Tweet
Hi All,
A very tragic event recently occurred in that pissant Third World sewer, Nepal, and it touched my heart.
Being a Christian and a compassionate conservative with a lot of money, I just knew it was my duty to help out. It just so happens that I have good friend in New Dehli who owns a nice business that I often patronize whenever I'm in India outsourcing US jobs. Anyway, I gave him a call and told him about the unfortunate nun, and asked if he could help. He said that the story was already big news in India, and he most certainly was willing to offer assistance to the young lady.
So, he jumped in his car and - along with an assistant Nepali interpreter - headed up to Kathmandu to locate her. The mission was a success - the woman was found, and my friend paid her entire hospital bill. He also gave US$50 to her family. Furthermore, he told her that even though the nunneries in Nepal had rejected her, that was not the case in India. He offered to take her to New Dehli, where she would find friends in a closely-knit community with other young Nepali Buddhist women.
The young lady gratefully accepted and went with my friend to New Dehli. Sure enough, she was given her own private room with attached bath in my friend's business establishment. She had never before seen such luxury - indoor plumbing is not the norm in Nepal, and in the Buddhist hostel she always had to share a room with many other nuns. Furthermore, her room in Delhi also includes air-conditioning, a water bed, and a large color TV (something she had never seen before!), along with a DVD player and a stack of videos, including some genuine American classics such as Deep Throat and Debbie Does Dallas.
Better than Bollywood
My friend told me that thanks to all the publicity, customers were lining up to spend some quality time with the now-famous Gang-raped Nepali Nun. He easily earned back his investment on the first night. He's also making a video of the young lady's current activities, soon to be for sale on the Internet - that's right, she's going to be a star!
He predicted that the young lady could pay off the loan for the hospital bill and donation to her family in about five years time. He might invite her to stay longer, though it depends on how her looks hold out. He's promised that when she pays off her debts, he'll give her back her clothes. In the meantime, he keeps the door to her room locked, and the electrified bars on the window assures her personal safety from intruders.
It really just brings joy to my heart to see that this story has a happy ending. Who said that dreams don't come true?
A very tragic event recently occurred in that pissant Third World sewer, Nepal, and it touched my heart.
Story from The Times of India
KATHMANDU: From one of the most disadvantaged Adivasi communities of Nepal, a 21-year-old Buddhist nun who was gang-raped by five men last month in a public bus, now faces the additional ordeal of being stripped of her religious habit and turned out of the nunnery where she had been apprenticed for almost 10 years.
The young woman's family told TNN that she was still in a state of shock after having wavered between life and death in a hospital in India's border town of Siliguri. But she could no longer be considered a bhikshuni (Buddhist nun) after the rape, Nepal's Buddhist organisations said.
While condemning the attack and deploring the communist government's ignorance of a "rarest of rare" crime in Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha, 15 Buddhist organisations said that as a result, she had lost "her religion" and could be no longer regarded as fit to be a nun.
"Such a thing never happened in the Buddha's lifetime," said Norbu Sherpa, an official of Nepal Buddhist Federation. "So he did not leave instructions about how to deal with the situation. Buddhists all over the world adhere to what he had laid down: that a person can no longer be considered ordained in case of having a physical relationship. It's applicable to both men and women."
Now the victim, whose family is already reeling under the burden of paying the Indian hospital nearly Rs 3 lakh for her treatment, can no longer go back to the nunnery in Pharping, the little town in central Nepal with a concentration of Buddhist monasteries, where she had been admitted when she was about 12 years old.
Asked if it was not a gross injustice to the woman who was a victim, Sherpa was regretful but firm. "A vessel that is damaged once can no longer be used to keep water," he said. "Buddhism all over the world says this. Even the Dalai Lama says you can't be a monk or nun after marriage."
Regarded as one of the most progressive religions in the world, this is a little-known face of Buddhism that is more a matter of interpretation by the followers of the Buddha than probably the teachings of the compassionate one himself. Compared to the interpretation, the church, still vilified in Nepal despite the former Hindu kingdom becoming secular five years ago, supports its wronged nuns and monks with compassion.
Pastor Robin Rai of the Catholic church in Nepal said the church would not throw out a raped nun. "She is the victim," he told TNN. "To us, she is still a virgin. She remains a nun as long as she belongs to Christ."
The Nepal Tamang Lama Gedung added a sympathetic note, saying it would provide care for the victim.
The 21-year-old was raped on June 24 in a bus while travelling in eastern Nepal. Due to the rains, the bus arrived at the destination very late and she was forced to spend the night inside it. Her attackers are the driver of the bus, his two helpers, and the driver and helper of another bus. They also looted the money she was carrying with her.
The woman belongs to the Tamang community, one of the worst victims of human traffickers and suffering from a high degree of illiteracy and abject poverty.
KATHMANDU: From one of the most disadvantaged Adivasi communities of Nepal, a 21-year-old Buddhist nun who was gang-raped by five men last month in a public bus, now faces the additional ordeal of being stripped of her religious habit and turned out of the nunnery where she had been apprenticed for almost 10 years.
The young woman's family told TNN that she was still in a state of shock after having wavered between life and death in a hospital in India's border town of Siliguri. But she could no longer be considered a bhikshuni (Buddhist nun) after the rape, Nepal's Buddhist organisations said.
While condemning the attack and deploring the communist government's ignorance of a "rarest of rare" crime in Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha, 15 Buddhist organisations said that as a result, she had lost "her religion" and could be no longer regarded as fit to be a nun.
"Such a thing never happened in the Buddha's lifetime," said Norbu Sherpa, an official of Nepal Buddhist Federation. "So he did not leave instructions about how to deal with the situation. Buddhists all over the world adhere to what he had laid down: that a person can no longer be considered ordained in case of having a physical relationship. It's applicable to both men and women."
Now the victim, whose family is already reeling under the burden of paying the Indian hospital nearly Rs 3 lakh for her treatment, can no longer go back to the nunnery in Pharping, the little town in central Nepal with a concentration of Buddhist monasteries, where she had been admitted when she was about 12 years old.
Asked if it was not a gross injustice to the woman who was a victim, Sherpa was regretful but firm. "A vessel that is damaged once can no longer be used to keep water," he said. "Buddhism all over the world says this. Even the Dalai Lama says you can't be a monk or nun after marriage."
Regarded as one of the most progressive religions in the world, this is a little-known face of Buddhism that is more a matter of interpretation by the followers of the Buddha than probably the teachings of the compassionate one himself. Compared to the interpretation, the church, still vilified in Nepal despite the former Hindu kingdom becoming secular five years ago, supports its wronged nuns and monks with compassion.
Pastor Robin Rai of the Catholic church in Nepal said the church would not throw out a raped nun. "She is the victim," he told TNN. "To us, she is still a virgin. She remains a nun as long as she belongs to Christ."
The Nepal Tamang Lama Gedung added a sympathetic note, saying it would provide care for the victim.
The 21-year-old was raped on June 24 in a bus while travelling in eastern Nepal. Due to the rains, the bus arrived at the destination very late and she was forced to spend the night inside it. Her attackers are the driver of the bus, his two helpers, and the driver and helper of another bus. They also looted the money she was carrying with her.
The woman belongs to the Tamang community, one of the worst victims of human traffickers and suffering from a high degree of illiteracy and abject poverty.
So, he jumped in his car and - along with an assistant Nepali interpreter - headed up to Kathmandu to locate her. The mission was a success - the woman was found, and my friend paid her entire hospital bill. He also gave US$50 to her family. Furthermore, he told her that even though the nunneries in Nepal had rejected her, that was not the case in India. He offered to take her to New Dehli, where she would find friends in a closely-knit community with other young Nepali Buddhist women.
The young lady gratefully accepted and went with my friend to New Dehli. Sure enough, she was given her own private room with attached bath in my friend's business establishment. She had never before seen such luxury - indoor plumbing is not the norm in Nepal, and in the Buddhist hostel she always had to share a room with many other nuns. Furthermore, her room in Delhi also includes air-conditioning, a water bed, and a large color TV (something she had never seen before!), along with a DVD player and a stack of videos, including some genuine American classics such as Deep Throat and Debbie Does Dallas.
Better than Bollywood
My friend told me that thanks to all the publicity, customers were lining up to spend some quality time with the now-famous Gang-raped Nepali Nun. He easily earned back his investment on the first night. He's also making a video of the young lady's current activities, soon to be for sale on the Internet - that's right, she's going to be a star!
He predicted that the young lady could pay off the loan for the hospital bill and donation to her family in about five years time. He might invite her to stay longer, though it depends on how her looks hold out. He's promised that when she pays off her debts, he'll give her back her clothes. In the meantime, he keeps the door to her room locked, and the electrified bars on the window assures her personal safety from intruders.
It really just brings joy to my heart to see that this story has a happy ending. Who said that dreams don't come true?
Comment