Sunday, January 3, 2010

Fake monk business turning profits


BODH GAYA, India (RT) - In a small Indian town where the holiest temple for Buddhists was erected on the very spot where the Buddha [is thought to have] gained enlightenment, with tens of thousands of pilgrims visiting every day, fake monks are becoming routine.

The Indian town of Bodh Gaya is considered the birthplace of Buddhism [which in fact was born in either Sarnath, where the first sutra was delivered, or Rajagaha, where it was organized into a religion at the First Council]. It is here that the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment 2,600 [or more] years ago.

Just 200 meters away from the temple, locals shave their kids’ heads to make them look like Buddhist monks, and Hindu schoolboys play truant from school to attend prayers in the temple and to earn up to $US 4 a day [panhandling]. More>>

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