RENEWAL : MORALS, BELIEFS, VALUES AND INFLUENCE ON THE LANNA CULTURE IN CHIANG RAI

Abstract

The materials has objectives to 1) study the history of the Seub Cha
Dtaa(prolong the life) tradition that appears in Buddhism, 2) study the influence of
inheritance Seub Cha Dtaa tradition on Lanna society in Chiang Rai province, and 3)
to analyze the morale, beliefs and influence of the Seub Cha Dtaa ceremony that
influenced the Lanna society of Chiang Rai Province. This is the quality research
through data collecting from document and interviewing. The result found that;
1) the history of the Seub Cha Dtaa tradition that appeared in Buddhism was
that the Seub Cha Dtaa in the Buddha's time, there was a seven-year-old novice,
named Tissa. He was in the shelter of of Phra Sariputra and was with sorrow face and
gloom dull skin. One day Phra Sariputra met him and meditated to examine and
seen that the novice will live for only 7 more days and will die. The novice found a
water drying pond with a group of fish stuck in a dry pool, struggling and waiting for
death. With pity, the novice took the alms bowl and scooped all the fish and
released into the great river, all the fish survived.
2) The influence of inheritance Seub Cha Dtaa tradition on Lanna society in
Chiang Rai province was that the Lanna people believed in the teachings of
Buddhism as the main principle, and used as a way of living also as a mental anchor
resulting that Lanna people focused on philanthropy, belief in super natural like
talisman house(Ruan Yantra) which was a magic spell that kept away evil, they also
respected for the Sua Barn(spirit of the village), Sua Muang(spirit of the city) which
were the spirits of ancestors or heroes.
3) Analysis of morale, beliefs and influence of the Seub Cha Dtaa ceremony
that influenced the Lanna society of Chiang Rai Province, was found that the belief in
the Buddhism, Dhamma and all through Sangha power and praising the water of the
Buddha(holy water) to bring prosperity to life