"God's Direct Contact," the "Supreme Master" Ching Hai

[headhonchoII]

Yep I have a lot of respect for Tzu Chi as far as charity work goes, their hospitals are world class, go to the one in Xindian, it's like a five star hotel and they always have tonnes of volunteers available if you need any help.

[mariadevalencia]

She teaches a simple meditation technique that works well to calm you mind and to improve your life.

She is a great money maker

She shares her money with poor and needy

I learnt her meditation techniche and I had never give her or to the organization not a penny,
I have eaten in her restaurants as I am a vegan and the food is delicious
and is also delicious the food she makes with the "Loving Hut" brand name

I do not find anything wrong about a great bussiness woman who helps so many people

[Chris]

The "Supreme Mistress" is a scamster and a cult leader.

Any bozo can teach meditation techniques that calm your mind. And if you paid to eat at her restaurants or buy her "Loving Hut" products, then you have given her organization money.

[Ducked]

The "Supreme Mistress" is a scamster and a cult leader.

Any bozo can teach meditation techniques that calm your mind. And if you paid to eat at her restaurants or buy her "Loving Hut" products, then you have given her organization money.

Clearly a cult leader. Thats hardly worth stating. Scamster is quite a bit less clear. Her lifestyle doesn't appear to be very aesthetic, and a Googling turns up some more specific issues. On the other hand, some good appears to be done. (If you ate at their restaurants you have not "given" the organisation money, you have paid for goods and services recieved)

I was invited to one of their environmental "Go Green, Be Vegan, Save the Planet" conferences a couple of years ago, asked a question, and subsequently have appeared on their TV Channel a couple of times.

People who know me were, I think, rather surprised and disappointed that my question was not hostile or embarrasing, but I was a guest, it wouldn't have been shown, and I'd decided that the end justified the means.

While I have little time for religion or cults of personality, their environmental message and consciousness-raising activities (on issues I think important) are positive and relatively effective in Taiwan. This is not a very rational country, and scientists or politicians "selling" an environmental message have a hard time finding an audience. There were quite a few local and national politicians at that conference, who must see some value in it, if only for themselves.

In the 70's I once argued to a televised theatre full of enraged lefties that the ongoing carpet bombing in SE Asia (look up War in Indo-China) was a good thing because it would buy some time for the tropical rain forest (it did but its gone now). If B52's and landmines are my buddies a blonde buddhist should bother me not one bit.

[Mucha Man]

Yep I have a lot of respect for Tzu Chi as far as charity work goes, their hospitals are world class, go to the one in Xindian, it's like a five star hotel and they always have tonnes of volunteers available if you need any help.

Tzu Chi is one of the reasons Taiwan is the most progressive society in Asia. The type of Buddhism Master Chenyan advocates is called Renjian Fojiao, this worldly Buddhism, and is all about bringing the Dharma to daily life: in other words, taking the Buddha's teachings of compassion for all humanity and applying them to the real world.

Chengyan's story is fascinating. She came from an very wealthy Taichung family but ran away from home at 24 and wandered Taiwan with another nun, living in caves and studying Buddhism as a lay nun until Yinshun, the master from Foguangshan took her in as his last student.

Will write more when I have time. Great great story. She basically is the Buddhist counterpart of people like Wang Yung-ching.

[Redmenace]

A Taiwanese co-teacher told me that a Tzu Chi volunteer must donate a million NT for the privilege of wearing one of their snazzy blue uniforms. I completely respect their organization, but this seemed pretty strange to me.

As for the Loving Hut, I eat their often. It's $80 NT for a delicious and healthy meal. I think they do it to promote vegetarianism, they can't make too much of a profit. I get a kick out of the nonsense playing on their TV channel, it's propaganda, but at least it's positive.

[jimipresley]

it's propaganda, but at least it's positive.

Electrical wall sockets have positive inputs. Doesn't mean you need to stick your finger in them.

[Gilgamesh]

I've eaten at the Loving Hut three times now and each times I thought it was terrible food. I kept going back hoping some other dish would be better but it never was.

[Ducked]

Yes, she will suck you in. Then take your money.
Please visit http://www.cultwatch.com

Hmmm... Cultwatch happens to be run by religionists. Christians, to be exact. I find this quite ironic: "Don't believe in those religions... they're false. Ours, however, happens to be true!"

Physician, heal thyself!

At that conference I mention above they put me next to an Irish priest (can't remember, or didn't know, the denomination). Bit of ice-breaking conversation about relative merits of Scotch and Irish whisky and we were getting along fine. Then a rather left-field question about UFO's/aliens (which are apparently taken seriously, maybe even a part of the belief system) got him spluttering with indignation.

I said "Well, is it any dafter than any other religious belief involving supreme beings? Christianity, for example?"

He wasn't so friendly after that.

[saddletramp]

Mods, can we split out the Tzu Chi parts, hate to see a good organization lumped in with a questionable one. ???