Young, idle monks must become active
It’s no secret that being religious is not the same as being spiritual. Religious is allegiance to a creed, a belief system. Spirituality is the individual ability to tap into higher states of consciousness.
Sometimes the two meld, but it’s rare. I called myself Christian up until age 17. After that, I called myself Hindu. I then chose Tibetan style (Mahayana) Buddhism from age 30 through 60. I’m now “none of the above”. Actually, I’m a fan of science and nature, and that’s fulfilling. Immersion in nature can be a quicker path to enlightenment than religious dogma.
Which brings me to the current scenario in Thailand with Buddhism. The world is different than in Buddha’s time, two and a half millennia ago. When he articulated ways that monks should be, there were a small fraction of the 7 billion people walking around today.
The seas weren’t polluted and overfished, and there weren’t toxic dumps dotted around on land, with smog hanging over every city.
It’s past time where monks can do more than be idle all day. Among other things, they are mostly young fit men, are they not?
If hundreds of thousands of Thai monks could devote two hours per day toward things like picking up litter along streets, cleaning khlongs, planting trees or any of a plethora of tangible useful acts, then that would put a dent in Thailand’s environmental slide.
Thais want to think of their many monks as sitting in meditation all day seeking enlightenment, but come on folks. They’re mostly idle. When I was a young man, I planted hundreds of trees annually, and am still doing that. The Buddha would agree with me, that being active by doing good deeds can be fully conducive to sadhana (spiritual practice).
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
