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Third, there is the commercialisation of temples. One cannot or MBAs from unknown sources! Some monks live luxurious lives
deny that there had always been some form of commercial activities with cars, condos, TVs, DVDs, air-conditioned bedrooms, karaoke
within the temple. These activities are necessary to sustain the sets, branded watches and spectacles. Admittedly some of these
main role of the temple as a place of learning and worship . This amenities may be necessary for Dharma propagation work but one
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has never been an issue. However, when greed takes precedence, cannot deny the fact that most of the time these amenities were
some temples focus more on commercial activities rather than their there to pamper the senses of the monks. When their roles and life
original role of teaching the Dharma. Temple committee members styles are alienated, they may eventually slip into disrepute, as in
and monks spend more time attending to the commercial activities the case of a high-profile monk in Singapore some years ago.
rather than on their primary roles. This scenario is now called the
“Shao Lin phenomenon” in reference to the commercialisation of Alienation? Paradigm?
Shao Lin Temple in China. The end result is that some big temples
in Malaysia reaped in millions of ringgit per year, while doing very In his paper presented at the First World Buddhist Forum
little in terms of Dharma propagation and education. (2006) in Hangzhou, China, Prof. Yu Xiang Zhou pointed out that
there are two possible outcomes from the impact of globalisation
Fourth, Alienation of monks. The primary role of a monk is upon Buddhism. Firstly, it is the alienation of Buddhism from its
self cultivation and preaching of the Dharma. When monks do not original purpose, and secondly, the emergence of Buddhism as a
devote themselves to this primary role but instead spend their time new paradigm to the world.
on organisational activities, administration, attending meetings,
socialising (with wives of politicians and wealthy supporters ), all The outcome now depends very much upon the leadership of
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in the name of Dharma propagation or welfare works, their roles the Buddhist world. If there is greater awareness and sustained
are alienated. effort on the part of the Buddhist leaders, there is a possibility
that Buddhism may offer an alternative paradigm to the world.
Not only are roles alienated, life styles are also alienated too. Otherwise, Buddhism itself may be alienated, surviving only in
Some monks, for instance, seek worldly recognition like academic name.
qualification to the extent that they were willing to obtain their PhDs
Malaysian Buddhism must now wake up to face this reality.
17. A differentiation is made here between “having commercial activities” and
“commercialisation”. (Paper presented at the 1st International Conference on Malaysian Buddhism
held at Bodhi Park, Shah Alam, Malaysia on 13th Dec, 2019)
18. Since politicians and wealthy supporters do not always have time for the monks, the
monks turned to socialise with their wives.
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