In Thailand, Buddhism and public diplomacy may have more in common than what they seem on the surface.
The link, as explained by the Venerable Phra Phrompacharayanmuni, also known as Ajahn Jayasaro, lies in the principles that can help promote mutual respect internationally.
Ajahn Jayasaro is one of this year’s recipients of the Thailand’s Public Diplomacy Award, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Thailand Foundation.
‘I haven’t even heard of the word “public diplomacy” or this prize until I was awarded it’, he said in an exclusive interview with Thai PBS World. In fact, he has been an ambassador of public diplomacy for more than four decades.
The journey from his hometown on the Isle of Wight to Wat Nong Pah Pong in Ubon Ratchathani started in 1978. ‘I’ve always wanted to study Buddhism in a buddhist country’, he said.
For him, Buddhism is ‘not a religion that says just believe. It does require some commitment. You have to read a bit, you have to listen, you have to discuss before you can have some ideas to apply this. So much in it is practical’.
One example is ‘Vinaya’, which Ajahn Jayasaro said is not just the set of rules and guidelines for monastic life, but ‘the way that you create supportive conditions in the family and in the world around you, that help you in the inner practice’.
The ‘inner practice’ is influential to our mental state, which successively affects our relationships.
‘If you are mindful and if you are cultivating kindness and compassion, it will affect how you relate to your family and people you work with’, he said.
From a perspective of a buddhist monk, Ajahn Jayasaro believes that there are still many useful aspects of Buddhism that are being over looked by the modern society.
Hence, he sees it as one of his duties to make make Buddha’s teachings more accessible to both new and existing audiences.
Ajahn Jayasaro currently has over 300,000 followers on social media, authored over 100 books, and gave countless lectures in 18 countries. He is also writing a television series about Buddhist thoughts for a world famous streaming platform.
A common misconception about Buddhism, he says, ‘is make your mind peaceful, be calm don’t worry about everything in the world, and that’s not what the Buddha said at all… the Buddha is says we have to develop the inner world and the outer world in tandem in harmony’.
