Holy Rollers Rolling High
How A Group Of Monks Left Their Village Without Merit.
A Buddhist temple is left vacant this morning in the northern province of Phetchabun Thailand where four holy men (including the abbot) failed a drug test for methamphetamine early November 28, 2022. Everyone of them was defrocked and sent to a drug rehabilitation clinic. Little is known about the monks behavior that led to the tests. One can only imagine the scenes of drug addled monks tweaking down the small village streets, eyes rolling wildly, clinging to their golden alms bowls with sweaty palms and thanking the villagers through clenched teeth. I'm not sure if you have ever had the privilege of knowing a meth addict, but they are some of the most interesting and disconnected people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. The person in this story I would truly love to meet is the local Yaba dealer who no doubt frequented the monastery. The stories in that mans head are absolutely priceless! Now I'm sure we all have ideas of a small Asian Walter White however, this was not the crystal meth of Vince Gillian's hit show. Small pills containing methamphetamine, locally known as Yaba, are plentiful and can be bought for as little as 20 Baht (roughly .50 US)
“Meth and particularly Yaba can be easily found in every corner of [Thailand] — supply is up everywhere, and at this point a tablet is cheaper than a beer,” UNODC’s Jeremy Douglas told Thai Inquirer.
In truth, the meth epidemic is global. In October of this year, the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau seized a massive amount of liquid methamphetamine in Hong Kong, cleverly disguised as coconut water, on route to Australia. The seizure was worth a staggering 1.1 billion dollars. Thailand in particular is a major transit location for Methamphetamine coming out of golden triangle( the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the convergence of two rivers). When asked the estimated amount of Yaba coming into Thailand UNODC’s Jeremy Douglass had this to say, “It is almost impossible to say how much is produced and trafficked, but Thailand last year seized more than 600 million Yaba tablets and if it represents 10% (of supply) it puts the amount trafficking at, give or take 6 billion and if it is 20% then (the trafficking amount would be) 3 billion.”
“One should train in [three] deeds of merit — generosity, a balanced life, developing a loving mind — that yield long-lasting happiness.” The Buddha
This story seems very comical until you think of the villagers that depend on giving to the monks to help gain merit. Merit is very important to Buddhist because it directly influences not only your next life but the reincarnated life of your loved ones who have already passed on. The first of the three merits to train in is generosity. There are a few ways to do this such as giving money to a charity or a temple. However, the most common way that people (especially the poor) practice generosity is to give food to their monks. Now unfortunately, the village can not provide alms and therefore are no longer earning merit towards their next life. Like most religions, Buddhism has rules that one should live by. The Five Precepts Buddha advises abstinence are:
(1) harming living beings,
(2) taking things not freely given,
(3) sexual misconduct,
(4) false speech
(5) intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness
While these monks did not break all of these precepts I assure you that path of addiction is diametrically apposed to the eight fold path of enlightenment. These men had given up on there beliefs and ultimate goal of Nirvana and had become nothing more than leaches living of the generosity of their community. This vaguely reminds me of certain faith healers in America. “Send me $1000 today and I promise God will touch your body.” At least the monks were not flying in private chartered jets, however the principal is still the same. No matter what your personal thoughts of religion are I can assure you that you all, knowingly or unknowingly, follow one. Seeing your personal religious leader fall to temptation will forever shape how you view your faith. For some all they have in life is faith that one day, even in death, their wretched and miserable life meant something more. I have seen when the pillar of community that is faith is knocked off its foundation and comes violently crashing to earth leaving a crater in the center of us all. It takes the life's work of certain supermen to rebuild that pillar that holds up the great ceiling of civilization itself. How long do we all have before that great ceiling finally gives way and crushes us all?
