TONE TONE AND FRIENDS VII

TONE TONE AND FRIENDS’ DISCUSSIONS:

Consult Vinaya

Friend: My friends, we have several opinions. We have viewed various videos. Let’s consult the Vinaya rules.

My question: Do Vinaya rules allow monks to name their temples Bodh Gaya’s?

Friend: I don’t think so.

Friend: Why?

Friend: All Buddhas attained their enlightenment at certain SPECIAL AUSPICIOUS places. NEVER at ANY ORDINARY place.

See internet Buddhist texts. Listen to Burmese anchors in prior videos.

Super normal powers – by association

Friend: I agree. No ORDINARY monk is allowed to say (or imply) that he has super normal powers.

Doesn’t matter what kind. The powers may be like those of Buddha or other arahats/holy persons or whoever.

When the monk knows that he really doesn’t have these powers, yet he says that he has them, it is a cardinal sin. Google Vinaya.

Friend: True. It took numerous lifetimes and practice to attain certain spiritual levels. Calling oneself a Buddha or calling one’s place a Bodh Gaya, doesn’t make one a Buddha.

It’s probably to mislead or impress naive and gullible people. What a shame!

Friend: No shame!

Friend: Implying that Azusa is Bodh Gaya or comparable to Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment, is very GRAVE.

Undeniably, it connotes or implies that the residing monk is a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, with higher super normal attainments.

Friend: The Nerve!

The monk concerned should clarify.

A Parajika offense

Friend: Yes, this is one of four parajika major offenses where there is no cure or remedy. The monk is automatically disrobed and cannot be ordained again.

Anybody can defrock him. Even a man on the street. Continuing as a monk, generates very bad Karma.

Friend: Well, even if a monk has really attained super normal powers, he cannot tell other people about it. It is a Vinaya offense.

Friend: Why not?

You have it, you flaunt it! Isn’t this the western way?

Friend: No! no!no! You have to understand the Buddhist monks’ higher moral values and discipline. They are reflected in the code of conduct. They are vastly different from the self infatuation or instant gratification and greed of some cultures.

A Buddhist monk’s duty is to study and preach the Dhamma. He has no business “flaunting” his super normal powers to “amass wealth and fame.” That’s not the focus. His focus is on the “Dhamma,” not building on more clingings or attachments.

Friend: BTW, in U Awthada’s previous birthday flyer, he also uplifted himself in a similarly subtle and indirect way.

He claimed nobility for monks who “fasted” and he degraded lay people who didn’t. By uplifting the monks as a whole, he also uplifted himself as a monk. This indirect uplift is forbidden by the Vinaya.

Friend: Yes, his “fasting” theory contradicted his “feasting” theory which he also promoted at his Food Fairs and festivals. He later withdrew this birthday flyer posted on Click2Myanmar, but not the mailed flyers.

Friend: He didn’t apologize.

Nowadays, even the high and mighty Pope has to apologize.

Guess, he is higher than the Pope!