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Buddhist ceremonies were held simultaneously at temples nationwide including the Jogye, Bongeun and Hwagye temples in Seoul on Sunday morning in protests against alleged religious bias in the government.
Organizers estimate some 3,000 monks and laypeople attended a service at the Jogye Temple, the headquarters of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in Gyeonji-dong. In a message, the order¡¯s executive chief the Ven. Jigwan said, "If human society is equal, nobody complains. But if there is unjustifiable inequality, many people complain. A family would not be happy if the head of the household preferred one child over another. Only if there is no discrimination in society or state can we avoid conflict.¡±
The monk said some workplaces allegedly do not give jobs to those with different ideologies or religions. ¡°How tragic that is,¡± he said. ¡°I hope that the spirit of the Buddhist rally (last Wednesday) will be kept up peacefully."
His reading of the message was followed by speeches by believers denouncing the government and a showing of videos with examples of the government's religious discrimination. After the service, the participants shouted slogans, waving banners that read, "Let's prevent religious discrimination with the Buddhist believers' efforts" and "Legislate to stop religious discrimination!"
In a similar service at Bongeun Temple in Samseong-dong, the Ven. Myungjin said, "During a dinner hosted for Chinese President Hu Jintao, Cheong Wa Dae invited the Christian Broadcasting System (CBS) Children's Choir to perform. This means it paid no attention to the appeals of 200,000 Buddhist believers nationwide," who were already up in arms by the time of Hu's visit."
Some 1,000 Buddhists attended another service at Hwagye Temple in Suyu-dong. The executive committee of the Buddhist rally said similar services were held at about 10,000 temples under the Korea Council of Buddhist Orders.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Ven. Sambo (60), former abbot of the Sangwon Temple in Mt. Odae, injured himself in the main building of the Jogye Temple to protest against the Lee Myung-bak government's religious bias. He wrote a petition in his own blood, which read, "Lee Myung-bak must stop suppression of Buddhism!" He sustained a 1cm-deep and 15cm-long injury to his abdomen and was taken to Dongguk University International Hospital. It is reported that his condition is not life-threatening.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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