Fake monks bring bad karma (3)

Commercial impact

Some senior monks admitted that their temples are increasingly impacted by commercial society in recent years.

Throughout the country, most famous temples have opened as scenic spots and charge entry tickets to tourists.

Only a small amount of the ticket income is given to the temple, with the government claiming the lion's share of the takings, according to Jie Cheng.

"Tourists in the temple are an irritating distraction for us monks," Jie said.

Affected by this development,some aspects of Buddhist life have been changed, such as selling books and CDs about Buddhism to tourists and giving lectures in the temple, Jie said.

Many monks are allowed to use modern utilities within reason, practitioners say.

"Buddhism itself is multicultural. It should keep up with the times and interact with society," Master Miao Xian, a vice president of the Buddhist Association of Tianjin, told the Global Times yesterday.

However, some remain unchanged, such as that monks do not betray the basic five doctrines of Buddhism, including not killing, not stealing, refraining from obscene behavior, not cheating and not drinking alcohol, he said.