Abbot scandals

[ShaolinDiva]

but.... previous rumors never made CNN! or did a police investigation follow those rumors. Its sorta a different spin this time it seems.

[sha0lin1]

Yeah, but they are the same rumors. So CNN did a little blurb on their website about it, no big deal, it never made the 24 hour T.V. news cycle. Like I said, every two or three years these same exact rumors surface. Let them investigate and we will see if there is any truth to it. If the anonymous person in question has any evidence, he should lay it out there.

[@PLUGO]

No-show by China's Shaolin abbot in Bangkok fuels rumors of investigation

Reports quote temple official confirming and then denying that Shi Yongxin is under investigation amid questions over his integrity
by Alice Yan

The failure of China's controversial Shaolin Temple abbot to make a planned appearance in Thailand on the weekend prompted some Chinese media to speculate that he was under investigation.

Abbot Shi Yongxin was due to head a delegation to a martial arts exhibition roughly two weeks after a person claiming to be a former disciple made allegations about the abbot's integrity.

The Bangkok event is part of celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of Sino-Thai diplomatic relations and the birthdays of the Thai queen and princess.

China News Service reported that the exhibition's organisers were rushing to delete images of Shi from a video that was to be broadcast at the event on Sunday afternoon.

An official from the Thai Young Chinese Chamber of Commerce said members had to alter the footage because Shi did not arrive in Bangkok on Saturday as scheduled.

"We have been planning this event for a few months, and were told Shi Yongxin could not attend the event on August 1 and that we needed to edit the video," chamber general manager Huang Cheng was quoted as saying.

Quoting Qian Daliang, the general manager of a company overseeing marketing and business development for the 1,500-year-old temple, The Beijing News reported that Shi did not go to Thailand because he was being questioned by the religious affairs authorities in Dengfeng, Henan province.

But the website of the Global Times newspaper later countered, quoting Qian as saying The Beijing News report was not true and Shi was not being investigated.

Shi became the abbot of the Shaolin Temple in 1999 and is no stranger to controversy.

He frequently makes headlines, with most of his critics accusing him of turning the temple, known as one of the earliest centres of Zen Buddhism and Chinese martial arts, into a cash cow.

With a master's degree in business administration, Shi regularly makes references to "globalisation" and has promoted a strategy of opening institutions overseas and investing abroad. He most recently came under fire last week after an alleged former disciple using the pseudonym "Shi Zhengyi" claimed that Shi Yongxin was kicked out of the temple in the late 1980s, held double identities, had sexual relations with several women and even fathered their children.

The allegations drew intense interest online and in state media, prompting the religious affairs administration to order its bureau in central Henan province, where the temple is located, to look into the matter.

In a statement on its website last week, the temple denied all of the accusations, describing them as "groundless, vicious and libellous". It had reported the matter to police, it added.

The Buddhist Association of China said the matter "had affected the image and reputation of Chinese Buddhism".

[GeneChing]

...how ironic.

Has China's anti-graft campaign reached Shaolin's Kung Fu temple?
by Geoffrey Smith
@Geoffreytsmith

August 4, 2015, 11:33 AM EDT



Local authorities confirm they’re investigating sex and fraud claims as the “CEO Monk” who aggressively pushed the temple’s brand disappears from public view.

Has the iPhone-touting, laptop-savvy MBA grad who runs the ‘Kung Fu’ temple at Shaolin become the latest victim of China’s anti-corruption drive?

Speculation over the fate of Shi Yongxin, who has turned China’s most famous temple into a multi-million dollar brand in his 16 years as abbot, has intensified since he failed to make a scheduled appearance at an international meeting of Buddhists in Thailand, according to The Financial Times.

The “CEO Monk” has disappeared from public view after a week in which he was denounced online (albeit anonymously) for having children by prostitutes and embezzling monastery funds. A one-sentence statement released Monday by the authorities of the city of Denfeng, near Shaolin, confirmed it was investigating the allegations, saying: “Our bureau takes this extremely seriously and will swiftly clarify…and ensure a correct understanding of the matter.”

It could be a sticky end for the monk who has angered some in China by his ruthless commercialization of Shaolin, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts and Zen Buddhism, by renting it out for reality TV shows and computer games among other things. Shi is on the verge of what would be a crowning achievement for internationalizing the brand: the construction of a $400 million Kung Fu theme park in New South Wales, Australia (naturally including a hotel and golf course).

An open letter published under the name ‘Shi Zhengyi’ last week accused the abbot of living the kind of dissolute double life that has become distinctly unfashionable under President Xi Jinping. The author is thought to be a disaffected former disciple of Shaolin, but the name is most likely a pseudonym since it translates (according to CNN) as ‘interpreting justice’.

The letter, headed–“Who is to inspect this Big Tiger?”–consciously channeled Xi’s promise to go after both ‘flies and tigers’ in cleaning up China’s leadership. Shi is perhaps an unlikely target for action by state agencies, which have focused so far on corrupt Communist Party officials like former Chongqing governor Bo Xilai. However, the abbot is also member of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress. He’s also a vice-chairman of the state-backed national Buddhist association, which collaborates with the State Administration for Religious Affairs in monitoring all of China’s recognized religions. And 16 years as abbot makes him part of the Establishment, whichever way you cut it.

‘Shi Zhengyi”s letter, which went viral across China, accused Shi of having been expelled from the monastery in the past for the distinctly non-Zen practice of fiddling his expenses (what would Blind Master Po have said?). Once reinstated and having risen to the rank of abbot, Shi then entertained prostitutes at the monastery, going so far as to keep them there as mistresses and even fathering their children (another viral post claimed to show the birth certificate of one of them), according to the claims.

The monastery has denied the allegations as “malicious insults”, while Shi last week said he had nothing to hide.

[@PLUGO]

China launches investigation into allegations against Bruce Lee temple abbot

Shi Yongxin, the “CEO monk” who heads China’s famed Shaolin kung fu temple, fails to turn up at martial arts performance in Thailand amid sexual and financial allegations

China has launched an investigation into allegations of financial and sexual misdeeds by the so-called “CEO monk” who heads the famed Shaolin temple, the birthplace of kung fu and inspiration for Bruce Lee’s films.

The investigation was made public amid intense speculation that Shi Yongxin, the controversial abbot, failed to lead a delegation of his warrior monks on a martial arts tour to Thailand because he was being questioned.

There had been rumours that Mr Shi would use the long-arranged trip abroad to flee China to escape the explosive allegations that he embezzled funds and fathered children out of wedlock with female followers, including nuns.

Officials at the 5th Century temple, the home of Zen Buddhism which the abbot has transformed into a multi-million dollar commercial enterprise, have vigorously denied the online claims.

The abbot’s aides have reported the accuser, a purported former disciple writing under a pseudonym, to police for "fabricated and malicious insults and libel".

But in China, where religious activity is regulated by the communist state, officials in the city of Denfeng in Henan province, have now revealed that they have been asked to investigate the claims by their national bosses.

“Our bureau takes this extremely seriously and will swiftly clarify ... and ensure a correct understanding of the matter,” the religious affairs department said in a one-sentence notice published on the city government website on Monday.

Despite the controversies that he has faced since becoming abbot in 1999, Mr Shi has previously operated with the blessing of the authorities and served as member of the National People’s Congress and vice-chairman of the state-backed Buddhist Association of China.

Shaolin temple has a history as dramatic as its forested hillside setting. It was twice emptied and left on the brink of survival last century, the second time by the Red Guards of Chairman Mao after the communist chief denounced the practice of kung fu as a religious decadence.

But in his enthusiastic embrace of the commercial spirit of 21st century China, Abbot Shi has steered the temple down lucrative new paths, establishing the Shaolin “brand”, setting up foreign outposts and dispatching touring display teams of highly choreographed warrior monks.

In photographs, the chubby-faced robed monk is often pictured with an iPhone clasped to his ear as he negotiates deals. He made international headlines earlier this year when he announced plans for a splashy $297 million Shaolin complex in Australia – including not just a temple and a kung fu academy, but also a theme park and a golf course.

He was previously criticised for renting out the temple site to film-makers, accepting a luxury car from the local government for his contribution to tourism and a plan to list the Shaolin complex on the stock exchange.

Mr Shi’s no-show in Thailand only deepened speculation about his whereabouts. The Beijing News reported that he did not turn up in Thailand because he was being questioned by the religious affairs authorities in Dengfeng, although temple staff denied that.

In a letter of apology sent to the Thai organisers that did little to end the intrigues, the abbot explained that he became too busy with work to make the trip.

The scandal has provided ammunition for critics of the monk in China. The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the communist party, was notable pointed in its comments.

"It is not enough for Shaolin Temple to complain to the police about the accusation or calm the heated online discussion about the scandal,” it wrote. “A thorough investigation should be conducted to investigate the accusation and determine whether they are true.”

[GeneChing]

Corrupt religious leaders may inspire welcome spiritual crisis in China
Staff Reporter 2015-08-05 09:11 (GMT+8)



Shi Yongxin appears with a necklace of coins around his neck alongside the Chinese characters for "Shaolin Temple," with gold coins replacing the dots in the characters. (Cartoon/CFP)

Religious figures in China have run into trouble one after another over recent months, from the murder charges leveled at Qigong master and darling of celebrities and business leaders Wang Lin to the alleged sexual antics, illegitimate children and embezzlement of Shaolin abbot Shi Yongxin, according to Duowei News, a US-based political news outlet run by overseas Chinese.

These scandals have led to a crisis of faith among many religious people in the country and accusations that the majority of religious leaders in the country are charlatans out to make a quick buck out of the country's faithful.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the secularization of Chinese society and its move towards utilitarianism. The advantages are that people are less likely to fall prey to superstition and religious fervor but the disadvantages are the moral and spiritual voids left by a lack of faith. However, some commentators have said that China's current spiritual crisis could inspire a more profound kind of faith taking form in the country, the piece said.

Utilitarian Faith

Shi Yongxin is sometimes criticized as resembling the CEO of a company more than a Buddhist abbot. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the commercial way that Shi, who holds an MBA, has packaged the Shaolin brand and whether this fits in with the core concepts of the Buddhist faith. Even those who have come to his defense, have limited themselves to defending his business prowess, rather than his moral virtue.

However, some commentators have questioned whether the allegations against Shi — that he engaged in sexual relations with devotees of the monastery and fathered children against monastery rules while embezzling huge sums of money — turn out to be true or false, if anyone is really convinced that he is anything but a sales manager? Or indeed that Shaolin Temple, made famous by a series of kung fu films, is anything but a glorified martial arts performance troupe? Some people have even compared Shi's claim to be a senior religious figure with the administrator of a university claiming to be a professor.

One analyst cited by the website stated that the Shaolin monastery had been endowed with a profound symbolic meaning by film and television culture in the country. The temple's status as a symbol is why there was such controversy over Shi's alleged dodgy dealings with the local government, as this was seen as a betrayal of the monastery's symbolic significance.

As for Wang Lin, it seems he served more as a curiosity and a networking platform for celebrities and business leaders, rather than pulling off a massive scam of which they were the target. When Qigong was at the height of its popularity, renowned Chinese scientists and national leaders also met with him in person and took photographs with him. Many of those who took photographs with him, however, did not likely believe in his powers, but approached him purely as a curiosity.

As renowned author and translator Lin Yutang once said, when Chinese people are feeling proud, they believe in Confucianism; when they are frustrated they believe in Daoism and Buddhism and when these doctrines go against their interests, they say "human wisdom prevails over nature." This has led to a series of religious fads and the rapid restoration and decline of different schools of religious thoughts according to whatever is most convenient for the current zeitgeist, which one scholar cited by the paper described as "spiritual adultery." He said that in China, religion is widely conceived of in the utilitarian terms of transactions with a deity or deities, not as a responsibility to that deity.

The website stated that it is likely that these kind of scandals are not a new phenomenon, but rather that the party has slackened its censorship rules to allow the media to report on them for some reason. It's not certain whether this suggests increasing press freedom or the targeting of religious groups which could pose a threat to party loyalty.

References:

Wang Lin　　 王林

Shi Yongxin　　釋永信

More on Wang Lin on our Busted-Qigong-Masters thread.

I'm beginning to wonder how this will affect the upcoming 4th-Shaolin-Cultural-Festival-San-Francisco-CA-Oct-8-11-2015

[ShaolinDiva]

Well, at least they're getting tons of top USA media exposure Bad news is exposure nonetheless for Shaolin. I must admit that the NY Times journalism piece is a good piece of journalism!

And most definitely this shall affect the San Fran show if this continues - but they got a couple of months to put out this forest fire.


Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d37_story.html

NY times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/06/wo...ring.html?_r=0

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/china/...ang/index.html

[GeneChing]

I'm going to C&P it here because hyperlinks expire.

Money, Lust and Kung Fu: Shaolin’s ‘C.E.O. Monk’ Is Under Fire
点击查看本文中文版

By ANDREW JACOBS AUG. 5, 2015


Students practicing kung fu at the Shaolin Tagou School, one of the private academies near the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China, in November 2014. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times

DENGFENG, China — Incense drifting through ancient cedars. Saffron-robed monks, limbs a blur of movement, making quick work of imagined enemies. The boing of a giant bronze bell calling the faithful to prayer.

This is the scene at the fabled Shaolin Temple, a cradle of kung fu and Zen Buddhism nestled in the forests of the central Chinese province of Henan, where legend has it monks have trained in martial arts for centuries. But in recent days, another sound has been wafting across its hallowed grounds: the snickering of tourists trading the latest news about the abbot of Shaolin and his reportedly less than virtuous ways.

Over the past week, much of the nation has been transfixed by salacious allegations that the famed abbot, Shi Yongxin, known as China’s C.E.O. Monk for transforming Shaolin into a global commercial empire, is a swindler and serial philanderer who secretly fathered children with two of his lovers, vows of celibacy notwithstanding.

The accusations — new tidbits have appeared almost daily in the Chinese news media — are mostly based on documents released by a self-described former monk at the temple who says the abbot owns a small fleet of fancy cars, has embezzled millions of dollars from a temple-run corporation and has funneled some of the cash to a mistress now living in Australia.


Shi Yongxin in 2005. He faces allegations of embezzlement and breaking his vow of celibacy. Credit Cancan Chu/Getty Images

Beyond the obvious legal repercussions, the abbot’s apparent lust for women, money and bling runs counter to the virtues of chastity and austere living that he has long sought to personify as one of the most prominent figures in Chinese Buddhism. To his growing legion of critics, the scandal has heightened public cynicism about a society in which greed and crass materialism often seem to trump morality, especially among those in positions of power.

The informer, a mysterious figure using a name that translates as “seeker of justice,” has told reporters he is fed up with the abbot’s hypocrisy and wants to see the “grounds of Shaolin purified again.” He declined interview requests and has yet to appear in public, saying he is afraid for his safety following threats from what he called “Shi Yongxin’s henchmen.”

“We want the outside world to know that the Shaolin abbot, using Buddhism as a cloak, is a maniacal womanizer and corrupt ‘tiger’ who brazenly exploits Shaolin’s assets and tarnishes its reputation,” he wrote in a statement last week that pleaded for a government investigation.

Among the evidence he has made public to support his accusations are police depositions and photographs of a woman said to be one of the abbot’s lovers, a Shaolin nun who appears dressed in brown monastic robes while holding the baby she says was fathered by Shi Yongxin. Another supposed mistress claims to have physical evidence of his lechery: semen, collected in a condom, that she sent to a doctor for safekeeping. Over the weekend, she used a social media account to post a photo of the underwear she says she wore during sex with the abbot.

During a visit to the temple last week, the modest gray-brick pavilion where Shi Yongxin lives and works was padlocked, and monastery officials declined interview requests. In a statement posted online, they called the allegations against Shi Yongxin “vicious, groundless libel.”


A monk selling souvenirs and religious trinkets at the Shaolin Temple. The temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, has helped transform Shaolin into a global commercial empire. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times

Local police officials say they have opened an investigation, perhaps moved by the media maelstrom and a public finger wag by the powerful State Administration for Religious Affairs, which warned that the scandal threatened to tarnish Chinese Buddhism.

Critics have complained for years that Shi Yongxin has overcommercialized Shaolin through product licensing and overseas franchises, including plans for a $300 million luxury Shaolin kung fu resort and golf course in southeastern Australia.

Like the paying tourists who flock to Shaolin’s hourly “fighting monks” acrobatic show, other controversies have come and gone, including reports that the monastery spent more than $400,000 on “luxury toilets” and an initial public stock offering that was scuttled amid criticism that monks sworn to asceticism should not be playing the stock market.

News accounts have also detailed Shi Yongxin’s taste for Apple products and gold-filament robes — all gifts, he pointed out — and a 2011 Xinhua report said the authorities were investigating claims he managed to escape prosecution after being caught in a brothel raid.

Through it all, the abbot has remained stoic, refusing to respond to allegations of impropriety while brushing off requests to release details of the monastery’s finances, which include those of Shaolin Intangible Assets Management, a corporation that invests in seven Buddhist-themed enterprises and is largely owned by him.

continued next post