Many years ago, I made friends with a Buddhist man whom I met when I was doing some volunteer work. An Australian, he had dark brown hair and wore a t-shirt and jeans. He looked more like a tourist than a man of religion but his calm demeanour said there was something unusual about him. My hunch was right. As it turned out, he was studying to be a monk and had stopped over in Malaysia on his way to a monastery in Thailand.
I enjoyed talking to him about Australia and what he was planning to do in Thailand, a place I've never been to. I know Buddhists are peaceful in nature and wished there were more people like him - people who would set aside worldly pursuits to concentrate on fostering peace and harmony regardless of what people believe in. It takes immense fortitude to do something like that.
And then this morning I saw signs of cracks. I was just browsing the internet and following some links out of curiosity and there it was. A disturbance in the force I never thought was possible.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Ajahn-Brahm-Sanctioned-Monastery-L-t312995.html
A fight over women between the Thai Buddhist order and the Australian Buddhist order, leading to the excommunication of an entire Buddhist order, and a large one at that.
The Thais say tradition is tradition. The farangs (foreigners) say fine, you do it your way, we do it ours. Unable to agree, the orders split.
Sigh. So sad to see what is happening.
There was an old joke that went:
ReplyDeleteGod made the world and then He had a rest. He created man and then took another rest. Then He created woman. And none has ever had an idle moment ever since.
Ha ha, friend that's a good one.
ReplyDelete