Monk fashions new way of promoting Buddhism
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Shi Daoxin receives an inverview. |
A buddhist monk has become famous by touring the country wearing fashionable gowns and performing pop music to spread his religion.
Unlike traditional monks who have an air of mystery about them, Shi Daoxin, formerly an abbot at a temple in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi Province, is a fan of Harry Potter, uses the latest iPhone and iPad and is a dedicated follower of fashion, always open to the latest ideas.
Dressed in stylish gowns and wearing sunglasses, Shi uses television, radio and other news media across the country to promote himself, his music and Buddhism.
He even has his own microblog and posted his cell phone number there to improve communication with the public. The 28-year-old is believed to be the first monk to use multimedia to take Buddhism to a wider public audience.
So far he has more than 65,000 followers on his microblog on Sina.com, which he updates almost every day by retweeting interesting posts and uploading new pictures.
Shi talks about "fashion Buddhism" on his microblog.
He is trying to spread Buddhism and its culture in a new way, he explained in a TV interview last year. Worldly things were not taboo as far as he was concerned, he said.
Since the age of 14, Shi said he had always been thinking about how Buddhism could keep up with the times.
Shi first attracted media attention in 2008 when a picture was posted online of him wearing sunglasses, a Bluetooth earpiece and designer Buddhist outfits, bearing a strong resemblance to Hong Kong actor and singer Nicolas Tse.
Also that year, Shi released his first album with pop and Chinese folk music on Buddhist themes.
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