Monastery ‘using human bodies for meditation’
published : 25 Nov 2024 at 07:07
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters
Forty-one cadavers used in meditation practices at a Buddhist monastery in Phichit province are being identified in a police investigation to determine whether they were obtained legally.
Authorities are gathering more information about the cadavers at Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in Pho Thale district and reviewing documents about their storage to determine if any wrongdoing occurred, police said on Saturday
Police will verify whether the deceased died from natural causes, despite the monastery's claim that the bodies had been donated by faithful members.
The National Office of Buddhism has also been asked to evaluate the monastery’s practices, which may conflict with Buddhist principles.
Kom Pattarakulprasert of the Phichit Office of Buddhism visited the monastery, run by Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, to observe the meditation practices. The inclusion of deceased bodies in meditation was a new and unusual approach, he said.
"I asked Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito if there were any cadavers and was told that there were none," Mr Kom said.
"But when journalists discovered the 41 bodies, I was taken aback."
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Vocabulary
- approach: a way of doing or dealing with something; a particular way of doing something or thinking about something - การจัดการกับปัญหา วิธีการทำให้ถึงจุดหมาย
- cadaver (n): a dead body -
- deceased: dead - ซึ่งตายแล้ว
- donate: to give something such as money or goods to an organisation, especially to a temple, charity, school, political party, etc. - บริจาค
- evaluate: to form an opinion about something after thinking about/examining it carefully - ประเมิน
- meditation: the practice of thinking deeply in silence, especially for religious reasons or in order to make your mind calm - การทำสมาธิ, วิปัสสนา
- monastery: a building or series of buildings in which monks live, worship and work together - วัด, ที่อยู่อาศัยของพร
- natural: normal; as you would expect - ตามธรรมชาติ, เหมือนจริง
- practice: a way of doing something - การปฏิบัติ
- principle: a basic belief, theory, or rule that has a major influence on the way in which something is done; a moral rule or standard of good behavior - กฎ, ข้อปฏิบัติ, หลักปฏิบัติ
- storage: the putting and keeping of things in a special place for use in the future - การเก็บ
- taken aback: to be shocked or surprised, especially by something that someone says or does to you - ตะลึง
- verify: to prove that something is true, or to make certain that something is correct - พิสูจน์ว่าเป็นความจริง
- wrongdoing: breaking the law or doing something "wrong" - กระทำผิดศีลธรรม, ละเมิดกฎหมาย
