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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: icy on October 01, 2013, 08:25:38 AM
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A group of Thai Buddhist monks fly in a private jet, wearing stylish sunglasses and carrying designer luggage. The footage has upset some Thai Buddhists who view the lavish lifestyle on display as inappropriate. The Office for Natonal Buddhism received 300 complaints in 2012 about the monks' activities
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/jun/18/thai-buddhist-monks-private-jet-video (http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/jun/18/thai-buddhist-monks-private-jet-video)
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This is an old information on some english news paper!
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The “stylish” Chinese made sunglasses and “designer” luggage can be bought for very cheap in any street of Bangkok.
And flying in a jet does not mean that the jet is privately owned by the monks, as maliciously suggested by the “new”.
It's funny to see how much Western press is obsessed with highlighting the supposed corruption of Buddhist monks, while neglecting, for instance, millionaire rabbies engaged in human organ traffic, as in the case of the rabbi Levy Rosenbaum, about whom the press did not say anything after his guilty plea.
One should think a bit before allowing oneself naively to be influenced by this kind of cheap religious and ethnic hatred propaganda which are commonplace in Western political mass media brainwashing propaganda (also known as “free press”).
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Here are my 2 cents view.
As lay people we should not be too quick to judge the monks. In fact we are collecting negative karma by having the wrong views of the monks if the monks are holding their vows well.
As for the monks, if we are the monks, we need always uphold our vows and follow the tradition we are brought up with. How a monk conduct himself will bring faith to Buddha's teachings and messages. It is a practice itself.
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This show how we lay person views our world based on our preconception which itself was projected by the media. To fit the general perception of a good monk one must stay under some tree or cave sitting in meditation posture, make do with any food provided by poor villager, travel on bare foot from point A to B and constantly practice austerity as if in total disconnect with the rest of the world. This video the media quickly jump into conclusion that by having a pair of sunglasses is too much of a procession to have for a Buddhist monk and travelling in private jet will tantamount to misuse of Sangha fund!
In the real world there’re many genuine sponsors out there who are not hesitate to sponsor a large sum of money to the Sangha community in support for they work.