Monks

Late last year, in response to a post on 'Somewhere in Dhamma', the amazing blog maintained by my good friend and Dharma brother Gil-do, I posted some of my own thoughts on the Buddhist monkhood. This is a slightly re-written version.

The countries I know best outside of the UK are Thailand and Korea, and it was in these two countries that I first encountered Buddhism. For me, this contact was largely positive of course, and led to much greater study and involvement over the years and eventually to taking formal refuge. For many others however, the initial meeting with Asian Buddhism is soured by what is seen from the monkhood.

In Thailand you see monks smoking cigarettes, shopping in department stores for DVDs and mobile phones, eating meat, handing over bundles of cash at the amulet market, and so on. Of course a lot of monks are in robes for only a few weeks, but there have also been high-profile cases of abbots going to girlie bars, of sexual abuse by abbots at temple-schools, and of high-ranking political corruption.

It's both shocking, and yet also exactly what you'd expect. Just as I imagine the priesthood in a Catholic country 100 years ago, there is the same huge respect from the laypeople, the same over-abundance of donation money, and the same elevation of monks to the centres of political power. That seems to have changed a good deal in the church, as it struggles to retain the allegiance of its membership.

The same thing will happen in the Sangha, perhaps is happening now. That's why, I'm sure, the Buddha insisted on on the alms bowl, because it makes for direct accountability. As more and more laypeople get put off by Buddhist monks that don't practice, study, or teach the Dharma in meaningful and compassionate ways, the less they'll support the temples.

You don't need to be a monk to be a Buddhist or to make progress on the spiritual path, and you don't need to be a monk to complete that path. Just as in Christianity I've always liked the Quakers, who insist on no clergy, I also like the idea of the old Pure Land associations, in which laypeople came together to chant outside of the temple institution.

However, it is also worth bearing in mind that thanks to the monkhood we still have the Buddha's teaching today and, for those that are serious, the monkhood offers a chance to devote oneself to the Dharma full-time for a life-time. Seen like this, the monk owes every bit as much gratitude to the community as the community owes to him for holding onto the Dharma on their behalf.

I personally know some great monks. Phrae Pandit Bikkhu here in Bangkok is the very core of the LittleBang Sangha and, without his tireless work, access to English language teachings in Bangkok would be almost impossible. And, of course, I hardly need mention my own teacher Chong Go Sunim in Seoul. A monk I owe a good deal of gratitude to.

My examples are of non-ethnically-Asian monks because, sharing the same language and cultural background, these are the monks I know best. But I'm sure if I spoke Thai or Korean I'd know many more fine monks. And here in Bangkok I sometimes get the chance to hear Thai monks in translation, and of course can also study with Sunims at the monthly English-language Bangkok Seon Club.

The stories of corruption are shocking but are not, thankfully, the whole story. I'm sure that the laypeople who support the temples, who literally fill the alms bowls in the case of Thailand, are able to see which temples take their tasks seriously, and offer their support in accordance. It's a balancing act, but one that's been in play for over 2,500 years.

And which is now seeing the Dharma spread to whole new areas of the globe. In this context the mutual obligations of laypeople, monks and, happily more now than ever, nuns, are throw into greater relief. For the healthy future of Buddhism, the temples need both the support and the valid criticism of the lay followers, just as laypeople continue to need the efforts of those who are able to take on the responsibilities of the robe.