Japan’s Buddhist Temples keeping up with the times using DJs, apps, video games, booze and more

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Tokyo, Japan -- While religions of all stripes have something to offer in terms of support and advice, they also share a common detriment: they’re all really, really old. While age brings with it wisdom and experience, if religion can’t relate to modern society it runs the risk of getting left behind.

To help prevent this, several monks across Japan have been adopting new technology and trends or have tried simply reaching out to people differently, in less orthodox and more human ways.

Higher Tech Attainment

Walking around and looking at the masses of people with eyes looked on their smartphone it’s hard to ignore the pull of digital media. Higan Temple has been at the forefront of tapping into cyberspace to expose the masses to Buddhism.

What started as a blog chronicling Kosuke Matsumoto’s journey to becoming a monk has blossomed into a virtual online temple. Now several Buddhists and monks contribute articles offering their viewpoints on business, parenting, food, and more. The monks also answer questions asked via Twitter.

There is a small English section too where Mr. Matsumoto occasionally writes articles. The temple also released an app for iPhone and Android called Undo to assist in meditation.

Another website called Tera Koya Buddha works as a calendar of events for Buddhist related activities running the gamut from yoga classes to jazz festivals. Buddhist Temples have also be stepping up their game in the entertainment field as well.

Sutra Hero

One way to get recognition is to put out an interesting and entertaining product for people to latch onto. A few of our readers are likely familiar with Ryoho Temple, otherwise known as Moe Temple for its liberal use of moe characters all around the grounds.

A while back we reported on their video game Sutra Master, a rhythm game using traditional Buddhist “instruments”, characters and symbols.

Well, it seems as if Moe Temple was just getting started in the video game business. Now they have released an RPG game for use on iPhone and Android called Welcome to Ryoho Temple [Free Training Yokai Card Game]. The game is a strategy-based card game which uses moe versions of about 1,000 different traditional Japanese creatures such as tengu and akaoni.

Parties

Another way to lure people with technology is to throw a kick-ass party. Earlier this year Gokokuji Temple held the Tibet Festival Tokyo with the participation of Tibetan monks.  At the festival the temporary beauty of a sand mandala being made in-person could be seen.

However, after sunset the beauty of the temple gets kicked up a notch thanks to some projection mapping. Here’s a time lapse video of the event.

Also earlier this year was Kohgen 2013, which held various religious events at four temples and shrines in Gunma Prefecture. In particular the Joko Temple event was a feast for the senses. Inside the main hall of the temple, incense was lit to mellow the audiences sense of smell, vegetarian food was served to tingle taste buds and a DJ and live band played along with cryptic projections on the wall. Perhaps next year the musical stylings Tariki Echo could be worked in.

Heartbreak and Hard Drinks

While flashing lights and websites are all well and good, they’re a dime a dozen these days. Perhaps to really get in touch with people you have to get out of the temple and into the real world.

That’s what a group of monks from various Buddhist sects did when they set up a bar. Geting away from all your worries sure would help a lot, so why not go where everyone knows a sutra – Vowz Bar in Tokyo. Listed as one of weirder theme bars in Tokyo with their Buddhist inspired cocktail names, it’s the best place to go for some sagely advice after a hard day.

If drinking’s not your thing you might be able to find one of the growing trends of sutra readings popping up around the countries. Here you can join a monk as they give you their own interpretations of sutras with interaction from the audience. It can be enlightening to see how those cryptic chants can apply to real life situations such as a break up or family dispute.

This is just a taste of what Buddhism is doing to stay active and relevant in Japan. Surely there will be more moe video games and electronica to come from this 2,500-year-old religion.

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How an MBA degree helped Buddhist priest Matsumoto to revitalise temples in Japan

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Tokyo, Japan -- It's hardly unusual for mid-career professsionals to take time off to study management. Having had some real world exposure, an MBA usually helps put things in perspective. It's the same logic that Keisuke Matsumoto used when he decided to enrol for a management degree at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad in 2010.

A philosophy graduate from the University of Tokyo, Matsumoto is a Japanese Buddhist priest. The decision to pursue a management degree - with a specialisation in marketing and strategy - came after spending seven years as a monk at the Komyoji Temple in Tokyo. "These days, many people from nonprofit entities like schools or hospitals are studying in B-schools. In order to manage any kind of organisation, an MBA is very useful," he explains. In Japan, the Buddhist temples, called Otera, have been at the centre of community life; but not anymore. Matsumoto wants to change that. "An MBA would help me to revitalize Otera and local communities in Japan," says the 33 year-old.

The Otera, which were once a gathering ground for people across all ages are now used only for ancestral ceremonies. Observing the people around him (the temple is in the heart of the city) Matsumoto realised that most people view temples as conservative places and prefer to stay away. To change that perception, he set up the Young Buddhists Association with a few friends who were interested in Buddhism and the temple culture.

Their activities range from holding a music concert at the temple to yoga classes to setting up a free Temple Cafe that was open to everyone. All this helped in bringing more people to the temple.

He agrees that there is hardly any common ground between business and temples. "There are no parallels between the two. Both of them are what humans do. I know businesses are for profit and temples are not. But regardless of the type of the organisation, the mission is the most fundamental aspect," he says. The Otera are at the heart of Buddhism, and their mission, he says, is to help people live a happy life and cultivate their mindfulness. The choice of India wasn't surprising given that it's the birthplace of Buddhism. "I love India and I wanted to study at a world-class school. ISB was the only b-school across the world which could satisfy my interest," he says.

Matsumoto has always tried to bridge the gap between the temple and the changing world. In 2003, he was probably the first monk to start blogging in an effort to guide others through the process of becoming a monk. Eventually, this resulted in Japan's first online Buddhist 'temple' where anyone can log on for spiritual guidance or simply to clear their mind. The temple is connected through various social media. Given the way the world is changing, Matsumoto feels that Buddhism is relevant more than ever before.

"In a sense, Buddhism is a kind of science which can analyse and cultivate our mind. In the current world environment which is changing very fast in terms of value system, I believe Buddhism can play significant role as a next value system which focuses on the human mind rather than money making," he says. He has carried out a study, 'Economy and Buddhism' to understand the impact it can have in this current overwhelmingly capitalist economy.

And how did the MBA actually help? "Having a customer-centric view is one of the greatest learnings from the MBA," he says. And initiatives that make the temple more accessible to the younger generation fit in perfectly with that. Quoting Drucker, an obvious effect of the b-school training, Matsumoto says that temples should be changeagents. "The value of temples exists not in tangible assets but intangible assets like relational value with people. Temples should focus on how to change people better in terms of spirituality."

Matsumoto believes that he can use his B-school learnings to revitalise the temples. He has already set up a management school for Buddhist priests and monks and has over 100 monks studying there this year. "After launching the school, I have been creating a powerful Buddhist monk's network. In one or two years, the number of temples in our community will reach over two hundred across Japan. I would like to support those temples to create good relationships with people in a local community," is what his vision for the future is.

His time at ISB was an experience he cherishes. "At ISB, I was very much influenced in every moment. Particularly, I learned a lot in the friendship with Indian friends on and off campus. They are open, friendly and kind. They greatly appreciate their family. I was moved to see how strongly bonded their families are," he says. And no, he never considered giving up the temple for the corporate world after finishing his management education.

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Salt Lake Buddhist temples: one has Protestant look, one has Mormon roots

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One looks more Protestant but was Buddhist from birth — the other looks more Buddhist but has an LDS beginning.

Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) -- Two Buddhist temples dot Salt Lake City’s urban core. Both are housed in historic structures, serve a diverse population and preach about the transitory nature of human life.

<< (Kim Raff | The Salt Lake Tribune) The exterior of the Urgyen Samten Ling Buddhist temple in Salt Lake City on April 21, 2013. The building was once a Mormon ward and a gothic nightclub before it was renovated and became a Buddhist temple.
Salt Lake Buddhist temples: one has Protestant look, one has Mormon roots

One of these temples, though, is simple and understated, while the other is ornate and awash in traditional Asian colors. And the details of their sacred spaces reflect very different — even opposite — historical trajectories.

The Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, home to Utah’s oldest and most continuous Buddhist congregation, is nestled into a crowded city block near the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center. The building sits unobtrusively in an area now noted for parking lots and industrial spaces but was once a bustling neighborhood known as Japan Town.

This temple has the look and feel of a Protestant church, and that is no accident, says longtime member Brenda Koga. It was meant to blend in with the country’s predominant Christian culture.

"Our particular temple doesn’t resemble a Jodo Shinshu temple in other American cities or in Japan," she says. "It’s more Americanized architecture."

Across town on 300 West and 700 South, the Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa is in a century-old Mormon meetinghouse, which has been remade into a traditional Tibetan Buddhist place of worship.

The red, green, white, orange and blue prayer flags and wall hangings, along with the giant wooden shrine bedecked with rows of gold-encased Buddha statues and ablaze with candles, make it tough to imagine the space began as anything but a Buddhist temple. Then there are the yellow walls.

"You can’t believe how many versions of mustard yellow there are," quips Jean LaSarre Gardner, a co-founder of the sangha or congregation. "We sent pictures and would call our teacher in Nepal about the color."

When the leader arrived to see the finished space, she says, "he was very pleased."

Old and new, converts and lifelong believers, past and present — all these Buddhists and their buildings add flavor and dimension to Utah’s religious scene.

Coming to America

Japanese Buddhism arrived in the Mormon heartland more than 100 years ago with migrant workers who took jobs with Utah mines, farms and railroads.

By 1912, these Buddhists created their first congregation in Ogden, known as the Intermountain Buddhist Church. A few years later, the group moved to Salt Lake City, where members practiced Jodo Shinshu, a sect of Buddhism.

Through the years, more immigrants arrived — during World War II, for example, many Japanese Americans were sent to the Topaz internment camp in west-central Utah — bringing their faith and family shrines with them.

When the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple was built in the 1960s, these Buddhists "wanted to prove they were Americanized," Koga says. "They almost overdid it ­— but it’s understandable."

The chapel — or hondo — features pews, pulpit and layout that are more like Protestant churches than their counterparts in Japan.

"The chapel area is supposed to be wider than long because the horizontal line is more soothing than a vertical line," she says. "Our particular chapel does not comply with that whole concept."

It does, however, feature three traditional Jodo Shinshu shrines, elements of design seen in all the sect’s temples.

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Korean Temples get ready for spring stays

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Seoul, South Korea -- The Temple Stay program in Korea is beginning their preparations for the Spring Season in Buddhist temples across the Korean peninsula, aptly named “The Scent of Spring.”

Various Buddhist temples are currently offering their Spring programs that includes Spring themes and Spring flowers.

In Yongjusa temple, they plan to have a spring season oriented program where participants will enjoy walking meditation amongst the Korean rosebay, and make flower rice cakes.

Ssangyesa temple will offer a flower program which includes cherry blossom trekking, and meditation with plum tea.

Hwaamsa temple will host a photo contest of red plum flowers and exploration of the plum flower town, and consultation with Buddhist monks over tea during the beautiful Spring season.

Other Buddhist temples including Shimwonsa temple, Kumbongsa temple in the Kyoungsangdo province, and Daewonsa temple, Hungguksa temple, and Mihwangsa temple in Jeollado province also plans to host a special Spring themed Temple Stay program.

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Buddhist temples in Japan joining matchmaking boom

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Wakayama, Japan -- An increasing number of Buddhist temples have been joining the match making boom of recent years in Japan.

In the middle of February, 12 men and as many women, mostly in their late 30s and early 40s, gathered at Anrakuji, a temple of the Nichiren sect in the city of Wakayama, for a spouse-finding event, with each paying 2,500 yen for participation.

"Please value the chance of meeting each other here even if you don't find a partner," Shunko Yoshino, chief priest of the temple, said as he kicked off the event.

The men introduced themselves for three minutes each at tables occupied by women participants, cheerfully but earnestly talking about their occupations, families and other aspects of themselves.

After the event, which also included making colourful beadrolls and taking tea, participants wrote the names of those they were interested in on cards and submitted them to Yoshino, who chanted a Buddhist sutra, wishing for good matches.

"You have Buddha in yourself and I want you to find Buddha in other people," Yoshino said in his subsequent lay sermon. Buddha meets Buddha' is the theme of this event."Eventually, four couples were matched.

The matchmaking event was launched in 2011 jointly by Yoshino and Ryushin Yasutake, 37, chief priest of Dorakuji, a temple of the Kuze Kannon sect in the town of Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, known as a foster home for children.

Yoshino, 35, and Yasutake got acquainted with each other through a nonprofit organisation aimed at teaching Buddhism to children.

Agreeing on the importance of families, the two priests jointly started the matchmaking event and have conducted it on seven occasions to date, including the latest one in February, at either of their temples. The event brings Buddhism to the fore because it is held at temples, the two stressed.

"Temples should be places for mental growth and I hope (participants) will think they can become happy if they bring Buddhism into their daily lives," Yoshino said.

"For people who found their spouses here, our temples are places they can return to and seek advice from," Yasutake said.

" Matchmaking events conducted by temples of different sects are also drawing attention as a model for revitalising temples.

While matchmaking events are now held at temples in various parts of the country, the move was triggered by Katsuhiko Horiuchi, 34, who heads a group of people interested in temple lodging.

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China shuts down temples on sacred Buddhist site Mount Wutai

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Mt. Wutai, China -- CHINA has shut down two temples on a sacred Buddhist mountain and arrested six people after fake monks reportedly deceived tourists into donating money.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the Mount Wutai Administration Bureau closed two of the mountain's dozens of temples and revoked their business licenses on Friday.

It says the six people were arrested over illegal funding and that the temples had reportedly hired fake monks to con tourists into buying expensive incense and paying unreasonable amounts of money for ceremonies.

Last year, the government's religious affairs office called on local authorities to ban profiteering related to religious activity and told them not to allow religious venues to be run as business ventures.

Mount Wutai is on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

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Termites infest famous Korean temples

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Seoul, South Korea -- Termites have been a constant problem in the traditional Korean buildings, since most of Korea’s cultural properties are made of wood. Termites penetrate and devour the buildings, which include traditional Korean Buddhist monasteries.

<< Tongdosa - one of the key historical temples infested with termites

According to the inspections that were conducted by the Cultural Heritage Administration for the past 4 years, 78 out of 231 buildings were infested by termites, and 18 buildings had an ongoing termite problem. High-profile important temples such as Tongdosa, Songgwangsa, and Beomeosa temples all face the same problems.

Detection of termite infestation are only possible only after damages were made. During the meeting held on February 14th, 2013, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that the termite infestation was due to global warming as termites thrive in warm, humid environments. According to the data from the Korea Weather Administration, the  temperature and humidity of the Korean peninsula surged within the past sixty years.

They also added that not enough budget to take care of the buildings was another factor that added to the termite infestations. As a result, the damage to wooden cultural properties is getting more serious by the day.

Professor Jeong stated that it is difficult to prevent the infestation once termites are present in the treasures and buildings, what is important is to prevent the termites from latching on to the buildings.

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Buddhist temples push to get storm-relief money moving

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The leaders of two O.C. temples ask for help in finding out why $27,000 collected by temple members to help East Coast victims is languishing in a bank.

Santa Ana, CA (USA) -- When the Venerable Thich Quang Thanh asked members of his Buddhist temple in Santa Ana to donate money to help victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York, he was encouraged when the charity dollars began to swell.

<< Head monk Thich Quang Thanh is shown at the Bao Quang Temple in Santa Ana. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times / January 16, 2013)

But his spirit faltered when he found out that a chunk of the money - a pair of checks totaling $27,000 - made it only as far as neighboring Westminster, where the funds were deposited into a local bank account.

Thich Quang Thanh, who heads the influential Bao Quang Temple, said the checks were made out to the Mayor's Fund to Advance NY City and should have been delivered to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg by now.

The abbot said he discovered that the checks had been deposited at a Wells Fargo branch in Westminster only after reviewing the temple's latest bank statement.

"We had requested it be sent as soon as possible. Many months have passed since the hurricane," he said.

"I cannot accept the situation," added the Venerable Thich Chon Thanh, of Lien Hoa temple in Garden Grove, who also collected funds.

He and Thich Quang Thanh wrote to Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who in turn sent a letter to the district attorney Wednesday, pushing for an investigation.

"It's really sad and unfortunate. They put their name and their credibility out there to raise money, and now this," Nguyen said.

"When people are generous, we need to follow up with them," the supervisor said. "We want to know three things: How the check was cashed, where the money is now and how will it be delivered."

Susan Kang Schroeder, spokeswoman for Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, said that she is aware of the situation and that prosecutors will review the complaint and take "any appropriate action that's necessary."

The checks — one for $20,000, the other for $7,000 — were handled by the Vietnamese Interfaith Council, which was to make sure the money got to New York.

Thich Quang Thanh said a representative of the interfaith council told him that the money was safe and would be delivered after the Lunar New Year festivities in Little Saigon, the Vietnamese district that sprawls across central Orange County.

Among the festivities that highlight the Feb. 10 celebrations is the annual Tet parade, but this year organizers are working to raise money for the event, with more than $30,000 of the $60,000 needed already collected, according to Nghia X. Nguyen, vice chairman of the council.

The representative with whom Thich Quang Thanh said he spoke with is Nguyen, who heads the parade fundraising.

"What does the parade have to do with money for hurricane victims?" asked Thich Chon Thanh, the Garden Grove abbot.

During a news conference Wednesday night in Little Saigon, members of the Vietnamese Interfaith Council said it appears that no one endorsed the checks and that each contains the words "lack of endorsement" on the back.

Council members said it is their practice to quickly deposit checks such as the donations from the Buddhist temple and that a detailed ledger is kept of all donations.

"We cannot keep it at home," said Hoang Vu, who heads the interfaith council's finance committee. "We have to keep it in the bank."

Council members said they have raised nearly $160,000 from various sources for storm relief and have an appointment to deliver the money in New York on Feb. 22. The reason they're waiting that long, Nghia Nguyen said, is so they'll have "a chance to visit with storm victims who are suffering."

"Each donation carries sentiment, compassion," said Bishop Van Thanh Tran, council chairman. "We value that... We have not taken one dime."

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Korean Christians and Protestants continue vandalism acts on Buddhist temples

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Seoul, South Korea -- Vandalism and arson of Buddhist temples and treasures, and important cultural properties relating to Buddhism by the Korean Christian and Protestant communities continue. Although many legislative laws have changed to protect cultural properties and national treasure after the tragic arson of the Namdaemun gate, national treasure No.1, vandalism to Buddhist temples and Buddhist treasures continue in Korea.

On October 4th, 2012, an arson tried to burn down the Gakhwangjeon Hall of Hwaomsa Temple in Gurye County, Korea. Fortunately, the fire only made a small damage to the gate of the hall due to quick actions of the monks and the fire prevention restoration made in 2008. 
On the CCTV, the video captured a man pouring a flammable substance across the hall, and according to witnesses they smelt a very arsenic substance coming from the hall before the man threw in a match to burn down the Gakhwangjeon Hall.
Due to this incident, the Korean Buddhist community is in shock once again and fighting for a stricter law enforcement for the perpetrators of vandalism and arson to Korean important cultural properties and National treasures. 
Furthermore, on August 20th, 2012 a Protestant pastor, Seong, vandalized the dharma hall of Donghwasa Temple. This pastor self-proclaimed that he was from the SoonBokEum Church, was caught urinating in the dharma hall and vandalized the Buddhist portraits with a permanent marker. His poor actions was captured on CCTV of the dharma hall.

The Buddhist community was outraged by this act and urged law enforcements to put a stricter punishment as this act cannot be charged with a simple invasion and vandalism punishment.
Although the law enforcement captured the pastor, they considered this act as “unusual” and let the pastor go stating that he was under mental disorientation. Thus, enraging the Buddhist community because the Korean government and law enforcement is very lenient towards destruction of Buddhist artifacts and National treasures.

On November 2011, the stele that accompanied the stupa of National Preceptor Jigwangguksa of Beopcheonsa temple, Korean National Treasure No. 59 was vandalized. A giant cross was drawn across the five meter stone statue and was opened to public on a christian man’s Facebook and twitter page.
Similarly, in November 2011, near the Haewundae in Busan, Korea. Four Buddhist temples reported vandalism and invasion by the Korean Christian community, as they spray painted red lacquer on the hands and faces of the Buddha statues.
Various vandalism of Buddhist cultural properties and Buddhist temples, vandalism and destruction of Korean national treasures have been going for several decades, and these actions are the root causes of religious disharmony between the Korean religious communities.
One of the biggest and significant act of vandalism by Christians was in June of 2006 during the “Again 1907 in Busan” festival by Korean Christians. The Christians prayed earnestly for all the Buddhist temples and monasteries of the Busan area to be destructed, and many Korean citizens were dismayed to find Korean President Lee MyungBak to be the congratulatory commentator of this event.

In February of 2011, there was another scandal where three pastors came to the Jogye temple and ordered the monastics to “believe in Jesus, as {koreans} we are all children of God.”

In 2010, a pastor and college students of the Christian faith invaded Bongeunsa temple and began a “Ground stepping”  and had a protestant ritual for all the ground to be returned to the land of God.

This was wide spread throughout youtube and the internet.
These various vandalism sparks fear of Buddhist discrimination in Korea. Korea is in much need for the harmony of religions, and these vandalism of the Korean Christian and Protestant community need to stop.

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Dhaka rebuilding Buddhist temples

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Dhaka, Bangladesh -- Authorities have started rebuilding the Buddhist temples destroyed by mobs in Cox’s bazaar and Chittagong districts in September.

Reports from Cox’s bazaar said reconstruction work had started under a directive from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had assured that the temples would be rebuilt. The work would reportedly be carried out by Army engineers at an estimated cost of 120 million taka.

Officials said the new designs would be finalised by Buddhist leaders to retain original shapes.

The September 29 and 30 mayhem in the Buddhist villages in Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Patiya in southeast Bangladesh, adjoining the Rakhine State of Myanmar, was the worst communal violence in Bangladesh’s history. It displaced several thousand Buddhists and dozens of homes were vandalised.

The violence was allegedly triggered by an offensive Facebook post maligning Prophet Mohammad. However, most enquiry reports say the attack was planned and politically motivated. Fundamentalist organisations active along the border with Myanmar have been blame for carrying out the attack with support from the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who visited the worst affected Ramu area, later told a delegation of Buddhist leaders that her government would not spare anyone involved in the attack.

The main opposition BNP has blamed the government for the attack.

The Hasina government believes the attack on Buddhists, who comprises about one per cent of the population, may have other motives: to force the government to accept the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar; to wreck the ongoing war crimes trial and to create anarchy ahead of the next general elections.

However, almost all probe reports have questioned the role of the local administration and police during the attacks as the government agencies had remained silent onlookers during the violence.

Around 250 people have been arrested over the attacks and the government has announced trial of the plotters and attackers in the Speedy Trial Court.

There is a strong allegation of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami’s involvement in the attack.

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Rioters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh

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Ramu, Bangladesh -- Thousands of rioters torched Buddhist temples and homes in southeastern Bangladesh Sunday over a photo posted on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, in a rare attack against the community.

<< The burnt Buddhist temple of Shima Bihar in Ramu. Thousands of rioters have torched Buddhist temples and homes in southeastern Bangladesh over a photo posted on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, in a rare attack against the community.

Officials said the mob comprising some 25,000 people set fire to at least five Buddhist temples and dozens of homes in Ramu town and its adjoining villages, some 350 kilometres (216 miles) from the capital Dhaka.

The rioters claimed the photo allegedly defaming the Koran was uploaded on Facebook by a Buddhist man from the area, district administrator Joinul Bari said.

"They became unruly and attacked Buddhist houses, torching and damaging their temples from midnight to Sunday morning," he told AFP.

"At least 100 houses were damaged. We called in army and border guards to quell the violence," he said, adding that authorities had temporarily banned public gatherings in the area to prevent further clashes.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, and authorities did not say if any of the rioters were arrested.

The country's home minister, industries minister and national police chief rushed to the scene Sunday morning.

Police officer Rumia Khatun said about "25,000 Muslims chanting God is Great" first attacked a Buddhist hamlet in Ramu, torching centuries-old temples, and later stormed Buddhist villages outside the town.

Witnesses said the rioters left a trail of devastation at the Buddhist villages.

"I have seen 11 wooden temples, two of them 300 years old, torched by the mob. They looted precious items and Buddha statues from the temples. Shops owned by Buddhists were also looted," said Sunil Barua, a local journalist on the scene.

Barua, himself a Buddhist, said 15 Buddhist villages were attacked and more than 100 houses were looted and damaged. "The villages look like as if they were hit by a major cyclone," he told AFP by phone.

Buddhists, who make up less than one percent of Bangladesh's 153 million population, are based mainly in southeastern districts, close to the border with Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Sectarian tensions have been running high since June when deadly clashes erupted between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

Although Bangladesh, where nearly 90 percent people are Muslims, has witnessed deadly clashes between Muslims and Hindus in the past, sectarian clashes involving Buddhists are rare.

In recent weeks tens of thousands of Muslims have hit the street across the country to protest a US-made anti-Islam mocking the prophet Mohammed.

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"Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan" opens in New York

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NEW YORK, NY (USA) -- A groundbreaking exhibition that unites masterpieces of Chinese sculpture from the famed sixth century cave temples at Xiangtangshan with the first ever digitized reconstructions of their original setting opened on September 11, 2012, at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University (ISAW).

<< Standing Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), Xiangtangshan: Southern Group of Caves, Attributed to Cave 2, 565-577 ce. Limestone freestanding sculpture with lacquerlike coating, 74 x 20 1/16 x 14 9/16 in. (188 x 51 x 37 cm). University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Purchased from C.T. Loo, 1916 (C113).

Based on the most recent scholarship and utilizing advanced imaging technology, the installation provides new insights into the history and original appearance of one of China's most remarkable Buddhist devotional sites. The majestic temples at Xiangtangshan - carved into mountains in northern China and lavishly decorated with sculpted images of Buddha and other celestial beings - were damaged during the early twentieth century, when many of the carvings were removed.

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan brings together twelve of the finest of these temple sculptures, on loan from American and British museums, and features a full scale, digital, 3D reconstruction of the interior of one of the site's most impressive caves.

The exhibition is the result of a ten year research project on the Xiangtangshan temples and their carvings by an international team of scholars based at the University of Chicago's Center for the Art of East Asia. Echoes of the Past remains on view through January 6, 2013. ISAW Exhibitions Director and Chief Curator Jennifer Chi states: "While the sculptures from Xiangtangshan can - as indeed they have for many years - stand alone as powerfully impressive works of art, this exhibition is a rare and tremendously exciting opportunity to experience the carvings in their original context and to better understand the sacred meanings they were meant to convey."

Echoes of the Past is a superb example of the enormous potential of digital technology in the public presentation of ancient sites and objects. Carved into the limestone mountains of Hebei province in northern China, the Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan (which translates as "Mountain of Echoing Halls") were the crowning cultural achievement of the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 C.E.), whose rulers established Buddhism as the official religion of their realm.

The interiors of these vast, multistoried structures, intended as replications of paradise itself, were lavishly decorated with hundreds of carved and painted images of Buddhist deities, disciples, and crouching monsters.

Notwithstanding the enormous scale of the project, the carvings are among the most artistically refined surviving examples of Chinese medieval sculpture. Collectively, they are considered fundamental to our understanding of the history of Chinese Buddhist style and iconography. Unfortunately, during the early twentieth century, the outstanding quality and remote location of the temple carvings made them an attractive target for removal.

Heads and hands of figures, as well as freestanding sculptures, were removed.

Exhibition Overview Echoes of the Past reunites twelve of the sculptures that are representative of the imagery, iconography, style, and scale of the sculptural program at Xiangtangshan. Of supreme importance were the images of Buddha, in his many and varied manifestations. A magnificent head of Buddha, measuring nearly three feet high, likely belonged to a colossal seated figure of Prabhutaratna, Buddha of the Past, that is still in situ in the caves.

Gently smiling, with downcast eyes, the head exudes an aura of serenity and calm. A smaller, exquisitely carved freestanding figure of a seated Buddha was apparently removed intact, and even retains its large and elaborately worked halo of floral and vegetal motifs.

The exhibition also reunites the left and right hands of a colossal Maitreya, Buddha of the Future; although only fragments, the hands are highly expressive, with the creases in the flesh and such details as the fingernails all finely observed. Also on view are several superb examples of the bodhisattvas and pratyekabuddhas (enlightened spiritual beings worshipped as deities) that abounded in the sculptural program of the caves.

A life size head of the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, with its symmetrical but sensitively carved features, exemplifies the wonderful balance of abstraction and naturalism that characterizes the finest Xiangtangshan sculptures. The figure of a standing pratyekabuddha, his mouth slightly open, as if reciting a prayer, has been hailed as one of the most majestic Chinese sculptures of any period. In contrast to the serenely elegant Buddhist deities are the grotesque and grimacing monsters found in the caves, probably representing evil spirits vanquished by Buddhist wisdom.

The exhibition's example is a fearsome creature, with a leonine head, curving horns, and wings rising from a corpulent humanoid body. The exhibition also includes rubbings of the sacred inscriptions that were a distinctive feature of the complex at Xiangtangshan. In addition, visitors to the exhibition have the unprecedented opportunity to virtually walk through one of the caves, experiencing it as it might have appeared in the sixth century, thanks to an enveloping media installation that layers 3D laser scans of dispersed sculptures onto digitized scans of the existing temple walls and ceiling.

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Shaolin Temple’s identity quandary

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Berlin, Germany -- If the word "Shaolin Temple" comes up and you picture monks ringing bell and chanting scriptures in a reclusive temple removed from the secular world, your image needs an update. Shaolin temples, home of Shaolin Kungfu, are spreading Shaolin culture abroad by relating to modern society.

The 2012 European Shaolin Culture Festival, held in Germany and Austria on September 7, was organized by Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan Province and the World Shaolin Association.

The first of this kind in Europe, Shaolin Kungfu institutions and practitioners across the globe participated. Lectures about Shaolin tradition, Kungfu performances, Shaolin Zen philosophy and medicinal sciences were introduced.

The festival is a test of Shaolin popularity abroad. But some worry that Shaolin tradition is becoming overly commercialized.  

Revamping an image

Shi Yongxin, the Shaolin Temple abbot, told Xinhua News Agency that Shaolin is an easy way for Westerners to learn about Chinese traditional culture.

"We hope more foreigners learn about Chinese culture and religion through the festival," said Shi.

According to Shi, over 1,000 people attended the conferences. Among them, over 400 were apprentices of Shaolin Kungfu, from 20 countries.

Shaolin Kungfu is one of the most recognizable aspects of Shaolin tradition, popularized through movies, attracting thousands of apprentices to the 1,500-year-old culture.

Six-year-old monk Shi Xiaosong, the youngest warrior monk in the temple, performed traditional Shaolin Kungfu at the festival.

Li Xudong, his father, told the Global Times that two years ago, Shi fell ill. Doctors suggested the child practice Wushu to gain back his health.

Though Shi doesn't have a typical education or childhood, Li said that Shi is content and takes courses at the temple, in lieu of normal study at school.

Shaolin Temple emphasizes educating its monks and disciples. Half the monks at the temple are born in the 1980s. Though Buddhist disciples were once isolated from the outside world, modern monks study in Buddhist institutions and universities while teaching Buddhism, religion and philosophy.

"Times have changed. Monks must learn communication and technology skills, study foreign languages and study abroad," Shi Yongxin told Xinhua.

Overseas notoriety

There are around 10 Shaolin temples in China. Shaolin Temple, in Songshan Mountain, Henan Province, is the oldest and most influential.

The first overseas culture center was established in 1995 in New York. Shaolin culture centers are now found in German, France, Russia and Australia, providing information about Buddhist culture and Wushu.

There are Shaolin Kungfu teaching institutions and organizations in over 50 countries and regions, boasting over 3 million foreign apprentices. Shaolin Kungfu courses are offered at universities overseas.

In the 1970s, the temple accepted visits from Buddhist, Wushu and cultural institutions from Japan, South Korea, Europe and the US. Meanwhile, monks from the temple gradually left China, participating in religious forums and related activities abroad. Since 1987, Kungfu performing groups were sent overseas, in over 80 countries and regions. In 2004, California set aside March 21 as the commemorative "China Songshan Shaolin Temple Day."

Shaolin Temple has a magazine, film company and office for Wushu promotion. Shaolin tradition is promoted through performances, films, TV series and Buddhist activities.

Shaolin temples accept foreign apprentices who study Kungfu, accepting hundreds each year.

Shi told Beijing News that before 2000, Shaolin culture popularity relied on Kungfu. Following it, Zen culture spread. 

Commercial aspects 

With Shaolin culture spreading abroad, some worry an inaccurate portrait is being painted in the West. In recent years, the temple has been scrutinized  for its bold commercial moves.

In 1989, the establishment of Warrior Monks Group, a tour performance group, was criticized as a pure commercial movie. In 1996, Shaolin Temple became the first temple in China to utilize the Internet. Shi Yongxin set up Henan Shaolinsi Television Co. In 1997, then Shaolin Temple Industrial Development Company in 1998.

In 2006, a Shaolin food company was established. The temple opened a medicinal company in 2007, taking advantage of ancient Shaolin medicinal sciences. And in 2008, the first online shop to sell products related to Shaolin Temple opened on taobao.com, a step towards the  e-business and commerce industry.

At a forum at Peking University last year, Shi Yongxin said that Shaolin Temple opened over 40 companies abroad and had nearly 130 martial arts clubs. The temple profits abroad mainly through three channels: tuition from apprentices, performances and film production.

Many find this contradictory to traditional images of temples as reclusive shrines with monks living off donations. Some criticize Shi's attempts to popularize Buddhist culture, calling it exploitative.

Shi said that criticism is understandable. But monks need food and electricity, and the temple has expenditures.

"Times have changed. We need to adapt and earn a living, otherwise, we could be eliminated," Shi told Beijing News, "We commercialize some parts to support our livelihood and spread Shaolin culture."

"Shaolin is known world wide. It will be tarnished by others if we don't spread it ourselves. We need to take initiative before the commercial tide takes us over," Shi said. He added that they will never cater to the mass market.

Ren Liang, a modern Buddhist expert, told the Global Times that the commercial activities aim to spread Shaolin and Buddhism culture, and this follows a natural course.

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Thou shalt not launch IPOs, China tells temples

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SHANGHAI, China -- Buddhist and Taoist temples have no right to go public and list shares on stock exchanges, a Chinese official was quoted in state media as saying of an issue that seems to have touched a nerve with the officially atheist government.

The listing of companies linked to world famous Chinese heritage sites is not new in the country’s three-decade-old capital markets, but attempts to list at least one religious site have apparently crossed a line.

Schemes to promote tourism via temples, or even for temples to band together and go public to raise funds, were wrong, Xinhua news agency quoted Liu Wei, an official with the State Administration of Religious Affairs, today as saying.

Such plans “violate the legitimate rights of religious circles, damage the image of religion and hurt the feelings of the majority of religious people”, he said in remarks at a conference on the management of religious sites.

Reports about the Shaolin Temple, famous for its kung-fu monks, planning a listing sparked a public outcry three years ago when they surfaced. Many Chinese are concerned that the Shaolin Temple, which has become a high-profile commercial entity in recent years, is becoming overly money-minded.

Shanghai-listed Huangshan Tourism Development Co, for example, sells admission to Huangshan, or the Yellow Mountain, a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site in the southern Chinese province of Anhui.

And the sale of admission tickets to the famed Emei Mountain in southwest China is also an important source of income for Shenzhen-listed Emei Shan Tourism Co.

China’s Communist-run government is officially atheist but the state recognises Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, and tolerates religious activity within boundaries.

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Troops outnumber monks at temples in Thai south

With its barbed wire, sandbag bunker and armed guards, Wat Lak Muang in Thailand's strife-torn deep south looks more like a military outpost than a typical Buddhist temple.

Since a deadly insurgency erupted in the Muslim-dominated region seven years ago, the army has become inseparable from religious rituals in the region, where troops live side-by-side with monks in monasteries.

At Wat Lak Muang, a few kilometres from the centre of the city of Pattani, soldiers armed to the teeth return from patrol in pick-up trucks from time to time, while monks in saffron robes busy themselves around a fire inside.

Around the stupa, prefabricated barracks have been set up for soldiers and armoured vehicles and transport lorries are parked nearby.

The eight monks living there are by far outnumbered by the roughly 100 soldiers -- a situation mirrored at other temples in the region.

The army says it is a mainly a matter of convenience.

"Just because soldiers are with monks doesn't mean that it's a religious war," said Major General Acra Tiproach, deputy regional army commander.

"It doesn't mean that we're there to fight. It's only a shelter. There are buildings we can use for accommodation and we can take care of the security of local people."

Since 2004, Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, near the border with Malaysia, have been riven by a complex insurgency that has claimed more than 4,800 lives, both Buddhists and Muslims.

Monks -- seen, like teachers, as a symbol of the Thai state -- are among the targets, sometimes shot or attacked with bombs while out collecting alms.

The militants denounce the Bangkok-based ruling elite and the kingdom's majority Buddhists, in a region where 80 percent of the population is of Malay ethnicity and Muslim religion.

More than ever, the daily religious routines take place under close military surveillance.

In the early morning, monks in pairs go on the traditional collection of alms -- normally gifts of food -- from the Buddhist faithful in the centre of Pattani, reciting prayers as they go.

It could be a scene from anywhere in the country -- apart from the armed bodyguards who closely follow the monks, surveying each doorway, blocking access to each street.

"The situation is bad," said a local shopkeeper who came to take part in the ritual.

But he added: "I don't think it's strange. There's nothing wrong with having soldiers with monks."

Analysts struggle to describe a conflict whose roots can be traced back to the start of the 20th century.

The leaders of the insurgency are difficult to identify, the militants are discreet and the claims of responsibility unclear.

People in the region complain of a long history of perceived discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, including alleged abuses by the armed forces.

While the Muslim militants are not viewed as jihadists, the presence in recent years of troops in the monasteries has brought a new religious dimension to the conflict.

"The militarisation of Buddhist temples is fuelling a sense that this is a clash between religions and that's a problematic direction to move in," said Duncan McCargo, an expert on the conflict with Leeds University in Britain.

In stark contrast to hardcore Islamic militants like Al-Qaeda, the Thai insurgents have not taken their armed struggle out of the deep south.

Moreover, the younger generation of insurgents, said McCargo, is not recruited on the basis of fundamentalist ideology.

But some soldiers have been ordained as monks in recent years. And rumour has it that certain monks are armed.

Officially, the monks do not complain. Most of the superiors approve of a military presence that they can, in any case, do little about.

"It's all right because monks live with monks, soldiers live with soldiers. We live separately," said Pipit Vavakarn Koson, the abbot of Narathiwat's Tung Kha temple.

"There were bombs in some temples, some were burnt down, some monks were killed. So I thought it's a good idea to have soldiers here with us. They can protect the villagers and will make them feel more calm."

But mosques have also been attacked in the past and there are no soldiers guarding those.

Religion is one of the three pillars of the Thai constitution -- along with the nation and the monarchy -- and nobody doubts that Buddhism is the de facto religion of the state.

"The presence of the soldiers in most, if not all, temples in this area makes it appear that temples are representations of the Thai state," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, director of conflict monitor Deep South Watch.

"When you present yourself as a protector of the temples of the Thai Buddhist, you become the protector of the minority. State mechanism becomes part of the violence."

Wat Tung Kha sits in the middle of an exclusively Buddhist village, an enclave protected by a military roadblock. The main street is covered with yellow flags, symbols of the monarchy, therefore the domination of Bangkok.

Ophat Yenbut, 66, lives with her husband opposite the monastery. She points to the house of her neighbours and explains that the couple were killed in a rubber plantation some years ago.

"I sleep better when I know that the soldiers are here to protect us," she said.

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