Pagoda sparks drama over dharma
IT is a place of prayer, not prosecution.
But a Buddhist sacred site outside Barrydale, inlaid with relics of the Buddha himself, is at the centre of a legal row between two spiritual communities.
Buddhists believe the 8m pagoda brings peace to the world, but Christian landowner Deon Neuhoff says there is nothing peaceful about it — and wants it off his property.
The pagoda was donated by Burmese monks to mark South Africa’s transition to democracy. It is part of a series of international peace pagodas.
The tug-of-war over the 16year-old monument with a crystal crown has turned nasty, with lawyers and local government officials entering the fray.
Buddhists have rallied to save the monument from demolition, which they claim might cause a global spiritual disturbance in addition to upsetting the local Buddhist community for whom the site is a place of pilgrimage. There are mutterings of a protest march. A “Peace Pagoda Under Threat” Facebook page is tracking developments.
Meanwhile, the landowners, who belong to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, say they want to be left alone to run a lifestyle retreat.
They have objected to unscheduled Buddhist visitors, and claim they bought the property in good faith on the un- derstanding that the pagoda would be moved. They also inherited a labyrinth and various Buddhist artefacts, including a concrete Buddha.
In a lawyer’s letter sent last month the Christians claimed Buddhist visitors to the pagoda openly smoked dagga at the site. Buddhists claim the Christians recycle anything valuable at the site, such as vases and crystals. “They even removed all of the seashells I left there,” fumed Yvonne Nell, one of several trustees appointed to help rescue the pagoda.
She said a plan to transfer the structure to a more hospitable site had to be scrapped due to structural weakness.
The spat has prompted intervention from senior Buddhist monks, including those involved in the original consecration of the site, who have appealed for calm. “I am particularly perturbed by the marijuana accusation,” said Canada-based Steven Aung, president of the International Buddhist Friends Association.
“I was wondering if there was any evidence provided on their part . . . Otherwise it is slander.”
In a written response Nell said the accusation was baseless: “They are really discriminating against the Buddhists.”
A visit to the area this week showed the pagoda to be covered in hairline cracks, possibly caused by the Karoo sun.
“This is not just a piece of concrete — it has relics in it. If people only knew that it has relics in it they might change their mindset — it is a sacred site, not just a peace pagoda,” Neuhoff told the Sunday Times.
He said the Buddhists had “prompted the rumpus” by sending a legal letter.
“The way the Buddhist community has dealt with it so far is not very peaceful,” he said.
Buddhist sympathisers are nonplussed that anybody could take offence at a peace offering.
“Globally, it is a key part of a series of pagodas constructed by caring and dedicated people around the world that all represent and pay tribute to a shared, universal mission of attaining peace,” Aung said.
“Destroying the pagoda will . . . weaken the significance of the entire series of peace pagodas completed thus far.”
The Buddhists have now handed the matter over to the South African Heritage Resources Agency, to have the site declared an official monument. The Swellendam municipality has also stepped in, warning Neuhoff and his group not to interfere with the site.
It is a key part of a series of pagodas constructed around the world