Reply To: Monkhood:List of the 227 rules of Pātimokkha

#51358
Jittananto
Participant

I knew well that there was corruption in the Sangha but I did not think that it would give rise to a report with 400,000 views made three days ago by ABC News. Look how sad it is. Amazingly, many Buddhists in Thailand believe that it is possible to remove the bad Kamma Vipāka during the Buddhist New Year. At the beginning of the documentary, the journalist asks what the new year means in the Buddhist calendar. A woman says it means happiness and money. She surely speaks of worldly happiness. It shows the lack of seriousness that affects the devotees because of the corrupt monks. This is why lay people must know the Vinaya and the rules of Pātimokkha. We can at least confront the bhikkhus who defile the Sasana, because of their ardent desires for sensual pleasures. I remember a devotee in Thailand who told me that a senior monk stole several hundred dollars from him. He also said that the monks of this monastery go to luxurious hotels and get massages from women. Of course, this is all laypeople’s money. He also said that the son of a former minister of Thailand had become a monk and was involved in this sort of thing. He used his family’s money to afford a luxurious life even while being a monk.

  • Theft is a Pārajika offense which means it leads to expulsion for life from the Sangha. Even if no one knows it, the culprit automatically loses his status as a monk. He just becomes an imposter who wears a monk’s robe. I also saw bhikkhus driving luxury cars, using and accepting money, watching sports competitions on TV, keeping food in their kuti (dwellings), and chatting about inappropriate things with lay people. All of these actions are blatant violations of the Vinaya.
  • There is a passage in the Vinaya where Lord Buddha said that even a mass murderer accumulates fewer akusalas than this kind of bhikkhu. They accumulate an immeasurable amount of akusalas and will suffer for a very long time in the 4 apayas. I forgot the name of the text.
  • The documentary exposes monks who committed several Pārājikas. There is a monk who stole 7 million dollars from lay people, there are monks who indulge in drugs, have sex with devotees or other monks, and commit violence and other evil actions that destroy the Sasana and people’s trust in the Triple Gem. How can this kind of individual preserve the Sasana and explain the Dhamma?? It is no wonder that the deeper terms of the Dhamma remain unexplained and neglected. There is a sutta where Lord Buddha spoke about the corruption of bhikkhus in the future. It would be great if someone found it.

There are several types of bhikkhus. Those who ordain because their families oblige them by prestige and glory, those who ordain because they were raised in monasteries (orphans), those who ordain to take advantage of the laity and lead an easy life and those who ordain to achieve Nibbāna as quickly as possible. We must join the Sangha because we want to advance on the path and develop the Kusulas necessary to become an arahant.

  • As lay people we must never encourage or serve bhikkhus who defile Sasana. As soon as we see a corrupt temple that does not respect several rules of the Vinaya, we must stop supporting it and giving alms to the inhabitants of this monastery. See the story of the monks of Kosambi who did not listen to the words of Lord Buddha. The laypeople of the region stopped supporting them and offering them the 4 necessities to encourage them to review their behaviour.
  • The story of the Pālileyyaka elephant

On account of them, we have long been deprived of the chance to behold the Master. We will give no seats to them, nor will we pay respects!” From that time onwards, the quarrelsome and contentious monks of Kosambī were no longer treated with respect (much less with the four requisites).

Because of the scarcity of food and starvation, the monks became emancipated day by day and came to their senses after a few days. They confessed their faults and apologized to one another with salutations; they also begged the laity’s pardon, saying: “We have become untied, donors, please treat us as before!” “Have you tendered your apology to the Master?” asked the lay people. “No, donors not yet.” “Then you had better do so. After you’re doing so, will we treat you, sirs, as before,” replied the lay people tactfully. Since it was a vassa-period, the monks did not dare to visit the Buddha and had to pass the three months of vassa miserably.

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