Buddhist Monk Accused In Alabama Temple Killing

The Rev. Chaiwat, the slain Buddhist leader, stands inside the new temple being built in Grand Bay, Ala., Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Credit: G.M. Andrews, The Press-Register / Landov

A Buddhist monk has been charged with beating to death the head monk of his temple.

According to NBC-affiliate WTVA, Vern Phdsamay, 32, was arrested on Friday for the murder of 45-year-old Chaiwat Moleechate who was found dead in the temple kitchen. A large wooden stick used for food preparation was the murder weapon.

Sgt. Paul Burch from the Mobile County Sheriff's Office reported that the killing took place at the Wat Buddharaksa Temple, located in Southern Mobile County, Alabama, according to CBS-affiliate WAKA.

Temple's President, Visanou Kamphouy, told Fox 10 News that, ironically, Moleechate had been a pivotal factor in Phdsamay's journey to the U.S.

"He's the one to help him out, get paperwork, and go to immigration and have this temple be the sponsor," Kamphouy said.

According to a member of the temple, Phdsamay had remained locked in his room for months. He was not talking to anyone and had been placed under a doctor's care. The troubled monk was soon to be sent away from the temple for treatment.

The suspect was expected in court for a bond hearing Monday, May 14.

Comments

[MissTake1989]

09:10 PM on 05/18/2012

Safe to say he will taking the 5th.

[cuoi]

01:01 PM on 05/18/2012

Not knowing full details, a possible factor may be cultural. When one moves from one country to another, there is an adjustment period. I have heard that when Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh went from Vietnam to the US, he suffered an emotional episode that required professional treatment. When I went to live in Vietnam in peacetime (living with local people, not in an expat compound), I got stressed out during week 3. My wife took me to a former Viet Cong doctor, Uncle Ho above one door and Che above another, who before she heard my story looked me in the eyes and said, "You were an American soldier and you are still suffering from stress from it." She advised me that we all did what the government told us to do and that it is best of focus on the present moment. Then she and her staff told me to take off my shirt and lay on the examining table. She explained they were going to "help my blood move" and had all sorts of brass rollers. Starting at my head, they tried to break my neck. Just kidding, trying to see if anyone really reading this. Anyhow, it was like a non-intrusive massage. Felt better and ended up making Vietnam my second home.

[rmayynrd]

10:07 PM on 05/16/2012

watch out for those monks, they have a lot of pent up anger from being so quiet all the time

[wutrup]

12:36 PM on 05/18/2012

There are very few problems with monks, compared to the average unconscious Christian.

[rmayynrd]

01:06 PM on 05/18/2012

It's Obama's fault.  He's failed our country and drove people insane.  lol

[cuoi]

01:10 PM on 05/18/2012

Heh, heh, like they say, beware of the quiet ones! I have met monks from many countries and my guess before reading this article was that the monk was from Sri Lanka. A Sri Lankan monk I met briefly in Tampa was one of the nastiest persons I met. My friend from Sri Lanka said many of them are arrogant and aggressive. Some have been linked to the fighting against Tamil.

[rmayynrd]

01:29 PM on 05/18/2012

they have to "release"  lol

[tenseku]

03:08 PM on 05/16/2012

This monk has been a very important person in my life. I have known him since I was a small child, he use to be in the monestary I went to as a child and left to Alabama when I was about nine years old. Every couple of years he'd come and go though. He will always be remembered and will forever be a important person in my life. It is unfortunate for such a murder to happen.

[Iamcaptainamerica]

05:59 AM on 05/17/2012

my sincere condolences for your loss.

[wutrup]

12:26 PM on 05/18/2012

I am of the opinion that we live in a total self created reality. We plan every life time with our soul group, and all outcomes. Everything happens by design and agreement. Like Shakespeare said all life is a stage play and when the play is over the victims and victors stand up and shake hands with each other. What did he know?

[Jan Allen McDaniel]

02:05 PM on 05/16/2012

Will we never see the end of Buddhist terrorism?

[cuoi]

01:12 PM on 05/18/2012

Well, it is said, "If you see Buddha along the highway, kill him."

[Jan Allen McDaniel]

01:25 PM on 05/18/2012

Excellent.

[ceekreewd]

01:50 PM on 05/16/2012

How sad. My sympathies to that community.

[mydoghasfleas]

12:34 PM on 05/16/2012

Wow! There's a buddhist temple in Alabama?

[cuoi]

01:17 PM on 05/18/2012

Probably many Buddhist temples in most states. Folks mock Texas as a state, but many temples here. If you know where there is a Vietnamese community, there is probably a temple nearby. I would recommend all gentle readers, regardless of your religious or spiritual path, to visit one during a special event. Vietnamese are very friendly, usually have free entertainment, great vegetarian food (and they don;t charge an arm or a leg) just like you'd get in Vietnam, usually have great works of art and flowers inside the temple where you are free to go, and no one will ask you to join or ask for money. The only expectation is to wear a smile and have a good time. If you want to donate, you'll have to ask around.

[the analyzer]

08:23 AM on 05/16/2012

One must have the mental training first before deciding to become a monk. In the Holy Srimad Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says in Chapter 6 that it is not a good idea to run away from the world if the objects of the world can still influence our mind. People suffering from depression, whether they are monks or not, should get help. Spiritual help.

[wutrup]

12:30 PM on 05/18/2012

We are the product of whatever lifetime has the strongest energetic hold on us. We all have had a dark past that we are trying to move beyond in this and in future lifetimes. Every monk is working through his or her karma.

[CIWIS]

07:59 AM on 05/16/2012

This is very surprising but no doubt an isolated case. You get used to murderous Christians and Islamist but a monk in AL, dang

[Myoho Mod]

02:39 PM on 05/16/2012

We are human and we fail at times. It is sad that he failed in this way...

[Cindbird]

12:44 AM on 05/16/2012

I live in Alabama, and while I'm not associated with this specific monastery, it seems that the monk had been suffering from severe depression. The Monastery had apparently made arrangements for him to go into a treatment facility. My understanding is that he was to go into the facility next week. Why he did this and what set him off is still unknown. He apparently committed the murder, then simply walked back to his room and sat down. That's where he was found when the police got there.

[cuoi]

01:22 PM on 05/18/2012

Good points. Folks sometimes tend to elevate certain people above "humanness". Shakyamuni cautioned his followers that he was just a man like them. But I know some SE Asian Buddhists follow an amalgram of beliefs. All my family members in Vietnam are Buddhists but there is some Chinese philosophies intertwined. After several years, I am still trying to figure it all out. Like the yearly ceremony for the "kitchen god" and understanding the concept of when you die, the "King under the ground" assesses your merits to determine your next stop. Many of the prayers for the dead involve asking the King to move quickly.

[Cindbird]

03:37 AM on 05/19/2012

I think people forget monks are people just like me and you. They forget that they can suffer from the same depressions and mental illnesses as anyone else. My heart breaks for both of them, the victim AND the murderer. The murderer was suffering from something that made it impossible for him to hold to his vows. The criminal aspect will be deal with, but it's his own suffering and Karma I think of. He too is suffering and that has to be addressed as well as the criminal act.

[FilipeCastro]

12:15 AM on 05/16/2012

I don't know much about Buddhism, but I think that this is bad karma.

[suntzu]

01:34 AM on 05/16/2012

I am a Budddhist, and you are correct about this being bad karma. On the other hand, we do not know what the alleged killer's mental condition was, so there may be mitigating factors here. Buddhist morality is not absolute. Intention and one's mental state are factors. But no matter how you look at it, taking a human life is always bad.

[wutrup]

12:31 PM on 05/18/2012

The beauty of karma is that like physics, for ever reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction in space and time.

[cuoi]

01:25 PM on 05/18/2012

And everything is indeed inter-related, both philosophically and scientifically. My interest in particle/quantum physics met Zen Buddhism and it is a good fit.

[CZlight]

09:25 PM on 05/15/2012

Did you know that the monks own nothing but their clothing? They must give blessings daily to receive the food they eat from the people that follow them. How unAmerican can you get?

[Ego59]

10:40 PM on 05/15/2012

They teach and aid the lay followers and in return receive food and donations to help their community. How is that different then what a priest does?

[FilipeCastro]

12:23 AM on 05/16/2012

Depends on the priest: some Catholic priests have peculiar needs. And generally, in America religion is ALL about money: eternal suffering for those who doubt God's infinite love and don't pay 10% of their income to their preachers.

[Cindbird]

12:35 AM on 05/16/2012

No they don't. In some Buddhist countries monks do go on daily begging rounds but in the U.S. the monasteries provide the food and most temples are getting money from locals who donate or they sell trinkets or Malas and offer teaching sessions on Buddhism or Buddhist Beliefs and Teachings. Don't make statements about things you know nothing about.

[luv2livzen]

03:17 AM on 05/16/2012

Agree!

[skeeterbit]

03:01 PM on 05/18/2012

there aren't any buddhist beliefs. Buddhism is something you do, not something you believe. Why believe anything? Just stick with what you know. Either you know something or you don't. If you get more evidence later, then you might know more then.

[bostonbred111]

06:44 PM on 05/15/2012

I had no idea there a are Buddhist monk places in the USA I always thought they were high up in some mountains in who knows where? Alabama? Whowoulathunk?

[Cindbird]

12:37 AM on 05/16/2012

We're not quite as backward as people think. There are 4 Buddhist monasteries and 10 Buddhist Centers in Alabama. We also have 2 Hindu Temples and monasteries as well.

[Cindbird]

12:47 AM on 05/16/2012

The last number I saw was 530 total Buddhist monasteries in the U.S. There is now 1 official Nunnery and most states have at least 4 and many have 10 or more depending of the different schools and the Buddhist population of that state.

[Blind Logic]

05:48 PM on 05/15/2012

This is too incomplete. Yes, there's crap in every group but I don't believe we have ALL of the facts here.

1. What was the guy suffering from?
2. Who was the physician?
3. What were his symptoms?
Is it possible the guy was defending himself, or thought himself threatened?

[bostonbred111]

06:49 PM on 05/15/2012

it would be best to just call the police in that town and ask them all those questions. no one on these blogs knows those answers.

[Blind Logic]

07:32 PM on 05/15/2012

Very true and I do hope they conduct a truly non-biased, fact-finding investigation on this.

[FilipeCastro]

12:24 AM on 05/16/2012

Maybe the food was really bad?

[Blind Logic]

02:51 AM on 05/16/2012

I'd doubt that. If that was so, then more than one of 'em would have been affected somehow. Plus, there aren't many food items or herbs/plants that can make one go nuts like that.

[Maconman380]

04:34 PM on 05/15/2012

Cain!!!!!!!! Grass Hopper.

[fifty7ford]

04:41 PM on 05/15/2012

it's OBAMA'S fault....................................

[Ego59]

10:41 PM on 05/15/2012

Not funny.

[FilipeCastro]

12:14 AM on 05/16/2012

I find it funny! :o)