The abbot of a Buddhist temple in Louisiana is entangled in a civil dispute after temple members accused him of impregnating a nun and then sending her back to Vietnam after she was refused an abortion because she was too far gone.
Some members of the Tam Bao Temple in Baton Rouge stated that Abbot Quyen Van Ho, also known as Thich Dao Quang, routinely recruited Vietnamese Buddhist nuns and then engaged in improper sexual interactions with them.
The lawsuit said that Ho had caused irreparable harm to the temple by breaching his Buddhist vows, particularly his vow of celibacy, and demanded his expulsion from the institution.
‘Quyen Van Ho’s immoral actions have caused all monks, nuns, and novices (except Quyen Van Ho himself and one other monk) to leave Tam Bao Temple. Because of this, membership has decreased and therefore the ability to raise funds by members of the temple has decreased,’ the suit read, according to The Advocate.
Ho denied all allegations against him, and his attorney, Yigal Bander, called them ‘defamatory lies’ and argued they do not even belong in a court of law.
‘The courts are not there to decide who’s a good pastor, whether a pastor should be hired or fired, whether a pastor is doing his faith credit or not,’ said Bander.
It is unclear whether the court will rule on the suit as it toes the line of First Amendment protections which prohibit the government from interfering in the free exercise of religion.
In the meantime, the court has ordered both sides to negotiate and hold a leadership election within the temple which could result in Ho’s removal.
Ho has lead the Tam Bao Temple since 2003, and plaintiffs allege his behavior went on for years before the suit was first filed in April.
Plaintiffs Phuong Le, Lan Tran, Lien Ta, and Elizabeth Le said they first confronted Ho about the allegations in 2020, but that their efforts to have him removed have gone nowhere.
‘We’ve tried so many avenues to grant him forgiveness, and it’s just time that the court to step,’ said temple member Lila Ton outside a Baton Rouge courthouse in this week.
Another temple member, Mya Tran, also spoke outside the courthouse and said female members of the temple have been ‘silenced.’
‘I think it is really important for us to shed light on this situation and not be silent, especially as a younger Buddhist woman myself,’ Tran said, ‘I look up to a lot of these women, especially for what they have done for our community, and seeing them be so oppressed and silenced on this situation really upset me.’
In addition to precipitating a huge exodus of temple members, the plaintiffs fear that Ho may misappropriate community-donated temple funds.
In addition to his personal sexual misbehaviour, the complaint contends that Ho let monks and nuns to engage in sexual relationships at the temple and violated their chastity vows.
The plaintiffs claim to have evidence against Ho, including sexually explicit text messages and nude images exchanged between Ho and nuns.
Regardless of the proof of poor Buddhist conduct that temple members may have, Ho’s lawyers argue that the court has no right to decide his destiny inside the temple.
‘They have made a lot of allegations, which as you heard, are not any of the court’s business,’ said Bander outside the courthouse this week.
‘The government doesn’t get to pick who our religious leaders are,’ said Bander’s co-counsel, Tanner Woods.