I guess we should know the source of this story and find corroborating evience before accepting it wholely. It might be fake news (heavily biased historical recount).robertk wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 8:28 amof course it is not true.Mr Man wrote: ↑Thu May 31, 2018 7:07 am There is another article here -
http://www.newmandala.org/ncpos-purge-thai-sangha/Purging the Thai Sangha
Is this correct?
King Asoka of Maurya India set an example when he tried and executed monks who failed to satisfy his standard of Buddhist knowledge and behaviour
What happened is that the sangha was going through a schism - with new sects breaking away from the Theravada: the only one upholding SaddhaDhamma.
Asoka thought it was worrying that the monks were not in concord so sent one of his ministers with instructions to try to get them to reconcile.
The minister - a man of great experience in martial activities- was not pleased when the Theravada would not agree to to recite the patimokka with the wrong viewers.
so a group of monks were sitting in a line and he worked down the line: asking them to agree and then beheading them one by one( as the good monks could never reconcile with those schismatics). then a monk who was known to the minister, I think it might have been Mahinda, asoka's son, went and sat in the line. the minister then stopped and went and reported to the King, who was horrified by the report.
( i am reciting by memory- might have a couple of small details wrong)
chownah