Abstract

The objectives of this research are: (1) to study the efficiency levels of Sangha Community Administration when applying the Four Iddhipada by the Sangha Administrator in the District Muang, Lopburi Province, (2) to compare the levels of efficiency of each group of Sangha Administrator by grouping them according to their individual characteristics such as age, number of vassa, etc., and (3) to study the problems, obstacles, as well as suggestions for development inefficiency of the administrative works among Sangha Community by applying the Four Iddhipada principles in District Muang, Lopburi Province, where the studies have used the Quantitative Research Method using Survey Research to gather data with questionnaire forms distributed to 147 Sangha Administrators in Muang district, Lopburi Province, being drawn byrandom cluster Sampling. The statistics used for data analysis are Frequencies, percentages, averages, standard deviations, with the One-Way Analysis of Variance (F-Test), and compare the least significant differences (LSD).

By grouping the Sangha Administrators in the District Muang according to their ages, vassa (the number of complete lent years), qualifications in formal education, qualifications in Dhamma studies, and qualifications in pali studies, the results of this research show that among the 147 Sangha Administrators,  92 of them are over 51 years old amounting to 62.6 percent, to 65 have the vassa between 21-30 years vassa of 44.2 percent, 119 administrators have qualifications below the bachelor Degree amounting to 81 percent, 94 administrators qualified ‘NakDhammaAke’ (which is the highest Dhamma qualifications) amounting to 63.9 percent, on the other hand those who have no Pali qualifications at all number as high as 128 administrators which amounts to 87.1 percent.

The analysis of the levels of application of the Four Iddhipada by the Sangha Community within the District Muang, Lopburi Province has found that the levels when considering the four principles as a whole and when considering each principle separately give rather high average values  approximately at 4.045, while each principle being that the administrators perform their work with (1) Satisfaction and willingness, (2) with all the effort and diligence, (3) with mindfulness and community, (4) Of the reexamination and use reasoning in their work.

The results of comparing the levels of application of the Four Iddhipada to the administration using the administrators characteristics such as age, number of vassa, qualifications in formal education, qualifications in Dhamma studies, and qualifications in pail studies as variables then compare with the level of application of Iddhipada IV by the Sangha Administrators as a whole, have found that the individual characteristics variables have little effects on the levels of application of the Four Iddhipada.

In the investigations of problems, obstacles, and suggestion on the application of Iddhipada IV to the administration of Sangha Community within the District Muang, Lopburi Province, it has been found that the main problems are leek of budgets for the up-keeps of the buildings and the whole places as well as for the education and training of monks and junior monks, The only budgets the Sangha Community depend on are Kathin (once a year), Phapa, and charities from shop-keepers, militaries, companies, and the general public, the amount of which are very unreliable while the authorities concerned do not seem to care or give any support. The other side of the problems concerns various drugs, illegal bettings and gambling among the general society as a whole which seem to be out of control even within the Sangha Community itself, resulting in the fast degradation of the monks reputation. This situation clearly to be corrected urgently by Sangha administrators. One way is to encourage daily chanting, keep on watra practices both morning and evening, educate monks in dhamma studies regularly, and closely check and watch on their activities. This is most important since it will transform and improve the Sangha individual as well as Sangha Community as a whole.