In Thailand, the "Maha Chulalongkorn Buddhist Academy" is one of the Buddhist institutions of higher learning. It was founded by King Rama V Chulalongkorn C.E.1862-1910. Emperor Chulalongkorn moved from the Jade Buddha Temple 1 to the Mahayana Monastery, and was named Mahayana College in the original Buddhist calendar of 2432 (C.E. 1889). The word "college" is also used for the first time in Thailand. September, 2439 13(C. e. 1896) Emperor Chulalonggong changed the "Maha Pagoda Academy" to "Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya" to study Buddhist Sanzang and higher education. It is of great significance for Rama V to carry out Buddhist education in his own name. Why did Emperor Chulalongkorn attach importance to Sangha education? This problem can be traced back to Rama V's westward journey. At that time, Rama V was the first Tai Huang to visit western countries. Looking around, Tai Huang was deeply impressed by the development of Europe in all aspects, especially in education, which inspired Tai Huang to implement a new systematic education plan in Thailand. So immediately after returning to China, he ordered the construction of a state of emergency, and urged monks to teach in schools, and then inherited it to this day.
The villages, temples and court triangles that constitute Thai culture have a deep and close relationship since ancient times. It can also be said that most of Thailand's basic culture is based on Buddhism. No matter Tai Huang 4 or ordinary people 5, every Buddhist family will send their children to monasteries, receive education and become monks. Emperor Chulalongkorn gave your name to Buddhism, and the establishment of Maha Chulalongkorn College especially showed the sincere belief of Buddhism. The newly established education system, on the one hand, reforms Thailand's traditional education and applies new western education systems and courses as higher education institutions, on the other hand, it does not abandon the beautiful intention of Thai culture to use monasteries as reading places, and embraces both eastern and western cultures. In the document of Emperor Chulalongkorn on the establishment of the Maha Chulalongkorn Academy, he wrote that "this place should be built as Mahanikaya, named' Maha Chulalongkorn Academy', to study Tibetan Sanzang and advanced subjects for monks and families". As recently as 1997, the Thai government also passed a law to upgrade it to a Buddhist university (an autonomous university, an independent university affiliated to a national university, enjoying rights other than official duties, which is subsidized by the government every year). From the "Maha Tower Academy" to today's "Maha Chulalonggong Buddhist Academy", it has a long history of 120 years. The main policy of the school lies in "becoming a Buddhist teaching and research center and applying new disciplines to develop the spirit and society". Students are encouraged not only to study Buddhism, but also to study other modern disciplines. In order to achieve this teaching goal, develop inner practice and contribute to the society, combined with the founder's idea of "cultivating eight Li and three Zangs and cultivating high-tech", after the law is passed, the school policy mainly has four practical directions: First, cultivate talents. Second, research and development. Third, support Buddhism and provide academic resources to the society. Fourth, protect culture.
(1) Cultivate talents. Cultivate students' nine personalities: good conduct, being able to generate beliefs and pursue knowledge, being a spiritual and intelligent leader, being able to deal with problems, having faith, being able to sacrifice for Buddhism, conforming to social changes, having a broad world outlook and having moral requirements for themselves.
(2) research and development. Emphasize the development and application of Sanzang's speech, create the spirit of inquiry of intellectuals in the teaching process, solve social ethical problems, and develop high-quality Buddhist scholarship.
(3) Support Buddhism and provide academic resources to the society. Through the Sangha cause, let the society understand the teachings of Buddhism, establish folk ethics, hold seminars, training and other activities, develop monks and Buddhist talents, and cultivate their ability to maintain and carry forward Buddhism.
(4) protect culture. Support, adopt and develop local knowledge as the basis of balanced development, so as to make it a suitable research garden of Buddhist culture and be proud of Thai culture. Maha Chulalongkorn University has four colleges and one research institute. Colleges include: Buddhist College, Humanities College, Normal College and Social College.
As Zhu Da is a special Buddhist university, students are mainly monks, and students at home can also apply, which also follows the wishes of the early King Rama V, hoping that both of them can attend the school. At present, the number of students is more than one year, and the national statistics are around 10 thousand. In addition to this school in Bangkok, branches all over the country also offer courses for the convenience of local monks at home and abroad and domestic students. This part includes: ten branch schools, five monasteries, twelve curriculum research rooms and four academic service centers. The enrollment time of the school is from 1 month to April every year. In addition, there are six affiliated institutions at home and abroad, including Dongge Buddhist College (DBCC) 10 in Songbo, Republic of Korea, Sinhalese University of Qingjue Buddhist College in Taiwan Province Province 1 1, Sri Lanka International Buddhist College (SIBA) 12, Singapore Buddhist College and Singapore Brahman Education Center. Statistics of graduates last year (2008): doctor 10, master 92, undergraduate 1702, * * *1802/3. From the establishment of the university to the present, we can see that the school has gradually developed and expanded. From the first four graduates to nearly 2,000 people now, the difficulty of dealing with education is obvious. It turns out that the school only has a three-story building in the Mahata Temple. After the law was passed, the number of students and jobs gradually increased, and the original place to study and work became cramped. Under the leadership of President Phradharmakosajarn (Pray on Dhammacitto), the school plans to expand to the suburb of Bangkok (Ayutthaya, Wangnoi District)14, and use it as the headquarters of Maha Chulalongkorn Buddhist College. 1999 has been built for eleven years and is still being expanded. The cost support comes from the government, believers, foreign Buddhist groups and other public moral owners. The school plans to build a university and a temple together, which is expected to accommodate more than 10 thousand students. The founding form is mainly based on Narendra University, a famous Buddhist university in ancient India. In addition, the school also takes into account the foreign students studying in Zhu University. Inevitably, language communication and understanding will pose great challenges to learning. Therefore, Zhu University plans to set up an "International Buddhist College" to teach in international languages at the same place, such as English and Chinese. The new concept of the school is not only for domestic monks and family members to learn, but also for people all over the world to learn. I hope that through the study of students from all over the world, the teachings of Buddhism will be spread to the whole world, so that this place can truly "learn to be a monk and serve the people", just as the founder of Rama V wished. In recent years, the number of bachelor, master and doctoral students in school statistics is as follows;
Statistics for 2007
Department of Buddhism: 3954 bachelors; Master 810; 67 doctors.
Teacher training department: undergraduate1236; There are 57 masters.
Department of Anthropology: Undergraduate1059; There are 25 masters.
Department of Sociology: Undergraduate 2881; There are 84 masters.
Synthesis: 65,438+0,065,438+0,73 people are Buddhist universities, and three sets of Mahacula-Tepitakam are indispensable teaching materials for studying Buddhism. Zhu Da has three complete collections, one in Thai, one in Bali and the other in Mahacula-Attacam. The Thai translation of the annotation book is completed at the end of the translation. If completed, there will be four sets of Bali Buddhism, with rich explanatory books for Buddhist scholars' reference. In addition to translation, in general academic exchanges, Thai TV stations also broadcast international seminars or programs to publicize Buddhism and its academic contributions to society. Those who are interested in graduation thesis can also read all graduation thesis 24 online. Graduation thesis can train Buddhist figures to do academic work, and secondly, it can let the society know the meaning and truth of Buddhism, which is also in line with the Buddha's teaching, "You monks! Let's go Go to the parade! For the benefit of the world, for the happiness of the world, for the mercy of the world, for the benefit of heaven and man, for justice and happiness, "25 carried out the work of promoting and popularizing Buddhism in a modern way.
Seven. Student activities and social welfare
The undergraduate departments of the school have 150- 160 credits, of which 50 credits are required for Buddhism, and others are optional according to the regulations of each department. In meditation, in addition to the first to seventh phases of Buddhist meditation, the school also arranges students to hold meditation activities in forests, monasteries or school meditation centers every year. Every year 10 days for undergraduate students, 30 days for master students and 45 days for doctor students, so as to cultivate students' self-study or teach others the basis of meditation. After completing the course, domestic students must go to social service for one year in the fifth year and then attend the graduation ceremony. Practice methods are arranged according to local requirements or school planning, such as teaching and Dhammacarika)26 for people living in remote mountainous areas. In addition, during the summer vacation, the school also encourages students to hold short-term monk activities all over the country, so that children have the opportunity to get close to Buddhism, chanting Buddhism and meditation; Or when an emergency happens, such as the tsunami, students and school teachers volunteer to go to southern Thailand to help refugees, comfort the victims, settle down in monasteries, provide food supplies, or help neighboring countries (such as the cyclone in Myanmar last year).
In general social schools, regardless of primary school, junior high school and senior high school, the government encourages schools and subsidizes funds to handle the "Sangha Teachers' Admission to Schools" program, so that schools can be responsible for, manage and train Sangha students inside and outside schools to teach as teachers. Monks in this program are distributed all over the country, including 764 in Bangkok and its suburbs, 665 in the north, 665 in the northeast, 659 in the middle, 659 in the east, 565 in the west, 46 in the south, and 5095 in the first place. In addition, since 1958, the "Buddhist Sunday School" 30 has been established in Zhu Da schools, which provides general courses and Buddhist courses for children who come to school and study in branch schools. At present, Zhu Da's international exchanges are increasingly prosperous. The current president of Phradhamakosajarn (Prayon Dhammacitto) has made joint efforts with religious and Buddhist groups in various countries to promote and hold various activities related to Buddhism. For example: 1. ) Buddhist Summit (Buddhist Summit 9 ~11-1-1999), 2. World Council of Religious Leaders (12 ~14-6-2000) 313. World Youth Peace Summit (February 24-29, 2004) 32,4. International Vesak Day.
International conference on Buddhism (16 ~ 20-7-2004) 34, 7. United Nations International Buddhist Congress on Vesak Day18 ~ 21-5-2005,8. United Nations Vesak International Buddhist Congress 7 ~10-5-2006,9. United Nations International Buddhist Conference on Vesak Day (26 ~ 29-5-2007), 10. ) Celebrate the International Day of Vesak (United
Vesak Day Celebration National Day. ) General Assembly of the International Association of Buddhist Universities. From May 4 to 6, 2009, the NDV International Council meeting of the United Nations Vesak Day will be held in Bangkok, and Zhu Da will cooperate with international organizations to show the unity of Buddhism. Zhu Da cannot work or grow up alone, but needs to tolerate and unite more friends, understand and encourage each other, and work for social peace and world peace.