Via the awesome Rod Meade Sperry over at Shambhala Sun Space: the Associated Press reports that the Vietnamese government has commented on the conflict at Bat Nha Monastery, where followers of Thich Nhat Hanh have been experiencing a sometimes violent standoff with the local community.
Monks following a world-famous Buddhist teacher are being evicted from a Vietnamese monastery for failing to clear their activities with the government, an official said Tuesday, but he denied the dispute was about religious freedom.
Followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, who has sold more than 1 million books in the West, say the government is punishing them because their France-based leader suggested that his native Vietnam’s communist government should abolish its control of religion.
However, Bui Huu Duoc of the government’s Committee on Religious Affairs, blamed the dispute on a failure to abide by local regulations and said it is normal for governments to oversee the operations of religious groups operating within their borders.
“Managing religious groups doesn’t mean controlling them,” Duoc, who oversees Buddhist affairs for the committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’re here to facilitate their efforts to do good things for the country.”
However, Duoc did allow that officials were “very surprised” at postings on the main Web site for Hanh’s main monastery in southern France calling for the government to disband religious police.
Vietnam formally recognizes less than a dozen religions, and they are all required to register with the state.
Hanh’s followers have been asked to leave the Bat Nha monastery in the Central Highlands by early September.
Follow this link for my past posts on this conflict.
