8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Do Buddhists have something like "hell"?

Sure. There are 6 realms altogether in the cycle of reincarnation. Below the human level, are the realm of the animals, hungry ghosts and hell. Those who upon reincarnation to the human world if do not use this time period to do good deeds and self cultivate but instead partake in bad deeds and selfish actions ( service to self) has the tendency to be rebirth in hell or hungry ghosts . Being able to be rebirth in human world is indeed a feat because only in humans ( not gods, fairies realms) realm can we decide with our free choice how to spend our life. 

Copying his robed mates maybe

3 hours ago, soalbundy said:

so he has a sexual relationship with a falang woman then she goes and complains about it ?

Maybe it was non consensual and it is not being mentioned? 

3 hours ago, londonthai said:

So she spends a honeymoon with him and is upset he did not want to marry her. 

First article talks also about thai women. 

All of them must have known he is a monk by his shaved head, and still engaged with him

Shaved head?  I saw a lot of monks then , apparently,  in Pattaya. Monks now wear Chang wife beaters. and don't mind a beer or ten it seems.

 Learn something new everyday. 

I saw this guy on the ben fogle show, fogle did question his lifestyle and wondered if he was running away, tho with most of the folk on the show he put the negative too. the monk did lots of exercise and said it wasn't really part of being a monk to take care of the body but he wanted to.

I've dabbled in spiritual practice and you either have to be tantric/Taoist/Sufi and transmute the sexual energy higherwhile using i, or you dry it up with intense prayer, meditation and age, or it builds up and you cant sustain the enforced celibacy and you feel bad and leave or feel guilty and try to hide it. At least this wasn't with choirboys. 

 

My ex told me that as many monks you see on the streets are just being monks for a month or so to gain merit, if they smoke slready it would create too many problems if they tried to stop for that period. Might be better for them long term tho. 

Well at least he will be able to wear his Rolex and Raybans in the open now. Fruit and vegetables my arse.

19 hours ago, Date Masamune said:

No Thai would sell a lottery ticket to a Monk.

You have to be taking a piss with that comment. They sell tickets right outside of many temples here in CM. It’s not uncommon to see monks buying them.

 

I don’t even understand what a Thai monk is anymore. They smoke, have smart phones, play the lotto, and go shopping at the malls.

18 hours ago, daoyai said:

He is being "disrobed"? seems he has been disrobing already.  Kudos for the dude for gaming the system .

..wasn't that nice of that lady to carry his coconuts for him.

19 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

where can I send my recent photo of a monk smoking a cigarette whilst buying a lottery ticket in the temple grounds during a funeral?

I don't think there's any rule against smoking.  I have a farang friend who is a smoker and also a monk.  My current understanding is that the Buddhist teaching is along the lines of "it probably won't help you" (wrt marriage, drinking, smoking etc) but doesn't outright say no.

The precepts are guidance rather than laws.  (someone more informed than I is welcome to override that stance as I'm not expert in these matters).

 

20 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Phra Farang seems to have assimilated into existing Thai Buddhist culture perfectly.

....And into religious culture internationally.

 

Well at least he's not b u g g e r i n g little boys!

Hallelujah! He's seen the light!

21 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

where can I send my recent photo of a monk smoking a cigarette whilst buying a lottery ticket in the temple grounds during a funeral?

… while chatting in line …. 

3 hours ago, Ctkong said:

One of the vows being a Buddhist monk is celibacy and cannot be touched by women let alone doing serious plumbing. If you want to be ordained as a monk, then you live by the principles or else repercussions from karma is one way ticket to hell... 

just like catholic priests who are MEN  first same as monks

2 hours ago, dcnx said:

You have to be taking a piss with that comment. They sell tickets right outside of many temples here in CM. It’s not uncommon to see monks buying them.

 

I don’t even understand what a Thai monk is anymore. They smoke, have smart phones, play the lotto, and go shopping at the malls.

There are very few real Thai monks that has the calling to be enlightened. Many Thais became monks for convenience while others do not dwell into the philosophy of Buddhism. Maybe it is too deep for their understanding of Buddhism. Instead they just do prayers and physical cultivation of monkhood. Superficial way of life of a monk. Thai Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism so their utmost aim in religious pursuit is the attainment of Arahat level not boddhisatva or Buddha level. Their method of meditative pursuit is also basically service to self(STS) instead of service to others(STO). Without the love and compassion factor in self cultivation, there is no way he can link up to the world of boddhisatva or Buddha. 

rather you can and want do it or not ( the ascetic lifestyle ) ...

to life this way its not easy but it bear great fruits...easy to fail...in the old hindu scripts the ascetic should be the finishing of the life circle...first marry have kids house and a job ..later when older and your sexual urge is calmed down focus your mind on the ultimate without your body and your wishing mind ( cause u did it all and had it all  ) interfering too much..in the end of the day there is nothing you can carry with you not the cash and not the car not  the beloved body nor the illusive "I" ..only the mind and hope that at that final moments in this world the mind is happy loving relaxed and in equanimity...and not full of anger hatred, full of wants or aversions  or unforgiving...we all in this together I never seen anything or anybody that had not to quit at one stage...once you find yourselves alive here in this world regardless your position ( kings and beggars alike ) there is only one thing  certain...the body will end and that can be in the very next moment..

Farang monks are held to a higher standard of Buddhist monkhood because it is not in their culture to be a Buddhist monk unless there is an underlying calling for him to be one. It takes much more effort and opportunity cost for a farang to be a monk than a Thai. A huge percentage of Thai monks are not actually full time monks . Like some poster mentioned, they became monks for a short duration for merit making or escaping from the layman’s world. 

It is sad that after 20 years of self cultivation, the monk succumbed to female temptation and broke his vows. All is not lost. If he is sincerely repentant, his path of cultivation is still intact. He may not be a monk anymore but he can still self cultivate to a higher goal in enlightenment. There is no real need for people to be a monk just to achieve higher spiritual self. They can always achieve that by their behavior, place of meditation , spiritual practice without being into monkhood. Of course, monkhood provides a simple and direct path for spiritual cultivation without needing to make a living but it comes with sacrifices. No plumbing is one of them. 

It always saddens me to read about wayward Thai monks going against their vows such as having sexual relations, imbibing alcoholic drinks, smoking drugs, acquiring material wealth and other improper actions.

if you compare Buddhism in Thailand and Taiwan, you will find vast differences in monkhood. 

Some of the reasons are that the ordination for monkhood in Thailand is rather low , the personal calling to be a monk is not strong, economic reason , standard of education among monks is not high so it is an uphill task to transmit dharma well. Until and unless the country has a higher standard of education among monks, it will always be more of a Buddhism in ritual practice rather than dharma practice. 

30 minutes ago, friend of siam said:

rather you can and want do it or not ( the ascetic lifestyle ) ...

to life this way its not easy but it bear great fruits...easy to fail...in the old hindu scripts the ascetic should be the finishing of the life circle...first marry have kids house and a job ..later when older and your sexual urge is calmed down focus your mind on the ultimate without your body and your wishing mind ( cause u did it all and had it all  ) interfering too much..in the end of the day there is nothing you can carry with you not the cash and not the car not  the beloved body nor the illusive "I" ..only the mind and hope that at that final moments in this world the mind is happy loving relaxed and in equanimity...and not full of anger hatred, full of wants or aversions  or unforgiving...we all in this together I never seen anything or anybody that had not to quit at one stage...once you find yourselves alive here in this world regardless your position ( kings and beggars alike ) there is only one thing  certain...the body will end and that can be in the very next moment..

It is better to have lived and loved long before embarking upon the path of asceticism. This way, you have had done this and done that so no more giving way to the demons of temptation. Once your mind and heart is ‘fulfilled’ there is no more wanting thus your heart mind is at peace with your inner self and you then attain inner peace... one of the major prerequisite for spiritual enlightenment.  

I Know a few Real Thai monks, Never leave the Temple, dont touch money, And most of them are Ex Doctors, Engineers,Accountants, Some educated in England university's.

Not all monks are fake, Some make it a vocation not a means to avoid the Law or look good for the Family, unfortunately the bad ones get more publicity than the good,

19 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

I Know a few Real Thai monks, Never leave the Temple, dont touch money, And most of them are Ex Doctors, Engineers,Accountants, Some educated in England university's.

Not all monks are fake, Some make it a vocation not a means to avoid the Law or look good for the Family, unfortunately the bad ones get more publicity than the good,

 

 

Fair point - but I imagine that the 'career monks' are in the minority.

On 8/9/2019 at 7:27 PM, bluesofa said:

We read about instances similar to this on a very regular basis.

From what I can see, Phra Farang seems to have assimilated into existing Thai Buddhist culture perfectly.

No real argument from me with the general statement,however there are many exception in that not all monks behave in this manner. 

...'Honest to God'...

...is it my imagination....or does it only matter if there is a foreigner involved...???

 

....I have read about foreigners being arrested for collecting shells...feeding fish....fishing....

(...having been 'steered wrong by locals apparently...)

...and it's the foreigners facing heavy jail time or astronomical fines...

 

...now this....

....Thai monks are known to break their vows in so manyways...yet nothing is mentioned or done about it...

...is it because they are Thai...???

 

...is it because we are 'visible minorities'....therefore we 'have a target on our backs'...

 

...or is it because of the program....'turn in a foreigner for any wrongdoing and get paid'.....

(...I didn't believe this initially...but then even a few Thais told me about it...)

 

....gotta wonder....God Help us....

 

 

Will this be the start for Buddhist authorities to disrobe and cast out all the monks having 'mia noys', or same sex intimate partners, maybe all the ones abusing of young boys and girls entrusted to them, also...? I guess not, as the local 'worshippers' who very well know about such despicable stuff won't tell, afraid of what could happen to themselves when they would. Just another form, maybe the worst, of corruption: that of the mind... There is no such thing as a perfect place in this World, but when you pretend so hard your place is, you shouldn't be shy for the spotlights to expose your turpitudes, but in a Thai's mind...

On 8/9/2019 at 6:12 AM, bluesofa said:

I'm guessing it was a monk who told her this?

There are no monk rules about smoking.  

13 hours ago, cougar52 said:

I was a monk before, and I know they are not allowed to drive cars or have a driver's license, yet when I talked to a Thai Policeman about 3 monks in a car being driven by a monk, he had nothing to say.

I was also, for 7 years.  And you and I know it's done all the time out in the back country provinces.  

5 hours ago, Ctkong said:

There are very few real Thai monks that has the calling to be enlightened. Many Thais became monks for convenience while others do not dwell into the philosophy of Buddhism. Maybe it is too deep for their understanding of Buddhism. Instead they just do prayers and physical cultivation of monkhood. Superficial way of life of a monk. Thai Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism so their utmost aim in religious pursuit is the attainment of Arahat level not boddhisatva or Buddha level. Their method of meditative pursuit is also basically service to self(STS) instead of service to others(STO). Without the love and compassion factor in self cultivation, there is no way he can link up to the world of boddhisatva or Buddha. 

Yes Ctkong, I spent 7 years as a monk in Lopburi province, and for most of those years I couldn't quite get service to self vs service to others.  I was under the impression that STO was the goal, obviously it wasn't.  Sad in my opinion. 

A Quebecer...

 

Got tired of being a loser in the bar scene so he came here to practce "Frenching" the natives and falang alike.

A Western monk!!! Poor Thailand. There a many of those around here teaching in their "spirit rock" resorts, 5K for a meditation section with deer, rocks, crack pipes, and Kosher food.

1 hour ago, khaowong1 said:

I was also, for 7 years.  And you and I know it's done all the time out in the back country provinces.  

Given today’s pragmatic society, the monks ain’t going to walk and forgo mechanical transport if they can help it. Problem is some of them drive luxury cars instead of the more practical basic model. 

1 hour ago, khaowong1 said:

Yes Ctkong, I spent 7 years as a monk in Lopburi province, and for most of those years I couldn't quite get service to self vs service to others.  I was under the impression that STO was the goal, obviously it wasn't.  Sad in my opinion. 

STO is the goal for Mahayana Buddhism ( as opposed to Hinayana ) as in China, Taiwan, HK, Malaysia, Singapore , Australia Buddhism. 

In Thailand, once the monk achieved the highest level of cultivation, they practice making magic thus the emergence of magical amulet making. Most of the famous monks of Thailand are adept in making amulets.