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Downloaded from Brill.Com10/04/2021 08:34:45AM Via Free Access a Glimpse Into the Spiritual Structure Ofthai Folklore A GLIMPSE INTO THE destined to lead to the understanding SPIRITUAL STRUCTURE of a visible form and patte rn of art and culture which is created for social de­ 1 OF THAI FOLKLORE m and. The ref o re, art and cultu re gee-socialises their form according to Kovit Anakechai time (its period). But for spiritual de­ 2 ''Khemananda'' mand, the invisible stmcture ofthe time­ less nature of art and culture reall y needs Forward another approach. And the destiny of such spiritualization is not merely to For those who want to examine the spiri­ have but to be -- to reali se Suchness. tual depth of Thai people, they may be Otherwise our standard of evaluation confused by the fl exibility of the Thai will become alienated from art and cul­ character and th e change of values in ture. We may have the majestic form of present Thai society. The flexibility of art and culture for e xhibition and fash­ the people on the Indo-C hina peninsula ion but possibly we can never li ve with seems to be mi sperceived by westerners, it as the way. This alienation is, nota­ and the changing of values, becoming bly, the cause of the decline of art and more western ized, have alienated the culture. The lack of spiritual wakeful­ local people fro m the ir own spiritual ness will formulate the grand and fan­ roots. Even those h ighly e ducated tastic expression for gratification of sen­ people who are aware of this alienation sualism or poli tics more than for peace and who try to evaluate and preserve and pure wisdom, for authority rather the ir roots are possibl y alienated from than humanity. the spiritual structure of their own cul­ ture. The political confli cts and the This is the fact of our age of so-called growth of nationa li sm are someho w modern living, that is, we may possess problems to gaining a purely objective advanced technologies to gratify our and spiritual understanding. In order to sensual demands, but in fact we acquire free our observations from all prejudices muc h less spiritual happiness than we must be aware of our own gratifica­ people did in the olden days. Our me­ tion at being more westerni zed. chanical thinking leads us to psychologi­ cal and philosophical interpretation. If art and cul ture is defined by time (its That is, our approach to art and culture period) which makes it possible for is about the visible forms and behaviour evaluation through scientific analysis, and our conc lusions come therefrom. we will acquire a great deal of under­ standing of art and culture psychologi­ The epics of the world are among those cally, politially,economically, etc. Our things of art and culture which need approach through such definition is prope r e va luation , not merely as a matter of the intellect or entertainment I This paper is based on the the paper pre­ but, notably, as a whole stucture of spiri­ sented at the International Conference on tual growth. It is not just about the hero Thai Studies AugusL22-24, 1984, Bangkok. and heroine, but about any individual 2 Budd hist scholar, Poet, Writer and Painter whose obstacles and victories are sym- 24 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 08:34:45AM via free access A Glimpse into the Spiritual Structure ofThai Folklore boli zed by demons and de ities. It is the god to Indian people. In the Ramayana, journey into inner life of the mystical Rama is an ideal man as a character in individual in association to the outer the epic and a historical figure, but spiri­ world. The reali zation of our inner be­ tually he is Truth (Satya). Hanuman -­ in g is symbolized by the enthronement the lord of the monkeys is Bhakti (love of a heroic prince after killing the de­ of god), while Sita, Rama's wife -- an mons, having received the bliss of ideal woman as a character, is spiritu­ Dharmic god and having brought back a lly Atman. Ravana is Egois m peace to the whole region. Specifically, (Ahamkara), who resides in the myste­ such a spritual structure of folklore or rious Island of Sri Lanka, which no man epic are mostly the same because it is can approach, except Hanuman -- the simply the only great journey of man­ great faith in god. However, in praise of ki nd to the Supreme-Being, be it god or god, Rama as a man of god accompa­ Bhutathara or Lord Amitabha of the nied by his soldiers must build the Buddha-Realm. Re li giously speaking, Setubandha (B ridge of Testament) by the whole hi story of mankind is this the power of god in order to kill Ravana ultimate journey. and to re-unite with his beloved wife and to establish the total peace to the whole When we examine those epics or other region, which applies literally to the fo rms of art psychologically, it is whole world. That is the spiritual bridge po ible to be misled by those psycho­ which links Ramesvaram of south India logical theorems since we are using it with Talaimana of north Ceylon (Sri as a logical basis to explain the spiritual Lanka). function of sy mbolism or personifica­ tion. Those characte rs in the e pics are Place, time, distance, beasts, monkeys, not people but spiritua l symbols of the bear (Chambhuvana), divine weapons, formless within. And the journey of the c ities, de mons, rivers, j ungles, heroes or the great war or the setting is mountains, rainfall, wind, battles and ad­ not physical form since the onl y way to ventures etc, that is all elements of the visuali ze the invisible is to use symbol­ Ramayana are not merely drama; the ir ism or personification. That is the com­ spiritual meanings should be understood bination of the invisible and the visible and appreciated. of spiritual expression in art. The Common Ground and The complexity is here: personification Spiritual Structure of Indian is analogy. Let us take an example from Epics the Ramayana. Rama is a historical pe rson, a human who has attained sublime bliss from god. His actions are In the 14-year journey ofRama, Sita and for the Love (Bhakti) of god and for the Lakshman, they killed a numbe r of welfare of the world. Indian people have demons and received divine bliss. The praised him as an ideal king, lover and names of the demons have spiritual prophet. Hi s sayings have become meanings. For example, the first demon, Dharma teachings. Therefore, he is a Parasurama (Ramasura in Thai) who was killed by Rama, which is the com- 25 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 08:34:45AM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 4.2, 2001 bination of Parasu and Rama suggests god could fly to meet Sita on Lanka Is­ Rama the beast. It means the animal in­ land, but he had no rights to take Sita stinct in man which, if we can subdue back to Rama unless the gods created it, will enable us to receive divine power. the divine bridge (Setubandha) for Ram a Herein, Rama, after killing Parasurama, and Ravana was defeated. Here, in The received the divine arrow of Brahman, Monkey God (Sei-Eew-Ki, Journey to which he could call for from god wher­ the West, the Chinese Epic of the Ming ever and whenever he should need it. Dynasty), the Monkey God could fly to Another example is Marica, (Marish in the "Thus-come" (Chinese- Yulai), but Thai) it has the same root as the Latin he could not stay unless he was accom­ word for Mirage. (the name of the panied by his group? younger brother of the great Demon, Ravana;) Ravana ent hi m in disguise All demons, therefore, were obstacles as a golden deer to attract Sita and de­ for Rama, but after Ram a subdued them, ceive Rama and Lakshman. Illusion they manifested themselves as the divine arose then, and Truth (Rama) and Atman signs to guide Rama to reunion w ith (Sita) were separated. Sita. As for Ravana, the Master of de­ mons and the King of the ideal c ity The most interesting symbol is when Lanka, the author made Rama kneel Rama, lamentating for thr loss of Sita, down to the dying Demon Ravana in ent his generals everywhere in hope to order to learn policy and administration find his beloved wife. Only Hanuman, from him. Ravana whispered to Rama the great Bhakta, can go down to Patala that from the beginning, he had adored -- the deepest Realm of our being. Rama. We have a glimpse as to how one Hanuman saw the endless tunnel, and who attains bliss from God can learn to he entered the shining underworld city use demoniac arts for the benefit of the called "Svayam Prabhu" which means country. 'The Realm of Spontaneity' where he received news of Sita's whereabout. The summary of Ramayana is herein: as a human being but with the power of By meditation and faith or Bhakti in god, after more than 14 years of devo­ god, one will reach the realm of Spon­ tion by great austerities and sacrifices, taneity, and attain wi dom to realise one can re-unite with oneself (Atman) Atman, understanding li fe as a whole, and attain the bliss from God. both the external and the inner. Here on the H induistic basis, of which the ulti­ mate aim of li fe is to attain Eternity, the Arman or the pure self is liberated and united with the Supreme Being -­ Paramatman.
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