Grapevine on Monks

My niece always peels away the skin of the grapes and removes the seed before giving it to her three year old daughter. That reminds me of one of the unforgettable moment I have had during my retreat to Kota Tinggi . During mealtimes, the resident monk would be the first to be offered food. I remember grapes were ready peeled for him. Monks are respected by the Buddhist community and a literature I read said it would mark the beginning of the end of Buddhism when monks are not respected anymore. But sometimes, there are charlatans among monks. In India, when I visited Kushinagar with some Buddhist pilgrims, we were warned of some men in saffron robes out to make some money out of the pilgrims. Even in Malaysia, a lone monk would be seen sometimes in a public eating place or elsewhere where there is a Buddhist crowd, soliciting money. Kenneth whom I met at the Internet wrote of a monk who entered a house through the open gate to ask for alms and he regretted not paying homage by clasping the hand and bowing and giving something. A reader commented that doing that to a genuine monk tantamount to earning a place in hell and someone else told him that it would be advisable to give since if the monk is genuine he would benefit the giver and if not, it does not cause him any harm. The thing is giving or not is not such a great sin; so, I wonder why hell has to come into play at all. Besides, giving to monk or to anyone else for that matter, isn't about gaining benefits or losing something. Giving has to come from the heart and if the mind says not to give especially if the monk asks for money and at odd hours too, then most probably the mind is right. After all it is not the norm for monks to ask for money and they are not even allowed to ask verbally for food too. The Buddhist community just understand that they need food from the layman because they do not have a job and have dedicated themselves to a holy life. People just understand when they see them with a bowl in hand but then that should also be at certain hours since one of the precepts for monk is they can eat only at certain hours. These come from the unmalicious mind.