A temple in Penang, Malaysia

Một ngôi chùa tại tỉnh Penang, Malaysia

The monks at the Hong Hock See temple in Georgetown on Penang Island have had to learn to live with nature. Some years ago they shared their temple compound with a cobra. The chief monk, the Venerable Boon Keng, told the BBC that they'd become used to meditating alongside the snake but eventually decided to catch it and take it away to a nearby forest.

Now, he says, the cobra's place has been taken by a colony of fire ants, but the ants are dropping down from the temple's sacred bodhi tree onto people meditating below - and when they bite they cause painful swelling. The Venerable Boon Keng practices what he calls 'letting go' meditation - so he 'lets go' of the pain - but out of consideration for worshippers less far along the path to enlightenment the monks are looking for ways to persuade the ants to go.

An attempt to remove them using a vacuum cleaner failed - so the Buddhist community is appealing for help. They can't encourage anyone to harm the ants, but the chief monk says that if someone turns up unbidden and deals with them without the monks' involvement then that's the will of the universe. The monks will simply offer prayers for the ants' well-being.

Jonathan Kent, BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Nghe các từ

monks

các thầy tu, nhà sư, thường là sống tách biệt với mọi người

temple compound

khu vực nhà đất được dùng để thờ phụng

cobra

rắn hổ mang

meditating

thiền định, suy ngẫm

a colony of fire ants

đàn kiến lớn, có nọc độc

painful swelling

sưng tấy gây đau đớn

the path to enlightenment

giác ngộ

worshippers

người tới hành lễ

turns up unbidden

tới khi không được mời

well-being

khoẻ mạnh, vui vẻ

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