Fashionable monk

A buddhist monk has become famous by touring the country wearing fashionable gowns and performing pop music to spread his religion.

Unlike traditional monks who have an air of mystery about them, Shi Daoxin, formerly an abbot at a temple in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi Province, is a fan of Harry Potter, uses the latest iPhone and iPad and is a dedicated follower of fashion, always open to the latest ideas.

Dressed in stylish gowns and wearing sunglasses, Shi uses television, radio and other news media across the country to promote himself, his music and Buddhism.

He even has his own microblog and posted his cell phone number there to improve communication with the public. The 28-year-old is believed to be the first monk to use multimedia to take Buddhism to a wider public audience.

So far he has more than 65,000 followers on his microblog on Sina.com, which he updates almost every day by retweeting interesting posts and uploading new pictures.

Shi talks about "fashion Buddhism" on his microblog.

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Is that a thumbs down?

We may not particularly like the way he's spreading Buddhism and may remark about Buddhism doesn't do this stuff, but if he's getting the word out in a land of religous suppression, then I can't find fault. Go Buddha ...

We may not particularly like the way he's spreading Buddhism and may remark about Buddhism doesn't do this stuff, but if he's getting the word out in a land of religous suppression, then I can't find fault. Go Buddha ...

I think changes are good as long as it is for the better. Like Buddha said, nothing is permanent.