ABSTRACT
Ecumenical visions of salvation which fulfil even a modest list of desirable criteria are few in number, and their very newness in certain parts of Asia exposes them to unfavourable comparison with more established traditions. The vision of salvation is more ecumenical than many in that it is inclusive of different sections of society and potentially open to take on board the wider agendas of environmental degradation and the long-term survival of rural and urban communities. An attempt has been made to describe a Buddhist vision for the alleviation of poverty, sickness and patterns of dependency in parts of rural Thailand, the attractiveness of which appears to lie in its ability to hold the past and the present together in creative tension. Dr Prawase Wasi, the originator of Thailand's imaginative programme for training Buddhist monks in basic health care, estimates that there are more Thai doctors working in the USA alone than in the whole of rural Thailand.
