Buddhist followers practising teachings of the France-based Lang Mai ( Plum Village ) voluntarily left the Phuoc Hue Temple in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong for home on Dec. 30, 2009, officials said.
The Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Xuan, met with reporters on Jan. 11 on issues relating to followers of the Lang Mai sect.
According to the committee, before June 2008, a large number of Lang Mai followers arrived at the Bat Nha Monastery with permission of its head, Venerable Thich Duc Nghi, to practise meditation according to teachings of Lang Mai meditation centre, which was established in France by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Lang Mai centre, however, interfered in internal affairs of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha by appointing a deputy head of the Bat Nha Monastery and ordaining a Venerable to Most Venerable without asking for permission from the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) and the Monastery’s head.
The move ran counter to the VBS’s Charter and the law of Vietnam, the official said at the press conference, which was also attended by the Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong People’s Committee, Nguyen Ngoc Dong, representatives from the Foreign Ministry, foreign diplomatic corps in Hanoi and local and foreign reporters.
Displeased with the acts, Venerable Thich Duc Nghi sent a petition to the VBS to withdraw his guarantee for the Lang Mai followers. The VBS accepted the Venerable’s request and asked the Lang Mai followers to leave the Bat Nha Monastery and return to pagodas in their native land.
However, the Lang Mai followers stayed on despite Venerable Nghi’s repeated demands, which led to a clash between them and followers of the Bat Nha Monastery on June 27, 2009.
On Sept. 28, 2009, all the Lang Mai followers moved out of the Bat Nha Monastery to the Phuoc Hue Temple and some of them even returned home. And on Dec. 30, 2009, the remainders voluntarily left the Phuoc Hue Temple for home.
Xuan stressed that differences in the way of conducting religious practices between the Lang Mai followers and the Bat Nha Monastery’s monks, nuns and believers led to the clashes./.
The Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Xuan, met with reporters on Jan. 11 on issues relating to followers of the Lang Mai sect.
According to the committee, before June 2008, a large number of Lang Mai followers arrived at the Bat Nha Monastery with permission of its head, Venerable Thich Duc Nghi, to practise meditation according to teachings of Lang Mai meditation centre, which was established in France by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Lang Mai centre, however, interfered in internal affairs of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha by appointing a deputy head of the Bat Nha Monastery and ordaining a Venerable to Most Venerable without asking for permission from the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) and the Monastery’s head.
The move ran counter to the VBS’s Charter and the law of Vietnam, the official said at the press conference, which was also attended by the Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong People’s Committee, Nguyen Ngoc Dong, representatives from the Foreign Ministry, foreign diplomatic corps in Hanoi and local and foreign reporters.
Displeased with the acts, Venerable Thich Duc Nghi sent a petition to the VBS to withdraw his guarantee for the Lang Mai followers. The VBS accepted the Venerable’s request and asked the Lang Mai followers to leave the Bat Nha Monastery and return to pagodas in their native land.
However, the Lang Mai followers stayed on despite Venerable Nghi’s repeated demands, which led to a clash between them and followers of the Bat Nha Monastery on June 27, 2009.
On Sept. 28, 2009, all the Lang Mai followers moved out of the Bat Nha Monastery to the Phuoc Hue Temple and some of them even returned home. And on Dec. 30, 2009, the remainders voluntarily left the Phuoc Hue Temple for home.
Xuan stressed that differences in the way of conducting religious practices between the Lang Mai followers and the Bat Nha Monastery’s monks, nuns and believers led to the clashes./.
