Seeking new Buddhist monk to fill the place of another still mourned

[Ensapa]

It is sad when Buddhist monks murder another monk, but it does happen even during these times. It does saddens me a lot to read about news like these, but it is reality after all and it is what is happening at this current moment of time. It is a sad news to share, but it goes to show us that things like these do happen...how do we 'cope' with news like these? In any case, this is a very sad news.

Buddhist monks from throughout the Southeast gathered to mourn after the May 11 murder of the Rev. Chaiwat Moleechate, head monk of Wat Buddharaksa Temple, the Buddhist temple in Grand Bay. Four months later, the community is seeking a head monk to take over leadership at the Buddhist temple. The people "feel lost," says Visanou Khamphouy, head of the congregation, who's in charge of seeking a new spiritual master for the temple. Roy Hoffman/Press-Register
GRAND BAY, ALABAMA — When Visanou Khamphouy opened his Asian market on U.S. 90 in south Mobile County a few years ago, he invited the Rev. Chaiwat Moleechate, head monk at the Grand Bay Buddhist temple, to offer blessings.

At his store this week, Khamphouy, 63, remembered with enduring admiration — and continuing sadness — how his spiritual master, whose death last spring has been blamed on a fellow monk, had said prayers, sprinkled holy water, and brought gold foil for good fortune.

"He was very smart, a great teacher," said Khamphouy, at the store counter near pieces of the foil pinned to the wall above a small Buddhist shrine.

"When you went to the monk you got answers for your problems," he said.
As president of the Buddhist temple, Khamphouy is in charge of finding a new head monk.
Given Moleechate’s enormous role in the community — and the violent circumstances of his death — that task is a daunting. It is pressing, too.

Without their monk, Khamphouy said, "the people feel lost."

Moleechate, 45, was bludgeoned to death inside the temple on May 11, according to news reports. Vern Phdsamay, 32, a monk who lived at the temple, was arrested and charged with murder in the slaying.
During a bail hearing on May 20, Mobile Assistant District Attorney Jo Beth Murphree said Phdsamay had struck Moleechate several times in the head with a large wooden pestle. An argument about food, Murphree said, had apparently set off the incident.

At the time, Phdsamay’s attorney, Neil Hanley, said the accusations against the defendant were out of character.

At his store, Khamphouy described Moleechate as a deeply philosophical man with a big heart.
"He helped many people," Khamphouy said of the late monk.

Moleechate assisted the 300 families of his community, helping them translate from Thai and Laotion to English, with family concerns, with questions about immigration.

In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Ivan, Moleechate opened the temple as a shelter. And after the Gulf oil spill, Moleechate helped bring the community together, he said.

He took care of his assistant monks, too.

Once, when Phdsamay had suffered an ear ailment and had to go to Birmingham for treatment, Moleechate accompanied him, Khamphouy recalled.

A native of Thailand, Moleechate studied Buddhism in India and became head monk at the Grand Bay worship center, Wat Buddharaksa Temple, 16 years ago.

In an interview at the temple with the Press-Register in May 2010, Moleechate said that he had grown up in a poor family near the border with Laos and began his religious studies at age 12.

He became a monk at age 21.

He spoke of the Buddha as a model of perfection, a way of life and thought.
"We try to lead the Buddhist people to meditate," he said. "To cool down, to slow down. The clear mind. The pure mind."

Khamphouy described the monk accused of killing Moleechate as quite the opposite — having a troubled mind.
Moleechate had been aware of it, he said, even arranging for Phdsamay to see a psychologist.

Khamphouy has already located two monks who he thinks might work well in the south Mobile County community — one in California, another in Florida.

They must be of a high station in terms of experience and knowledge.

"We listen to what he says when he preaches," he said.

"We see if the people like him or do not like him."

Once a monk is nominated as leader, a vote by the board is held.

Whoever is chosen will take up residence at the temple on Boe Road in Grand Bay, opened in 2010 after a fire gutted an earlier structure in Irvington.

A golden Buddha stands before the temple. Inside, figures of the Buddha fill an altar.

Khamphouy said that half of Moleechate’s ashes are at the temple; the other half were sent to Thailand.

On a recent day at the complex, one of Moleechate’s assistant monks, the Rev. Sisavath, walked across the grounds from the monk’s house to the temple.

Barefoot, in saffron robes, he stepped inside.

Sisavath has been with Wat Buddaraksa Temple for five years, and still speaks little English.

When asked about his lost monk, he nodded on hearing the name Chaiwat Moleechate.

He touched his chest.

"Sad," he said. "Sad."

[sonamdhargey]

It is shocking that a A Monk murder another Monk. However it was mentioned that the Vern Phdsamay the monk who killed Rev. Chaiwat is mentally disturbed and needed psychology consultation which was recommended by Rev. Chaiwat. With mental instability, such incident have higher chances to happen. I was wondering if this is the collective Karma of the people of the centre to lose such a great teacher or is it the Karma of Rev. Chaiwat to be murdered? Arguments between 2 monks should not take place in the first place as monks represent the Buddha's teachings.

[Jessie Fong]

Yes Sonamdhargey it is indeed a real shocker to read of a monk murdering a monk.  Apparently the incident was sparked over an argument about food.  Can you imagine that - a monk loses his life over food.

Can the accused monk now claim temporary insanity over the incident and hope to get off on a lighter sentence?

Of course it is expected that monks should not behave in this manner, but then they are also humans, subject to the forces of this samsaric world.

[ratanasutra]

Its truly sad news to hear and to believe as we project that the monks who holds the vows and have virtuous actions and follow the Buddha path will created as such actions but it not the new things that just happen, if we still can remember about Devadatta, the cousin of buddha who tried to kill buddha by throwing the stone on to him.. Even buddha have people tried to kill him..

Therefore there are vows for monks and ordained person to hold and follow, however not everyone have a very strong practice hence this murdered incident happen.
 

[Ensapa]

It is shocking that a A Monk murder another Monk. However it was mentioned that the Vern Phdsamay the monk who killed Rev. Chaiwat is mentally disturbed and needed psychology consultation which was recommended by Rev. Chaiwat. With mental instability, such incident have higher chances to happen. I was wondering if this is the collective Karma of the people of the centre to lose such a great teacher or is it the Karma of Rev. Chaiwat to be murdered? Arguments between 2 monks should not take place in the first place as monks represent the Buddha's teachings.

Very good observation there. For a long time now Buddhism  has not paid much attention to mental issues. Mental issues may have originated from the mind, but it can be difficult to treat and it can be difficult to diagnose as well. It is time that Buddhism pay attention to this problem and address it properly so that something can be done with it. The Buddha has given really good instructions on how to prevent it, but not so much on how to cure it as a person afflicted with mental problems will not be aware of it unless they have some experience in mind training. Nowadays, when mental issues are a huge and common problem, Buddhist teachers have to be ready to handle and address such people before they cause harm to the Buddhist community. In this case...it is somewhat too late

The monk who was murdered should have taken rebirth in a better state by now by power of his sincerity and practice in the Buddha's teachings. Even if it was a not so good state due to the way he passed away, it would only have been temporary.

[Manjushri]

A shocking news, and a big role to fulfil after what Rev. Chaiwat Moleechate has built and achieved in his reign. It is indeed sad to hear that a monk is responsible for the murder of another monk, what more IN the monastery.

Goes to show that with or without robes, our mind is what determines who we are. It doesnt matter if we are monks or nuns, or any other figure of worship. It doesn't matter if we have robes on or not. It is our minds that we have to control and tame, it is our minds that is independant of our body, and it is our minds that determins our motivation, our bodily actions, speech and controls our own minds. It is what will travel into our future lives.

Therefore, if the mind is unwell, even with robes on, cases such as this can happen. Any one can put on monk robes, take the vows and all, but if one's mind is not practising the correct path and following the correct path, it doesn't lead to anything eventually. Infact, it can be more destructive, breaking the vows of a monk.