Their main role in shaping Buddhist history thus
came in periods of crisis, when people in the centers of
power lost faith in the domesticated Buddhism of the
cities and, overcoming their fears, turned to wilderness
monks to spearhead reforms. This pattern is especially
marked in the THERAVADAtradition. In the thirteenth
century, for instance, after a foreign invasion had
threatened the revival of Theravada in Sri Lanka, King
Parakramabahu II placed a contingent of forest/scholar
monks, lead by a Sariputta Bhikkhu, in charge of the
san ̇gha’s unification. The system of governance and
standards of scholarship thus formulated for the
san ̇gha proved influential in Theravada countries well
into the twentieth century. They also ensured that the
traditions of the Mahavihara—the sect to which
Sariputta belonged—became the Theravada norm.
Similarly, in the nineteenth century, when King
Mindon of Burma (Myanmar), tried to revive classi-
cal Burmese culture in response to the British colonial
threat, he invited wilderness monks to teach insight
mediation (vipas ́yana; Pali, VIPASSANA) to his court,
in hopes that the resulting spiritual superiority of his
government would dispel the barbarians at the gate.
Despite its failure in this regard, his patronage of
vipassana established a precedent for high-ranking
Burmese throughout the colonial period and for the
Burmese government when it regained independence.
This in turn fostered the development of distinct
schools of vipassana practice, such as the Mahasi
Sayadaw and U Ba Khin methods, that have since
spread around the world.
As the twenty-first century dawns, wilderness monk
movements thrive in all the major Theravada coun-
tries, examples being the forest/scholar brotherhoods
founded in the twentieth century by KadavädduveJi-
navam ̇sa in Sri Lanka and Buddhadasa Bhikkhu in
Thailand. The most prominent wilderness movement,
however, is the Kammatthana (Meditation) tradition
founded in Thailand in the late nineteenth century by
Achan Sao Kantaslo and Achan Man Bhuridatto.
Building on the Dhammayut sect’s reforms earlier in
the century, this movement differed in two ways from
the tantric wilderness movements extant in Thailand
at its inception, both in its strict adherence to the
Vinaya and in its championing of meditation tech-
niques drawn from the Pali canon. Before the close of
the twentieth century, the movement spread beyond
Thailand into other parts of Asia and the West.
Although some wilderness movements have left
long-lasting marks on Buddhist history, they them-
selves have tended to be short-lived. Their very success
in gaining support leads directly to their domestica-
tion and decline. In the past, the ubiquitous forest has
served as the testing ground for new wilderness move-
ments in Asia as older ones pass away. With the rapid
deforestation of the continent, this source of regener-
ation and reform is in danger of disappearing. At the
same time, with the spread of Buddhism beyond Asia,
there is the question of whether wilderness in its three
roles—as place, mode of livelihood, and attitude—will
counterbalance the inevitable domestication of Bud-
dhism as it settles into its new homes.See also:Ascetic Practices; Monasticism; MonksBibliography
Carrithers, Michael. The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: An Anthro-
pological and Historical Study.Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1983.
Ray, Reginald A. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist
Values and Orientations.Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1994.
Swearer, Donald K., ed. Me and Mine: Selected Essays of Bhikkhu
Buddhadasa.Albany: State University of New York Press,
1989.
Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and
the Cult of Amulets.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1984.
Taylor, J. L. Forest Monks and the Nation-state: An Anthropo-
logical and Historical Study in Northeastern Thailand.Singa-
pore: Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, 1993.
Teich, Anne, ed. Blooming in the Desert: Favorite Teachings of
the Wildflower Monk Taungpulu Sayadaw.Berkeley, CA:
North Atlantic Books, 1996.
Tiyavanich, Kamala. Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in
Twentieth-Century Thailand. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1997.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu. “The Customs of the Noble Ones” (1999).
Available from Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Bud-
dhismwww.accesstoinsight.org.
THANISSAROBHIKKHU(GEOFFREYDEGRAFF)WISDOM. SeePrajña(Wisdom)WOMENA consideration of the role of women in Buddhism—
as distinct from the symbolic role of the female—WISDOM