Integrating the Value of Faith According to Theravada Buddhist Philosophy Towards the Lives of Thai People

Abstract

The objectives of this dissertation were:1) to study the living lives of Thai people 2) to study the value of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy 3) to Integrating the value of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy towards the lives of Thai people 4) to present the knowledge about Integrating the value of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy towards the lives of Thai people. This research was a documented qualitative study by in-depth interviews which studies information from Tripitaka, commentaries, textbooks and related research documents. The results of study were shown as follows:

1. Lifestyle of Thai people. Thailand has developed according to the global trend with more progress. The people in society are more comfortable living. The lives of Thai people has 5 facets as : 1) Economic 2) Political and administrative 3) Religion and society 4) Art, culture and tradition, and 5) Music and dance. However, the impact of progress has caused problems to life such as poverty, problem of freedom and family problems etc.


2. The value of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy. Faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy is based on 4 principles of faith: 1) Kamma-saddhā 2) Vipāka-saddhā 3) Kammassakatā-saddhā 4) Tathāgatabodhi-saddhā.The fact that people in society have faith, unshakable beliefs are the power that creates the value of faith, including 1) Security 2) Freedom and justice 3) Courage 4) Assistance 5) Harmony 6) Creativity 7) Peace


3. Integrating the values of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy towards the lives of Thai people as follows: 1) The stability with the economy. 2) Freedom, justice and harmony with the politics and governance. 3) The social welfare and peace with the religion and society. 4) The courage with art and culture. 5) The creativity with music and dance. The results of the integration showed that the value of faith could be applied to solve problems. The value of faith also results in the lives of people in Thai society that is harmonious, stable and makes Thai society peaceful without encroaching on each other.

4. The knowledge about integrating the value of faith according to Theravada Buddhist philosophy towards the lives of Thai people is the "VLHP Model".