Dhamma Talks of Phra Bodhiyanathera (Cha Subhaddo): Coherence of Dhamma Messages for Monks and Laymen

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the types of coherence of Dhamma messages for monks and laymen in the Dhamma talks of Phra Bodhiyanathera (Cha Subhaddo). It was found that the overall coherence of Dhamma messages for monks and laymen consists of just one element, namely 1) reference, 2) substitution, 3) ellipsis, 4) total reduplication, 5) partial reduplication, 6) structural reduplication, 7) synonym, 8) cohesion, and 9) word link. Among them, the coherence from total reduplication and structural reduplication is the most distinctive. However, coherence by more than one element was also found in the Dhamma talks of Phra Bodhiyanathera (Cha Subhaddo) aimed towards monks. That is, in each Dhamma talk message, there are 4 elements of coherence, namely 1) reference, 2) substitution, 3) total reduplication, and 4) word link. Meanwhile, the Dhamma talks aimed towards laymen consist of 5 elements of coherence in each message – 1) substitution, 2) total reduplication, 3) structural reduplication, 4) cohesion, and 5) word link.