[Buddha-l] Soccer mad monks too tired to take alms

[jkirk]

Oh my--------and let it be noted, one gains no merit by offering the alms 
food to the mae chi (quasi nuns in every monastery).
Joanna
==========
This news story reminded me of the Tibetan produced and directed movie "The 
Cup", which is a real charmer to watch if you are both a soccer fan and a 
buddhist fan or monk.  MJWilson

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Buddhist monks in Thailand are too tired to receive 
early morning alms because they are staying up late to watch the World Cup, 
a Thai newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Nation quoted a woman in the northern city of Chiang Mai who said her 
birthday celebrations were ruined because monks at a city temple were not 
awake to receive her morning offering, a mandatory religious ritual in the 
predominately Buddhist country.
The woman, who declined to be identified, said she was told by a senior monk 
that most of his young colleagues were still asleep because they had stayed 
up to watch the games which can go on well past midnight.
The Sangha Council, which oversees the tens of thousands of Buddhist temples 
in Thailand, has not banned monks from watching the World Cup but said it 
should not interfere with religious activities.
Chiang Mai chief monk Phra Thep Wisuthikhun said he had received complaints 
about "inappropriate behavior" at seven temples in the province. "It is the 
duty of the abbot of each temple to supervise the behavior of young monks, 
making sure that their religious activities will not be affected by the 
games," he told Reuters.
In neighboring Cambodia, some 40,000 monks have been warned they could be 
defrocked if they became too excited while watching the games.
"If they make noise or cheer as they watch, they will lose their monkhood," 
Phnom Penh patriarch Non Nget told Reuters this month.