Monastic discipline in the digital age

Ata time when Thai society is reeling from scandals in the monastic community — from leaked audio clips of money transfers via apps to secret relationships with women — we are not merely shocked that “monks have done wrong” but rather at how swiftly the “image of purity” we've long upheld has collapsed.

- WATCHARIN ARIYAPRAKAI

Monks in the smartphone era don’t just hold onto the Dhamma — they also hold smartphones, use Facebook, reply to Line messages from laypeople, and some may even access apps no one would expect on the devices of those who have renounced the world.

These behaviours don’t arise solely from the monks’ moral decay, but from a society that places “unrealistic expectations” on humans in robes, ready to judge when they fail to uphold these ideals.

From a biological and psychological perspective, a man with high testosterone who is placed in a state of permanent celibacy from a young age, without any support mechanisms, is bound to face internal pressures beyond what the monastic disciplinary system can manage.

Inthis sense, the religious system in Thailand resembles the ancient Chinese mechanism of using eunuchs to control emotion and power, except Thai monks are not physically castrated, but are instead neutered through mental and moral prohibitions.

This article invites us to reconsider the myth of the “pure monk” co-created by society.

It will analyse the issue through the lenses of biology, psychology, and social structures, while also offering reform proposals for the monastery institution in the age of technology, to restore both the sanctity of religion and the human dignity of its practitioners.

BURDEN OF THE ROBE

Males naturally have testosterone as the primary hormone regulating libido, the desire to possess, competitiveness, and motivation for social engagement, especially during late adolescence to early adulthood, when it plays its most dominant role in shaping both behaviour and identity formation.

Inthe context of Buddhist monks, particularly those ordained from a young age and raised in monasteries, suppressing such biological energy without sufficient mental tools is akin to imprisoning natural forces within a framework of moral absolutism.