1
00:00:01,972 --> 00:00:14,071
Since it's a complicated world, to what extent should monks and nuns, for example in their years of formative training, be aware of or learned in secular laws?

2
00:00:18,998 --> 00:00:21,001
Enough so that they don't break them, I suppose.

3
00:00:22,744 --> 00:00:26,730
It wouldn't do to have monks breaking laws.

4
00:00:30,676 --> 00:00:37,275
Otherwise, trying to think, what exactly does that mean?

5
00:00:37,295 --> 00:00:39,260
I mean, yeah, that's really it, no?

6
00:00:40,083 --> 00:00:43,352
If what you mean is, should they know

7
00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:51,368
that what they're doing is against the law in this way or that way, then yeah, I think that's quite useful.

8
00:00:52,630 --> 00:01:00,120
Depending on the law, I mean, the whole copyright law is maybe an exception in my mind.

9
00:01:00,140 --> 00:01:01,062
Don't quote me on that.

10
00:01:01,883 --> 00:01:05,628
Don't make a video and put it up on the internet with me saying that.

11
00:01:06,289 --> 00:01:07,230
But...

12
00:01:09,607 --> 00:01:18,250
Other than that, I can't think of a reason why they would need to know the Vos.

13
00:01:19,006 --> 00:01:23,534
To my understanding, we should not learn.

14
00:01:23,654 --> 00:01:37,539
We should probably be aware of the laws of a country, but we should not study it because it is worldly studies and we shouldn't do that.

15
00:01:38,341 --> 00:01:42,448
I think that is so.

16
00:01:45,635 --> 00:02:04,031
I think as a monk, or a nun, we have the rules, we have the patimokkha, and when we keep it, and when we take it serious, we hardly ever can break, seriously, any law of a country.

17
00:02:04,431 --> 00:02:08,419
I mean, there are some laws like,

18
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the former mentioned.

19
00:02:14,243 --> 00:02:26,340
But in general, if you keep your precepts as a monk, the patimokkha, you can't break really the laws of the country.

20
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:39,418
So there is not really the need to learn secular laws.

21
00:02:41,086 --> 00:02:58,612
Yeah, I mean, the whole idea of, the whole premise that somehow the complexity of the world requires it is not really, not a sufficient reason to learn about that complexity.

22
00:03:00,455 --> 00:03:07,506
There's nothing wrong with learning complex subjects if they're inherently useful, like how to sew a robe, for example.

23
00:03:08,327 --> 00:03:10,350
It's kind of complicated.

24
00:03:10,330 --> 00:03:12,092
But there's nothing wrong with learning it.

25
00:03:12,712 --> 00:03:18,118
It's a good thing to learn because it supports your monastic life.

26
00:03:18,138 --> 00:03:25,926
Learning how to use a computer, for example, can be useful to spread the teaching to people who use computers.

27
00:03:28,169 --> 00:03:36,237
So the complexity is not sufficient, but...

28
00:03:37,853 --> 00:03:41,179
There's nothing wrong with learning complex subjects to an extent.

29
00:03:42,221 --> 00:03:50,156
Maybe you could go even further and say that because of the complexity we want to try to avoid that sort of thing as much as possible.

30
00:03:52,281 --> 00:03:58,292
Hopefully you're not suggesting that monks and nuns should try to make their lives more complex as the world becomes more complex.

31
00:03:58,272 --> 00:04:01,961
we're trying to give up the world and we're trying to give up the complexity.

32
00:04:02,021 --> 00:04:08,116
So our lives should be as simple as possible, especially when the world becomes more and more complicated.

33
00:04:10,883 --> 00:04:13,750
I would think that's reasonable to say.