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Hot on the heels of a recent election, a friend raised the question: Monks do not vote, do they? I have never thought of the question before and a check in the Internet reveals that this question has been raised before. Monks in Bhutan most certainly do not vote since they are barred from doing so but some monks in Cambodia did not just vote but got beaten and shot in the streets for protesting against Prime Minister Hun Sen's victory. In Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery, a group of monks talked about the kings and ministers and robbers and Buddha had accordingly said: It isn't right, monks, that sons of good families, on having gone forth out of faith from home to the homeless life, should get engaged in such topics of conversation, i.e., conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state... talk of whether things exist or not. Some probably would take this to mean that monks should not vote. Monks then could be viewed as an indifferent lot too, neutral, you may say, and that is even to the rot and cruelty around then. Or do you suppose monks should not just talk but take action, in which case, they should vote?
Hot on the heels of a recent election, a friend raised the question: Monks do not vote, do they? I have never thought of the question before and a check in the Internet reveals that this question has been raised before. Monks in Bhutan most certainly do not vote since they are barred from doing so but some monks in Cambodia did not just vote but got beaten and shot in the streets for protesting against Prime Minister Hun Sen's victory. In Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery, a group of monks talked about the kings and ministers and robbers and Buddha had accordingly said: It isn't right, monks, that sons of good families, on having gone forth out of faith from home to the homeless life, should get engaged in such topics of conversation, i.e., conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state... talk of whether things exist or not. Some probably would take this to mean that monks should not vote. Monks then could be viewed as an indifferent lot too, neutral, you may say, and that is even to the rot and cruelty around then. Or do you suppose monks should not just talk but take action, in which case, they should vote?
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