Behind the incident of Jizushan kidnapping Buddha to make money

Jizu Mountain is a sacred Buddhist mountain and a place where diverse cultures such as Central Plains culture, Southeast Asian culture, and Tibetan culture blend together. Its cultural value is extremely precious. According to Buddhist scriptures, the Venerable Kassapa kept his clothes here and entered meditation, waiting for Maitreya Bodhisattva to become a Buddha.

Compared with other Buddhist holy mountains in China, Jizu Mountain has its own characteristics in promoting Buddhism, that is, it inherits the Tutu family tradition advocated by the Venerable Kassapa. The Venerable Maha Kassapa carried out the Twelve-headed Dharma Acts throughout, and was praised by the Buddha and respected by the Sangha. The Venerable has lived in Alanruo (a quiet place, such as a tomb under a tree, a thatched cave) all his life. Even when he entered the Dinghua Shoumen (the stone gate on the top of Jizu Mountain), he always wore a dung sweeper and practiced hard to uphold the true Dharma.

Muxiangping, the back hill of Jizu Mountain, has always been a retreat for monks. Muxiangping is under the jurisdiction of Shuanglang Town, Dali City, and the forest rights are owned by resident Li Jun's family. They are provided free of charge for practitioners to live in the mountain for practice. Because of its outstanding religious and natural features, it attracts many believers to make pilgrimages.

The thatched huts in Jizu Mountain have existed since ancient times. The monks who live on the mountain and the local people have always found their own place and lived in peace. What does the local government want to do by tearing off the roofs of thatched huts and driving monks down the mountain?

The reason is obvious: in order to explore its economic value, the Dali Prefecture Government proposed to vigorously promote the culture of the "Miaoxiang Buddhist Country" and promote Buddhist tourism Resource development is an important factor in improving Dali tourism.

In accordance with the requirements of the Dali City Religious Affairs Bureau and relevant departments, the local community has spontaneously established a Jizushan Muxiangping Shizi Mao Sheng District Protection Group. It is guided by the Dali Prefecture Buddhist Association and the Dali City Buddhist Association. The work of the protection group This includes protecting the people on the mountain, doing a good job in forest protection and fire prevention, and doing a good job in environmental protection. However, according to the requirements of the document "Dali Prefecture Religious Affairs Bureau's Reply to Proposal No. 114130 of the Fourth Session of the Eleventh CPPCC State Committee", Maopeng District is recommended to apply for a registration certificate for religious activity venues or fixed premises when conditions are mature. However, due to various reasons, the government has been slow to handle the matter, which created "legitimacy" for the government to demolish the hut areas.

As everyone knows, if Jizu Mountain had no huts and no ascetic practitioners, it would be impossible to identify the Buddhist cultural characteristics of Jizu Mountain. Relevant departments do not understand Buddhism or the origin of Buddhism in Jizu Mountain, or they "pretend to be ignorant" and forcibly demolish the hut area in order to develop the tourism economy. This is destined to turn the solemn and pure ashram into a money bank.

Religious and humanistic resources should be protected and sustained rather than wantonly exploited. The forced demolition of thatched huts and the forced demolition of temples are of the same nature. In essence, they are both a rejection of religious beliefs, a matter of robbing ancestral graves and selling souls. They are an injury to humanity, a destruction of culture, and a disobedience to the nation. Nowadays, the temple economy is almost sweeping away Buddhism, and the living environment of Buddhism is very worrying! On February 9, the Binchuan Jizu Mountain Buddhist Association issued the "Notice on the Closed-door Specialization of All Temples and Nunneries in Jizu Mountain". The announcement stated that all temples in Jizu Mountain will conduct a seven-day retreat starting from the tenth day of the first lunar month. "During the retreat period, the temples in Jizu Mountain will not receive all pilgrims and tourists. Pilgrims and tourists who come to pay homage to the Buddha and pay homage to the mountain are asked to make appropriate arrangements to avoid delaying your itinerary. If you have purchased a ticket to enter the mountain, please travel with Jizu Mountain The ticket office of the investment company will negotiate a solution to avoid unnecessary financial losses for you."

The decision to collectively close the mountain gate caught many believers off guard. Some citizens reported on Weibo that Jizu Mountain in Binchuan, Dali. The gates of all major temples and nunneries are closed, and tourists are only allowed to leave but not to enter. At about 10 a.m. on the 9th, a large number of tourists and pilgrims lingered outside the gate of Jinding Temple, unwilling to leave for a long time.

According to Yunnan media reports, the closure protest was mainly due to the high ticket prices, which were not exempt for Buddhists; in 2014, even the first day of the Lunar New Year was violated government regulations and did not provide free admission to Dali residents; the roads were monopolized by tourist buses , tickets are extremely expensive, and you have to ask them to pass the temple. Some tourists calculate that if they go to the mountains during the Spring Festival, the per capita consumption will be at least 600 yuan. This time, the entire mountain monastic community is preparing to meditate behind closed doors to protest against the inappropriate behavior of the Jizu Mountain Tourism Development Company. A staff member of a temple in Jizushan said that this may be because the monks in various temples have been forced into desperation by the Jizushan Tourism Development Company.

On the day of the incident, the Jizu Mountain Buddhist Association also submitted seven relevant requirements to the Binchuan County Jizu Mountain Scenic Area Administration Bureau, including that matters involving Buddhism in Jizu Mountain tourism planning must be discussed with the Buddhist community. , adjusting the fees for sightseeing cars in scenic spots, relaxing daily traffic control, etc. After negotiations, the Jizu Mountain Buddhist Association and the Jizu Mountain Scenic Area Administration Bureau of Binchuan County reached an agreement. In response to the seven requirements put forward by the Jizu Mountain Buddhist Association, the tourism company and relevant departments should submit a written notice before 12:00 on February 10, 2014. If the reply is resolved, the Jizu Mountain Temple will be open normally. If a written reply cannot be sent before 12 o'clock, it will continue to be closed for special training.

It is reported that government leaders at all levels have gone to the mountain to communicate with the Buddhist Association, and the police have also dispatched inspection forces. According to relevant information, Jizu Mountain’s original natural attributes and religious and cultural attributes have long given way to “multi-functional tourist attractions” and “main industries that enhance economic development potential” in the eyes of local governments and businesses. In 2010, in order to build Jizu Mountain into the core area of ??Dali Prefecture's "three major tourism circles" and the main battlefield for secondary tourism entrepreneurship, Binchuan County accelerated the construction of Jizu Mountain tourism projects.

The Yunnan Provincial Tourism Investment Group Company, Dali Tourism Group and Jizu Mountain Tourism Development Company jointly hold shares and begin to implement the reconstruction of the tourist ropeway, the forest fire escape from Biyun Temple to Yuhuang Pavilion, the mountain gate parking lot and comprehensive supporting tourist service facilities. There are four key projects: , scenic spot special line bus operation, with a total investment of about 160 million yuan.

The rapid development of tourism in Jizu Mountain will inevitably lead to the escalation of conflicts between Buddhist temples and scenic spots. The closed-door incident during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Horse shows that all the Buddhist temples in Jizu Mountain absolutely resist commercial development. The Dali Prefecture Government must think carefully. Otherwise, Jizu Mountain, which has lost its Buddhist connotation, will not only lose its future tickets, but also its thousands of years of accumulation. cultural treasures. Master Jian Kuan is a mountain-dwelling monk from Taiwan. The Taiwanese Buddhist community must have had a lot of experience in the history of safeguarding its legal rights and interests - his struggle with fellow mountain-dwelling monks to defend their rights is a symbol. Masters from both sides of Chinese Buddhism are working together to face the greed of holding the Buddha hostage to make money. After the hut was demolished, he set up a tent in the snow, ran around for the hut that represented the spirit of Buddhism, and vowed to live and die with the holy mountain: "I am a monk, and I have the responsibility to protect the land. If I practice here, I will die." Here! ”

From Shaolin Temple to Xingjiao Temple, from Mount Emei to Jizu Mountain, the ancestral temples of famous mountains are naturally regarded as key uses of tourism and a resource bank for local GDP growth. In the name of tourism development, holy places have been occupied, the main body of the monastic community has been stripped away, the sanctity of Buddhism has been eliminated, the public's reverence for the faith has been poisoned, and Buddhism has been cleaned up and used as a tool to attract money and transferred to commercial organizations for profit. Enjoy the "results of development". Buddhism is monopolized by money, faith is bought in exchange for pearls, and holy places are turned into cash cows. The disaster of the temple property economy is no longer an unreasonable disease.

However, where there is plunder, there must be protection, and where there is oppression, there must be resistance! The collective closing of the Jizu Mountain was followed by a solemn statement: The Three Treasures are solemn and cannot be trampled on; Buddhism is tolerant and cannot be bullied.

The Jizu Mountain hijacking of the Buddha to make money is not only a landmark cancer incident in economic development, but also a turning point in the process of deepening economic reform in our country.

At this turning point, profit-seekers should be deeply aware of the negative impact of the past thirty years of frantically taking advantage of the Buddha to make money under the GDP competition mechanism; reflect on the plundering of religious resources, the development of temple industries, business, and religion Industrialization ultimately poses a fundamental threat to the hearts and minds of society; at this turning point, the Buddhist community needs to show the confidence and backbone of "responsibility for defending one's land." Because Buddhist disciples protect not only the monastery, but also a pure land in the hearts of the general public; what Buddhist disciples fight against is not only the robbery of the Buddha to make money, but also the filth in the world; what Buddhist disciples safeguard is not only the legitimate rights and interests of the Sangha, It is also the Dharmakaya and wisdom life of all living beings. In October 2013, the Jizushan Maoteng District in Yunnan was in danger of being demolished, and its survival was in jeopardy. Netizen Lan Ruoshanju once wrote a poem "To the Mountain Monk Living in the Maoteng District of Jizu Mountain" on October 12, 2013. The full text is as follows:

Ransha aspires to the supreme way and abides by the ancient precepts. Deep in the mountains;

The black bear and goshawk are Dharma friends, and they have a meal of brown rice and clear porridge.

The bitter cold rain in autumn makes clothes and quilt wet, and the bitter ice and snow in winter are biting and cold;

The most worrying thing is the stone trench officials who force all the old monks to move to their homes.

In a world full of sorrow and chaos, how many people can feel at ease surrounded by iron siege?