THERAVADA BUDDHISM IN KHMER PEOPLE’S LIFE IN THE MEKONG DELTA – FROM THE ANGLE OF MARRIAGE

Abstract

Theravada Buddhism, although it is a religion based on the principle of “ly gia cat ái” which means “leaving family and cutting off love, in reality, for the Khmer people in the Mekong River Delta, Theravada Buddhism has very clearly shown secularization into all aspects of Khmer people’s life. In Khmer traditional society, Theravada Buddhism teachings are the foundation for rules which operate social relationship, social management including both the power of community and of pagodas, which creates special features of Khmer traditional agricultural society, completely different from Vietnamese villages and communes. Particularly, in the field of marriage and family, from concepts, rules to wedding rituals, from rites and customs in daily life to funeral rituals of family life etc. all are absorbed and profoundly influenced by Theravada Buddhism ideology and philosophy. The paper aims to learn about influences, and direct as well as indirect impacts of Theravada Buddhism on marriage and family life of the Khmer in the Mekong Delta, contributing more data to prove the role of Theravada Buddhism in the life of Khmer people in the Mekong Delta.