Showing posts with label Buddhist monks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhist monks. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Friday, February 03, 2012
Buddhist monks at the ECCC
Friday, 03 February 2012
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| Buddhist monks line up to attend a session at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 3, 2012. The United Nations backed tribunal, which has handed down a 35-year jail term commuted to 19 years for Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, for his role in the deaths of more than 14,000 people at a S-21 torture center in Phnom Penh, is due to announce his appeal decision on Friday, February 3, 2012. REUTERS |
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Khmer Buddhist Monks Asking Tourists For Cash at 3 AM [-When the going get tough, the tough must beg for alm any time it works]
The owner of beer-bar in Pattaya notified the police to inspect four Cambodian Buddhist monks who were asking for money from tourists at three AM near beer-bar in Pattaya Soi 1, second Pattaya road.
November 08, 2011
Pattaya Daily News
Pattaya (November 7, 2011)[PDN] The owner of a beer-bar in Pattaya Soi 1, Second Pattaya Road, Amphur Banglamung, Chonburi province notified Pattaya police to inspect four suspicious Buddhist monks who behaved inappropriately carrying their alms bowls and asking for money from tourist and locals. The beer-bar owner invited the monks to meet the police to have their certificates examined.
The police found that the four monks were bona fide Cambodian Buddhist monks carrying valid permits. Each monk spoke Thai. They explained that they had travelled from Cambodia and were staying, resting at Jittapawan Buddhist temple in Banglamung.
The owner of the beer-bar said that he saw the group of monks, more than ten monks carrying their alms bowl at 03.00-04.00 hrs every night.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Monks face difficulties when their pagodas are flooded
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| With the pagodas flooded, monks cannot travel to beg for alms as they usually do (Photo: Nhem Sophal, RFI) |
20 October 2011
By Nhem Sophal
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click the control below to listen to the audio program
Flooding started more than one month ago and monks along some pagodas – such as those in Vichitraram Pagoda in Kien Svay district, Kandal province – are facing difficulties when they have to leave their pagodas. With flood overtaking their housing, they can no longer travel out to beg for alms as they usually do. Furthermore, attendants to these pagodas also face difficulties in coming to the pagodas as well since their houses are flooded the same time the pagodas do.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Invoking Buddha to Protect Forests
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| The young, novice monk Sar Vy says he doesn't need to understand the science of climate change to know that his country and its people - as well as the wider world - benefit from forest conservation. (Photo: Brendan Brady) |
August 30, 2011
By Brendan Brady
By The World (USA)
Tha Soun’s orange robe shimmers as he strolls through a patch of forest in Northern Cambodia, pointing out trees and shrubs with medicinal benefits. He gestures toward berries that he says are good for joint and muscle pain, and a beehive full of nutritious wild honey.
Tha and his fellow monks from nearby Samraong pagoda have presided over this 44-thousand acre forest known as Sorng Rukavorn, or simply Monk Forest, for a decade. These days it seems a serene garden, but it wasn’t always so.
Tha says that not long ago, police and soldiers would come here to poach timber.
“I would advise them to stop if I thought they might listen,” Tha says. “But if they wouldn’t listen, I would just take away their chainsaws and weapons.”
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Cambodia's activist monk fights on despite threats [-Our deepest admiration to Ven. Loun Savath!]
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| Cambodian Buddhist monk Loun Sovath (L) prays before he blesses water for villagers during a protest in Phnom Penh (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy) |
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| Cambodian Buddhist monk Loun Sovath films a protest in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy) |
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| Cambodian Buddhist monk Loun Sovath stands next to his painting at the LICADHO office in Phnom Penh (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy) |
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
By Michelle Fitzpatrick (AFP)
"The people need us to help them. This is what makes me go on." - Ven. Loun Savath
PHNOM PENH — His saffron robe a rare beacon among protesters, Cambodia's most outspoken monk has been banned from temples and risked arrest for challenging rights abuses -- but he vows not to be silenced.
"The more they threaten me, the more I stand up for our rights," said the Venerable Loun Sovath, also known as the "multimedia monk" for filming forced evictions and distributing the footage.
In a country where Buddhist monks are hugely respected but rarely seen standing shoulder to shoulder with those fighting abuses, his peaceful activism has attracted praise from rights groups -- and condemnation from authorities.
"Seeing a monk amongst the crowd lifts the spirits of people defending their human rights," the bespectacled holy man told AFP during a recent interview in the capital, where he joined a rally against deforestation.
"Only one of me can make one hundred, 200, 300 people feel strong."
But his tireless campaigning has made the Buddhist hierarchy and the authorities nervous, say observers, who fear for his safety.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Monks Fight to Get Cambodian Forests on the Carbon Market
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| The monks of Sorng Rukavorn forest in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia (Brendan Brady) |
Monday, May 09, 2011
By Brendan Brady / Sorng Rukavorn
Time Magazine (USA)
For years, the guardians of Sorng Rukavorn forest have drifted through the muted greens and grays of the underbrush in their saffron robes. In the far north of Cambodia, the monks live in what should be peaceful isolation, but all too often they have had to fend off incursions on this land. Using their authority as holy figures, they've turned away illegal loggers — among them, they say, armed police and soldiers — as well as local officials who have tried to wrestle control of the public land to parcel it out for their own profit.
Now the monks are looking for backup. They plan to institutionalize their communal ownership of the forest and shared profit from its 44,479-acre bounty by demarcating it an international ecological asset. Sorng Rukavorn is one of 13 community forests spreading over 168,032 acres in Oddar Meanchey province that is being registered as a bank of carbon credits. Under this nascent international tool of climate change mitigation referred to as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), governments and companies in industrialized nations can pay developing countries to cut carbon emissions on their behalf by not cutting trees. Deforestation accounts for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, according to the UN. Trees and plants absorb the gas — produced by a number of natural and manmade processes, from the combustion of fossil fuels by factories, cars and volcanic eruptions, to the flatulence of livestock — and are therefore essential to balancing its levels in the atmosphere.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monk flees pagoda over fears of arrest
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| The venerable monk Loun Souvath sits with residents of the Boeung Kak lake area during a demonstration outside City Hall earlier this month in Phnom Penh. Loun Souvath has been forced into hiding. (Photo by: Will Baxter) |
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
A monk at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh on Monday fled the pagoda out of fear of arrest by authorities for his participation in protests held by Boeung Kak lakeside residents and villagers embroiled in a land dispute in Chi Kraeng commune.
The venerable Luon Savath, ordained in 1990, went into hiding after returning from a protest in front of City Hall at the weekend, he said yesterday, adding that police have threatened him with arrest on four previous occasions over his involvement in protests.
“The authorities have not only warned me that they would arrest me, but have tried to get me defrocked by calling me a fake monk who violates Buddhist rules of conduct,” he said.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Bogus monks exploit Buddhism [in Thailand]
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| Almost 300 foreign monks live in tents at Wat Talom in Bangkok’s Phasicharoen district where six Burmese monks, a Mon monk and a Cambodian novice were arrested on charges of illegal entry to the country last week. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD |
While many saffron-robed foreigners are genuinely interested in studying religion, some are entering Thailand illegally to beg for money from the public
26/03/2011
Supoj Wancharoen
Bangkok Post
The presence of more than 300 foreign Buddhists at a Bangkok temple has raised concerns that some might be bogus monks begging for money and preying on people.
Officers from the Immigration Bureau, Thammasala police station and the National Buddhism Bureau inspected Wat Talom in Phasicharoen district early on March 17 following complaints that hundreds of foreign monks had sought shelter at the temple.
The team found about 300 monks and novices from various countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos and Burma living in tents on the temple grounds.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Prosecutors: more victims of accused monk possible [-Venh Por is a disgrace!]
Friday, January 28, 2011
Miya Shay
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- As a monk at a local temple is on the run, wanted for sexually assaulting a teen, we're talking to the girl whose accusations made him a wanted man.
At Wat Angkorchum Cambodian Buddhist Temple, Monk Vuthy Meas goes about his daily routine unsure of exactly why the temple's abbot, Venh Por, hastily returned to Cambodia.
"We built this temple in just three years," he tells us, before describing Venh Por as a decent man.
But prosecutors believe the monk fled to avoid facing charges of sexually assaulting this sixteen-year-old girl.
"I know what he was doing to me, and I guess I feel upset," the teenage girl said.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Peeping-Tom Pagoda Footage Goes Viral
Peeping Tom taken into custodyPhnom Penh Tuesday, 13 July 2010
“We are sorry that this man who was formerly a monk did something repulsive to Cambodian society.”Peeping-tom footage allegedly taken by an unscrupulous Buddhist monk is spreading across the county via cell phones in a widening phenomenon authorities are trying to curb.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Information made a public appeal to stop the spread of the videos, which depict women showering in a Phnom Penh pagoda.
The images were allegedly secretly taken by Neth Kai, a 35-year-old monk at Srah Chak pagoda. He was arrested June 26, following a police investigation prompted by a victim’s complaint.
Neth Kai has been defrocked and charged with producing and distributing pornography, which carries a jail sentence of up to a year.
Officials now say the images he took are moving from person to person via their cell phones and Bluetooth technology.
“The sharing of naked women [images] through technological equipment from one person to another continues,” Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said. “However, there is an absolute prohibition from authorities.”
Khieu Kanharith urged the promotion of good acts by Cambodians to counter the alleged “bad act of the former Buddhist monk.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Information asks people to stop sharing and to erase the offending images, “to join in the promotion of the honor of the Cambodian women and our national prestige and to avoid being looked down on by foreigners.”
Ros Sopheap, director of the organization Gender and Development for Cambodia, said the distribution of the images could affect efforts to promote women’s rights and to prevent domestic violence.
Supreme Patriarch Non Nget criticized the former monk for his alleged behavior, but he was quick to add that it was not a reflection of monks in general.
“We are sorry that this man who was formerly a monk did something repulsive to Cambodian society,” he said.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The Big Picture: Orange crush
Thursday, 29 April 2010
By Kunal Dutta
The Independent (UK)
Buddhist monks at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea (Photo: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)
Buddhist monks gather at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea – the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.
The celebration, which coincides with the first full moon of the year – and the Buddhist calendar year 2553 – saw monks congregrate at the ancient temple for sermons, chanting and a candle-lit procession.
Situated in Siem Reap province, the Bayon Temple was built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. As well as etchings of the Buddha, one side of it features an smiling face, thought by some to be a portrait of Jayavarman himself. It has been dubbed the "Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia".
By Kunal Dutta
The Independent (UK)
Buddhist monks at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea (Photo: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)Buddhist monks gather at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea – the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.
The celebration, which coincides with the first full moon of the year – and the Buddhist calendar year 2553 – saw monks congregrate at the ancient temple for sermons, chanting and a candle-lit procession.
Situated in Siem Reap province, the Bayon Temple was built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. As well as etchings of the Buddha, one side of it features an smiling face, thought by some to be a portrait of Jayavarman himself. It has been dubbed the "Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia".
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Preparing to graduate, Cambodian monk redefines life goals
Friday, April 16, 2010By Erika Hafer
Special to the Pirate's Log
(Student newspaper of Modesto Junior College, California, USA)
Muny Korn has much more than a degree to be proud about. Underneath his gown on graduation night, Korn will be wearing different clothes than he would have three months ago; underneath his cap, he will be wearing a different hair style than he would have three months ago, and on his feet he will be wearing a different type of shoes as well.
Korn came to Modesto Junior College as a Buddhist Monk from Cambodia in late 2004. The 27-year-old spent his first 21 years in Cambodia, where he joined the monkhood at 15. “Because my country is under poverty the life of most people isn’t that easy. We lack access to schools; we lack pretty much everything,” Korn explained. Following the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot, which was defeated in 1979, Cambodia’s economy was devastatingly affected by a shortage of jobs and the lack of a properly educated workforce. Though Korn’s family were farmers, his mother, father, sisters and young brother remained poor. Korn says that becoming a monk was a way to escape the grip of poverty. He felt with joining the monk community, he would have more support and, in return, could live to support his family.
“Buddhism is a good way to offer opportunity. Most people want to become monks because they have nothing to do. They are poor. We get more chances now,” he explains.
Similar to the many reasons U.S. citizens join the U.S. military system, many Cambodian citizens find support, guidance and direction in the Cambodian religious system. The schooling and living expenses of monks are paid by the charitable donations of others.
Because Buddhism is an integral part of Cambodian culture (the majority of Cambodians are Buddhist), Buddhist monks represent honor and strength along with respected social status.
“It is important to know about our religion to know how to discipline ourselves, how to behave in society,” he says, acknowledging that these skills served him well when he became an MJC student.
There are ten basic rules to life as a monk, Korn says: 1) no killing, 2) no stealing, 3) no sex, 4) no alcohol or drugs, 5) no lying, 6) no dinner, 7) no perfume, 8) no gambling, 9) no sitting higher than a Senior Monk, and 10) no happiness for belongings. Not even “fibbing” is permitted. Monks are not allowed to eat after 12 p.m., because food may interrupt afternoon contemplation and prayer. Monks wear orange robes draped around them to distinguish their “homelessness” from others; they shave their heads twice a month, so as not to worry about style, and they wear sandals for simplicity even when the weather is cold. The goal in life, Korn says, is simplicity.
“We are different. We are called a homeless person…. How can we train ourselves?... We are supposed to live our lives with lay people,” Korn explains.
Muny was a novice monk for five years before his promotion to a senior monk at the age of 21. The same year, 2004, Korn, along with many monks from his community, moved to the U.S. as a mission to help the U.S. Cambodian temples with religious services. He was brought to Modesto specifically to help the Wat Cambodian Church located on Paradise Avenue, now relocated on Grimes Avenue.
Muny started attending MJC in order to study sociology. He said the change of atmosphere and culture was surprising for him and all the monks, but they knew that they were different and so were other people. He learned tolerance and acceptance of others from Buddhist teachings. On the basis of human existence, all beings are the same, he says.
Korn said that as a student, the Modesto Junior College atmosphere was very warm and non-discriminatory. “People showed curiosity, not discrimination.” But Korn couldn’t say that for non-collegiate Modesto. In 2008, the Wat Cambodian Church requested rights from the County Planning Commission to build a temple on Grimes Avenue. But the church was denied this request by the commission due to the concerns of “worried neighbors” over possible conflicts. It took the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors over a month to review the commission- denied case and override the building veto. The church was finally built.
“They [The County Planning Commission] voted against our request… We had nothing wrong with our regulations… They were discriminating against our people. Why did the commissioners not vote for us?”
Three months ago, Muny Korn took off his robe and sandals and replaced them with a cotton, collared shirt, jeans and a pair of Vans. He wore a ring on his right-hand finger. He had left the monkhood. Korn said it was a personal decision. He felt he could not go any farther as a monk; he had earned the merits of discipline.
“There is no expiration,” he says. “I knew how long I had been a monk in my previous life to lead me to this life, but I didn’t have a good feeling to go any farther.”
Muny had felt that what he had done as a monk before in his past life and in this one made up a satisfactory ending to his career as a monk. A religious ceremony based on the retirement of the robes was held for Korn to commemorate this event. He now bears two gold rings as gifts from his grandmother and aunt in blessing of his new life and his lives to come. With his goals of graduating this spring from Modesto Junior College and transferring to California State University, Stanislaus, he is focusing on his education. He plans to finish his bachelor’s degree, earn a nursing degree, and eventually bring his parents and siblings to the U.S.
Korn looks back at his monk experience now with great pride and appreciation, acknowledging that he grew in confidence and strength under the guidance of the Cambodian church. In the weeks to come, he will receive another merit of accomplishment as he is handed his diploma for an associates of arts degree in behavioral and social science.
Muny’s determination and radiance makes him a shining example of a Modesto Junior College graduate: a scholar with open ears, an open heart and a gallant stride.
“Never give up, whatever happens. Never give up hope, whatever happens. As long as we are still alive, we still have time to pursue our dreams. Do it with confidence, do it with a smile. We have a long way to go,” Korn offers.
The Modesto Junior College Graduation Commencement is April 30 at 6 p.m. at the MJC Stadium on East Campus. It is free and open to the public.
Korn came to Modesto Junior College as a Buddhist Monk from Cambodia in late 2004. The 27-year-old spent his first 21 years in Cambodia, where he joined the monkhood at 15. “Because my country is under poverty the life of most people isn’t that easy. We lack access to schools; we lack pretty much everything,” Korn explained. Following the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot, which was defeated in 1979, Cambodia’s economy was devastatingly affected by a shortage of jobs and the lack of a properly educated workforce. Though Korn’s family were farmers, his mother, father, sisters and young brother remained poor. Korn says that becoming a monk was a way to escape the grip of poverty. He felt with joining the monk community, he would have more support and, in return, could live to support his family.
“Buddhism is a good way to offer opportunity. Most people want to become monks because they have nothing to do. They are poor. We get more chances now,” he explains.
Similar to the many reasons U.S. citizens join the U.S. military system, many Cambodian citizens find support, guidance and direction in the Cambodian religious system. The schooling and living expenses of monks are paid by the charitable donations of others.
Because Buddhism is an integral part of Cambodian culture (the majority of Cambodians are Buddhist), Buddhist monks represent honor and strength along with respected social status.
“It is important to know about our religion to know how to discipline ourselves, how to behave in society,” he says, acknowledging that these skills served him well when he became an MJC student.
There are ten basic rules to life as a monk, Korn says: 1) no killing, 2) no stealing, 3) no sex, 4) no alcohol or drugs, 5) no lying, 6) no dinner, 7) no perfume, 8) no gambling, 9) no sitting higher than a Senior Monk, and 10) no happiness for belongings. Not even “fibbing” is permitted. Monks are not allowed to eat after 12 p.m., because food may interrupt afternoon contemplation and prayer. Monks wear orange robes draped around them to distinguish their “homelessness” from others; they shave their heads twice a month, so as not to worry about style, and they wear sandals for simplicity even when the weather is cold. The goal in life, Korn says, is simplicity.
“We are different. We are called a homeless person…. How can we train ourselves?... We are supposed to live our lives with lay people,” Korn explains.
Muny was a novice monk for five years before his promotion to a senior monk at the age of 21. The same year, 2004, Korn, along with many monks from his community, moved to the U.S. as a mission to help the U.S. Cambodian temples with religious services. He was brought to Modesto specifically to help the Wat Cambodian Church located on Paradise Avenue, now relocated on Grimes Avenue.
Muny started attending MJC in order to study sociology. He said the change of atmosphere and culture was surprising for him and all the monks, but they knew that they were different and so were other people. He learned tolerance and acceptance of others from Buddhist teachings. On the basis of human existence, all beings are the same, he says.
Korn said that as a student, the Modesto Junior College atmosphere was very warm and non-discriminatory. “People showed curiosity, not discrimination.” But Korn couldn’t say that for non-collegiate Modesto. In 2008, the Wat Cambodian Church requested rights from the County Planning Commission to build a temple on Grimes Avenue. But the church was denied this request by the commission due to the concerns of “worried neighbors” over possible conflicts. It took the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors over a month to review the commission- denied case and override the building veto. The church was finally built.
“They [The County Planning Commission] voted against our request… We had nothing wrong with our regulations… They were discriminating against our people. Why did the commissioners not vote for us?”
Three months ago, Muny Korn took off his robe and sandals and replaced them with a cotton, collared shirt, jeans and a pair of Vans. He wore a ring on his right-hand finger. He had left the monkhood. Korn said it was a personal decision. He felt he could not go any farther as a monk; he had earned the merits of discipline.
“There is no expiration,” he says. “I knew how long I had been a monk in my previous life to lead me to this life, but I didn’t have a good feeling to go any farther.”
Muny had felt that what he had done as a monk before in his past life and in this one made up a satisfactory ending to his career as a monk. A religious ceremony based on the retirement of the robes was held for Korn to commemorate this event. He now bears two gold rings as gifts from his grandmother and aunt in blessing of his new life and his lives to come. With his goals of graduating this spring from Modesto Junior College and transferring to California State University, Stanislaus, he is focusing on his education. He plans to finish his bachelor’s degree, earn a nursing degree, and eventually bring his parents and siblings to the U.S.
Korn looks back at his monk experience now with great pride and appreciation, acknowledging that he grew in confidence and strength under the guidance of the Cambodian church. In the weeks to come, he will receive another merit of accomplishment as he is handed his diploma for an associates of arts degree in behavioral and social science.
Muny’s determination and radiance makes him a shining example of a Modesto Junior College graduate: a scholar with open ears, an open heart and a gallant stride.
“Never give up, whatever happens. Never give up hope, whatever happens. As long as we are still alive, we still have time to pursue our dreams. Do it with confidence, do it with a smile. We have a long way to go,” Korn offers.
The Modesto Junior College Graduation Commencement is April 30 at 6 p.m. at the MJC Stadium on East Campus. It is free and open to the public.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Nearly 50 Monks Ill in Mass Food Poisoning
By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh
31 March 2010
Forty-eight monks fell ill with food poisoning Sunday and were recovering in two separate hospitals Wednesday, possibly after ingesting insecticide, hospital officials said.
The monks, from the Wat Koh Krabay pagoda in Kandal province, suffered upset stomachs and diarrhea following a ceremony hosted by Cambodian-Americans on a visit, Teng Soeurn, head of Preah Kosamak hospital in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer.
Twenty-three monks were treated at Preah Kosamak, and another 25 were treated at the Cambodia-Soviet Friendship Hospital, also in Phnom Penh. All 48 were recovering, the doctors said.
The mass poisoning came amid worries of continued outbreaks of cholera. At least six villagers died and 53 were hospitalized in a cholera outbreak in Kratie province last week.
Clinical examinations of the monks’ stool discounted that disease, Teng Soeurn said, adding that the monks could have died without treatment.
“It is a different condition from cholera, which is contagious from one [person] to another,” he said. “Food poisoning is not contagious one to another.”
Food poisoning can occur in unhygienic conditions, but the monks may also have eaten toxic vegetables in their meal.
“All the monks ate Vietnamese noodles with salad and insecticide, and then all the monks got stomach aches and severe diarrhea, but it is not cholera,” said Say Sengly, head of the Cambodia-Soviet hospital.
At least some of the monks had gone home, he said.
The monks, from the Wat Koh Krabay pagoda in Kandal province, suffered upset stomachs and diarrhea following a ceremony hosted by Cambodian-Americans on a visit, Teng Soeurn, head of Preah Kosamak hospital in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer.
Twenty-three monks were treated at Preah Kosamak, and another 25 were treated at the Cambodia-Soviet Friendship Hospital, also in Phnom Penh. All 48 were recovering, the doctors said.
The mass poisoning came amid worries of continued outbreaks of cholera. At least six villagers died and 53 were hospitalized in a cholera outbreak in Kratie province last week.
Clinical examinations of the monks’ stool discounted that disease, Teng Soeurn said, adding that the monks could have died without treatment.
“It is a different condition from cholera, which is contagious from one [person] to another,” he said. “Food poisoning is not contagious one to another.”
Food poisoning can occur in unhygienic conditions, but the monks may also have eaten toxic vegetables in their meal.
“All the monks ate Vietnamese noodles with salad and insecticide, and then all the monks got stomach aches and severe diarrhea, but it is not cholera,” said Say Sengly, head of the Cambodia-Soviet hospital.
At least some of the monks had gone home, he said.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Elder Monk Beats 68-Year-old Nun to Death
10/28/2009
ShortNews.com
ShortNews.com
In Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia, Pov Ron,68, confessed to beating a 68-year-old nun to death with a piece of firewood. The nun allowed pigs to eat from Pov's rice bowl and this caused an "uncontrollable anger" in Pov which resulted in murder.
Two days earlier, two monks beat a fourth-year medical student to death because he had chastised the monks for drinking palm wine (a strong wine made from palm trees).
Chhith Sophay, the chief monk, expressed alarm at the most recent killing, as well as the potential damage such violence could cause to the Buddhist faith.
Source: www.phnompenhpost.com
Two days earlier, two monks beat a fourth-year medical student to death because he had chastised the monks for drinking palm wine (a strong wine made from palm trees).
Chhith Sophay, the chief monk, expressed alarm at the most recent killing, as well as the potential damage such violence could cause to the Buddhist faith.
Source: www.phnompenhpost.com
Sunday, January 20, 2008
HEALTH-ASIA: Religious Leaders Tackle HIV, AIDS
By Jaime Lim
BANGKOK, Jan 19 (IPS) - The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
These are just two examples of how faith-based groups are increasingly addressing social issues like HIV and AIDS, which were often thought of -- and are still viewed by some -- as a curse that befalls ‘bad’ people.
This engagement in social issues was the theme that ran through a conference held here this week, called ‘Inter-Faith Consultation on Children and HIV’, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific, and attended by more than 80 religious leaders and participants.
Despite fundamental differences, Buddhist monks, Christian ministers and Muslim clerics agreed that their involvement in efforts to fight the pandemic is a key part of their ties with their communities. After all, religion shapes culture and values for many in this region.
In the case of the WCC’s internship programme in Suva, council executive secretary Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi said: "This sends out a strong message that positive people can be good workers and that you don’t have to be afraid of working with them."
HIV and AIDS are not just health crises, but have social and moral elements as well. "This is where religious leaders can be powerful agents of change with their enormous influence in reducing stigma and discrimination," reckoned Simone Charnley, regional coordinator of the Bangkok-based Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN).
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), some 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia in 2007. Of these, 440,000 became infected that year. Some 300,000 people also died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007.
In the Asia-Pacific, four countries have a generalised HIV epidemic -- Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Papua New Guinea.
In Cambodia, where the adult HIV prevalence rate now stands at 1.6 percent, Buddhist monks are quite involved in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS. Apart from two hotline numbers run by Buddhist monks to answer queries on the pandemic, there is also access to healthcare, the provision of income generating activities and food, shelter and school materials to children, as well as meditation and counselling services.
According to the Buddhist Leadership Initiative, almost 30 percent of monks in China, Cambodia and Laos have received training on HIV and AIDS. These programmes help them in promoting greater involvement in society of those living with the pandemic, giving them a sense of normalcy and addressing stigma and discrimination in society.
At the same time, Captain John Kerari of the Salvation Army Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Programme stressed that HIV and AIDS programmes by faith-based programmes are by themselves inadequate -- that governments need to be proactive and lead in managing the pandemic. Papua New Guinea registers the highest adult HIV prevalence of 1.8 percent in Asia and the Pacific, according to UNAIDS.
For his part, Lawrence Maund of The Sangha Metta Project, which engages Buddhist monks in HIV and AIDS prevention and care, says that particular focus must be given to young people and educating them about behaviour needed to prevent HIV and AIDS. In line with this, he questioned the absence of youth leaders at the UNICEF conference, which was supposed to focus on children.
He encouraged others to explore the potential of youth leaders in reaching out to their peers. "Young people will talk to you, but they might not open up to you. They were not born during the HIV/AIDS crisis (mid-eighties), but were born into a time of complacency," he remarked.
Datuk A Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, vice president of the Malaysian AIDS Council and former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, says he sees a lack of programmes for Hindus living with HIV and AIDS outside of India, and called for greater involvement of Hindu-based groups in addressing the pandemic.
Tevi, a WCC member from Fiji, voiced his concern about the effectiveness of responses by different religious groups to HIV and AIDS. "My fear is that we have become a ‘band aid organisation’. We recognise the effects of HIV/AIDS, but do not address the root cause of the problem," he said.
Maund says that giving HIV and AIDS a public face does make a difference. During the Loy Krathong festival in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai in November 2007, he says, the beauty queen on the float that weaved through the city streets was HIV-positive and used the occasion to assert her rights. She was part of the Chiang Mai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Maund recalls that seeing this, "this man (from the crowd) approached one of the paraders and asked if they were really HIV/AIDS positive. He said, ‘I have HIV too, can I join you?’ That was the first time this man came out of his shell."
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
These are just two examples of how faith-based groups are increasingly addressing social issues like HIV and AIDS, which were often thought of -- and are still viewed by some -- as a curse that befalls ‘bad’ people.
This engagement in social issues was the theme that ran through a conference held here this week, called ‘Inter-Faith Consultation on Children and HIV’, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific, and attended by more than 80 religious leaders and participants.
Despite fundamental differences, Buddhist monks, Christian ministers and Muslim clerics agreed that their involvement in efforts to fight the pandemic is a key part of their ties with their communities. After all, religion shapes culture and values for many in this region.
In the case of the WCC’s internship programme in Suva, council executive secretary Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi said: "This sends out a strong message that positive people can be good workers and that you don’t have to be afraid of working with them."
HIV and AIDS are not just health crises, but have social and moral elements as well. "This is where religious leaders can be powerful agents of change with their enormous influence in reducing stigma and discrimination," reckoned Simone Charnley, regional coordinator of the Bangkok-based Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN).
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), some 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia in 2007. Of these, 440,000 became infected that year. Some 300,000 people also died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007.
In the Asia-Pacific, four countries have a generalised HIV epidemic -- Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Papua New Guinea.
In Cambodia, where the adult HIV prevalence rate now stands at 1.6 percent, Buddhist monks are quite involved in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS. Apart from two hotline numbers run by Buddhist monks to answer queries on the pandemic, there is also access to healthcare, the provision of income generating activities and food, shelter and school materials to children, as well as meditation and counselling services.
According to the Buddhist Leadership Initiative, almost 30 percent of monks in China, Cambodia and Laos have received training on HIV and AIDS. These programmes help them in promoting greater involvement in society of those living with the pandemic, giving them a sense of normalcy and addressing stigma and discrimination in society.
At the same time, Captain John Kerari of the Salvation Army Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Programme stressed that HIV and AIDS programmes by faith-based programmes are by themselves inadequate -- that governments need to be proactive and lead in managing the pandemic. Papua New Guinea registers the highest adult HIV prevalence of 1.8 percent in Asia and the Pacific, according to UNAIDS.
For his part, Lawrence Maund of The Sangha Metta Project, which engages Buddhist monks in HIV and AIDS prevention and care, says that particular focus must be given to young people and educating them about behaviour needed to prevent HIV and AIDS. In line with this, he questioned the absence of youth leaders at the UNICEF conference, which was supposed to focus on children.
He encouraged others to explore the potential of youth leaders in reaching out to their peers. "Young people will talk to you, but they might not open up to you. They were not born during the HIV/AIDS crisis (mid-eighties), but were born into a time of complacency," he remarked.
Datuk A Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, vice president of the Malaysian AIDS Council and former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, says he sees a lack of programmes for Hindus living with HIV and AIDS outside of India, and called for greater involvement of Hindu-based groups in addressing the pandemic.
Tevi, a WCC member from Fiji, voiced his concern about the effectiveness of responses by different religious groups to HIV and AIDS. "My fear is that we have become a ‘band aid organisation’. We recognise the effects of HIV/AIDS, but do not address the root cause of the problem," he said.
Maund says that giving HIV and AIDS a public face does make a difference. During the Loy Krathong festival in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai in November 2007, he says, the beauty queen on the float that weaved through the city streets was HIV-positive and used the occasion to assert her rights. She was part of the Chiang Mai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Maund recalls that seeing this, "this man (from the crowd) approached one of the paraders and asked if they were really HIV/AIDS positive. He said, ‘I have HIV too, can I join you?’ That was the first time this man came out of his shell."
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
An Hour in a Cambodian Temple: From the People's Offerings, A Feast of a Breakfast For a Studious Monk
Saffron-robed Buddhist monks sit in rows on the floor to eat food brought by the faithful to Phnom Penh's Wat Ounalom complex. (Photo Credit: By Mary Jordan -- The Washington Post)Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
As the sun rose over the Mekong River, Senly Lim walked to breakfast along a path used by monks for more than 500 years.
At 6:30 a.m., neighbors carrying white rice, fried noodles and coconuts had begun arriving, leaving food for him and 400 other saffron-robed monks. After rising in the pre-dawn darkness, Lim had been praying and readying for the morning feast since 4 a.m.
According to Buddhist tradition, monks do not eat after noon and rely for their food on offerings brought by the faithful.
"There is plenty to eat now," said Lim, 30, referring to the 15-day Festival of the Dead that ends Thursday. Cambodians give food to monks as a way of honoring deceased parents and other relatives. So in the early morning hours of these hot, humid October days, the 4,000 pagodas dotting this nation of 14 million are packed with people leaving offerings.
In the countryside, where customs last longer, many older people flock to Buddhist temples to be near ancestors whose souls, they believe, come to the houses of worship seeking living relatives at this time of year.
Lim, having fasted for more than 18 hours, happily sat cross-legged on the floor of his temple's dining hall, in front of a dozen bowls filled with rice porridge, black-speckled dragon fruit, fish soup, coconut juice and more. Hundreds of other monks sat alongside him on bamboo mats, in straight rows.
Even though they were packed so closely, few spoke as they began to eat. The sound of the ubiquitous motorbikes in the streets broke the silence. So did the cry of a baby in the crowd of homeless people gathering at the door. The smells of tropical poverty -- uncollected trash, sugary concoctions cooking in the streets -- wafted in.
Donors, mostly women, took off their shoes and entered the colorful room inside the 15th-century Wat Ounalom complex, a collection of ornate buildings along the riverfront near where the Tonle Sap River meets the Mekong.
"It is a way of honoring our ancestors," said Phany Sum, 34, a mother of four, as she tossed handfuls of uncooked rice into a six-foot-square blue wooden box at the back of the dining hall. The giant box now had a two-foot-high pile of rice in it. In the leaner days to come, when the monsoons kick in and fewer people bring offerings, this stockpile will be stretched to provide the monks' breakfasts.
At 7 a.m., Lim and the others, unable to eat more, stood up and filed out of the once-beautiful dining hall, its water-stained walls in sore need of fresh paint. As the monks left, a uniformed guard waved in the homeless -- mostly children -- to finish up the plentiful leftovers.
The hall is part of a complex that is home to monks ages 16 to 80. They move in near-silence around the towering gold-leaf temple at the compound's heart and an array of smaller buildings, including No. 20, a three-story French colonial structure where Lim sleeps in a single bunk.
With his plump, round face and infectious smile, Lim looks younger than his 30 years. He has lived here half his life, since he was 16, shaving his head every two weeks. "I like being a monk," he said. "It's peaceful."
Lim said his routine fosters discipline and gives him time to study. He's up before dawn to pray, has breakfast at 6:30, then is in his classroom at the nearby University of Cambodia by 8. He returns by 11 to eat again before the fast sets in at noon. He says he remains celibate, abstains from alcohol and once in a while watches a friend's television, which at present is showing the U.S. baseball playoffs.
Lim said that he chose this lifestyle because he believes in "Buddha's message of peace and harmony" and that spreading that message through prayer is good for the world.
Cambodian monks have drawn criticism here and abroad recently because they have mostly remained silent about the arrest and killing of monks protesting against the military government in nearby Burma. But at this temple, an important center for Buddhism in Southeast Asia, several monks said they believed their role was not to grab microphones but to pray silently.
"I feel so sorry. They are suffering. It makes me sad," Lim said, adding that he had devoted his morning prayers to the Burmese monks. "I pray that the Burmese leaders turn to democratic ways."
Being a monk is not necessarily a lifelong commitment. In Cambodia, many men adopt the monastic lifestyle for a few weeks or months, donning and taking off the saffron robe as they wish. Many do it for spiritual reasons, others to please their parents. Some do it briefly before they get married; others stay for years, or forever.
Lim said his plan is to remain a monk for four more years, until he finishes his studies. Once he has his business degree, he said, he would like to leave the ascetic life inside the centuries-old temple and trade his robes for street clothes. He said his dream is to sell computers.
At 7:30 a.m., Lim excused himself. He walked toward the busy street in his robe and sandals and hopped on a motorcycle taxi.
He was late for an accounting exam.
At 6:30 a.m., neighbors carrying white rice, fried noodles and coconuts had begun arriving, leaving food for him and 400 other saffron-robed monks. After rising in the pre-dawn darkness, Lim had been praying and readying for the morning feast since 4 a.m.
According to Buddhist tradition, monks do not eat after noon and rely for their food on offerings brought by the faithful.
"There is plenty to eat now," said Lim, 30, referring to the 15-day Festival of the Dead that ends Thursday. Cambodians give food to monks as a way of honoring deceased parents and other relatives. So in the early morning hours of these hot, humid October days, the 4,000 pagodas dotting this nation of 14 million are packed with people leaving offerings.
In the countryside, where customs last longer, many older people flock to Buddhist temples to be near ancestors whose souls, they believe, come to the houses of worship seeking living relatives at this time of year.
Lim, having fasted for more than 18 hours, happily sat cross-legged on the floor of his temple's dining hall, in front of a dozen bowls filled with rice porridge, black-speckled dragon fruit, fish soup, coconut juice and more. Hundreds of other monks sat alongside him on bamboo mats, in straight rows.
Even though they were packed so closely, few spoke as they began to eat. The sound of the ubiquitous motorbikes in the streets broke the silence. So did the cry of a baby in the crowd of homeless people gathering at the door. The smells of tropical poverty -- uncollected trash, sugary concoctions cooking in the streets -- wafted in.
Donors, mostly women, took off their shoes and entered the colorful room inside the 15th-century Wat Ounalom complex, a collection of ornate buildings along the riverfront near where the Tonle Sap River meets the Mekong.
"It is a way of honoring our ancestors," said Phany Sum, 34, a mother of four, as she tossed handfuls of uncooked rice into a six-foot-square blue wooden box at the back of the dining hall. The giant box now had a two-foot-high pile of rice in it. In the leaner days to come, when the monsoons kick in and fewer people bring offerings, this stockpile will be stretched to provide the monks' breakfasts.
At 7 a.m., Lim and the others, unable to eat more, stood up and filed out of the once-beautiful dining hall, its water-stained walls in sore need of fresh paint. As the monks left, a uniformed guard waved in the homeless -- mostly children -- to finish up the plentiful leftovers.
The hall is part of a complex that is home to monks ages 16 to 80. They move in near-silence around the towering gold-leaf temple at the compound's heart and an array of smaller buildings, including No. 20, a three-story French colonial structure where Lim sleeps in a single bunk.
With his plump, round face and infectious smile, Lim looks younger than his 30 years. He has lived here half his life, since he was 16, shaving his head every two weeks. "I like being a monk," he said. "It's peaceful."
Lim said his routine fosters discipline and gives him time to study. He's up before dawn to pray, has breakfast at 6:30, then is in his classroom at the nearby University of Cambodia by 8. He returns by 11 to eat again before the fast sets in at noon. He says he remains celibate, abstains from alcohol and once in a while watches a friend's television, which at present is showing the U.S. baseball playoffs.
Lim said that he chose this lifestyle because he believes in "Buddha's message of peace and harmony" and that spreading that message through prayer is good for the world.
Cambodian monks have drawn criticism here and abroad recently because they have mostly remained silent about the arrest and killing of monks protesting against the military government in nearby Burma. But at this temple, an important center for Buddhism in Southeast Asia, several monks said they believed their role was not to grab microphones but to pray silently.
"I feel so sorry. They are suffering. It makes me sad," Lim said, adding that he had devoted his morning prayers to the Burmese monks. "I pray that the Burmese leaders turn to democratic ways."
Being a monk is not necessarily a lifelong commitment. In Cambodia, many men adopt the monastic lifestyle for a few weeks or months, donning and taking off the saffron robe as they wish. Many do it for spiritual reasons, others to please their parents. Some do it briefly before they get married; others stay for years, or forever.
Lim said his plan is to remain a monk for four more years, until he finishes his studies. Once he has his business degree, he said, he would like to leave the ascetic life inside the centuries-old temple and trade his robes for street clothes. He said his dream is to sell computers.
At 7:30 a.m., Lim excused himself. He walked toward the busy street in his robe and sandals and hopped on a motorcycle taxi.
He was late for an accounting exam.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
In Burma, Monks clash against soldiers of the dictatorship; in Cambodia, the chief monk serves the interest of the dictatorship
Monks vs military hike Myanmar tensions
Sep 8, 2007
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Inter Press Service
Sep 8, 2007
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Inter Press Service
BANGKOK - Political tension in military-ruled Myanmar has taken an ominous turn, with soldiers clashing this week with sections of the country's respected Buddhist clergy. The confrontation was the latest in an unfolding drama that has featured rare public protests against the hardline regime for implementing massive hikes in fuel prices in mid-August.
Monks in the central town of Pakokku on Thursday openly defied the regime by burning four cars belonging to local authorities.
"The monks, who are students at a large monastery in Pakokku, are very angry with the military regime," said Than Win Htut, a senior producer for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a radio and TV station run by exiles from Myanmar and based in Oslo, Norway.
Clashes first erupted on Wednesday between soldiers and monks in Pakokku town, some 500 kilometers north of the old capital Yangon. That morning, soldiers fired warning shots to break up a crowd of more than 300 monks, representing apparently the first time security forces have used their firearms since the protests against the fuel hike began last month.
"The monks started a protest march from their monastery and were cheered on by thousands of people as they headed into the town," said Than Win Htut. "The soldiers dragged about 10 monks away, tied them to electricity poles and beat them with bamboo sticks."
One of the monks involved in the protest told DVB that the outpouring of anger was linked to the fuel hike, which has hit the clergy in the stomach the same way it has the rest of the impoverished population.
"We can't sit back and watch the people who sponsor us sink into poverty. Their poverty is our poverty as well," the monk was quoted as saying.
In Myanmar, where more than 85% of the country's 47.3 million people are Buddhists, the monks, monasteries and temples depend heavily on public donations for their survival. This includes the food and alms that laypeople give monks when they visit communities every morning with empty bowls to collect their day's meal. Myanmar's Buddhists follow the Theravada school of Buddhism, as in Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
The clash between clergy and security forces in Pakokku is being viewed with a greater degree of interest than the fuel-hike-related protest involving some 150 Buddhist monks during the last week of August in the country's northwestern Arakan state. That's because Pakokku is home to the second-largest community of Buddhist monks in the country, estimated by some to be close to 10,000 ascetics. The largest Buddhist clerical community is in the nearby city of Mandalay. Both places are highly regarded as centers of Buddhist learning.
"This could trigger a reaction among monks elsewhere, forcing them to come out and protest," said Win Min, an academic on Myanmar affairs at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. "It has the capacity of spreading, since the monks have a close network, particularly in the area around Pakokku."
The Buddhist clergy is "the most organized institution after the military" in Myanmar, he explained during an interview. "They have always been a very influential part of Burmese society and could assert that role again now."
Myanmar's history is replete with such interventions. During the days prior to British colonization, the Buddhist clergy played a central role as advisers and shapers of national affairs in the royal courts. When Myanmar, then called Burma, became a British colony, the monks were in the vanguard of the movement against Western imperialism.
Such political activism continued even after independence was achieved in 1948, and when the country came under the grip of successive military regimes after a 1962 coup. Among the more recent episodes was the leading role monks played during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was brutally crushed by the military.
"Many young monks took part and were shot to death during the pro-democracy demonstrations," said Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner in Myanmar, now based in Thailand, who was part of that peaceful uprising against the military rulers. Some monks were beaten and disrobed, he said. "There are still 90 Buddhist monks in prison for their political activity during that period. They are part of [Myanmar's more than 1,100] political prisoners."
Buddhist monks were also victims of a brutal military crackdown in August 1990, when they came out in protest after the junta refused to recognize the results of parliamentary elections held a few months before. The opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, routed the pro-junta party at those polls, the first held in the country in nearly 30 years.
The current protests against the fuel hike, which saw prices rise by 500% overnight, show little sign of easing, despite the harsh methods deployed by the junta. Before the clash in Pakokku, the military regime appeared to keep its soldiers on a leash, but instead let loose thugs linked to the regime to beat back demonstrators and journalists who attempted to cover the conflict.
That strategy, say analysts, was employed to avoid rekindling memories of the brutal manner in which soldiers crushed the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The showdown in the Pakokku potentially points to a tactical shift, with the junta falling back on armed soldiers to control the crowds. Two military platoons were used on Wednesday to break up the monks chanting a prayer and demonstrating peacefully.
"Events may now take a turn for the worse," speculated Debbie Stothard, of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a regional rights lobby. "We may be entering a period of brinkmanship.
"The monks have taken a stand in a very provocative way. They are asserting their role of having a moral obligation to help improve the people's welfare," she said, adding that if more monks protest, it could mean "the military is gradually losing control of the situation".
Monks in the central town of Pakokku on Thursday openly defied the regime by burning four cars belonging to local authorities.
"The monks, who are students at a large monastery in Pakokku, are very angry with the military regime," said Than Win Htut, a senior producer for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a radio and TV station run by exiles from Myanmar and based in Oslo, Norway.
Clashes first erupted on Wednesday between soldiers and monks in Pakokku town, some 500 kilometers north of the old capital Yangon. That morning, soldiers fired warning shots to break up a crowd of more than 300 monks, representing apparently the first time security forces have used their firearms since the protests against the fuel hike began last month.
"The monks started a protest march from their monastery and were cheered on by thousands of people as they headed into the town," said Than Win Htut. "The soldiers dragged about 10 monks away, tied them to electricity poles and beat them with bamboo sticks."
One of the monks involved in the protest told DVB that the outpouring of anger was linked to the fuel hike, which has hit the clergy in the stomach the same way it has the rest of the impoverished population.
"We can't sit back and watch the people who sponsor us sink into poverty. Their poverty is our poverty as well," the monk was quoted as saying.
In Myanmar, where more than 85% of the country's 47.3 million people are Buddhists, the monks, monasteries and temples depend heavily on public donations for their survival. This includes the food and alms that laypeople give monks when they visit communities every morning with empty bowls to collect their day's meal. Myanmar's Buddhists follow the Theravada school of Buddhism, as in Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
The clash between clergy and security forces in Pakokku is being viewed with a greater degree of interest than the fuel-hike-related protest involving some 150 Buddhist monks during the last week of August in the country's northwestern Arakan state. That's because Pakokku is home to the second-largest community of Buddhist monks in the country, estimated by some to be close to 10,000 ascetics. The largest Buddhist clerical community is in the nearby city of Mandalay. Both places are highly regarded as centers of Buddhist learning.
"This could trigger a reaction among monks elsewhere, forcing them to come out and protest," said Win Min, an academic on Myanmar affairs at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. "It has the capacity of spreading, since the monks have a close network, particularly in the area around Pakokku."
The Buddhist clergy is "the most organized institution after the military" in Myanmar, he explained during an interview. "They have always been a very influential part of Burmese society and could assert that role again now."
Myanmar's history is replete with such interventions. During the days prior to British colonization, the Buddhist clergy played a central role as advisers and shapers of national affairs in the royal courts. When Myanmar, then called Burma, became a British colony, the monks were in the vanguard of the movement against Western imperialism.
Such political activism continued even after independence was achieved in 1948, and when the country came under the grip of successive military regimes after a 1962 coup. Among the more recent episodes was the leading role monks played during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was brutally crushed by the military.
"Many young monks took part and were shot to death during the pro-democracy demonstrations," said Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner in Myanmar, now based in Thailand, who was part of that peaceful uprising against the military rulers. Some monks were beaten and disrobed, he said. "There are still 90 Buddhist monks in prison for their political activity during that period. They are part of [Myanmar's more than 1,100] political prisoners."
Buddhist monks were also victims of a brutal military crackdown in August 1990, when they came out in protest after the junta refused to recognize the results of parliamentary elections held a few months before. The opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, routed the pro-junta party at those polls, the first held in the country in nearly 30 years.
The current protests against the fuel hike, which saw prices rise by 500% overnight, show little sign of easing, despite the harsh methods deployed by the junta. Before the clash in Pakokku, the military regime appeared to keep its soldiers on a leash, but instead let loose thugs linked to the regime to beat back demonstrators and journalists who attempted to cover the conflict.
That strategy, say analysts, was employed to avoid rekindling memories of the brutal manner in which soldiers crushed the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The showdown in the Pakokku potentially points to a tactical shift, with the junta falling back on armed soldiers to control the crowds. Two military platoons were used on Wednesday to break up the monks chanting a prayer and demonstrating peacefully.
"Events may now take a turn for the worse," speculated Debbie Stothard, of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a regional rights lobby. "We may be entering a period of brinkmanship.
"The monks have taken a stand in a very provocative way. They are asserting their role of having a moral obligation to help improve the people's welfare," she said, adding that if more monks protest, it could mean "the military is gradually losing control of the situation".
Thursday, June 21, 2007
In HIV Fight, Monks Bridge Secular, Religious
Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
20/06/2007
Original report from Washington
20/06/2007
For groups struggling to educate the populace on the dangers of HIV and AIDS, monks have become an increasingly important tool, as people become used to taking with religious leaders about intimate subjects.
Now, monks say, the curtain of silence that once hurt their efforts is opening, making their efforts more effective.
With support from the US's President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and Unicef, Buddhism for Development is helping bridge the gap between religious and secular communities in Cambodia.
Venerable Ong Sary, who works with AIDS orphans, has studied at a "Peace Development School" operated by Pepfar.
He told VOA Khmer recently many monks were returning to their home villages after attending the school to establish HIV-AIDS groups for home-based care and education.
Monks use their pagodas as HIV-AIDS centers, as more and more people become accustomed to speaking with them about the disease and its causes, Ong Sary said.
Now, monks say, the curtain of silence that once hurt their efforts is opening, making their efforts more effective.
With support from the US's President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and Unicef, Buddhism for Development is helping bridge the gap between religious and secular communities in Cambodia.
Venerable Ong Sary, who works with AIDS orphans, has studied at a "Peace Development School" operated by Pepfar.
He told VOA Khmer recently many monks were returning to their home villages after attending the school to establish HIV-AIDS groups for home-based care and education.
Monks use their pagodas as HIV-AIDS centers, as more and more people become accustomed to speaking with them about the disease and its causes, Ong Sary said.
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