You're right, John. I only found this out a couple of years ago. One of the reasons was that during the persecution of Buddhism in imperial Japan, many Buddhist monks were forced to return to the laity. This extended to Japanese-controlled Korea as well. A Japanese Buddhist explained to me that marrying and having children was the only way that Buddhist communities were able to survive. This is why so many abbots of Japanese temples are the sons and grandsons of previous abbots.

Thanks Erik! We've placed a small update on the site, and we'll have more information about Tashi Dhondup's release in our next show (in late March), so please tune in. Thanks for getting involved!