Nah, I just meant that there are people who do not conform to the ideal stereotype of a monk, sometimes because they were born into the religion. Which sometimes is fine, like tons of monks have full body tattoos and stuff unrelated to their practice, but sometimes there are people who do things contradictory to the teachings. A monk smoking, riding a motorcycle (not like a motorbike for transport), and with a flashy phone probably isn’t following the teachings to the letter, if at all. There are militant monks warring against other religions right now. That blows some people’s minds because all they get is sanitized images of lotus flowers. Just wanted to point out that Buddhists are people too so romanticizing them, Asian or not, will always lead to disappointment and impossible standards. Just like how Christian’s aren’t always Christ-like. Tons of Buddhists only engage with things on a surface level, even if they’re born into a culture more inclined toward it.
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Nah, I just meant that there are people who do not conform to the ideal stereotype of a monk, sometimes because they were born into the religion. Which sometimes is fine, like tons of monks have full body tattoos and stuff unrelated to their practice, but sometimes there are people who do things contradictory to the teachings. A monk smoking, riding a motorcycle (not like a motorbike for transport), and with a flashy phone probably isn’t following the teachings to the letter, if at all. There are militant monks warring against other religions right now. That blows some people’s minds because all they get is sanitized images of lotus flowers. Just wanted to point out that Buddhists are people too so romanticizing them, Asian or not, will always lead to disappointment and impossible standards. Just like how Christian’s aren’t always Christ-like. Tons of Buddhists only engage with things on a surface level, even if they’re born into a culture more inclined toward it.
EDIT: Many people’s first introduction is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I haven’t personally read.
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