Word: monke
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...according to Brother Curtis Almquist, who is the mild-mannered, bespectacled superior of the monastery, the typical life of a monk is not one that lacks intensity. The monks have five prayer gatherings each day. Each monk also spends one hour in early morning meditation in his individual cell, which is a little smaller than the average Harvard single bedroom. Guest rooms, which are similar to the monks’ living quarters, are available to any layperson who desires to spend up to a week living a life of quiet reflection. The walls of each room are bare except...
...monk made more headlines last year than Phra Issaramunee, abbot of Thammaviharee Temple and a personal guru to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Accused of having an affair with a female follower, he was disrobed, although he still insists he is innocent. The same can't be said for former abbot Phra Thammathorn Wanchai. Two years ago, he was caught by a television news crew in an army colonel's uniform holding a tryst with two prostitutes. Disrobed and sentenced to six months in jail for impersonating an army officer, he was unrepentant and threatened to expose other monks...
...Buddhism isn't the only religion plagued by scandals, Sulak notes, pointing to the pedophilia revelations rocking the Catholic Church. But with even prominent abbots involved in debauchery, there is often little the monk police can do. "They are well-intentioned," he says, "but some of the worst wrongdoers are more powerful than they are." Indeed, reformist monks are severely hampered by an insular, feudal clerical structure. "There's a lot of politics in the temple," says Sanitsuda...
...While wayward monks have shaken the faith of many, Sanitsuda draws consolation from several encouraging trends. Modern, socially engaged monks, such as noted author and Sangha member Phra Paisan Visalo, serve as role models for some, working with civic groups to try and steer Thailand's often greed-driven development onto a more just, equitable and environmentally friendly path. Among the middle class, there has been a remarkable rise in the popularity of meditation retreats. And Professor Sunthorn Narangsri of Chulalongkorn University's Buddhist Studies Center says the monk police have also proved surprisingly effective...
...Phra Charoen Atipalow has experienced this firsthand. Collared near Bangkok's Chatuchak market on suspicion of being a bogus monk, he is interrogated at a nearby temple by its abbot, Phra Thai Thammarat, and Phra Khrusri Pattanakhun, chief of the monk police. He insists he's a real monk from Chaiyaphum. But when Phra Khrusri calls a few of Charoen's supposed temples, no one will vouch for him. Rather than turn him over to the two waiting policemen, the abbot decides Charoen should be disrobed and expelled for improper begging. The legal penalty is only $4.50 for the first...