By UC
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Some pagoda conflicts seem to last forever. That is the case which shook Wat Athik Smasman (Smassan?), a pagoda located a few kilometers from Angkor Wat, since 1996. Problems started during the inauguration of the vihara (temple).
“Before the ceremonies, the monk chief and his deputy get along well with each other,” Meak Khemara, the achar of the pagoda said. “However, once the festivities were over, a group of faithful blamed the pagoda chief of not using properly the money reserved for the ceremony, they then asked his deputy to replace him. However, other faithful stood behind the monk chief. That was how it all started,” Meak Khemara added.
After several interventions from Tep Vong, the supreme patriarch of the Mohanikay sect, the two monks involved in the dispute were asked to leave the pagoda, and three other monks from the province were designated to temporarily lead the pagoda until the nomination of a new chief at the beginning of 2007 by Tep Vong’s office.
To some faithful who proclaim their neutrality in this conflict, “the situation lasted until now because of interferences from political figures.” “If the faithful did not intervene in this conflict, it would have been easier to resolve,” Meak Khemara noted. “Some young monks who do not know the doctrine too well, let themselves be influenced by the faithful, and this ended up creating clans within the pagoda,” Sim Tab, the director of the religious affair in Siem Reap, chimed in.
According to the new rules in place, disputes within the pagodas must be resolved locally. However, a high ranking Buddhist official regrets that political figures and rich people often push monks to whom they provide donations, to ask for higher intervention as soon as there is a problem. “We want to allow religious officials and local religious affair officials to try to resolve the differences by themselves before they are being resolved at the national level. But, it is difficult because of the interferences from the faithful and politicians in religious affairs,” he said with regret.
“Before the ceremonies, the monk chief and his deputy get along well with each other,” Meak Khemara, the achar of the pagoda said. “However, once the festivities were over, a group of faithful blamed the pagoda chief of not using properly the money reserved for the ceremony, they then asked his deputy to replace him. However, other faithful stood behind the monk chief. That was how it all started,” Meak Khemara added.
After several interventions from Tep Vong, the supreme patriarch of the Mohanikay sect, the two monks involved in the dispute were asked to leave the pagoda, and three other monks from the province were designated to temporarily lead the pagoda until the nomination of a new chief at the beginning of 2007 by Tep Vong’s office.
To some faithful who proclaim their neutrality in this conflict, “the situation lasted until now because of interferences from political figures.” “If the faithful did not intervene in this conflict, it would have been easier to resolve,” Meak Khemara noted. “Some young monks who do not know the doctrine too well, let themselves be influenced by the faithful, and this ended up creating clans within the pagoda,” Sim Tab, the director of the religious affair in Siem Reap, chimed in.
According to the new rules in place, disputes within the pagodas must be resolved locally. However, a high ranking Buddhist official regrets that political figures and rich people often push monks to whom they provide donations, to ask for higher intervention as soon as there is a problem. “We want to allow religious officials and local religious affair officials to try to resolve the differences by themselves before they are being resolved at the national level. But, it is difficult because of the interferences from the faithful and politicians in religious affairs,” he said with regret.
1 comment:
That happen in Cambodia community oversea too! When faithfull try to controle monk!
It like babe borned the wrong way!
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