2.1. The Roles on Propagation

The scholastic character of the early period had much effecting the progress of Buddhism in the subsequent period up to the present. The wealth of Buddhist literature in Western languages makes Buddhism accessible to Western people and facilitate Buddhist study. At the same time, Buddhists in Asian countries have begun to take up missionary activity again. From time to time, Buddhist missions have come to Western countries to acquaint these people with the teachings of the Buddha.

Above all, social and life condition as have now greatly changed. Amidst material and economic progress in this age of technology, more and more Western people, especially students in colleges and universities, find their religious system unsatisfying intellectually and spiritually. Buddhism, with its doctrine not over shadowed by modern thought and its meditation attractive to modern mind, has a strong appeal for these Western men and women who are in search of the meaning of life and a meaningful way of life. And, since the turn of the century, Buddhism has taken a new turn. The interest in Buddhism and Buddhist studies has grown more and more widely beyond the confines of scholars into the public. Knowledge of Buddhism is sought more from practical standpoint. Meditation becomes the most appealing aspect of Buddhism and attracts many Western young people to Asian Buddhist countries^[1], where many of them can be found today ordained as Buddhist monks and practicing Buddhist meditation under the guidance of local meditation-teachers.

There has been an increasing tendency for books on Buddhism to be the work of professed or practicing Buddhist. Another tendency is for Asian Buddhists to take wider and more active part in the spread of Buddhist knowledge in the West, especially through their writings.

In Thailand, the Bhikkhu Buddhadasa stimulated a growing interest in Buddhism among modern intellectuals and college student. He attracted more attention from Western readers through his original interpretation of the BuddhaDhamma. His oral teaching has been published under voluminous titles and an increasing number of these tittle are being translated into English. One volume, Toward the Truth, published in the United States, was translated by an American scholar as an attempt to contribute to an understanding of contemporary Theravada Buddhism. The present study has its main focus on how Thai Dhammaduta Bhikkhus^[2] propagate Buddhism in America with depth discussion.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Mahamakut Buddhist University, The Centenary of the Mahamakut Royal University, pp.101-102.

[2]:

Ibid., p.201.