Cult took my wife – now it’s funding a woodland in North Wales
May 14 2010
by Andrew Forgrave, Daily Post
AN ELDERLY man who lost his wife to a religious cult has pleaded with the Woodland Trust not to take money from the group.
Henry Iban said he was “dismayed and saddened” that Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust in Wales) accepted £100,000 from spiritual teacher Supreme Master Ching Hai. The money is to be used to buy and restore Cwm Mynach, a 1,000-acre valley near Dolgellau.
Coed Cadw, which has defended the gift, hopes to complete the deal in the next few days.
Mr Iban – not his real name – said the money had been donated to “buy credibility” for Ching Hai. He urged Coed Cadw to return the money, as President Clinton and the US Red Cross did with similar donations when they learned more about the organisation.
In a letter to the Trust, he wrote: “I recognise fully that you need funds for the Welsh project.
“But those of us who have had the lives of our families severely and irreversibly damaged by this cult, believe that such donations are in effect blood money.”
Mr Iban refuses to use his real name. A retired senior professional in London, he said his wife, an academic, became embroiled with the cult 12 years ago.
After her behaviour and spending became erratic, they divorced, leaving Mr Iban to fend for his 10-year-old son.
“She would disappear at a moment’s notice when the Supreme Master called, once on Christmas Eve,” he said. “Often it was for months at a time – we didn’t even know what continent she was on.
“It put a drain on the family. She had a well-paid job, which she lost, and she started buying the cult’s jewellery at £7,000-£8,000-per-item.
“I tried to accommodate her but it was difficult – in the end I filed for divorce to protect the family finances.”
His wife was always interested in Eastern mysticism and she fell into the cult’s clutches at a spiritualist fair in London.
At first Mr Iban failed to recognise the dangers and indulged her new passion. But when he researched the group, he found the world’s fastest growing cult was alarming cult watchers.
As well as being a painter, poet and Buddhist nun, Vietnamese-born Ching Hai is a fashion designer and beauty makeover consultant.
Her group promotes vegetarianism and claims to support tree planting and efforts to curb climate change.
In the US, however, Ching Hai was criticised after causing $1m damage to a mangrove plantation in a national park.
The Woodland Trust needed to raise £850,000 to buy pine-clad Cwm Mynach and restore it to native woodland.
In return for its donation, Ching Hai said it wanted to make a film about the group’s trip to Wales, to be shown on its own 24-hour satellite TV station (Sky channel 835).
Coed Cadw spokesman Rory Francis defended the gift. In response to Mr Iban’s letter, he said: “Could I reassure you the Woodland Trust has procedures to rigorously check out all high value donations against key criteria pertaining to legality and Trust policy.”
Mr Francis said the Trust always investigated corporate donors to safeguard its reputation. It found nothing untoward about Ching Hai, neither did the group request publicity.
Mr Iban is undeterred. He alleged Ching Hai had not only broken up his marriage, it had extracted “very large sums of money” from his family which was now being used to finance projects like Cym Mynach.
Followers say much of the money Ching Hai makes is used for helping the poor, refugees and victims of environmental disasters.
Spokesman Zamir Elahi said: “Membership is entirely voluntary – there is no joining fee and no donations are expected. People join through free will.
“The Supreme Master makes money by selling products, like any other businesperson, and redistributes everything to good causes around the world.”
http://ramsss.com/ching-hai
Monday, May 16, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
素食名言
素食名言
孟子說：「見其生，不忍見其死聞其聲，不忍食其肉，故君子遠庖廚」
南海古佛慈訓：「奉勸世人早吃齋，人性物性一齊來，忍心殺害同胞肉 ，將心比心實可哀」
呂祖聖訓：「我肉眾生肉，形殊裡不殊 ，休令閻君斷 ，自問應何如」
回教曰：「諸」肉不吃，演變到後來，卻誤認只有「豬」肉不吃！
詩云：「草生草死根還在， 因何人死不回來， 殺生廣拉冤孽債， 自將腹肚當棺材」
「欲知刀兵劫，但聽屠門夜半聲」
殺豬念詞：豬呀豬呀妳莫怪！妳是人間一道菜，他不吃，我不宰，要找就找吃的人討債！
動物的身不一樣，靈性都一樣，只是他們業障重，不能像人一樣表達不滿而已！
http://ramsss.com
孟子說：「見其生，不忍見其死聞其聲，不忍食其肉，故君子遠庖廚」
南海古佛慈訓：「奉勸世人早吃齋，人性物性一齊來，忍心殺害同胞肉 ，將心比心實可哀」
呂祖聖訓：「我肉眾生肉，形殊裡不殊 ，休令閻君斷 ，自問應何如」
回教曰：「諸」肉不吃，演變到後來，卻誤認只有「豬」肉不吃！
詩云：「草生草死根還在， 因何人死不回來， 殺生廣拉冤孽債， 自將腹肚當棺材」
「欲知刀兵劫，但聽屠門夜半聲」
殺豬念詞：豬呀豬呀妳莫怪！妳是人間一道菜，他不吃，我不宰，要找就找吃的人討債！
動物的身不一樣，靈性都一樣，只是他們業障重，不能像人一樣表達不滿而已！
http://ramsss.com
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Supreme Master Ching Hai
Supreme Master Ching Hai
-- Louis Hughes
The "Supreme Master Ching Hai" visited Ireland recently and gave a seminar entitled: "Immediate Enlightenment, Eternal Liberation". The event took place in the main hall of the RDS. It was well publicized both through street posters and substantial ads in national newspapers, highlighting the news that "Heaven is here and now!" and inviting the Irish public to "see God while living". Approximately 1000 people turned up to hear and see Ms. Ching Hai, a Chinese-Vietnamese woman who appeared in evening dress on the flower-bedecked stage. She connected easily with her audience, even inviting those who were seatless to share her space and her cushions onstage. Her informality was in stark contrast to the dozens of mainly oriental-looking minders in business suits, who silently monitored the proceedings - some of the hundred or so disciples who accompanied her on a lecture tour of Europe.
The content of Ching Hai's address was part Buddhist, part Hindu, but given a New Age twist in, for example, her insistence that the term 'Christ' refers not to a person, but to a power that emanates from God and manifests the authority of God in exceptionally enlightened individuals. With a touch that seemed to owe something to Wordsworth's poem Ode on the Intimations of Mortality, she explained that when we are born, we may remember past existences. As we grow, things crowd round, and we lose the vision of God which we had when we left heaven. Then, going far beyond Wordsworth, she reasoned that if God lives in here (pointing to her heart), logically one should be able to see him at any time - "we just have to know where to direct our attention. Seeing (the Light of God) is believing". Consequently, she declared: "I am offering proof of God's existence". This proof however, is evident only to those who have been initiated into what she terms the "Quan Yin Method" of meditation.
"Quan Yin" is the name of a goddess, the most popular in China. Worshipped both by Buddhists and Taoists, Quan Yin is represented as a female figure with many arms to signify her generosity towards her devotees. She is particularly favoured by women who pray to her for the birth of a son. However, the "Quan Yin Method" of meditation bears little relationship to the traditional simple prayers and offerings made to the goddess. While reluctant to explain the method to the uninitiated, Ching Hai did indicate in replies to questions from the audience that it involves turning our attention inwards to listen to God - something we have forgotten in the course of our busy lives. During meditation one will hear musical sounds, such as that of the bagpipe. Quan Yin meditation is practised with one's attention focused on the 'third eye' centre, located in the middle of the forehead. This, she said, is the wisdom centre and the highest gateway for leaving one's body. However, the technique should be learned properly and practised correctly. She warned of the danger of focusing on any chakras or centres of energy without proper guidance. That guidance is given during the process of initiation into the method. All present were invited to take initiation there and then. About 100 people took up the offer. Some underwent full initiation which involves a life-long commitment to a vegan diet and at least two hours meditation daily, as well as refraining from all alternative forms of meditation and other spiritual practice. Others received the "quick initiation" or "Convenient Method", requiring a half-hours meditation daily and abstinence from meat for ten days each month.
WHO IS CHING HAI?
Ms. Ching Hai is a talented and energetic woman, evident in the displays round the hall of paintings, jewelry, Chinese lanterns and fashion - all designed by herself and available for purchase. Also on sale were her videos, CDs, tapes and books. A magazine and a booklet of her talks were available for free. Proceeds of sales are used to fund charitable activities and disaster relief in various parts of the world. Ching Hai was brought up as a Catholic, but learnt the rudiments of Buddhism from her grandmother. However, in a brief autobiography she explains that her significant spiritual experience came about as a result of time spent in the Himalayas where she discovered "the Quan Yin Method and the Divine Transmission". Nowhere in the movement's literature is any mention made of how she came upon this enlightenment. Upon enquiring as to who Ching Hai's teacher was, one of her retinue replied vaguely: "Kutaji - he lives in a cave in the Himalayas - maybe he has left his body now." Such reticence in regards to the identity of one's initiating guru is quite unusual among Oriental religious teachers and begs the question as to the true origins of Ching Hai's teaching. Some clues are however to be found in the language that the Supreme Master uses in her writings and talks.
There are notable similarities between Ching Hai's philosophy and that of the surat shabd or "sound and light" yogic tradition of Northern India. This tradition is represented at its best in the Radha Soami movements of Agra and Beas. Julian Johnson's book, The Path of the Masters is the classical English language source for the philosophy and teachings of the Radha Soamis. Comparing it with Ching Hai's writings reveals significant features common both to the Radha Soamis and Ching Hai. These are: the requirement to practise long hours of meditation under the direction of the Master; the emphasis on the Master himself/herself as the object of meditation; the practice of meditation at the "third eye"; the idea of spiritual progression through a number of ascending planes or levels of consciousness; the prediction that the meditator will see inner light and hear inner sounds, particularly musical sounds; the ability to leave the body at will during meditation and explore the astral world.
Former disciples of Ching Hai have alleged that disciples are taught to meditate with a blanket over their heads. This practice - unknown to the Radha Soamis - tends to induce drowsiness which makes people more susceptible to mind-control. It has also been reported that disciples were strongly encouraged by Ching Hai herself to put together a six-figure donation towards U.S. President Clinton's personal legal defence fund.
Louis Hughes op
http://ramsss.com/ching-hai
-- Louis Hughes
The "Supreme Master Ching Hai" visited Ireland recently and gave a seminar entitled: "Immediate Enlightenment, Eternal Liberation". The event took place in the main hall of the RDS. It was well publicized both through street posters and substantial ads in national newspapers, highlighting the news that "Heaven is here and now!" and inviting the Irish public to "see God while living". Approximately 1000 people turned up to hear and see Ms. Ching Hai, a Chinese-Vietnamese woman who appeared in evening dress on the flower-bedecked stage. She connected easily with her audience, even inviting those who were seatless to share her space and her cushions onstage. Her informality was in stark contrast to the dozens of mainly oriental-looking minders in business suits, who silently monitored the proceedings - some of the hundred or so disciples who accompanied her on a lecture tour of Europe.
The content of Ching Hai's address was part Buddhist, part Hindu, but given a New Age twist in, for example, her insistence that the term 'Christ' refers not to a person, but to a power that emanates from God and manifests the authority of God in exceptionally enlightened individuals. With a touch that seemed to owe something to Wordsworth's poem Ode on the Intimations of Mortality, she explained that when we are born, we may remember past existences. As we grow, things crowd round, and we lose the vision of God which we had when we left heaven. Then, going far beyond Wordsworth, she reasoned that if God lives in here (pointing to her heart), logically one should be able to see him at any time - "we just have to know where to direct our attention. Seeing (the Light of God) is believing". Consequently, she declared: "I am offering proof of God's existence". This proof however, is evident only to those who have been initiated into what she terms the "Quan Yin Method" of meditation.
"Quan Yin" is the name of a goddess, the most popular in China. Worshipped both by Buddhists and Taoists, Quan Yin is represented as a female figure with many arms to signify her generosity towards her devotees. She is particularly favoured by women who pray to her for the birth of a son. However, the "Quan Yin Method" of meditation bears little relationship to the traditional simple prayers and offerings made to the goddess. While reluctant to explain the method to the uninitiated, Ching Hai did indicate in replies to questions from the audience that it involves turning our attention inwards to listen to God - something we have forgotten in the course of our busy lives. During meditation one will hear musical sounds, such as that of the bagpipe. Quan Yin meditation is practised with one's attention focused on the 'third eye' centre, located in the middle of the forehead. This, she said, is the wisdom centre and the highest gateway for leaving one's body. However, the technique should be learned properly and practised correctly. She warned of the danger of focusing on any chakras or centres of energy without proper guidance. That guidance is given during the process of initiation into the method. All present were invited to take initiation there and then. About 100 people took up the offer. Some underwent full initiation which involves a life-long commitment to a vegan diet and at least two hours meditation daily, as well as refraining from all alternative forms of meditation and other spiritual practice. Others received the "quick initiation" or "Convenient Method", requiring a half-hours meditation daily and abstinence from meat for ten days each month.
WHO IS CHING HAI?
Ms. Ching Hai is a talented and energetic woman, evident in the displays round the hall of paintings, jewelry, Chinese lanterns and fashion - all designed by herself and available for purchase. Also on sale were her videos, CDs, tapes and books. A magazine and a booklet of her talks were available for free. Proceeds of sales are used to fund charitable activities and disaster relief in various parts of the world. Ching Hai was brought up as a Catholic, but learnt the rudiments of Buddhism from her grandmother. However, in a brief autobiography she explains that her significant spiritual experience came about as a result of time spent in the Himalayas where she discovered "the Quan Yin Method and the Divine Transmission". Nowhere in the movement's literature is any mention made of how she came upon this enlightenment. Upon enquiring as to who Ching Hai's teacher was, one of her retinue replied vaguely: "Kutaji - he lives in a cave in the Himalayas - maybe he has left his body now." Such reticence in regards to the identity of one's initiating guru is quite unusual among Oriental religious teachers and begs the question as to the true origins of Ching Hai's teaching. Some clues are however to be found in the language that the Supreme Master uses in her writings and talks.
There are notable similarities between Ching Hai's philosophy and that of the surat shabd or "sound and light" yogic tradition of Northern India. This tradition is represented at its best in the Radha Soami movements of Agra and Beas. Julian Johnson's book, The Path of the Masters is the classical English language source for the philosophy and teachings of the Radha Soamis. Comparing it with Ching Hai's writings reveals significant features common both to the Radha Soamis and Ching Hai. These are: the requirement to practise long hours of meditation under the direction of the Master; the emphasis on the Master himself/herself as the object of meditation; the practice of meditation at the "third eye"; the idea of spiritual progression through a number of ascending planes or levels of consciousness; the prediction that the meditator will see inner light and hear inner sounds, particularly musical sounds; the ability to leave the body at will during meditation and explore the astral world.
Former disciples of Ching Hai have alleged that disciples are taught to meditate with a blanket over their heads. This practice - unknown to the Radha Soamis - tends to induce drowsiness which makes people more susceptible to mind-control. It has also been reported that disciples were strongly encouraged by Ching Hai herself to put together a six-figure donation towards U.S. President Clinton's personal legal defence fund.
Louis Hughes op
http://ramsss.com/ching-hai
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