Monk rides scooter for morning alms
In Thailand, monks wake up very early in the morning to go around neighborhoods and communities to collect alms. This disciplined practice involves monks heading out with a bronze bowl and they’re often spotted with a boy who pulls a cart loaded with food.
However, this monk decided to bend the rules a bit – to ride his scooter for morning alms – instead of having someone pull his cart.
This incident made some quite unhappy and the monk got meme’d after the incident.
So, what exactly has netizens stifling their chuckles? Let’s take a closer look at the scene that played out.
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Monk rides a scooter and gets meme’d
A monk in Angthong was seen riding a scooter for his morning alms, instead of having someone pull his cart loaded with food.
Left it the traditional way of collecting alms vs. right is the monk who rides the scooter
Adapted images from: Naewna (Left), @i..nim (Right)
He was later meme’d and went viral on 15th July 2021 on social media.
His actions were deemed to be inappropriate for a monk after Mr. Sukdanai Woradech, the Director of Angthong Buddhist Office addressed the incident, reported Kapook.
In the meme, the comical mask on the right frame resembles a War Boy from Mad Max: Fury Road.
In reality (Left) vs. What the Buddhist Office sees (Right)
Screenshot: ซวยชิบหายเสือกเกิดมาอร่อย
For context, in case you didn’t get the Mad Max reference, here’s a picture of the Flame-Thrower Guitar Guy. In short, he be wildin’ and religious authorities deemed the act inappropriate.
Image credit: Mad Max Fandom
Scooter monk breaks a Buddhist tradition
Routing back from our slight pop culture reference to our OG story, you may be wondering why it’s not okay for a monk to modify his own scooter to take his alms around?
According to typically honoured traditions, he would need a boy to pull the cart and follow him – whilst Buddhist followers put food directly in the monk’s alms bowls.
A monk driving his own scooter is considered improper because the monk needs to have locals bowing before his feet, reported Kapook.
GIF: @i..nim
Modern solutions versus honoured traditions
In the midst of our everchanging world, we think that traditional values can still be balanced with modern ways of thinking.
The monk who modified his scooter to collect alms had a creative solution. But perhaps society may not be ready to fully integrate this notion into what is acceptable in the mainstream, just yet.
We hope that some day soon, there’ll be many others who wish to retain traditional values and culture, and innovate for the future, so it’s possible to gain the best of both worlds.
Cover image adapted from: @i..nim (Left), Kapook via Channel 3 (Right)
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