{"id":12375,"date":"2020-01-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/larung-gar-abbots-international-centers-closed-under-suspected-pressure-from-china\/"},"modified":"2020-01-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T23:00:00","slug":"larung-gar-abbots-international-centers-closed-under-suspected-pressure-from-china","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/larung-gar-abbots-international-centers-closed-under-suspected-pressure-from-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Larung Gar abbot\u2019s international centers closed under suspected pressure from China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the leading Tibetan Buddhist voices within the People\u2019s  Republic of China has made a surprising announcement about the closure of his Bodhi Institute of Compassion and Wisdom, which has locations throughout the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has learned that some of  Khenpo Sodargye\u2019s followers suspect there is more to the closure than  the reason he cited in his announcement on Dec. 30, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement, which was written in Chinese and posted on <a href=\"https:\/\/zhibeifw.com\/va\/gyptxhdsm\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Larung Gar Khenpo\u2019s website<\/a>\n on Dec. 30, 2019, states that some people have \u201cundertaken different \nactivities in the name of the Institute,\u201d adding that Sodargye finds it \ndisheartening that some of them are engaged in \u201cillegal activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Chinese disciple of Sodargye residing in the West told ICT\u2019s source\n that while the announcement of the closure is true, the reasons \nprovided were \u201cclearly\u201d written by Sodargye under the direction of \nChinese authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/KhenpoSodargye-890x467.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9910\"\/><figcaption><em>Khenpo Sodargye.  Photo by Tashitso.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The disciple said he received information from inside China stating \nthat Sodargye and the other abbot of Larung Gar, Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro, \nwere separately interrogated by Chinese authorities in November 2019, \nand that the closure is related to these interrogations. The word \n\u201cKhenpo\u201d is a Tibetan term that refers to monastery abbots and other \nsenior monks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both abbots were the primary disciples of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, the \nfounder of Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy in eastern Tibet, \nformally known as the Serthar Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Institute. \nJigme Phuntsok passed away in 2004, and since then, the institute has \nbeen looked after by a team of abbots, including Sodargye and Tsultrim \nLodro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Larung Gar has become one of the largest and most influential centers\n for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in China, attracting both Tibetan and\n Chinese students. Over the last five years, Chinese authorities have \nrepeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/demolitions-begin-at-larung-gar-monastery-for-the-world-as-religious-teachers-urge-calm\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">targeted it for demolitions<\/a>,\n forcing monks and nuns to leave and destroying vast swaths of living \nquarters in an effort to severely reduce the size of the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Larung Gar also survived previous attempts by Chinese authorities to demolish sections of it in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Sodargye and Tsultrim Lodro have been making international \ntravels in recent years giving talks on Buddhism and Buddhist \nphilosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The closure of Sodargye\u2019s international centers may represent an \neffort to restrict his religious and moral influence, which has grown in\n recent years. As recently as 2014, Sodargye was <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/newsroom\/tibet-tidbits\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">featured<\/a>\n on the cover of Chinese magazine Renwu Zhoukan (People Weekly). This \nwas likely the first time a Buddhist monk or a Tibetan had been featured\n on the magazine cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Khenpo-SoDargye-announcement-Chinese-12302019-890x658.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9911\"\/><figcaption><em>A screenshot of Khenpo Sodargye\u2019s announcement of the closure of his Buddhist centers.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sodargye\u2019s statement said he is taking the following actions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>1. I disband the Bodhi Institute of Compassion and Wisdom and all  its offices. As a result, regional dharma centers, committees and  institutions related to and established in the name of [the] Bodhi  Institute will be disbanded. I would like to reiterate that all  activities undertaken by these institutions will be suspended, and  websites related to them will also be disbanded.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>2. Henceforth, if you come across any kind of announcement made in  the name of Bodhi Institute, they are fake. Any type of donation sought  in the name of Bodhi Institute has nothing to do with me, and one  shouldn\u2019t fall prey to it. If in case such act happens, I will take  legal action to identify the culprit whosoever is responsible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>3. I will continue to love the nation as well as the \nreligion and be in the service of faithful public. I hope faithful \npublic will remain honest and be law abiding.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As one of the leading Tibetan Buddhist voices within China has made a surprising announcement about the closure of his Bodhi Institute of Compassion and Wisdom, ICT has learned that some of his followers suspect there is more to the closure than the reason he cited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[670],"class_list":["post-12375","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","hentry","categorie-news","news_tag-culture-and-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Larung Gar abbot\u2019s international centers closed under suspected pressure from China - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/larung-gar-abbots-international-centers-closed-under-suspected-pressure-from-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larung Gar abbot\u2019s international centers closed under suspected pressure from China - 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