Mob, police force nuns to leave monastery

HANOI, Vietnam — Followers of a world-famous Buddhist teacher [Thich Nhat Hanh] say police and an angry mob have forced them out of a monastery in central Vietnam, ending a religious experiment in the communist country that turned into a months-long standoff with authorities.

Followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnam-born [Zen] monk who has popularized Buddhism in the West, said about 150 monks were forced from the Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province Sunday, and about 230 nuns left on their own Monday morning.

"The Vietnamese government has won," said Sister Dang Nghiem, speaking by telephone Monday from a monastery in San Diego, California, where Thich Nhat Hanh is visiting. "Their 'victory' is that Bat Nha is completely destroyed. Everything is smashed." More>>