Khuba Movements and the Karen in Northern Thailand: Negotiating Sacred Space and Identity
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Khuba Movements and the Karen in Northern Thailand: Negotiating Sacred Space and Identity[1]
by Kwanchewan Buadaeng[2]
The Khuba Movement is led by a Khuba, a Buddhist monk who is believed to be a ton bun, literally meritorious person, in the construction of monasteries and other related infrastructure throughout northern Thailand. Through the construction of sacred monuments in the peripheral areas of the nation-state, the Khuba's reputation as a ton bun and the number of followers has increased. The paper puts forward the idea that sacred space has been constructed by Khuba and his followers based on localized Buddhist legends, myths and local practices. The ruins of stupas and monasteries which were reportedly visited by the Buddha when he was alive, and which were subsequently cared for by former local royalties, were renovated and thus had the sacred power restored with the act of Khuba rituals. The Karen, Lua and other local ethnic groups participate in these rituals to gain protecting power and to take part in the construction of the millennium on earth. This millennium can be realized by the equal and respectful relations among varied ethnic groups during the construction, by the expression of cultural identities, thus the civility, of many marginalized groups, and by the sense of prosperous space which is created outside the control of the state and the Sangha. Thus, the construction of monasteries is not only the means to achieve the finished product -- the constructed or renovated buildings -- but the activity is the ends in itself. However, by exploring details of the construction projects and the relationship between Khuba and the Sangha and the state of Khuba Movements led by Khuba Siwichai, Khuba Khao Pi and Khuba La, I would also argue that characteristics of sacred space and participants' identity can be variant from one to another Khuba movement as a result of different strategies -- the cooperation, contestation and negotiation, among powerful parties within different socio-economic and political context. This confirms the non-essentialist nature of space and identity and that their boundaries could change as the result of the negotiation of its meanings.
Introduction
I started my research project on the Khuba Khao Pi movement and the Karen people for my M.A. in 1987 (Kwanchewan 1988; 1989a, 1989b, 1993). I had a chance to look at this topic again when I did my Ph.D. thesis on the Karen's religious practices (Kwanchewan 2001). Although only a few Karen in my study community have joined the movement by making pilgrimage to Khuba and participating in construction projects, they are those who have higher socio-economic status -- being religious specialists or wealthy respectful people. Thus the sacred power of Khuba Khao Pi and also his disciple, Khuba Wong, is widely recognized in the community.
Another recent Khuba who was very popular among the Karen during the time of my Ph.D. study is Khuba La. He is a Karen-Burmese monk, reputed to be a reincarnation of Khuba Chao Raat, a charismatic monk who was popular among the Karen in the 1950s-1970s or during the time of Khuba Khao Pi. Although he was very young -- 21 years old at the time of that ceremony -- he was believed to be a ton bun, the meritorious sacred person, by Khon Muang (Northern Thai) and Karen followers, which is evidenced by the popular use of the title Khuba. I had a chance to attend a big ceremony organized by Khuba La to celebrate his new residence and for laymen to give him a sacred bath at Wat Yong Kue (Wat = temple), Omkoi District, Chiang Mai in April, 1998. On that day, the temple ground, which was a recently cleared forest area was crowded with thousands of people attending the ceremony. A stupa in ruins on the hill close to the temple ground, along with many huge temporary chedi, were decorated with colorful cloth and flags, all adding to the sacred and grand atmosphere of the ceremony. The sacred bathing ritual began. Khuba La was sitting alone in a shrine, built up approximately seven to eight meters above the ground, so that everybody could see him. Karen in their traditional costumes lined up in procession, singing their traditional songs, while waiting for their turn to put special water prepared from their home into a bucket to be pulled up to the shrine and poured over the Khuba's body. Water passed on Khuba's body was collected as sacred water which Karen were to fill in bottles to take home. The bathing of Khuba is similar to the Khon Muang bathing of Buddha images and stupas which contain Buddha relics on Songkran days.
It is amazing for me to see that the belief in ton bun, a charismatic Buddhist leader who combines the Bodhisattava ideal with sacral kingships, is still alive in these modern times. The Khuba tradition seems to have a continuation from the time of Khuba Siwichai (1878-1938) to Khuba Khao Pi (1889-1977), Khuba Wong (1913-2000) and other recent Khuba. But the belief in ton bun alone may not be enough to understand the Khuba movements which focus their activities on the construction of sacred space. As sacred space are identified and the construction of monasteries expanded, the reputation of Khuba as ton bun is increased. However, most studies and analysis done until now have focused on the concept of ton bun, the charisma of Khuba and the political crisis at the turn of the twentieth century when the Khuba Siwichai movement emerged (cf. Keyes 1971, 1977; Renard 1980; Sopha 1991; Tanabe 1986, 1992; Cohen 2001) but not about the construction practice. Although Tanabe (1992) mentioned about the construction activity which led to the construction of Buddhadesa (Buddha-land) which imply the materialized a this-worldly Buddhist space, there has been no further discussion about this space.
Thus this paper is an attempt to focus on the construction activity of the movements. I would argue that the construction of sacred space, in separation from that of the centralized Sangha as the official organization of Buddhist monks, conducted by Khuba and the followers, is the meaningful basis for the formation and the continuation of Khuba movements. This construction of sacred space is based on the meanings of sacred space from reworked and reproduced religious texts and local practices. By exploring Khuba Siwichai, Khuba Khao Pi and Khuba La movement's actual construction projects, the paper however shows that the sacred space has been constructed in competition, contestation and negotiation between the Sangha and the State which have different natures in different historical periods. Therefore the ton bun Khuba and movement have not always maintained the same form and the meaning throughout time.
The Nature of Khuba Movements
The Khuba movement is the movement led by a Khuba to construct and renovate Buddhist monasteries in many places. There are three important components here which form and sustain the movement. First the movement is led by Khuba who is believed to be ton bun, the Bodhisattava - one manifestation of the future Buddha. This can be seen also by the terms used to called Khuba Siwichai and Khuba Khao Pi as naw pha buddha chao, a scion of the Buddha, or pha chao, the Buddha. The two Khuba were also called phaya dham, Bodhisattava who were born to disseminate dhamma to lay people, and to give them opportunities to make merit, in order to build up the moral community to prepare for the coming of the future and fifth Buddha, Phra Sri Ariya Metreya. In fact, Khuba is a title of Buddhist monk, literally ‘revered (venerated) teacher’, in the traditional Lanna Sangha. The Khuba has also been prevalent and still held among Buddhist Tai groups in Burma, Laos and Sipsong Panna of Southern China (cf. Tanabe 1992). However, after the centralization of the Sangha, in Thailand in early twentieth century, Khuba is no longer an official title and is used less by people. The central Thai title 'luang phaw', revered father, or 'luang poo', revered grandfather are used to call meritorious monks instead. Presently, a few monks who are popularly called Khuba can be categorized into two groups: first, meritorious senior monks who have stayed in monkhood for long time, been seen as meritorious and sacred and whose knowledge and practices are in 'traditional' Northern Thai style. The second group are those who relate to Khuba Siwichai, Khuba Khao Pi and other Khuba. Unlike those in the first group, they are perceived as ton bun and carry out monastery construction and renovation projects. They have just emerged, could be very young and known widely across many communities.
Being a ton bun is associated with having a supernatural sacred power. Four out of eight charges which led to Khuba Siwichai's confinement in Bangkok in 1920 related to the popular belief about his supernatural power: 1) he is not wet when walking under the rain; 2) he possessed the Sri Kan Chai sword which was given by the deity; 3) when walking his feet are 2-sok above the ground (1 sok = 50 centimeter; and, 4) he can walk on the water surface (Wat Srisoda 2000). Khuba Khao Pi was also rumored for his magical eyes and for a miracle that occurred because of his unusual innate power. Stories about his sacredness are, for example, that he and his followers were not harmed by the firing from Japanese troops during the World War II and that he could stop a huge rock which fell from the top of a hill.
The second component of the movement is the construction and renovation of monasteries in many places. As the leader of the movement is believed to be a ton bun, it is likely that more people would come to make merits by contributing their resources and labor to construction projects. At the same time, successful construction would contribute to the widespread of the reputation of Khuba as ton bun. When Khuba Siwichai became an abbot of Wat Ban Pang, in Li, the remote district of Lamphun, he initiated the construction of Ban Pang monasteries in a new place in 1899, based on the justification that he had to move it farther from the community so that he could concentrate on his meditation. However, only after 1920 when he came back from confinement in Bangkok and when his reputation to be a ton bun increased, did he begin to travel to renovate and construct important monasteries in various places of Lanna: Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, Phayao, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son. According to the list in the book on Biography and Works of Khuba Siwichai and History of Wat SriSoda, Khuba Siwichai had constructed or renovated not less than 52 monasteries including monastery facilities. These monasteries and facilities include famous monasteries which contain relics of the Buddha or footprints, and which were supported by Northern royalty in the past, such as Wat Phra That Hariphunchai and Wat Phra Buddha Bat Tak Pha in Lamphun, Wat Phra That Chaw Hae in Phrae, Wat Sri Khom Kham in Phayao, Wat Phra That Doi Tung in Chiang Rai, Wat Phra That Doi Kham, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Suen Dok and Wat Sri Soda in Chiang Mai. The most famous work at the end of his life is the construction of 12-kilometer road to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. There were however many more wats constructed in the remote mountainous areas around which the Karen, Lua and other cultural groups lived[3]. Khuba Khao assisted Khuba Siwichai in many projects including the construction of the road to Doi Suthep and also conducted his own projects, in total not less than 117 projects in the area of Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Mae Hong Son, Tak and even in the borderland of Burma.
The last component is the large number of followers from many ethnic groups and communities who contribute to the success of the project. That Khuba is able to convert people from many cultural backgrounds, formerly without a ‘religion,’ to Buddhist laymen is often cited as evidence of Khuba's parami (perfection). This parami is the virtue accumulated by those who attain high Buddhist status, such as the Buddha and his great disciples[4]. I often heard Khuba Khao Pi's intellectual disciples explain that the Karen and Lua and other 'non-religious' people follow Khuba because they realize the essence of Khuba's parami.
The construction and renovation of monasteries is the main activity which differentiates the Khuba movement from other religious-political movements which may also similarly relate to the belief in ton bun and the coming of the fifth Buddha, Phra Sri Ariya Metreya. As Tanabe (1992) and Cohen (2001) view it, the Khuba movement is rather characterized as the Buddhist revivalism than the millenarism because while millenarian movements totally negate this-worldly existence and long for utopia society in next life, the Khuba movement were directed toward this-worldly construction. As Buddhism is seen as deteriorating, with a need for revival, Khuba movements have political implications —in light of their rejection from the centralized Sangha and state.
Religious Space in Lanna texts
Anderson (1983: 22, 25) sees the importance of the sacred languages in making religious community imaginable[5]. Regarding Buddhism in LannaYuen scripts, which were traditionally used for Buddhist texts, may also play the same role. Among famous texts written in Yuen scripts, which related to Lanna Buddhism and the religious community are Tamnan Mulsasna (the legend of the origin of the religion) ((Buddhaphukam and Buddhayan 1970) reprinted in many versions such as Mulsasna of Wat Pa Daeng, which describes the Buddhist history and the history of how Buddhism spread in Lanna; the legend of Phya Dhamma which describes the emergence of Phya Dhamma, a Bodhisattava predecessor of Phra Sri Ariya Metreya; and the legend of Buddha relics which are present in famous monasteries such as Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai and Wat Phra That Lampang Luang in Lampang.