Selling Temple

[cdnvic]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/20...mple050105.html

Buddhists selling temple to raise tsunami cash

Last Updated Wed, 05 Jan 2005 09:56:03 EST

VANCOUVER - A Vietnamese Buddhist group based in Burnaby, B.C., plans to raise $500,000 for the tsunami relief effort by selling its temple.

* INDEPTH: Disaster in Asia

Abbot Thich Ngyuen Thao

The Venerable Thich Ngyuen Thao's 40-member Buddhist congregation has had the small temple in Mission on the market for the past year.

The highest bid was $500,000, but Thich Ngyuen had been holding out for a higher price, hoping to raise enough money to build a new temple.

Now, instead of building that new temple, the group will sell the Mission temple and its one-hectare site and donate the proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross disaster relief fund that will help victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami in south Asia.

* RELATED STORY: Camps needed for 500,000 on Sumatra

If the temple does not sell for some reason, the Buddhists will sign the property over to the Red Cross to be auctioned off.

The abbot said when he first broached his plan to give the money away, there was some resistance from the congregation. Everyone is now onside, he said.

Thich Ngyuen said they're following the teaching of the Buddha – to do compassionate deeds and build a life featuring harmony between human beings and nature.

He said the money is, in part, a thank you to the people of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia for providing refuge to him and many members of his congregation when they were Vietnamese "boat people" in the 1970s.

The abbot said he hopes to have completed the sale by Jan. 11. That's the last day the federal government will match donations for relief efforts by private individuals and groups.

Thich Ngyuen said his congregation's decision is not intended to pressure other faiths to sell off their churches.

"We don't really encourage people to sell their property, but just to encourage them to make contributions in accordance with their personal situations," he said.

Other Canadians are also continuing to step forward with ways to help victims of the disaster:

* The 17,000 residents of Squamish, B.C., may adopt an Indonesian village so that they can help it in the long term.

* The Canadian potash industry has donated $1 million to relief efforts.

* A new Canadian Red Cross call centre has been set up in Saskatchewan to deal with a huge influx of calls from donors.

* A fruit stand in Nova Scotia is raising money by selling pineapples.

* A five-year-old in Alberta is colouring drawings and selling them for tsunami relief, raising more than $100 so far.

Written by CBC News Online staff

[cdnvic]

Quick update:

They got over half a million $$$ in the sale.. with govt matching it comes out to 1,000,000.00 + raised by one temple.

cv

Edited January 17, 2005 by cdnvic