Turning Over the Alms Bowl

I have to admit that I haven't been keeping up with the situation in Burma very well, but reading the latest news on the issue has reminded me of it again. When the monks in Burma started marching last year with their alms bowls turned upside down, I knew that this was the "turning over of the bowls" that I had heard about.

According to the article Burma: A monk's reflection, "Overturning the bowl" is called patta-nikkujjana-kamma in Pali. This is described in the Vinaya Pitaka of the Tipitaka as follows:

"The bowl may be overturned for a lay follower endowed with (any of) eight qualities: He/she strives for the monks' material loss, strives for the monks' detriment, strives for the monks' non-residence, insults and reviles monks, causes monks to split from monks, speaks in dispraise of the Buddha, speaks in dispraise of the Dhamma, speaks in dispraise of the Sangha. I allow that the bowl be overturned for a lay follower endowed with (any of) these eight qualities." (Cv. V.20.3)

So, as previously stated, monks typically try to stay out of politics because "running errands for kings and ministers of state" is considered Wrong Livelihood for monks. Unfortunately, monks can still get drawn into politics just from the simple act of accepting alms! From the same article:

The military rulers have committed many acts of violence against the general population, especially ethnic minorities, and now they turned their weapons also against the monks. At the same time they appeal to the "religious duties" of the Sangha: they should focus exclusively on the study and practice of the scriptural teachings (divorced from real life) and perform the required rituals (to legitimize the regime), not get involved in any activities that challenge the status quo.

So just accepting food and requisites from members of the government is seen as a sort of endorsement. At some point even this form of passive endorsement becomes intolerable for the monks, and they invoke patta-nikkujjana-kamma.

It's not entirely clear to me what's going to happen in Burma at this point. It seems that they're dealing with a typical stubborn military dictatorship of ruthless thugs. The Buddhist Channel web site has a page for those wishing to help.