Buddhism in the Liberation’s Time of PDR. Laos

Abstract

The academic paper aims to study the Buddhism in the Liberation’s Time of PDR. Laos by using mainly information from anual official reported documents from the official agents and from the Sangha organization added with the supplemented documents and relevant research reports. The study was found that: 

            Theravada Buddhism has been propagated into Lao society in B.E. 1900 (A.D.1357) after King Fa Ngum, the Great had united Lao localities to be the Lan Xang Kingdom in B.E.1896 (A.D.1353) established Chiang Thong (Luang Prabang) as the capital. Buddhism,then, is the main religion and has been lived side by side with the development of thevarious ethnic groups  having settled in Laos for a long time since their ancestors to the present time. The Lao heroes such as King Fa Ngum, the Great, King Chai Chetthathirat and Phra Chao Suriyawongsa Dhammikaraj, etc. all of them played thier roles in the mantenant and patronage of Buddhism. They regarded Buddhism as the State Religion and as the center for the people gaining education, being moral and behaving thier conduct following  the teachings of Buddha to be sipiritual object of the people of Laos. That creates Buddhism to be the main religion of Laos and uprising Theravada Buddhism firmly enshrined and prospering in Kingdom of Laos since that time.

ince the 18^th Buddhist century, Laos has long been colonized by Western Colonialists. That causes of no freedom and Buddhism was heavily destroyed. For restoration our independence from colonization, since the B.E.2473 (A.D.1930), Lao monks have played  important roles and performed duties towards the nation and to their laities. Lao history has revealed the important roles and duties of Lao monks in heavy restoration of Buddhism. Therefore, temples have become the treasury of knowledge and the institution in upgrading human resources to the nation in many aspects  sucs as literature, painting, sculpture, linguistics, arts and other literary works. Those, in the present are  remaining  few because of the foreign colonialists have taken a large number of them and burned in fire. Through the hundreds of years in evolution of nations and religions, Buddhism cannot be absolutely separated from the nation. It is also in the same manner, the monks and novicees cannot be separated from their laities. The past history of Laos is clear that Lao monks in all periods of time have carried the nationality as their spirit and morality as a factor in securing country's independence. They have supported the State Party in developing the country for the well-being of all laities and the tribes and the nation's civilization. Finally, the country was liberated completely, on December 2, B.E.2518 (A.D.1975) under the Lao Democratic Socialist Regime inthe new era.