Pali grammar/education in Thailand

I posted a few articles to the list on (the decline of) Pali education in
Burma and Sri Lanka, as I recall, but this is the first on the state of
things in Thailand.  This is torn from the pages of the Bangkok post, and
written by a monk whom I would be very interested to meet.  I've heard vague
statements about problem's with "The King's Kaccayana" (and how this is
related to the dismally low level of Pali literacy in Thailand), but this is
the first article I've seen that "spells it out".  Worth reading right
through to the end (the portion about grammatical textbooks differing from
Kaccayana begins about half-way through), even if it is a bit erratic in
composition, and has some strange tangents along the way.
E.M.
  ------
[Title:] Anna and the retarded education
[Subtitle:] That monastic education is trapped in the past and by rules
which are as quixotic as they are anachronistic

[Main text:]
The good news about a Buddhist monastic education is that it has served
Thailand and most Buddhist countries in Asia as the main thrust of literacy
for hundreds of years.  This is attested to in the records of foreigners and
Christian missionaries in Asia who were surprised by the high literacy rate
among native Buddhists in countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Siam and
Mongolia.

The monastic system provided many boys from poor rural areas a way up the
social ladder.  Many leaders in Asia were educated or supported by monks or
nuns before attaining success in life.  However, this does not mean that the
traditional monastic education and training is the foundation of an advanced
learning system as required by modern society.

The bad news about education in Buddhist monasteries in Thailand is that it
is based almost exclusively on memorization; critical thinking plays little
part.  It is conditioned by the traditional system of feudal obedience.  No
student has the right to question his teachers.

This is in contrast with the liberal and critical attitude of early Buddhist
monastic training expounded by the Buddha in the canonical literature.  This
does not condone any concept of obedience to a guru.  The message opf the
Buddha encourages his listeners not to believe in him nor accept his
teachings without putting them to the test of thorough and critical
analysis.

Monks here are taught to accept the teachings of their master without
question.  Criticism or analysis of any passage or myth about the life of
Buddha is neither welcome nor tolerated.

Worse than the rigid system of religious orthodoxy in the monastic
philosophy of education is that students in this education system are not
encouraged to study the Tipitaka, the very canonical literature of Buddhism.
Instead, their studies are limited to the commentaries from the Mahavihara
monastery in Sri Lanka of the 5th century C.E. [Note: this was one of
Buddhadasa's "Big issues" for about 40 years; but he did not bring about any
change outside of the monasteries he founded --E.M.].  The traditional
system of exegesis is based on fables and tales written by commentators and
preserved in the Pali language, which is believed to be the language of the
state of Magadha, the legendary root language of the cosmos, spoken by the
Buddha.

Despite the fact the legend of the root language of Pali as the language of
the Buddha [sic.] has no support in the Tipitaka, this belief is one of the
distinctive characteristics of Theravada Buddhism, which is the only form of
the religion that takes the language as the one and only sacred language of
Buddhism.  Based on this assumption Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan, Chinese
or Mongolian are seen as heterodox.

Even worse than this is that the text on Pali grammar, mandated for national
Pali examination in Thailand differs greatly from books of Pali grammar
taught in other Theravada countries.  Not only is this book without
references, thus preventing readers from learning about the history and
origin of Pali, its format is not based on the traditional book of grammar
in Pali that was known in Sri Lanka or Burma.

The Pali Grammar Book, whitten by Somdet Phra Mahasamanchao Krom Phra
Vajirayanvarosos, classified Pali grammar into four parts: morphology, parts
of speech, syntax, and the prosody system of division [sic.] not shared in
books of Pali grammar taught in other Theravada countries.  Nowhere in this
authoritative book does the princely monk acknowledge his sources.

The alien format of the grammar was taken from Victorian English.  The
source of the format, of course, was taken from his English instructor when
he was a young prince.  This could have been Anna Leonowens, who was
employed by King Rama IV to educate the royal children.

Because of the authority of the princely monk, who later became the leader
of Buddhism in Thailand, the syllabus cannot be changed.  Monks and novices
are forced to memorize the paradigms, and the hybrid Pali grammar posed in a
modern European language; the learning style is like parrots without any
clear understanding of its true meaning.  The translation they learn is
based entirely on what their teacher tells them; no independent thinking is
allowed.  It is not surprising therefore that the Thai translation of Pali
literature is quite different in several details from that of other scholars
in the Pali language and from other Theravada Buddhist countries.

Worse than this already bad news is that there is no way for the Thai feudal
monastic system to reform monastic education, as it is closely intertwined
with the monarchy and pride of ecclesiastical feudalism.

The adverse effect of the current traditional monastic education is obvious
in Thai society, where monks are taken as leaders.  When scholars and civic
leaders are pushing for education reform, their efforts are retarded by
monks who see the child-centred model of modern education as sacriligious to
the Buddhist ideal in which Dharma should be the centre.

Attached to this traditional value, so-called the Dharma [sic.] as they
interpret the religion, is Buddhist cauvinism and religious complacency. 
Anna might not have expected the influence of her teaching in the court of
Siam to have lasted this long.

[Afterword:] Mettanando Bhikkhu is a staunch critic of the Ecclesiastical
Council, and a former physician with an MA from Oxford University and a
doctorate from Hamburg University, Germany.



--
A saying of the Buddha from http://metta.lk/
View Streaming Dhamma Video http://dharmavahini.tv/
Who strives not when it is time to strive, who though young and strong is
indolent, who is low in mind and thought and lazy, that idler never finds
the way to wisdom.
Random Dhammapada Verse 280