Monks' bad behaviour hotline launched by Thai Buddhist authorities

[bambi]

Wonderful! I like this idea very much. I totally understand if some of the 'monks' misbehave or do something non virtuous as many of them are poor and they are sent to the temples since very young so they can get food and roof over their head so their pure motivation is not to be a monk rather a place to get by each day. What I really hope is that this hotline will help the public to understand and learn more instead of having wrong views from the beginning.




Thai Buddhist monks at Victory Monument in Bangkok.


Buddhist monks face censure after Thai religious authorities said they had launched a 24-hour hotline for the public to report unruly acts.

The move follows a cascade of high-profile scandals ranging from monks reportedly taking drugs and drinking to a case in May of five defrocked abbots charged with sexually abusing boys.

The National Office of Buddhism (NOB) said the idea for a hotline had emerged after Thailand's coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed concern about the image of Buddhism, of which an estimated 95% of Thailand's 67 million population are devotees.

"We have already set up a hotline to receive complaints from people if they see anything that endangers our religion," the office's Napparat Benjawattananant said on Wednesday.

"People can file a complaint if they see monks are involved in irreligious things. For example if they see fake monks collecting donations," he added.

The office said there were about 270,000 monks across the country.

"We don't have enough staff to check every monk, so we need to mobilise the general public," he said, adding that officials would take action immediately after receiving complaints.

A slew of scandals involving monks has tarnished the clergy's image in recent months.

Last September, authorities seized nearly £470,000 of assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes-Benz, from a monk who was defrocked for a controversial trip in a private jet and who was also accused of fathering a child by an underage girl a decade earlier.

"There have been a lot of cases regarding bad behaviour related to monks, so we just want to fix this problem," said the Thai junta spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipak.

[angelica]

The misbehaved monks have tarnished the image of Buddhist monks. As a monk, one has vows that need to abide to. When this vows are broken, it is not only bad for the individual, it cos shame to the monastery and guru too.

Setting up the hotline for the public to report the unruly act is just a temporary solution. If the public do not report on this, the monks can still continue with this bad behaviour. Ultimate solution should fall on the monastery and the self discipline of the monks. Monastery should be fined or close if such things happened in their monastery. Every monastery has the responsibility to uphold the Buddhism tradition and the reputation of the monastery.

When a monastery accepted a boy to be monk, it is not just to provide a place for the boy and to feed his hungry stomach. The Abbot and the Senior in the monastery has the responsibilities to teach and nurture the young boy to be a true monk. Everything start from education at young. It is very important that the monks be able to hold their vows and be a role model for lay people. To be a monk is to practice dharma and seek for liberation, not taking the opportunity and enjoying the samsaric world based on other beings generosity.

[cookie]

In King Pasenadi's  fifteenth dream: - he saw a crow surrounded by golden swans wherever the crow went, those golden swans will surround it as followers.
 
Buddha made the prediction that when the era of decline of Buddhism is coming, there will more immoral monks.  Monks and novices who lack of education and guidance in monkshood will not understand the discipline and their duties.  They will not conduct their daily prayer but just watch TV, those in the rural area will enter monkshood for the sake of tradition or they do it for money, some will do it on their parents' request and while being ordained they will bring entertainment to the temple which violate the rules and regulations of priesthood and bring unwholesome karma for their parents and relatives. They do not perform monks’ duties and lack of discipline.  They neither listen nor pay attention during dharma teachings. They talk without respect and are even proud of their immoral behavior, without shame and not afraid of the results of their unwholesome deeds.  This will happen in the distant future and all will hear and see.

This is one of the many predictions made by Buddha more then 2500 years ago. Clearly, his clairvoyance on the future was sharp and accurate. In this case, the degeneration of the Sangha.
Hence, there is a need today for the public to police the actions of monks. If they feel that the actions are negative they can make a report.
However, the monks should also be given a fair "trial" to explain their behaviour so as not to cause more conflicts and biasness. This degeneration in the world is going to create more chaos . Learning the Dharma is really very crucial in current times !


 

[RedLantern]

Like any large group of people,they have their bad eggs.It is important to confront that because they are respected and trusted- just like doctors,nurses,teachers,they must handle that trust carefully.They can improve the world by setting living examples of  unpretentious and living in accordance to principles

[fruven]

In King Pasenadi's  fifteenth dream: - he saw a crow surrounded by golden swans wherever the crow went, those golden swans will surround it as followers.
 
Buddha made the prediction that when the era of decline of Buddhism is coming, there will more immoral monks.  Monks and novices who lack of education and guidance in monkshood will not understand the discipline and their duties.  They will not conduct their daily prayer but just watch TV, those in the rural area will enter monkshood for the sake of tradition or they do it for money, some will do it on their parents' request and while being ordained they will bring entertainment to the temple which violate the rules and regulations of priesthood and bring unwholesome karma for their parents and relatives. They do not perform monks’ duties and lack of discipline.  They neither listen nor pay attention during dharma teachings. They talk without respect and are even proud of their immoral behavior, without shame and not afraid of the results of their unwholesome deeds.  This will happen in the distant future and all will hear and see.

This is one of the many predictions made by Buddha more then 2500 years ago. Clearly, his clairvoyance on the future was sharp and accurate. In this case, the degeneration of the Sangha.
Hence, there is a need today for the public to police the actions of monks. If they feel that the actions are negative they can make a report.
However, the monks should also be given a fair "trial" to explain their behaviour so as not to cause more conflicts and biasness. This degeneration in the world is going to create more chaos . Learning the Dharma is really very crucial in current times !

The degeneration also happens to the lay people as well. We cannot underestimate the amount of negative influence the general populations exert on the sangha community.

This is encouraging news that the sangha is open to public complaints but one must follow the sangha rules when it comes to disciplining any wrong doings that are committed.