Shaolin Scandals

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Shaolin Kung Fu
161

ttt 4 2015

Shaolin abbot promises regulation after donation scandal
Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-4-9 21:40:06

Shaolin Abbot Shi Yongxin has promised to instill stronger monastic principles in the Buddhist institution’s monks after one reportedly forced a donor to increase the size of a donation.

A media report claiming a journalist was forced by a Shaolin monk to donate 100 yuan instead of 20 yuan has stirred massive criticism on social media.

Shi said the temple “will prop up teachings and make sure every monk is better guided”.

Each donation must be voluntary and it is not the temple’s policy to ask for a certain amount, according to the abbot.

Shi, known as the “CEO monk”, has courted controversy for developing business operations including lucrative kungfu shows and merchandise. In March, he was moved to distance the temple from media criticism claiming a planned Australian outpost would be over-commercialized.

I would love to know more details on this donation strong-arming.

162

Ahahaha “the Tong!”

You get something the size of a monster like they have going and it’s kind of like a city then…little harder to control and make the better look of.

Guess it’s polite to restrict it to one or two chuckles (hahaha)

163

Shaolin Temple denies tourist gouging claims
Source:Global Times Published: 2015-4-8 20:43:01

Shaolin Temple denies tourist gouging claims

Shaolin Temple Wednesday refuted accusations made by a Hong Kong newspaper that monks at the temple squeezed tourists to make larger donations on Tomb Sweeping Day.

Shaolin Temple released a statement on its website, claiming that the Wen Wei Po report “was not true” and “severely damaged the temple’s reputation.”

The temple has never “forced” visitors to donate and often presents gifts to visitors who make donations over 100 yuan ($16), the statement said.

Visitors to the 1,500-year-old Buddhist monastery had accused monks of pressuring them to donate money after receiving blessings at a mass prayer ritual, Wen Wei Po reported on Monday.

“So now there are requirements for donations? Has this become a profit-driven organization? That completely disturbs the tranquility of the place,” a tourist told the paper.

The reporter claimed that after offering 20 yuan to a monk who performed the blessing, he was pushed to donate 100 yuan because “others had done the same thing.”

No temple authorities were interviewed in the report.

Temples across China saw a spike in visitors over Tomb Sweeping Day, which fell on Sunday.

Other tourists complained that the stalls selling prayer beads and other items previously set up outside had been moved inside the prayer halls, read the report.

Social media was awash with sarcasm over the allegations. “Money earned this way could help monks lead a better life and build temples overseas to spread Buddhism,” one snarky Sina Weibo user wrote. "

164

ugly rumors…

I just heard about a rather old skool Shaolin ‘sign-breaking’ scuffle. May just be a rumor, but the source is one of my top ninjas for such things. If true, a lawsuit may be impending, at which point it should become public record, and we can discuss it openly here. Until then, if anyone knows anything more and wants to discuss it confidentially, I’m all ears.

165

Shi Yongxu

Gang led by former Shaolin monk busted
By Zhang Han Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/31 20:33:56


Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Central China’s Henan Province Photo: VCG

Police in Central China have caught 16 gangsters led by a former monk reportedly from Shaolin Temple and will invite the public to share their insights into the gang’s crimes at a public meeting on Thursday.

Police in the city of Yanshi, Henan Province issued a notice Tuesday, saying they had busted a gang led by Shi Yongxu. The police invited residents to come and identify their crimes at the meeting.

A police officer responsible for this case told the Global Times Wednesday that serious criminals had been detained including Shi.

“The meeting aims to encourage residents to provide more clues as some insignificant figures in the gang are still at large,” the officer said. He declined to be fully named and refused to disclose what kind of crime the gang members had committed.

Shi was born in Henan in 1969 and has attended events as the deputy head of Buddhist Association of Yanshi and member of the Yanshi committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to The Beijing News.

In a report by China News Service in 2017, Shi is the 33rd generation of Shaolin discipline and was in charge of kung fu monks.

Shi used to run a shop in the temple after becoming a monk, but he was not a master, a staff member at Shaolin Temple told The Beijing News. The article did not name the staff member.

Shi left the temple in the 1990s. No other monks followed him, said the staff member.

China launched a three-year campaign in early 2018 against gangs and organized crimes, which also targeted officials who shelter criminal organizations.

THREADS
Shaolin Scandals
Buddhists behaving badly

166

More on Shi Yongxu

15 hours
Self-Proclaimed Shaolin Master Arrested as Gang Leader
Authorities in central China’s Henan province have arrested a criminal gang led by a man who claims to have trained Shaolin monks, according to an official statement released Tuesday.

Luoyang City police say they arrested 16 suspects in Yanshi, another city, earlier that day for their alleged involvement in a range of illegal activities, including blackmail and extortion. Among those taken into custody is the gang’s leader, who police identified as Shi Yongxu.

Shi claimed to have once trained Shaolin monks and even declared himself to be the heir apparent to the abbacy of the renowned Songshan Shaolin Temple, according to domestic outlet The Beijing News. However, a temple staff member has denied Shi’s claims, insisting that he only worked as a clerk at the temple’s souvenir shop.

The same staff member also told The Beijing News that Shi had left his job at the store 20 years earlier, and that the other suspects had never been associated with the temple. (Image: Weibo)

The official statement:

16201981930100

13592059700

             15838836110  

                         

                        2019730

googtrans

Public notice

Recently, the Luoyang Municipal Public Security Bureau took the lead in investigating the black criminal gangs headed by Shi Yongxu, and arrested 16 members of the gang. It is scheduled to be held at 9:30 am on August 1, 2019, and the main members of Shi Yongxu’s black criminal gang will be openly identified in Yanshi City to publicly identify the on-site prosecution mobilization meeting, which will be held in Dakou Town Street (100 meters south of the town government). The main venue is set up, and the suspects are escorted to publicly identify the crime scene activities, and the masses are invited to participate.

Reporting number: 13592059700 High police officer

             15838836110 Officer Li

                         Yanshi City Public Security Bureau

                        July 30, 2019

THREADS
Shaolin Scandals
Buddhists behaving badly

167

Former Shaolin monk

Shi Yongxu deserves his own thread now.

Former Shaolin monk, 15 associates arrested on suspicion of gang activity
1 2019-08-07 10:44:39 China Daily Editor : Li Yan

A group of 16 people, including their leader, a former monk from Shaolin Temple, were arrested recently on suspicion of gang-related crimes in Central China’s Henan province amid an ongoing crackdown against organized offenses nationwide.

Police in Yanshi, Henan, issued a statement recently that they had busted the gang, led by Shi Yongxu, on allegations of fighting, illegal detention, blackmail and disturbing public order.

Details about the case, including specifics of the gang’s crimes, have not been revealed by police.

The statement quickly aroused public attention, and information about Shi-that he was among the 33rd generation of monks studying the Shaolin discipline and in charge of the kung fu monks at the Shaolin Temple-hit Chinese media headlines.

Some media also said Shi attended events as vice-president of the Buddhist Association of Yanshi and member of the Yanshi committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Late on July 30, the Shaolin Temple-located at the foot of the province’s Songshan Mountain and regarded as the cradle of Chinese kung fu-issued a declaration on its website, clarifying Shi as a monk in the 1980s who had left the temple on his own in 2003.

“Shi’s activities have nothing to do with the temple, and we have never had a title called kung fu monk,” the declaration added.

On July 31, the Buddhist Association of Yanshi also issued a statement via the city’s website, saying they have removed Shi from positions at the association and dismissed him as abbot of Hongjiang Temple in the province, considering his suspected offenses.

A staff member of the Shaolin Temple also told Beijing News that Shi used to run a shop in the temple after becoming a monk, but he was not a master.

Huaxi Metropolis Daily, a newspaper based in Sichuan province, reported Shi was involved in several major cases. For example, it said Shi blackmailed a house owner and urged him to pay fees for what he claimed were house repairs.

A senior monk in the Shaolin Temple also told the newspaper that Shi still occupied four main halls, even though he left the temple.

“He asked the temple to give him 3 million yuan ($427,000) as compensation for moving out of the halls, but the temple refused to do that,” the paper quoted the monk as saying.

The halls were cleaned up when newspaper staff went to the temple on Saturday.

All the information reported by the paper has not been verified by the police.

China launched a three-year campaign in early 2018 against organized crime, which also targeted officials who shelter criminal organizations.

Beijing courts released a statement saying they convicted 271 people for their involvement in 65 organized crime cases from January last year to the end of June, 46 of whom were sentenced to more than five years’ imprisonment.

THREADS
Shaolin Scandals
Buddhists behaving badly

168

Mr. Somphet and Ms.Arbely Natalie busted

GERMAN AND CANADIAN ARE ARRESTED TEACHING SHAOLIN COURSE IN KOH PHANGAN
By Khaosod English - April 1, 2024 4:37 pm


A class called The Shaolin Experience was held on March 29, 2024.
KOH PHANGAN – Tourist Police, the Koh Phangan District Administrative Officer, and Immigration Police arrested Mr. Somphet, 37, of German nationality, and Ms.Arbely Natalie, 34, of Canadian nationality, at Samma Karuna, Village No. 8, Koh Phangan Subdistrict, Koh Phangan District, Surat Thani Province. They were charged with working without a permit.

The Koh Phangan Tourist Police had previously received a complaint regarding a yoga practice organised by foreigners. Mr. Somphet would give a class called The Shaolin Experience on March 29 from 2:00-5:00 p.m., as publicised on social media through the Samma Karuna Facebook fan page.


Mr. Somphet leads the group to practice in the Shaolin Experience course on March 29, 2024.

Later, at 2:10 p.m., officers came to Samma Karuna and spotted a group of foreigners engaged in activities similar to Chinese boxing dancing and muscular stretching, with Mr. Somphet leading the group and teaching various postures. The appearance is the same as the complaint image. Therefore, the officers introduced themselves and apprehended him.

Mr. Somphet stated that he teaches the Shaolin Experience course. The cost is 9,000 baht per person, and it was scheduled to take place on March 28 and 29 from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Samma Karuna Co., Ltd., the company that hired them to teach at this location, will divide the costs. He will receive 60% of the total money per individual, which is equivalent to 5,400 baht, while the employer, Samma Karuna Company Limited, must distribute the other 40%, which is roughly 3,600 baht, equally.

Mr. Somphet was also discovered to have overstayed in Thailand for over 34 days. As a result, he will be sent back to his home country.


Ms.Arbely Natalie and Mr. Sompet were charged with “being an alien working without a work permit.”
9000 baht = $247.21 USD