If the abbot is focusing on amassing fame and fortune, his followers will act in the same way. The view that the monkhood is in need of reform has even reached the desks of Thailand's policymakers. Last month, the director general of the country's Religious Affairs Department, Samanchit Piromruen, called for a halt on construction of new temples. The department says it wants to lighten the financial burden on congregations during the economic slump. Some argue that Buddhism and capitalism will never fit together easily.
Material growth is based on unspiritual values.
But others, like social activist Sulak Sivaraksa, see the crisis as a kind of time out from profitmaking, a way to refocus on what is really important. Now we can make use of Buddhism. A Buddhist monk stands in a lot full of cars being sold by the formerly wealthy in Bangkok.