Buddhist Head-Monk in-charge of a wealthy temple under royal protection (he was filmed engaging in sexual activity with a 47-year old female lay practitioner – as well as embezzling billions of baht into a private bank account. Many Buddhist temples exist in impoverished locations – with the monastics being told that they must be sustained entirely upon “Dhamma”. Now, having said that, this is not to imply that the Dhamma is not upheld in temples sponsored by the King of Thailand. The temple in Wimbledon is a very good example of a well-run Buddhist institute. Monastics living in the remote jungle areas of Thailand often do not eat for days on end – with some sieving water for nourishing algae found in flowing rivers to stave-off starvation. Either the laity are non-existent – or are too poor to even provide scraps of food to monastics during their daily begging rounds. The Theravada tradition is very good and it is important for Buddhism that its practices are upheld properly.
