ABSTRACT

              The study entitled ‘A Study on the Caring of Buddhists Influencing the Belief in Giving and Helping Others: A Case Study of   Laymen and Laywomen Practicing Meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok’ aimed 1) to study  the caring of Buddhists influencing the belief in giving and helping others: a case study of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok ; 2) to study the belief in giving and the behavior of helping others: a case study of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok; and 3) to compare the caring of Buddhists influencing the belief in giving and helping others: a case study of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok. The sample of the study included laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok classified according  to general information.

              The sample consisted of 222 laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok. The tool of data collect was a questionnaire. Statistics used consisted of percentage, Mean, Standard deviation (SD), t-test, F-test and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient.

              The results of the study were as followed:

                   1.  The most laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok were female the number of which was 170 (75.58%), they were  20-30 years old the number of which was 64 (28.82%), the most 135 respondents completed a Bachelor degree and above the percentage of which was 60.82. The occupation of the most respondents was a general worker with 65 ones (29.28%). The most 104 respondents had below 1 year of work experiences the percentage of which was 46.85. Out of 222 76 respondents (34.23%) had 6 family members and 72 of them (32.43%) were the first ones in the order of family members.

                   2. The caring of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok was generally high with the average value of 4.19, while individually considering it was found that the number of parents who were determined to teach to learn Buddhadhamma was highest with the average value of 4.82. Therefore, the most parents who brought their offspring with  the promotion of morality in Buddhism were characterized by the Buddhist point of view, especially they earned their life in the line of Buddhism based on the basic Buddhist doctrines, i.e., giving, observing Five Precepts, practicing meditation causing a good mentality and effective relations with their offspring.

                   3.  The caring of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok with different sex, age and belief in giving and behavior of helping others was generally different, and the individual aspect was significantly different in  giving and social belief with the level of 0.01 and 0.05.

                   4.  The caring of laymen and laywomen practicing meditation at Wat Ratcha-orasaram Rachawaravihara in Bangkok with different meditation practicing experiences and belief in giving and behavior of helping others was generally different, and the individual aspect was  significantly different in  mental and wisdom belief with the level of 0.05.  

                    5.  Regarding the relationships among democratic, supportive and Buddhist models influencing the belief in giving and the behavior of helping others it was generally found to be high, hence democratic, supportive and Buddhist caring models were significant in the cultivation of the belief in giving and the behavior of helping others.