Is Dhammakaya a Cult, a Sect, or Just Another Temple? (2.12)

We're super happy to welcome back a popular guest from
season 1 of the Bangkok Podcast - our veritable friend Phra
Pandit. As a long-time monk in Thailand and noted lecturer on
dhamma, Buddhism, meditation, and deep thought, Pandit is a great
source if insight and information.


(Direct download .mp3)


On this show we (well, Greg, as Evo is traveling) will talk with
Pandit about what happens when a particular Buddhist temple
becomes really big. So big, in fact, that the government wants to
shut it down. In this case it's the Dhammakaya temple, which has
millions of devotees all over Thailand and is led by a rather
controversial monk. As of the date of this post, police have been
camped outside the temple for several weeks as deadline after
deadline for the surrender of the head monk have come and gone
and nothing's happened. It's kind of like the world's most boring
standoff...but something's got to give eventually. Pandit gets
into some details on the political machinations behind the target
on the temple's back, as well as why the stakes are so high for
the temple's head abbot, the magic ingredient that lets a temple
go from being popular to a nationwide social phenomenon - and
just how many people does Dhammakaya's 'flying saucer' meditation
area hold, anyway? (Hint: a lot.
Check out the picture of the saucer area below). Don't
forget to leave a comment or tweet to us – @BkkGreg or
@EvoTerra!