Religion does not die but transforms into secular forms such as materialism and nationalism, which primarily determine human worth by economic success and prosperity.
The text discusses the thesis of whether religion is dying in the face of technological progress and declining church attendance. The speaker argues that religion does not disappear but transforms into new forms, including the 'religion of prosperity' and nationalism. These new forms measure a person's worth by their wealth and economic utility, rather than by moral or spiritual virtues. It is criticised that in this secular or material religion, money becomes the measure of dignity and worship. Traditional religious practices such as almsgiving and prayer are contrasted with the consumption behaviour and rituals of modern society (e.g. birthdays, branded products). The text claims that people seek a place of security and meaning, which they find in these new, often material or national 'religions'. The original religion is described as decaying, but the human search for meaning and belonging persists.
Analysed with qwen/qwen3.8-27b, version v3.
The same standards apply to every tradition, see Values.
Full text in English
Hmm, last time there was a worship ceremony for the spirits of the ancestors at the temple of the gods. Many people went to participate from the period of the Dharma practice, from the 11th to the 14th of the lunar month. The last one was the 15th of the lunar month, and there were discussions both in the morning and in the afternoon. In the afternoon there was a discussion with the topic before, which was "Yuklom" and then "Suanak," which was "Tam Ma." Their discussion was "Has religion died?" with a question mark. This was of interest to many people, because many people are worried that religion has died. The number of people who believe in religion, such as Christians, has decreased. Even though Islam has increased, it has also decreased quite a bit. This is probably a topic that many people are worried about, namely what will happen to human beings if religion dies. So on this issue, there have already been predictions made. I think last year, whether it was a hundred, whether it was many, or scholars of sociology, they all predicted beforehand that when human beings have more knowledge, have more advanced technology, have more scientific knowledge, religion will gradually disappear. But that was a prediction that did not come true, because now religion still has an important role. Before, people thought that religion would go out of fashion, but here we see that religion and the world, it is inseparable in many countries. Whether it is the Christian religion, the Islamic religion, or other religions, they all have ways to influence the world, the nation, and the people, which has an impact on the economy, science, and technology. People have much more knowledge than before, much more indeed, but religion has not decreased at all. Instead, it has come in new forms, new religions. Japan has new religions, about 400 or 500 religions. There are groups that believe in various religions, and these are in the hundreds of thousands. These new religions that are mentioned, they also branched off from the original religions, or from the Buddhist religion, which when many centuries ago already had many sects: Jodo-shu, Jodo-shin-shu, Shingon, Zen, Tendai. The religions mentioned here have spread a lot. Now, about the ethnic religions, this also happened in Thailand. But the fact that these ethnic religions are gradually weakening, with fewer believers, does not mean that religion is dying in the middle, because what is coming to replace it is new religions, or in other words, many religions have not lost their essence as religion, but they have grown and branched out. What is important is the religion of consumerism. In this regard, they have already agreed that religion, besides the religions we know, there are also religions of the world type, secular, or the religion of consumerism. This is a religion that many people believe in, which could be said to have the most believers in the world, more than any other religion. It is called the religion of consumerism, and it is the most important religion, because together, we are not dead. The spirit is not dead, but it has been transformed into money. The spirit is not dead, they were lost. What should be done? The original religions also give instructions. If one is Christian, one must go to church, must do the sacraments, or believe in God. If one is Buddhist, one must follow the teachings of the Buddha, or the Buddha has meaning, one must do good, create merit, know how to make merit for them. And if anyone does not do so, as mentioned, it will be meaningless, when they die it will be like cooking tea, without meaning. The religion of consumerism, therefore, is the same. The religion of consumerism, together with money, is the standard. What is different, who will be valued? Much or little, the amount of money that exceeds, which is different from other religions. Other religions, if one is a monk, a religious person, it is considered to be high, because one practices according to the precepts of the religion, or according to the Dharma of the Buddha. But the religion of consumerism, whoever has money is considered to have value, and the pursuit of those who have money and those who do not have money, who will be protected first? There are instructions about who will be protected first. Whether one has value or not depends on how much one can do, believe in oneself, or depends on how much one can give in return economically. Forests, mountains, rivers, they do not have value, they are destroyed, for the sake of economic profit, or for the sake of development that is better than what has been given to the community. If spoken this way, people will have to take care of it, because it has value. The value of the religion of consumerism is measured by money, what will be produced. If the religion of consumerism, it is measured by money, what is not produced, what can be produced economically. Some people say that this, being a monk, being a religious person who does not produce economic results, being a parasite of society, being valued, they take money as the standard, take the economy as the determinant. Religion performs this function, determines value, and religion is also the standard of belief and worship. Everything has its own standard, showing the level of belief. It is the same, it is difficult. Money has gone to the spirit, so the spirit must also go to money.
If you have money, you must love the religion. Whoever can make money must maintain it. If you don't, you must change the system. Which classroom is it? The one that is on the edge, don't be too spicy. You can't stay there. It's all delicate, you must choose sunscreen. It's not that they can't, because the system has value. If it's alternative care, if it's operative care, every stage has its own view. The religion has its own view. Things that are branded, whoever has them feels confident, feels they have value, feels self-assured. This is the foundation of goodness, like what we call the Apple people. This person has very good character. Not wanting a good place or being obedient. Things that are in the religion, the religion has its own goodness towards things. If it's Apple, there are many people. If it's a motorcycle, you must find a way. This is the foundation of truth. Rituals are not in the religion. The original religion has its own nature. The religion has its own newness, you must prepare, buy things. The religion has its own preparations, there are parties, there are things bought to give to the dead. The original religion has rituals. Don't reach the newness, you must prepare, buy things. Valentine's, Christmas, there must be preparations, there are parties, there are things bought to give to all friends. When it's a birthday, you must go eat, go eat out, go eat at a restaurant. This is the normal type that we don't often talk about. It's not different from the type of religion. If it's the original religion, because when it's a Buddhist day, you must go to the temple. If not, you use your feet. But the important days of the new religion are birthdays, graduation, Christmas, New Year, Valentine's. This is one religion. And it's not just the new religion, other religions also have it. The new religion is also a religion. Even if it's a sitting meditation, when it comes and goes, it has become a religion. The sacred things of the new religion are things like tea, you can't be like that. It's like when we go to see something, it's not appropriate. But if it's the new religion, this is a display, it's a ritual that is displayed. It's the faith of the people. The religion must have something like the sacred place. If it's a wagon, it's a sacred thing, it's an important thing of the religion. The religion has its own sacred things. If it's a new religion, you must go. But if it's the new religion, it must be the sacred thing of the creator. The religion gives value, gives value, and the meaning of life. If you die, this will be considered a very important thing. This is different from the old religion. The old religion is that the person lives to do things, to do things that are difficult. This is considered a valuable thing. The more you think, the more you feel, the more you feel that it's a valuable thing. But if it's the new religion, this must have value, the value comes from poverty. Whoever is poor, whoever experiences hardship, this is what is considered very bad. But if it's the new religion, not loving the country, loving another country, this is not acceptable, it deserves death. This religion, it doesn't die at all, it just changes form. Like the word, the religion of the dead, it's not at all. And the religion that will go, but there must be a new religion. Because the people must have something. There is a need for religion. Some people have questions. Some people have parts of religion. This is not right. There is also the upside. The new religion, the old religion, there are many more that people need religion to feel secure, to have a place to rely on. This is the function of religion. Therefore, even if the original religion will dissolve and disappear, humans will still have religion. We will have religion, we will rely on sacred things, we will rely on rituals a lot. Or at least, we hope for merit, hope for luck, hope for peace. Actually, in Buddhism, it's not in the original teachings. Because the word Buddhism as we understand it, the word of the Buddha, it has power, and the word has become associated with Buddhism. The work that we understand, the word has become associated with Buddhism. Or it's not in Buddhist teachings. Like this, we take the new religion as the standard. There was a time when it was very popular, like 20 or 30 years ago. People came because he had people, he had wealth, he had power. And one day, his people went to commit a crime against many people. But even though he was in prison, there were people who went to pray for him. If it were true Buddhism, they wouldn't do that. Because after being a monk, how can you be respected? But people don't know. This is the reason why they can sit in meditation, they can protect themselves from danger. This is not respecting Buddhism, but respecting Brahmins, respecting ghosts more. The respect for the new religion.
It is a normal thing. People should respect the Buddha, but some people go to follow religions of the various groups. They want to come to make merit because they believe that merit will make them not suffer. They want their parents to be well. They don't make merit with the Buddha, but they also want to say that they are people. We will respect the Buddha, and then we will have some help with the matter of ghosts and monks. But if we take the Buddha as the main principle, and we grasp the principle correctly, we will not have the problem of ghosts or monks. It is not yet a problem. We have the Buddha as the main principle. We believe in the request. In our bringing of goodness, the name of the devotion is not harmful at all, because the Dhamma of the Buddha is a system of life that can help us to be correct. But nowadays we do not really understand the teachings of the Buddha, the Dhamma of the Buddha, very much. We follow religion according to tradition, according to society. In the heart, in the inner part, the parents at first will have another religion, so that there will be ghosts attained. The religion has come to be different. You, the group, are also the same. It is the same as the people of the group. They give the matter of seeking, of longing for these things, to make us forget the beauty of life, or to forget what suffering is. You, the masters, teach and show the Dhamma, the liberation from suffering. There are other things that do not help to receive liberation from suffering. We do not practice according to the teachings of you, the masters, because of the principle of the present time, or because of the wisdom of the present time, because of the true condition of the world. Even if there is no religion, but we take the principles of the Dhamma that you, the masters, have taught and use them in the management of life, that is still good. Nowadays, parents and others, people who will worry about their children who have no religion, it is even more not to be worried about. Capital surgery, because people who have no religion, even if they have no religion, they also have virtue. But if they know how to practice according to the principle, it is not only virtue that is obtained, but they can also overcome the defilements. That is to say, they see the path, they see the cessation of suffering, that is also good. They have no religion, but they must be firm in virtue, in goodness. That is really very good, that is to say, they see and practice for the cessation of suffering, as you, the masters, have taught and shown the path. And when we follow a religion, we call ourselves a Buddhist, we must be clear, or we must know that we really, what do we take as the main principle? The religion of the Buddha, or the form of the Buddha, or the group of the monks, or the clear monks, or another religion. Otherwise, we will just follow according to custom, and in the end we will still be sunk in suffering. We will still create sin, create sin with others as well. Religion is not a word that two people have no religion, but they know the path of overcoming the defilements, or the path of this kind. This is better than not having a religion. But the little things that are practiced, they also help to make suffering less, and they do not create suffering for other people, for others.