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Can a Tree be a Monk?
A monk ordained some trees
as monks so no one could cut them down. Hmm... This seems admirable (especially with the social pressure to be "green" and environmentally friendly), but it raises more than a few questions.
Does that act degrade monkhood for humans? Can trees be monks? If they can, can we declare that animals and other plants are monks, as well? Do plants and animals have moral agency? Do monks?
Trees
are certainly celibate. Are they? They reproduce sexually but have no
say in the matter. Is celibacy about intercourse or intention? Because trees don't
have intercourse, but then neither do those fish who lay the eggs, and
the other fish swim by to fertilize them. Are they celibate, too?
Trees
do not engage in conventional reality, so are they existing only in
ultimate reality? That would mean that trees are enlightened, since
enlightenment has less to do with knowledge and more to do with lack of
mis-knowledge.
They also live "as islands unto themselves," as
the Buddha instructs the monks to do. Let's look at the tenets for a
novice-monk specifically.

Tenets for Novices
- Refrain from killing living things.
- Refrain from stealing.
- Refrain from un-chastity (sensuality, sexuality, lust).
- Refrain from lying.
- Refrain from taking intoxicants.
- Refrain from taking food at inappropriate times (after noon).
- Refrain from singing, dancing, playing music or attending entertainment programs (performances).
- Refrain from wearing perfume, cosmetics and decorative accessories.
- Refrain from sitting on high chairs and sleeping on luxurious, soft beds.
- Refrain from accepting money.
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Trees
do not kill... or, at least they refrain from killing. (Is falling on
someone/something and that thing dying... is that killing it?) They
don't steal. We already dealt with the chastity issue. Trees do not lie
or take intoxicants (willingly). Trees don't take food anywhere, they
only take nutrients from the ground, and only as part of the natural
cycle.
I am positive that trees don't sing, though they dance in the wind. Most trees do not attend entertainment programs.
Trees
try not to wear too many decorative accessories (though Christmas trees
are especially non-monkish in this respect) or any perfumes. They sleep
standing up and never sit on luxurious chairs. And not a tree I've ever
met will accept money.
So I guess it makes sense that trees could be ordained as monks. They're doing everything right!
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