Atonement for lost ‘monk spirit’

The Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul is a traditional Buddhist temple and popular attraction for many domestic and foreign tourists. It is also the headquarters of the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect in South Korea. In 1998, violent clash between monk factions on the temple’s compound was broadcast worldwide by foreign media including BBC and CNN. What did viewers around the world think when they watched groups of monks wielding steel pipes and balks and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails?

They were fighting over control of internal power. The bloodshed was reiterated at the Jogye Temple in October the following year, causing public distrust and resentment against Buddhism. However, some people in the Buddhist community think of the fist fight of the 1990s as “a thing of the rather pure and innocent days.” They say that today’s struggles for interests and privileges have become more cunning and shadier.

“We have lost the monk spirit,” declared Rev. Jaseung, executive director of the Jogye Order. “(Korean) Buddhism has made no contribution at all to our society for the last 50 years.” Had someone outside of the order made those remarks, he or she would have provoked many Buddhists. At a public event for the sect’s reform and future, he confessed that he had not properly learned how to live as a monk because he was involved in internal politics. He was re-elected as the sect’s leader two years ago, breaking his promise not to run for leadership in the wake of a gambling scandal involving Buddhist monks.

The Jogye Order has continually been embroiled in scandals over internal power struggles during various elections for key positions, including the election for the post of the order’s executive director held every four years. A series of other scandals also occurred, including gambling, prostitution and sexual assaults. The number of monks continues to decrease. The order cannot afford any longer delay in reforms.

“It might look like a show right now, but we have to sow the seeds, believing that we will harvest the results in 10 or 20 years from now,” he said. Time will tell if his promises are serious or nothing more than rhetoric.