Power struggle hits Jogye Order

Monks stand at the main entrance of Jogye Temple in central Seoul, Monday. Jogye, the country’s largest Buddhist sect, is in turmoil following the release of a video clip taken with a hidden camera, showing monks gambling, drinking and smoking in a hotel room in April.

The largest Buddhist order, Jogye, is in turmoil following last week’s release of a video clip showing eight monks gambling with hundreds of millions of won at a hotel room in late April.

Jogye Order President Ven. Jaseung is under growing pressure to resign amid rumors that his opponents are moving to additionally make public the tawdry private lives of the sect’s leaders.

Jaseung himself is accused by Ven. Seongho, a former Jogye member, of drinking and flirting with young hostesses at a room salon in southern Seoul before being elected order president in 2009.

Ven. Seongho lodged a complaint with the prosecution to look into the gambling case and submitted the video clip as evidence. He urged Jogye leaders to step down, or he would release more evidence of corruption involving monks at Jogye Temple. He described the gambling footage as just the “tip of the iceberg.”

The incident represents a deepening power struggle between the monks. Ven. Seongho has been in conflict with Ven. Jaseung since he raised questions about his qualifications during the 2009 election to choose the Jogye leader. Ven. Seongho was also a candidate for the position. Following the election, however, he was expelled from the order.

The video of the gambling monks was taken by a hidden camera installed in the hotel room near Baekyang Temple in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province. Ven. Seongho told reporters that he found the video file on a flash drive placed anonymously at a temple. It shows the monks gambling, drinking and smoking at a hotel suite from the evening of April 23 until the next morning.

It’s not known who installed the camera. Some reports said Baekyang Temple has been engaged in an internal dispute over how to manage the temple’s assets and donations.

The Jogye Order is the largest Buddhist sect here with more than 2,500 temples and 13,860 monks around the country. Monks from different groups violently clashed in 1994 and 1998 over its control.

According to Ven. Seongho, a number of monks have been gambling and drinking, but the Jogye Order has taken little action to stop them. In a media interview last week, he claimed that some Buddhist leaders even have wives and kids.

“Since I made public such corrupt behavior, I have received death threats from many monks. I’m changing where I sleep,” he said.

Six members of the Jogye Order’s head office resigned en masse last week following the video’s release, but Ven. Jaseung indicated that he would keep the position. He ordered severe disciplinary action against those involved in the gambling, saying he would conduct a 108-bow ritual for 100 days starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday to atone for the monk’s misbehavior.

He named Ven. Jihyeon, one of his close aides, as the successor to the order’s No. 2 position Monday.

The incident comes as temples around the country are preparing for various events to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday, which falls on May 28. The prosecution said it will summon the monks concerned for questioning this week over the gambling incident. <Korea Times/Na Jeong-ju>

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