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Meak Bochea

Meak Bochea Day in Cambodia

In Cambodia, Meak Bochea Day is an important religious festival.  It is observed on the full moon in the third month of the Khmer calendar, which generally lands in later February or early March.  Meak Bochea Day commemorates the final sermon given by Buddha, in which he summarized the “heart of Buddhism” in three principles: ceasing from all evil, doing only what is good, and cleansing the mind. The group that assembled that day, around 2,500 years ago now, to hear him preach are sometimes called the “Fourfold Assembly” because of four factors that were in place: the 1,250 listeners were all “enlightened ones,” they were all ordained by Buddha himself, they came, according to the tradition, without being summoned, and it was a full moon in the month of Magha.  It is also said that, on this day, Buddha correctly predicted the day of his own death, which occurred three months later. The day of his death was also the day of his birth and of his professed enlightenment experience. It is also celebrated in Cambodia as Visak Bochea Day.  In Buddhism, a full moon day is considered a holy day and is considered the perfect time to repent of sins and “make merits.” The added historical significance of the full moon on Meak Bochea Day turns it into a day of penitence, of doing good deeds for merits, and of remembering the teachings of Buddha. To these ends, many attend local temples and pagodas on this day to perform merit-making acts. They also strive to purify their minds, avoid all sins, and adhere to all of the Buddha’s commands. Those commands include avoidance of drinking alcoholic beverages, killing, stealing, and lying. 

Activities

Should you be visiting Cambodia on Meak Bochea Day, some activities you may wish to take part in include:

See a Buddhist temple ceremony. There will be processions in which candles, incense sticks, and lotus flowers are carried around the temple three times. The first time is meant to honor Buddha himself, the second to honor his teachings (Dharma), and the third to honor monastic life (Sangha). You can view the ornately decorated temples and watch the worshipers. In some cases, you may be permitted to view the ceremonies and the inside of the temple.

At Oudong Mountain, hundreds of monks and government officials gather to perform Meak Bochea Day rituals. It is like the ceremony mentioned above but on a grander scale and of special significance. Oudong is located about 28 miles north of the capital city of Phnom Penh.

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Glossary of Buddhist words

 Glossary

1. Buddha
   The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, after his enlightenment. It is a title which means the enlightened or awakened one.
2. CE
   Common Era.
3. chant
   Repeating religious phrases or quotations from sacred texts.
4. conscience
   An inner sense (or 'voice') which communicates what is right or wrong in one's behaviour.
5. Dhammapada
   The most famous of the Buddhist scriptures in the West, with 423 verses in the Pali canon.
6. dharma
   This word has various meanings which have to be understood from the context in which it is used. It can mean religious duty. In Buddhism it is most widely used to mean the Buddha’s teaching. It can also mean ‘the truth’.
7. enlightenment
   The realisation of the truth about life. In Buddhism it releases a person from the cycle of rebirth.
8. founder
   The person who is regarded as founding or starting a religion, eg Jesus was the founder of Christianity; the Buddha was the founder of Buddhism.
9. Jakata Tales (Jakata stories)
   A large collection of writings about the Buddha's previous lives. It is part of the Pali Canon.
10. Kalama Sutta
    A Buddhist scripture.
11. Kalamas
    The people of Kesaputta who are being taught the Kalama Sutta by the Buddha.
12. lay community
    People of the community who are not ordained; those who are not priests, monks or nuns.
13. Mahayana
    Teachings that spread from India into Tibet, parts of Asia and the Far East, characterised by the Bodhisatta ideal and the teaching of ‘emptiness’.
14. Mahayana sutras
    Sacred Buddhist scriptures.
15. meditation
    Thinking quietly as a spiritual or religious exercise. Connection of the mind and soul with the Divine using breathing and other techniques. In Buddhism, using one of a set of techniques or exercises for calming the mind, developing positive emotions and understanding the way things are.
16. monk
    A person who is a member of a monastic order, living under religious obedience.
17. nun
    A member of a religious community of women, living under communal rules.
18. ordained
    To become a member of the clergy in a religious ceremony. To take vows as a monk or nun.
19. rational thinking
    Using reason and evidence to think through an issue and make a decision.
20. Sangha
    The Buddhist community of practitioners, usually used to mean the community of monks.
21. Sanskrit
    An ancient language that is the root of most Indian languages.
22. scripture(s)
    A piece of writing that has religious significance.
23. sources of authority
    Religious texts or bodies responsible for guiding people on how to live.
24. sutras
    A Buddhist scripture.
25. Theravada
    Meaning ‘teachings of the elders'. It is primarily focused on the Arhat path to enlightenment. This branch of Buddhism can be found in Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
26. Three Refuges
    The three most important features of the Buddhist life, recited as an expression of belief and commitment: I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Sangha, I take refuge in the dhamma (teaching).
27. Tibetan Buddhism
    Buddhism originating in Tibet. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
28. tradition
    The beliefs, teachings and behaviour of a group. It may include scripture, oral teachings, laws and ritual practices.
29. Tripitaka
    Three baskets. A threefold collection of Buddhist texts (Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma).

3 Pitakas

 Sutta Pitaka

Vinaya Pitaka

Abhidhammapitaka

Sutta Pitaka

It contains over 10 thousand suttas or sutras related to Buddha and his close companions. This also deals with the first Buddhist council which was held shortly after Buddha’s death, dated by the majority of recent scholars around 400 BC, under the patronage of king Ajatasatru with the monk Mahakasyapa presiding, at Rajgir.

Its sections are:

1. Digha Nikaya: Comprises the “long” discourses in 34 long sutras.
2. Majjhima Nikaya: Comprises the “middle-length” discourses in 152 sutras.
3. Samyutta Nikaya: Comprises the “connected” discourses in over 2800 sutras.
4. Anguttara Nikaya: Comprises the “numerical” discourses in over 9600sutras.
5. Khuddaka Nikaya: Comprises the “minor collection” It has 15-17 booklets. (Thai 15. Sinhali 17 & Burmese 18 booklets).

Vinaya Pitaka

The subject matter of Vinay Pitaka is the monastic rules for monks and nuns. It can also be called as Book of Discipline.

• Suttavibhanga: The basic code of Monastic discipline is known as It contains 227 rules for fully ordained Monks called bikkhus (Maha vibhanga) and 311 rules for fully ordained nuns called Bikkhunis (Bikkhuni Vibhanga) They are contained in Suttavibhanga, one of the parts of Vinay Pitaka.
• Khandhaka:Khandhaka is the second book of Vinay Pitaka. It has two volumes viz. Mahavagga and Cullavagga. Mahavagga deals with the awakening of Buddha and his great disciples. Cullavagga deals with the first and second Buddhist councils and establishments of community of Buddhist nuns and rules for Buddhist community.
• Parivara: Parivara is the last book of Vinaya Pitaka. It covers the summary of analysis of rules mentioned in first two books of Vinay Pitaka. Its is latest book and seems to be later than the Fourth Buddhist Coincil in Ceylon. It also contains questions and answers.

Abhidhammapitaka

Abhidhammapitaka deals with the philosophy and doctrine of Buddhism appearing in the suttas. However, it does not contain the systematic philosophical treatises. There are 7 works of Abhidhamma Pitaka which most scholars agree that don’t represent the words of Buddha himself. The 7 books are

1. Dhammasangani: It contains a matrix which lists the classification of Dhammas or ideas.
2. Vibhanga :It has 18 chapters dealing with different teachings of Buddhism. It is in 3 volumes and third volume is in question answer format.
3. Dhatukatha:It has a matrix and various topics.
4. Puggalapannatti: It has a matrix which deals with the list of the persons.
5. Kathavatthu:It contains the debates and commentary on thoese debates.
6. Yamaka :Yamaka has questions in pairs and understanding.
7. Patthana :It also contains the questions and answers.

The following graphic shows the Tripitaka of Buddhism.

5 moral precepts

 Specifically, all Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit:

• Killing living things
• Taking what is not given
• Sexual misconduct
• Lying
• Using drugs or alcohol

Four Noble Truths

 Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths, which Buddha taught, are:

• The truth of suffering (dukkha)
• The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
• The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
• The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

Collectively, these principles explain why humans hurt and how to overcome suffering.

Eightfold Path

 Eightfold Path

The Buddha taught his followers that the end of suffering, as described in the fourth Noble Truths, could be achieved by following an Eightfold Path. 

In no particular order, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism teaches the following ideals for ethical conduct, mental disciple, and achieving wisdom:

• Right understanding (Samma ditthi)
• Right thought (Samma sankappa)
• Right speech (Samma vaca)
• Right action (Samma kammanta)
• Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)
• Right effort (Samma vayama)
• Right mindfulness (Samma sati)
• Right concentration (Samma samadhi)

Karma

 Karma

A fundamental aspect of Buddhism is the teaching that you are responsible for your own life and your future circumstances (as well as your future lives)—whether you experience happiness, misery, etc.—and that your actions and behavior can bring good or bad karma. If you are kind to others, the belief is that they will be kind in return, but more importantly, that means you will experience good karma in your present and next life. On the other hand, if you are not nice to others, you will get your just deserts in some form in the near or distant future as well as in the next life through bad karma. The point is to be careful about how you interact with others: everything you do decides what you have to contend with in transmigration.

The word karma is from Sanskrit, where, fittingly, it refers to one's work as well as one's fate; it begins appearing in English writing in the early 1800s. Hippie generations adopted the philosophical term in various senses referring to one's feelings, the emotional atmosphere, luck, or whatever is pleasant or pleasurable, and now karma is every day.

While Roth was pregnant and struggling to keep food in the house for her other children, her family helped her and Proctor through their financial struggle. "Now we're in a more positive place in our lives, and we want to turn our bad karma into good karma," Roth said.
— The Hillsdale Collegian, 22 Mar. 2018

Nirvana

 Nirvana

English readers of religious philosophy were first enlightened on the Buddhist concept of nirvana in the early 19th century. The word is a borrowing from Sanskrit that means "the act of extinguishing" and, in Buddhism, it refers to a state in which desire and one's conscious attachment to things in secular life (or, in particular, the negative emotions these desires/attachments bring about) are extinguished through disciplined meditation. Once these things are vanquished, peace, tranquility, and enlightenment are said to be fully experienced; ignorance dissolves and the truth becomes fully known.

In nirvana, a person also not only enters a transcendent state of freedom of all negativity but breaks free of the religion's beliefs in the continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and the effects of karma—the force created by one's actions that is to determine what that person's next life will be like. A person who has gained insight into the true nature of existence in the cosmos and has achieved nirvana is known as an arhat, or an arahant, in some schools of Buddhism.

By the end of the 19th century, people were using nirvana figuratively for any secular state or place of great happiness and peace.

My favorite party scene is outdoors on brick-lined East 4th Street, a block of renovated buildings connected by strings of twinkling lights. It's people-watching nirvana even before you wander into the bars, clubs and restaurants….
— Fran Golden, The Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2017

Monks spread the word on AIDS

by Chan Kit Tze, The Star, April 17, 2005

Monks in Cambodia are providing care and support for Cambodia's AIDS orphans, writes CHAN KIT SZE who visited the Thmey Pagoda Salvation Centre in Siem Reap recently.

Siem Reap, Cambodia -- TRADITIONAL Cambodian music greeted us as we entered the shrine hall of Thmey Pagoda in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The musicians were seven to nine-year-old boys sitting at the far left of the hall, intently playing traditional Cambodian musical instruments. Later, we found out that it was the children's first public performance.

<< MONK'S VIEW: Venerable Hoeurn briefing the young journalists on his work with people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Salvation Centre, which is a non-governmental organization, works with the monks at Thmey Pagoda, to provide support services for people living with HIV/AIDS. They run an orphanage for children either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. 

The musicians who greeted us were either AIDS orphans, or have parents infected with HIV from the orphanage. They attend school in the morning and learn to play traditional Cambodian music in the afternoons. 

Cambodia is one of the countries most severely affected by the HIV/ AIDS epidemic in Asia. It is estimated that Cambodia has over 160,000 people living with HIV /AIDS, and more than 60,000 children orphaned by AIDS.

The Salvation Centre works together with different communities in Cambodia to carry out HIV/AIDS prevention programs, care for children infected and affected by the disease, as well as other support services.

The visit to the center was part of the program for all young journalists from East Asia and the Pacific attending the 7th Ministerial Consultation on Children organized by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in Siem Reap. 

The Salvation Centre was started in Battambang by the Buddhist monk Muny Van Saveth in 1994. He first initiated projects to help the children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. 

However, the number of AIDS orphans keeps going up in Cambodia, and Muny realized that he needed to enlist communities to combat AIDS.

In 2000, with support from Unicef, he began training monks, along with nuns and laypeople, in HIV/AIDS prevention and home care.

Hoeurn Som Nieng is one of the hundreds of Buddhist monks trained to educate people about HIV/AIDS to reduce the stigma and to promote care and compassion for the victims. 

?I want to be able to restore confidence in the victims. I am happy when they are happy,? said Hoeurn.

Buddhist monks are highly revered and respected by Cambodians, and are able to spread AIDS prevention messages effectively through home visits. People are more willing to share their problems and request help as monks are highly regarded.

?The monks? position of respect in Cambodian society has contributed to our success in reaching out. People open their doors for us because they trust us,? said Hoeurn.

Last year, monks working with the Salvation Centre visited over 7,000 households with AIDS prevention messages.

Monks also try to address the psychological distress caused by HIV/ AIDS by providing training in meditation techniques and by teaching the Dharma, the body of teachings expounded by the Buddha.

However, meditation is optional because not all those infected are Buddhists. 

At the monastery we visited, the monks and Salvation Centre runs a temporary healing center for HIV-infected patients seeking treatment at the hospitals in Siem Reap.

Many of those infected are poor and live in rural areas, and cannot afford to commute to the hospital. So, they stay for about two months at the healing center while undergoing initial HIV/AIDS treatment because doctors need to monitor their response to their medication.

The healing center, built and funded by Unicef, provides free accommodation to between eight and 12 families each month.

When Boudra, 39, discovered that she was HIV positive almost two years ago, she was devastated as she could no longer care for her 15-year old daughter.

Instead, the teenager now has to work as a maid to pay for her mother's expenses, including Boudra's fares to Thmey Pagoda. 

Boudra, who was staying at the healing shelter, will have to leave in about three weeks as doctors are assured that she could take her AIDS medication unsupervised at home. 

She is, however, reluctant to leave because she is free from stigma and discrimination at the Salvation Centre. They received care and were treated with dignity. But most importantly, they have hope. 

Buddhist Institute Plans to Re-launch Research Forums

by Tin Sokhavuth, Khmer Times, 4 January 2016

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- After being dormant for 10 years, the Buddhist Institute is re-launching its monthly speakers’ program to bring the latest research to the public, an official at the institute said.

Phat Chan Mony Ratha, president of the institute’s office of traditions and customs, told Khmer Times that the speakers will be selected based on the quality of research they submit on Buddhism, Khmer language, history, and many other fields of study. 

“Their research should be 10 pages maximum because they will only have two hours to speak to the audience,” she said, adding that the research will subsequently be published in Kambuja Soriya magazine. “This program should be a great opportunity for researchers to share their experiences with each other,” said Ms. Ratha.

Ms. Ratha added most of the institute’s publications and research on religion focused on Buddhism, but it is expanding to include more research on other religions, including Islam and Christianity.

Kambuja Soriya was created in 1926, and many well-known researchers have published articles on culture, tradition, and religion in the magazine, Ms. Ratha said. It stopped publishing during the Khmer Rouge reign and did not resume publication until 2014.

King Sisovat created the institute when he inaugurated the royal library, Khemra Bannalai, which later became the Preah Raj Bannalai, in 1925, according to the institute’s website. King Monivong officially established the Buddhist Institute in 1930.

Since its creation, the institute has conducted research on Cambodian literature, the Khmer language, and Buddhism.

It also publishes research and conducts educational programs. Officials did not give an exact timeframe for when the monthly presentations would begin but suggested it would be soon.

Officials Bring Buddhists to Prison, Hope for Change

by Tin Sokhavuth, Khmer Times, 18 January 2016

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Prisoners in Pailin’s Salakrao district received an unusual visit this Saturday, as a group of government officials and spiritual leaders dropped in to spread Buddhist teachings in an attempt to better prepare them for life outside bars.

Deputy governor of Pailin province Thou Phia, his wife Chea Leap, Provincial chief monk Sann Lee, Noun Savuth, Counselor of his Venerable Non-Gnetand, and a number of provincial government officials specifically emphasized the importance of the five Buddhist commandments to living a good life after prison, according to director of the provincial cabinet Hem Rithy when asked by Khmer Times about the visit.
 
According to Mr. Rithy, after delivering a sermon, the deputy governor said that the Buddhist five commandments could help everyone, even those in the greater Cambodian society, to live in happiness.
 
Mr. Phia also said that the inmates should meditate on Buddhist teachings and implement them in their everyday life, especially when they get out of prison.
 
He added that the reason why they were arrested and put in jail was that they did not obey these five commandments – they stole, robbed, killed, or sold drugs, which destroyed many families and caused chaos in society.
 
His venerable Sokha Vohathe, an abbot of the Ampor Rainsey pagoda in Kandal Steung district, Kandal province, told Khmer Times that it is difficult to change inmates’ minds for good.
 
“The fact was they were not the same. They have different degrees of knowledge and different degrees of intelligence. Some inmates could understand our Lord Buddha’s teaching and apply it in their life without a problem. Some other inmates don’t have this ability, so the five commandments of our Lord Buddha should be taught repeatedly,” he said.

The five Buddhist commandments are: to abstain from harming living beings, to abstain from stealing, to abstain from sexual misconduct, to abstain from lying, and to abstain from intoxication.

Pailin monks launch prison outreach plan

by Khouth Sophak Chakrya, Phnom Penh Post, 19 January 2016

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Pailin province’s chief monk, along with other monks, yesterday visited the Pailin Provincial Prison to “educate” the prisoners through dialogue.

The chief monk, San Ly, said that under a new program monks will visit the prison regularly to reach the prisoners on a spiritual level, develop their understanding of their misdeeds and encourage good deeds instead.

The monks will preach Buddhist principles and pray with the prisoners. “Our mind is a hot ball – it is very flammable; anger will lead us to commit crimes, so we have to calm our minds.

Then, we will be happy and free,” said Ly. He added that the program also promotes the spread of Buddhism in Cambodia.

Prison officials said that meeting with the monks at least once a month will be mandatory for all inmates.

How Buddhist monks are battling deforestation in Cambodia

 by Ate Hoekstra, Deutch Welle, July 7, 2016

Cambodia has one of the world's highest deforestation rates. But a group of Buddhist monks is stepping up efforts to save forests by publicly revealing wrongdoings and mobilizing local villagers.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- His memories often bring But Buntenh back to Cambodia thirty years ago. There were jungles as far as the eye could see. Centuries-old trees gave shade and provided shelter to birds and wild animals.

<< Buddhist monks collect images and videos of illegal logging, and then spread them through social media. Mönche in Kambodscha

The air was clean, nature gave the local people everything they needed. The forest near the village where Buntenh grew up was filled with wild pigs. "We were hunting them. During my youth, there was nothing as tasty as the meat of a wild pig," the 36-year-old monk said, laughing.

The forests of Buntenh's youth are long gone and with it the wildlife and the birds that lived in it. The loss of it grieves the Buddhist monk, but he says he is committed to putting an end to deforestation in Cambodia while there is still some jungle left.

It's an extremely challenging mission in which Buntenh and his fellow monks, who are united under the group Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, regularly put their own lives at risk.

A large empty forest

On a recent early morning, Buntenh - wearing flip-flops, small glasses, and an orange robe - walks through Prey Lang, one of the Southeast Asian nation's largest and oldest evergreen woodlands. The sun shines through the canopy and from afar the crying noise of a motor saw sounds through the air.

Buntenh is on his way to a workshop, in which he and other monks teach the local people how to use social media to protect themselves and the forest. It is badly needed, he says, as the survival of Prey Lang - meaning "Great Forest" in Kuy, the local minority language - is under threat. Large parts of the forest have already disappeared to make space for plantations. In areas that are protected from such land concessions, illegal loggers cut down tree after tree.

"The people who cut down the forest think they are superior, but in reality they are stupid. Only the forest is superior," Buntenh said. Sixteen years ago, he decided to join the monkhood. Now he is trying to convince the people that the world cannot exist without trees. "No one has told me that I should go out there to protect the forest, but for me, it was a logical thing to do. I am doing all I can to save it. I plant new trees, I help the people who live from the forest, I am reminding the government of the promises they've made."

It was just after the parliamentary elections of 2013 when Buntenh's message inspired 23-year-old Horn Sophanny. Because Buddhist temples in Cambodia are the traditional place to study, Sophanny had come to a temple to satisfy his hunger for knowledge a few years earlier. But the elections changed everything. The majority of the seats were won by the party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was accused of electoral fraud on a massive scale. Many Cambodians were furious and started mass demonstrations that went on for months.

"I had already known Buntenh from Facebook. But when he started his activist movement after the elections, I realized I could do something like a monk," Sophanny said. He joined Buntenh's activist network, which consists of some 5,000 monks. Since then, Sophanny has been at the forefront during protests and has shared all kinds of wrongdoings via Facebook.

Leaning against the pillar of a wooden house on the edge of Prey Lang, Sophanny says that it's the task of the monks to protect the country and its people. That was already the case in the 1950s when they had a leading role in the fight for Cambodia's independence from the French colonizers, he noted. "We want current-day monks to have the same type of role. It is our job to lead society to a better place. We are the symbol of compassion. The pagodas are the roots of our knowledge."

In Cambodia, where over 90 percent of the population is Buddhist, monks enjoy great respect. Their orange and red robes offer them the protection that other activists lack. The authorities are also unlikely to easily use force against them, and the monks use this freedom to collect images and videos of, for example, illegal logging and brutal police violence. These are then spread through social media.

Disappearing tigers and giant trees

In Prey Lang, Buntenh calls for the people to do the same. Men and women, both young and old, have come to the forest on scooters and agricultural vehicles. They listen closely when the monks explain why they shouldn't be intimidated.

The voice of Buntenh sounds through a pair of crackling speakers. "We must speak out when someone is abusing our rights," he tells the crowd. "The authorities think bad about us, but we are the ones that help you to save the forest. Do you know how Facebook works? You have to use it to tell what's happening here."

San Reth, a 63-year-old Cambodian who has lived near Prey Lang for his entire life, is happy with the support of the monks. "For a long time, we hoped a good man will stand up to save our forest," he says.

For many years, the forest has been good for him and his family, Reth explains. "Life was good here. There were deer, elephants, tigers, and cobras living in the forest. There were trees and plants that gave us medicines. From my house, I only had to walk for a few minutes and I could find everything I need."

Three years ago, on a half an hour's drive from his house, the forest was home to trees with trunks so wide that "you needed four men to circle them," Reth says. But today the same area is dead. The giant trees are cut down, smaller trees are defoliating and the soil is burned and filled with grey-colored ash. Soon a large plantation with only rosewood trees will be built here, the Cambodian man says with a sad face. The wood is meant for export to China.

It's not only in Prey Lang that the forest is disappearing rapidly. Driven by land concessions to build plantations, 14.4 percent of Cambodia's jungle disappeared between 2000 and 2013, human rights organization Licadho pointed out after investigating satellite images from the University of Maryland. Meanwhile, 12.2 percent of the trees were cut in protected areas. It's an ongoing trend with disastrous consequences for human beings, animals, and the climate.

Reth, who is trying to make a living as a rice farmer now that the forest is disappearing, has protested against deforestation. The authorities responded by charging him and accusing him of inciting instability. He fears that he will soon be arrested. "The government says that the cutting of the forest is necessary for the development of our country. But if this is development, why does it cause us so much grief?" Reth wonders.

An enormous sacrifice

The activist monks are being thwarted as well. They are spied on, threatened, and sued. Last year, a pagoda that houses them was searched by the police. Cambodia's Buddhist supreme patriarch, the official national leader of the monks, has turned himself against the activists, saying that monks shouldn't be involved in protests and calling on pagodas to keep the doors closed for those that are.

The activist monks, in turn, accuse the supreme patriarch of being a tool for the country's authoritarian government.

Oun Long knows all about being hindered by the authorities. A couple of years ago, the 30-year-old monk was involved in a mass protest in Cambodia's garment industry. On behalf of the workers, he tried to negotiate a peaceful resolution. That failed when the military police ended the protest with brutal force, killing at least five workers and injuring dozens. "We are tired of the government. When we see the people suffer, we have no other option than to resist," he says.

The most important opponent of that resistance is Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has governed Cambodia since 1985. In recent years, Hun Sen has made all kinds of promises of improvement, also when it comes to deforestation. In February, he even gave the police permission to use rocket launchers and helicopters in the fight against illegal logging.

The monks, however, remain skeptical. "We can't trust him. But if he makes promises and doesn't follow them up, we can use these against them. That's his weak point," stressed Oun Long.

In Prey Lang, the workshop is being interrupted by the village chief and several policemen halfway through the meeting, accusing the monks of not having permission to meet the villagers.

Immediately But Buntenh strikes back at them. "Did you come here to chase away the people that try to save the forest? You should chase away the people that destroy the forest. Hun Sen himself said illegal logging needs to be stopped."

After half an hour of arguments, the authorities decide to retreat and let the workshop continue. But the monks know that they will be there again at the next meeting. In a country where several activists and journalists have been killed after reporting about illegal logging over the past few years, it's like a never-ending duel that one day could have a totally different outcome.

Buntenh says he has accepted that risk a long time ago. "I don't think I'm a good monk, because I am mean to the police and to the military," he says. "But I'm ready to give everything for my people and the forest. If I have to give my life for it today or tomorrow, then I'm willing to make that sacrifice."

Questioned Over Efforts to Promote Buddhism

 

Religion Minister Questioned Over Efforts to Promote Buddhism

by Khy Sovuthy, Cambodia Daily, January 11, 2017

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The Minister of Cults and Religion was questioned by a National Assembly commission on Tuesday over efforts to promote Buddhism in the country and an assortment of other concerns affecting the religion, according to the opposition lawmaker who summoned him.

Him Chhem appeared before the Assembly’s education, religious affairs, and culture commission, chaired by CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhearith.

Mr. Ponhearith said the main purpose of the appearance was controversial fencing put up around the Buddhist Institute compound near NagaWorld in Phnom Penh, but that the issue was quickly resolved.

“The Minister of Cults and Religion will send a request to City Hall to remove them,” he said. “It was an issue of aesthetics.”

The opposition lawmaker said he had been concerned about how the ministry would promote Buddhism and protect its stability given the ministry’s small budget.

“We had just one concern about providing ways for people to believe in the religious institution,” he said. “To allow the people to return to believing in it, that unit and members of that unit [need to] join together to enforce its rules and [have] good discipline.”

The monkhood has been wracked by scandals and crimes committed by its members in recent years, but religious authorities have refused to acknowledge that there may be a systemic problem.

Mr. Ponhearith said that the commission also asked the minister to consider requiring monks to be given ID cards like ordinary citizens because their monk certificates could no longer be used to register to vote.

The minister was also asked about late payments to teachers at Buddhist schools. Mr. Ponhearith requested that the ministry expedite requests for funding from the Finance Ministry to pay the salaries.

Mr. Chhem had little to say after the meeting, telling reporters that construction had begun on a new ministry headquarters, and that the monkhood had increased to 65,000 monks.

Mr. Ponhearith said he planned to summon the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts

Phoeung Sakona to the commission’s next meeting.