Philosophical Analysis of Hell and Heaven in Malai Pod Lok of Lanna Script

Abstract

The objectives of this research are: 1) to study the concepts of hell and heaven in Buddhist philosophy 2) to study the concepts of hell and heaven in Lanna Scripture Mālai Phod Lōk 3) To analyze the philosophical aspects of concepts of hell and heaven in Mālai Phod Lōk between traditional Buddhist philosophy and Lanna Scripture. The research was conducted by the qualitative research method.

 Buddhist philosophy treats heaven and hell as dissimilar concepts that exists in two realms of reality which are the physical conditions is a physical space in this space-time, and the reality in the mentality, which exist in mind

Mālai Phod Lōk was first composed in Myanmar. During 11th-13th century, it was called Malai Sutta in Burma. Thus, by the 15th -16th  centuries, it was called “Mali”. It can be argued that the term is derived from the narrative of Ceylon tradition. Subsequently, the result is a composing of Mā lœ̄iya thēwatthērawatthu in the 17th century. The story got published and spreaded afterwards. The preaching of the precepts of the world is preached by reading the scriptures in the morality, there are five parts: the chanting spell, the preface Bali, introductory narrative, and the summary/mention of virtue. The content of the worldly wreaths. The hell is heaven, sin, and blessed merit. The influence of the garland on the world is found in three aspects: the influence of morality. Ritual influence, misfortune and the influence of Lanna language education.

Concepts of heaven and hell between Buddhist philosophy and the Mālai Phod Lōk in Lanna Scripture can be found both similarity and differentiality. It can be analyzed into three parts: the analysis of hell and heaven in cosmology,  analysis of hell and heaven in epistemology and the analysis of hell and heaven in ethics.