It is poor education part of the required state of mind to become an adherent?

Why am I reminded of the famous clip from Monty Python’s ‘The Life of Brian’ … “only the true Messiah denies his divinity!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDLoHAXEqC4

Yes, its very convenient that she encourages all those folks to start veggie cafes but I think her fashion sense stinks. If there was to be a “true Messiah” on earth, surely they would chose some cool, mature, understated designer like Ermenegildo Zegna, or go Saville Row, and not end up looking like an bad Imelda Marcos clone or some North Korean dictator’s wife instead?

It would be good if the bottle blonde cult leader published her accounts as it looks pretty obvious that she is ripping her followers off for ridiculous amounts of money for artworks and fashion outfits that at best kitsch.

I mean … what God was sell a 18 carat jewelry collection called “The Hermit”!?!

The Hermit:

Fashioned out of 18-karat gold set with green jade and red coral, this collection consists of a necklace, two rings, two pairs of earrings and a tiepin. Red fruit, ripe and plump, shines with a rosy luster matched by elegantly shaped green leaves. Through superb craftsmanship the fruit and leaves have been arranged in seamless designs that impart a divine, elegant aura, much like that of a hermit who has reaped the harvest of spiritual cultivation after years of silent practice.

I am delighted that so many people are vegetarian in Mongolia. I’m also vegan for reasons of compassion, and I’m inspired by the Buddha’s teachings.

Having thought more about it, however, I do feel justified in criticising Ching Hai - and this is not a criticism of her followers. She has certainly saved the lives of many animals and I applaud that.

But what I don’t like is that everything I read and see of her places herself at the centre of what she does. She dresses herself like a pop star and praises herself and talks about herself a lot. To call yourself “God’s Direct Contact” seems proud, even arrogant. And to call yourself “The Supreme Master” makes her sound like someone who should be worshipped.

To me, a spiritual leader should be humble and inspire us by example, not by elevating herself to a godlike position.

I expect her teachings are sound, but they are obscured by a cult of personality that she apparently places around herself. You may say this is not her intention, but given the known dangers of personality-based cults, then I would argue that she should be more careful not to appear this way.

So, to repeat my concern in a more serious manner: I worry that it appears to be a personality cult (even if it is not), and that this sends out mixed signals about vegetarianism/veganism.

It should be about compassion, but when someone’s personality gets in the way, it starts to look like it’s about that person, not about the compassion.

The guidance for such compassion is usually taught and given as example by spiritual masters such as the Dalai Lama (and the Buddhas), the Hindu Masters, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, several Catholic Saints, Sai Baba, Supreme Master Ching Hai, many Zen masters and on and on. Without the teachings and guidance of these masters, there wouldn’t be so many vegetarians and vegans and we wouldn’t be sparing the lives of so many hundreds of millions of sentient beings each year. Thus, there really isn’t any reason for you to criticise people’s spiritual practices, but instead I suggest that you applaud, or at the least, tolerate other people’s personal non-violent choices.

By the way…in a city of only 1 million people, Ulaanbaatar City we Mongolians now after only 3 years of momentum has 20 vegetarian restaurants and all of these have been inspired by spiritual masters. To imply that we as Mongolians have been blindly led by these Master’s is really quite unfair. Oh…and by the way ..good work on your blog and I wish you great luck and willpower in inspiring at least as many people to go veg as these Master’s have !!!