A Process of Faith Enhancement of Young Buddhist Through Peaceful Innovative Tourism

Abstract

The study consisted of the following objectives: 1) to explore the context, problems, and factors influencing the faith of Buddhist new generations; 2) to investigate Buddhist peaceful means and tourism in order to design tourism with peaceful innovation that will enhance the faith of Buddhist new generations; and 3) to present the process of enhancing faith of Buddhist new generations through tourism with peaceful innovation. The study used a mixed-method research approach through a pilot experiment. In-depth interviews and focus group discussion with 19 key informants were used to acquire qualitative data. The quantitative approach employed the test to assess faith and self-development based on Bhāvanā, as well as observation and journal diary. A sample group consisted of 11 persons acquired by purposive sampling. The quantitative data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, while qualitative data used content analysis method.

From the study, the following results are found:

1) Buddhist new generations have values based on the social trends of globalization and materialism, which have led them to avoid entering temples or religious places owing to the intricacy of ritual, unclean settings, and negative media coverage of monks. As a result, new generations of Buddhists have less faith in Buddhism.

2) The Buddhist peaceful means in designing tourism with peaceful innovation refer to Tisikkhā (the Threefold Learning). In order to enhance the faith in Buddhist new generations, the Dhammas are introduced unto them, which are paññā (wisdom) and Bhāvanā (development) for self-development.

3) Tourism with peaceful innovation contains a 3-day, 2-night activity with 11 modules, both online and onsite. The post-test of a group sample from faith measurement and self-development based on Bhāvanā is higher than the pretest with a statistical significance of 0.05 level, according to the qualitative measurement.

The new body of knowledge from the study called “F-A-I-T-H Model” aiming at enhancing faith of Buddhist new generations: “F” stands for faith of the facilitators who are monks and those who work to promote and disseminate Buddhism; “A” stands for atmosphere setup, which includes both locations and people who contribute to learning and accommodate new generations' lifestyles; “I” stands for innovation in using modern technology as a media to produce learning innovation for the new generations to learn Buddhist teachings; “T” stands for the Threefold Training which is the learning process for human development in the areas of morality, concentration, and wisdom; “H” stands for the heart of peace in which new generations are aware of the goals of Buddhist teachings in order to develop themselves in achieving happiness without relying on materialism and inner peace.