Zen, and the Art of Trade Unions

After generations of earnest middle-class trendies sought enlightenment in Buddhism, so now Buddhist monks are seeking solace in trade union, according to a report in the Times:

“AN AGGRIEVED monk and his band of truculent acolytes have brought Bolshevism to Buddhism and formed the first Japanese trade union for temple workers.
…

Toshio Sugata, the chairman of the Nagano Zenroren, said: “This is the first time that monks have been unionised. We learnt that they were employed by Daikanjin, the main temple of the Tendai sect, under labour regulations in which their payment and working hours were formally laid out. In that sense, monks have the same employment status as salarymen.”

The monk’s flying pickets must be a spectacle to behold!