was' up with the monks protesting and picketing for buddhism to be the national religion? this seems very unbuddha.

was' up with the monks protesting and picketing for buddhism to be the national religion? this seems very unbuddha.

are subjugation of the masses and money and power in the hands of the few while the poor get poorer buddhist tenets?

Monks have always been involved with Thai politics, most recently with the monk from Udon Thani who teamed with the People Against Democracy (PAD) and Chuwit to counter Thaksin. Interesting to read the works of Ajahn Buddhadasa regarding "engaged buddhism" and his book Dhammic Socialism to see a viewpoint that counters our Western opinion that monks should sit in their caves meditating and not disturb anyone. Buddhadasa is the most popular and revered monk in modern Thailand.

ONe of the Buddha's key teachings is the Noble Eightfold Path....and one of the eight is "Right Speech". I think that right speech applies to both what people say and what they write...so to understand whether picketing is consistent with the Buddha's explanation of the Dhamma I think the best thing is to read up on "Right Speech".

It's true to say that from about C11 that there has been a strong alliance between the Siamese/Thai ruling authorities. Although that is neither right nor wrong - it just was/is.

But addressing your more general point. From my socially engaged perspective: there is nothing wrong with peaceful protest against ,i.e. injustice. I believe that the so named 'Dharma Army' - subsequent unintended conseqences apart - took good/right action by being involved with the pro-Democracy Movement of recent times.

However, I personally don't see that picketing to preserve something that I would view as retrogressive particularly benefits anyone - one might say that it's reactionary in demanding the continuation of shackling Dharma to secular authority ? But that's another discussion perhaps.

This notwithstanding, in Buddhism we act as our own conscience guides us, as befits our happiness, and creates the most benefit for ourselves and for others.

I think picketing is undignified but as long as you don't hit anyone with the sign why not. The monks in China protest all the time and have been known to throw bricks off the buildings at police and soldiers.