In China, the monk was dismissed for having relations with women, the Buddhist Sangha cancelled his recognition

Head priest of China's famous Shaolin temple, Shi Yongxin, has been dismissed. He has been accused of embezzlement of temple property and funds, having illicit relations with many women and being the father of illegitimate children.

According to the China Daily report, several government agencies are jointly investigating these allegations. Meanwhile, the Buddhist Association of China has taken away his initiation certificate on Monday. The association said in its statement that Shi Yongxin's actions have caused serious damage to the reputation of the Buddhist community and the image of the monks.

Accused of violating the principles of Buddhism on the head priest

The activities of the head priest are considered to be a blatant violation of the principles of Buddhism. The officials investigating the case have said that whatever information comes to light will be shared with the public from time to time.

Shaolin Temple is located in the hills of Henan province in Central China. This 1500-year-old temple is famous all over the world not only for religious reasons but also for its martial arts tradition, especially Kung Fu. Every year, lakhs of people from India and abroad visit this Buddhist temple.

Yongxin made Shaolin famous all over the world

Xi Yongxin has been the head of the Shaolin Temple since 1999. He transformed this temple into a modern business model, due to which he came to be known as the 'CEO Monk'. Under his leadership, the temple opened schools abroad and formed a group of monks who perform Shaolin Kung Fu shows all over the world.

However, this is not the first time that Yongxin has been in controversy. First of all, in the year 2006, a local government gifted him a Volkswagen SUV worth about 1 million yuan (about $125,000).

It was then believed that Xi had helped promote local tourism, due to which the government was pleased and gifted him this. However, Yongxin then called it a gift and said that he did not take any personal benefit.

Earlier also he was accused of having illicit relations with women

After this, in the year 2015, one of his former disciples claimed that Xi Yongxin had illicit relations with many women and they also have children. On this, he said that these allegations are false and baseless. Later, these allegations were dismissed due to lack of any evidence.

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After this, he was accused of misusing the projects and property related to the temple and taking personal benefit from them. He was accused of financial irregularities by issuing fake receipts and hiding his identity. However, no evidence was found for this either.

Yongxin also once wore a bracelet made of gold thread, for which he was criticized. In some reports, its price was said to be $ 25,000.

In Buddhism, monks are expected to be simple and stay away from worldly pleasures. Critics said that when an abbot, who should lead a monk's life, wears such a flashy, expensive robe, it tarnishes the dignity of religion and the tradition of the temple.

In an interview with BBC Chinese, when he was asked why such serious allegations were leveled against him, he said, "If there was really something wrong, it would have come to light by now."