This article analyzes and articulates in the language of hermeneutics the contributions of an important Thai Buddhist scholar, Channarong Boonnoon, who studies the Thai Sangha’s responses to the hermeneutically challenging issues—such as Santi Asok, Phra Dhammakaya Temple and Bhikkhuni ordination—and comes up with the problematic of the Sangha’s identity comprising paradoxes of ‘disrespectful devotee to the Buddha,’ and ‘disrespectful devotee to the elders.’ Moreover, he also reinterprets the concept of ‘sangiti’ and derives its significant implication as an act of collective hermeneutical practice, which is also offered to the Sangha as a method to deal with the present situation.
目次
Abstract 261 Introduction 261 Thai Sangha’s Hermeneutical Consciousness 262 What is Sangiti? 263 Purity and Authority of the Sangha 266 The Elders’ Resolution 267 Conclusion 269 References 269
