Buddhist Monks Caught Playing High Stakes Poker!
The stakes in the illicit poker game were very high indeed and he alleges that over 1 billion won ($865,000) exchanged hands during the 13-hour poker session
Eight Buddhist monks from South Korea have landed in hot water after a film of them playing high stakes poker was leaked to a news agency who then broadcast it to millions of the countries residents. The video showed eight monks from the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism sat on the floor smoking, drinking alcohol and playing poker in a hotel room.
According to Seong-ho, a former chief priest of the monk order, the stakes in the illicit poker game were very high indeed and he alleges that over 1 billion won ($865,000) exchanged hands during the 13-hour poker session. Seong-ho was expelled from the order in 2011 for violence and spreading baseless rumours.
The scandal has caused an uproar in the Buddhist community not only because gambling of any sort is illegal outside of South Korean casinos, and not just because the monks were drinking and smoking but the very fact the money they were gambling with almost certainly came from donations from the 15 million followers of the Jogye order.
A spokesman for the order, which is the dominant order of the Seon School and the primary school of Korean Buddhism, confirmed that six high-ranking officials have since resigned from the order. Their statement read, "Six officials, including the director of the administration and the director of finance, stepped down." before adding that the Jogye order president, Ja-seung, had ordered the offending monks to be punished according to Jogye code.
Ja-seung released a statement of his own saying, "We deeply apologise for the behaviour of several monks in our order. The monks who have caused public concern are currently being investigated and will be punished according to Buddhist regulations as soon as the truth is verified by the prosecution." He also said that his order will conduct a 108-bows ritual for 100 days to repent the misbehaviour of the monks.
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