lJ,, n·- ·I· , ,. ... •• •'' f ~.,v ~\ , \, ....... • ······· ·• ·· '··••••••• •• 'l::lril..h: . ............. ········•·• THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDIIISJ\1 IN We T MALAYSIA, WITH SPI!CIAL REFERENCU T THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION AMONG YOUNG BUpDHISTS BY: lAU LEE SING MATRIC NO: 059638 GRADUATION EXERCISE AS PARTIAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY & SOCIOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA UniversityKUAIA LUMP ofUR Malaya SESSION 1993/ 94 0 I Ilk 'l11111 h11r Jabnton A1Hr o1, oloul ' ' So11u loyl Unlvorolt 1 Malaya ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express 1ny d cpest gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Rayn1ond Lee for his kind supervision, invaluable guidance and advice. I would like to thank Brother James Ong, the meditation teacher in Selangor Vipassana Centre, Petaling Jaya who provided me with valuable information on certain issues. I am gra teful to Venerable Visuddhacara, the meditation instructor in Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre (MBMC) for his kind advice and cooperation. I also wish to express my heartfelt thanks lo everyone especially my friends who have given their cooperation, n1oral support , assistance and ever ready encouragement throughout the writing of this graduation exercise. University of Malaya SIPNO IS Tesis ini adalah saru kajian mengenai perkembangan Buddhisme d i Semenanjung 1'1alaysia, dengan rujukan utama kepada meditasi di kalangan belia. Sejarah Buddhisme di Semenanjung Malaysia dijelaskan secara ringkas untuk memberikan pembaca sedikit idea mengenai perkembangan Buddhisme di Semenanjung Malaysia. Selain daripada itu, penerangan dibuat atas perbezaan antara Buddhisme Mahayana dan Theravada. Ini menyediakan satu gambaran yang jelas tentang Buddhisme di Malaysia secara keseluruhannya. Bab pertama berbincang mengenai tujuan kajian, n1etodologi and masala h -m asalah ya n g diha d a pi scm asa kc rja la p :i ngan dilakukan. Ba b kedua memberi satu gambaran umum 1n cngcnai perkembangan Buddhisme di Semenanjung Malaysia. Bab ke tiga berbincang tentang aktiviti-aktiviti di kalangan Buddhis muda dan bagaimana mereka mernpraktikkan n1editasi terutama sekali di kalangan mahasiswa-rnahasiswi. Tan1bahan pula, satu an ali sUniversityis yang deskriptif dibu aoft a t asMalaya jenis-jenis n1editasi dan retrea t rneditasi dibincangkan dengan lebih detail lagi dat m bab ini. Bab keernpat adaJah berkenaan dengan keputusan kaj ian dan pcrbincangnn yang selanjutnya. Vipassana (satu jenis n1editasi) dan prakliknya di kaku1gan belia-belia Cina juga d ij ela kan. Bab kclima rnc mberi satu kesimpulan kepada kajian ini. H SYNOPSIS This thesis concerns rhe developrnent of Buddhism in West Malaysia, with special reference to rneditation among youths. The history of Buddhism in West ~1alaysia is explained briefly to give the readers some ideas regarding the development of Buddhism in Malaysia. Explanation has also been made regarding the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, to provide a more vivid picture of Buddhism in Malaysia. This thesis, as a whole, is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 describes the aim of the research, methodology and difficulties faced during the research. Chapter 2 presents a general discussion of the devclopn1ent of Buddhism in West Malaysia. Chapter 3 focuses on young Buddhist activities in the countTy, the practice of meditation among Chinese youths, especially the undergraduates. A descriptive analysis on 1n edita tion and meditation retreats is included. ChaptUniversityer 4 presents results ooff a surv Malayaey. Vipassana rneditation and its practice among Chinese youths is discussed in detail. Chapter S gives a conclusion of this study. iil TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1 SIPNOSIS 11 SYNOPSIS 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Ai m of Resear ch 1 1.2 Method ology 2 1.2.1 Participant Observation 3 1.2.2 Library Research 3 1.2.3 Formal & Informal Interview 4 1.2.4 Survey 4 1.3 Places of Research s 1.4 Difficulties Faced 5 CHPATER 2 DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHISM IN WEST MAIAYSIA 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 HistoUniversityrical Background of Malaya7 2.3 Schools of Buddhism in Malaysia 12 2.3.1 Difference between Mahayana & Theravada Buddhism 14 2.4 Conte1nporary Buddhism 17 iv 2.4.1 Missionary Activities in West ~ talaysi.t 18 2.5 Conclusion 20 CHAPTER 3: BUDDHIST YOUTHS AND MEDITATION 3.1 Introduction 21 3.2 Young Buddhist Activities in \Nest Malaysia 22 3.3 Meditation Activities of Chinese Youths 23 3.4 Vipassana in Malaysia 26 3.4.1 Vipassana Meditation 27 3.4.2 Methods of Vipassana Meditation 28 3.4.3 Distinguishing Between Samatha and Vipassana Meditation 29 3.5 What Is Retreaat 32 3.6 Conclusion 35 CHAPTER 4 : RESULT AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction ..16 4.2 Meditation Teachers 37 4.3 Types of Meditation 40 4.4 Analysis of Meditation Retreat According to lheUniversity Frequency of Meditation of Malaya43 4.5 Further Discussion and Analysis 45 4.6 Why is Meditation Becoming Popular Today Among Chinese Youths 49 v CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION Sl Bibliography SS Pictures 58 Appendix A - Questionnaire 61 University of Malaya vi CHAPTER 1 IN TRODUCTION Resear ch regar ding the develo p m e nt of ~ udd hi s m s pecifically in West Malaysia, is li mited com pared to r e sear ch on Christianity and Is la m . St ud ies o n t he movement of Bu ddh is m with special r egar d lo certa in as pect s or activities r e quires a lot of work and effort. This thesis m ay be con sid er e d a pilot s urvey as there are n ot many stud ies on Buddhis m. 1.1 Aim of Research T his r esear ch w a s conducte d to s tudy the develop me nt of Bud d h is m in West Malaysia, w it h e m ph asis o n the practice of medita tio n. especially v ipassan a meditat io n a mo ng younR l3u ddhists. As m e ditatio n is con s ider ed a ver y im por t a nt pract ice in Budd his m , it is necessar y to k now mor e about its move me nt nn d t he involve m e nt of youths. Ho pe fully thro ug h the s tu dy, we can u nde r s t and the r e a so n s w h y m o r e and m o r e y o un~ Budet h is ts a r c b e coming inte r este d in m e dit a tio n . Thus . a tte ntio n is g iven to the prac tices oUniversityf meditatio n a mo ng un dergof raduaMalayates in Wes t Malaysia. n a m e ly stu dents fro m Universit y of Malaya(UM). Uni crsi t y of K c ban ~ s a an(UKM). Un iver s i t y o f Scic n cc(US M)a nd Univer s i t y of Te chnology (U TM). Th is is to give th e readers a clearer pictu re of how the undergr ad ua tes pract ise medita ti on and how it is in tegrated in their wuy of l ivinst . The d iscu ssio n w ill be dra'\ n o n \'ip.iss inu meditation and o the r t y p es of m e d i ta ti on . Bcs id<.! s t h is. t h t.' \\' r it c r w i 11 provide a picture of how meditatio n retrcnt s a r e bein g con d ucte d in the meditation centres. De tails r egar ding t he retreats w ill be given much a tte n ti o n so as to present a mo r e s pecific inf or m a ti on about meditation. This r esear ch was m ade possible partly because of the writer's participation in the Buddhist activities on campus. This made the work much easier as a lo t of material and information were collected easily w itho ut much time wasted . Man y acquintances were formed during the writer's participation in these Buddhist activ ities. These were people who were highly knowledgable about Buddhis m nnd meditation. They wer e a great source of inform a tio n and s upport. 1.2 Method ology Different kinds of me thod s were used to con d uct this research. Bo th the anthropological and sociological me thods were used. The data were analysed qua litatively as we 11 as q u an tit a tively . Besides the partici pant-obser vatio n. o the r methods e m ployed wer e inte rvUniversityiews and li b rary resear chof. Malaya A questio nna ire s urvey was car r ied o ut during the resear ch. This was d o ne in orde r to get quantitative data o n the practice of medit ation a mong the undergraduates in the country . 2 1.2. 1 Participant Observation Si nce the w riter is a lso a Buddhist . w ho is pr actising vipassana m editation. the use of Participant Ob servatio n w a s most suitable. The w rite r joined the meditation retreat in Kota Tin ggi for ten days. As a participant as well as a researche r , more information which may have see med ins ig nificant was noted down in the analysis of the data. The w rite r 's own experiences during the retreat was found useful . Every participant on r e treat had to no te down what h e or she ob ser ved d uring the walking and sitting meditatio n .