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The First Theory: While in Formosa, Suma Ching Hai was meditating in a room behind a small temple during a typhoon rain storm and a group of people knocked at her door. When she asked them why they came, they responded, "Quan Yin Bodhisattva (The Goddess of Mercy) replied to our prayers and told us about you, saying that you are the great Master and we should pray to you for the method to reach liberation." The Master initiated them after several months of purification and their agreement to adhere to a vegetarian diet.
The Other Theory: When Suma Ching Hai tried to buy a copy of the Hindu sacred text the Bhagavad-Gita in a shop along the Ganges River, the shopkeepers said there were none in stock. She insisted that she had "seen" one. Then the shopkeepers discovered a copy in a sealed box. She fled sudden acclaim, but finally assumed the role of The Master. (According to Howard Chua-Eoan's article entitled "The Buddhist Martha" in Time, Jan 20,1997, p.47)
Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.
In Taiwan, she reportedly has 300,000 followers. But, when the government closed down her headquarters (it was constructed without a license), the group produced only 804 names which belies the 6,000 who appeared in Taiwan on Ching Hai Day in October 1995.
She has approximately 2,000 members in California (Dion Nissenbaum's article "Sect Master a No-show, Rumors Had Ching Hai in Lake Elsinore" in The Press- Enterprise, December 31, 1996 p. B01) According to the article "Unusual Cast of Asian Donors Emerges in DNC Funding Controversy" in the Jan 27, 1997 issue of The Washington Post, however, Suma Ching Hai has 100,000 followers in the United States and millions more worldwide.
Suma Ching Hai International Association has recently received much publicity because of the group's donations to Bill Clinton's legal-defense fund. The group donated $600,000 to the fund last year, but the money was returned due to increasing negative publicity the President was receiving. Suma Ching Hai said she felt "sorry for Clinton's troubles... and wanted to help him" (Washington Post, 27 Jan. 1997).
Suma Ching Hai claims to be the reincarnated Buddha and Jesus Christ, and she combines the beliefs of Christianity with those of Buddhism. She attempts to teach her followers that all religions are teaching the same Truth, the "Divine Presence" within. She explains the importance of meditation, inner contemplation and prayer. She accomplishes teaching these "Truths" by her Quan Yin Method. The Chinese characters "Quan Yin" mean contemplation of sound vibration. The Method includes meditation on both Inner Light and the Inner Sound. Ching Hai teaches that the Christian Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) This Word is the Inner Sound. Master Ching Hai says, "It vibrates within all life and sustains the whole universe. This inner melody can heal all wounds, fulfill all desires, and quench all worldly thirst."
During initiation, the Master provides the "spiritual transmission" to the enlightened world. This event is sometimes called the "sudden" or "immediate enlightenment," because one may hear the Inner Sound and see the Inner Light. Suma Ching Hai accepts people from all backgrounds and religious affiliations for initiation, however, a lifetime commitment to a vegetarian diet is a prerequisite for receiving initiation.
Keeping a vegetarian diet is important because Suma Ching Hai teaches that killing and violence, even to animals, is bad. "So what we try to minimize is the violence in our heart, the tendency to want to destroy other beings."
Ching Hai's teaching against violence towards animals is very similar to Sikhism, but her meditation teachings resemble Buddhism, and her Catholic background enables her to incorporate Christian Bible teachings as well. After initiation, meditation daily for two and a half hours and keeping the Five Precepts are the only requirements.
The Five Precepts are:
(According to Carey Goldberg's article "Cult-Like Group Linked to Refused Clinton Donations" in the December 22, 1996 issue of The Commercial Appeal, p.11A). Suma Ching Hai's goal is to teach her followers to be self-sufficient.
Index Link
This link is an index which gives one links to
the following (also available through the homepage): an
introduction to the Suma Ching Hai faith, initiation
information, publications, the explanation for a vegetarian
way of life, selected poems by Suma Ching Hai, and contacts
throughout the world (click on booklet.html from the index.)
http://futures.phys.cmu.edu/eng/booklet/
Suma Ching Hai News Magazine
This link provides on-line volumes of the monthly news
magazine that the Suma Ching Hai Association publishes. The
magazines have actual speeches from the Master and
listings of current and up-coming events. It also has a
section called Master's Teachings which provides explanations
regarding the beliefs of the group.
http://fiber.ieo.nctu.edu.tw:5000/eng/news/index3.html
The Bhagavad Gita: A Hindu Philosophy and Religion
This link provides a brief description of the history and the
contents of the Bhagavad Gita, dated from the third century
B.C. and the fourth century A.D., and how it relates to the
Hindu religion. The excerpt explains the origination of
some of the beliefs which Suma Ching Hai has incorporated
into her religion: the idea of the unity among religions
and the notion that God is present in all things. It also
includes selected readings from the actual text.
http://members.aol.com/Heraklit1/gita.htm
Dragon Flower Ch'an Temple's Translations of Sacred Buddhist Texts
This link provides the translation of the Surangama
Mantra and other sacred Buddhist sutras. Suma Ching Hai
incorporates much of these teachings in her group, including
keeping strict vegetarian diets, meditation on sound and
light and the teachings of the seven Buddhas.
http://primo.bfm.org/zen/tran_index.html
Critique of 'Immaterial Girl'
This is a very long critique by Pierre de Villiers of an article about Suma Ching Hai
that appeared in the San Jose Metro. It appears on
The Neural Surfer, an anti-cult site created by David Lane.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~dlane/chinew.html
- Chua-Eoan, Howard. 1997.
- "The Buddhist Martha." Time. January 20: 47.
- Claiborne, William. 1996.
- "Self-Styled Zen Master Has Attained Financial Nirvana." The Record. December 20: A40.
- Goldberg, Carey. 1996.
- "Cult-like Group Linked to Refused Clinton Donations." The Commercial Appeal. December 22: 11A.
- Kelley, Donna. 1997.
- "Suma Ching Hai Explains Donations to the Clinton Legal Defense Fund." CNN Morning News. January 9: (videotape).
- Nissenbaum, Dion. 1996.
- "Sect Master a No-show, Rumors Had Ching Hai in Lake Elsinore." The Press-Enterprise. December 31: B01.
- Washington Post. 1997.
- "Unusual Cast of Asian Donors Emerges in DNC Funding Controversy." The Washington Post. January 27: A8.
Contact Information:
Suma Ching Hai International Association
2731 Harway Ave,
Brooklyn, NY 11214
Phone: (212) 431-5538
Contact Person: Mr. Dong Zhihua
E-mail: dong@phys.columbia.edu
Phone: (718) 372-3921
Fax: (718) 372-1176