[Buddha-l] (no subject)

[Curt Steinmetz]

Randall Jones wrote:
>
> Makes sense to me.  Monks here (Thailand) are not expected to be 
> experts at everything.  Some specialize in meditation, others in 
> dhamma study ...  So just being a monk doesn't imply that one could or 
> would teach meditation.  (This said, I have on occasion meditated with 
> monks who were not meditation specialists but they were not teaching 
> meditation, just doing it.)
>

Randall, have you seen or heard anything to indicate that Thai monks 
consider "meditation" to be a more advanced practice - and possibly an 
"elite" practice (ie, not for everyone)? In Korean Buddhism I believe a 
monk must first get through his novitiate (which I think is at least 5 
years) and then complete his basic sutra studies before he can become a 
"meditation monk". That isn't to say that Koean monks "don't meditate" 
prior to that - at least I don't think that is the case.

Also, the tradition in Korea has historically been that only monastics 
can be meditation students - fortunately there have always been 
exceptions to this "tradition" (as is always the case for any tradition).

Curt Steinmetz