Sādhāraṇabhogī: A Buddhist Social System as Practiced

in Asoke Communities

1Suwida S., 2Bong C.L., and 3Sikkhamat Chinda Tangbhao

Abstract

This paper describes the Sādhāraṇabhogī social system as practiced in the Asoke

communities, what it is and how it contributes to the success of the Asoke

communities for self-reliance and self-sufficiency necessary for sustaining a life for

successful spiritual practice .

1
Dr. Suwida Sangsehanat is a Thai social research scientist active in research on social development

and engaged Buddhism in Thailand and Asian countries. She can be contacted at

suwida.ss@gmail.com

2
Dr. Bong C. L. is a Malaysian, presently a volunteer lecturer at the International Buddhist College in

Thailand. She can be contacted at bongcl@gmail.com

3
Venerable Sikkhamat Chinda Tangbhao is a ten-precept Sikkhamat nun of Asoke communities. At

one time she served as a nuclear laboratory scientist in the Thai government service. She is currently

residing at Sisa Asoke.

Introduction

In this era of increasing materialism and globalization where everything moves very fast and

space is shrinking ever smaller, MONEY and TIME are the two major (in some cases only

valuable) commodities that control, regulate and dominate all aspects of life of most people.

TIME is for making MONEY, not for cultivating spirituality or nourishing life. MONEY is for

making more money, not for cultivating life. Nowadays making and having MONEY are the

only purposes of life, a very sad fact and trend compared to what life is supposed and/or used

to mean. The GOAL of life used to be spiritual attainment (freedom from sufferings, Nibbāna )

and striving for its attainment is the purpose. Nowadays, it is the fear of having no money that

pushes people to work ever harder and stressing their life at making money and more money.

This fear of not having ‘enough’ money is greater than the fear of falling into hell for not

driving oneself hard in spiritual practice as it used to be in the past. This ‘insanity’ is the

same everywhere, Thailand is no different.

But in Thailand, there is a Buddhist movement that actively and successfully resists

the onslaught of this insanity, and fearlessly and victoriously conquers the ‘domination of

MONEY’ or materialism to wrest back the control of their life and to regain the freedom to

practice spiritual life to reset the GOAL back to that of Spiritual Attainment of Freedom from

Sufferings. This movement is the Asoke movement and the communities it leads are known

as the Asoke communities. In these communities, money is not the value of their currency,

work, service and merits are their currencies, and spiritual attainment of freedom from
sufferings is their priority and goal in life. They work hard and lead a frugal and productive life.

The communities produce goods worth more than hundreds of million Baht per year4 for their

communities. Members of the communities do not get paid unless they need regular income

for basic maintenance of living for their family (with dependents such as young children and

elderly parents). Maximum salary drawn is around 3,000 Baht per month at most. Not only do

they not accumulate money, they also try to reduce accumulating personal assets, and to

minimize consumption and wastes. The communities supply the foods, tools and general daily

needs. All assets are centrally owned by the communities and members of the communities

are the shareholders or shared owners of the assets. In short they operate and live within a

system known as Sādhāraṇabhogī , a communally sustained, mutually caring and sharing

economic system in which money and profiteering play no role. This contrasts sharply with

the central role of money and profiteering seen in the unsustainable capitalist corporation-

controlled monetary system that one sees dominating much of the world today. They work

hard on practicing virtue. Working is meditation in practice. Minimizing consumption not only

is a practice to cut off attachment or mental defilements (greed, etc) but also a practice that

saves resources and time which are then turned into wealth to be shared not only among

members of the communities but also with other members of the larger society out there.

4
Samana Phothirak. 2007. Sādhāra7abhogī: Setthakit Janit Mai [Sādhāra7abhogī: new economic

system]. Bangkok: Fah Aphai. P.76.

1. Sādhāraṇ
Sādhāraṇabhogī:
abhogī: the Buddhist social system

The unjust caste system that existed in Buddha’s time caused a lot of sufferings to

many, even to this day. The Buddha rejected that system to form a fairer social system for the

Buddhist sangha. This system is known as the Sādhāraṇabhogī system. Everyone including

the untouchables was allowed to join this Buddhist community. There was equality. Everyone

had equal opportunity in cultivating spiritual life. Everyone was content to live without ‘money’,

to have few or no personal belongings or possessions. Members of the communities shared

whatever they had or received from others outside their communities. They lived and

practiced together giving each other support, acting as protectors and kalyanamitta s for one

another. This is the Buddhist social and economic system of sharing and caring for one

another that one rarely finds practiced well nowadays, particularly among the lay sangha.

Sādhāraṇabhogī is one of the six virtuous actions specified in Sāraṇīyadhamma

(conditions for fraternal living) that the Buddha taught for promoting peace and harmony in the

sangha or community to enable it to live and practice together.

The first is Mettākāyakamma : to be amiable in deed, willing to work in any kind of

business of the community politely with respect for one other, openly and in private.

The second is Mettāvacīkamma: to be amiable in word, to speak kind words, advise

with good intention, politely with respect for one other, openly and in private.

The third is Mettāmanokamma: to be amiable in thought, well-wishes, think good and

positive thoughts of others, be kind and greet one another with smiles, openly and in private.
 The fourth is Sādhāraṇabhogī: to share any lawful gains with virtuous fellows, openly

and in private.

The fifth virtuous action is Sīlasāmaññatā: to practice Buddhist’s precepts as virtuous

ones do, to keep without blemish the rules of conduct along with one’s fellows, openly and in

private.

The sixth is Diṭṭhisāmaññatā: to be endowed with the right views to practice along

with others on the path to liberation, to end sufferings and to solve problems, openly and in

private.

Practicing these six virtuous actions will help cultivate mindfulness, bring respect,

proper conduct, empathy and unity, non-quarrel, peace and harmony in the community5.

2. Asoke Communities

The Asoke movement is a reformist Buddhist movement started by Samanạ

( Śramaṇa) Phothirak (Bodhiraksa) and his followers in the 1970s when he left the mainstream

orders. The Asoke reformist Buddhist group keeps strictly to the precepts and vinaya

(monastic code of disciplines). Members are vegetarian. The group includes formally

ordained Ten-Precept nuns in addition to novices and fully ordained monks. Lay members

are expected to adhere to the Eight Precepts or the Five Precepts at the least.

5
P.A. Payutto. 1992. Dictionary of Buddhism. 7. Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya. Pp. 233-

235.
 In the beginning, particularly in the eighties, the reformist movement met with strong

opposition from the mainstream orders. However the Asoke movement weathered the storm

with steady gains in support among a cross section of the society including intellectuals and

social activists. Support for the Asoke movement grows mainly on the observation that

Samana ̣ Phothirak’s teachings do transform the society for the better, for instance, in

preaching and practicing equality, peace, independence, and self-reliance and self-

sufficiency. The Asoke community is variously described as “Buddhist utopia” 6 or “peaceful

community” 7 by such prominent intellectuals as Sombat Chantarawongsa and Praves Vasee

respectively. The movement is now better understood, more widely accepted and recognized

as a positive Buddhist and social reformist force in Thailand. Its Dhamma-based style of life

and social cohesion, eco-friendly approach and close to self-sufficient economic system is

now gaining international attention as an alternative force.

The Asoke community began with establishing the Santi Asoke Centre in Bangkok

and it expanded over the years to include more than 9 Asoke communities ( chum-chon

Asoke ) spread over nine provinces in Thailand8. The communities are unique in promoting a

6
Sombat Chantarawongsa. 1988. Chumchon Pathom Asoke: Kaan Suksa Phut Utopia [Pathom Asoke

Community: Buddhist Utopia]. Bangkok: Dhamma Santi Foundation.

7
Praves Vasee. 1995. Suan Moke, Thammakai, Santi Asoke. Bangkok: Mor Chao Ban.
8
The nine main Asoke communities:

1) Sisa Asoke in Srisaket, in the northeastern region of Thailand, established in 1976;

2) Sali Asoke in Nakornsawan, in the central region of Thailand, established in 1976;

3) Santi Asoke in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, established in 1976;

frugal and productive Buddhist life style geared towards spiritual attainment as the primary

goal and all other activities in daily life are in support of this endeavour. The Asoke Buddhist

lifestyle thus focuses on spiritual training in every aspect of life, this includes practicing

meditation in daily work activities, in minimising consumption to reduce ‘greed’ or ‘desire’ and

other mental defilements. In so training and living, this lifestyle not only leads towards

spiritual attainment, it also leads to increase in productivity and savings on resources and

creativity.9 In this way, there are surpluses to share and build and strengthen and self-reliant

community that is in turn supportive of a spiritually oriented life.

In structure and functions, the community has at its core the ordained sangha members

of the bhikkhu bhikshu

s ( ), novices, ten-precept nuns, and the eight-precept renunciants to provide

the community with spiritual guidance. They are supported by the five-precept lay sangha who

live around them and who provide the support and requisites for the monks and nuns. Together

they form a village or community wherein the conditions are conducive for the members to support

4) Pathom Asoke in Nakorn Pathom, the northern part of Bangkok, established in 1980;

5) Sima Asoke in Nakorn Ratchasima, the northeastern region of Thailand, established in 1990;

6) Rajthani Asoke in Ubon Ratchathanee, the northeastern region of Thailand, established in 1994;

7) Phu-pha Fa-Nam in Chiangmai, the northern region of Thailand, established in 1995;

8) Hin-pha Fa-Nam in Chaiyaphum, the northeastern region of Thailand;

9) Tale Dhamma (Taksin Asoke) in Trang, the southern region of Thailand.

9
Kanoksak Kaewthep. 2003. An ‘Imagining’ Community: A Case of Sisa Asoke Community, Srisaket

Province. Paper presented at the International Symposium: Imagining Communities: Ethnographic

Approaches in Southeast Asia, The National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan, November 17-18. p.

2
one another in spiritual cultivation as kalyanamitta s would. To be effective in reforming the society

for the better, the community also set up alternative schools which they call ‘Samma Sikkha’

schools where emphasis and priority are placed on developing ‘a whole person in cultivating

his/her morality, independence and self-reliance’. This is reflected in their syllabus or curriculum

and assessment of the students where high percentages of time and scores are given to

developing, cultivating and assessing the morality of the young, training and assessing them in

practical vocational skills for independent living and self-reliance, and general knowledge and its

applications. The graduates from these high schools are free to leave and embark on their own

vocations outside the immediate community. These graduates and their families and friends, and

others who support the Asoke group’s teaching and activities and who subscribe to its

philosophy but who live in their own homes outside the community extend the physical

boundary of the Asoke community into the society. In this way, Asoke’s activities and

philosophy diffuse from its village into the society at large, gradually building up its critical

mass and reforming it

10.

10
Critical mass may have been reached and its reformist efficacy demonstrated in the strength of

solidarity and influential role played by the Asoke members in the 2006-2008 “yellow-shirt people’s

power street protests” that led to the toppling of the ‘Thaksin’ and ‘Thaksin-backed’ administrations.

These events were extensively covered in local and international mass media including the local and

international newspapers, television news coverage including CNN and BBC.

 According to the grouping by Marja-Leena Heikkila-Horn11 (1998) and estimates by

Suwida12 (2006), the Asoke ordained sangha including the monks, novices, nuns, and

renunciants or trainees, and the lay people living in the Asoke villages numbered around

1,800 or more. The “ Yattidhamma ” or Dhamma relatives who stay in their own homes may

number around 20,000. These estimates were based on the records given in Dokya , an

Asoke journal (No.136, 2009).

3. Sādhāraṇ
Sādhāraṇabhogī as practiced
practiced in the Asoke Communities

The Asoke community is modelled on that of the ordained Sangha . The monks are

provided the four basic requisites to sustain life for the practice of Dhamma, any surpluses

are donated to the community to be managed centrally as communal property. Similarly in

the Asoke community, members minimize consumption, reduces or cuts out and recycles

wastes (time, materials), work hard to produce more, and donate the surpluses to the

community centre to be managed as communal property for the good of the whole

community. In this way of using little and donating surpluses to the community, the Asoke

11
Heikkila-Horn, Marja-Leena. 1998. Mong Puttha Sasana Duay Song Ta Pued: Kyam Sher Lae Kaan

Patibat Khong Santi Asoke [Buddhism with Open Eyes: Belief and Practice of Santi Asoke], translated

by Kuan Kor-eng. Bangkok: Fah Apai. P.88.

12
Suwida Sangsehanat. 2006. Integrated Wisdom on Buddhist Philosophy: An Alternative Strategy to

Develop Thai Society. Doctoral dissertation. Integrated Sciences Program, Thammasat University. P.

30.
Buddhist Community builds up their community assets known as Sādhāraṇabhogī . This

practice is based on non-self with emphasis on giving, dana . Four basic needs are allocated

from Sādhāraṇabhogī to everyone in the Asoke Community to maintain life for spiritual

cultivation.

In practicing equality and sharing for all in the community in this way, causes for

conflicts and disputes on who should have what and how the wealth is distributed are

minimized. This is a truly egalitarian system motivated and operated with Dhamma for

spiritual cultivation in daily life for spiritual attainment as the goal. The Asoke people thus

dare to be ‘poor in material possessions’ to be rich in spiritual opportunities. They live and

practice the motto “to be diligent, to have initiative, dare to be materially poor or austere, to

endure sarcasm”.

̣
Samana Phothirak described Sādhāraṇabhogī as the fruit of practice. This fruit or

what in effect is the common shared wealth of the Asoke community probably amounted to

billions of Baht’s worth of combined assets of all Asoke Communities.13 They are able to

invest in new organic farming project near Bangkok, in building a hospital in Pathom Asoke

Center, and in adding two new buildings in Santi Asoke Center.14 These assets are the fruits

from the eradication of kilesa or kleśa (mental defilements) of the Asoke people. In reducing

13
Samana Phothirak. 2007. ibid. p. 117.

14
Samana Phothirak. 2007. ibid. p. 77.
mental defilements, there is less attachment and more opportunities to cultivate good deed,

good word and good thought. Conditions in the community are made conducive for the

cultivation of mettā or maitr ī (loving-kindness) and karu7ā (compassion) which in turn promote

harmonious communal living and community work and sharing, and generate well-wishes and

good and positive thoughts for others. All of these fruits come from the blossoms that bloom

from purified mind. The Asoke community is a community that targets purified mind as an

important attainment in spiritual practice, a top priority in life and to be integrated in daily

activities, thoughts and speech.

4. Sādhāraṇ
Sādhāraṇabhogī and Self-
Self-Sufficiency

There are some differences between Sādhāraṇabhogī of Asoke communities and

those of the Buddha era. In Asoke communities, community assets are shared equally among

the monks, nuns and laypeople, not just among the bhikkhu s and bhikkhuni bhikshuni
s ( s) as

in the Buddha era. Asoke people join the Asoke communities to live a frugal, austere life with

little possessions or personal belongings, not renouncing the world to live on alms. The Asoke

community does not accept donations from unknown donors. Donations are only accepted

for specific purposes from donors who understand the Asoke philosophy. To the Asoke

community, donations are to be utilized well, its benefits to be multiplied manifolds so that

both the donors and the recipients and others benefit from the donations. The Asoke

community is self-reliant and self-sustaining and does not depend on others for its survival
and prosperity. The community however is open and would extend and share its expertise

and technology on sustaining a self-reliant and self-sufficient economy to anyone who would

like to learn or acquire it.

The self-sufficiency of each community is sustained by more than 30 activities, all

based on the slogan, “plant/produce everything that we eat/use and eat/use everything that

we plant/produce, distribute the surplus to others”. All activities are carried out on a voluntary

basis. The success of the Asoke community’s self-sustaining economy was first founded on

their success with their “Organic Agriculture” projects. In organic agriculture farming, the

members operate in accord with the first Buddhist precept of not harming oneself or others, a

harmonious working together of the farmers, the consumers and the environment.

The Asoke group regards organic agriculture practice as the foundation of self-

reliance for the Asoke and the Thai society in general. Being hardworking and frugal in life

style, more is produced than needed for consumption. Surpluses of vegetables and herbs or

organic products are shared or sold at the lowest possible prices at or below cost, with or

without profits to people outside the Asoke community. When products are distributed free or

below cost, ‘merits’ are generated. This is often practiced in the bun-ni-yom or meritism

trading system operated by the Asoke communities.

5. How Sādhāraṇ
Sādhāraṇabhogī is successfully practiced in the Asoke Community
Community
 Members of the Asoke community believe in practicing Dhamma through diligence in

daily work activity and not to while away time aimlessly. Therefore the Asoke members strive

to spend all their time in productive work so that there is little or no time left for idle activities,

speech and thoughts. In this way, they lead a life better spent in wholesome deeds and in

reducing the opportunities for the arising of mental defilements. They work at increasing

production, minimizing consumption and wastes and recycling wastes. Savings on resources,

time and surpluses of produce and products fuel the growth of the community’s wealth and

assets. All properties are communal assets. Members have equal share of all communal

assets that include vehicles and land. Members have no need for personal cars. The Asoke

community illustrates the principle that ‘in sharing, the community members become richer’ in

that they have access to communal properties when they need them and things are not left

idle. In the outside world, individuals will crave to own a personal vehicle and they become

enslaved to personal possessions. Such is not the case with Asoke members who are

contented to use community properties including cars and housing in various centers which

they can call home when they visit.

Some may liken the Asoke community system to that of socialism or communism. In

socialism and communism, there is spiritual desert; people are coerced into sharing poverty

while there is no actual equality for there always is present a ‘ruling elite class’. The Asoke

community is egalitarian, and is founded on spiritual practice; the austere and frugal life style

is a practice on non-attachment, and conservation of resources and building up of ‘merits’.

Living a life practicing Buddhism in the right way and spirit contributes to the success of

Sādhāraṇabhogī system as practiced in the Asoke community.

6. Role of Women
Women in Sādhāraṇ
Sādhāraṇabhogī System

Sādhāraṇabhogī system is compatible with Thai traditional culture. The Asoke

communities are like a big family. Members respect and regard each other as relatives.

Children run freely on the road to any house without fear. Parents work without worries as the

whole community looks after the children. Women, men and children have special duties

which they fulfill as equal partners. Anyone who has the necessary ability and skill in an

activity can assume leadership in that particular activity irrespective of gender or age. There

are capable women who become or are elected leaders of particular groups or activities. In

fact, Asoke’s political party, FHAE is led by a woman since its inception. Communal

properties or the properties of the Asoke communities are shared equally among all its

members, monks, nuns, renunciants, trainees and lay members, male or female.

The ten-precept nuns, Sikkhamat , are regarded highly and respected as ordained

members of the Sangha in the Asoke community. Like the monks, the Sikkhamat s teach

Dhamma, teach students and assume the roles of leaders in various activities. There are as

yet no bhikkhuni s in the Asoke Sangha. The ratio of nuns to monks is kept at 1 to 4 and

improved to 1 to 3 when the number of monks exceeds 100. There is less opportunity given

to the females to be ordained. There is high regard for spiritual practice and competence in
the Asoke community, regardless of gender or physical wealth. Men and women have to

undergo adequate training and deemed suitable by the Asoke Sangha before they could be

admitted formally as trainees, then renunciants, then sikkhamat s or novices.

7. Conclusion

Sādhāraṇabhogī is a Buddhist social and economic system that is fair and just. As

practiced in the Asoke community, the system is built up and sustained through strong

conviction on Buddha’s teachings on leading a life with attainment of Nibbanā as the goal and

all else in daily life centers on activities (economic and otherwise) that create conditions

conducive to and promote spiritual cultivation. Asoke communities successfully resist the

negative onslaught of materialism and exploitative globalization and corporatocracy by

practicing the Dhamma-inspired Sādhāraṇabhogī system that is naturally nurturing and

supporting. In this system, monks, nuns and lay people live and support one another

harmoniously in their spiritual quest without the influence of or need for ‘money’. They can

give away everything as dana like Prince Vessandorn in the Mahajanaka Jataka tale as there

is security provided in the Sādhāraṇabhogī system. Asoke communities show that a

successful Buddhist community should have the four assemblies, bhikkhu bhikkhuni
, (or

Sikkhamat nuns in Asoke), upāsaka (male laity), and upāsikā (female laity). They also show

that with diligence in practicing or incorporating Dhamma in daily life or work or activities, like

minimizing consumption to reduce greed, creating and sharing surpluses, they can cultivate
their spiritual life to work on attaining the goal of liberation with the support of the community

or kalyanamitta (spiritual friends). They are self-reliant. They work in peace and harmony

and support one another. Asoke communities nowadays have become some of the best

models in Thailand for building a strong moral community, self-sufficiency economy, self-

reliant community, organic products community and training centers for these enterprises and

development projects.

English References:

Kanoksak Kaewthep. 2003. An ‘Imagining’ Community: A Case of Sisa Asoke

Community, Srisaket Province . Paper presented at the International

Symposium: Imagining Communities: Ethnographic Approaches in Southeast

Asia, The National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan, November 17-18.

Suwida Sangsehanat. 2004. “Buddhist Economics and The Asoke Buddhist

Community”, The Chulalongkorn Journal of Buddhist Studies . 3(2): 271-285.

[Online]. Available in:

http://www.stc.arts.chula.ac.th/CJBS/Buddhist%20Economics%20and%20Th

e%20Asoke%20Community.pdf.

________. 2004. An Alternative Social Development in Thailand: The Asoke Buddhist

Community. Asia Examined: Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Conference of

the ASAA, Canberra, Australia. [Online]. Available in

 http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/biennial-

conference/2004/Suwida-A-ASAA2004.pdf.

________. 2006. “Buddhist Community: Thai Social Movements in Globalisation”,

WFB Review . XLII (4) and XLIII (1).

Thai References:

Heikkila-Horn, Marja-Leena. 1998. Mong Puttha Sasana Duay Song Ta Pued: Kyam

Sher Lae Kaan Patibat Khong Santi Asoke [Budhism with Open Eyes: Belief

and Practice of Santi Asoke] , translated by Kuan Kor-eng. Bangkok: Fah

Apai.

P.A. Payutto. 1992. Dictionary of Buddhism . 7. Bangkok:

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya.

Praves Vasee. 1995. Suan Moke, Thammakai, Santi Asoke . Bangkok: Mor Chao

Ban.

̣
Samana Phothirak. 2007. Sādhāraṇabhogī: Setthakit Janit Mai [Sādhāraṇabhogī: new

economic system] . Bangkok: Fah Aphai. P.76.

Sombat Chantarawongsa. 1988. Chumchon Pathom Asoke: Kaan Suksa Phut Utopia

[Pathom Asoke Community: Buddhist Utopia] . Bangkok: Dhamma Santi

Foundation.
 Suwida Sangsehanat. 2006. Integrated Wisdom on Buddhist Philosophy: An

Alternative Strategy to Develop Thai Society. Doctoral dissertation. Integrated

Sciences Program, Thammasat University.

Website:

http://www.asoke.info