Frequently asked questions
Visiting the Temple
All events and tours are provided free of charge!
Of course, all ages are welcome!
If you would like to wear your own clothes on the temple tour, then please just make sure that they are all white, loose-fitting clothing that covers your shoulders, chest, belly, and most of your legs (at least past the knees). It is a good rule of thumb to wear modest attire like this when attending any temple or sacred site in Thailand as a sign of respect and cultural sensitivity.
If you do not have such clothing, then we ask that you change into one of the clean sets of white clothes that we will prepare for you upon arrival.
White is appropriate and customary attire to wear at temples and meditation retreats for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, white is symbolic of purity which is at the core of all Buddhist practice: to purify our thoughts, speech, and action to be free of greed, anger, and delusion.
Secondly, white also encourages us to be mindful in our movements since dirt and stains show up quite easily.
Thirdly, this type of simple attire keeps us from dressing in a way that draws attention to our physical appearance. When we come to the temple and go on retreat, it is the perfect opportunity to bring our attention inward, rest our overstimulated senses, and purify our mind through the practice of meditation and mindfulness. The modest, simple dress code that we encourage everyone to wear helps create an environment supportive of your own practice and the practice of those around you.
Yes, you certainly can. We have three separate meditation halls open to the public at varying days and hours. Please check our meditation halls page for more details.
If you're in Thailand, order from Shopee or Lazada by searching for "ชุดขาว" or "ชุดปฏิบัติธรรม".
Unfortunately, overnight stay is not available at the moment for visiting lay people or monastics. We can, however, assist in finding a nearby rental room (approx. 500 THB/person).
Special Note for Coordinators: If visitors come as part of tour organized by an outside company, please note that we do not organize special meal reservations. Anyone joining a temple tour can join the general public as they queue up to receive food at the dining hall at 11:05AM. Meals cannot be coordinated outside of this time. Thank you for your understanding.
We will be starting our temple stay program which will be a meditation retreat and volunteer experience at the temple in the near future. If you would like to sign up for the interest list to be notified when that goes live, please enter your information via this form.
In the meantime, please visit our page to view three separate affiliate retreats that you can join in Thailand.
Buddhist & Temple Customs & Culture
To raise your hands in prayer position (this gesture is called to "wai" in Thai) is a traditional Thai gesture to show respect. You will see Thai people doing this as a greeting or farewell, to say thank you, or apologizing among other contexts. So this gesture, in fact, is more cultural than it is religious.
So although it may feel awkward or religious at first, it's just a way to show cultural sensitivity and respect, which is always a good idea when visiting any foreign country. Thai culture has a deep respect for Buddhism and monks who have sacrificed the freedoms of their lay lives and dedicated themselves to extend the life of the religion. That is why the "wai" is performed in front of sacred Buddhist structures, when taking pictures with monks, and (for the extra respectful) when talking with a monk.
Bowing, like the "wai," is also more a Thai cultural sign of deep respect than a religious sign of worship as may be the case in other religions or contexts where this act is performed. An example of a non-religious context where bowing is performed is the Thai New Year tradition of children bowing to their parents when asking for forgiveness.
Symbolically, it is a lowering of the highest part of our head to the ground which shows humility, appreciation, and a willingness to learn. As Buddhists, we do not believe that the Buddha or our Masters are deities to be worshipped in order to gain spiritual favor or salvation, but rather, like the most excellent spiritual parent, their conduct and teachings present us with models to deeply respect and emulate in order to live a good life.
Hopefully this clarifies how this is not an act of worship, however, if you are not comfortable with this gesture, you do not need to feel pressured to pay respect in this way.
When monks come to ordain, they take a vow to uphold 227 precepts of discipline that limit them from engaging in activities that take up a lot of time and energy in the lay life and distract from spiritual cultivation such as making a living, having romantic relationships, wearing normal clothes, cooking, etc.
As a result, faithful lay people will offer the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, medicine, shelter, and monetary donations or equipment to help with fueling Dhamma projects in order to give the monks more time and energy to focus on meditation, cultivation of wisdom, and sharing that with others. Monks will also live a very minimalist lifestyle with few possessions and needs so as to be easy to support.
The support that lay people provide not only benefits them karmically, but it also gives them the opportunity to listen to wisdom and consult the monks so that they can overcome suffering, meditate more effectively, and experience sustainable happiness in their daily lives. This is the symbiotic relationship between monks and lay people where physical support is given so that spiritual support and wisdom can be cultivated and shared in return.
Our temple plays a very active role in spreading Buddhism, meditation, and practical wisdom to the rest of the world. Technology is a tool that enables monks to create and share educational material, study wisdom, collaborate and coordinate effectively with team members on Dhamma projects, communicate with others while traveling, and otherwise play their role in society of helping to bring ethics, compassion, inner peace, and wisdom into the modern world.
Some temples are more reclusive and less engaged in such teaching efforts, and therefore do not use technology. Both environments have their benefits depending on the mission of the temple in question. The mission of the Dhammakaya temple is to promote world peace through inner peace and therefore our monks utilize cell phones and other devices with mindfulness and intention to strike a balance between deep devotion to self cultivation and efforts to share the transformative wisdom of Buddhism with the world.
Unfortunately in Thailand, there are no opportunities for women to ordain as monks (or more appropriately named 'Bhikkhunis') since the lineage for the female sangha was broken around 500 years after the Buddha's passing. The Thai Sangha, being quite traditional, does not see it fit to revive the female tradition since it is not passed directly from the Buddha.
However, we have come across some programs online that offer ordination for English speaking women in different countries that we have compiled into this list here. We have no affiliation with these temples whatsoever, but would like to help give interested women a place to start their research. We hope you find it helpful and wish you the best of luck on your spiritual journey!
Many people are a bit surprised by the design of the cetiya and memorial hall of Phramongkolthepmuni saying that it looks like a UFO and seems to be a bit extravagant. However, the design is in line with historical Buddhist pagodas/cetiyas, specifically the Sanchi Stupa in India which was built more than 2,000 years ago. The dome-shaped peak leading to angled support walls was originally designed to mimic the shape of the monks alms bowl laid topside down atop a set of folded robes. Modern sci-fi imagery of extra terrestrial space crafts certainly came after the creation of this pagoda design and so any similarity is merely coincidence.
The Buddha images on the outside and inside of the cetiya are silicon bronze and covered with a spray on gold coating to allow for a radiant monument that properly elevates the sacredness of the triple gem. The memorial hall has similar materials with the same intention. You will see other large stupas and statues across Thailand that are also gold, so this design choice is common practice across Buddhist countries to properly honor the triple gem and not a display of extravagance unique to our temple.
Addressing Common Critiques
Although the following answers are a bit lengthy, common critiques that you will find online about our temple are often mischaracterizations that arise from people drawing conclusions while lacking the full context surrounding why our temple operates and looks the way it does. Understanding the full story requires nuanced explanations, which is what we seek to provide in the following answers. As always, we invite you to come see for yourself by joining our tour, events, or other programs we offer and drawing your own conclusions. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and understand this context that will paint a more complete picture than some media coverage or opinion pieces that you might find online.
At first glance, the size of the structures and vastness of the temple grounds may seem excessive, especially if you visit on a day when there are no ceremonies taking place and these spaces are largely empty. But when you understand that the temple has about 3,000 ordained monks, 600 novice monks, well over 1,000 full and part time staff, volunteers, and employees, and that virtually the entire temple fills up with hundreds of thousands of lay people and visiting monastics coming from across Thailand and abroad during the large ceremonies we hold to promote meditation, precepts, generosity, and wisdom to the world, the size starts to make sense.
More than merely a place to run inspirational events, serve the faithful Buddhist community, and house monks and staff to focus on spiritual cultivation, the Dhammakaya temple also has many departments that balance their self cultivation with diligent work on projects to extend the life and impact of Buddhism as a whole and help people of all faiths and nationalities globally attain true inner peace. These projects include but are not limited to: running meditation retreats and trainings; operating over a hundred domestic and over a hundred international branch centers to service local populations; providing standard and religious education for novice monks from Age 12 -18; creating books, videos, apps, animations, art, and other educational material for children and adults alike; providing relief to temples in violent areas that cannot conduct alms round to collect food to survive; running ethics and meditation programs for schools nationwide; translating Dhamma texts to many languages; teaching the Pali language to lay people and monastics; collaborating with and supporting Sanghas in neighboring countries; and so much more.
Such innovative initiatives are among the many reasons why there is such a strong level of faith and support from temple members around the world. They understand that these initiatives require significant infrastructure, manpower, and resources to conduct effectively, and that is why the temple grounds have expanded so much to support these massive operations that are comparable in scope to some of the biggest NGOs in the world.
Some people prefer the more intimate feel of smaller scale temples tucked away in nature and solely focused on serving the local community, and this is very understandable and a core part of Buddhist practice across Thailand and the world. Many people seek out forest temples for such an environment. We have meditation retreat centers with meager facilities and situated in more secluded environments for this purpose as well. And ultimately, we believe both styles of temples can coexist and work together for the prosperity of Buddhism and to serve people with different preferences and aims. For us, the vision of our Great Masters is to serve people globally and take a very active role in outreach and sharing the wisdom with people at all levels of society. This requires a larger-sized temple with a design that serves the operations that fuel this mission.
With different intentions and scope of work comes different designs and temple layouts. We don't see one as better than the other. Just different. People fond of the traditional imagery and strictly secluded and detached form of Buddhism may not resonate with the scale and design of our facilities and events and the more active role we play in society. And that is ok. We encourage everyone to practice the Dhamma and support monastics at a place and in a way that resonates with them. We have nothing but respect and appreciation for Buddhism in all its forms and hope that our differences can be a strength that helps maximize the spread and positive impact of the Dhamma as it meets a modern world with diverse tastes and preferences.
Our abbot, Luang Por Dhammajayo, has had a long standing vision to create world peace through inner peace, and one of his ways of making this a reality is by creating inspirational large scale projects like mass candlelight meditation events for Magha Puja, mass ordinations of 100,000 men, V-Star events where 300,000 elementary students came to the temple from across Thailand to celebrate the completion of a year long meditation and self discipline program, an event conducting offerings to 40,000 non-Dhammakaya temples around Thailand and neighboring countries to keep Buddhism alive amidst its current decline, and much more.
The beautiful images and inspirational backstories that emerge from these ceremonies and projects can inspire those wishing to be a part of such a display of solidarity and commitment to the study and practice of Buddhist mind training to join in and light that inner candle of goodness inside themselves to spread to their family, friends, and spheres of influence as that inner peace creates world peace, one person at a time. Unfortunately, these images and projects can also be spun in a negative light into criticisms of extravagance, ulterior motives, and materialism. Without the context of the broader vision of the temple and how its being executed globally, these assessments are easy to arrive at and believe. But in light of the context, pure intentions and positive outcomes emerge.
Praise and blame, as the Buddha taught, will always exist, and it is natural for a temple of our size to get plenty of both. But as the Buddha always said, "Ehipassiko." You don't need to take our word for it or believe the negative (or positive) reviews online at face value. Come and join a ceremony and see for yourself. You never have to donate a single baht, and you will always be greeted with a smile, a free meal cooked by our wonderful staff and sponsored by our temple members, and a community of individuals committed to keeping the Buddha's teachings alive via diligent practice while helping others do the same.
This is a mischaracterization of the temple's teachings. In fact, it is well-documented in the scriptures that practicing generosity generates merit (or puñña) which, for the non-Buddhists, is essentially like positive spiritual energy that is generated within the mind whenever we do good deeds (see the 10 Meritorious Deeds to learn more about this Buddhist teaching). The Buddhist scriptures also clearly state that donating to monks or those who have purified themselves through Buddhist practice is especially meritorious and that one of the fruits of generosity is being reborn in wholesome realms like fortunate births as a human or a celestial being in a heaven realm. Our masters and temple teach in line with these well-known Buddhist teachings.
However, enlightenment is a much loftier goal and requires the highest level of deep meditation in order to purify the mind until it reaches this point. The temple and our masters have never claimed that enlightenment can be reached through generosity alone. It is merely one of the ways in which you can generate merit, release greed from the mind, and experience fortunate circumstances in this life and the next, but meditation is always elevated as the highest priority by our masters and the practice that will lead to both enlightenment and world peace through inner peace.