A Well-Fed Monk

The basic meaning of the recent cartoon by JMP should be clear to just about anyone, and yet there is a lot to unpack under its surface. A obviously fat monk is enjoying an array of food options, stuffing himself to the brim, while an emaciated young boy stands pitifully behind him.

The clear message behind this cartoon is an unvarnished criticism of a privileged clergy who continues to seek their own privilege at the expense of a lay society that is only further squeezed by authorities (both monastic as well as those running the country) to give up yet more of their limited remaining finances, as they are promised good karma as a result.

Really, this is a message that transcends this current place and time, as one can look throughout history for examples as to how religious beliefs were manipulated and perverted to control the populace while conveniently benefiting the privilege and position of certain religious and lay leaders.

But there may be more here than meets the eye. For one, JMP continues to disregard those many brave monks and nuns who are not working at odds with the people, but in fact risking their lives to support human rights and democracy.

And yet a wider issue at play is, what kind of society should be created in Myanmar? To give just one example illustrating this complexity, foreign development agencies have long blasted rural Burmese communities for providing more resources-- as well as individual donations from poor residents-- into their local pagodas and monasteries; rather than pouring those resources into things like education, health, and infrastructure.

But who really has the right to determine the priorities of a community, and how the spiritual, religious, and cultural needs share allocations with the worldly and practical? So also, how is one to approach deeply ingrained beliefs that due to their (supposed) adherence to the rigid 227 monastic rules, monks should be treated with greater reverence? And how does one determine the line as to when the amount of offering has, perhaps, gone too far?

These are the questions that this current revolution is continuing to work out, and JMP's cartoon is pointing at one person's answer.