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Reversal of Female Power, Transcendentality, and Gender in Thai Buddhism: The Thai Buddhist female saint Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem (1895–1964)*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2013

MARTIN SEEGER
MARTIN SEEGER*
Affiliation:
East Asian Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Leeds, UK Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Recently we have seen an increasing number of publications, mostly of an ethnographic nature, describing and discussing the significant religious roles and achievements of Thai Buddhist women, not only in the field of Buddhist education, and with regard to their monastic roles, but also in terms of their roles as accomplished Buddhist practitioners. This paper examines the changes occurring in the status and position of women in Thai Buddhist practice. In this regard I focus on the analysis of one of the first widely acknowledged female saints of modern Thai Buddhism: Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem (1895–1964). Khun Mae Bunruean has obtained her increasing reputation through the advanced meditative achievements which her followers believe she possessed. I use hagiographical accounts of her as a focal point to unravel and examine Thai beliefs in relation to female sainthood in present-day Thai Buddhism. This is done by discussing gendered hagiographical writing against the background of relevant canonical and post-canonical Pali texts that have exerted authority in religious discourses on gender by informing and nurturing Thai religious value systems. This textual research is complemented by the ethnographic examination of Thai Buddhist beliefs and venerational practices which cannot be found in authoritative Pali texts but which still play a significant role in the understanding of the particularities of female saints in modern Thai Buddhism. I do not confine myself to hagiographical accounts and venerational practices directly linked to gender, but also devote some attention to other conspicuous aspects, elements, and expressions of Mae Bunruean's sainthood and her veneration.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 1488 - 1519
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

This research was made possible by the award of a grant from the Research Committee of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies in the United Kingdom (ASEASUK) funded by the British Academy. I would like to thank the National Research Council in Thailand for permission to conduct fieldwork in Thailand. For their support I also wish to thank Phra Khru-palat Suvathanavachirakhun Sawai Chotiko (Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University), Phra Maha Sairung Indāvudho (Wat Awutwikasitaram), Mae Chi Kritsana Raksachom (Wat Mahathat), Mae Chi Natthahathai Chatthinnawat (Wat Paknam), Ajarn Phayap Khamphan, Ajarn Somnuek Jasen, Khun Boy Thaphrajan, Khun Nat Faenphanthae, and Louis Gabaude. For comments on previous drafts of this paper, I would like to thank Bhikkhu Gavesako, Victor King, Justin McDaniel, Donald Swearer, Adcharawan Seeger, Michael Parnwell, Joanna Cook, Catherine Newell, and Khun Naris Charaschanyawong. I also wish to thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. A standardized system for the romanization of Thai script is adopted here except in cases where proper names have an established transliteration of their own. Throughout this paper Thai words are differentiated from Pali words by underlining (Pali words are italicized; Thai words are italicized and underlined). All the translations from the Thai and from Pali are my own, unless stated otherwise.

References

1 See, for example, Lindberg-Falk, Monica, Making Fields of Merit: Buddhist Female Ascetics and Gendered Orders in Thailand, Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2007Google Scholar; Cook, Joanna, ‘Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice: Buddhist morality and mastery amongst Thai Buddhist nuns’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (NS), Vol. 15, (2009), pp. 349–364CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cook, Joanna, Meditation in Modern Buddhism: Renunciation and Change in Thai Monastic Life, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Collins, Steven and McDaniel, Justin, ‘Buddhist “nuns” (mae chi) and the teaching of Pali in contemporary Thailand’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 44, (2010), pp. 1373–1408CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Seeger, Martin, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women: obscuring identities and increasing charisma’, Religion Compass, Vol. 3/5, (2009), pp. 806–822CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Seeger, Martin, ‘“Against the Stream”: the Thai female Buddhist saint Mae Chi Kaew Sianglam (1901–1991)’, South East Asia Research, Vol. 18, No. 3, (2010a), pp. 555–595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Seeger, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women’; Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’.

3 Unlike in my paper on Mae Chi Kaew Sianglam (see Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’, p. 561) in which I define ‘Buddhist saint’ in the Thai Buddhist context as someone who is believed to have achieved one of the four levels of awakening, that is, she or he is believed to be an ariyapuggala (‘noble person’), in this paper I understand ‘saint’ to refer to a person who is believed to have developed enormously advanced states of mind, which may or may not include levels of awakening, and who is highly revered due to these beliefs by a significant number of people. Or to put it in emic terms, a saint here is someone who is widely and strongly revered for possessing one or more of the first five abhiññās (see below) or/and is believed to be an ariyapuggala.

4 Gabaude, Louis, ‘Where ascetics get comfort and recluses go public: museums for Buddhist saints in Thailand’, in Granoff, Phyllis and Shinohara, Koichi (eds), Pilgrims, Patrons, and Place: Localizing Sanctity in Asian Religions, Vancouver-Toronto: University of British Columbia Press, 2003a, pp. 103–123Google Scholar; Louis, Gabaude, ‘A new phenomenon in Thai monasteries: the Stupa-museum’, in Pichard, Pierre and Lagirarde, François (eds), The Buddhist Monastery: A Cross-Cultural Survey, Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient, 2003b, pp. 169–186.Google Scholar

5 See also Seeger, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women’.

6 See, for example, Esterik, John Van, ‘Women meditation teachers in Thailand’, in Esterik, Penny Van (ed.), Women of Southeast Asia, DeKalb, Northern Illinois University: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1996, pp. 33–41Google Scholar; Beesey, Allan, ‘Women and Buddhism in Thailand: a changing identity for religious women’, in Radical Conservatism: Buddhism in the Contemporary World—Articles in Honour of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's 84th Birthday Anniversary, Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development and International Network of Engaged Buddhists, The Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, 1990, pp. 311–345Google Scholar; Cook, ‘Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice’; Seeger, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women’; Cook, Meditation in Modern Buddhism, pp. 152–156; Mae Chi Natthahathai Chatthinnawat, ‘sathanaphap mae chi korani sueksa mae chi wat paknam phasi jaroen krungthep [The Status of Mae Chis: a Case Study of the Mae Chis at Wat Paknam Phasi-jaroen, Bangkok]’, MA thesis, Thammasat University, Bangkok, 2009 [2552 BE], referred to with permission from the author; Scott, Rachelle M., Nirvana for Sale? Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakāya Temple in Contemporary Thailand, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2009, pp. 70–76.Google Scholar

7 However, see for example, Seeger, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women’; Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’; and Scott, Nirvana for Sale?, pp. 70–76.

8 For more on these attempts, see, for example, Seeger, Martin, ‘The bhikkhunī-ordination controversy in Thailand’, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1, (2006 [2008]), pp. 155–183Google Scholar. Bhikkhunīs are fully ordained nuns of Theravada Buddhism, believed to have vanished some 1,000 years ago.

9 Cook, Meditation in Modern Buddhism, p. 170.

10 Collins and McDaniel, ‘Buddhist “nuns” (mae chi) and the teaching of Pali in contemporary Thailand’, p. 1399.

11 Cook, ‘Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice’, p. 349.

12 Khana Samakkhiwisutthi lae Phu ruam ngan bun nai adit [Samakkhiwisutthi Group and Former Co-Merit-Makers], Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem anuson [In Memory of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], No publisher given, 1964 [2507 BE]; Sujarit Thawonsuk (ed.), prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], 1964 [2507 BE], no further details given; Buai Siwaphruek (compiler and ed.), prawat phra phuttho yai phra phuttho noi Ubasika Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The History of Phra Phutthoyai and Phra Phutthonoi. Upāsikā Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], 1953 [2496 BE], no further details given; Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem, Samakkhikatha, 1985 [2528 BE], no further details given; Phanom Phaetkhun, ‘Phra Phutthonoi Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem’, in Lan Pho, 1989 [2532 BE], issue numbers 15,516–15,530; Khom Chat Luek, Sutyot watthumongkhon khong Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Supreme Talisman of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], Khom Chat Luek online publication, 20 November 2006 [2549 BE], <http://www.komchadluek.net/index/php>, [Accessed 15 February 2013]. This link takes you to the main webpage of the Khom Chat Luek online newspaper, where you can search for this article. Saithip, prasopkan lilap Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem ubasika phu mi phalang cit mahatsacan (1) [Mysterious Experiences: Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem, the Upāsikā who possesses miraculous mind powers (1)], Ying Thai (710), May 2005a [2548a BE], <http://www.yingthai-mag.com>, [Accessed 15 February 2013]. This link takes you the main webpage of Ying Thai, where you can search for this article. Saithip, prasopkan lilap Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem ubasika phu mi phalang cit mahatsacan (cop) [Mysterious Experiences: Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem, the Upāsikā who possesses miraculous mind powers (end)], Ying Thai (711), May 2005b [2548b BE], <http://www.yingthai-mag.com>, [Accessed 15 February 2013]. This link takes you to the main webpage of Ying Thai, where you can search for this article. Phisit Jansi, yisip pi haeng khwamsattha to Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [Twenty Years of Belief in Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], Khom Chat Luek online publication, 19 December 2006 [2549 BE], <http://www.komchadluek.net/index.php>, [Accessed 15 February 2013]. This link takes you to the main webpage of the Khom Chat Luek online newspaper, where you can search for this article. Group of Disciples, chiwit lae ngan Luang Ta Sawai Siwayano haeng suan mokphalaram [The Life and Work of Luang Ta Sawai Siva of Suan Mokh], 1997 [2540 BE], no further details given; Sittha Chetawan, prawat Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem wat awutwikasitaram bangphlat krungthepmahanakhon [The Life of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem, Wat Awutwikasitaram, Bangphlat, Bangkok], no further details given. Many of the hagiographies that I have been using do not contain bibliographical details. I have also used a number of websites such as: <http://www.dhammajak.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=12567>, [Accessed 21 December 2012]; <http://www.amulet.in.th/forums/view_topic.php?t=2266>, [Accessed 21 December 2012]; <http://www.web-pra.com/Article/Show/611>, [Accessed 21 December 2012]; and <http://www.gmwebsite.com/webboard/topic.asp?topicid=topic-080302083424401>, [Accessed 21 December 2012].

13 I conducted these interviews in the northern, northeastern, and central parts of Thailand between 2008 and 2011. In addition to this, I also conducted telephone interviews.

14 Between 2007 and 2011 I repeatedly visited the temple Wat Awutwikasitaram in Bangkok, where the main site of Khun Mae Bunruean's veneration is located: here followers have erected a building, called ‘Sala Khun Mae Bunruean’, exclusively used for her veneration. During these visits I talked to visitors of the shrine and people living and working near the shrine. Often with them, I showed my respect to the statues of Mae Bunruean (see below). On 27 July 2008 I took part in the weekly chanting that takes place at this shrine on every Sunday at 1 pm. In addition to this, I twice visited Wat Sangkhathan in Nonthaburi province, where a shrine (sala) has been built for her veneration.

15 As I did not always obtain explicit permission to use specific information, I have not further revealed the sources of this information.

16 Group of Disciples, chiwit lae ngan Luang Ta Sawai Siwayano haeng suan mokphalaram [The Life and Work of Luang Ta Sawai Siva of Suan Mokh], pp.23–24.

17 See: D.III.281, A.III.280. When I refer to Pali texts, the references are to the Pali Text Society editions.

18 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 115.

19 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 122.

20 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 211.

21 See, for example, <http://www.relicsofbuddha.com/page7.htm>, [Accessed 21 December 2012].

22 There are, however, reports that these transformations can also happen when the person believed to be awakened is still alive. In this way, it has been reported that hair, fingernails or teeth that have fallen out are transformed into relics. There seem to be a variety of beliefs in this respect, though some believe that full awakening is not a necessary condition for relics to occur: advanced concentrative levels of mind or having realized one of the three lower levels of awakening may be sufficient for relics to emerge.

23 Group and individual interviews with long-term followers of Mae Bunruean on 22 October 2009.

24 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 175.

25 A report says that Mae Bunruean was able to cover a distance of eight kilometres on foot in only 30 minutes (Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 236).

26 Phanom Phaetkhun, ‘Phra Phutthonoi Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem’, p. 6.

27 This information is derived from my many conversations during the last four years with followers of or people who have faith in Mae Bunruean, including people visiting her shrine at Wat Awutwikasitaram, amulet collectors, and taxi drivers. See also the interview with Boy Thaphrajan on 6 August 2010.

28 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 321. This statement is also based on my participant observation on 27 July 2008 during the weekly chanting that takes place at the Mae Bunruean shrine at Wat Awutwikasitaram every Sunday at 1 pm.

29 This information derives from my participant observation (on 27 July 2008) and many visits to Wat Awutwikasitaram (see footnote 14).

30 See, for example, Sharf, Robert H., ‘On the allure of Buddhist relics’, Representations, Vol. 66, (1999), pp. 75–99CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Swearer, Donald, Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 108–115.Google Scholar

31 See, for example, Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 113. Here it is said that ‘it is not confirmed as to whether she attained the six abhiññās together with the four jhānas, but it is believed to have happened around the same time’.

32 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 119.

33 See, for example, Vin.II.93. See also Buai Siwaphruek, prawat phra phuttho yai phra phuttho noi Ubasika Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The History of Phra Phutthoyai and Phra Phutthonoi. Upāsikā Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], pp. 118, 318.

34 See Dhammapiṭaka, Phra (P. A. Payutto), photjananukrom phutthasat chabap pramuan tham Dictionary of Buddhism, 8th printing, Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, 1995 [2538 BE], p. 270.Google Scholar

35 See Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’.

36 In fact, significant hagiographical writings on Thai monks have, according to Keyes, emerged rather recently, only after the beginning of the twentieth century. The arguably most influential and well known of all these biographies of Thai saints—the biography of Ajarn Man by Luang Ta Mahabua—was published in book form only in 1971 (see Keyes, Charles F., ‘Death of two Buddhist saints in Thailand’, in Williams, Michael A. (ed.), Charisma and Sacred Biography, Journal of American Academy of Religions, Thematic Studies, Vol. 48, (1982), pp. 149–180, 152Google Scholar; Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja, The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets: A Study in Charisma, Hagiography, Sectarianism, and Millennial Buddhism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 81)CrossRefGoogle Scholar—eight years after the publication of Mae Bunruean's first comprehensive printed biography. According to Justin McDaniel, however, there are hagiographies as old as the origins of printing of Thai cremation volumes in the late nineteenth century. In an email to me, Justin McDaniel writes that ‘there might have been more in manuscript form. Indeed, manuscripts do contain stories of famous donors and seṭṭhis [wealthy persons]. Moreover, oral histories and tamnan [relic, image, and temple histories] from temples, especially in northern Thailand discuss the works of famous monks. Pali tamnan, commentarial texts and chronicles in Burma and Thailand also discuss the lives and acts of famous monks and kings. While the biographies have become more popular as printing has become cheaper and more widespread in Thailand, hagiographies may not be a completely modern genre in Thailand’, email dated 23 December 2010.

37 This way of putting this belief is taken from: Dhammanandā, phiksuni . . . buat mai dai watthakam thi kamlang mokha [Bhikkhunīs . . . can't be ordained: the discourse that is becoming void], Bangkok: Sukhaphapjai, 2003 [2546 BE], p. 21.

38 Jangphanitchakun, Thotsaphon, phrathat phra ariyasong sawakathat yuk kueng phutthakan [Relics of Noble Disciples. The Relics of Disciples in the Era during Half of the Buddhist Time], Bangkok: Komma, 2010 [2553 BE], p. 118Google Scholar.

39 See Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’, p. 559; also compare with Akhin Raphiphat, cited in Montri Suepduang, ‘naeu phinit choeng satriniyom wa duai phu ying kap phra phutthasatsana therawat nai prathet thai; Feminist Perspectives on Women and Theravada Buddhism in Thailand’, PhD thesis, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Bangkok, 2008 [2551 BE], pp. 3–4.

40 Here it must be noted that the Pali canon contains many stories about bhikkhunīs who attained full awakening (arahant-ship).

41 Compare with Dhammanandā, phiksuni . . . buat mai dai watthakam thi kamlang mokha [Bhikkhunīs . . . can't be ordained: the discourse that is becoming void], p. 21. See also for example <http://larndham.org/index.php?showtopic=24797&st=1>, [Accessed 23 December 2012]; <http://board.palungjit.com/f10/%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%A7-%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AB%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2-%E0%B8%88–48711.html>, [Accessed 23 December 2012].

42 ‘mahārāja, khemāya pabbajituṃ vā parinibbāyituṃ vā vaṭṭatī’ti’ (DhA.IV.59). This story can be found in the commentaries. In the Pali canon itself, however, it is said that Khemā only attained arahant-ship after being ordained for ‘seven months’ (‘sattamāse’ according to the Thai edition of the Pali canon; the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-Rom edition gives ‘addhamāse’ here though, meaning half a month after her ordination; Ap.II.550).

43 M-a.III.196.

44 Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa, lak tham samrap naksueksa [Buddhist Principles for Students], Bangkok: Thammasapha, 1994 [2537 BE], p. 89Google Scholar.

45 Cited in Phra Mahahansa Dhammahāso, kharuehat kap kan banlu phra arahattaphon [Laypeople and the attainment of Arahant-ship], 2005 [2548 BE], online publication: <http://www.mcu.ac.th/site/articlecontent_desc.php?article_id=401&articlegroup_id=101>, [Accessed 23 December 2012].

46 Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’, p. 581; see also Seeger, Martin, ‘Theravada Buddhism and human rights: perspectives from Thai Buddhism’, in Meinert, Carmen and Zöllner, Hans-Bernd (eds), Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights: Dissonances and Resonances, Bielefeld: Transcript Publishers (Serie Globaler Humanismus), 2010, pp. 63–92Google Scholar, 90–91. Compare also with Mrozik, Susanne, Virtuous Bodies. The Physical Dimensions of Morality in Buddhist Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

47 Quoted in Montri Suepduang, ‘naeu phinit choeng satriniyom wa duai phu ying kap phra phutthasatsana therawat nai prathet thai; Feminist Perspectives on Women and Theravada Buddhism in Thailand’, p. 262.

48 See Tiyavanich, Kamala, Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1997.Google Scholar

49 In 1958, for example, she started to refuse to massage men in order to avoid physical contact with the opposite sex.

50 See Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’.

51 Buai Siwaphruek, prawat phra phuttho yai phra phuttho noi Ubasika Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The History of Phra Phutthoyai and Phra Phutthonoi. Upāsikā Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 102.

52 Buai Siwaphruek, prawat phra phuttho yai phra phuttho noi Ubasika Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The History of Phra Phutthoyai and Phra Phutthonoi. Upāsikā Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], pp. 208–209, 215–216.

53 See, for example, the interview with the Thai scholar Pricha Changkhwanyuen in Duean Khamdi, ‘kan ruefuen phiksuni song khong fai therawat [The revival of the bhikkhunī-saṅgha in Theravada Buddhism]’, Chulalongkorn University Journal of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3, (2008 [2551 BE]), pp. 5–79, 71. In this context, people also referred to Ki Nanayon, who is believed to have achieved one of the four levels of awakening (ariyapuggala).

54 Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’.

55 At the same time, I should mention here that the building of stūpas for practitioners in an urban context would be quite untypical anyway, as most of these stūpas have been built for the saints of the Thai forest tradition. See, however, Scott, Nirvana for Sale?, pp. 70–76.

56 Mrozik, Virtuous Bodies, p. 66.

57 See D.III.141–179.

58 Wilson, Liz, Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Feminine Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, p. 78.Google Scholar

59 See, for example, Buddha's sixth disciple Yasa, the son of a wealthy man who lived in luxury and whose ‘mind was established in weariness’ (nibbidāya cittaṃ saṇṭhāsi; Vin.I.15). See Wilson, Charming Cadavers, pp. 77–82.

60 Schmithausen, Lambert, Maitrī and Magic: Aspects of the Buddhist Attitude Toward the Dangerous in Nature, Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997, p. 14.Google Scholar

61 So far, I have found only one temple mural in Thailand depicting this episode. This mural can be admired at Wat Phochai (Wat Phra Sai) in Nong Khai. Also, conversations with Thai Buddhist monks and lay-people confirm that this episode is not widely known in contemporary Thai Buddhism.

62 M.II.103. Translation by Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu and Bodhi, Bhikkhu, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1996, p. 714.Google Scholar

63 Mahākassapattherabojjhaṅgasutta (S.V.79), Mahāmoggallānattherabojjhaṅgasutta (S.V.80) and Mahācundattherabojjhaṅgasutta (S.V.81). See Phaiyon Kasi, photchangkhaparit phuttharit phichit rok [bojjhaṅga-paritta: Buddha's miraculous powers defeat illnesses], Bangkok: Liangchiang, no date, pp. 41–50; see also Phra Phromkhunaphon (P. A. Payutto), photjananukrom phutthasat chabap pramuan sap, Dictionary of Buddhology, Lexicon Edition, 11th printing, Bangkok: S R Printing, 2008 [2551 BE], pp. 209–220; Tambiah, S. J., Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-East Thailand, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970, pp. 195–222.Google Scholar

64 Terwiel, B. J., Monks and Magic: An Analysis of Religious Ceremonies in Central Thailand, third edition, Bangkok: White Lotus, 1994, p. 79Google Scholar; see also Esterik, Penny Van, Materializing Thailand, Oxford: Berg, 2000, p. 78Google Scholar; Lindberg-Falk, Making Fields of Merit, p. 107.

65 Kasikoson, Niti, ‘phra khrueang: khwamsattha nai sangkhom thai [Amulets: Beliefs in Thai Society], in 30 pi thai khadisueksa [30 Years Thai Studies], Bangkok: Thai Khadi Sueksa Mahawitthayalai Thammasat [Thai Studies, Thammasat University], 2001 [2544 BE], pp. 32–49, 40–41Google Scholar.

66 Phanom Phaetkhun, ‘Phra Phutthonoi Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem’, p. 16.

67 The value of Phra Phutthonoi amulets also depends on the size and condition of the amulet.

68 Interview with Boy Thaphrajan on 6 August 2010; Khom Chat Luek of 13 July 2010, online: <http://www.komchadluek.net/detail/20100713/66253/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%98%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%93%E0%B8%84%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%82%E0%B8%98%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%8D%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99.html>, [Accessed on 24 December 2012].

69 See for, example, the daily Khao Sot of 2 August 2010; see also interview with Boy Thaphrajan on 6 August 2010.

70 It was estimated that in 2007 the Thai amulet market and related businesses were worth more than 22 billion Thai Baht: see Kaset Noithip, ‘mahatsajan jatukhamramathep Super braen haeng sattha dan ut phra khrueang thalu 3 muen lan [The Miraculous Jatukhamramathep Amulet: Super Brand of Faith Pushes the Amulet Industry above 30 Billion Baht]’, in Matichon Weekly, issue 1394, 2007 [2550 BE], p. 26.

71 This statement is based on my many interviews with amulet collectors over the last four years. See also interview with a respected amulet collector on 27 August 2008 and interview with Boy Thaphrajan on 6 August 2010.

72 Mae Chi Natthahathai Chatthinnawat, sathanaphap mae chi korani sueksa mae chi wat paknam phasi jaroen krungthep [The Status of Mae Chis: a Case Study of the Mae Chis at Wat Paknam Phasi-jaroen, Bangkok], pp. 152–153.

73 Interview with a respected amulet collector on 27 August 2008.

74 Sujarit Thawonsuk, prawat thamma Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem [The Life and Dhamma of Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem], p. 237.

75 See, for example, Van Esterik, ‘Women meditation teachers in Thailand’; and Beesey, ‘Women and Buddhism in Thailand’.

76 See, for example, Seeger ‘“Against the Stream”’; Seeger, ‘The changing roles of Thai Buddhist women’; Scott, Nirvana for Sale?, pp. 70–76.

77 Seeger, ‘“Against the Stream”’, pp. 587–588.

78 At the time of writing (November 2010), a new biography of Mae Bunruean in two volumes is in preparation and will be published shortly.

79 In September 2010 some 150 to 200 people attended the chanting each Sunday. This is far more than the space in the shrine allows, which is why significant numbers of people have to stay outside the building during the ceremony.

80 Mrozik, Virtuous Bodies, pp. 62, 86. Here, though, Mrozik refers to the Buddha.

81 McDaniel, Justin Thomas, ‘Buddhists in modern Southeast Asia’, Religion Compass, Vol. 4, No. 11, (2010), pp. 657–668CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 658. There are, however, a number of academic publications that have recognized women's agency and achievements (see, for example, Tamafu, Latdawan, ‘mae chi: lok khong phuying thi thuk luem [mae chis: the forgotten world of women]’, Chiang Mai University Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 1, (2006 [2549 BE]), pp. 104–31Google Scholar; Van Esterik, ‘Women meditation teachers in Thailand’; Lindberg-Falk, Making Fields of Merit; Cook, ‘Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice’; Cook, Meditation in Modern Buddhism; Seeger ‘“Against the Stream”’.