Monks havoc partying on Vesak day!
SEOUL (Reuters) - Six leaders from South
Korea's biggest Buddhist order have quit after secret video
footage showed some supposedly serene monks raising hell, playing
high-stakes poker, drinking and smoking.
The scandal erupted just days before Koreans observe a national
holiday to celebrate the birth of Buddha, the
holiest day of the religion's calendar.
The head of the Jogye order, which has
some 10 million followers, or about a fifth of the population, made
a public apology on Friday, vowing "self-repentance".
South Korean TV networks aired shots of
monks playing poker, some smoking and
drinking, after gathering at a luxury lakeside hotel in late April
for a fellow monk's memorial service.
"The stakes for 13 hours of gambling were more than 1 billion
won ($875,300)," Seongho, a senior monk who uses one name, told
Reuters on Friday.
He said he had reported the incident to prosecutors.
Gambling outside of licensed casinos and horse racing tracks is
illegal in South Korea and frowned upon by religious leaders.
"Basically, Buddhist rules say don't steal. Look at what they
did, they abused money from Buddhists for gambling," Seongho
said.
The behavior of the supposedly abstemious monks has led to
Korean media speculation of a power split within the order.
Seongho said he had obtained a thumb drive that contains a video
clip from a camera hidden in the hotel. He would not say who his
source was because of recent threats made against him.
The wayward monks appear to have upset many in Korea.
"A group of monks who gamble, drink and smoke in a hotel room is
tainted in the eyes of all people in the nation," civic group
Buddhist Solidarity for Reform said in a
statement.
The scandal also excited attention on Twitter, with some posts
calling for reforms within the sect.
" ...it can be good news. Please, Jogye Order, cut out the
rotten part before it gets worse and take this opportunity to be
reborn," one Twitter post said.
($1= 1142.4500 Korean won)
Reborn? Into horny monks? LOL!