ABSTRACT
The recitation of pareittas to ward off evil continues to be an important function of Buddhist monks. In addition, some monks are famous as exorcists. Since logical rigor is not a dominant feature of any people's mentality, it is implausible to believe that doctrinal inconsistency between Buddhism and the nat cultus is the sole ground for the Burmese inner conflict concerning nat propitiation. If morality is required of the Buddhist layman, it is doubly incumbent upon the Buddhist monk, the very personification of Buddhism. Compliance with the moral code of Buddhism, whether it be the lesser code of the layman or the more stringent code of the monk, is the mark of the Buddhist because this code, the Burmese believe, was first discovered, and then revealed, by the Buddha Himself. For as a salvation religion Buddhism is entirely unaffected, even in the case of the most ardent believer in nats, by the nats and their cultus.
