经济学人下载:泰国佛教 失踪的僧侣(1)

Asia
亚洲

Buddhism in Thailand: The missing monk
泰国佛教：失踪的僧侣

The junta feuds with an influential sect.
军方与重要佛教教派长期不和。

SOME people think he has fled abroad.
有人认为他逃到了国外。

Others say he may have died.
也有人说他可能已经死了。

For more than a year the authorities in Thailand have been trying to get hold of PhraDhammachayo, the reclusive former leader of a controversial Buddhist sect who is wanted for questioning in a fraud case.
在这一年多内，泰国当局一直试图抓住PhraDhammachayo——一个极具争议的佛教宗派的前领袖，而且他早已退隐，但他涉嫌策划一个欺诈案

On February 16th a group of officers finally gained access to the vast religious complex which is Dhammakaya movement maintains on the outskirts of Bangkok.
2月16日政府官员终于有机会接近这个庞大而又复杂的修道士团体，因为他的Dhammakaya运动要在曼谷市郊举行。

Instead of locating the septuagenarian monk—often pictured in signature sunglasses—they found an empty bed stuffed with pillows.
不过，他们并没有找到这个常被刻画成戴着太阳镜的七十多岁的僧侣，只是找到了堆满枕头的空床。

By February 22nd more than 4,000 police and soldiers were lingering outside the Dhammakaya compound—waiting to complete a full sweep of the massive site but apparently hindered by monks and devotees who had blocked its dozen entrances.
到了2月22日，4000多警察和士兵在Dhammakaya外徘徊——准备进行一个大面积的清扫活动，但遭到了僧侣和信徒的阻碍，他们将很多入口都堵住了。

A spokesman for the sect claimed that 30,000 people were still inside the property, having ignored orders to leave; there have been scuffles at its gates.
一名宗教发言人称30000人无视撤离的要求，待在在房子内。并且他们已经在大门口发生过混战。

Apiradee, a retired civil servant helping to feed Dhammakaya followers who had gathered in support outside the police cordon, said she has never seen anything like it.
Apiradee是一名退休的国家公务员，她负责给聚集在警戒线外的Dhammakaya的追随者提供给养，她说她从没见过这种事。

Founded in the 1970s, the Dhammakaya movement claims about 3m followers around the world.
Dhammakaya运动于二十世纪九十年代创立，宣称在全世界约有三百万教徒。

It is by far the most influential temple in Thailand.
到目前为止，该寺是在泰国最有影响力的寺庙。

It bears a loose resemblance to the evangelical mega-churches that increasingly beguile the world's Christians.
这与福音传道者的新会大教堂相似，这些教堂进一步使来自全世界的基督教徒都很着迷。

Dhammakaya's mostly middle-class adherents complain that older Buddhist temples have grown complacent and materialistic.
Dhammakaya的大部分中产阶级拥护者抱怨大佛寺变得自满且唯物论了。

They insist, rather grandly, that the Bangkok compound, with its vast stadium, is meant to become a kind of Buddhist Vatican.
他们宣称宁愿把曼谷和其大体育场变成佛教梵蒂冈。