Mano Laohavanich

Mano Laohavanich (monastic name Mettanando Bhikkhu) is a Thai professor of Buddhism at Thammasat University. He is most famous for his public statements against Wat Phra Dhammakaya, the largest Buddhist temple in Thailand. Mano Laohavanich is also a medical doctor and holds degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Chulalongkorn University as well as a PhD in Buddhist studies from Hamburg University.^[1][2][3] He is also a Member of the Thailand Senate's Subcommittee on Religion and Ethics, the President of Palliative Care Thailand Foundation, and the Assistant Director of the India Studies Centre at Thammasat University^[4][5] as well as a lecturer at Thammasat University’s Chulabhorn International College of Medicine.^[6]

Laohavanich is a former Thai Buddhist monk, he ordained at Wat Phra Dhammakaya in 1982, he later left the temple in 1994 and moved to two other temples, Wat Ratcha Orasaram and Wat Nak Prokand, before eventually leaving monkhood completely in 2007.^[7]

Laohavanich was hired as a consultant by the Thai Department of Special Investigations (DSI), the Thai equivalent of the FBI,^[8] in the 2016 case against the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Phrathepyanmahamuni.^[9]

Legal case of Johnathan Doody

One incident that Dr. Laohavanich was famous for being particularly involved in was the case of Johnathan Doody, a suspect in the Arizona Buddhist temple shooting in 1991. Doody was convicted in 1994 of armed robbery and the murder of nine people, including six monks.^[10][11]

While still a monk, Laohavanich took a deep interest in the case from its onset, promoting the idea that Doody was innocent.^[12] Laohavanich cited aspects of the investigation as well as cultural reasons as to why Doody could not have committed the crime. Laohavanich stated that “It was inconceivable that a person born of Thai parents would commit such a crime against monks”^[13] and published several writings on the case arguing for Doody’s innocence. As a monk, Laohavanich even raised money from lay people from numerous temples to raise money for Doody's appeal, a decision which did spark criticism from some senior monks.^[13]

In 2008, Doody's conviction was overturned on the basis that his confession was not voluntary.^[14] The next trial resulted in a mistrial.^[10]

In 2014, a third trial concluded that Doody was indeed guilty on all counts, including armed robbery and all nine murders and was sentenced to nine life terms in prison.^[15]

Criticisms

Mano Laohavanich has been criticized by fellow Buddhist scholar venerable Payutto, also known as Phra Bhramagunabhorn, on his academic works for using misleading facts. An example of such venerable Payutto cites is in Mano's book, "It Started in the Year 1 B.E.", which stated that somebody (Mr. Plong) had never traveled to a free country, which in context, was misleading readers into thinking he must have traveled to a communist country. In reality, the person mentioned had never traveled to any foreign country.^[16]

Venerable Payutto has also criticized Laohavanich for lacking references in his works, saying that Mano Laohavanich's writing "has no references or meaningfulness, and is thus harmful [to Buddhism]".^[17] Venerable Payutto has called Mano's scholarship a type of "academic mysticism", in which he finds bits of information and makes up logic without investigating the meaning.^[18]

Controversies with temple

As a prominent Dhammakaya critic, Mano Laohavanich has made several controversial remarks about his former temple. He stated that Phrathepyanmahamuni was an admirer of Hitler and based the structure of the temple on the Nazis.^[19] In the temple's publications however, the temple does teach about the disadvantages of the Second World War, mentioning Hitler as an example of someone causing suffering.^[20] Laohavanich has also made claims that Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a threat to the Thai government and that the temple has been secretly stockpiling weapons.^[21] After the claims were made temple officials did allow reporters to search the temple for the alleged contraband, in which none were found.^[22]

In a press interview, Laohavanich made unsubstantiated claims that the temple had invested in stocks, including a company that produced arms and machine guns, as well as claims that Phrathepyanmahamuni wants to conquer the world.^[21][23]

In the 2016 legal case against Phrathepyanmahamuni, Mano claimed that the abbot had a lifetime visa to the United States and was planning to flee to the US before trial.^[24][25] However, the United States discontinued and invalidated all lifetime visas to the country over a decade ago in the early 2000s.^[26][27]

Mano’s anti-Dhammakaya statements have sparked backlash from followers of the temple.^[28] Devotees claim that Laohavanich's accusations against Dhammakaya are not credible, citing that he is not consistent in explaining why he left Dhammakaya in 1994 and that he is never able to provide any evidence or produce others who can back up his claims against the temple.^[29]

References

Bibliography

• Mettanando, Bhikkhu (1994). Meditator's handbook, Bangkok: Dhammakaya Foundation. ISBN 9748920925
• Mettanando, Bhikkhu (2545 [2002]). Hēt kœ̄t Phō̜. Sō̜. 1, Krung Thēp: Samnakphim Phraʻāthit. ISBN 9749029380
• Mettanando, Bhikkhu; Hinueber, Oskar von (2000), "The Cause of the Buddha's Death" (PDF), Journal of the Pali Text Society, XXVI: 105–118, archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2015