Call for visa crackdown on bogus Buddhist monks

[Ensapa]

There are fake Buddhist monks now begging for money and i have seen a few of them in my country. And I am glad that China is stepping up to cleanse this phenomena after leaving it alone for so many decades.

Call for visa crackdown on bogus Buddhist monks
Police want immigration to crack down on bogus Buddhist monks working as beggars in the same way that they deal with prostitutes


Bogus monks at Lan Kwai Fong

Mainland beggars masquerading as Buddhist monks should be treated the same as prostitutes, and the immigration authorities should crack down on the practice, according to police.

One police source familiar with a rising trend of bogus Buddhist monks visiting Hong Kong as "professional beggars" said they may be violating their three-month visitor visas.

Over the past 12 months, the city had seen a major increase in the number of people clad in monks' robes and begging in Central, Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, the source said. The police arrest people for begging, particularly in Central. But unlike prostitutes, whose work is illegal because they enter Hong Kong on tourist visas, according to the Immigration Department begging does not constitute working.

Stronger penalties would deter bogus monks from coming to the city, the source said, adding that the police wanted a change in immigration laws.

"If these bogus Buddhist monks come here specifically to beg on a three-month tourist visa, why isn't this a breach of their conditions of stay?

"If you come to Hong Kong as a mainland prostitute on a tourist visa, you will be arrested by police for breaching your conditions of stay. Why are these bogus monks not treated the same?"

On Friday night, one man dressed like a Buddhist monk in Lan Kwai Fong tried to sell a wooden beaded bracelet to the Sunday Morning Post. The bracelets - which he said could bring blessings - cost HK$100 each.

The sale of these bracelets constitutes working and is a clear breach of tourist visa laws.

But an Immigration Department spokesman said it was difficult to define whether begging should be classed as work. He noted, however, that it was the police's duty to tackle begging.

"In the case of mainland prostitutes, they breach the conditions of their stay by establishing a business here. It is a clear immigration issue," the spokesman said.

"But it is also clear in the police ordinance that they prosecute beggars. The police are the appropriate authority to enforce the law here. There is no loophole in the immigration law."

Entrepreneur Rory Hussey, whose bar Solas is on Wyndham Street, Central, called the bogus monks a "plague".

Hussey recalled how he went on holiday last year to Thailand and a group of bogus monks were on the same flight, dressed in civilian clothes. "I see them every night, so I recognised them on the plane straight away. A few of them even had girlfriends with them," he said.

In Tsim Sha Tsui, Mike Brown, bar manager of Ned Kelly's Last Stand in Ashley Road, said the impostors "would try to get away with anything".

"They'd blatantly walk in here and ask my customers for money," Brown said. "They're regularly annoying tourists all along Nathan Road."

At Delaney's in Luard Road, Wan Chai, general manager Clare Kirkman told how up to 12 monks could be patrolling up and down the streets.

"They work in pairs; while one begs, the other keeps a lookout for police," she said. "They're a nuisance but they are very well-organised."

Last weekend, authorities in the northern province of Shaanxi closed down two temples on a sacred Buddhist mountain and arrested six people after tourists complained of bogus monks deceiving them into donating money.

[diablo1974]

This is needed. There are rising bogus monks and nun even in my country. But its not easy to identify them. There must be some form of identification issued by temples and relevant authorities but these can be faked too especially in china.

[Ensapa]

Here's another report on them:

Bogus monks' nightly pub crawl with begging bowls


A bogus Buddhist monk, an all-too-familiar sight in Hong Kong these days, holds out his begging bowl to a drinker in Lan Kwai Fong. An influx of 'monks' from the mainland on tourist visas has led to calls for tighter immigration rules. Photo: Paul Yeung
Working in pairs, bogus Buddhist monks do the rounds of Hong Kong's pubs and clubs, night after night.

In Lan Kwai Fong on Friday, a monk dressed in an orange robe was seen begging for alms by tapping men on the shoulder. He avoided women, the man, who gave his name as Tan, told the Sunday Morning Post.

Another monk, dressed in grey, approached two women but they shrugged him off and walked away.

Speaking in Mandarin, Tan said he was 53 years old and came from Jingzhou in the central province of Hubei. He carried a wooden bowl with a 20-dollar bill inside, and wore several wooden beaded bracelets on each wrist.

He claimed to have been the manager of a food company on the mainland that went bust. His wife ran off with a rich man, he said, and to get over this trauma and help him survive, he became a monk.

When asked if that was why he had to beg, he responded: "Life in China is tough. If I wasn't a monk, I would have to get a job."

Tan said it was his first time out of the mainland. He was stopping over in Hong Kong for three days, he said - although he had been observed begging for money and selling bracelets in Lan Kwai Fong for the last three weeks - before continuing on his journey to Malaysia, where he planned to visit his "master".

At the end of the conversation, Tan took out an embroidered file from his satchel and opened it to show a certificate, bearing his name and photograph, that purportedly proved he was a monk. The certificate seemed to be of bad quality and did not look professionally printed.

Martin Cheung, chief executive of the Buddhist Association, said he hoped the public would not be fooled by bogus monks.

Cheung explained that in Buddhism, lay believers gave alms to show respect to a monk or nun.

"However, the opportunity to accumulate merit by [obtaining] money should not be accepted," he said. "In Mahayana Buddhism [popular in China and North Asia], almsgiving is seldom practised."

[Tenzin K]

Monks receive the greatest respect for ordination implies that the person has turned away from wordly desires and ambitions in pursuit of the highest wisdom and purification.

It’s so sad to see people faking to be a monk taking advantage from the lay people. This entirely a showing great disrespect to the 3 jewels and very bad negative karma one collecting.
Action must be taken to prevent such act. No doubt it’s not easy but still need to minimize at least.

Below are some thought that shared by a friend:
Monks will never sell items, including Buddha images, prayer beads & relics.
Alms bowls are not for collecting money.
Mahayana monks do not go around for alms.
A monk will only use his alms bowl to receive food and medicine.

[bambi]

This plague is becoming a nuisance. Why cant they just work like any other people? Yes, they lost their job but I am sure there are many other jobs out there but whether they want to or not. There are so much demand in the market.

China, please impose something harsher to stop these bogus monks. So that they can also collect lesser negative karma from what they are doing.

Yes Tenzin K. Monks do not sell anything nor beg for money with their alms bowl. However, I do believe people may offer dana in many forms as it is up to the person giving.

[brian]

I guess this brings us to one point. The public has been generous towards bogus monks or real monks. If the public would stop giving to monks begging on the streets and instead hand their donations to the temple directly I think that will solve the problem. It is the response that the bogus monks have been getting that caused this bogus monk begging activity is flourishing.

One would think whether the merits accumulated through the offering made to bogus monks would equate to make offerings to real monks.

[Jessie Fong]

It is indeed sad to note that there is an increasing number of bogus monks.  These people are just taking advantage of the generosity of the general public.  This goes to show how lazy these people are - just shave their heads, fake a certificate from a temple to "authenticate" their position as a monk, then head to the streets and earn a living.

If only life was that simple - everyone would want to be a monk, or nun.

[fruven]

They are quite brave to go around to 'beg'. I wonder do fully ordained monks go around to beg in these kind of places? What are the code of conduct monks hold while going out to beg?

These actions will create a negative perception towards monks and thus fully ordained monks will be having a hard time practice begging in the future. What was mentioned about giving the funds directly to the temple is a better way but not many people are inclined to do that, they might toss some money to the 'monks' who are begging around.

[dondrup]

The phenomena of bogus monk begging for alms or rather cheating the public’s money is not new.  The unsuspecting public would almost always fell victim to them. It is really a concern for these ignorant bogus monks to cause disrepute of Buddhism. They themselves will reap heavy negative karma for their actions.  It would greatly help if the Police and the Custom will strictly enforce the law to curb this issue.  The relevant authorities should educate the public about the dos and don’ts of giving alms.

[apprenticehealer]

Immigration laws should enforce heavier penalties to stop the influx of these bogus monks into the country.
It is really shameful of these people to impersonate as monks to beg for money and to sell 'blessed' items to the unsuspecting public.
Some of the public will fall victims of these scams as some people, thinking these are really monks, will give money because these people respect the robes, or they are superstitious .
These bogus monks are very very disrespectful of the Sangha, and gives Buddhism a bad reputation. What negative karma these so-call monks create for themselves !

[yontenjamyang]

I agree with what everyone has said. I have experienced this while visiting Hong Kong and China. When I was approached immediately I have my suspicions but then I gave anyway on all the times I was approached (I think 3 to 4 times). I have very little doubt that the begging monks were bogus but the reason I gave was I remembered the refuge commitment regarding this. That is:

Considering even a single scrap of the saffron robe as though it were the Sangha itself, once you have taken refuge in the Sangha

Perhaps everyone here can comment on this. If one were to really fulfill the commitment then we should be giving these "bogus" monks. Right or wrong? But if they were bogus, by giving, wouldn't it be an encouragement for them to continue to generate more negative karma? Is this a selfish act on my part to give? What is a very skillful method to cover all the possibilities ie what is the best advise to approach this?

[WisdomBeing]

I asked my Hong Kong friend about this and she said it's true. There are many fake monks who go round asking for money but sadly the people are ignorant and do not realize that real monks do not go round asking for money or selling stuff. Real monks only beg for food (dana) and they only beg in the morning. Definitely any monk who is wandering the streets after noon and especially in the evenings are fake! It is up to the media to spread awareness on this issue so that kind people are not exploited. I am sure there will be fake monks in the day time also but if people donate to them out of a good motivation, i think they would still incur good karma because they think that the monk is real.

[kris]

It is indeed very sad to hear such news. In many countries, monks are highly regarded and respected. In the southern tradition, when monks come out to "beg" for food, many people will give them food and ask for blessing. However, monks don't ask for money in such a way. But obviously many don't know about this and they are very puzzled as to whether they should donate.

On the other hand, it is good to hear that the authorities are taking this matter seriously and nab those people who took advantage of this. Not only they stop the confusions in the donors, it also stop the bad karma collected by faking a monk.

[Benny]

This is really a welcomed development , that the authorities are starting to enforce the law by revoking the visas of people who misuse them for immoral purposes . Yes , it is immoral to me to be deceiving innocent and kind people , dressing up as a monk and soliciting donations for some phantom monastery or temple is down right degenerate.

By stopping these con man , we would not only be protecting the public , the good name of the Sangha and also the con man from committing such a grave "sin" of which the karma is very "heavy'. It is in my opinion most appropriate for the authorities to start taking action, after all thats their job.

[Rihanna]

It is very sad to know that there are many bogus monks and nuns out there begging for money. These bogus monks are taking advantage of the generosity of the public and this is creating a very bad image for Buddhism giving the wrong impression to real monks and nuns begging for alms on the streets. I think these bogus monks were more or less encouraged by the good response from the public and they feel that this is the easy way of earning a living out of cheating. Authorities, please do something on this!