Court rejects daughter's inheritance claim

[WisdomBeing]

I just read this amazing story about someone suing a Buddhist temple for an inheritance. This girl must be very desperate for money to sue a religious establishment. She must also not know anything about Buddhism and what her father had intended with his money, which is sad.

I guess that since the father left the family when she was two years old, she may not have been in close contact with the father. But to sue the temple for money shows a complete lack of respect for the temple. What kind of karma must she have created to even start the lawsuit.


Court rejects daughter's inheritance claim
Updated: 2012-09-25 22:00 (chinadaily.com.cn)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-09/25/content_15782837.htm

A court in Yunnan province has rejected a woman's claim over 4 million yuan ($634,100) left by her deceased father, a former Buddhist monk and abbot of Lingzhao Temple.

The court ruled on Monday that the money was meant as a donation to the temple and not to be given to Zhang Yiyun, 35.

Zhang, of Yuxi, Yunnan province, brought a lawsuit against Lingzhao Temple Buddhist Management Committee on Jan 16, demanding the money.

Zhang's father, Shi Yongxiu, formerly named Xin Yingheng, was born in 1947. He divorced his wife and became a monk in a Buddhist temple in Kunming, capital of the province, in 1979, when his daughter was just two years old. In March 2003, Shi became the abbot of Lingzhao Temple in Yuxi and was killed by two people on the night of Jan 26, 2010.

According to Shi's ex-wife, the abbot was a devout Buddhist before their daughter was born and gave her the name Zhang after being told that his surname, Xin, would bring disaster to her life.

On Shi's death the management of Lingzhao Temple found he had 4 million yuan deposited in several bank accounts

Zhang brought her lawsuit against the temple after asking for the money and being refused.

[brian]

This is really degenration for me. A lady would sue for claim over money donated to the temple by her father many moons ago... What is more to say when you find out this lady is sueing a Buddhist temple. Rightly so that the court rejected the claim which is sensible for me. I read quite a lot of strange news everyday and this one falls into this catergory definitely. Just plain rubbish!

[Jessie Fong]

First and foremost, the father had already left the household and divorced the mother.  Zhang was only 2 years old when he left home for the monastery to become a monk.

Whatever monies left in the bank accounts if properly willed to the monastery cannot be contested.  On what grounds can she claim that the monies should go to her : the fact that she was not even there when her late father was all the while in the monastery.  What right has she got to claim it as hers?

Since the money is for the temple (or any other religious entity), she should just leave it be and rejoice that her late father was wise enough to have done that.

[Tenzin K]

What a truly desperate lady. As mentioned by Jessie, the father has become monk and it has been a while. His daughter must have been a very desperate situation to claim the money. This doesn’t only shows that she’s lacking in spiritual teaching but also respect. Is the respect of the decision of his father. Kind of sad to see such a case and at the same time it inspire me to learn more in my spiritual learning in order not to disappointed those that I have benefited from but to give back in order to show my appreciation. I believe this is the great value of pay back.

[WisdomBeing]

One of the positive signs I see from this article is that in China, they respect the temple and thus allowed the temple to keep the funds.

If the Chinese authorities wanted to be more secular, they could claim that the bloodline of the daughter gives her the right to appeal for the inheritance which the father did not make with a sound mind since Buddhism is frowned upon.

Fortunately, it does seem that the Chinese authorities is giving due respect to Buddhism and its temples.

[Amitabha]

In this case, the father has the responsibility to raise up the child then. Since it resorted to renounciation for good and should not have any materialism under its custody. The custody should be named under the temple. The child is not suing the temple but the rightfulness of the materialism that her father in custodian. If the monies was not from offering of people doing kind deeds, and was with him before his monkhood, then it may have a case with it and it's entirely under the judge jurisdiction. May all be well and safe!

[WisdomBeing]

I believe that inheritance is completely up to the parent. After all, the child did not contribute to the accumulation of wealth, so why should he or she have a claim to it. If the parent wanted to look after the child in material terms then it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that the inheritance is legally recorded so the courts can carry out the parents’ wishes. Since the parent’s wish this time is that his wealth remains with the temple, I don’t think that the daughter has any legitimate claim at all.

[vajrastorm]

It is puzzling that the abbot of a monastery has deposited so much money in several personal accounts. If the money is from donations to the temple, then it should be kept in the temple's account. If the abbot has fully renounced, then there shouldn't be these 'several personal bank accounts', isn't it?

Whatever it is, the court has thankfully ruled correctly that all that money should go to the temple. It's strange, but how did Zhang know that the father had so much money and in several personal accounts too? Is it possible that she had been led to believe that she had some claims on the money? Ah, well....perhaps, these are some wild thoughts of mine.   
 

[bambi]

Logically, the abbot divorced his wife and became a monk. In the eyes of the law, they are no longer connected in anyway. They don't even have the same surname. Like what Wisdombeing said, is correct. The child did not even contribute anything but when the parents die, they believe it is rightfully theirs. How come? Parents spend their whole life working for their children and when they die, the children think of their leftovers. 

Whatever and wherever the money came from, it doesn't belong to anyone but the temple. I do not know the stories about why it is being deposited into different accounts and why such a large sum so I will not comment about it.

[ratanasutra]

Now a day, there are lot of news of how people mind are degenerated.

The news didn't mention about Zhang financial situation, however the fact that the father have divorced with mother before ordained to become a monk so it showed that her parents have settled the financial matter of family since then so the money which found after her deceased father are nothing relate to her at all.

There is no shame on her to did such action in order to get those money from the temple which not belong to her at all. poor thing.

[Positive Change]

Out of sheer desperation, one would do anything.... and in this case sue a Buddhist temple. This is yet another sure sign of a degenerate age whereby such religious, monastical institutions even, are treated merely as a secular entity. There is no reverence or respect for religion or representations of religion.

Coming from another angle, some religious institutions in this day and age do not garner the respect either. There are many instances of "crimes" that should not even exist in such institutions...

However are the respective religions to be blamed or the people running them? Therein lies the problem. There are often associations with a particular institution with certain people... hence the institution themselves become pigeon holed.

[diamond girl]

I believe that inheritance is completely up to the parent. After all, the child did not contribute to the accumulation of wealth, so why should he or she have a claim to it. If the parent wanted to look after the child in material terms then it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that the inheritance is legally recorded so the courts can carry out the parents’ wishes. Since the parent’s wish this time is that his wealth remains with the temple, I don’t think that the daughter has any legitimate claim at all.

Wisdom Being, I have always admired how you will find a silver lining everywhere. Yes I see your point that in all this madness of suing a temple that the government shows compassion to respect the temple and see that a donation remain as such. Karmically it is good for the daughter. If she had managed to sue successfully it would really compound her negative karma....scary...

[Tammy]

Greed, anger, ignorant, attachment - you name it... This port woman have it all. I think her worst issue is anger. Her father left her at the age of two, her mother must have struggled a good deal to bring her up. Hence she should have blame the father for not full filling his duty by providing her a comfortable childhood.

Hence when she found out about his donation to the monetary (I wonder why he did this!! Hoping to collect merits to offset his ill-deed!?!?) she wanted the money as a revenge !!

Greed - for wanting the money
Anger - her hatred against the father for abandoning the family
Ignorant - she doesn't know that taking from a monetary will create negative karma
Attachment - cant let go of her hatefully feeling towards the father

Only dharma can help her see clearly..

[DSFriend]

It is puzzling that the abbot of a monastery has deposited so much money in several personal accounts. If the money is from donations to the temple, then it should be kept in the temple's account. If the abbot has fully renounced, then there shouldn't be these 'several personal bank accounts', isn't it?

Whatever it is, the court has thankfully ruled correctly that all that money should go to the temple. It's strange, but how did Zhang know that the father had so much money and in several personal accounts too? Is it possible that she had been led to believe that she had some claims on the money? Ah, well....perhaps, these are some wild thoughts of mine.   
 

Yes, it is kind of puzzling but oh well, perhaps different monasteries have different methods of accountabilities for financial matters.

It is extreme lack of reverence but what is sad is this pattern of behavior is prevalent... family is supposed to be the closest support system but so often it all boils down to money matters. Money matters break families apart.. money matters "bring" people together. Is that all that matters when we sum up the life of a person by how much they have in their bank? Such a sad time we are living in...

[Big Uncle]

Well, everything in China is about Greed and money these days. People are just looking for fast wealth and although the country is on the brink of economic superpower status, her people are spiritually poverty-stricken. There's just so much unhappiness and it looks to me that Dorje Shugden is so much needed in this country and everywhere else. I am sure if Dorje Shugden is spread, the Dharma will eventually grow in this land as it had in he past.