Abstract
This doctoral thesis contributes to the field of Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies regarding the nineteenth-century and twentieth-century Buddhist reforms in Thailand by, in Chapter 3, making the first Pali-English translation of the Pali-Thai Paṭhamasambodhi in ten chapters of the Supreme Patriarch Pussadeva (Sa), and in Chapter 4, analysing the enlightenment passages in the Abhisambodhi chapter of this Paṭhamasambodhi by firstly comparing it with the Abhisambodhi chapters of three Life of Buddha texts, namely, Wat Khan Kaew’s transliterated edition of Lanna Paṭhamasambodhi in nine chapters by Bamphen Rawin, Siamese Paṭhamasambodhi in twenty-nine chapters of the Supreme Patriarch HRH Prince Paramanuchitchinorot, and Phutthaprawat of the Supreme Patriarch HRH Prince Wachirayan, and secondly comparing Pussadeva’s interpretation of dhammakāya in his three versions of Pali-Thai Paṭhamasambodhi, each of which contains three, four, and ten chapters respectively. In addition, Chapter 2 provides the first extended English biography of the Supreme Patriarch Pussadeva (Sa), an important founding member of the Thammayuttika Order and the ninth Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, whose works of literature have influenced the modern, reformed understanding of Buddhism among Thai Buddhist monks and laities since the 19th century. Moreover, Chapter 1 provides background information on the evolution of Life of Buddha literature, the importance and evolution of Paṭhamasambodhi, the Thammayuttika Order and its Paṭhamasambodhi, and the translation methodology. While modern scholars argue that Pussadeva demythologised his Paṭhamasambodhi to fulfil his Thammayuttika-related reformist agenda and that dhammakāya is a collection of the Buddha’s teachings, the findings in this PhD thesis indicate that Pussadeva’s Paṭhamasambodhi is not demythologised because it still contains Pali-canonical-based supernatural elements, that Wachirayan’s Phutthaprawat is better characterised as a demythologised Life of Buddha, and that Pussadeva sees the dhammakāya as consisting of both Buddha’s exclusive transcendent qualities (buddhaguṇas) and Buddha’s teachings (sāsanas).