Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University’s (MCU) conferment of an “Honorary Dhammaduta” award on His Eminence Sangay Dorji highlights Sangay Dorji’s increasing recognition by other bodies and institutions as a stable and authoritative voice for Buddhism—even non-Vajrayana bodies.
MCU is Thailand’s largest and most important Buddhist university. Sangay Dorji is the Leytsog Lopon of the Central Monastic Body, a senior figure among the Body’s top five governing ecclesiastic officials. The Honorary Dhammaduta award, as described by Sangay Dorji’s Facebook page “སེམས་ཀྱི་ངལ་གསོ། In Pursuit of Peace in Mind,” noted that the award, conferred on 5 June, was “in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the propagation of the Buddha-Dhamma on an international level.” In Pursuit of Peace in Mind also noted: “His Eminence’s dedication to the Dhamma, commitment to monastic discipline, and efforts in fostering intercultural understanding through the teachings of the Buddha have earned him this esteemed recognition.”
The honor was conferred in conjunction with the Overseas Dhammaduta Bhikkhu Training Program organized by Dhammaduta College, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Thailand, under the auspices of the Regulatory Office for Overseas Dharma Dhammaduta Bhikkhus. Bhutan’s royals, government, and monastics have long nurtured close ties with their Thai counterparts.
Importantly, Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with Buddhism as the explicit state religion, while in Thailand, the king is known to be the defender of the faith in Buddhism. Both countries possess majority-Buddhist populations, and face similar issues of balancing the needs of a rapidly changing world with storied spiritual traditions. And, perhaps most encouragingly, the two nations could not be more different in their sectarian orientation, with Thailand being one of the most enthusiastic Theravada bastions, and Bhutan being the last Himalayan Vajrayana kingdom.
This makes Sangay Dorji’s award notable. In a message to Sangay Dorji, the management team of MCU stated: “Warmest congratulations on being recognized as Honorary Dhammaduta. This prestigious recognition is a testament to your boundless compassion, unwavering dedication to the spread of the Dharma, and your inspiring leadership in both spiritual and humanitarian spheres. May your tireless efforts continue to illuminate the path for countless beings, bringing wisdom, peace, and liberation to all.”
Ecumenical activities are common among Buddhist schools, especially when involving state-level exchange between senior monks. But Sangay Dorji is unique because he straddles that very ideal, comfortable “middle ground” of not-quite-celebrity status—he is not as famous as some other Vajrayana leaders—but holding significant influence thanks to his state-backed post, which said other Vajrayana leaders lack. He also has significant pockets of support and reverence outside of Bhutan, including in Vietnam and Australia (he recently returned from a tour of Australia, where he was met with rapturous adoration by the immigrant Bhutanese community).
As I pointed out in my last newsletter, the overall position of Buddhism is a mixed bag if we take a bird’s eye view of the Dharma as a truly global religion. In this century of full-throated technological acceleration, from the complete dominance of social media to the digitization of everything, Buddhist demographics are continuing to decline across the world, with the past generation of household names growing older or dying off. It is clear that Buddhism needs urgent and bold new strategies for the “technological age.”
In an upcoming interview with me, Sangay Dorji has spoken of his interest in forming a non-sectarian, global body to represent the interests of all Buddhists. From my own observation of past attempts, factionalism and politics have made it extremely hard for inter-school and inter-Vehicle attempts to truly succeed in establishing global bodies recognized by the institutions that really matter: the leaders of the Vinayas across the Buddhist world, and state support. In particular with regard to the latter, Sangay Dorji’s closeness to the Bhutanese royal family and his links with both the spiritual and secular ruling establishments of Bhutan could be pivotal in bridging sanghas around the world—and through this bridge, finally move with concrete progress toward that global Dharma body that will be adequately equipped for the needs and crises of the AI age.
