Following weeks of news reports about fraudulence, sexual misconduct and high living, Phra Wirapol Sukphol, aka Luangpu Nen Kham Chattiko, has finally been defrocked. The rogue monk's money and sex scandal, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. A much bigger problem is the organisational breakdown of the clergy, which urgently calls for Sangha reform.
Let's face it. The former monk Nen Kham is just one of the many men in the clergy who are abusing their status and public faith to accumulate personal wealth and power. He is not the first and, most certainly, will not be the last.
We can blame it on these men's immorality. We can also blame it on the public's gullibility and penchant for black magic, which is actually against Buddhist teachings. But the clergy must share the biggest part of the blame.
In a rapidly changing society, the Supreme Sangha Council is facing a very tough job of governing to ensure that some 200,000 monks are adhering to the orthodoxy of Theravada Buddhism. To say that the elders have failed to do so implies that they have at least tried. The sad fact is that it has never occurred to them that change is necessary.
It is easy to understand why. Most of the elders in the cleric council are in the age range of between 70 and 90. The membership is life-long. If someone dies, the new appointment is based on seniority, not ability. This is a recipe for management fiascos for any organisation.
Worse, the council of elders acts as an executive board, but it does not have its own cleric secretariat and organisation to carry out its decisions.
For clerical work, the clergy, which operates in a feudal hierarchical structure, has to depend on the National Office of Buddhism. Its main work is to decide who gets feudal ranks, which attract both power and wealth.
The work of governing and training monks, meanwhile, is passed on to monks down the ecclesiastic hierarchy. But without any monitoring, evaluation or punishment mechanisms, the system simply breaks down.
The abbots, meanwhile, enjoy total control of temples' money, assets and land. It is why temple corruption is common. It is also why former monk Nen Kham was able to misbehave and abuse temple money for so long without any intervention from district and provincial clergy authorities.
His mammoth wealth and willingness to pamper his superiors with expensive gifts may well have played a role. But equally important is the fact that the monk's lavish lifestyle went unquestioned because the elders' lifestyles are also marked by luxuries.
A decade ago, a group of young monks tried to amend the Sangha Bill so the elders were elected to the council under a two-year term with an elected secretariat to make the clergy governance transparent. It never saw the light of day.
Consequently, the clergy's poor organisational management, botched recruitment system and rife temple corruption have never been fixed.
Monks' education, which focuses on rote learning and leaves out spiritual training, has also made them fail to answer people's increasing need for spiritual guidance.
Without Sangha reform, the mainstream clergy will become irrelevant and will never regain its moral leadership role in society.