This pamphlet was written for educated Bangkokians, including the many educators involved in the original exhibition at Thailand’s oldest university, which was vivacious and well attended.

Some of the points raised in this article will sit uneasy with modern readers, especially in the West. After all, Ajahn Buddhadāsa is criticizing many modern developments and ideals that we identify with — democracy, reason, mass education, human rights, gender equality, and so on. This editor is not in full agreement with every perspective he gives. Nonetheless, I find them worth listening to, if only because they challenge assumptions that we hold dearly.

Some readers may wish to dismiss him; you are free to do so. He did not expect or demand to be heeded. If, however, readers who are serious students of Buddhism, religion, or spirituality, might do well to suspend judgment and try to look at our modern situation in ways that may seem old fashioned or reactionary. You may find that Tan Ajahn was more “ahead of his time” than we are, probably because he is more firmly grounded in his own reality than we are.

(Foreword)

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