(translated from the Vietnamese)
Fragrant Source Inner Monastery The last days of 2009
To my Bat Nha children,
I know that in these moments, you have to disperse to many places, and you cannot live together to practice as a monastic community anymore, but I trust that my letter will still reach you. Continue reading The Indestructible Seed of Awakening →
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
see original article here
A zen master famed for spreading Buddhism in the West, and who was once a confidant of the US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has accused Vietnam’s Communist government of dispatching violent mobs to attack his followers and force them from their monasteries. Continue reading Vietnamese evicted my flock, says Zen master →
Zen Master: Vietnam Paid Mobs to Evict Followers
see original article here
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 11, 2010
Filed at 7:21 a.m. ET
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A famous Zen master has accused Vietnam’s communist government of hiring mobs of people to violently evict his Buddhist followers from two monasteries. Continue reading New York Times: Vietnam Paid Mob to Evict Followers →
Followers of one of the world’s most influential Buddhist monks say they have gone underground in Vietnam after being forced from a pagoda that gave them refuge.
Followers of one of the world’s most influential Buddhist monks say they have gone underground in Vietnam after being forced from a pagoda that gave them refuge.
About 200 devotees of Thich Nhat Hanh dispersed last month from the Phuoc Hue pagoda in central Vietnam after visits by what a US-based rights group described as “orchestrated” mobs that included police.
It was the second time since September that they had fled from a temple after what Human Rights Watch alleged was a year of intensified government effort to disband the community of young monks and nuns. Continue reading AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: followers of Zen monk go underground →
Followers of an activist Vietnamese monk are forced underground.
AFP
Thich Nhat Hanh (R) at a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2007.
BANGKOK—Followers of a hugely influential Zen Buddhist monk say they have been forced to go underground after being evicted from the pagoda where they had been living.
Some 200 monks and nuns—devotees of Thich Nhat Hanh—fled Dec. 31 from the Phuoc Hue pagoda in central Vietnam after visits by what U.S.-based Human Rights Watch described as “orchestrated” mobs that included police.
“We are now scattered everywhere, and it’s hard to settle down,” one nun said in an interview. “The authorities won’t let us stay wherever we go. They are trying to split us up.” Continue reading RADIO FREE ASIA: Monk’s Followers Flee →
Dear friends around the world,
It is the eve of December 31, 2009, the last day of the year. It marks a special moment for many of us; many will celebrate, many will make resolutions as we move into the New Year of 2010.
This time also marks a poignant moment for a community of monks and nuns from the central highlands of Vietnam. After peacefully resisting over a year of brutal physical and psychological persecution – the government has finally succeeded in dissolving this community – the official deadline for them to disperse was today, December 31. Continue reading A call for peace →
UPDATE 30th December
On Tuesday 29th December the last of the Bat Nha monks and nuns dispersed from Phuoc Hue temple in Bao Loc town. A 31st December deadline had been forcefully imposed for them to leave, following three days of government-led mob attacks on Phuoc Hue temple two weeks ago. Threats, harassment, and tight surveillance by police continued throughout the last fortnight, including a late-night police search of Phuoc Hue temple on Christmas Eve and menacing visits from the Veterans’ Association. The monks and nuns fled ahead of a further attack by police officers and young soldiers, threatened to strike on the 31st . Continue reading Persecuted Bat Nha monks and nuns forced to disperse into hiding →
Evading Vietnam police, monks head underground
By BEN STOCKING
Associated Press, 31 Dec, 09
Followers of a famous Buddhist monk have abandoned the temple in southern Vietnam where they had sought sanctuary and are on the run from police, who have been pressuring them for months to break up their monastic community and return to their home villages.
The students of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who helped popularized Buddhism in the West and sold millions of books worldwide, slipped away from the Phuoc Hue temple under cover of darkness earlier this week, a spokeswoman for the monks and nuns said by telephone Thursday. Continue reading ASSOCIATED PRESS: Evading Vietnam police, monks head underground →
Associated France Press – 30 Dec, 09HANOI — Members of an “illegal” Buddhist group in communist Vietnam who took refuge in a temple for three months have left the pagoda in accordance with a deadline, the temple’s head said on Wednesday. Continue reading AFP: ‘Illegal’ Vietnam Buddhists leave temple: abbot →
MONKS AND NUNS A mob with official backing is attempting to evict nearly 200 Buddhist monks and nuns from a monastery in central Viet Nam. The group have been sheltering there since they were evicted from another monastery in September, by a similar mob.
On 11 December a mob of around 100 people, some of whom the monks and nuns recognised as police officers, forced the abbot of Phuoc Hue Monastery to sign an agreement to expel the monks and nuns no later than the end of the year. Continue reading AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – URGENT ACTION →