[Buddha-l] Too Poor to Worship

[Richard Basham]

Denizens and Non-,


The appended article (link) caught my attention. Now, I wonder what
others see and feel. 

A social issue? Un-wholesome practice? 

Does the situation generalize to other religious institutions and
regions? I don't recall 'beggars' in any of the christian churches that
I attended (in my youth) although I do recall literally homeless
meditating with a TNH sangha.

I imagine that several cathedrals and conclaves are similar. 


Richard Basham


Home > Asia Pacific > South Asia > Sri Lanka

Buddhist Temple Workers Cant Afford Worship in Sri Lanka
by Anuradha Gunarathne, Global Press Institute, August 8, 2011

KELANIYA, SRI LANKA -- Nilantha Dias and his father operate a flower
boutique in Kelaniya, a small town near Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital.
The shop, which specializes in flowers and other items used for worship,
is one of 11 boutiques that belong to the much revered Kelaniya Raja
Maha Vihara temple here.

...

But he says the monks have no control over whether the sales personnel
have time to come worship. He suggests they band together to improve
their working conditions.

"If the sales [personnel] could form a welfare society, they could have
[a] common system of work, wages, leave, etc.," he says. "Then they
should have at least one day leave per week. But the problem is they are
not capable enough to form that kind of society with their educational
background. We also cannot intervene for that because the owners run the
boutiques as their private business."

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=43,10377,0,0,1,0