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TreeKnot ago

Not saying this is true or isn’t true, however this tradition exists only in tibet, and has no bearing on Buddhism in other countries, however one thing is puzzling and that is why havent we heard from copious victims? Also my guess is that if this was really happening, the families and friends of the abused would be in the streets protesting and shouting to the hills about this, at least this is my humble opinion.

I would like to be careful, because the main religions are trying to remove the heat from themselves and start pointing in other directions even if falsely...i would be very careful to make these serious allegations without concrete evidence and proof...and im not talking about one or two articles and one you tube video....i mean real victim testimonials, court hearings etc....

If you can supply this information it would be most appreciated.

I know for sure if monks did this in Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka the monks would get beaten and tortured and thrown in prison very quickly because the lay people wouldn’t tolerate it at all.

Also - we fail to talk about Buddhism in the US, Australia and the West generally, and there has been very little if anything at all on child abuse by Buddhist monks which goes to show that even if there is a chance of this happening it is isolated and not spread across the entire culture like Christianity, Judaism and Islam....we know for sure about this....

Kacey ago

treeknot, please read the article I linked to by Parenti and you will understand why there is not a huge outcry in Tibet any more than the serfs in Europe sent up much of an outcry during the middle ages. As for Buddhists in the US many of the monks that came from Tibet were brought here by the CIA as was the Dali Lama. Many have been making a killing teaching a new version of Buddhism to young americans eager to have a religion different from the one they were raised in. There are good Buddhists who follow the best teachings of the religions, just like there are in all religions but..... Here are some child raping monks in Bhutan http://www.trimondi.de/EN/Abuse%20of%20Children%20Monks.htm

While rumors about child sexual abuse in monasteries have swirled around this tiny Buddhist nation for a while, this is the first time confirmed cases of underage monks molested by their seniors have come to the fore. “Every time I tried to scream or struggled, he pinned me with his body, put his hand over my mouth and covered it tightly,” an 11-year-old boy told the magazine “The Raven,” describing how he was sexually abused by a 20-year-old monk in a monastery in Punakha, about 45 miles northeast of the capital city of Thimphu. The underage monk said he and his 12-year-old friend at the monastery were asked to come in turns to sleep with the senior monk. Another pedophile monk, a 60-year-old man, molested not only the two boys, but two other monks, aged nine and 11.

Its not unusual for young boys to not want to speak about being raped. Its not unusual for their parents to believe the "good" priest, preacher, rabbi, monk instead of their child. In many countries it is also not safe to speak out against the ruling religious leaders.

For instance, how long did it take for the scandal to be revealed in Canada about how native children were abused and killed? Canada, not Tibet or Bhutan where control of the populace is much stronger.

Funny when something comes out that people don't want to hear they say "why haven't we heard this before if it was going on?" Maybe because every time before when someone tried to tell they got the same response "never heard of this so it must not be true". Well if every time an issue is raised people say "first I heard of it" then each time will be the first anyone has heard of it and so it will be buried.

TreeKnot ago

Your last comments do not represent what i said...and i repeat, i am not disputing whether it happened or not. The question is whether these monks were following the rules or not and whether the community enforced them. Any sexual abuse by a monk is an action that results in termination, so how they continued to do this is beyond me.

Factfinder2 ago

It is an act that SHOULD result in termination IF the rules are being followed. But very often the senior monks who should be responsible for enforcing the rules are the ones committing the abuse. So, no termination. Refusing to believe it's possible that this could be happening helps perpetuate it.

TreeKnot ago

Who are yiou referring to?