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Monks' Dilemma
Monks' Dilemma
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175
THIRTEEN
Shree worked hard for over a month to set everything in the right place. She remained in continuous contact with expected participants, sending E-mails and letters, requesting them to confirm their participation. She prepared a comprehensive set of guidelines for the participants, giving details of routes to Udaipur, the place of their stay, names, addresses and mobile phone numbers of contact persons and all that a new visitor to the place should need. A detailed time table of the conference was also prepared along with the instructions for speakers and to the various categories of participants to select one speaker for each category. She sent the entire information by speed post to all.
Deepak, Deepti, Vibhu also arrived at Udaipur well in advance on twentieth September to check all the arrangements. Vijay and Vibha and their staff were already assisting Shree in the preparations. They were all determined to make the conference a success such that their purpose of convincing, the monks and others about their redundancy, escapism and parasitism was fulfilled. Every day they sat till late at night deliberating on the various points the monks and others could put forward about their importance and preparing logical and convincing arguments to contradict them effectively. As Shree
would be busy conducting the conference they decided to nominate Deepti to express the views of their group.
The Conference began at 11.a.m. sharp on twenty fifth September. In spite of confirmation from sixty five only fifty two participants came and could be accommodated in the well furnished conference hall with audio visual projection facility. Acharya Vinay asked Shree to apprise the audience about the statistics she had compiled and analysed.
Shree. "I collected addresses of over four hundred important monks, mahants, priests. pundits, astrologers, rationalists, scientists, politicians and others and wrote to them to fill the questionnaire prepared by me in consultation with Acharya Vinay, requesting them all to make it convenient to participate in the conference. Only one hundred and forty responded. The analysis of data has revealed that over 80% monks have of their own admitted that they were forced into monkhood because of financial and other family and social compulsions. Kindly peruse the projection on the screen. The data are self explanatory, giving the number and percentage age wise revealing that they were at a tender age in early teens when they did not understand the meaning of detachment and their admission that they did not have any experience of the life of householder, his problems and difficulties. Nuns have admitted that their induction into the religious order was because their poor parents were worried about their marriage. I shall clarify whatever is desired about the data presented."
There was no question and morbid silence prevailed for over five minutes. Shree broke the silence and said, "I presume that the data projected for perusal of all of you are explicit and do not need any clarification. I request you all
