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Modern Thai Buddhist Poetry by Women Poets

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Modern Thai Buddhist Poetry by Women Poets MODERN THAI BUDDHIST POETRY BY WOMEN POETS: A TRANSFORMATION OF WISDOM1 2 Suchitra Chongstitvatana Abstract The study is an attempt to explore and Buddhism not as a religion but as a explain the transformation of Thai didactic message of wisdom for all mankind. poetry, especially Buddhist poetry by women poets. The texts selected are Dawn in the Night by Chomchand, Under the The Influence of Buddhism in Rain and Thunder by Khunying Modern Thai Poetry Chamnongsri Rutnin. In Thai Theravadin tradition women poets rarely hold a high In the research work Buddha Dharma in position nor have authority in teaching Modern Thai Poetry (Chongstitvatana: Dharma. In the realm of didactic poetry, 2001) the finding reveals a significant monk-poets or male poets are the norm. influence of Buddha Dharma or the These two women poets convey the Bhuddhist philosophy in a large number of teaching of Dharma through expressing works by contemporary Thai poets. These artistically their personal experience of poets are much influenced by the teaching of 3 practicing Dharma. This aspect transforms Buddhadasa who emphasized the practice the tradition of Thai didactic poetry by of Buddhism in daily life and advocated the emphasizing the ‘practice’ of Dharma in importance of contemplating nature as a daily life and not only “the faith” in means of spiritual development. Dharma. These women poets are showing their readers a direct path to wisdom. The The two women poets, Chomchand and message conveyed in their works is quite Chamnongsri Rutnin, could also be universal though they are writing as included in this category. They both had the practicing Buddhists. Thus, these women experience of practicing Buddhism at Suan poets are no longer addressing the limited Mok, a famous retreat centre and monastery audience of Buddhists. They are speaking of Buddhadasa in southern Thailand. to a wider audience and propagating Chomchand and Chamnongsri Rutnin are, however, quite different from other 1 Presented at the EUROSEAS 2004 conference, 1-4 September 2004, Paris, France. 3 Buddhadasa (1906-1993), a highly venerated monk and scholar of Thailand who wrote 2 Associate Professor, Department of Thai, numerous works of Buddhism for present day faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Buddhists emphasizing the virtue of practicing Bangkok. Dharma in daily life ever for lay people. Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 03:31:20PM via free access Modern Thai Buddhist Poetry By Women Poets contemporary poets. They are not poets good representations of Chomchand’s who normally write didactic poetry nor are Buddhist poetry because their contents are they ‘professional’ poets with a large primarily about how to gain wisdom number of works. through spiritual practice of contemplation on life and meditation. Chomchand is a famous literary critic and a The name of Chomchand’s book Dawn in very prolific novelist. Dawn in the Night is the Night is obviously an exquisite her first book of poetry. Chamnongsri metaphor for the birth of wisdom. Rutnin is a well known literary translator and a playwright. She mostly composes ‘Dawn’ signifies light or wisdom, whereas prose poetry and tales rather than ‘Night’ signifies darkness or in a very conventional poetry. Under the Rain and Buddhistic meaning, ignorance. ‘Dawn in Thunder is a record of her retreat in the the Night’ could therefore mean ‘the birth forest monastery of Suan Mok. of wisdom out of ignorance’. Both of them are modern poets who write As a whole, the book contains poems to ‘convey’ their ideas, feelings and relating a fine contemplation of life on the experiences. Even though their ‘message’ is poet’s part. a message of Buddha Dharma, they do not try particularly to follow the convention of The first poem selected here shows how the Buddhist poetry of the past. Most Thai poet sees ‘worldly’ life as a cruel burden, Buddhist poets would compose poetry to impossible to get rid of just because of our relate Jataka tales in order to express both own ignorance. their faith in the Buddha and their ultimate purpose of accumulating merit through Carrying a Yoke spreading the Dharma for the benefits of all sentient beings. How heavy is this yoke! The shoulder can no longer bear it These two women poets are apparently How long has this been? trying to share their experience of studying Far too long for a happy man! and practicing Dharma. They mostly relate their feelings and contemplation regarding Why grumble and complain? the nature of the mind and how to develop Why get angry with this Ugly World? mindfulness leading finally to wisdom. Why complain of bad karma? Why suffer so much for so long? In order to understand how the two poets transform the wisdom they convey in their I pay respect to the Buddha works, we have to first look at the nature Please relieve all my pains and the significance of their poetry as I’ve suffered tremendous pains Buddhist poetry. They are burning my heart to death! Dawn in the Night: A Birth of The Buddha Image smiles and stares Wisdom How many heaps of sufferings are there? How many worlds you own? Six poems have been selected from Dawn Why complain, just let go! in the Night by Chomchand. They appear Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 03:31:20PM 39 via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 8.1, 2005 Put them down monkey-human This direct path of wisdom will be With your own hand, put down the yoke beneficial to present life because it awakes They are under your control us to the reality of life and cultivates an The yoke is your own choice! understanding that could further develop to a higher level of enlightenment. Chomchand Dawn in the Night4 The value of self-contemplation, as well as contemplation of nature, is much The concept of ‘life’ or the five aggregates emphasized in Buddhist tradition. The as a ‘heavy’ thing is apparent in many following poem ‘A Revelation’ is a good Buddhist texts. So it is not surprising here example of self-contemplation by the poet that the poet expresses this idea through a who represents ordinary human beings who metaphor of a yoke or carrying a heavy struggle with their own ego and conscience thing. to be virtuous amidst the complexity of life. The poet also links this concept to the A Revelation popular belief of ‘bad karma’ of the past as the cause of suffering in the present life. I used to believe in human potential In the right to choose their path However, the real message the poet would In the power of their intellect like to convey is that according to the In the undefeatable abilities! genuine teaching of the Buddha our suffering in life is mostly a result of our They are perfectly able own attachment and craving. Thus, the To achieve everything mention of the Buddha and the advice of When protected by awareness ‘letting go.’ Also, the poet emphasizes the And wisdom of a perfect being! power of one’s wisdom to control one’s life. Yet life is not at all easy The poet explicitly says that the sufferings Forwarding too far can become detouring are ‘under your control’ and the carrying of Yet cautiously, modestly backwarding a yoke is in fact ‘your own choice’. You become a defeated coward! Through this explicit message, the poet is When persisting with courage rendering a ‘higher’ teaching to her audience Then appearing crazily aggressive rather than a conventional teaching of asking When trying to be moderate a blessing from the Buddha and accepting You appear staying still! the bad karma of the past because there is no remedy for it. Things come to you from nowhere Things get involved without reason By stating the ultimate truth of ‘letting go’ Something very wicked and malicious as a genuine solution for a happier life in Influencing sudden mistakes! this world the poet is pointing to a direct path of wisdom. It is beyond acceptance of defeat It is beyond any control of changes 4 All the poetry in this paper is translated by It is beyond any fighting back Suchitra Chongstitvatana Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 03:31:20PM 40 via free access Modern Thai Buddhist Poetry By Women Poets Just looking in amazement! The revelation of the complexity of life and This is a revelation! the ‘weakness’ of human nature should We are just tiny, so absolutely dust! serve as a good introduction to a serious Worldly sins conquer the world spiritual life. Worldly sins devour our whole life! The practice of a spiritual life can start with Chomchand a simple practice of observing nature and Dawn in the Night observing one’s own mind. The next poem of Chomchand ‘Voices of the Night’ relates The poem starts with the confident tone of a such an experience of ‘listening’ to nature young poet who expresses a belief in the and one’s inner voices. power of human potential in achieving the ultimate goal of life. Voices of the Night … The latter part of the whole poem conveys Softly smoothly the voice echoes the feeling of amazement to the point of The leaves are falling to sleep despair when one grows older and is, more Hush! Listen to the earth or less, forced to accept the limitation of Fading, aching petals are dying one’s life and circumstances. One has to Crying heart-rendering tears! come to terms with life as it is and to accept Young pure petals are blossoming that one does not have an ‘absolute’ control Listen to their joyous melodies! of one’s life.
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