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Abstract
In this paper, I examine the role of Buddhist meditation and other ascetic practices in the lives of village elders in a rural Shan community in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. My focus is not on the techniques used but rather on the larger social and cultural context in which the practice occurs. Traditionally, the taking on of ascetic practices by village elders has been associated with moral development and enhanced psychological and emotional well-being. I describe recent changes in these practices, including their differential significance for middle-aged women, and consider the implications of these changes for local understandings of the ‘normal’ course of human development.
Notes
* An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 13th International Conference for Thai Studies in July 2017 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
1. ‘Merit making’ here refers to various rituals centred on acts of generosity aimed at improving one’s overall karmic status. People ‘make merit’ in order to (among other things) improve their chances for a favourable rebirth in their next life.
2. See Eberhardt (Citation2009) for a description of how this works.
3. During the three months of rainy season retreat, there are about 12 precept days. Some people, he said, attend only 5 or 6 times – at the beginning and end, and at the full moon days in between. However, it is not clear if this is actually a new development, and if so, if it is related to the abbot’s new regime.
4. In addition to this meditation centre, there are several other places of Buddhist practice outside of residential communities that are also attracting followers.
5. During a visit to the area in July 2017, which coincided with the beginning of Vassa, the custom was still strong among local elders.
6. For ‘stop’, she used the word ‘thak’ which could be translated as ‘to resign’ or ‘disrobe’; it is the same word one would use when referring to a Buddhist monk leaving the sangha.
7. In her study of middle class aspirations in Bangkok, Sophorntavy Vorng (Citation2010) found similar reactions being expressed by the businesswomen who frequented expensive meditation retreats and workshops, as well as by the less well-off office workers who simply stopped in for a moment of quiet meditation at a downtown temple before heading off to work.
8. This is a longer story than I have space to tell here but, in brief, due to a combination of available migrant agricultural labourers and changes in the overall place of agricultural income in the household economy, native born middle-aged women in Mae Hong Son are spending less time engaged in agricultural labour than previous generations (Eberhardt Citation2007).
9. This is not to say that the men in these households are not also experiencing new sources of stress but, for whatever reasons, they do not seem to be reacting in the same way. Rather than a stay at the meditation centre, some men are responding to the economic pressure by taking on new, riskier moneymaking ventures, a strategy which may channel their religious practices more toward obtaining amulets and other sorts of power-seeking of the sort described by Craig Reynolds (Citation2017). In some cases, unfortunately, it has also led to alcohol abuse.