Dhamma's just a tap away

Interested parties can also press *272 to listen to taped sermons via interactive voice response system.

The services - made possible through cooperation by several parties - will be available on the Advanced Info Service (AIS) system from November 13.

AIS is one of the major contributors to the "Dhamma at Your Hands" project.

"We hope more people will pay attention to Buddha's teachings," Privy Councillor Kasem Watanachai said yesterday. He is chairman of a panel created to establish the Buddhadasa Inthapanyo Archives.

He said mobile phones were perfect to disseminate Buddha's teachings because most people had mobiles and carried them around. Cellphone users have three options: Dhamma Today, Dhamma for commoners and Dhamma Daily.

The taped sermons can be heard in the voices of late Buddhadasa, Venerable P A Payutto, Phra Paisan Visalo and Phra Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi. When Buddhadasa passed away in 1993, he left behind an inspiring collection of religious works and was named by Unesco as one of the world's greatest personalities.

One of his followers, Dr Bancha Pongpanich, said many volunteers had pored over Buddhadasa's works and summed up teachings to share with cellphone users.