Religion

Most Cambodians in Canada retain some allegiance to Buddhist belief and practice. Ethnic Khmer are Theravada Buddhists, whereas Chinese and Vietnamese Cambodians tend to follow Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism represent the two major traditions of Buddhism. They share similar views on the basic elements of Buddhism, such as the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautma and his various teachings on karma, the middle way, the truths of suffering, and the eightfold path. Theravada Buddhism is predominant in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, and Mahayana in China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Theravada doctrine is contained in the Pali Canon (Pali is the liturgical and ritual language), and male monks (bhikkhus) embody the ideals of Busshist practice and aspirations, especially the Arahat. In comparison, Mahayana Buddhism has additional texts in Sanskrit; the liturgical and ritual languages are culturally specific; the role of the bodhisattva (saviour beings) is emphasized; and the monastic order includes females (bhikkhunis). In Cambodia today, Theravada Buddhism has been reinstated as the national religion and continues to operate as the mechanism of inculcating Khmer social norms. Throughout Cambodia, Buddhist wats (temples) are being rebuilt, despite the severe debilitation of people and resources. Traditionally, the Buddhist temple served as a community and religious centre, the focus for life-transition celebrations, ceremonial and social events, and annual festivities. There, young village boys could obtain rudimentary education and religious training. Before a young man was considered eligible for marriage, he was expected to become a monk for a short period (usually for three months), a practice that was also seen as a way of expressing gratitude to his parents.

In Canada the non-monastic (lay) positions of achaa or Khmer kru in Theravada Buddhism still provide avenues for community leadership and encourage respect for older Khmer men. Younger males, however, rarely become ordained, and few engage in any activities with Khmer Buddhist monks or Buddhist practice – a situation exacerbated by the shortage of Khmer monks in Canada. Mostly older men, women, and young girls take part in Theravada ceremonies; while the young women stay with their mothers, listening to prayers and sermons and then offering food for merit-making, the younger men and children participate in games or just stand around waiting for the communal feast that follows.

In Cambodia girls and young women were not allowed education or training at the temple. Theravada Buddhist monks have traditionally viewed women with apprehension because females are potential temptresses who may lure monks from their vows of chastity. They are forbidden to be alone with a woman, to take objects directly from one, or to glance at one. These restrictions are still observed among Khmer Buddhists in Canada. Elderly women, however, are able to establish close ties with the local Buddhist temple. When their last child marries, these women often become ordained as nuns, referred to as duan chee or yeay chee, and live in or near the temple compound. In exchange for domestic duties, they receive Buddhist teaching, meditation instruction, and the chance for a peaceful life. Most retain close ties to their families by tending grandchildren and returning home during traditional Buddhist celebrations.

Duan chee earn considerable respect. Acknowledged as wise women, they are approached for advice, to ease psychological distress, and to share emotional difficulties. They are expected neither to engage in slanderous gossip nor to be judgmental of others. At the Montreal and Toronto Buddhist temples, the duan chee (approximately fifteen at each temple) practise meditation and other calming techniques. They listen to community Khmer women and try to help them cope with grief, trauma, loss, isolation, and family difficulties. Yet, because most duan chee are illiterate, many educated Cambodians and youth raised in Canada feel that the duan chee cannot offer appropriate counselling or advice.

Intertwined with Theravada Buddhism is a pervasive belief in the supernatural and a complex array of spirits called Neak ta, which include guardian, ancestral, Hindu, and animistic spirits, all of which can be benign or malevolent. Khmer kru are ritual specialists who can use astrology, fortune-telling, magic, sorcery, and talismans to both tap the Neak ta spirit world and provide protection from it. Within Buddhist temples, Khmer kru (who could also be monks) provided spiritual healing and medical treatment based on Neak ta principles. Canada has few practising Khmer kru, though Khmer people retain strong beliefs in the power of Neak ta. Many Khmer in Canada feel that the diverse somatic complaints that trouble them (headaches, dizziness, joint aches, and pain) are related to Neak ta. Khmer identify these ailments as chii kbaal (Cambodian sickness).

Another common Neak ta affliction is sramay, or visitation by spirits (identified as kmauit or khmoch) – ghosts of family members or friends who have been murdered or not given proper burial rites. Given particularly the shortage of Khmer kru in Canada, psychological disturbances caused by sramay are difficult to identify and alleviate. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, numerous Khmer witnessed death and/or disappearance of family members and had to abandon sick and starving relatives during forced evacuations. Bodies were placed in mass graves instead of being cremated, funerals and death rituals were not permitted, and there was no food to offer the deceased spirits. Today, when Khmer in Canada dream of dead or missing family members, many believe that the ghosts are angry at them for their neglect and will punish or possess them. When sramay is left untreated, emotional and spiritual suffering may manifest itself in physical ailments and social withdrawal.

Before the Khmer Rouge took power, there were over 65,000 monks in Cambodia; less than half survived the regime, and those who did were all defrocked. A few reached Thai refugee camps to renew monastic vows and to resettle in the West. In Canada, there are only five Khmer Buddhist temples: one each in Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto and two in Montreal. Until 1995, only Montreal had more than one resident monk. Smaller Buddhist associations with no monk or temple exist in almost every Cambodian community across Canada.

The Pagode Khmer du Canada in Montreal is the largest and best-supported Khmer Buddhist institution in Canada, maintaining up to three monks and numerous duan chee. Renovated from three row houses, the temple incorporates traditional Khmer architectural style and is surrounded by an extensive courtyard and garden. In April 1995 Toronto’s Cambodian Buddhist community recently purchased a large house north of the city that will become a temple to house the recently arrived Khmer Buddhist monks.

Whenever there is a lack of a Khmer Buddhist monk in a Cambodian-Canadian community, this prevents the emergence of a culturally appropriate and significant system of healing, guidance, and support. In the homeland, monks were a trusted source of wisdom and knowledge with regard to the causes and cessation of suffering in life. They provided a powerful model of high moral development. Sateh aram (moral sickness) now affects many resettled refugees in American Cambodian communities. The absence of monks limits opportunities for meritorious deeds done on behalf of oneself or loved ones, living and deceased. Many Khmer feel that, because Buddhist monks are given enormous respect and trust, Khmer people will listen more to their views and opinions than to those of any other community leaders.

Other Khmer, however, speak of their disillusionment with Buddhism and the healing capacity of monks. Political leaders in Cambodia, of all political persuasions, have used Buddhism to legitimize control, thereby weakening Buddhist principles as the spiritual foundation of Cambodian culture. Khmer communities centred around a Buddhist temple have hence been difficult to re-create in Canada, a problem further compounded by lack of educated or knowledgeable Khmer monks, ethnic differences within the community (between Khmer from Cambodia and Kampuchea Krom from Vietnam), and conversions to Christianity.

In some Cambodian communities religious differences have led to divisiveness and tension, especially when small, but active Cambodian evangelical Christian groups isolate themselves from Khmer Buddhists or, as in some Ontario communities, when the majority of Cambodians have converted to Christianity and will not participate in or promote Buddhist cultural ceremonies. Religious differences often prevent sharing in annual cultural celebrations that cannot be disengaged from their Buddhist ritual context. In Quebec City most Cambodians, including the few dozen Protestants and Roman Catholics, participate in Bonn Chaul Chhnam (New Year) and in Bonn Pechum (Feast of the Dead). For cultural programs, such as heritage language and folk dances, Buddhist and Christian Khmer will generally participate together. In most Cambodian communities in Canada, Christian and Buddhist leaders also bridge differences to address common concerns, such as social, medical, or educational needs.

A number of Cambodians in Canada have recently converted to Christianity. There are no fewer than twenty Cambodian Christian churches (most of them Protestant). The Cambodian Evangelical Fellowships in Ottawa and Toronto, for example, belong to the Cambodian Christian Network of Canada (CCNC) and the Cambodian Christian Services, an international organization. Most of Canada’s few Catholic Cambodians are in Quebec. The majority of Cambodians who converted to Christianity did so in the refugee camps or through the sponsorship process – because of their own convictions, out of a strong sense of obligation to sponsors, or as a perceived prerequisite to obtaining refugee-camp services and resettlement.

In general, Cambodian Christian churches in Canada meet their members’ social and emotional needs, maintaining Cambodian heritage and teaching the Western “work ethic.” Members of the Cambodian Evangelical Fellowships attest that their social groups are the most cohesive, that more of their youth are in higher education, and that they have the least unemployment among Cambodian communities. Though congregations with their own Khmer-speaking ministers preserve a Cambodian atmosphere, the Christian churches tend to encourage integration to Canadian norms.