Religion in Laos
Tai folk religion is predominant among northern groups of
Although the
History
Buddhism was introduced to Laos beginning in the eighth century by Mon Buddhist monks and was widespread by the fourteenth century.[5] A number of Laotian kings were important patrons of Buddhism.[5]
Beginning in the late 1950s, the
Popular resentment of the aristocracy, division of the sangha into two antagonistic sects, the low level of its religious education and discipline, and opposition to foreign (i.e., Western) influence all contributed to the receptiveness of many monks to Pathet Lao overtures.[6] The politicization of the sangha by both sides lowered its status in the eyes of many, but its influence at the village level augmented popular support for the Pathet Lao political platform, which paved the way for the change in government in 1975.[7]
The LPDR government's successful efforts to consolidate its authority also continues to influence Buddhism.[7] In political seminars at all levels, the government taught that Marxism and Buddhism were basically compatible because both disciplines stated that all men are equal, and both aimed to end suffering.[7] Political seminars further discouraged "wasteful" expenditures on religious activities of all kinds, because some monks were sent to political reeducation centers and others were forbidden to preach.[7]
The renunciation of
During this period of political consolidation, many monks left the sangha or fled to
The
From the late 1980s, stimulated as much by
Religions
Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism is by far the most prominent organized religion in the country, with nearly 5,000 temples serving as the focus of religious practice as well as the center of community life in rural areas.[3] In most lowland Lao villages, religious tradition remains strong. Most Buddhist men spend some part of their lives as novice monks in temples, even if only for a few days.[3]
There are approximately 22,000 monks in the country, nearly 9,000 of whom have attained the rank of "senior monk", indicating years of study in temples.[3] In addition, there are approximately 450 nuns, generally older women who are widowed, residing in temples throughout the country.[3] The Buddhist Order is under the direction of a Supreme Patriarch who resides in Vientiane and supervises the activities of the order's central office, the Ho Thammasaphat.[3]
Lao Buddhism belongs to the Theravada tradition.[9] Theravada Buddhism is also the dominant school in neighboring Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia.[5]
That Luang, a Lao-style stupa, is the most sacred Buddhist monument in Laos and the location of the nationally important festival and fair in November.[6]
For the Lao Loum, the
Although officially incorporated into the dominant
There are four Mahayana Buddhist temples in Vientiane, two serving the ethnic Vietnamese community and two serving the ethnic Chinese community.[3] Buddhist monks from Vietnam, China, and India have visited these temples freely to conduct services and minister to worshippers.[3] There are at least four large Mahayana Buddhist pagodas in other urban centers and smaller Mahayana temples in villages near the borders of Vietnam and China.[3]
Tai folk religion
Tai folk religion (Lao: ສາສນາຜີ sasna phi, "religion of the spirits") is an overarching term for the ethnic religions practiced by 30.7%[10] of the population of Laos.[11][12] These religions are pantheistic and polytheistic, and involve classes of shamans.
The category comprehends traditions of the
Despite the importance of Buddhism to Lao Loum and some Lao Theung groups, animist beliefs are widespread among all segments of the Lao population.[13] The belief in phi (spirits) colors the relationships of many Lao with nature and community and provides one explanation for illness and disease.[13] Belief in phi is blended with Buddhism, particularly at the village level, and some monks are respected as having particular abilities to exorcise malevolent spirits from a sick person or to keep them out of a house.[13] Many wat have a small spirit hut built in one corner of the grounds that is associated with the phi khoun wat, the beneficent spirit of the monastery.[13]
Phi are ubiquitous and diverse.
Many Lao believe that the khwan of persons who die by accident, violence, or in childbirth are not reincarnated, becoming instead phi phetu (malevolent spirits).[15] Animist believers also fear wild spirits of the forests.[15] Other spirits associated with specific places such as the household, the river, or a grove of trees are neither inherently benevolent nor evil.[15] However, occasional offerings ensure their favor and assistance in human affairs.[15] In the past, it was common to perform similar rituals before the beginning of the farming season to ensure the favor of the spirit of the rice.[15] These ceremonies, beginning in the late 1960s, were discouraged by the government as successive areas began to be liberated.[15] This practice had apparently died out by the mid-1980s, at least in the extended area around Vientiane.[15]
Ceremonies oriented to the phi commonly involve an offering of a chicken and rice liquor.[15] Once the phi have taken the spiritual essence of the offering, people may consume the earthly remains.[15] The head of a household or the individual who wants to gain the favor of the spirit usually performs the ritual.[15] In many villages, a person, usually an older man believed to have special knowledge of the phi, may be asked to choose an auspicious day for weddings or other important events, or for household rites.[15] Each lowland village believes itself protected by the phi ban, which requires an annual offering to ensure the continued prosperity of the village.[15] The village spirit specialist presides over this major ritual, which in the past often involved the sacrifice of a water buffalo and is still an occasion for closing the village to any outsiders for a day.[15] To Hang phi ban (feed the village spirit) also serves an important social function by reaffirming the village boundaries and the shared interests of all villagers.[15]
Most Lao Theung and
According to Hmong belief, spirits reside in the sky, and the shaman can climb a ladder to the heavens on his magical horse and contact the spirits there.[17] Sometimes illness is caused by one's soul climbing the steps to the sky, and the shaman must climb after it, locate it, and bring it back to the body in order to effect a cure.[17] During the ritual, the shaman sits in front of the altar astride a wooden bench, which becomes his or her horse.[17] A black cloth headpiece covers vision of the present world, and as the shaman chants and enters a trance, he or she begins to shake and may stand on the bench or move, mimicking the process of climbing to heaven.[17] The chant evokes the shaman's search and the negotiations with the heavenly spirits for a cure or for information about the family's fortune.[17]
Hmong shamans are believed to be chosen by the spirits, usually after a serious or prolonged illness.[17] The illness would be diagnosed by another shaman as an initiatory illness and confrontation with death, which was caused by the spirits.[17] Both men and women can be summoned in this way by the spirits to be shamans.[18] After recovery from the illness, the newly chosen shaman begins a period of study with a master shaman, which may last two or three years, during which time he or she learns the chants, techniques, and procedures of shamanic rites, as well as the names and natures of all the spirits that can bring fortune or suffering to people.[19] Because the tradition is passed orally, there is no uniform technique or ritual; rather, it varies within a general framework according to the practice of each master and apprentice.[19]
Christianity
There are approximately 45,000 members of the Roman Catholic Church, many of whom are ethnic Vietnamese, concentrated in major urban centers and surrounding areas along the Mekong River in the central and southern regions of the country.[3] Catholicism is an established presence in five of the most populous central and southern provinces, and Catholics are able to worship openly.[3] The church's activities are more circumscribed in the north.[3] Church property in Luang Prabang was seized after 1975, and there is no longer a parsonage in that city.[3] An informal Roman Catholic training center in Thakhek prepared a small number of priests to serve the Catholic community.[3]
Approximately 400 Protestant congregations conduct services throughout the country for a community that has grown rapidly in the past decade.[3] Church officials estimate Protestants to number as many as 100,000.[3] Many Protestants are members of ethnic Mon-Khmer groups, especially the Khmu in the north and the Brou in the central provinces.[3] Numbers of Protestants also have expanded rapidly in the Hmong and Yao communities.[3]
In urban areas, Protestantism has attracted many lowland Lao followers.
Seventh-day Adventists number slightly more than 1,000 country-wide, with congregations in Vientiane Municipality as well as
Other religions
There are approximately 400 adherents of Islam in the country, the vast majority of whom are foreign permanent residents of South Asian and Cambodian (Cham) origin.[3] There are two active mosques in Vientiane.[3]
The Baha'i Faith has approximately 8,000 adherents and 4 centers: 2 in Vientiane Municipality, 1 in Vientiane Province, and 1 in Savannakhet Province.
Small groups of followers of Confucianism and Taoism practice their beliefs in the larger cities.[3]
Laos used to be part of the Khmer Empire and has some remaining Hindu temples.
State Shinto was imposed during The Japanese Occupation of Laos.
Freedom of religion
See also
References
- ^ https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ [1]Pew Research Center 2015
- ^ U.S. Department of State. 2007. Retrieved October 26, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ USCIRF Annual Report 2009 - The Commission's Watch List: Laos Archived 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Savada 1995, p. 124.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Savada 1995, p. 128.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Savada 1995, p. 129.
- ^ a b c d Savada 1995, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Savada 1995, p. 123.
- ^ Pew Research Center's Global Religious Landscape 2010 - Religious Composition by Country.
- ^ a b Yoshihisa Shirayama, Samlane Phompida, Chushi Kuroiwa. Malaria Control Alongside "Sadsana-Phee" (Animist Belief System) in Lao PDR. In: Modern Medicine and Indigenous Health Beliefs, Vol 37 No. 4 July 2006. p. 622, quote: «[...] Approximately 60 to 65% of the population, most of whom are Lao Lum (people of the lowlands) follow Buddhism. About 30% of the population, on the other hand, hold an animist belief system called "Sadsana Phee" [...]».
- ^ a b Guido Sprenger. Modern Animism: The Emergence of "Spirit Religion" in Laos. Local Traditions and World Religions: The Appropriation of “Religion” in Southeast Asia and Beyond. 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Savada 1995, p. 130.
- ^ Savada 1995, pp. 130–131.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Savada 1995, p. 131.
- ^ Savada 1995, pp. 131–132.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Savada 1995, p. 132.
- ^ Savada 1995, pp. 132–133.
- ^ a b Savada 1995, p. 133.
Works cited
- Savada, Andrea Matles, ed. (1995). Laos: a country study (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: OCLC 32394600. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
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: CS1 maint: postscript (link