State media reported on January 21 that Buddhist monk Thich Truc Thai Minh, abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda, was disciplined and warned by the Standing Committee of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.
This penalty is related to the case of Ba Vang Pagoda displaying “Buddha’s hair relics” at the end of December 2023. The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha believes that the above incident has seriously affected the belief in Buddhism of Buddhists and people.
The decision clearly states: “Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh must commit that if similar mistakes continue to occur, causing loss of society’s trust in Buddhism, affecting the reputation of the Church, he will be expelled and stripped of his abbot’s authority.”
At the same time, Ba Vang Pagoda is banned from organizing international exchange events for one year.
Previously, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs and the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province concluded that Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh – abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda – had violated the Law on Belief and Religion.
For many years, public opinion has been extremely upset about religious activities at Ba Vang and Thich Chuc Thai Minh which appear to be propaganda and superstition. This monk turned the temple into a place to pray for wealth, fortune, and peace, for the majority of Buddhists and visitors who did not understand Buddhism well.
Public opinion commented that Ba Vang Pagoda is not bad, but the head of Ba Vang Pagoda, monk Thich Truc Thai Minh, is a bad person. He intentionally turned the temple, a place of practice, into a religious business establishment, aiming to make a profit.
It is known that this is the second time the abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda Thich Truc Thai Minh has been disciplined by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. The first disciplinary action against monk Thai Minh, in 2019, related to the activities of “appealing for death and worshiping unjust bondholders.” Thanks to this trick, Ba Vang Pagoda and monk Thai Minh earn hundreds of billions of dong every year. Afterwards, monk Minh was disciplined, suspended from all positions in the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, and had to repent.
The second time, the reason why monk Thai Minh was “warned” was that Ba Vang Pagoda organized a procession, display and worship of the “Buddha’s hair relic,” causing public outrage and suspicion about the “hair relic.”
State media described, in a video clip posted on social networks by the Ba Vang Pagoda page at that time, that the “Buddha hair relics” that this pagoda displayed “can move on their own without the influence of external forces.”
This advertisement caused tens of thousands of people, some out of curiosity, most out of superstition, to line up to watch and make offerings. Many opinions say that in this case, Ba Vang Pagoda has collected tens of billions of dong.
The content posted with the video clip of Ba Vang Pagoda, quoted by VietNamNet, advertised: “The Buddha’s hair relic was handed over more than 2,600 years ago, and has been present at Ba Vang Pagoda since December 23. This hair relic is a priceless treasure, one of eight hairs that Buddha personally plucked from his head, gave to two Myanmar traders and was kept for thousands of years in Myanmar.
Still according to VietNamNet, after the clip of Ba Vang Pagoda spread, many people discovered that it was just the leaves of a type of grass, called Pili grass. This type of grass, after being dried and soaked in water, will move on its own. This object called “Buddha’s hair relic” is also widely sold on online sales websites, with prices ranging VND500,000-VND900,000 only.
Immediately, Ba Vang Pagoda issued a statement denying, and continued to affirm that the “Buddha’s hair relic” was brought to Ba Vang Pagoda by Myanmar monks. At the same time, Ba Vang Pagoda said that the information on social networks is “slander and fabrication.”
But, in a recent clip circulating on social networks, monk Thai Minh changed his tone, saying, “No matter whether the relics are real or fake, the important thing is that we truly believe and respect them, and it will bring good fortune.”
A question that public opinion raises is: “Why are the systematic, repeated violations of Ba Vang Pagoda and monk Thich Truc Thai Minh not being thoroughly punished?” Even in 2019, even though monk Thai Minh had to repent, he still remained the abbot of Ba Vang Pagoda?
What does that have to do with the “whispers” that Ba Vang Pagoda is a financial base for the Government Committee for Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security? At the same time, Ba Vang Pagoda also has the task of lowering the reputation of Buddhism.
PhD Nguyen Xuan Dien in the article “The triangle situation” pointed out the notable points of the system of large temples in Vietnam today, saying:
“To create the current Bai Dinh pagoda, Ba Vang pagoda, Tam Chuc pagoda, Yen Tu pagoda, three aspects must be met: Buddhist dignitaries + district authorities to the host province + Rich people. Without one of the three, it is impossible to draw such business zones.
If you have land, protection, and monks, you must implement the project. Where does the money come from? It cannot be from the state budget. At that time, big-faced tycoons appeared, sometimes quietly, sometimes ostentatiously. Thousands of billions poured into infrastructure, construction, procurement, media, PR, spreading rumors, setting records, solicitation….
So from then on, the ignorance of the people became a party of rich people- religious clerks-state official. And… no one dares to check the revenue sources of these temples.
Those are the three forces that created the triangle partnership, tightly grasping their prey. They kept extorting money and ripping out the hearts and minds of the people.”
Is it true that the Vietnamese government and Minister of Public Security To Lam have “killed the two birds at once shot” and used Ba Vang Pagoda to both discredit Buddhism and at the same time extort money from people.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
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Ba Vang Pagoda scandal and To Lam’s “two targets one bullet”
The Vietnamese government and Minister of Public Security To Lam have “killed the two birds at once shot” and used Ba Vang Pagoda to both discredit Buddhism and at the same time extort money from people.
#Vietnam #ThichChucThaiMinh #Thoibao
