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- this loss giving rise (at the 
minimum) to the 
following three undesirable 
symptoms: 
1. Verbal abuse of clergy and 
monks: Once the congregation 
no longer realize the value to 
society 
of clergy and monks, 
misunderstanding 
the duty and lifestyle of the clergy, 
the public 
will abuse the clergy shamelessly 
(as is happening 
currently in Thailand); 
60 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
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2. Lack of financial support for 
clergy and monks: 
Swayed by the often unjustified 
abuse of 
clergy in the media, the faith of the 
public deteriorates, 
and with it the support with which 
they should provide the clergy —
religions 
such as Buddhism can only survive 
through 
the voluntary support of the 
congregation, 
and without it, there will soon be 
no clergy 
left, and consequently no-one to 
perpetuate 
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the religion; 
3. Congregation is left without any 
true refuge: Having 
dismantled their religion by their 
own neglect, 
when the public find themselves in 
dire 
straits, they will be without a 
refuge, lacking 
the ability to be a teacher to 
themselves, they 
will resort to superstition or 
animism. 
3. Losing a sense of responsibility 
for economic 
fairness in society at large: If 
clergy lack selfdiscipline 
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and don't fulfil the duties towards 
their congregation as prescribed by 
the Lord 
Buddha, the third level of disaster 
which will 
happen to them is that the 
congregation will lose 
their sense of responsibility for 
economic fairness 
in society at large — this loss 
giving rise (at 
the minimum) to the following 
three undesirable 
symptoms: 
1. Total enfatuation with the Six 
Roads to Ruin: In a 
society of deteriorating morals, it 
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will become 
more and more common for people 
either to 
eke out their living via, or be 
enslaved by the 
consequences (such as debt and 
disease) of 
Roads to Ruin such as drugs, 
gambling, prostitution, 
entertainment and underground 
lotteries. 
2. Desecration of religious 
property and establishments: 
The Roads to Ruin are part of the 
vicious 
circle of poverty. Some people try 
to alleviate 
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their poverty by theft 
and 
religious 
property is an easy target of 
plunder. Some 
encroach on temple grounds in 
pursuit of their 
livelihood. In Thailand this 
practice is becoming 
more and more widespread, 
especially 
because it has been legally 
condoned by biased 
legislators; 
3. Embezzlement of religious 
donations: Some people 
like to extract some sort of 
`commission' 
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from the funds they manage to 
raise for the 
temple (in accordance with the 
phrase "half 
for the temple, half for the temple 
committee' !) 
In the present day, however, some 
legislators 
try to go further than this by giving 
the 
government the right to control 
temple funds 
directly! 
Problems concerning not paying 
respect to those 
worthy of respect can be 
summarized down to two 
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main points: 
I. Obvious social problems: Easily 
seen is public 
deterioration in morality as a result 
of ignorance 
of virtue. Such people like to say 
they have lost 
interest in virtue because they see 
so many examples 
of hypocrisy. For the same reasons 
they 
withhold financial support for 
spiritual causes 
and some go further, overtly 
making legislative 
changes necessary for the 
dismantling of the religious 
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establishment; 
2. Covert social problems: The 
covert social problems 
mostly originate from the 
hypocrisy 
amongst those who should be 
behaving as exemplars 
of virtue. Considered with wise 
reflection, 
the problems might be analyzed as 
such: 
1. Good exemplars are sometimes 
unable to pass 
on their knowledge to others 
because 
1. the public are not interested to 
learn from 
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the clergy— all they want are the 
material 
trappings of spirituality and virtue 
such as 
holy water and amulets; 
2. the public undervalue the 
teachings on virtue 
they receive because they think 
they are 
already highly qualified in 
academic subjects 
- so thinking, they consider their 
ability 
in vocational subjects makes 
earning 
money more important than 
knowing spiritual 
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teachings. 
F. ILLUSTRATIVE 
EXAMPLES 
In order to illustrate the results of 
paying respect to 
those worthy of respect here are 
five examples, the 
second of which is an example of 
homage through 
gifts: 
Blessing Three: Expressing 
Respect to Those Worthy of 
Respect 61 
F.1 Metaphor: Small sapling with 
supporting stake 
When a new-grown tree is still a 
flimsy sapling, it 
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needs a supporting stake to protect 
it against strong 
winds — otherwise it will be 
blown down or torn 
up by its roots. Similarly, one who 
hopes for spiritual 
progress in one's life needs to 
express respect 
to those worthy of respect — to 
keep a place for 
those people in one's heart 
so 
that those people 
can be a guiding light and an 
example, and a protection 
against False View and 
unwholesomeness 
which might otherwise reappear in 
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one's life. 
F.2 Ex. Sumana the 
Garland-Maker 
In the time of the Lord Buddha, 
within the walls of 
the palace the workers divided 
themselves up into 
different sections and one of the 
sections was specifically 
for flower arranging. The section 
head was 
called Sumana and his duty was to 
arrange flowers 
to decorate the palace, to decorate 
the throne 
and even decorate the royal bed 
chamber of the 
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king, to give all of these places a 
delightful fragrance. 
Sumana fulfilled his duty to the 
satisfaction 
of all in the palace every day, year 
in year out 
without ever slipping up. 
One day, in the season where 
flowers were the 
hardest to find, Sumana travelled 
to every part of 
the city and wherever there were 
flowers to be 
bought, he would buy them all. 
No-one else in the 
city had any flowers left to use for 
themselves. 
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Every last flower in the city had to 
be used for the 
decoration of the palace. 
Even though Sumana had 
exclusive rights to all 
the flowers in the city, because the 
dry season had 
caused a drought, he could hardly 
find any flower 
— even food was scarce let alone 
flowers. One day 
the flowers were so scarce that in 
the whole of the 
city all Sumana could find were 
eight (coconut shell) 
measures of jasmine flowers. 
Really, this wasn't 
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enough to decorate the palace, but 
it was better than 
nothing. 
That day, as Sumana was bringing 
the eight measures 
of jasmine flowers to the palace, 
he met with 
the Lord Buddha along the way. 
The Lord Buddha 
was on almsround. Sumana 
regularly attended the 
Buddha's sermons but he had 
never really had the 
chance to make a decent offering 
to the Buddha, 
partly because of his poverty and 
partly because 
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his faith was not very profound. 
That day, as Sumana saw the Lord 
Buddha he felt 
that the Buddha looked particularly 
resplendent 
and worthy of faith. The 
deportment of the Buddha 
seemed so perfect in every respect 
that he felt 
that it was only fitting to bow 
down before Him. 
Sumana's next thought was that all 
he had was eight 
measures of flowers. If he used 
them to honour the 
king, all the king could give him 
was income, food 
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and clothing to see him through the 
present lifetime. 
However, that day he was going to 
pay respect 
to the Lord Buddha to create for 
himself the 
positive karma that would bring 
him benefits not 
just in this lifetime but in many 
lifetimes to come. 
Even if the king were to execute 
him, it wouldn't 
affect the good results of these 
deeds. 
Sumana raised the flowers to his 
forehead and 
when he had made his resolution, 
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sprinkled the jasmine 
flowers on the path ahead of the 
Lord Buddha 
with the intention that the Buddha 
would walk 
upon his fragrant offering. 
The Lord Buddha saw the strength 
of Sumana' s 
faith — to the degree that he was 
prepared to lay 
down his life in order to make this 
offering. Thus 
the Lord Buddha created a miracle 
in order to bring 
Sumana real joy, to allow him to 
gain the full merit 
of his generous deed and lead him 
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to attain enlightenment 
in the future. 
Thus as soon as the flowers were 
released from 
Sumana's hand, the flowers floated 
up as a net of 
flowers above where the Lord 
Buddha stood and 
this net would follow the Lord 
Buddha wherever 
He went. At both sides of the path 
all of the householders 
came out of their houses to see the 
miraculous 
sight and were inspired by the 
sight of the flowers 
which seemed to have a life of 
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