Dhamma Aid

Buddhist Monks at Wat Sleng, Kompong Thom

As you may know, I have very serious concerns regarding the unchecked epidemic of Christian missionaries doing untold damage throughout Cambodia. Armed with gifts and promises, I’m sure some have noble and genuine intentions but nonetheless, they are weakening and eroding Cambodian culture that is underpinned by Buddhism. To this end, I have been asked to spread a different message by the folks who organize Dhamma Aid Cambodia. They’ve printed a series of books such as ‘Buddhist Ethics in Daily Life’, which will be freely distributed to students, monks, youth groups, businessmen, village elders and so on, to help reclaim their religious heritage and to re-discover the Dhamma or Dharma (the teachings of Buddha that lead to enlightenment). Firstly, I am not a Buddhist, I am an atheist, but I am a lover of Cambodia and much of the gentle nature and purity of spirit that I have loved so much since my first visit to Cambodia 13 years ago, I believe, lies in the Khmers upbringing and in their past. That past was principally Buddhist and it’s one I feel they should hold onto in the future, as they face the onslaught of the modern world, especially the onward march of the righteous Christian hordes. To find out more about Dhamma Aid Cambodia, click here.