[tharkun__]

    say, a monk or a nun may have a higher moral authority because of a declared personal abstinence from any violence, and hence indirectly incentivize lay people to protect them.

To take that a step further, making the pacifist definition even narrower, wouldn't such a pacifist be a hypocrite?

Abstaining from violence at the expense of others putting themselves in harms way to protect them?

Shouldn't they try to make these "lay people" abstain from violence as well?

But then who is left to defend the pacifists?

Does that mean in the face of outside aggressors all pacifists will die soon or live horrible lives under oppression from the aggressor?

Which I guess is OK for them if they believe that something better is available for them in 'heaven'?

[nine_k]

Not necessarily, or even not likely a hypocrite. If keeping the ritual cleanliness is important for the monk's job, that is, having a better contact with the divine for the benefit of those around him, this is just specialization. The monk likely also abstains from other things, like eating meat, or having sex, which is a part of the same self-sacrifice for the sake of his service.

It would be hypocrisy if the monk commanded others to fight instead of him, while also declaring that he finds violence morally debasing and thus unacceptable for himself. But I don't think that laypeople would respect such a figure.