Cult or modern religion? Inside Dhammakaya Buddhism

I haven’t yet watched but trust that as a SBS documentary it will worth watching it.

:anjal:

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I’m yet to watch too, but several people have recommended already! Generally speaking, it’s very important for us to learn about cults, and understand them. I’m always interested in knowing how something with good intentions crosses over from being wholesome to utterly sinister. We especially need to understand the allure of cults and the mechanisms that keep people trapped in them.

If being a money grabbing cult was the aim, having ATMs in the temple is kinda like the perfect perpetual loop, isn’t it? :money_mouth_face:

The nazi overtones of mass processions and perfectly ordered spectacle are not accidental, with the leader being an avowed fan of Hitler. So… How on earth does this happen!!! I’m mystified. And sad!

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I mean I have seen ATM in standard Theravada monastery in Thailand…

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here is the direct link to the program. May not work if not from Australia

So sad to see… Samsara in all its ‘glory’

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IMO this is an incredibly valuable source from a former venerable – also an insider’s perspective:

http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MAG/mag388400.pdf

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It is hard to read such stuff.
I think tonight is the full moon - a fitting time to reflect on what the Buddha taught, and to give thanks to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha who preserve the teachings. It makes me even more appreciative than before, about the efforts of all those who work to preserve, accurately translate, and disseminate the Early Buddhist Texts

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

This picture of the rising moon taken just now :thaibuddha: :dharmawheel: :relieved:

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Tough read. Expecially this part:

He does not formally set up any school for teaching children meditation; he gives these children a special tutorial class of advanced meditation privately in his own room.

Maybe it’s just me, coming from a Catholic country with recent surge of peadophilia scandals, but “privately in his own room” sounds pretty bad to me.

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