A STUDY OF HEALTH CARE BEHAVIORS OF MONKS IN KHAM-AH-HUAN SUB-DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY, MUANG DISTRICT, MUKDAHAN PROVINCED

Abstract

 The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the health care of monks in the Buddhist scriptures; 2) to study the health care behaviors of monks in the Kham-Ah-Huan Subdistrict Municipality; 3) to study the health care behaviors of monks in the Kham-Ah-Huan Subdistrict Municipality, Muang District, Mukdahan Province. The research participants included 25 of abbots, monks and general publics. The study was carried out by means qualitative research. The data collection was conducted from studying documents and in-depth interviews.
The results of the research were as follows:
1. Monk health care in Buddhist scriptures is to control and improve the behavior of the monks in four areas to create a physical and mental balance which is the components of life. These two components are linked. If one side of the component is defective, it inevitably affects the other.
2. Conditions of health care behavior of monks in Kham-Ah-Huan Subdistrict Municipality: the condition of behavior of the monks can be seen in four areas:
1) physical health of the monks, sometimes the monks exercise by doing yoga at the right time, but rarely; 2) in mental health, monks perform meditation; 3) Social health, it is a society of readiness in performing activities; 4) environmental health is a society that conserves cultures and tradition. These things are behaviors that take care of both parts: physical and mental environmental health of the mind to achieve a balance in life.
3. Health care behaviors of Monks in Kham-Ah-Huan Subdistrict Municipality: most of monks have food according to the devotee offerings, making it impossible to avoid food that affects health. This is a behavior towards a person with a disease whether it is high in fat, diabetes, etc. Nowadays, the monks have a mission so they have many clothes. The use of robes is just to get rid of that heat caused by the sunburn. Today the monks have many missions, making use of different fabrics particularly the student monks must use at least 2 to 4 cloth sets.