Jul 05 2011
The Murky Sea of Cult Money
Remember “Supreme Master” Ching Hai? She’s the reputed Taiwanese cult leader we reported on last year. That’s when HSUS’s top (vegan) M.D., Michael Greger, got cozy enough with Ching Hai to appear on her “Supreme Master TV” network. Now we’ve learned that Ching Hai’s international empire recently gave HSUS a $50,000 donation. Is it any surprise that HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle is now a big admirer?
For the unfamiliar, websites promote Ching Hai as God’s "Immediate" and "Direct" Contact. Hear any alarm bells yet?
Here’s how a Sydney Sun Herald article described the self-promoting demigoddess in 1994:
The Supreme Master Ching Hai, leader of what is reportedly the fastest-growing cult in the world, is a 44-year-old divorcee with a penchant for funny hats, tacky jewellery and gold lamé.
As she steps into her shiny limousine, an attendant dressed like a bridesmaid fussing with the three-metre satin train of her self-designed gown, the Master looks not unlike a young Imelda Marcos. […]
A rabid anti-communist, the Master inspires feverish adoration like a kind of deity-cum-rock star among her followers who, on mass meditation expeditions, don matching luminescent hats for the obligatory 2-1/2 hours' daily invocation of her name in a heavenly chant.
And then there’s this from a 1997 Chicago Tribune report on Bill Clinton’s “Whitewater” legal defense:
With a bumbling ally of President Clinton serving as cheerleader and unofficial accountant, members of a tiny Buddhist sect were cajoled into donating $400,000 to Clinton's legal defense fund, a sect official told a Senate panel Thursday. …
According to a report given the panel, a sect [Ching Hai] started and named after herself emphasizes spiritual improvement, self-knowledge, a vegetarian diet and occasionally drinking the leader's therapeutic bath water.
How, um … interesting.
But let’s get down to business: Why is a cult leader investing $50,000 in HSUS?
The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association’s donation is for “medicine and vegan food for animals under [HSUS’s] care.” (Fast forward to 9:20 and 11:00 in this report.) That’s fairly benign, but let’s hope HSUS isn’t caring for any cats (which are natural carnivores).
Ching Hai’s larger, stranger dietary dictates are in line with those of HSUS. She preaches a quasi-Buddhist lifestyle that requires veganism. She claims people need to convert to veganism in order to “save” the planet. (Perhaps coincidentally, she also owns 160 vegetarian restaurants.) Satellites beam her 24/7 “Supreme Master TV” and its anti-meat message across the globe in a multitude of languages.
Wayne Pacelle seems hopeful that the recent $50,000 ka-Ching (pun intended) won’t be the last. In April he even inscribed a copy of his book The Bond to the cult leader. (We’re not making this up.)
“Supreme Master Ching Hai — Thanks for the incredible leadership + vision you provide through the world! You are an inspiration. Wayne Pacelle 4/15/11”
How far off the fringe is Ching Hai’s “incredible leadership + vision”? The Phoenix New Times has more:
The consequence of ignoring Hai's edicts will be that Earth will end up like Mars or Venus, which she contends once had "water, life, and people similar to us." That is, until the Martians and Venusians "raised too much livestock," triggering an "irreversible greenhouse gas effect." She even posits that there were at one time "four Venuses," two of which went bad from global warming.
Material for Pacelle’s next book, perhaps?
If Pacelle wants to cozy up to a cultist, that’s his prerogative. (Perhaps he missed her not-so-flattering profile in last fall’s VegNews.) But we understand his motive: Ching Hai may be creepy, but her money is still green. And if oddball mystics are the kind of supporters HSUS is recruiting, the next stop on Pacelle’s book tour may as well be at 1424 Sixteenth Street, NW.
Posted on 07/05/2011 at 05:27 PM by the HumaneWatch Team
The Best of HumaneWatch • Fundraising & Money • Meat • (9) CommentsComments
Awsome what a combo: rich and delusional!! Can’t get any better that that…
Talk about sick in the head people!
But even more worrying, Dorothy : Rich BECAUSE of being delusional. Now that is scary!
Ching Hai’s group is no different than any other religious group, except their prophet (the person to claim to speak to god) is still alive. Also, they donate a lot and do a lot to help the environment compared to most religious groups.
Ching Hai’s group could be described as a cult, but it doesn’t have the same aggressive, manipulative overtones that is stereotypical of a cult.
Because of the groups heavy support for environmental and animal activism, they share ties with all other environmental and animal activists. HSUS has not pledged themselves to any specific religion or anything like that, they have merely thanked those who help them. That is what charity is about. You thank those whom help you in your cause.
I’m convinced Ching Hai is evil. She’s a personage placed here as a test to human intelligence, meant to be rejected. Her philosophy is ridiculous and spiritually harmful. She claims “God” but how could she be in direct contact? Why is there so few speaking out against? She must pay her employees well.
>>> Ching Hai’s group could be described as a cult, but it doesn’t have the same aggressive, manipulative overtones that is stereotypical of a cult. <<<
ROTFL! You clearly don’t know what you are talking about. I can personally testify to the fact that her followers engage in the exact same rabid “fair gaming” intimidation, blackmail, extortion and the launching of frivolous lawsuits to silence their critics online that a certain other big cult we will not mention here is well-known for. Never knew that such a supposedly healthy and uplifting vegan diet would make people so zealous, censorious and litigious.
An “enlightening” discussion (more than 350 posts) about that cult on Cult Educational Forum - Rick Ross Institute : http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?12,51521,page=1
Note: SupremeLeak website has moved, now on http://supremeleak.over-blog.com
Just a collection of links - non official ressources about Supreme Master Ching Hai.
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Why does it seem that eventually insanity accompanies most who obtain notoriety?