Recently there was an article in the HK Paparazzi mag "Oriental Sunday", regarding celebrity Cecilia Chung being discovered to have Thai Buddha and Kumanthong buchas venerated in her Yang Ming Shan private apartment. Cecilia (supposedly a Christian), who is pending a divorce and custody battle with husband Nicholas Tse, is said to be
"using the evil power of evil gods and little ghosts" to help her defeat her husband in court.
In other words, those reporters are equating Thai Buddhas with "evil gods" and Kumanthongs as "little ghosts". Such deep prejudice really appalling, revealing their complete ignorance and lack of respect for Thai Buddhism. Thai Buddha images and Buddhist art have a long history and are highly prized worldwide for their beauty and elegance. Well casted and consecrated Buddha buchas serve to remind us of the 9 virtues of the enlightened one, possessing the power to purify our minds when we venerate them with a sincere heart. To describe them as "evil gods" is simply mind-bogglingly offensive. As for Kumanthongs, it is also not right to look down on them as "little ghosts" created by black magic. Although long ago Khun Paen did use black magic to transform his unborn child into Kumanthong, modern KMTs are nothing like that. The earliest modern KMT images comes from LP Tae Wat Sam Ngam, who fashioned them from clay. The purpose of inviting child spirits to reside in those clay images is to give them a chance to help people improve their lives, and thus create merit for themselves. Such KMT spirits have taken the 5 precepts under the guru monks who invite them, and will not help the owners to do evil. As such, they are to be respected as little helpers, not feared as if they are demons. I do hope the Buddhist association and communities in HK will file a formal complaint to their government for this offensive article, just like what we did in Singapore with Pastor Rony Tan.
Recently there was an article in the HK Paparazzi mag "Oriental Sunday", regarding celebrity Cecilia Chung being discovered to have Thai Buddha and Kumanthong buchas venerated in her Yang Ming Shan private apartment. Cecilia (supposedly a Christian), who is pending a divorce and custody battle with husband Nicholas Tse, is said to be "using the evil power of evil gods and little ghosts" to help her defeat her husband in court.
In other words, those reporters are equating Thai Buddhas with "evil gods" and Kumanthongs as "little ghosts". Such deep prejudice really appalling, revealing their complete ignorance and lack of respect for Thai Buddhism. Thai Buddha images and Buddhist art have a long history and are highly prized worldwide for their beauty and elegance. Well casted and consecrated Buddha buchas serve to remind us of the 9 virtues of the enlightened one, possessing the power to purify our minds when we venerate them with a sincere heart. To describe them as "evil gods" is simply mind-bogglingly offensive. As for Kumanthongs, it is also not right to look down on them as "little ghosts" created by black magic. Although long ago Khun Paen did use black magic to transform his unborn child into Kumanthong, modern KMTs are nothing like that. The earliest modern KMT images comes from LP Tae Wat Sam Ngam, who fashioned them from clay. The purpose of inviting child spirits to reside in those clay images is to give them a chance to help people improve their lives, and thus create merit for themselves. Such KMT spirits have taken the 5 precepts under the guru monks who invite them, and will not help the owners to do evil. As such, they are to be respected as little helpers, not feared as if they are demons. I do hope the Buddhist association and communities in HK will file a formal complaint to their government for this offensive article, just like what we did in Singapore with Pastor Rony Tan.
2 comments:
all this people know nut about kumanthong....how can they refer kumanthong as little ghost??? it is people like this that give kumanthong a bad name..
I acknowledge the existence of Kumantong and many people are using it for various reasons. As a Buddhist, I do not encourage the use of Kumantong. It is better to use meditation and calming effects of Buddhist chants to develop our mind.
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