The Buddhist Integration of the Cultural Powerful Value into Strengthening the Thai Buddhist Monks Role of Community Development

Abstract

This research article aims to 1) study the concept of strengthening the Thai monks role in using cultural power values based community development; 2) study the postmodern philosophy and Buddhist principles on cultural power in community development; 3) integrate Buddhist values of cultural power to strengthen the Thai monks role in community development; and 4) create new knowledge and models of Buddhist integration of cultural power values to strengthen the Thai monks role in community development. This is a qualitative research using documentary research methods under the analytic, appreciative, and applicative approach to lead to the creation of new knowledge in philosophy and Buddhism
The research results have found that monks are important for social development and are accepted by the public to be a medium to encourage people to participate in the development of their own communities willingly, especially in bringing in cultural power values, which are a way of life that is consistent with Buddhism by using the principles of the four virtues, consisting of wisdom power, diligence power, non-violence power, and social power, and the four principles of the laity, consisting of truthfulness, self-control, patience, and generosity, as a mechanism for community development. Integrating Buddhism in cultural power creates virtues in terms of truthfulness. The emergence of wisdom to develop quality of life with correct views; moral values by leading self-development activities in the principles of morality; ethical values, practicing to be a person with sacrifice, gratitude, unity; and aesthetic values, which is the beauty that comes from developing the quality of the mind, seeing the fellowship of human beings who share suffering, birth, aging, illness and death, and then conducting oneself with mindfulness in life. New knowledge from this research is BCV(CD) = WANMAO Model.