Abstract
The present study has undertaken three dominant objectives viz. 1) to study the Buddhist concepts in preserving the forest, 2) to study the processes in preserving the forest of the monks at Don Tat temple in Saymoon subdistrict, Phibunmangsahan District, Ubonratchathani province and 3) to analyze the roles of Buddhist monks in preserving the forest. The study was qualitative research ( Qualitative Research) and education field. On the role of the clergy in forest perservation.
The results of research as follows;
Forest Preservation in Buddhism referred to the processes of preserving the forest towards Buddhist approaches. In Buddhism, the disciplinary rules relating to the Buddha’s teachings has particularly emphasized on the protection, conservation and reactivation of the forest which reflecting the Buddhist concepts upon the importance of the forest, in particular, the Buddha’s teachings on the destroying of forest, the conservation of the plants and the Buddhist processes in preserving the forest with the assistance of helping each other as stated in Payakka Chataka. By following the Buddha’s teachings, the allies in maintaining the forest and ecosystem to overcome the damages from human beings have been created both of directly and indirectly, in addition, the symbiosis has also strengthened the conservation of the ecosystem sustainably. Further, in Buddhism, the disciplinary rules relating to the Buddha’s teachings has particularly emphasized on the protection, conservation and reactivation of the forest which reflecting the Buddhist concepts upon the importance of the forest, in particular, the Buddha’s teachings on the conservation of the plants referred to the regulation that abstaining from destroying the threes as mentioned in Putakama Vakka, Pachittiyakan.
The monks in Don Tat temple have formulated the regulations in preserving the forest by recognizing “the forest as the temple” as well as followed the Threefold Trainings and the Five Precepts along with the processes in preserving the forest of the monks in both short and long plans. The processes found in preserving the forest were planting the bamboo to protect the subsidence of the river bank, planting the vetiver grass to keep the soil surface and the subsidence of the river bank, arranging the pump for pumping water out of the Moon River to splash onto the dried plants in the temple’s zone, preparing the water pipes over the forest zone with splashing water pumped from the river onto the ground in order to create the humidity to the trees and to avoid the death of the trees. The processes found in preserving the forest in Don Tat temple were planting the bamboo to protect the subsidence of the river bank, planting the vetiver grass to keep the soil surface and the subsidence of the river bank, arranging the brick block worms to keep the soil surface and the tree’s root, prescribing the safety area in the temple as well as allowing the participation of the temple and community.
The monks in Don Tat temple have applied the Threefold Trainings in preserving the forest that can be demonstrated as follows; the morality controlled initially the behavior for oneself, the concentration further trained the mind for the better realization, the recognition of conserving the environment and the wisdom effectively instructed the understanding, cherishing in natural resources and environment. On the other hand, the five precepts represented the right demeanor of physical and verbal conducts involving the maintaining of the forest conservation, for instance, the first rules- helping in abstaining from destroying the natures, the second rules- helping in abstaining from stealing and destroying the natural resource and environment, the third rules- helping in avoiding the intervention of the relation of ecosystem, the fourth rules- helping in maintaining the regulations and the fifth rules- helping in abstaining from damaging the environment that caused the pollution to the natures.
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