Temple burns down as monk attacked by hornets

Friday 05th September, 07:00 AM JST

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Nessie at 02:58 PM JST - 5th September

Ancient Japanese slogan: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Nessie at 03:01 PM JST - 5th September

A monk trying to rid his temple of a hornet’s nest panicked when the hornets attacked him and dropped a torch

How did the hornets get hold of a torch?
Altria at 03:01 PM JST - 5th September

If only this geezer had a buddy with a handycam, he could have become an internet star.

There are tons of videos on Youtube starring fools throwing rocks at hornets nests, setting them on fire or blasting them with shotguns.
dennis0bauer at 03:11 PM JST - 5th September

he just could have said that he didn't wanted to be a monk but too torch your own temple and making stories up about bees?hornets? :p
Anung at 03:32 PM JST - 5th September

LOL!!!! XD XD XD!!!! LMAO!!!!!
romulus3 at 03:52 PM JST - 5th September

gee, don't they have a saying in Japan equal to "do not poke a stick at a hornets nest"? surely they do. But this guy held a flaming torch to a hornets nest. Thats like stepping between Tyson and Lewis and saying "you guys are weakling little girls". Stupid!
cwhite at 05:20 PM JST - 5th September

yeah, well you would freak out if a "Suzumebachi" came at you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiangianthornet
yhwoo at 06:41 PM JST - 5th September

haha ... call the expert next time!
flammenwerfer at 06:58 PM JST - 5th September

good, the headline finally changed from bees to hornets. I once destroyed a wasp nest with a can of fly spray and a cigarette lighter, perhaps the monk could have done with some 'tips'
presto345 at 08:46 PM JST - 5th September

good, the headline finally changed from bees to hornets. I once destroyed a wasp nest with a can of fly spray and a cigarette lighter, perhaps the monk could have done with some 'tips'

The monk preferred a flammenwerfer, but he only had a torch.
NetteMarie at 09:23 PM JST - 5th September

What happen to the patient and calm monks like the ones in the stations with the bowl? I bet one of them could do a better job.

Shouldn't he plug the hole and let the hornets go anyway? I thought Buddhists were non-violent.
TheNewZen at 09:42 PM JST - 5th September

NetteMarie.

Myself not that familiar with "religious" Buddhism, but familiar with Zen-Buddhism. Might sound weird but true buddhism like confucism is a philosophy and not a religion. Yeah plenty of cults out there. And you can be a buddhist as well as christian/muslim/etc at the same time too. Most asian religions/beliefs simply say if you follow our rules you are one of us. Hence why the majority of japanese can follow buddhist and shinto rites, there is simply no conflict.

Also why one of my martial Dojo's was in the basement of a Zen-Buddhist temple. We trained 2 styles there, one japanese and one chinese.

Buddha & Confucius were living persons not gods. There is no concept of creation or miracles in either, just a following of the teachings of an enlighented person. Like Gandhi, etc.

AFAIK, to become a buddhist monk you need to take certain vows(all are optional). So you can have a buddhist monk that eats meat or has sex depending on their vows.

Said that I have known some monks here that drove mercs, etc and we got 2 monks that stand outside my station with a bowl and traditional garb.

Temples and shrines were always places of study, most schooling before public schools(both academic and martial) was done there same for east and west.

As for the hornets, etc you need to smoke them out, than get rid of the nest. Taking fire to a wooden or hatched structure is NOT a good idea. I myself took out 2 wasps nests in my parents garden.
angeljapan at 09:41 PM JST - 9th September

I saw this on the news one night. The blip at the top right corner said suzumebachi, so it was the giant hornets who were responsible.
Wottock_Hunt at 12:47 AM JST - 10th September

This is really funny, but I can't explain why. Anyone?
mikihouse at 07:15 AM JST - 11th September

it is the irony that makes you laugh mate