhism of such superstition as belief in the existence of demons, or of life after death in one of the Buddhist heavens or hells. The accumulation of merit was downplayed; and karma was denounced as leading to fatalism and pacifism. While proclaiming that Buddhism and Marxism was compatible, the Pathet Lao also sought actively to replace the Dhamma with Marxism Leninism. They also sought to discourage merit making, as it was seen as a diversion of scarce resources. To the Pathet Lao, religion still conflicted with the formation of an orthodox Marxist Leninist state. Ironically, the Pathet Lao's attack on the popular aspects of Lao Buddhist practice such as spirit worship and use of special amulets may have actually led to an increased orthodoxy in Lao Buddhism as it is reverting closer to Buddha's original teachings. Thai followers of Buddhadasa are of the opinion that Lao Buddhism has freed itself from false beliefs and local accretions. They point out that spirit worship and the blessing of amulets, which were not part of Buddha's teachings, have been prohibited. More importantly, the Sangha remained as an alternative route to social advancement outside the Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP, the political wing of the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao sought to make the Sangha an instrument of party policy. It was also important to control the Sangha as it was one of the few organisations that had penetrated every village in Laos. The sectarian divisions between Maha nikay and Thammanyut nikay was abolished and the Sangha was restructured as the Lao United Buddhists Association. This association was placed under the auspices of the Department of Religious Affairs in the Ministry of Education. The traditional Sangha hierarchy, including the Sangharaja was abolished and their elaborate fans which were the symbols of their ranks, were smashed. Executive positions in the Lao United Buddhists Association were filled by Party appointees. All high ranking monks had to attend month long political indoctrination classes. Theravada monks have to attend a fortnightly recitation of the Pāṭimokkha or the 227 verses of monastic discipline in Pali. This became transformed as a forum to criticise monks who had strayed from the Party line. Monks began to leave the Sangha or flee to Thailand. At the beginning of 1976, a number of attacks were mounted against Buddhism. The teaching of religion and Buddhist morality was prohibited in primary schools. Buddhist monks were harassed by local cadres. These attacks did not last as it led to great public opposition. The Pathet Lao also realised that they still needed the monks for their propaganda objectives. By the end of 1976, these pressures on the Sangha ceased. These pressures also ceased at the same time that the Pathet Lao completed the reorganisation of the Sangha. Monks are still invited to attend all secular state occasions, such as National Day. Official government delegations have attended major Buddhist festivals such as the That Luang Festival. (Trankell 2000, p. 198). Although monks are not harassed, they have to use their sermons to encourage the people to support the Party and its policies. This also had the effect of reducing the prestige of the Sangha in the eyes of the laity. Traditionally, the independence of the Sangha acted as the foundation of its moral authority; it was aloof and detached from mundane affairs. By using the monks as a vehicle of political indoctrination, the moral authority of the Sangha was weakened. Refugee Lao monks and anti communist informants have reported that the situation in Laos was much more serious. Pressure against the Sangha increased between 1976 and 1979. One monk who left Vientiane in December 1976 said that pressure was only subtle and indirect. Monks who did not toe the party line were disciplined by the Sangha and monks were sent on re education courses but none had been executed. By 1979, 1000 monks were reported to have been confined to re education camps. Another monk who fled Southern Laos in May 1978 reported more heavy handed methods. There were unverified reports that monks had been arrested and shot. In March 1979, the eighty seven year old Sangharaja of Laos, Venerable Thammayano, fled to Thailand by floating across the Mekong on a raft of inflated car inner tubes. He had been confined to his monastery and was not allowed to preach (Zago 1978). He stated that youths were dissuaded from joining the Sangha and that monastic teachings had to adhere to government guidelines. There was a serious decrease in the number of monks in the Lao Sangha during this period. Some monks left the Sangha, many fled and some were sent to labour camps. Young novices were persuaded by the government to leave the Sangha with offers of secular training and education and special vocational schools were set up for them. This was not aided by the loss of prestige of the Lao Sangha, which was being seen as a tool of government policy. The significant number of monks who had escaped to Thailand and monks who aided the anti communist insurgents demonstrates that the regime's attempt to co opt the Sangha was not completely successful.

The official attitudes towards Buddhism began to liberalise, in tandem with economic liberalization in the late 1980s. The Buddhist Sangha has expanded their traditional roles. Previously, they focused on teaching Buddhism but they also assist in adult literacy programs after the formation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. They teach the Lao language and other subjects in places where schools are not available or where teachers are not available. They play a prominent role in education, especially early education. They continue their role as traditional healers in a country where doctors are scarce. However, they are prohibited from issuing cures of a spiritualist nature. They can dispense traditional herbal cures and Western medicines. In this sense, the Buddhist Sangha have had to re invent themselves by emphasising their utilitarian roles in Lao society. The Sangha has become seen as a preserver of national culture, especially in the maintenance of wats and monasteries. Buddhism has survived because it remains central to the cultural identity of Laos, and Buddhism is inextricably interwoven with Lao culture.

By the early 1990s, Buddhism was on the resurgence. The wat still remained as an important focus of social life. Lines of monks could accept morning offerings from the faithful without interference and attendance at Buddhist ceremonies increased again. At the annual Pha That Luang Festival, most members of the Politburo could be seen making offerings to monks. (Trenkell 2000, p. 198). Now party officials also engage more visibly in the worship of the relics enshrined in this monument and thereby reaffirm the relationship between Buddhism and the state – a long standing feature of Buddhism, its cosmology and the political sphere. Moreover, in 2003 and 2010 the Ministry of Information and Culture inaugurated statues of King Fa Ngum and King Anouvong. The rituals surrounding the worship of relics and statues have become displays of the patronage power of the Lao government that thereby is intending to connect itself to a glorious Buddhist past in order to increase its legitimacy in the present. However, many state rituals have also been carefully re engineered since 1975. While government policy towards religion has liberalized, the Sangha remains under Party control and monks have to study official government policy. Since the 1990s, the Sangha has been re oriented as a primarily religious organisation. With Buddhist institutions being still firmly integrated into the Party State, Buddhism and the language, moral values and lifestyles associated with it, are now again promoted as "national culture". Vatthana Pholsena describes this as "a secularized image of Buddhism in order to reconcile the official ideology and the religion." A process of the Buddhification of the political sphere, but also everyday culture and is observable, at least in regions with a high proportion of ethnic Lao. Although the ethnic and religious conversion of animist ethnic minorities has been a long standing feature of the region, it seems that the increasing reach of the nation state accelerates this process. 'Laotification' and 'Buddhification' very often go hand in hand, at least in some southern regions of Laos where Mon Khmer minorities and ethnic Lao live in close proximity to each other. Like in the past, Buddhism offers social upward mobility to poorer segments of society and ethnic minorities. Buddhist institutes for the training of monks like Champasak Sangha College have been devoting more time to the teaching of religious disciplines such as the foundation of the Dhamma, the disciplinary code, Pali, the life of the Buddha and the Buddhist canon. Monks appear to give talks on television and radio and they are allowed to give talks in schools and have access to patients in hospitals. Lately, a kind of socially engaged Buddhism has also developed in Laos. Monks are now actively involved in HIV and drug prevention programs and expand into other areas that mix social work, environmental protection and education. The UNESCO world heritage status of Luang Prabang has also led to more global engagements of its Buddhist institutions: The highest ranking monk of Luang Prabang Maha Khamchan Virachitto (1920–2007) kept his transnational networks even during the time of socialism active, and has had a major impact on the resurgence of Buddhism in Laos. The large collection of photos he left after his death, and those of other laypeople and monks taken over the last hundred years, are now being transformed into an archive that will be of great value for documenting the past of the religious culture of the city.

Laotian Buddhists are very devout, and in the past almost every Laotian man joined a monastery, or temple, for at least a short period of time. Some men eventually become monks for the rest of their lives. Due to the demands of modern life, this practice is currently undergoing changes. Most people donate food to the monks as an act of generosity to gain merit and accumulate positive karma. The temples of Laos were once seen as "Universities" for monks. Buddhist monks are highly respected and revered in Laotian communities. Based on traditional beliefs, the women were taught that they can only attain Nibbāna or fully enlightenment after they have been reborn as men.

The Pha That Luang, Wat Sisakhet, Wat Xieng Thong, and That Dam are all Buddhist structures in Laos. Lao Buddhism is also famous for images of the Buddha performing uniquely Lao mudras, or gestures, such as calling for rain, and striking uniquely Lao poses such as showing the Buddha lying down and welcoming death, after which he would achieve Nirvana. During the colonial era, Henri Parmentier undertook a massive survey of Lao arts and architecture that remains of crucial value for the general documentation of this field before the destruction that took place in the 1960s and 1970s (Parmentier 1988).