SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy
International Conference
205
wandered around to practice meditation a century ago. Hundreds of monasteries
proceeding AjannMun’s Buddhist forest tradition, have been formed by his monk
disciples all over this area. For this reason, it is not an overstatement to claim that
people there know, with no need for further clarification, what mindfulness is.
This study found that mindfulness is the fundamental quality of one’s mind to
develop “Sufficiency”. Metaphorically, mindfulness is a gate keeper who watches
over senses that pass six gates. Those gates are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch and
mind. Mindful mind can separate the desires and physical needs apart. Consuming
according to physical needs but not by desire, in the Buddhist point of view, is the
wisdom-driven life. One’s level of mindfulness can be explored via money
expenses. People with higher levels of mindfulness tend to buy things because of it
is need, not by desires. Moreover, monitoring one’s expense list is believed to be the
activity to gain the awareness of spending money. During the data collection, several
government campaign programs promoting household expense recording were
enacted.
In order to adopt the Inpaeng concept efficiently, one needs a certain level of
mindfulness or, in plain language, needs to have a strong-minded in order to
overcome the money-driven lifestyle. The Inpaeng proposed the changing notion of
“money as the core of everything” or “money leads wisdom” into “wisdom leads
money”. They proposed the changing of “money as a goal of working” into
“sufficiency and self-dependency as a goal of working”.
During the data collection period, a project called “start jotting down to wipe
out poverty” (Thai: พอเริ่มจด ก็เลิกจน), initiated by the Bank of Agriculture and
Agricultural cooperatives (BAAC), was launched. BAAC promoted expense
recording behavior to farmers’ families. Recording family expenses might be the
best way to monitor and control money spending. The family financial record
activity has been observed in Inpaeng communities.
The Inpaeng network has provided its members with some reinforcing
structures to have a sufficient life, in term of money management. Many community
saving groups or local banks have been established in Inpaeng villages. Despite the
offering of lower interest rate loans, the main objective of these saving groups is
promoting a monthly household saving scheme. Members are encouraged to give
their word of honor for saving a certain amount of money each month. Unlike a
bank, these saving groups work as hosts for group meetings for monthly deposits,
rather than for individual financial inquiries. Once a month, all members meet in
community halls and deposit money into their account. This research found the
meetings were a chance for saving group members to meet and exchange their
stories of money management. It is the best chance to evaluate one’s financial
situation by comparing to neighbours living in the same village, and generally,
ranking in the same socio-economic status. The meetings are a chance to exchange
and learn from each other.
Participating in merit (Pali: puñña, Thai: บุญ)ceremonies (Thai: งานบุญ); can also