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Please help a battered monk
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
I don't generally ask others to give to causes I think of as worthy, but I am willing to break with tradition on behalf of the Buddhist monk, Weera "Tony" Chulsuwan, a 66-year-old from Spencer, Oklahoma, who stepped out of his front door a week ago Friday and was beaten, literally, within an inch of his life by two boys, 14 and 15 -- kids whom Chulsuwan had known until that moment as neighbors.
The teenagers had come to rob Chulsuwan, a man who makes $350 a month and spends his time and energy taking care of animals that others can't or won't take care of themselves. The Oklahoma press rounded up an almost universal opinion that "Tony the Monk" was a good guy -- a guy who would give you the shirt off his back unasked.
The teenagers beat him with a steel pipe and a logging chain (apparently taunting him as they did so), stole various items from the house and then fled. Chulsuwan lay on the porch for 24 hours before he gained enough consciousness and energy to crawl to the telephone and call 911.
I will leave the sputtering adjectives that course through my mind for others to apply. All I hope is that each of us will take a few minutes, forgo a couple of containers of bottled water, empty a casually- filled penny jar, buy a stamp and address an envelope to:
Mr. Weera "Tony" Chulsuwan
c/o The Engaged Zen Foundation
P.O. Box 213
Sedgwick, Maine 04676
A PayPal donation site is also up and running.
The teenagers had come to rob Chulsuwan, a man who makes $350 a month and spends his time and energy taking care of animals that others can't or won't take care of themselves. The Oklahoma press rounded up an almost universal opinion that "Tony the Monk" was a good guy -- a guy who would give you the shirt off his back unasked.
The teenagers beat him with a steel pipe and a logging chain (apparently taunting him as they did so), stole various items from the house and then fled. Chulsuwan lay on the porch for 24 hours before he gained enough consciousness and energy to crawl to the telephone and call 911.
I will leave the sputtering adjectives that course through my mind for others to apply. All I hope is that each of us will take a few minutes, forgo a couple of containers of bottled water, empty a casually- filled penny jar, buy a stamp and address an envelope to:
Mr. Weera "Tony" Chulsuwan
c/o The Engaged Zen Foundation
P.O. Box 213
Sedgwick, Maine 04676
A PayPal donation site is also up and running.
0
Comments
taken at the local feed and seed for the animals...I'll see what I can post...hold on..
...http://kfor.com/2013/09/02/monk-beaten-left-for-dead-released-from-hospital/
"They have set up a fund for Tony Chulsuwan at all OKC area Lumber 2 Home and Ranch locations."
--from the local news...apparently Lumber 2 home will delivery hay, chicken feed,
etc. to him...
"...... He can use food (no meat)/money/horse feed or hay chicken feed/dog food/bottled water/or any supplys you think he can use. He has 13 ponys, about 7-8 small dogs, & about 10-15 chickens/1 sheep. He has giving a lot to the community helping people andnevet acceptting anything for it. He is very hard wirking yet very humble. If u can help in anyway he will be very thankful. Every little bit counts. All his animals are rescue animals so he can use all the help he can get. Its gonna be a slow recovery.
Tony is out of the hospital staying at a friends. He is very sore and unable to walk on his own. He needs everyone's prayers. There has been an arrest warrant issued for one of the suspects. Joel o."
neighbor source: http://kfor.com/2013/09/01/buddhist-monk-beaten-in-robbery-left-for-dead/
And whatever the case, donations continue to come in. Here, perhaps too insistently, is a press release I wrote and sent out today:
------ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -----
WORLDWIDE CONCERN FOR BATTERED MONK GROWS
Global reaction to the savage beating of a Buddhist monk in Spencer, Okla., is on the rise, a fund-raiser for "Tony the Monk" said Friday.
"The internet site (http://www.engaged-zen.org/Tonyappeal.html) went up on Monday," the Rev. Kobutsu Malone, a Zen Buddhist priest, said. "Since then, donations have come mostly from the United States, but a growing number are coming from England, Spain, Norway and other European countries. We expect to see a similar generosity in the Pacific countries as word spreads."
Weera "Tony" Chulsuwan, 66, came out his front door in Spencer on Aug. 30 in order to find out what two teenagers wanted. When the young men told him they were there to rob him, he told them he had nothing worth stealing: Chulsuwan lives on a $350 per month Social Security payment and uses most of that money to shelter and feed a host of animals that others cannot or will not care for themselves.
Chulsuwan's observation did not satisfy the young men, who proceeded to beat him with a steel pipe and a logging chain. "Tony the monk," as many of his neighbors refer to him, was struck at least 15 times in the head. After beating him, the teenagers ransacked his house and then fled. Chulsuwan lay outdoors for 24 hours before regaining enough consciousness and strength to crawl inside and call 911. His attackers have not yet been apprehended.
Chulsuwan, who is now back at home and recuperating slowly, wrote a thank-you note to all those who have offered a financial hand.
"I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the kind thoughts and prayers and too for donations to help my animals and medical bills," he wrote in part.
Malone said he was really touched by the generosity of donors.
"It's wonderful to think that in hard economic times, people can express their generosity in one small instance. With all of the suffering in the world, it's sometimes hard to know how to express concern in an effective way. Tony's case seems to have hit a nerve: Here is an situation in which the donations go directly to the wounded party. There are no intermediaries to dilute the gifts. As one donor said of her donation, 'it may not be much, but at least it's a little.'"
Malone, who lives in Sedgwick, Maine, and never personally met Chulsuwan, said he had sent the appeal to both Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, but he was really counting on the generosity of those who lacked a high profile.
"My own sense is that people are naturally generous," he said. "They are always looking for ways to express that generosity, even when it is not easy. Tony and his animals offer a good opportunity and I think people know it."
---30---
FREE-USE PHOTOS OF TONY AVAILABLE AT: http://www.engaged-zen.org/Tony Thanks.html
THE REV. KOBUTSU MALONE: 207-359-2555
Health care especially in emergencies like this really shouldn't be something you have to pay for.
Just wanted to follow up on this. Have Tony's attackers been caught yet?
BTW, I received a wonderful note from him today in the mail. It made me very happy to know he's slowly feeling like himself again and back at home with his animals!
Donations, even at this late date, continue to come in and are being passed along. After about a month and a half since the Aug. 30 assault, something more than $8,000 has been collected and that doesn't count the support offered by the residents of Spencer, where Tony lives. The donation site is still up and running.
And in the meantime I would like to express my personal thanks (and some amazement) for all the generosity that has been shown. As the aging Indian chief said in the old movie, "Little Big Man," "My heart soars like a hawk!"
And Great work on your part, well done!
Is it too soon to make a joke about the word "battered" and how all this time I've been eating my monks plain?
I would say pray for the children and I will.