Pursuing money with temples perverts faith

TWO BUDDHIST temples in Beijing - Tanzhe Temple and Jietai Temple - that have been involved in a listed company since 1998, were expected to return to their religious roles on June 30. However, the date set by the local authorities did not see the listed company terminating its contracted operations with management of the temples' tourism activities. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

The two well-known Buddhist temples in Beijing should have stayed true to their religious purpose. Instead, to capitalize on their appeal to tourists, they were enlisted as resources of a listed cultural operation company about 20 years ago. This has severely violated their spiritual nature.

The two temples are meant to be places where people can clean their souls; instead they have become vehicles with which to chase money.