While funerals can be a bit socially taboo to discuss, Erik’s extensive religious studies background enables him to profile unique and fascinating glimpses into how ritual practice informs and reflects on everyday reality in Cambodia.

You can find the book on sale at the event, or at Monument Books in Cambodia.

Some background and context:
http://sea-globe.com/erik-w-davis-buddhist-monks-cambodia-southeast-asia-globe/
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/deathpower
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/how-serious-are-cambodias-land-rights-protesters-about-their-curses
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/meeting-white-witch-kampot
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/his-hometown-mysteries-abound-about-fake-%E2%80%98buddha%E2%80%99

“Hello!” hailed the fake monk.

He didn’t realize I’d met his type before. New face, same outfit and scheme.

In Cambodia, real monks don’t solicit money in English from tourists.

Nor do they wear socks.
I whipped out my smartphone to take a picture.
“NO!” he shouted, and ducked into a nearby shop.

I was waiting as he came out – shouting ‘No!’ again.

And tried to ask another foreigner for money.

He quickly backed off seeing me still there, taking pictures.
Something to hide?

He was quite upset at the camera, but seemed to realize it would have been un-monk-like to grab it.

He hurried off down the street for easier targets. I waved at him as he looked back.

I would like to suggest a hash tag for tracking these scammers: #fakemonkPP
Sound good?

Addendum May 02:
The following weekend, I was having lunch and spotted another ‘monk’. He was politely escorted out of the café.
Note how the security guy takes off his hat and regains from touching him. Looking like a monk gets you the deference accorded to a monk.

But this ‘monk’ was not polite in turn. He was quite (physically) insistent that I delete the video I’d taken with my phone.

He even managed to get in the door again, and tried to indicate that the video I’d taken should be deleted. However, he could not express this sentiment in Khmer, despite repeated attempts to engage him.

He did slap down a Chinese language document (and emphatically pointed at it), seemingly as a way to indicate that he was legitimate.
Perhaps he is a member of a Buddhist organization, and dresses like a monk to accentuate it.
(I didn’t get a photo of this: he was quite angry and could have grabbed my phone.)

The heart of the issue (for me) is that something just doesn’t seem right. These guys are too ‘professional’. There are lots of people in need, and I’d prefer to see my donation go to someone who truly needs it.

So… what kind of monastic order accepts monks who are aggressive in their behavior and is sending them to Phnom Penh?
Why are these monks getting into restaurants while ordinary (and obviously) Khmer street beggars are firmly kept out?
Keep your camera phone handy.

This respected figure is not familiar to all Cambodians, but is a fascinating example of a Khmer interpretation of non-violence.

In an age of growing demonstrations, it’s a history worth revisiting. Let’s stay safe and be smart, folks.

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‘The Great Joyful Proclaimer‘

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, Maha Ghosananda is widely respected for the courage he displayed while leading peace walks during some of Cambodia’s most difficult moments.

In 1978 a saffron-robed figure appeared in the Thai border camps, distributing passages of scripture. Many were stunned and awed; they hadn’t seen a monk in years. The refugees needed food, water and shelter, but most of all, they needed hope.

Two pages can barely summarize the remarkable life of Maha Ghosananda. But a brief glimpse can point to the path he walked.

Born in 1929 to a poor farming family in Takeo, he discovered an aptitude and interest in Buddhism as a pagoda boy and enrolled as a novice, later fully ordained by famed Buddhist leader Chuon Nath. As he studied Buddhist texts, conflict was always near by: Cambodia experienced foreign colonization, World War II, occupation, civil conflict and the 1940s-50s independence movement. In 1953 he traveled to India for his doctorate, where he learned from followers of Mahatma Gandhi.

After graduation, study in southern Thailand followed, where he practiced ‘Thudong’, a form of walking meditation. At this time he heard news of the growing revolution, the deaths of his family and the slaughter of thousands of monks and nuns. Strongly affected, he strived through meditation for a deeper understanding.

Putting his ideals into action at the border camps was perhaps too successful. Setting up makeshift temples angered various factions; allowing refugees sanctuary from conscription infuriated them. He was asked to leave the camps, but continued to work with all factions, becoming known for his characteristic wisdom, humor and compassion.

In April 1992 the first Dhammayietra (peace walk) began. At the beginning of Khmer New Year over 100 people crossed from Thailand into Cambodia. Braving the dangers of bandits, landmines, stifling heat, and water shortages, they were enthusiastically embraced by the communities they passed through. A month later they arrived in Phnom Penh numbering over a thousand, just in time for the observance of Visak Buchea (Buddha’s Birthday).

Prior to the 1993 UNTAC election, a second walk traversed disputed provinces where even the United Nations forces feared to tread. Despite the injury of several walkers and attempts at obstruction, the march returned again to Phnom Penh, this time three thousand strong.

The third march traveled through Khmer Rouge territory and at one point a monk and nun were killed in a crossfire. This led to increased caution and nonviolence training, but the now-yearly walks continued. Further marches addressed issues of landmines, deforestation, reconciliation, and the environment. By 1998, the aging monk’s health prohibited him from full participation, but what he termed a ‘peace army’ of followers continues the effort to this day. Constantly working to strengthen Buddhism and peace efforts in Cambodia and overseas, he worked with a wide array of organizations and was nominated for the Nobel Prize four times. In spite of all the formal accolades, he was perhaps most revered for his humor and enthusiasm for life. Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda (‘The Great Joyful Proclaimer’ in Pali) passed away in 2007, near to one of the many overseas temples he had founded.

Sources: Kathryn Poethig (in History, Buddhism and New Religious Movements in Cambodia, Eds. Marston & Guthrie), ‘The Buddha of the Battlefields’, Ven. Santi. (ghosananda.org), Wikipedia, Buddhanet.net. Thanks to Margaret Bywater, Beth Goldring, Mary Dunbar, and the ‘Buddhist Email Brigade’. Further Reading: Step by Step: Meditations on Wisdom and Compassion, Maha Ghosananda.

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Postscript: Original story published in print version of ‘The Advisor’, article archived online here.

Illustration by yours truly. (I don’t manage the site; Y Lida’s orignal color artwork (which originally accompanied the article)  has vanished from it; if I can dig it up, I’ll add it.)

Postscript: “Reasons Why Cambodian Protestors Must Remain Nonviolent” (Catherine Morris, The Cambodia Daily, December 31 2013)
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/reasons-why-cambodian-protestors-must-remain-nonviolent-49783/

In your kind home you taught me / To chant Pali reverently,
Treat books with care, so gently, And to daily humbly pray

To the Three Jewels, our teachers / And all creatures, ’til the day
You and I must fade away, Die and decay, chasing peace.

Above: Khmer Arts Academy Performance, April 2009.

Last year when Trent Walker’s teacher (Prum Uth of Cambodian Living Arts) passed away, Trent was moved to write a song in English, sung in the meter of Smot chanting.

Smot is sung in Pali and Khmer, and an English approach demonstrates its vernacular utility. (Trent will be the first to admit that he’s not the world’s premiere Smot singer. However, in terms of innovation, he’s demonstrating some really interesting things about how we percieve this art form.)

Commonly, Smot is associated with funerals, but more broadly speaking it’s religious music, used for ceremonies, consecrations, healing, gift giving ceremonies and more. Get the full details on Trent’s blog.
http://ttwalker.blogspot.com/2010/02/lectureperformance-on-cambodian-dharma.html

Tags: cambodian,dance,khmer,smot

Scholar and blogger Erik Davis (formerly of blog DeathPower) is back with
“Imagining the Real World.” Hooray!
http://erikwdavis.wordpress.com

Off to click through the many tidbits on offer, digesting a rather exhaustive examination of Chomsky Cambodia chronology.

Postscript: more drama on that last bit from Details Are Sketchy!
http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/scorned-in-cambodia/