Buddhist monks and nuns 'disheartened' by negative comments about land ownership

Buddhist monks and nuns who live in eastern Prince Edward Island say they were disappointed to hear some of the concerns expressed at a planning meeting this past week in the Town of Three Rivers.

The monks and nuns say they own slightly more than 500 hectares (1,247 acres) of land in eastern P.E.I. Some residents have long been unhappy about that and speculate that the Buddhists — or interests close to them — actually control much more property.

Tensions were evident at Wednesday's planning board meeting, for which the town hired security guards after someone posted on social media that it was "time to get the guns out and sharpen those knives" with regard to land ownership in the municipality. 

"It was actually quite disheartening," said Sabrina Chiang, a frequent spokesperson for the 600 Buddhist nuns, who are mainly from Taiwan. 

She also referenced negative comments on Facebook about the groups, some of which urge the Buddhists to be sent "back overseas" and allege they are tools of the Chinese Communist Party.

"It's a really strong allegation. And we are not part of the communist party, we are just students of the Buddha," Chiang said. "We have no political ties with any group." 

"It's surprising, I think, to see some of the comments we've been seeing," added nun Joanna Ho. She said they've been "grateful" for P.E.I. to give them a safe, stable place to study, offering freedom of religion and respect for individual human rights.

Eli Kingston, who was born and raised on the Island, has been a Buddhist monk for 12 years. 

"I'm from P.E.I. so I understand it, I get it," Kingston said. "But anytime there's acts of violence, lashing out, personal attacks, that kind of disheartens me.

"There's fear, and genuine concern is good, but we all know now with social media how information can spread… baseless accusations, misinformation."

He said that with online rhetoric heating up recently, more people have stopped at the monks' properties in Little Sands and Heatherdale, where 700 monks live and study. Some take photos from the road, he said, but some are actually driving onto the property and "snooping around."

"We've had a monk pulled over on the side of the road and kind of harassed," Kingston said. "This isn't just verbal attacks anymore. This is actually escalating into encroaching on someone's privacy, and people aren't feeling maybe as safe."

Both the nuns and monks say rumours and misinformation abound about what they are doing in the area, and they welcome dialogue with anyone who has concerns. 

The nuns say they are not worried about their safety, as long as the threatening comments stay in the online realm.