Monasteries decline as TV and smartphones
grip Bhutan
THIMPHU,
Bhutan (AFP) - Kencho Tshering, a red-robed Buddhist monk, takes a
call from the King of Bhutan's office, then duly dashes off to
start a ceremony praying for a break in the monsoon rains.
But while he may be on speed dial for royal requests, the clout of
his fellow monks is on the wane in the remote kingdom as it absorbs
the impact of technology and democracy as well as an abuse
scandal.
"Bhutan is changing. The monastic body is going down and down,"
Tshering told AFP at Dechen Phodrang, the monks' school where he is
principal, which is perched with majestic views over the capital
Thimphu.
"Even for senior monks, there's no respect in the city," he
sighed.
Bhutan -- nestled in the Himalayas and flanked by both India and
China -- is renowned for its rich Buddhist culture, and villages
are still steeped in its traditions.
Fluttering prayer flags are a common sight, as are giant flying
phalluses painted on walls to ward off evil -- a symbol of a
national saint, the "Divine Madman", who is believed to have
subjugated demonesses with his penis in the 15th and 16th
centuries.
Protecting the Buddhist culture is a key pillar of Bhutan's unique
"Gross National Happiness" development model, which aims to balance
spiritual and mental well-being with economic growth.
Yet Tshering, who spent three years, three months and three days in
silent meditation, believes Buddhist devotion has waned since
Bhutan allowed television in 1999 -- the world's last country to do
so.
"People are less god-fearing, less superstitious... The number of
rituals they do has gone down," agreed Karma Phuntsho, author of
"The History of Bhutan" and a former monk.
Phuntsho said the Bhutanese worldview has changed dramatically
since secular education was widely introduced in the 1960s,
weakening the dominance of monastic schools that for centuries were
a powerful force.
Bhutan was unified in the 17th century by a Tibetan Buddhist
teacher, and the old 'dzong' fortresses, part-monastery and
part-government offices, are a reminder of the previous
intertwining of religion and politics.
The decline in monastics' clout was clear with the onset of
democracy five years ago. Bhutan's monks, nuns and a large
community of lay priests are now barred from the process to ensure
religion and politics are kept apart.
"They don't have a say at all, they don't have a franchise to vote.
So political authority has really waned," said Phuntsho.
In terms of spiritual influence, some say monastic materialism is
partly to blame for a decline.
Although usually associated with a spartan existence, Bhutan's
strand of Buddhism allows monks to own a range of possessions --
"there are even monks with big cars," said Damber K. Nirola, a
psychiatrist in Thimphu.
But the monasteries still play a vital social role, providing homes
to thousands of children whose parents may have died or feel unable
to support them.
At Dechen Phodrang, young monks can be found busy learning the
national 'dzongkha' script, making colourful cakes to offer the
deities, or blowing the sound of the long 'dungchen' Buddhist
trumpet over the valley.
With a government allowance per boy of less than a dollar a day,
Tshering says it is a struggle to look after their 260 students,
aged as young as six, who sleep in rows on classroom floors.
While just over 7,000 monks are registered with the central
monastic body, on the ground about 9,000 to 11,000 exist at any one
time, according to Karma Penjor, secretary at the Commission for
the Monastic Affairs of Bhutan.
"They can't say no when people come with their children," he told
AFP, saying the monasteries look after and educate "Bhutan's
poorest of the poor".
They are also not without controversy.
A recent report by The Raven, a Bhutanese magazine, told the story
of two young boys who said they escaped their monastery after being
sexually abused by two of the older monks, who are supposed to be
celibate.
The National Commission for Women and Children confirmed to AFP
that the case had been dealt with internally by the monastic body,
and one of the accused had been disrobed.
Between young monks, non-penetrative "thigh sex" is also "common",
according to a UNICEF-supported report in 2012 on vulnerable
Bhutanese adolescents.
Psychiatrist Nirola, a former district medical officer, said he
found sexually transmitted diseases were quite regular among monks
and possibly from heterosexual liaisons outside the
monasteries.
He also came across youngsters suffering stress from the highly
disciplined lifestyle, which was often not one of their own
choice.
"They want to go to town, play on smartphones. That creates a lot
of problems in their mind."
In May, the monastic commission opened a child protection office
for the welfare of young monks and to raise awareness about their
rights, but Penjor said better backing was crucial to its
success.
"It's one thing to keep having awareness workshops, but if support
for infrastructure is not there, after a while rights keep falling
off, it's not very effective."
Some monks have embraced Bhutan's modernisation in a bid to get
more support.
The Phajoding monastery, which is a three-hour uphill hike from the
nearest road, is using social media to spread its news and raise
funds, with regular updates on Twitter and Facebook.
Phuntsho thinks it will take more than PR to get Bhutan's monastic
body on the rise again, and a key to that is modernising its
education system.
"It's a big challenge for the monastics. I can see a very urgent
need for them to reform and develop, but it's very unfair to expect
that of them when they don't have the resources." -
AFP