If you often visit temples or Taoist temples, you will inevitably worship in front of all kinds of gods and make some wishes, or small, and after that, you will throw some change in the merit box, which will generally not exceed 10 yuan or 20 yuan;

often visits temples or Taoist temples, and they are inevitably worshipped in front of all gods and immortals, making some big or small wishes, and after that, they throw in some change in the merit box, which usually does not exceed 10 yuan or 20 yuan; now it is more convenient, basically you can pay by scanning the QR code on WeChat or Alipay .

I have also encountered monks wearing cassocks at the door who are helping people unwritten their signatures and selling incense or tablets in the temple, but I basically ignored them. So I kept thinking about a question: How do so many monks (or Taoist priests , nuns) support themselves? What is their source of income? Begging for alms like before? It seems that now it is rare to see monks who go out to beg for alms.

It was not until one time when I went on a business trip to Chongqing and met a friend who went there to discuss the opening of a temple that I learned a little about some of the "tricks" in this regard.

He has been in this industry for many years. They set up a company specializing in the restoration, reconstruction and management of temples. He introduced that the profit sources of temples (or Taoist temples) mainly include tickets, money for incense, money for money on the temple, pledge of Buddha statues in the hall, social donations for , logistics for , Buddhist rituals, Buddhist rituals, meditation camps, charity and elderly care, real estate rental and other income, etc. There are many names, and it is really a lot of money, and a lot of income does not need to be paid taxes (so we often see some monks driving luxury cars, living in luxury houses, entering and leaving high-consumption places in reality or on the Internet, and even having a lot of beauties around us, it seems that we can find a "reasonable" explanation).

However, not all of these incomes fall into the company's pockets. They have to pay some fees (including land rental fees, etc.) to the relevant competent authorities, pay wages to many monks, "dividends" to the abbots or main managers, etc., and the early repair and reconstruction costs are a huge investment. Therefore, not all "projects" can make profits. They have had several such losses before, and they are still very troublesome.

Of course, it is not easy to do their job. First of all, finding "projects" is the most critical link. The government stipulates that temples cannot be built in new buildings, and can only be restored or rebuilt. This requires them to know the religious places across the country, and to find existing religious places or submerged in the long river of history in places with convenient transportation, relatively dense populations around, and relatively developed economies. Then there is an investigation and negotiation. First, we will negotiate with the local Buddhist association and submit an application. The Buddhist association will submit an application report to the local ethnic and religious affairs management agency (Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau); the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau will provide an approval after understanding the situation. At this time, it is time to apply for construction. needs to provide the planning and design drawings, fire protection drawings, environmental impact assessment and other reports; after the construction is approved, it will enter the construction stage. After passing the acceptance, you can apply for a religious venue license from the local Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau.

Of course, before this, you must "recruit" in advance, just like establishing a company, you must find a good legal representative and have a team. However, the legal representative of the temple must be a monk, and the candidates for the abbot, monk and lay Buddhist must be determined. Moreover, the monk must have the name of and provide resumes. The lay Buddhist must provide conversion certificate number, etc.

Sometimes abbot with a certain reputation has some "additional conditions", such as shareholding dividends, such as giving certain personnel and financial management authority. This requires the company to make a certain degree of concession, but the believers and benefits brought by these abbots are beyond the reach of ordinary monks, and it is also very cost-effective to make some transfers of benefits in the company.

I don’t know to what extent what he said represents the current situation of religious places in our country. However, according to the understanding of ordinary people, as a place to promote Buddhism and encourage people to be good, temples certainly need economic income, but they should not become too utilitarian and too strong in business. I always believe that this corporate business method and the interest groups behind it have made these "clean places" somewhat change.

attached, " Religious Affairs Regulations " " Article 20 The following conditions shall be met to establish a religious venue for :

(I) The purpose of the establishment does not violate the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of these Regulations;

(II) Local religious citizens need to regularly conduct collective religious activities;

(I) Religious clergy or symbols who intend to host religious activities Other personnel in accordance with the provisions of this religion;

(IV) There are necessary funds, and the source channels of funds are legal;

(V) The layout is reasonable, meets the requirements of urban and rural planning, and does not hinder the normal production and life of surrounding units and residents."