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Buddhism in Thailand: The missing monk
泰國佛教：失蹤的僧侶
The junta feuds with an influential sect.
軍方與重要佛教教派長期不和。
SOME people think he has fled abroad.
有人認為他逃到了國外。
Others say he may have died.
也有人說他可能已經死了。
For more than a year the authorities in Thailand have been trying to get hold of PhraDhammachayo, the reclusive former leader of a controversial Buddhist sect who is wanted for questioning in a fraud case.
在這一年多內，泰國當局一直試圖抓住PhraDhammachayo——一個極具爭議的佛教宗派的前領袖，而且他早已退隱，但他涉嫌策劃一個欺詐案。
On February 16th a group of officers finally gained access to the vast religious complex which is Dhammakaya movement maintains on the outskirts of Bangkok.
2月16日政府官員終于有機會接近這個龐大而又復雜的修道士團體，因為他的Dhammakaya運動要在曼谷市郊舉行。
Instead of locating the septuagenarian monk—often pictured in signature sunglasses—they found an empty bed stuffed with pillows.
不過，他們并沒有找到這個常被刻畫成戴著太陽鏡的七十多歲的僧侶，只是找到了堆滿枕頭的空床。
By February 22nd more than 4,000 police and soldiers were lingering outside the Dhammakaya compound—waiting to complete a full sweep of the massive site but apparently hindered by monks and devotees who had blocked its dozen entrances.
到了2月22日，4000多警察和士兵在Dhammakaya外徘徊——準備進行一個大面積的清掃活動，但遭到了僧侶和信徒的阻礙，他們將很多入口都堵住了。
A spokesman for the sect claimed that 30,000 people were still inside the property, having ignored orders to leave; there have been scuffles at its gates.
一名宗教發言人稱30000人無視撤離的要求，待在在房子內。并且他們已經在大門口發生過混戰。
Apiradee, a retired civil servant helping to feed Dhammakaya followers who had gathered in support outside the police cordon, said she has never seen anything like it.
Apiradee是一名退休的國家公務員，她負責給聚集在警戒線外的Dhammakaya的追隨者提供給養，她說她從沒見過這種事。
Founded in the 1970s, the Dhammakaya movement claims about 3m followers around the world.
Dhammakaya運動于二十世紀九十年代創立，宣稱在全世界約有三百萬教徒。
It is by far the most influential temple in Thailand.
到目前為止，該寺是在泰國最有影響力的寺廟。
It bears a loose resemblance to the evangelical mega-churches that increasingly beguile the world's Christians.
這與福音傳道者的新會大教堂相似，這些教堂進一步使來自全世界的基督教徒都很著迷。
Dhammakaya's mostly middle-class adherents complain that older Buddhist temples have grown complacent and materialistic.
Dhammakaya的大部分中產階級擁護者抱怨大佛寺變得自滿且唯物論了。
They insist, rather grandly, that the Bangkok compound, with its vast stadium, is meant to become a kind of Buddhist Vatican.
他們宣稱寧愿把曼谷和其大體育場變成佛教梵蒂岡。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
