Hanoi, Vietnam ? Communist Vietnam’s sometimes edgy relationship with religious freedom is being tested in a dispute over a monastery inhabited by disciples of Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s most famous Zen masters.

For four years, the Buddhist monks and nuns at Bat Nha monastery in central Vietnam have been quietly meditating and studying the teachings of the 82-year-old Vietnamese sage who is perhaps the world’s best-known living Buddhist after Tibet’s Dalai Lama.

But lately, they are in a standoff that could test the patience of even the most enlightened.

First, local authorities cut off their power, water and telephones.

Then, a mob descended on their compound with sledgehammers, smashing windows, damaging buildings and threatening occupants.

Communist authorities have ordered the 379 Vietnamese monks to leave the monastery in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. They say the standoff stems from disagreements between two Buddhist factions at the monastery.

But Hanh’s followers believe they are being punished because of Hanh’s praise for the Dalai Lama and his call to broaden religious freedom in Vietnam.

The harmony began to unravel last year, Hanh’s followers say. Chinese officials were upset about published comments he made in support of the Dalai Lama and pressured Vietnam to bar the Zen master from addressing an international Buddhist gathering in Hanoi, they say.

“I’m sure he knew that speaking out would bring him problems,” said Sister Dang Nghiem, a close Hanh associate who spent six months at Bat Nha.

And soon enough, problems began.

On Oct. 29, 2008, the chairman of Vietnam’s national Committee on Religious Affairs wrote a letter accusing Plum Village, Hanh’s monastery in southern France, of publishing false information about Vietnam on its Web site.

The letter said the information distorted Vietnam’s policies on religion and could undermine national unity.

The letter also said that Hanh’s followers should leave Bat Nha and stressed that Abbot Duc Nghi, the property’s original owner, wanted them to go.