Thammayut Nikaya
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| Abbreviation | Dhammayut |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1833 |
| Type | Buddhist monastic order |
| Headquarters |
Wat Bowonniwet Vihara, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Leader | Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana (Incumbent) |
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Key people
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Vajirañāṇo Bhikkhu (later King Mongkut) – founder |
Dhammayuttika Nikaya or Thammayut (Pali: ธรรมยุติกนิกาย, Thai: ธรรมยุต; Khmer: ធម្មយុត្តិក និកាយ Thommoyouttek Nikeay) is an order of Theravada Buddhist bhikkhus (monks) in Thailand, Cambodia and Burma with significant branches in the Western world. Its name is derived from Pali dhamma ("teachings of the Buddha") + yutti (in accordance with) + ka (group).
Dhammayuttika Nikaya (Thai: Thammayut) began in 1833 as a reform movement led by Mongkut (later King Rama IV), son of King Rama II of Siam. It remained a reform movement until passage of the Sangha Act of 1902, which formally recognized it as the lesser of Thailand's two Theravada denominations.
Prince Mongkut was a bhikkhu (religious name: Vajirañāṇo) for 27 years (1824–1851) before becoming king of Thailand (1851–1868). The then 20-year-old prince entered monastic life in 1824. Over the course of his early meditation training, Mongkut was frustrated that his teachers could not relate the meditation techniques they were teaching to the original teachings of the Buddha. Also, he noticed what he saw as serious discrepancies between the vinaya (monastic rules) and the actual practices of Thai bhikkhus. Mongkut, concerned that the ordination lines in Thailand were broken by a lack of adherence to this monastic code, sought out a different lineage of monks with practice that is more in line with the vinaya.
There are several rules in the Theravada monastic code by which a monk is "defeated" - he is no longer a monk even if he continues to wear robes and is treated as one. Every ordination ceremony in Theravada Buddhism is performed by ten monks to guard against the possibility of the ordination being rendered invalid by having a "defeated monk" as preceptor. Despite this, Mongkut was concerned that the area's lineages of regional traditions were broken. He made every effort to commission a phalanx of monks in Thailand with the highest probability of an unbroken lineage traceable back to the Buddha.
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