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Re: [Master Says] God Takes Care of Everything
I'd like to thank Prasad for his answers, which I'm grateful to
receive, since most of my questions about what is and isn't allowed on
SRH seem to go unanswered these days ;-)
I also recall that my question about who can and cannot raise
Administrativia questions has also not been answered, so I guess I'm
only allowed one more strike...
In article <4fvvev$r5f@babbage.ece.uc.edu>,
Prasad Popuri <pqp5307@is.nyu.edu> wrote:
>Vivek Sadananda Pai (vivek@cs.rice.edu) wrote:
>
>: May I ask what this article has to do with Hinduism at all? I notice
>: that the "not directly relevant" clause has been used recently to
>: reject certain articles which most definitely dealt with Hinduism,
>: but apparently, this article, which is not directly relevant to
>: Hinduism, made it through.
>
>: Consider that this article is about _Quan Yin_, and not Hinduism at
>: all. The "Master" is "Supreme Master Ching Hai", who's a very nice
>: lady, and whose followers are very nice, but, let's face it, neither
>: she nor her followers are even vaguely related to Hinduism, much less
>: "directly relevant" to Hinduism.
>
>: This post, while nice, has about as much relevance to soc.religion.hindu
>: as random Bible tracts, but we don't see those posted here. So, is
>: there some specific reason that this post was accepted to
>: soc.religion.hindu while others, especially the post which involved
>: the Kama Sutra, were rejected?
>
>: -Vivek
>
>
>How do you know that Supreme Master Ching Hai or her followers are not
>Hindu?
About Supreme Master Ching Hai:
>From http://futures.phys.cmu.edu/eng/booklet/intro.html
"I do not belong to Buddhism or Catholicism. I belong to the Truth and
I preach the Truth. You may call it Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism, or
whatever you like. I welcome all!" - Suma Ching Hai
[ note - is Hinduism even mentioned? ]
"Do not forget that you have Buddha within your heart." - Suma Ching Hai
[ once again, a Buddhist reference ]
"Suma Ching Hai is an unlikely candidate to be widely recognized as a
Living Saint. She is a woman, and many Buddhists and others believe
the myth that a woman can not become a Buddha. She is of Asian
descent, and many Western people expect that the Savior will come
from their own culture."
[ no Kalki references, etc ]
and from http://futures.phys.cmu.edu/eng/booklet/biography.html
"After leaving Her marriage, Suma Ching Hai sought the perfect method
which could lead one to attain liberation in one lifetime. In the
Surangama Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha said that the Quan Yin Method was
the highest of all methods. However none of Her teachers knew it. She
travelled and searched everywhere and finally, after many years,
found a Himalayan Master who initiated Her into the Quan Yin Method
and gave Her the Divine Transmission that She had sought for so many
years."
[ once again, Buddhist references ]
"When Master asked them why they had come they answered, `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.'"
[ note where the Quan Yin method name comes from ]
"Shy in nature, Suma Ching Hai did not seek out students to teach. In
fact, She ran away from people who sought Her initiation. This
happened in India, and in the United States where She was living the
unassuming life of a Buddhist nun."
[ and she was a Buddhist nun ]
Now, about her followers:
From: http://futures.phys.cmu.edu/eng/booklet/initiation.html
"Suma Ching Hai accepts people from all backgrounds and religious
affiliations for initiation. You do not have to change your present
religion or system of beliefs. You will not be asked to join any
organization, or participate in any way that does not suit your
current life style. "
[ note the line "you do not have to change your present religion" ]
"The initiation into the Quan Yin Method is not an esoteric ritual or
a ceremony for entering a new religion. During the initiation,
specific instruction in meditation on the Inner Light and Inner Sound
is given, and Master Ching Hai provides the `spiritual transmission.'"
[ once again, it makes clear that you are not entering a new religion ]
Nothing in any of the quotes above seems to indicate that either she
or her followers are Hindu. What it does seem to indicate is that she
is vaguely connected to Buddhism, and that she teaches a meditation
method.
>Do you define Hinduism as any religion that arises out of India?
No.
>Did you know that Supreme Master Ching Hai was once the disciple and
>current successor of a Himalayan indian master?
I don't see the relevance, even if the guy was Indian - the biography
only indicates that he was Himalayan, but that's a minor quibble.
>Do you know that she is
>the heir to a meditaton technique which has roots in India?
The method might have some ties to India, and I don't doubt this, but
it's generally a pretty far stretch to consider the Quan Yin
Bodhisattva as Hindu. I believe that this particular form of worship
originated in Chinese Buddhism.
>Sir, if you can differentiate between Hinduism and any other religion than
>you are as far away from understanding the true essence of any religion,
>as heaven is from earth.
While that may be true, please at least grant us lesser mortals some
organization within Usenet, and allow us to have groups devoted to the
various religions, rather than just soc.religion.all. Quan Yin
definitely has some points which will resonate with Hindus*, but is it
Hinduism? No more than the Unification Church is Hindu, I would
contend.
Quan Yin posts sound like they'd have much stronger ties to the
Buddhist newsgroups or the meditation newsgroups, but let's face it,
as far as soc.religion.hindu goes, the "not directly relevant" clause
should've filtered this one out, especially if you look at some of the
recent articles which didn't pass that test, namely, the one I
mentioned in the original note. Also, I saw this same post on some of
the soc.culture.indian* groups already, and I can't see what relevance
it had there, either.
-Vivek
* namely, the 5 precepts:
1. Refrain from taking the life of sentient beings. (vegetarianism)
2. Refrain from speaking what is not true.
3. Refrain from taking what is not offered.
4. Refrain from sexual misconduct.
5. Refrain from the use of intoxicants.
(also taken from the initiation page)
