Sangha Council warns monks, novices against using BB chat in public

The director of the Sangha Supreme Council Secretariat has warned Buddhist monks and novices against using BlackBerry mobile phones to perform message exchanging in public places.

Amnart Buasiri, the director of the secretariat of the Buddhist monk ruling body, said his office has received complaints from the public that it was improper for newly-ordained monks and novices to use the so-called BB chat in public.

"The secretariat has sent circulars to all levels of monastic chiefs to instruct and ensure that Buddhist monks and novices under their supervision will not act improperly in term of technology usage," Amnart said.

-- The Nation 03-01-11

Are these brought with the monks when they ordain, provided by the family (before/after) or gifted by the lay community?

Presumably not all are focused or minded on intensive study and practise of the Dhamma to the exclusion of all else.

I wonder why Blackberry is specifically referred to.

Do they really mean text messaging?

I'm not up with the latest in cellphone tech.... most have camera/video capability so can they now act like web-cams and give a live view whilst chatting?.... just wondering if that might be the problem...

Does Thailand have the network infrastructure to support video calling?

I wonder why Blackberry is specifically referred to.

Do they really mean text messaging?

you can send free meassages from Blackberry to Blackberry, hence their popularity, despite their price tag!

Graham

Are these brought with the monks when they ordain, provided by the family (before/after) or gifted by the lay community?

Presumably not all are focused or minded on intensive study and practise of the Dhamma to the exclusion of all else.

I can think of a monk asking a member of my family if they could pay the monthly payment for his phone. Another wanted to sell an mp3 player to get a better phone. So much for no property. Not all Wats are well disciplined unfortunately.

Graham

I wonder why Blackberry is specifically referred to.

Do they really mean text messaging?

no, they mean blackberry chat.

http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/features/im/google_talk.jsp

Are these brought with the monks when they ordain, provided by the family (before/after) or gifted by the lay community?

Presumably not all are focused or minded on intensive study and practise of the Dhamma to the exclusion of all else.

I can think of a monk asking a member of my family if they could pay the monthly payment for his phone. Another wanted to sell an mp3 player to get a better phone. So much for no property. Not all Wats are well disciplined unfortunately.

Graham

in my three years as a monk in Thailand, I have never met a monk, any monk, at any temple I've been to, and I've been to many temples, who didn't have a cell phone. This includes the abbots..