Mongkut - Monastic Life and Thammayut Sect

Monastic Life and Thammayut Sect

In 1824, at age 20, Mongkut became a Buddhist monk (ordination name Vajirayan; Pali Vajirañāṇo), according to Siamese tradition that men aged 20 should become monks. The same year, his father died. By tradition, Mongkut would be crowned the next king, but the nobility instead put on the throne the influential Prince Jessadabodindra, who was a son of a concubine rather than a queen. Perceiving that the throne was irredeemable and to avoid political intrigues, Mongkut chose to retain his monastic status.

Vajirayan became one of the members of the royal family who devoted his life to religion. He travelled the country as a monk and saw the relaxation of the rules of Pali Canon among the Siamese monks he met, which he considered inappropriate. In 1829, at Phetchaburi, he met a monk named Buddhawangso who strictly followed the canon. Vajirayan admired Buddhawangso for his obedience to the canon, and was inspired to pursue religious reforms. In 1833, he began a reform movement reinforcing the canon law that evolved into the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, or Thammayut sect. In 1836, Vajirayan arrived at Wat Bowonniwet in what is now Bangkok's central district, but was then the city proper, and became the wat's first abbot (เจ้าอาวาส). During this time, he discovered Western knowledge, studying Latin, English, and astronomy with missionaries and sailors. Vicar Pallegoix of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok lived nearby, the two became close friends, and Vajirayan invited Pallegoix to preach Christian sermons in the Wat. Vajirayan admired Christian morals and achievements as presented by the vicar, but could make nothing of Christian doctrine. It was then he made the comment later attributed to him as king: "What you teach people to do is admirable but what you teach them to believe is foolish."

King Mongkut would later be noted for his excellent command of English, although it is said that his younger brother, Vice-King Pinklao, could speak it even better. Mongkut's first son and heir, Chulalongkorn, granted the Thammayut sect royal recognition in 1902 through the Ecclesiastical Polity Act; it became one of the two major Buddhist denominations in modern Thailand. Chulalongkorn also persuaded his father's 47th child, Vajirañana, to enter the order, and he rose to become the 10th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand from 1910 to 1921.