The Tongdosa Temple claims for damage against Shincheonji - Beopbo Shinmun
" 'We will show the excellence of Buddhist culture'... but they wrap it into Christian doctrine"
Related documents and contracts released during a press conference on July 27
The Tongdosa temple has declared that it will take a strong action against the video clip of the Cheonji Ilbo's Internet broadcast "Tongdosa, the thousand-year-old secret of fait," which has been accused of abusing the Buddhist temple and misusing the Buddhist doctrine to validate its own.
The Tongdosa Temple of the Yeongchuksan forest (Chief priest Hyeonmun), held a press conference on July 27 to reveal "the details of Cheonji Ilbo's breach of contract and defamation" and hinted at a strong legal action against it. The meeting was attended by Ji Beom, planning director of the Tongdosa Temple, Inkyung, the school director, and by the monks of the administrative office. In particular, the Tongdosa Temple released an official document of Cheonji Ilbo related to the shooting and the contract submitted to the Tongdosa Temple for the collaboration. The Tongdosa Temple asked the Cheonji Ilbo to block the video through phone calls and official documents. The Cheonji Ilbo did not implement any measure, and the video is still available.
According to the Tongdosa Temple, Chunji Ilbo sent an official letter to the temple on behalf of its affiliate, "Geulmaru,"on February 10 this year asking for a collaboration for a film. In response, the Tongdosa Temple verbally asked if it was related to Shincheonji, but they answered it was not, so the temple allowed the shooting. However, the filming schedule was postponed after Buddha's birthday, due to the Corona 19 preventive measures. On May 11, the day before the shooting, theTongdosa Temple asked again if the film was related to Shincheonji and finally gave the green light after receiving the answer that, "the publisher of the Chunji Ilbo is a Shincheonji member, but the Cheonji Ilbo is not related to Shincheonji." On May 12, the day of the shooting, they put their official seal on the filming cooperation contract, which stated the purpose of "showing the excellence of the Buddhist culture."
However, the contents of the video posted on YouTube on July 16 were completely different. Instead of "showing the excellence of the Buddhist culture of the Tongdosa Temple," it was used to arbitrarily interpret and preach Buddhist attributes and doctrines. The video also included images of the Tongdosa Geuknak Rock, the interior of the Daeungjeon Hall and of the Geumgang Stair, which filming was not allowed. In addition, some of the videos of the Sashi service on BTN Buddhist TV, were used without prior approval, with simple subtitles, and the illustrations of Cho Min-ki's book "The teenage disciple of Buddha" (published by Clear Sound Clear Nation) were also used without permission.
The Tongdosa Temple demanded the deletion of the video from Cheonji Ilbo on July 20, but Cheonji Ilbo refused. The temple officially requested the deletion of the video with a letter on the 21st. In addition, the temple will appoint a lawyer to send proofs for the suspension of the video after reporting it to YouTube as inappropriate. The temple is also preparing for an injunction and a claim for damages. Within a few days, they will discuss the matter with the executives of the Jogye Order [ the order of Korean Buddhism ]and announce their position.
Ji Beom, planning director of the Tongdosa Temple, said, " We were aware of the attempts to approach the Korean Buddhist community distorting and damaging the Buddhist tradition by wrapping it into Christian doctrines in order to expand their religious influence in the country. However, the arbitrary interpretation and distortion of other religions' places and sacred texts is tantamount to an act of instigating religious conflict," and added, "This case could lead to a serious damage not only to the Tongdosa Temple, but to Buddhist organizations, Buddhist monks and Buddhist believers as well."
"The use of the Tongdosa Temple and Buddhism to preach Christian doctrines, the violation of contracts, the distortion of doctrines, the unauthorized filming and the use of images without prior consent, clearly undermine not only the Tongdosa Temple but also the reputation of Buddhism," said the Buddhist monk Inkyeong, the school director. "We will work with our religious organization to deal sternly with it."
Original article: https://www.beopbo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=211536
Disclaimer! I am neither a native korean speaker nor a professional translator and all the English subtitles and translations are by no means official. They are just part of my personal research on SCJ that I want to share with you.
