Santi Asoke not welcome on panel

by AMPA SANTIMATANEDOL YUWADEE TUNYASIRI, Bangkok Post, April 12, 2005

Bangkok, Thailand -- The Sangha Council is adamant it will not allow a senior member of the unorthodox Santi Asoke Buddhist sect to sit on the organising panel for religious ceremonies to mark Visakha Bucha Day next month.

Services commemorate deceased Buddhist Venerable

VNA, April 11, 2005

Ha Noi, Vietnam -- The Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) organised a service to pray for the peace of Most Venerable Thich Tam Tich at Bo De Pagoda in Ha Noi's outlying Gia Lam district on April 10.

Blind clearly see Buddhism's light

Story by PENCHAN CHAROENSUTHIPHAN, The Bangkok Post, April 7, 2005

Camp shows young people that visual disabilities do not obscure path to enlightenment

Bangkok, Thailand -- About 40 blind youths who joined a dharma camp at Sathian Dharma Satharn centre in the Ram Intra area have learned that sight is not essential for achieving happiness or enlightenment.

Fellowship night to honour Venerable K Sri Dhammananda's 53 years of Dhammaduta

The Buddhist Channel, April 6, 2005

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- The Dhammaduta Youth (D2Y) together with Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia Youth Section (BMSMYS) will be organizing a fellowship get together to celebrate the 86th birthday of Ven. Dr K Sri Dhammananda Maha Nayaka Thera. Entitled "One Voice, Sharing of Minds", the evening gathering at Buddhist Maha Vihara, Brickfields on Saturday, April 30, 2005 will showcase talks, felicitations and other fellowship activities.

Monk returns home, one pagoda at a time

By Ben Stocking, Mercury News Vietnam Bureau, April 2, 2005

Famous Buddhist had been banned from Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam -- Live in the present. Focus on each breath. Find beauty in small things. Thich Nhat Hanh has spent 2 1/2 months visiting pagodas across his homeland, spreading the simple wisdom that has made him perhaps the world's most famous Buddhist monk after the Dalai Lama and a popular figure in the Bay Area.

Exiled monk returns to a changed Vietnam

By Tini Tran, Deseret Morning News (Associated Press), 2 April 2005

HANOI, Vietnam -- The South Vietnamese government exiled him. Its communist successor wouldn't let him return. So for 39 years, Vietnam's best-known Buddhist monk has traveled the world and built a huge and faithful audience for his message of peace and forgiveness.

Largest statue of Buddha inaugurated

Saigon Times Weekly, 2 April 2005

Hanoi, Vietnam -- Van Hanh Zen Monastery in Dalat City held a solemn ceremony to inaugurate its large Sakyamuni statue. This is thought to be the largest statue of Buddha in Vietnam. Building the statue started in April 2002 and it has had a total cost of VND1.2 billion. The money is mainly from Buddhists nationally.

Sacred Buddha relics on show

The Malay Mail, April 4, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- An exhibition of relics from the Buddha and his chief disciples is the highlight of the Maitreya Project Heart Shrine Relics Tour showcases launched yesterday.

Police find another stolen Buddha image in Chiang Mai

TNA, April 1, 2005

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The scandal of a former temple abbot accused of stealing ancient Buddha images to fund his betting habit deepened yesterday when the police announced the capture of a second 600 year-old image.

Thailand gets tough on alms

TNA, March 29, 2005

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The government yesterday pledged to get tough on the alms trade, warning traders who sell dirty or rotten food to members of the public wishing to donate it to monks that they could face prison sentences of up to two years.