10000 Monks Assemble in Ceremony of Thailand
Saturday, June 25th, 2011 at
10:46 pm
Have you ever seen 10000 monks assembled in one place? Most likely not, but I was lucky enough to catch this unique and amazing event on camera here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It really took my breath away seeing 10000 monks chanting and collecting alms. This was a profound insight into the Thai Buddhist culture and one of those events that you never forget.
In the last few yours in our Western Society accountability and transparency has be come the requirement for all. With freedom of the press it has revealed quite widespread sexual misconduct in our religious organisations. Whereas years ago the churches could hide behind their cloak of holiness, as its been lifted all sorts of things have been revealed.
And in that process we have seen how far the churches would go to protect their image and the members of their clergy who perpetuated sexual misconduct. We have seen how hypocritical they would be to protect themselves above their congregation.
And so I have wondered what really goes on behind the walls of the Temples. There are tens of thousands of monasteries in Thailand and its hard to believe that monks don’t cross over the line sometimes.
What do you reckon?
Graham, monks and priests and rabbis and yogis are just people, and people are generally not perfect. We all understand that nobody will become an instant saint just by changing one’s clothes and shaving one’s head. It does not matter what country or what religion we are talking about, we cannot expect perfection from any religious order. I think that the important thing is to see that the monkhood is a gradual path to purification and enlightenment, and some people will go far on that path, and some will not make it very far. But we have to give them all credit for trying.
One important distinction is that unlike the Christian priesthood which is a full time profession, many monks in Thailand are only monks for a short period of time. This could be from a few days to a few months. They are novices or monks in training, and most of them do not intend to remain monks for their entire lives.
So this is a learning process, it is a journey of self improvement. It would not be reasonable to expect those who are on this path to be perfect and faultless. Naturally there will be missteps and some lines will be crossed. But the important thing is that they have to be given credit for trying, for making a sincere effort. This is an important mechanism in Thai Buddhist culture and is respected and appreciated by the entire population.
Whatever it is in life, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. Nobody in Thailand expects all monks to be perfect, but we all acknowledge their good intentions and their efforts. And if some cross over the line – I would say that this is just normal human behavior and will be present in any religious order in the world.
I concern is that in a system which totally protects the religious order, as we have found in the history of our western society, the transgressions can become endemic if there are no checks and balances.
We can never know.
Graham, your point is well taken. However I do not see it as my business to point out what is wrong in this world. There are others more qualified than I who can tackle the problems of the world. I am not a social activist or reformer, but the purpose of my blog is primarily to bring the fascinating and beautiful aspects of life here in Thailand to the attention of my readers.