What Is So Special About Monks Or Priests?

[hookedondhamma]

Special ?

One has a rather special house at the temple by the lake I go cycling too.

He is very protective of it and has a gate with a sign saying no entry, although there is still plenty temple grounds I thought people could visit.

Shame I can't read Thai.

He's even got his on pier now for boats, it is no longer in it's original place where people liked to feed the fish from.

I wonder how many millions all that lovely teak it cost ?

Anyway it's a lovely day out up there for families, it must be considering how many go there and donate money.

so the teak really bothers you,ok.

No, it's the use of denotations and payment for blessing etc that is then used for self serving purposes. Merit Making in Thailand is generally the complete opposite of the philosophy/practice of Karma as it is again utilised for consciously self serving purposes, the Sangha would/should know this, yet perpetuate the practice for generating money.

Their must be monks in Thailand that practice traditional Theravada Buddhism without the corrupt practices of many, it would be good to know the names of a few Wat where this holds true.

There are many but they are mostly located in Isaan. Temples in central Thailand tend to be more about studying books, etc.

The thing is most people dwell more on the bad than the good. It seems to be the norm. So for every few good monks there is one not-so-good, but the actions of one wipe out the rest. For those who practice rightly though, these views don't affect them, as the realize that is the nature of the human mind.

The temples you will find these monks at are the ones with very little amenities, no tvs, in some cases no electricity, and the amount of monks will be few, as it is not very 'sanook' to live like that. Sign of the times.

[hookedondhamma]

if you have a pimple on your face you work on removing it, fixing it.

you dont however forget about the beautiful the head it sits on, worse still you do not remove the head.

Think you are ''missing'' a few points to satisfy your conviction. Stuff told me by a Thai speaks volumes. Sure, nothing in life is perfect but really don't like seeing the poor going without, thinking somehow they will win the lottery or their problems will be solved by giving what little they have.

Often the locals don't have a clue either. Gossip is big here, I am sure you know that.

It also runs in the order of monks as well, so one must be careful where they decide to ordaine and or practice. If I had 1 baht for every little morsel of nintah that has come across my ears, I could be chalerm's monetary rival.

[rattler]

Special ?

One has a rather special house at the temple by the lake I go cycling too.

He is very protective of it and has a gate with a sign saying no entry, although there is still plenty temple grounds I thought people could visit.

Shame I can't read Thai.

He's even got his on pier now for boats, it is no longer in it's original place where people liked to feed the fish from.

I wonder how many millions all that lovely teak it cost ?

Anyway it's a lovely day out up there for families, it must be considering how many go there and donate money.

Yes I just love all the shiny temples everywhere too, makes me realise how fortunate I was not to be indoctrinated.

live and let live would be fine "if" they kept it to themselves, didnt walk round everyday asking for food or whatever, the temple by me has just bought a huge piece of land, no doubt the next "palace" will be going up soon.

If they want any credibility they should be in the most humble of temples giving all that money back to society, instead its just one BIG business.

Shame on them I say.

[Semper]

The shallowness of the OP's views are informed by his shallow understanding.

If faith is not for him, he should perhaps try 'live and let live'.

Let others choose to live as they wish.... it takes no effort at all.

.....and he is a she.

[MrHammer]

I think you're not thinking of the monks in their proper perspective. They fill several roles that are taken care of with the government in other countries: They are psycologists and advisers, they take care of the crazy, drug addicts, the poor etc. In return, those they help, must live a strict lifestyle of meditation.

Sure, some monks may be corrupt, but so are some/many social and government workers back home. Same, same but different.

[bangkokburning]

Amazed (not really) how many of you live in Thailand, how little you know about Buddhism. That goes for half the posts Ive read.

This is the stupidest thing posted to TV all week

Indoctrinated (into the Buddhist philosophy)

The entire doctrine, the sum total of Buddhist teaching is to free oneself. Startlingly ignorant.

Edited March 16, 2013 by bangkokburning

[MrHammer]

To re-ireterate. The charity given to monks is comparable to welfare and tax payments in the west. Only here, if you want to receive charity, you can't spend all your money on cigarettes and cheap cake. A better system I think.

[HeijoshinCool]

Amazed (not really) how many of you live in Thailand, how little you know about Buddhism. That goes for half the posts Ive read.

This is the stupidest thing posted to TV all week

Indoctrinated (into the Buddhist philosophy)

The entire doctrine, the sum total of Buddhist teaching is to free oneself. Startlingly ignorant.

To free oneself, huh? Like from being (harshly) judgmental of others?

Some find it more important to free others, rather than just themselves. That's what love is all about, isn't it?

Edited March 16, 2013 by HeijoshinCool

[hookedondhamma]

Generous edit.

Edited March 16, 2013 by hookedondhamma

[muythai2013]

if you have a pimple on your face you work on removing it, fixing it.

you dont however forget about the beautiful the head it sits on, worse still you do not remove the head.

Think you are ''missing'' a few points to satisfy your conviction. Stuff told me by a Thai speaks volumes. Sure, nothing in life is perfect but really don't like seeing the poor going without, thinking somehow they will win the lottery or their problems will be solved by giving what little they have.

if a thai goes and gives his last money, the monk he is giving it to is not aware of how much money the thai has.

the monks are not making anyone go without, the monks dont give lotto numbers, they give lucky numbers and the fools buy lotto tickets based on that info.

my brother in law mentions this foolishness in his book, urging people not to come to his or any temple seeking fortune info.

personal responsability, have you heard of this.

[johna]

It's amusing that you're basically religion bashing to some degree and then go and quote the bible to prove your point, "charity begins at home", not belongs. To say belongs would imply that it should not exist outside of the home, which I don't think you intended to imply, as you clarify in the next sentence. Religion does give wisdom, but it seems that it's perverted over time.

While you may "hate all religions", keep in mind that secular society was resistible for 100,000,000 murders/deaths in the previous decade. Islamics will most likely be responsible for the majority of wars in the next though and please separate Muslims for Islamics.

What wisdom is there that is exclusive to religion?? The church has fought valiantly on both sides of every war thought out history.

Certainly there have been individual clergymen who have spoken out against war, but the church itself has always aligned itself with or attempted to usurp secular power.

It is not fundamental Muslims that scare me, but the 50 million American fundamental Christians who believe that the coming of Christ can only be attained through Armageddon (nuclear war) in this life time.

Edited March 17, 2013 by johna

[johna]

The shallowness of the OP's views are informed by his shallow understanding.

If faith is not for him, he should perhaps try 'live and let live'.

Let others choose to live as they wish.... it takes no effort at all.

Good advice, if only the religious brigade would follow it.

[khaowong1]

I knew I would touch a nerve of some. I actually give more than half my money away in Thailand, but I give it to people in need of a tiny bit more to help them enjoy life with a little more freedom. I try to help those that need some assistance in helping themselves. I would rather set some family up in a business than just give to some charity that skims off the top. I think most leaders of all religions have lost touch with the little people they supposedly are there to serve. The Catholic church is probably the worst of the bunch.

jij was correct in correcting me. I did mean "Charity BEGINS at home" rather than "Charity BELONGS at home"

I believe in helping those to help themselves for the benefit of their future. I don't give to beggers on the street, but I give a little each day to an old woman who searches for bottles in the hotel dumpster. She is just trying to survive in a harsh world and she never begs.

I just thought of the topic when I noticed a few women feeling upset because they didn't have enough saved to give to the temple when the temple had far more than they would ever have. I see hundreds of orange robed monks walking around. As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong) the monks have no viable form of earning a living other than charity. In a country where the average person seldom earns more than 6000 baht a month, I think taking on the charity case of a bunch of monks is excessive.

Of course, I do know it is never going to change and I should just ignore the problems I see around me that have obvious solutions that nobody is ever going to use.

As far as charities in North America are concerned, they are a disgrace. I read somewhere that one of the bigger charities sends NOTHING to the people they say they are helping, and yet the leader of that charity earns over a million dollar salary each year. I was going to name the charity but I think that is illegal in Thailand.

Do you realise you are taring all monks with the same brush, think about that.

Not only have you not lived in a temple, you know next to nothing about its inner workings, fancy sitting there and really attacking something with little to know idea of any aspect of it.

you cannot with absolute honesty say you know how things operate in the temples.

Perhaps some locals with a little savvy do. Could tell you a story but l won't.

tell what they want, I lived in one, is that local enough. point out same negative stories if it pleases you, their are faults committed by people in every community.

that does not mean the whole system is lacking, it just means your staring at the fault and missing the bigger picture.

Yeah, please, tell it.. I live in one and have for over 6 years now.. Let's hear your stories.. should be interesting. Just a little note here about people telling you stories.. Very few Thai men ever become monks, even for a week.. they can't handle it. If you really want to know what goes on at most Thai Buddhist temples, go be a monk for a month.. Then you can tell all those people who tell you all those stories, their full of shit.. pardon my french..

[endure]

As CMK said - Rule 7.

7) Not to post slurs or degrading comments directed towards any group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.