Thursday, January 31, 2013

My Personal Story


Hi. I want to talk about my experiences with the Ching Hai cult.

This is not a hate blog. A lot of followers of Ching Hai will some to her defense and say that she is a nice woman who preaches about peace and love. Those who are sane will take one look at this self-proclaimed “God” and laugh. Unfortunately, I was one of the weak ones who fell victim to this cult.

It really is an attractive idea.

I was in the cult for such a long time. I joined when I found myself in a pretty dark place. My mother had just passed away and I found myself becoming depressed. I was an easy target and Ching Hai was a soft spoken woman who talked about love and peace. I was willing to overlook the odd bits about being called “Master” by every follower or calling herself a “God” because I wanted something. It seems so foolish now that I look back on it but this is why cults are dangerous. They get you when you are weak, alienate you from your family and take all of your energy and money.

At first I did not realize that it was a cult. Everyone seemed so nice. Especially Master Ching Hai.

Eventually the nice feeling faded away though. I was tired and frustrated. I begun to constantly put myself down because of ridiculous things like having a hard time going vegan. I felt like a horrible person because I was not a full vegan like the others. I also felt like I was not being a kind and good person because I was not worshipping Ching Hai as much as I felt I should have. I felt that I had to constantly give more of my time to the cult. At one point I had the Supreme TV station playing practically 24/7 on my computer. Not to mention all the money wasted on Loving Hut and books. I was frustrated with myself and the world and in the back of my mind I always had a feeling that something was not right.

It turns out that the “something not right” was this so call religious group. I stopped watching the tv channel and going to vegan restaurants. Somehow I was able to come to my senses. I don’t really know if there was one single thing that woke me up or if it was the combination and built up of everything, but I am grateful to be out of the Ching Hai cult.

Leaving the cult was the best thing to ever happen to me. I am less stressed out and a much happier person after doing so.

15 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Thank you for your post.

    I am an atheist young woman going through depression, who is interested in veganism, humanitarian causes and meditation.

    I have a young, close female cousin who is also a vegan, and talked to me about Ching Hai. Referring to her as "my master". She went raw, and got interested in breatharianism. She defines herself to other people as "Christian and Buddhist", "so that people will understand".

    She is a very smart girl, and never really got into the cult. She is still a raw vegan, but looks healthy.

    I started reading stuff on their website after my cousin recommended it to me. As an atheist (and skeptic), though of course I respect all religions, the first thing that made me doubt was the "Master" calling. Then the angels and points and lots of stuff that sounded really weird, so I googled her and started to read bad stuff about her.

    Thanks again for sharing your story. I hope you are doing much better!

    A girl from Helsinki, Finland.

    P.S. Do you think I should talk to my cousin, just in case, and how? Thanks again!!

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  3. Hi

    I am so sorry hearing you experienced unhappy things when you were master's fellow. I think you might not have a good luck about the fellows around you that might make you felt it was a must to buy things and to eat at loving hut. I am one who have practiced this path but I might be lucky that I dont listen to anyone, any fellow, unless master's teachings and I have read a lot. I found that everything is our decision to buy or not, master never forces us to spend money for her, she even refuses to get the donation.

    Better to us to be vegan because it is the way we love other lives and save them as we love our lives. Please ask your innerself and pray your own wisdom and for what you really want in your life.

    May God or anything you have faithed bless you, dear...

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    1. You know master was a member of a violent, people beating gang right?

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    2. Also, the studies of John Neulinger may apply to your situation my santuary dear.

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  4. Hello!

    I am skeptical about a restaurant called Au Lac - Humanese in Fountain Valley, www.aulac.com

    I spoke with the owner who is VERY nice...

    She said she opened it up herself..
    My friend told me its owned by Ching Hai but I am not entirely sure because the owner I spoke with isn't Ching Hai for one and is very sincere and nice..

    There isn't anything about books, or all that that loving hut is described as either.. The menu is very different and it's a very very friendly, relaxed environment. I spoke with the owner for a while and on 2 different occasions.

    Any insight on this place?

    Her story was she used to live in Texas, eat meat a lot, got cancer, prayed to god and got into raw food and vegan food and started her own restaurant in 1997 and it got popular from there and she converted it further to a raw food, vegan restaurant.

    I would appreciate any insight if you have any. I am going to "interrogate" the owner to see if I can get anything closer to my questions being answered.

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  5. I've been a member since 1999 and though I don't practice the meditation as much as I'm supposed to, nor go to the centres any longer, I do think she is genuine. But! Many of her disciples are outright nuts and lack sense (take the news stories on SMTV about free energy machines, which are known to be fake for example). I wouldn't want to be her -- the amount of crap she has to deal with, some of which I've seen and would blow your mind wouldn't be worth all the money in the world.

    I recall my experiences at the huge retreats were something amazing, but I did think the way many of her Chinese and Vietnamese followers ran after her to be crazy. My favourite times were just meditating with a few close friends who were members or at smaller retreats. Going by some of the energy at the retreats, I think many people went to them to make up for their laziness as practitioners. One time, when one of the monks came to our local group meditation he said afterwards he could smell meat on one of the members.

    So, basically, its her followers, not her -- they are the ones that have created the "cult".

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  6. THE HERESY OF CHING HAI (SIKHISM) FALSIFIES THE QUAN YIN METHOD OF BUDDHISM. February 16th, 2017

    1. Ching Hai is a disciple of Thakar Singh (Sikhism – not Buddhism). Ching Hai now claims to have a religious standing that is a trillion times higher than those of Buddha and Christ???
    Ching Hai has learnt and applied the meditation method of Thakar Singh, a man without any attainment. For that reason, all individuals in the Quan Yin association are misconducting as religious practitioners.

    2. Religious practice requires honesty, transparency, mercy, and love. It should not deceive others or take advantage of power to commit fraud, exercise repressions, commit slander or heartlessly expel disciples who dared to tell the truth (in order to muzzle them), etc.
    An immediate emancipation method is not a method bound to a meditation centre without democracy or without the right to voice opinions, not one where only compliance with directions counts. This sometimes makes people concerned and anxious, and they no longer trust their wisdom.

    3. Ching Hai claims to become a Buddha to give initiation to her disciples (but she secretly entered into a fake marriage with a royal member in Cambodia on May 28th, 1997, under the name Chan (Ching) Navy (Hai))???
    It is called emancipation method – but why did she force all of her disciples to follow the Liaison election (January 11th, 2015) in Sydney, Australia! It is so unfair and unreasonable that anyone telling the truth will be dismissed from the Quan Yin association??? On August 10th, 2015, in Menton, France, Ching Hai told her disciples, who had been unreasonably and forcibly banned by the Foreign Group (FG), that the FG could do anything. The FG has the objective of receiving and announcing the direct will of Ching Hai in the Quan Yin Association, so why can it do anything?
    At present, Ching Hai claims to be a Leader - Tim Qo Tu at a spiritual level that is trillion times higher than Buddha and Christ??? Yet she secretly asked Bien Trong, the administrator of the Supreme Master Ching Hai Facebook page, allowing this person to declare not to take charge as a representative for Supreme Master Ching Hai and Quan Yin Association and to release information and advertisements, and defend Ching Hai – that is such a dubious thing to do???
    Ching Hai teaches her disciples to focus on inner values and meditate to search for True Self and spiritual uplifting as well as truth, goodness, and beauty that are not in line with the principles of the main practising method. Or all of these are just a deceitful doctrine of a spiritual practitioner aiming outer values, ambition of becoming a spiritual leader in this impermanent world.
    Former disciple Nhu Hue.

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  7. Ching Hai follows the Sikh religion, hides under the cover of relief mission and vegetarianism, falsifies Quan Yin Method of Buddhism, cheats everyone to achieve fame in order to attract many people into following her religion. Because of her sophisticated deceit, which is difficult to detect in religions, her 3 masters, Venerable Thich Nhu Dien (Germany), Venerable Thich Tinh Hanh (Formosa), and Thakar Signh (India) have therefore spoken out to warn everyone, so that we will not fall into the dilemma of leading a religious life with no intellect, not following the right main stream dharma because Ching Hai campaigns for pure vegetarian regime but herself tells lies freely...

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  8. Hi All who have commented above.

    I respect your standpoint and we all have different levels of understandings which is fine too. At some point of time we chose to go to her and then we chose to leave when it was comfortable to us. I don't see any point in condemning anyone except yourself. I am a spiritual seeker and I go to many teachers. Ching Hai taught me the sant mat meditation. I did it for 3 years and nothing happened but when I stopped doing it I left myself at ease, light and sound started to descend on me like every morning when it is utterly quite. I don't go to her restaurants or meditation centres and pay anything, I practice at home. But let me tell you all that it has worked on me and changed me completely. Please find your own faults and improve.
    I am sure most of you reached master for your own benefits and when you did not get anything you started to feel disappointed. Her efforts are to give you a taste of spirituality. and when she talks fairy tales, don't take em literal, they are all metaphors. I know it is so difficult for a spiritual person to talk literally. lastly I would say that please condemn your bad habits and shortcoming. Spirituality is a path not a goal.

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  9. I am an ex member, here's my proof, the 5 secret passwords after initiation... yo ni rang yung, ung ka, la rang ka, so han, sat nam... :D

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. polymeri.gargiulo@gmail.com
      Igor Gargiulo
      +4915779288427
      plis contact me

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  10. This cult seems to come up over and over again I personally know someone involved I have heard some of the teachings what you're totally inaccurate who would even believe this stuff to begin with you have to be weak-minded she seems to be nothing more then icon or charlatan that preyed on the weak one of the best cons I have seen for the weak-minded simply do it show me the research on some of her teachings and it is pretty easy to find out that it is false I once saw something where they issued a check to an Animal Rescuer but she had to say go vegan save the planet once again to promote the agenda learn to think for yourself there are con artists everywhere and in all faiths but some of the things out of her mouth were downright Ludacris thank God the truth is coming out and be free of this nonsense

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  11. Hello, this is an old blog post, but I am looking to speak to someone who is a ex follower, or close to someone who was. This is for a podcast, but if you don't want we can not use names if you decide to chat with me!
    drop me an email if your interested in chatting harriet@frequencymachine.com

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