Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Hi. This idea just come to me, how about giving the known members here who are monks a different color name? Say, let their name appear in yellow to signify the yellow robe? I just thought it would be nice to distinguish them so that there is more attention to their words and also makes it easier to identify them to pay proper respect.

Wind wrote:Hi. This idea just come to me, how about giving the known members here who are monks a different color name? Say, let their name appear in yellow to signify the yellow robe? I just thought it would be nice to distinguish them so that there is more attention to their words and also makes it easier to identify them to pay proper respect.

That is a very good suggestion wind.

Except that some of us might be wearing a reddish colour robe, or brown for that matter.

Thought it was saffron.

Or we could just pay attention and think for ourselves.

And then .... how are you going to know just who is a real monk and who is a fake monk? It is a big problem on the internet boards.

E-sangha had a fairly rigorous, time-consuming, checking procedure - and I wouldn't wish that on Dhamma Wheel.

Why not just let the monks relax and be one of us?

with metta
Chris

why?
I have thought about this idea before, but this may give the impression that a member of the sangha who is less than 'noble,' 'knowledgable,' or 'expert in an area' has more knowledge. . . than they actually have, and give a potentially unfair, or unwarrented authority to what they say, even if what they say is wrong. this could mislead newer members or members who do not have a clear understanding or simply knowledge of the topic or issue being discussed.

I know of one issue a monastic here did have on a forum because he did not wish to use a image of himself as his avatar, and a similar problem could happen, do the rules then include an opt out for those who do not wish to be made to appear different to other members for whatever reason? and would this then cause another version of the above with newer members . . . paying more attention to one monastic over another based on the colour of their name?

although I think this idea has some plus points in some cases, it does have a very big down side to it, and posible unnecessary work for the admin & mods.

I personally am very grateful for the input of the Sangha members currently here no matter what tradition or liniage they belong and hope they continue to contribute in any capacity they can, but I would not like them to be put in a situation where they may be seen in a light which distracts from the validity of an argument expressed by another, here it is the posts that matter not the title or position within this online community.

gavesako wrote:Except that some of us might be wearing a reddish colour robe, or brown for that matter.

We can take yellow, red, brown and mixed it together and see what color we get. I think we probably get the color meindzai mentioned saffron.

alan wrote:Or we could just pay attention and think for ourselves.

As we should. And it always good to learn from those wiser than us.

cooran wrote:And then .... how are you going to know just who is a real monk and who is a fake monk? It is a big problem on the internet boards.

I'm sure if the admin like this idea, they can find out and authenticate it. For instance, a direct phone call to the Wat /Temple and ask to speak to the Venerable would be sufficient. Since there aren't many monks around the forum. It shouldn't be that time consuming. And there is no rush to validate someone, so it can be done over time.

Why not just let the monks relax and be one of us?

with metta
Chris

The monks here are already presenting themselves as who they are. So I'm sure they are relax in either case.

Manapa wrote:why?
I have thought about this idea before, but this may give the impression that a member of the sangha who is less than 'noble,' 'knowledgable,' or 'expert in an area' has more knowledge. . . than they actually have, and give a potentially unfair, or unwarrented authority to what they say, even if what they say is wrong. this could mislead newer members or members who do not have a clear understanding or simply knowledge of the topic or issue being discussed.

I treat this forum just as my sangha. So it is not necessarily a bad thing to give a little more respect to monks in terms of paying attention to them when they speak, just as I would as well if I was in a real life sangha. But as Buddhists, we should all think for ourselves and not simply assume someone who wears a robe is knowledgeable. I do see your concern though.

I know of one issue a monastic here did have on a forum because he did not wish to use a image of himself as his avatar, and a similar problem could happen, do the rules then include an opt out for those who do not wish to be made to appear different to other members for whatever reason? and would this then cause another version of the above with newer members . . . paying more attention to one monastic over another based on the colour of their name?

Yes, this of course is all optional. Afterall, the most important thing is for everyone to enjoy themselves on here and discuss the Dhamma.

Wind wrote:

cooran wrote:And then .... how are you going to know just who is a real monk and who is a fake monk? It is a big problem on the internet boards.

I'm sure if the admin like this idea, they can find out and authenticate it. Since there aren't many monks around the forum. It shouldn't be that time consuming. And there is no rush to validate someone, so it can be done over time.

I don't think you understand what a significant burden this is on the admin/mod team. Cooran has had direct experience with this as an ex-global moderator at e-sangha. There are a number of issues with regard to openly identifying monastic sangha that need to be worked out. Having said that, it is being discussed amongst the mods and admins here.
Thanks for your suggestion.

Ben

Ben wrote:

Wind wrote:

cooran wrote:And then .... how are you going to know just who is a real monk and who is a fake monk? It is a big problem on the internet boards.

I'm sure if the admin like this idea, they can find out and authenticate it. Since there aren't many monks around the forum. It shouldn't be that time consuming. And there is no rush to validate someone, so it can be done over time.

I don't think you understand what a significant burden this is on the admin/mod team. Cooran has had direct experience with this as an ex-global moderator at e-sangha. There are a number of issues with regard to openly identifying monastic sangha that need to be worked out. Having said that, it is being discussed amongst the mods and admins here.
Thanks for your suggestion.

Ben

It's no big deal really. Just a small suggestion thought I post, instead of keeping it in the back of my mind. If it is in fact burdensome or troublesome. Then it should be discarded.

Its not a problem Wind. Your suggestion is a good one and it will be given careful consideration.
The techical issue of assigning a colour for a particular group of people - I'm not sure how feasable that is with the board software.
As I mentioned earlier - the more difficult issues are how we are to develop and implement guidelines around openly identifying and verifying claims of ordination. Ensuring those who claim to be monastic are infact ordained, while being sensitive to and protecting their needs.
Back at e-sangha, one of our global-moderators was assigned to that duty. And from our communications with him regarding the verification of ordination claims, we knew how much of his time and energy it consumed. Having said that, your suggestion is not without its merits.
metta

Ben

Greetings,

Wind wrote:Hi. This idea just come to me, how about giving the known members here who are monks a different color name? Say, let their name appear in yellow to signify the yellow robe? I just thought it would be nice to distinguish them so that there is more attention to their words and also makes it easier to identify them to pay proper respect.

For the reasons specified here by Cooran, we will not be pursuing this suggestion for the time being.

cooran wrote:And then .... how are you going to know just who is a real monk and who is a fake monk? It is a big problem on the internet boards.

E-sangha had a fairly rigorous, time-consuming, checking procedure - and I wouldn't wish that on Dhamma Wheel.

Why not just let the monks relax and be one of us?

If someone is ordained and actually wishes for it to be known, they can make their status clear via their avatar, username, signature and/or profile information.

If anyone does turn up claiming to be ordained who seems to be speaking or acting in a questionable manner, I'm confident that it will become evident through on-board discussion, without the need for a separate policy or classification scheme.

Metta,
Retro.