[Buddha-l] New breed of monks on China Mainland

[Dan Lusthaus]

Interesting story in today's Washington Post:

Super-Competitive Monks Learn New Skills
Reuters
Friday, August 11, 2006; 8:13 AM

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Piety and a knowledge of Buddhist scriptures used to
qualify one to be a Chinese monk. Now, add computer skills, foreign language
ability and a degree in financial management.

Three decades after temples were destroyed and scriptures burned during the
Cultural Revolution, Buddhism is making a comeback in China.

And like most things in the super-competitive, rapidly developing country,
it's become both big business and a field in which people are eager to get
ahead.

That's creating a new breed of multi-tasking, tech-savvy, upwardly mobile
monks.

read the rest at

http://tinyurl.com/qx4zj

Enjoy,

Dan Lusthaus