Remember the Buddha’s teachings

It is sad that Thai Buddhist monks of today not only break the five basic precepts given by the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago – but are breaching the laws and refusing to go on trial as a result.
The five Buddhist basic precepts – or “panja-sila” – are: for us to abstain from killing; stealing; sexual misconduct; lying; and consuming alcoholic drinks that could cause heedlessness.
By the look of it, the case in which a certain monk is accused of receiving stolen property [and other offences] seems to be a failure to observe at least two precepts. Personally, suppose I was a monk and someone gave me, say, 1,000 baht. I would certainly ask: why so much? Because that amount far exceeds the need for a monk’s one-day expense on necessities. However, if a case involves a very big sum of allegedly bad money – both Buddha’s teachings and laws look to have been breached beyond redemption.
Vint Chavala