ABSTRACT

                  The thematic paper, “Reform of the Caste to Sangha in Buddhism” was a documentary research that focused on a study of Tipitaka, the Commentaries, and the related researches.  The main purposes of this thematic paper were: (1) to study a system of caste and its effect on the Indian societies in the Buddha’s time, and (2) to study analytically the reform of the caste to Sangha in Buddhism.

      A result of this study was found that the caste in the Indian societies in the Buddha’s time was the obstruction of the powerful group of a leader who divided people into four castes and their duties from birth to the end of life. This caste had great effect on a way of life and some caste was oppressed by the other castes. This situation limited the human right, freedom of the oppressed caste, and it became an origin of a struggle in the societies, and the unjust societies. Thus, this caste had great effect on a system of economics, politics, societies, and people’s beliefs in that time.

      To reform societies from the caste to Sangha, the Buddha believed strongly that human beings could be developed. As a result, the Buddha reformed the social structure from a high class to a low class, i.e. from a high to a low caste. When all of them came to Sangha, they were equal to each other, i.e. same Dhamma-Vinaya, believing in the humanity as the centre, self-reliance, and self-development for complete freedom to produce the equality in societies. The Buddha established the Sangha by welcoming to both lay people and monks as its members, generally called ‘four companies’: Bhikkhu, Bhikkhuni, Upāsaka, and Upasikā. All of them lived by means of the same Dhamma-Vinaya and they had the same purpose to attain the enlightenment in Buddhism.