Busted Qigong Masters

[GeneChing]

This thread is somewhat parallel to our Busted Martial Artists (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48947) and Busted TCM Practioners (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55120) threads. Qigong masters are of a different class.

The strange tale of the Chinese dissident student leader, the Qigong master and $50 million (http://www.kelowna.com/2010/01/25/the-strange-tale-of-the-chinese-dissident-student-leader-the-qigong-master-and-50-million/)
Monday, January 25th, 2010 | 5:00 am
Canwest News Service

There is outrage in Hong Kong that the territory's rule of law and judicial independence are under threat from Beijing after Tiananmen Square student leader Zhou Yongjun was handed over to Chinese police without any legal process.

A week ago, a court in China's Sichuan province sentenced Zhou, who is 42 and has served two prison sentences arising out of his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy uprising, to nine years in prison for attempted fraud.

But there seems to be more to this story than the erosion of the guarantees given by Beijing to Hong Kong before China regained sovereignty in 1997 that the territory would keep its British civil institutions under the "one country, two systems" rubric.

Of particular interest are perplexing and unexplained links between Zhou and a man named Zhang Hongbao, who made a fortune in China by marketing his own brand of Qigong exercises before fleeing to the United States in 2000, where he set up a putative Chinese government in exile.

Zhang and his female secretary-driver were killed in a somewhat mysterious car crash in Northern Arizona in July 2006.

What remains unclear is whether the Chinese authorities were keen to get hold of Zhou because of his activities as a student dissident or his links to Zhang or both.

On the surface, Zhou has an honourable record as a student dissident.

He was arrested after the suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and was jailed for over two years until Beijing bowed to international pressure and allowed him to emigrate to the U.S.

In America, he had legal permanent residence, but not yet citizenship when, in 1998, he returned to China to try to see his aging parents in Sichuan.

Zhou was captured and sentenced to three years in a labour camp. He was released early in 2001 as Beijing put on a show of improving its human rights record in order to cajole the International Olympic Committee into giving it the 2008 Summer Games.

Zhou returned to the U.S., but in September 2008 again attempted to return to China to see his parents out of concern for their condition after the massive Sichuan earthquake.

Now the story gets strange. Zhou says he bought from an immigration company a false Malaysian passport in the name of Wang Xingxiang. He then went to Macau, the former Portuguese colony gambling centre in China's Pearl River Delta, and from there went to Hong Kong.

Why he would go from Macau to Hong Kong instead of straight to Sichuan is an unanswered question, though the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities seem to believe it involved money.

You see, the name Wang Xingxiang in Zhou's false passport is also the real name of the dead Qigong master and leader of the comic opera Chinese government-in-exile, Zhang Hongbao.

And there's a lot of money -the equivalent of well over $50 million – sitting in a Hang Seng bank in Hong Kong in the name of Wang and his mistress, Yan Qingxin.

Now, despite Zhang/Wang having been dead for two years, the bank had recently received several letters from him asking for the money to be transferred to banks overseas.

This the bank declined to do because the signature on the letters was not right. But the bank apparently alerted the Hong Kong police because when Zhou turned up from Macau carrying a passport in the name of Wang Xingxiang, it was this that they wanted to question him about.

Zhou was able, however, to convince the police he had not written the letter to the bank, but they told him that Hong Kong's immigration department still needed to verify his identity.

He was held by Hong Kong immigration for two days, from Sept. 28-30, 2008.

Then the immigration officials did something which has caused all the furore in Hong Kong. They handed Zhou over to Chinese authorities, who whisked him to detention in Sichuan.

There were no legal proceedings, no hearing, no chance for review, nothing. Just a quick push over the border into the waiting arms of the People's Armed Police.

And then, for seven months from Sept. 2008 until mid-May in 2009, the Chinese authorities denied to his frantic parents that they had Zhou in custody. When he was finally put before a court a week ago, the charges of fraud related to Zhou's alleged attempts to get the money from Zhang/ Wang's accounts.

A mystery, which is exercising people in Hong Kong concerned about the case, is why these charges would be brought in China when the alleged offence occurred in Hong Kong.

Another odd thing is that Zhou briefly worked for Zhang in the U.S.

Among the people demanding a slice of the enormous assets of Zhang's frozen estate before the American courts are his wife, his mistress, his housekeeper and Zhou.

[GeneChing]

And look - this news article is from the future! Spooooky... :rolleyes:

Tai Ji Men members sue prosecutor over founder (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/05/01/2003471916)
By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, May 01, 2010, Page 2

The Qigong group Tai Ji Men (太極門) sued Taipei Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁) yesterday for filing fraud charges against the president of the group in a case that dragged on for 10 years before the defendant was cleared.

To the sound of traditional qigong drumming, more than 20 Tai Ji Men members arrived at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office to file a slander and malpractice lawsuit against Hou with the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors’ Office.

The group’s attorney, Tsai Fu-chiang (蔡富強), said Hou indicted Hong Shih-ho (洪石和) and several of his followers on fraud charges in 1999. The defendants were found not guilty recently — 10 years and seven months after they were first indicted and detained.

Hou ordered the detention of four Tai Ji Men followers for allegedly helping Hong to solicit donations, Tsai said.

The attorney said the courts had ruled in January the four were eligible for compensation for wrongful detention, and the Control Yuan had also said that Hou had abused his prosecutorial power during the investigation process.

The group’s many hardships over the last 10 years had been caused by Hou, Tsai said.

Hong, who is also known as Hong Tao-tze (洪道子), founded Tai Ji Men in 1966. The group has tens of thousands of practitioners, and has also has two centers on the West Coast of the US.

[GeneChing]

Not really 'busted' but it's got ABBA.

Abba's Anni-Frid in million-euro feud with temple
(AFP) – 1 hour ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5jATDkjhAV6Fum71Pl_Jw78_1euIw?docId=photo_128 6983798784-1-0&size=l

STOCKHOLM — Anni-Frid Reuss, a former member of legendary Swedish pop group Abba, has demanded the repayment of a multi-million euro (dollar) loan she made to a Qigong centre, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The former pop star has asked for the 46 million kronor (4.9 million euros, 6.9 million dollars) she had lent the Yantorp Qigong resort in southern Sweden be returned, Carl-Gustaf Soeder told AFP.

Reuss, known has Frida to Abba fans, has also said the company should be liquidated to allow her to recuperate her money, he added.

The Yantorp Qigong resort, which comprises a hotel and a temple and offers traditonal Chinese medicine and meditation, meanwhile insists the money was a donation from Reuss.

"Its a shock. We are all very sad," temple leader Marcus Bongart told the Expressen daily."

He said the money "was anything but a loan."

"Frida wanted to support us here in our project and the valuable ideas that exist here. She has been a friend for 20 years," Bongart said, adding, "we have been conned."

Soeder meanwhile described Bongart's reference to a donation as nonsense, saying he planned to take the case to court in the southern city of Malmoe.

[GeneChing]

There's some great pics with this article, worth clicking the link IMO. Dayum, Frida's got bank.

The ABBA star, her WH Smith heir lover and a bizarre £4.5m row with a Buddhist monk (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1321173/ABBA-star-WH-Smith-heir-lover-bizarre-4-5m-row-Buddhist-monk.html)
By Matt Sandy
Last updated at 2:24 AM on 18th October 2010

Former ABBA star Anni-Frid Reuss is embroiled in a bizarre legal fight to recoup £4.5 million she gave to a Buddhist monk.

The singer, who enjoyed massive success with the supergroup in the Seventies and Eighties, paid the money to Polish-born Marcus Bongart to help him build a temple in her native Sweden.

But now she says the money was a loan not a donation and has filed court papers in an attempt to recover it.

Bongart claims Anni-Frid – better known as Frida – wants to bankrupt him, take control of the temple and turn it into a hotel.

With both sides locked in dispute, the matter has been reported to the police for ‘further investigation’.

Frida was once one of Mr Bongart’s ‘pupils’ – he taught her the ancient Chinese medical philosophy of Qigong. The three-times-married singer, 64, whose fortune is said to be worth more than £100 million, now lives with her British boyfriend Henry Smith, 54, the divorced WH Smith heir.

Mr Bongart, who escaped from Communist Poland at the age of 18 on a truck, believes meditation and acupuncture can alleviate serious illness and claims to have helped thousands of patients.

With help from donations, he has been building the £10 million Yangtorp temple in a rural area 40 miles north of the city of Malmo for the past 12 years.

The grand Chinese-style complex, which is described as ‘a magnificent oriental temple in the middle of beech woods’, is built on a 40-acre site. It comprises a temple, treatment and teaching rooms, a hotel, conference facilities and restaurant.

While the building remains unfinished due to financial problems, Mr Bongart still welcomes guests on seven-day ‘packages’ – which include accommodation, food and Qigong treatments and lessons – for around £1,000 each.

Frida also has a house in southern Sweden near the resort but spends most of her time in Switzerland with Mr Smith.

The couple secretly dated for several months before going public two years ago when Mr Smith, 54, who will become the fifth Viscount Hambleden on the death of his father Harry, accompanied the singer to the premiere of the Abba- inspired movie Mamma Mia! in London.

The bizarre case of the Abba singer, the British aristocrat and the Polish-born Shaolin monk has caused much amusement in Sweden ever since Frida filed a bankruptcy order against Mr Bongart with the District Court of Malmo last month.
No laughing matter: WH Smith's heir Henry Smith is the former Abba's star's boyfriend

Mr Bongart said of Frida: ‘We have been friends for a long time. We have had disagreements over how to develop the temple, but that is all that has happened. The money is not there to be paid back, it is invested in the buildings, in the Buddhist temple.

‘Anni-Frid is an old friend. She was my Qigong pupil. She has visited here many times.’ He claims when Frida’s former husband Prince Ruzzo Reuss died in 1999 she told friends to donate money to Yangtorp instead of sending flowers.

Mr Bongart says her attitude to the temple scheme suddenly changed about three months ago. He said: ‘She visited and all of a sudden we had differing opinions on the way forward. She started talking about changing the business so it was no longer Chinese. Since then we have only had contact with her agent.’

He believes she was influenced by her advisers to turn Yangtorp into a luxury hotel to make money.

He added: ‘We feel cheated. Had she not had money, I would understand it. But she does and yet she now believes very strongly in doing this to us. It’s a shock and we’re all very sad.

‘It seems that everything is possible in this world, especially if you have a lot of money.
‘It would be very sad to see this special place just turned into a normal hotel.’

He says there was never any question the money was a loan. ‘This is about anything other than a loan. Frida wanted to support us in this project and the valuable ideas that are here.’ When asked if he had signed a promissory note committing to repay the money, Mr Bongart said: ‘There is a dispute over how the note was signed.

‘The signatures have ended up on paper without one knowing what one is signing. We have been tricked. We have not had any agreement about a loan.’

But Frida’s lawyer, Carl-Gustaf Söder, said: ‘I have the note in my hand, so it is clear that they have signed the note. Their objection, to my mind, is not serious.’

He added: ‘She [Frida] has filed the bankruptcy application because she wants to bankrupt the company – it is the only way she can get her money back.’

And rejecting Mr Bongart’s claims that the money was meant as a gift, he added: ‘The debt is included in the company accounts, so I don’t understand how he can maintain that.’

Yesterday Dan Daniell, the owner of a restaurant called Chez Heini in Zermatt, Switzerland, where Frida regularly entertains friends, said: ‘She doesn’t really want to talk about this. It’s all in the hands of lawyers.’

[GeneChing]

ABBA Singer Loses Legal Battle Against Swedish Health Resort (http://www.spinner.com/2010/11/28/abba-singer-loses-legal-battle-against-swedish-health-resort/)
* Posted on Nov 28th 2010 7:00PM by Georgette Cline
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.spinner.com/media/2010/11/anni-frid-reuss-11282010.jpg

ABBA singer Anni-Frid Reuss lost a legal battle against a Swedish health resort on Thursday, Nov. 25, in which she claimed to have given a multi-million dollar loan to the company that was never repaid.

The Norwegian-born star, also known as Frida, filed a suit against the executives of the Yantorp Qigong resort, a facility that specializes in Chinese medicine and meditation. In the lawsuit, Reuss stated she had loaned $6.9 million to executives in order to fund the construction of a Buddhist temple on Yantorp's property.

Owners of the health resort are refuting the ABBA singer's claims and are firm in their statement that her "loan" was actually a hefty donation.

Reuss' legal team asked for the Yantorp Qigong resort to be pushed into bankruptcy to recoup the sum, but a judge at Malmo District Court in Malmo, Sweden ruled against her. The judge also ordered Reuss and her partner Henry Smith to pay $22,500 in legal costs.

Reuss' lawyers plan to continue fighting the case.
I've been cheated by you since I don't know when
So I made up my mind, it must come to an end

[GeneChing]

This thread began with two Tai Ji Men posts.

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 - Page 2　
MOJ censured by Control Yuan over Tai Ji Men case (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/12/16/2003491089)
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter, with CNA

The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Ministry of Justice for failing to punish a prosecutor for misconduct as the watchdog body had requested.

The Control Yuan asked the ministry in 2002 to deal with Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁) abusing his power by suing the head of the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy for fraud and tax evasion.

The watchdog agency said Hou had violated the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) by illegally searching Tai Ji Men president Hong Shih-ho’s (洪石和) property, freezing his assets and prosecuting him in 1997.

A group of Hong’s former students had accused him of taking money from them by claiming to be a god and possessing miraculous powers. Hou, who was working at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office at the time, indicted Hong and four others based on the students’ complaint.

However, the ministry did not punish Hou for misconduct, but instead assigned another prosecutor to conduct an “administrative investigation” of Hou’s actions. The investigation concluded that Hou was not guilty of any wrongdoing in Hong’s case.

In 2007 the Supreme Court acquitted Hong of all the charges brought against him.

The Control Yuan said that the ministry’s reluctance to punish the prosecutor had substantially “undermined” the credibility of the nation’s judiciary.

Hong, who is also known as Hong Tao-tze (洪道子), founded Tai Ji Men in 1966. The group has tens of thousands of practitioners, and two centers in the US.

In other news concerning the justice ministry, it said radio frequency identification devices (RFID) had been placed on 163 parolees convicted of sexual assault since January 2006.

Chief Secretary Sung Kao-ye (宋國業) said the ministry planned to utilize the newest RFID tags equipped with GPS, which could track sexual offenders more effectively.

The ministry also plans to establish a number of “hot spots,” such as elementary schools, that would use the RFID tags to sound an alarm and alert authorities if the wearer approaches a hot spot, Sung said.

Law enforcement authorities could not completely prevent parolees from reoffending with the technology currently available, but the advanced RFID tags would limit chances of repeat offenses, he said.

[GeneChing]

11th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World (http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=1461668&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_taiwan&cate_rss=TAIWAN_eng)
Taiwan News
2010-12-16 10:27 AM

The 11th International Conference of Chief Justice of the World (ICCJW) and the 2010 Global Symposium on Awakening Planetary Consciousness are to be held in Lucknow, India from December 10th – December 14th. Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, Zhangmenren (president) of Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy, President of the Federation of World Peace and Love, and the Honorary Vice-President and the member of Advisory Board of UN/NGO Association of World Citizens, is invited again by the founder of City Montessori School (CMS), Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, to attend the conferences with 40 mission members. Dr. Hong and the members will discuss how to respect international laws and improve global union and world peace with chief justices and important NGO representatives all over the world. In addition, they will also perform cultural exchange programs and conduct a bell-ringing ceremony of the Bell of Peace. The Bell, 240 kilograms in weight, has travelled around the globe and arrive at India, the continent with a long history of civilization, for the second time.

The ICCJW in this year will be opened on December 10th, the International Human Rights Day. More than 200 Chief Justices and important peace-makers from more than 70 countries are expected to attend this conference. In recognition of the importance and urgency of one world and rule of law, Mr. Jagdish Gandhi has held ICCJW every year since 2001 with the principles laid out in Article 51 of Indian constitution, “The State shall endeavour to promote international peace and security; maintain just and honourable relations between nations; foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another; and encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.” It is expected that the new order of One World will be established through supports of chief justices around the world. In addition, the nearly 40,000 students in CMS have had the opportunity to develop the respect for rule of law through the organization of the conference and to become global citizens in the future. As of today, 358 chief justices, judges and heads of states from more than 92 countries have attended the conference.

Many papers published by Dr. Hong this year have advocated governments to be governed by law and be managed to fulfill people’s demands in order to realize the basic human rights endowed by God.

Dr. Hong presented a paper in the 63rd UN/DPI/NGO Annual Assembly in Melbourne. The key message is the path towards global health lies in human rights protection within a found legal framework. The judicial and tax reforms are the check and balance of the tug of war between civilian rights and government power. The reforms are also an indicator of the level of sophistication of a society.

In witness of the urgent calls for mankind’s survival, Dr. Hong especially convened “The 2010 World Summit on Human Rights for World Citizens” to advocate public awakening and collect the consolidated good will through essay-writings to benefit the planet and the people living on it.

More than 11,700 organizations from 196 countries all over the world participated in the activity. In addition, global heads of states and leaders, experts, scholars and professors from all walks of life, such as Dailai Lama, have also contributed with their essays. More than 195,000 articles have been submitted so far. In the trip to India, the World Love and Peace Cultural Goodwill Group will visit CMS and invite all the students and faculties to join this activity to safeguard the earth by good thoughts and articles.

The Goodwill Group will perform qigong, martial arts and dancing in the cultural exchange programs with friends from all around the world. In addition to responding Mr. Jagdish Gandhi’s calls for children to live in a world safely protected by rule of law, the Goodwill Group hopes the bell-ringing will open a new page of love, peace, human rights and rule of law in world history.
Interesting contrast. For whom does that Bell of Peace toll?


His Holiness the Dalai Lama ringing the Bell of Peace (http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=1461669&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_taiwan&cate_rss=TAIWAN_eng)
Taiwan News
2010-12-16 10:28 AM

To pray for blessings for the Tibetan and Indian people and all the living creatures in the universe, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama rang the Bell of Peace in the 11th International Conference of Chief Justice of the World (ICCJW) and the 2010 Global Symposium on Awakening Planetary Consciousness on December 11, 2010 in Lucknow, India, and became the 6th Noble Peace Prize Laureate of the bell ringers. When ringing the Bell, which has traveled around the globe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama expressed “Real peace must be developed from within. As such it is important to quell the fire of hatred. That also has to come through education.” The solemn ceremony of ringing the Bell of Peace was witnessed by 116 chief justices and NGO representatives from 63 countries and more than 1,000 students and teachers of the City Montessori School. The appraisal committee of Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama the lifetime achievements of love and peace in recognition of his great endeavors in promoting the love for the world. The solemn and impressive ceremony has left deep impressions in the hearts of the witness.

In Chinese culture, the sound of the bell has the effect of cleansing people’s hearts. Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama was in high spirits when ringing the Bell and enjoyed interactions with the energy boys and energy girls of FOWPAL. The more than 3,000 delegates in the ceremony were surrounded by the peaceful sound of the Bell.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama is in high agreement with the philosophy of Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, president of FOWPAL and honorary vice president and board member of UN/NGO Association of World Citizens. Dr. Hong says “The pursuit of love, peace and human rights is incessant. A heart of pureness is the blessings by God to the one with wisdom. After countless lives of learning good and refraining from doing bad, we will eventually step onto the right path of going back to the origin. All our endeavors are witnessed by people and the heaven and earth. We will leave with no remorse as long as we are fully dedicated and spare no efforts.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama has been committed to love, peace and non-violent resolutions to conflicts. And he won the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1989 for his non-violent approaches. Also, in 2010, the appraisal committee of FOWPAL awarded him the lifetime achievements of love and peace in recognition of his love, kindness, and mercy and his great contributions to the One World.

For over 4 decades, Dr. Hong Tao-Tze has led his dizi traveling around the globe conducting more than 2,000 cultural exchange programs, qigong and martial arts seminars, and summit of elite leaders of the world to spread the message of love and peace. Dr. Hong established the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) in United States in 2000 to invite leaders to ring the Bell of Peace and work for a harmonious and sustainable future for generations to come. As of today, 207 world leaders from 68 nations have rung the Bell, including 22 heads of states, 6 Nobel Peace Laureates, ambassadors, UN officers and many other leaders of governments. The bell-ringers have made commitments to love and peace for humanity. Their efforts in stopping wars and promoting peace are exemplified by peace works of Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, Fradique de Menezes, President of Sao Tome and Principe, and Leonel Fernandez, President of Dominican Republic.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama has maintained correspondences with Dr. Hong for years. He praises highly Dr. Hong and FOWPAL for their contributions to world peace. The two sages dedicated to peace and human rights share similar philosophies. Dr. Hong indicated in his speech “Human beings can no longer control everything with their own methods. The World is one big family and we are all inter-connected in one way or another. One sneeze can create a butterfly affect in the distance.” Through the interaction among the world leaders, the power of love and peace can work like butterfly effect to create positive response and feedback to turn the destiny of the world and move toward the better future. 2010/12/16

[GeneChing]

Maybe it's the photo but he's a weird looking dude.

Qigong 'master' Wang Lin holed up in Hong Kong
Thursday, 01 August, 2013 [Updated: 6:02AM]
Patrick Boehler patrick.boehler@scmp.com

https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/236w/public/2013/07/31/cdb48d51093d964262faf21e4397e374.jpg?itok=WeoqY7f5
Qigong practitioner Wang Lin

Controversial self-proclaimed "qigong master" Wang Lin broke his silence from a chic Hong Kong hotel room to compare his situation to that of NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Qigong practitioner Wang LinWang has been accused by mainland media and one of his disciples of conducting illegal medical practises and claiming he has supernatural powers.

"It's as if the whole country has turned against me, turning black into white and white into black," Wang told The New York Times in his first public comments since the controversy surrounding him erupted on the mainland a week ago. "It's truly beyond my comprehension."

Wang confirmed he is hiding out in an unspecified Hong Kong hotel, having acquired permanent residency in the city 18 years ago. He denied any wrongdoing and said he was the target of corrupt political dealings.

"If I go back, I'll certainly be arrested," Wang said.

His appearance in Hong Kong comes as condemnation of his spiritual martial arts practices reaches fever pitch on the mainland. State-owned media outlets have portrayed his qigong healing skills as a hoax that had helped him amass an enormous fortune and gain the confidence of leading officials.

Two news programmes called Wang "a vulgar magician" who made a living "deluding celebrities and blinding the public". People's Daily said that people like Wang Lin were purveyors of "spiritual opium".

Photos of Wang's limousines and luxury villa have been widely circulated online, along with images of him with former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, ex-Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin , disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun, actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and others.

In a 1997 companies registry filing, Wang appears as a director of the Hong Kong-based Australia Chinese Friendship Association Ltd.

The Melbourne-based Australia Chinese Friendship Society had no knowledge of such a company, its president, John Breheny, told the Post by phone.

Records also show that since 2008 Wang has been one of three directors of the Kowloon Bay-based Hui Long Holdings Ltd., with registered capital of HK$100 million. The company has been involved in construction projects in Yichuan, an hour's drive from his hometown, according to local government statements.

Wang's court case against former disciple Zou Yong began this week. Zhou, who Wang claims owes him 33 million yuan (HK$41.42 million), has provided information for press attacks against Wang.


Wang Li: Qigong “Master” a Conjurer of Cheap Tricks? (http://thediplomat.com/asia-life/2013/07/wang-li-qigong-master-a-conjurer-of-cheap-tricks/)
By Jonathan DeHart
July 31, 2013

Two documentaries aired on China’s state-run CCTV on Sunday calling Wang Lin a “vulgar magician” who has done little more than sell bogus health techniques to the Chinese masses – not to mention some of its elite.

The qigong (Taoist breathing exercises meant to cultivate energy) spiritualist and advisor has fallen on hard times since the investigative reports played on television sets across the nation and has since come under investigation for fraud. The Jiangxi province-born “master” is reportedly attempting to evade scrutiny by disappearing from sight – some say by fleeing to Hong Kong.

Wang’s fall from grace has become a major topic of discussion in China, given his celebrity clientele, which included some of China’s most prominent entertainment, business luminaries – even heads of state – from Jackie Chan and Jet Li to Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, as well as relatives of former Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The prominence of 61-year-old Wang’s following was not in doubt, although some of his practices were strange by any standards. From “creating snakes” after placing scraps of paper under an upside-down basin which he jostles around until two snakes issue forth (see video here) to shredding steel with his bare hands, recovering paper from ashes, and even retrieving “an incinerated banknote intact from an orange” – some of his exploits are truly bizarre.

While actions such as these can be dismissed as magic tricks, things become morally hazy with some of his health suggestions. Wang has claimed to heal cancer and other serious illnesses, including removal of three “stones” from the body of former Indonesian president Suharto. All told, Wang estimates he has worked with some 50,000 patients.

Wang has dismissed claims that his practices are illegal, claiming that he has undergone rigorous investigation by a team of 17 Japanese scientist over a period of seven days, and has received numerous offers from U.S. intelligence agencies attempting to lure him to their shores with the promise of a green card.

He claims that he began to cultivate his supernatural powers from age seven under the tutelage of an Emei Taoist priest.

Despite accusations that he is a charlatan, Wang claims he donates up to 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) annually to charity – a claim that is backed by Pan Zhongwu, deputy director of social assistance at Pingxiang’s Civil Affairs Bureau.

Sima Nan, well known as a debunker of pseudoscience, invited Wang to Beijing to prove his claims, offering $1.6 million to anyone who can prove they have supernatural powers.

Wang has not taken criticism or questioning lightly, cursing at least one journalist. “I am telling you, you will die miserably, and your family will follow," Wang told a reporter with The Beijing News last week after she wrote a story that he thought damaged his name.

If convicted of illegal practice, he has a lot to lose. With the dubious earnings he has raked in, Wang has procured three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce that has been spotted parked in front of his five-story villa in his hometown of Pingxiang, Jiangxi province, nicknamed “the palace” due to the fact that his surname means “king” in Mandarin. He is also known to drive a Porsche and owns further properties in Shenzhen, Nanchang and Hong Kong.

[GeneChing]

This article is 'highly cited'.


Supposed telekinetic qigong healer can't dispel skepticism (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/30/c_125091470.htm)
English.news.cn 2013-07-30 23:56:22

NANCHANG, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Self-proclaimed "qigong master" Wang Lin lived a luxurious life away from the public eye for two decades, but pictures of him receiving celebrities at his home in east China's Jiangxi Province have changed that.

Since the photos popped up online earlier this month, video clips of Wang resurrecting beheaded snakes, recovering paper from ashes and shredding steel with his bare hands have circulated online.

Alongside these outrageous feats, stories of him curing people of illnesses in exchange for large sums of money have also surfaced.

Wide media coverage of his so-called "supernatural powers," his unprecedented popularity among the elite and his fortune have drawn skepticism from social science professors, people devoted to discrediting pseudoscientific claims and the general public.

They are asking: Does he really possess supernatural powers? Did he accumulate his wealth through legal means? Has he been carrying out illegal medical practices?

SUPERPOWER OR SUPER TRICK?

Wang Lin told the daily Beijing News in a July 22 interview that he had once been assessed by a team of 17 Japanese scientists for seven straight days and nights.

He also said that U.S. intelligence agencies offered him 70 green cards to try to persuade him to emigrate, but he turned them down because of his attachment to his hometown.

When Sima Nan, an online celebrity famous for debunking pseudoscientific claims, questioned Wang about whether the "miracles" achieved through his qigong mastery were simply magic tricks, Wang became offended and said he could kill Sima with his fingers from just a few meters away.

In his self-published book "Chinese People," Wang claimed he could use thought to transport materials, which is the highest level of qigong practice.

Qigong, which combines breathing, physical exercise and mental training methods based on Chinese philosophy, is practiced by people from China and around the world for the purposes of strengthening the body, maintaining health, meditating and training in martial arts.

Wang told the Beijing News that he has cured many patients, including former President of Indonesia Suharto.@ However, doubts have been cast by a skeptical public, who believe he's simply doing magic tricks, not harnessing telekinetic powers.

"He knew some tricks for summoning cigarettes and wine from thin air, but that was only magic," a man who worked with him on a farm in Yifeng County for more than ten years said.

"I never heard of him being able to cure disease," said the man who declined to be named.

According to the person in charge of the farm, Wang served prison terms in the 1970s for sexual harassment.

Wang refused to respond to the claim.

Zhou Xiaozheng, a social science professor with Renmin University of China, said similar tricks are common in magic shows at home and abroad.

MASTER OR CHARLATAN?

Wang lives in a five-story villa in Luxi County. With three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce parked in the yard, he is known as the county's richest person.

Wang was a no-show in court on Tuesday, when his trial over a property dispute with a former disciple opened in Nanchang City.

The Jiangxi Provincial Higher People's Court began hearing the case in which Zou Yong, a businessman who formally acknowledged Wang as his master before November 2012, is suing Wang over a housing contract dispute involving more than 30 million yuan (4.8 million U.S. dollars).

The trial opened a day after authorities in Jiangxi's city of Pingxiang, Wang's hometown, opened an investigation into Wang's alleged illegal medical practices.

China Central Television (CCTV) on Sunday broadcast an investigative report on Wang, describing him as a swindler who made his fortune by fooling celebrities and government officials.

Prior to the trial, Zou, chairman of the Pingxiang-based Jiangxi Tianyu Fuel Group, said he paid 5 million yuan in fees to become Wang's disciple in 2009, but Wang did not teach him ways to master qigong. "Most of the time he asked me to practice on my own."

Wang, on the other hand, said he never fooled people into giving him money.

"I'm not this kind of person, or I wouldn't have so many billionaires as my friends," Wang said in an interview with Xinhua.

He added that whether he has supernatural powers or not, he performs for fun just two or three times a year and does not make money from it.

CURIOUS OR GULLIBLE?

Billionaire Jack Ma Yun, former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, and movie stars Jet Li, Vicki Zhao Wei and Li Bingbing are just a few of the high-profile clients that have gone to Wang's villa for help.

After pictures taken of Wang Lin surfaced online, Li Bingbing and Jack Ma Yun quickly explained their involvement with him.

Li Bingbing acknowledged to the Beijing News that she once sought help for her mother's illness. She added that it will take time to see if Wang's treatment is effective.

Jack Ma Yun, on the other hand, wrote on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging platform, "My friends often criticize me for showing interest in 'non-scientific' knowledge. Exploration, appreciation and curiosity in the unknown have always been my interest. Finding out the secrets behind the unknown is exciting."

However, many Internet users are curious about why Wang's supposed feats have piqued the interest of so many superstars and high-ranking officials.

Zhou Xiaozheng said curiosity and superstition led people to visit Wang. "But unfortunately, Wang did not safeguard corrupt officials like Liu Zhijun from downfall."

"Ignorance and corruption are the reasons why 'masters' like Wang rise to fame," said Sima Nan.

QUACK DOCTORS

Cases like Wang's are not that unusual, as people claim to have the power to cure illnesses from time to time.

In 2010, Zhang Wuben, a self-proclaimed nutritionist, became a guru overnight through his food therapy forums on a television program. His hallmark theory held that mung beans could be a panacea and his book, "Eat Out the Diseases You Have Eaten," became a best-seller.

Zhang's medical qualifications were later exposed as false and his theories have been refuted, as followers failed to find a cure to their diseases through expensive consultations with Zhang.

In 2011, Ma Yueling, once considered the "Health Godmother" in China, claimed that she cured diseases ranging from cancer to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) through a variety of unorthodox treatments.

It later came to light that Ma was a nurse without the necessary certifications or qualifications to prescribe treatments.

[GeneChing]

Qigong 'master' hit with firearms allegation (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-08/05/content_16872380.htm)
Updated: 2013-08-05 20:09
( chinadaily.com.cn)

Police in Jiangxi province have launched an investigation into Wang Lin, a self-proclaimed master of qigong and Taoist philosophy, on suspicion of illegal possession of firearms, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

The investigation was launched by the public security bureau of Luxi county on Aug 1 after Wang's former apprentice, Zou Yong, disclosed in an interview with a video website that Wang had possessed a rifle unlawfully and once used it to shoot birds.

According to Criminal Law, those unlawfully possessing guns may face imprisonment of up to seven years in serious circumstances.

Wang Lin, who became famous around the 1990s, has mostly kept a low profile in recent years. However, he returned to the spotlight last month after photos were released showing him meeting with several famous people. These included Ma Yun, the billionaire founder and ex-CEO of the Alibaba Group, Zhao Wei, a famous actress, and Jet Li, a famous kung fu actor.

Many people expressed shock that such successful entrepreneurs and actors could fall prey to an alleged charlatan like Wang.

The newspaper also reported late last month that Wang had been accused of fraud and could face punishment for allegedly practicing medicine without a permit.

Since the controversy started in July, Wang Lin is reported to have moved to Hong Kong, where he has residency.



A Chinese snake-conjuring qigong master sparks ire about China’s festering problems (http://qz.com/108242/a-chinese-snake-conjuring-qigong-master-sparks-ire-about-chinas-festering-problems/)
By Lily Kuo @lilkuo July 25, 2013

http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/wang-lin-with-jiang-zemin-relatives.png?w=640&h=402

A wealthy Chinese martial artist who claims he can conjure snakes from empty bowls and heal cancer just lost one of his most important sources of power: obscurity. Wang Lin, a 61-year-old qigong teacher known in his small town in Jiangxi province for his healing powers, is now in headlines in Chinese media after a Beijing Times report (article in Chinese) delved into Wang’s life and began questioning not just the source of his fortune, but also his supernatural abilities.

According to the report, Wang’s real power isn’t so much the healing he offers to clients, which he has credited for his growing fortune over the past 20 years. Instead, the report alleges, he is paid handsomely to connect wealthy business people to powerful officials in the government. The story says Wang lives in a five-story villa and owns two Hummers as well as one Rolls Royce. Wang disputed the story and reportedly “cursed” the journalist who wrote it. (Wang, on a microblog account, said he never threatened the reporter.)

http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/wang-lin-hu-jintao-relatives.png?w=642&h=455
Wang Lin with relatives of former Chinese leader Hu JintaoSina Weibo / 1215031834

The story and the back-and-forth have caused a flurry of commentary on Chinese internet forums. That China’s rich and powerful would be taken by Qigong, a Chinese martial art based on ancient Chinese philosophy that has mostly gone out of style in China since the communist revolution, is weird enough. In one online poll (registration in Chinese required), most Chinese online respondents said they don’t believe in its supernatural ability.

But the allegations also speak to the grievances regular citizens have against Chinese elites: classism, a culture of guanxi, or connections, and conspicuous wealth. One post, a slideshow of photos of Wang with celebrities and officials has been forwarded over 15,000 times and garnered over 6,000 comments. One blogger wrote, “Troubled evildoer, crafty witchcraft. Master Wang Lin is a mirror of official corruption.” Several referred to Wang as a “monster,” using a phrase once used by Mao Zedong to describe the party’s enemies that translates roughly as “a cow’s ghost, serpent spirit.” One blogger said, “These people should be expelled from the party.”

http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/wang-lin.png?w=728&h=521
Wang Lin with Chinese actress Li BingbingSina Weibo / szliyong

According to the report, Wang’s followers are not local villagers; He hardly ever treats locals and instead focuses on China’s highest social strata. Photos from a collection Wang kept labeled “Chinese people” have been circulating online. He is shown posing with former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s sister, as well as Hu Jintao’s sister, a former Chinese health minister, the head of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the highest agency for state prosecutions, actor Jet Li, and Ma Yun, founder of Chinese e-commerce firms Alibaba and Taobao. One blogger, according to the blog Offbeat China, wrote, “From these pictures, one can understand China. These rich and powerful crawl under the feet of Wang. It’s both laughable and pitiful. We are truly living in the worst of times.”

Watch Wang conjure a snake out of a basin (http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTgyNDkyMzc2.html), starting at about two minutes and 33 seconds. (It takes about four minutes.) I didn't watch the vid yet.

[GeneChing]

forgot about this guy for a moment



Qigong master dodges court hearing, visits Taiwan (http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1103&MainCatID=11&id=20131020000005)
Weng Luyi and Staff Reporter
2013-10-20
08:54 (GMT+8)

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/newsphoto/2013-10-20/450/C724N0021H_2013%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99%E7%85%A7%E7%89%8 7_N71_copy1.JPG
The controversial qigong master Wang Lin, claimed a fraud by the Chinese government. (Photo/CNS)

Qigong imposter Wang Lin paid a visit to Taiwan, as confirmed by the nation's National Immigration Agency on Thursday. He reportedly landed in Taiwan on Oct. 16 from Hong Kong and departed the following day.

Wang is facing seven charges in China, including fraud and illegal medical practices. He failed to show up at a court session on July 30 and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Wang had reportedly fled to Hong Kong, but Wang himself told the Chinese media that he had entered Taiwan without trouble from authorities, said the Beijing News on Thursday.

NIA official Hsu Chien-lin said that Wang has not been convicted and is only being investigated by Chinese authorities. He cannot be labeled a fugitive.

Moreover, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not have the authority to prohibit Wang's entrance because China's authorities have not issued an international arrest warrant or requested Taiwan to bar him from setting foot on the island, Hsu added.

He further stated that Wang came to Taiwan as an independent traveler. The customs officials do not question visitors' itinerary based on personal freedom and no one reported any illegal activities by Wang during his stay.

Wang rose to fame in the 1990s as a master of qigong, a system of training the body's qi, or energy, for use in martial arts and healing. He maintained close relations with several government officials, entertainers and entrepreneurs, which helped him boost his influence.

The self-proclaimed qigong master is also known to be good at forging relationships with celebrities. He always has his picture taken when seen with a noted public figure, which has helped him build a positive public image.

According to an official from the Department of Health in Jiangxi province, Wang has been charged for indulging in illegal medical practices, bribery, bigamy, gambling, tax evasion, fraud and the illegal possession of firearms.

[mawali]

The way to promote qigong in the 1980s was to cozy up to a Party member, laude them with wonderful and overabundant praise then do a few magic tricks and enter the Party's graces. It worked until Falungong's overstepped their bounds and actually vye for numbers and the abilty to mobilize people then it all came crashing down.

Qigong Fever by David Palmer profiles many cases in this expose!

http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Fever-Science-Utopia-China/dp/0231140665

[GeneChing]

140 dead. Unbelievable.


'Divine' doctor kills patient with toxic soup after years in jail (http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1339577/divine-doctor-kills-patient-toxic-soup-after-years-jail)
PUBLISHED : Friday, 25 October, 2013, 2:16pm
UPDATED : Friday, 25 October, 2013, 4:08pm
Amy Li chunxiao.li@scmp.com

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2013/10/25/2499881020.jpg?itok=Vw5uLSTZ
Yun Xuyang was found dead in this hotel in Henan. Photo: screenshot via Beijing News

A Chinese ‘doctor’ named Hu Wanlin, imprisoned in 1999 for illegally practising medicine, was arrested again recently after a 23-year-old college graduate died after drinking a poisonous herbal soup the ex-prisoner prescribed during a “medical seminar” in Henan province, Beijing News reported on Thursday.

An autopsy of the victim, avid acupuncture practitioner Yun Xuyang described by his family as a staunch believer in Chinese medicine, showed he had consumed liquid containing highly-toxic sodium sulphate (the sodium salt of sulfuric acid) before his death. Hu, 64, was subsequently charged with “practicing medicine illegally,” according to police in Luoyang.

The tragedy sheds light on the gullible nature of the public in China when it comes to phony medical practices carried out by self-proclaimed doctors with “supernatural healing powers”.

In the 1990s Hu, who only completed education to primary school level, was portrayed as such a ‘divine’ doctor and thousands sought his medical help. Hu also claimed to have found cures for AIDS and cancer. He continued to treat his patients with “miracle water” containing high doses of sodium sulphate in the years leading up to his arrest.

More than 140 people are believed to have died as a result of his “treatment”.

Hu was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 2000.

His sentence was reduced, however, and he was released in 2011, possibly due to “positive behaviour” according to a CCTV report aired on Thursday.

Prison did not lead Hu to repent. He had apparently gone back to his old practices after his release, working with “students” to arrange “seminars” in Henan.

Yun, who had been running a successful acupuncture clinic and was eager to hone his skills, was contacted by Hu’s students in August and asked to participate in the medical seminar, the Beijing News reported.

Yun was told Hu could “treat all sorts of illnesses”, and could cure cancer “in a matter of days”.

https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/237x147/public/2013/10/25/doctor_net.jpg?itok=pS0wR5Qw
Wu Wanlin appears in a court in 2000. Photo: screenshot via Beijing News

Yun, however, lapsed into a coma after drinking Hu’s herbal soup as part of a “detox treatment” and later died. Patients were supposed to vomit and “discharge” the toxins in their body as part of the procedure, according to Hu.

Hu and his associates were arrested on October 1 on charges of “practising medicine illegally,” but Yun’s relatives argued he be charged with “homicide”, since he was familiar with the hazards of consuming sodium sulphate.

Reports of Hu’s arrest shocked Chinese bloggers. Many of whom couldn’t understand how he was able to deceive someone as highly educated as Yun.

“Hu should spend the rest of his life in jail,” one commented.

He Ying, a genuine Chinese medicine practitioner in Henan, told the local Dahe Daily she found Hu’s approach puzzling.

“Consuming sodium sulphate could easily destroy a healthy person, let alone a sick patient,” she said.

An effective detox programme could simply consist of eating fruit and vegetables, Ying suggested.

Despite the recent downfall of several so-called ‘doctors’, including the infamous Qigong master Wang Lin, discussion on the relative merits of Chinese versus Western medicine continues to brew in the mainland.

Eric Chong, deputy secretary general at Beijing-based China Hospital Association, said limited medical resources in the mainland means seeking treatment in traditional hospitals can be expensive and frustrating for patients. Meanwhile, the Chinese tend to believe in "secret prescriptions" with unrealistic promises instead of scientific prognosis given by Western medicine practitioners, he said. These factors have made it easier for crooks like Hu to deceive more people, chong said.

"These phony doctors might be clueless about medicine or science, but their understanding of the Chinese people's mentality is perfect," Chong said.

[GeneChing]

When I was training at Shaolin, I lived on Jianlibao. I used to buy that stuff by the cases. It was a very satisfying energy drink for Shaolin ten years ago.



Zhang Hai: Qigong master to Jianlibao chairman to fugitive (http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140122000052&cid=1602)
Staff Reporter
2014-01-22
10:47 (GMT+8)

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/newsphoto/2014-01-22/450/zhang%20hai-170401_copy1.jpg
Zhang Hai on trial at the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court, Sept. 27, 2008. (Photo/Xinhua)

An investigation by the Yicai financial news webportal of the Shanghai-based China Business News has uncovered how Zhang Hai, the mysterious former chairman of the energy drink producer Jianlibao Group, has gone from a teenage qigong master to China's youngest chairman of a listed company — and now, to a wanted international fugitive.

The procuratorate of southern China's Guangdong province confirmed on Monday that the 39-year-old Zhang has indeed fled the country as speculated. Zhang was initially sentenced to 15 years by the Foshan City Intermediate People's Court in 2007 for fabricating financial statements and embezzling up to as much as an estimated 700 million yuan (US$116,000), though a year later the term was cut by five years after he provided police with evidence to solve a house robbery case.

He was released conditionally in 2011, but a retrial last October found that Zhang had bribed officials to obtain the information that helped him receive leniency, and the commutation of his sentence was thus revoked. The court's decision sent Zhang into hiding and eventually prompted him to flee China.

Born in May 1974 in central China's Henan province, Zhang became a swindler from an early age, proclaiming himself a master of the Chinese art of qigong from the age of 14. Sources said he became famous in his local area by performing parlor tricks for money, including allegedly turning large leaves into small leaves and then back again, making watches and clocks spin backwards, and curing illnesses with qigong. One source said Zhang told people he acquired his remarkable talents from a master in Tibet, who gave him a magical hat.

Although Zhang claims to have graduated from Henan University, investigators say he never even graduated from middle school, and his so-called university degree was actually a martial arts course that he didn't even pass.

When he was just 18, Zhang produced a series of allegedly magical qigong videos, claiming that sick viewers could be cured of their ailments and healthy people could live longer lives after watching. He is believed to have made an estimated 3-4 million yuan (US$495,000-$660,000) from his followers during this period. In one of his videos Zhang boasted of passing on his teachings to nearly 300,000 people over two years.

At the turn of the century, Zhang and his business partners began investing in a number of listed Chinese technology companies, eventually hitting the jackpot when he spent a reported 338 million yuan (US$55.9 million) to acquire a 75% stake in the Foshan-based Jianlibao Group in 2002 at the age of 28. It remains unclear, however, where the funds came from, with some claiming that Zhang made a fortune from investing a 5 million yuan (US$826,000) gift he received from a Hong Kong businessman, while others believe he made most of the money from his qigong "business" and from payments by devoted followers.

Founded in 1984, Jianlibao was once considered on a par with Coca-Cola and Pepsi in China during the 1990s with their popular Jianlibao energy drink. However, after becoming chairman of Jianlibao, and the youngest chairman of any listed company in China, Zhang proceeded to shrink staff wages and implement layoffs to cut costs, leading to the collapse of several of the company's key departments. The company has struggled to regain its former glory ever since.

Zhang was finally arrested in Foshan in March 2005 for fabricating reports, investments and embezzlement and held for more than two years before being sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in February 2007. His current whereabouts are unknown.

[GeneChing]

Fortune-telling qigong master Cao Yongzheng nabbed in CNPC probe (http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140423000094&cid=1601)
Staff Reporter
2014-04-23
15:29 (GMT+8)

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/newsphoto/2014-04-23/450/Cao-103735_copy1.jpg
Cao Yongzheng. (Internet photo)

He may be able to predict the future and cure chronic diseases, but the man they call the "Xinjiang sage" is having a hard time trying to escape China's anti-graft authorities.

Cao Yongzheng, 55, has allegedly been detained by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top corruption watchdog, as part of a sweeping probe into state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation.

According to reports, Cao's Niandai Energy Development Company, which closed down when the investigation began, was raking in 88% of the hundreds of millions of yuan worth in annual income made by the Wangtai block of CNPC's Changqing Oilfield located in northwest China's Shaanxi province. The thing that stood out for investigators, however, was that Niandai was receiving the returns without having made an investment.

"What they did is to extend the cooperation contract one year earlier and counted the non-existent revenue sharing for that year as investment," a source said.

Cao is said to have a close relationship with former deputy Sichuan party secretary Li Chuncheng and former Sichuan vice governor Guo Yongxiang, both of whom have been nabbed for corruption. He is also reportedly a confidant of Zhou Bin, the son of retired oil and security tsar Zhou Yongkang. Rumors surrounding Zhou Yongkang's "imminent" downfall have persisted for more than two years despite his so-called unwritten immunity from prosecution for being a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision-making body.

Cao was born in 1959 in the city of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province but grew up in Xinjiang. He graduated from Xinjiang University in 1982 and commenced a career as a teacher and then as an editor for a publishing house.

According to the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekly, Cao rose to prominence out of China's national obsession in the '80s and '90s with qigong, a millenia-old internal martial art that develops mental and physical vitality through the cultivation of qi, or energy. There are many legends of qigong practitioners performing extraordinary physical and mental feats, and Cao continued the tradition. He is reportedly able to see a person's past and future just by looking at their portrait.

He made his mark in 1993, successfully predicting the outcome of China's application to host the 2008 Olympics, a feat which won him many followers among China's celebrities and ranking officials, and even the title of "national teacher" in some circles. Strengthening his mystical profile is his alleged supernatural ability to heal the chronic illnesses of certain celebrities, according to the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.

He even predicted a coming heart attack for a wealthy individual seven days before it happened, helping the man avoid a potentially fatal situation and prompting him to establish a health consultation firm in Hong Kong for global celebrities in 1997, according to the article. The membership fees of the club are US$800,000.

Backed by the fortune accumulated from his celebrity savings, Cao began to establish a sprawling but low-profile business group, the business scope of which included petroleum, realty, entertainment, and agriculture. A inside source says that he could make the Forbes list of China's wealthiest individuals.

Cao partnered with Wang Guoju, a former official at CNPC's Shengli Oilfield–China's second largest–to set up Niandai Energy in 2005. The company would go on to sign lucrative contracts with CNPC to develop oil blocks in Xinjiang and the northeastern province of Jilin in 2007 and 2008. Cao and Wang have also collaborated in movie production and property development.

Last July, police raided Niandai Energy's headquarters in Beijing and froze the company's assets. At the time, one of Cao's assistants had apparently called Niandai Energy's managers to assure them that Cao would use his alleged powers to restart the company in a few months. Instead, Cao reportedly fled to Taiwan, but has since been "detained by authorities," according to a Beijing businessperson close to him.

References:
Cao Yongzheng　　曹永正
Li Chuncheng　　李春城
Guo Yongxiang　　郭永祥
Zhou Bin　　周濱
Zhou Yongkang　　周永康
Wang Guoju　　王國巨
Intricate scam. He must have had something going on to be able to pull it off.

[GeneChing]

Not specified as a qigong master but I suspect that played into his schtick.

Wait...that's not a pun. :rolleyes:


Guangdong cult leader convinced apprentices to sleep with him by claiming he had healthy sperm (http://shanghaiist.com/2014/08/15/guangdong_cult_leader_lures_student.php)

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shanghaiist/guangdong-cult-leader.jpg

A 47-year-old Guangdong cult leader, and creepiest human ever, has been arrested for convincing female apprentices to sleep with him by claiming that his sperm improved women's health, according to Tencent News. We guess it's not the worst selling point when considering that a lot of sperm in China is apparently "ugly due to smog."

The leader, named Wu Mouheng, also claimed that sleeping with him would help women reach the highest state of Buddhism. Prior to this conviction, he was targeted by the cops for rendering people jobless and breaking up families.

Guangdong police apprehended 80 people involved in the cult and seized promotional materials as well as properties on July 30. They charged cult members with destroying public order, fraud, and even rape. 21 of them are currently in police custody.

This isn't Wu's first run-in with the law. He was charged as a sex criminal in 1991 and a trade criminal in 2000. Nonetheless, he calls himself a 'descendant of Buddha.' His ancestor would be "proud."

He also claims that he's a talented seer that predicted the Sichuan and Japan earthquakes. Too bad he couldn't foresee his own conviction.

[Image via Tencent News]

By Christy Lau

[GeneChing]

More on Hu Wanlin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1254949#post1254949).



Quack doctor freed from prison, jailed after killing again (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1644584/quack-doctor-freed-prison-jailed-after-killing-again)
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 November, 2014, 4:49pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 November, 2014, 4:49pm

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2014/11/20/tpbje201411190d1_46823035.jpg?itok=7ocd70-D
Hu Wanlin on trial at Luoyang Intermediate People's Court, Henan province. Photo: Xinhua

A quack doctor who believes water causes disease and has had at least 16 patients die from his treatment was released early from prison only to kill again, state-run media reported on Thursday.

Hu Wanlin, who claimed to be an “omnipotent doctor” but dehydrated a man to death, was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison for illegally practicing medicine, the state-run Global Times said.

Hu, 65, began his so-called healing activities while serving a life sentence for killing a businessman, but was stopped in 1996 after 13 of his patients died, according to reports.

He was freed, but jailed again in 2000 for illegally practicing medicine after three more patient deaths, including the then mayor of Luohe city in Henan.

On that occasion Hu was sentenced to 15 years, but he was again given his freedom early, the newspaper said, and mounted a “health retreat” for 12 “patients” last year.

“A 22-year-old college student Yun Xuyang, a devotee of traditional Chinese medicine, died after taking a substance provided by Hu at the event, Xinhua reported.

Hu theorised that all diseases are caused by water, and patients needed to be dehydrated with a “magic medicine” using powerful salts, the newspaper said.

He found the student’s official autopsy result at Wednesday’s trial hard to swallow, the newspaper reported, claiming that he frequently consumes 1.5 kilograms of the salt and liquid mixture without any ill-effects.

Beijing’s health insurance provides limited coverage to most rural residents, leading some to seek out cheaper alternative treatments.

China also has a long history of traditional medicine, much of it with no orthodox scientific evidence backing it up, which has been blamed for driving illegal trade in endangered species.

In 2010, the health ministry said a diet therapist who sold more than three million books and DVDs claiming that a combination of mung beans and eggplant could cure almost all diseases had faked his qualifications.

Lu Wei, one of Hu’s proteges who promoted him online as a medical master who could cure diabetes and Aids, was also sentenced to 11 years in prison by a court in Henan, in central China.

It was not clear why Hu had not been charged with murder in connection with the medical cases. His 2000 conviction resulted in an official system of medical licensing being established in China, the Global Times said.

According to other Chinese media reports, Hu was also condemned to 15 years in prison in 1974 for “anti-revolution” activities.

[David Jamieson]

More on Hu Wanlin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1254949#post1254949).

You can get away with only so much taint fondling as a qigong master before someone says "hey, you leave my lao gong taint point alone buddy".
It's all downhill from that point.

No pun intended.

[GeneChing]

This is about a Feng Shui master not a qigong master, but we don't really have a 'busted feng shui master' thread, nor do I think we'll require one.

It's a little dated but I gotta add that while he may not have picked the right place, he picked the right date. ;)


HK Feng Shui Master Dies in Mudslide (http://english.cri.cn/6909/2014/04/01/3521s820024.htm)
2014-04-01 18:45:27 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Fei

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/04/01/3319fengshui0401.jpg
Feng shui master Cheng Kwokkeung (R) pictured here with an unknown client has worked in the cemetery in Zhaoqing, Guangdong before. [Photo: Sing Tao Daily]

Well-known Hong Kong feng shui master Cheng Kwokkeung was buried alive by a mudslide in a cemetery in Zhaoqing in south China's Guangdong province last Sunday, Sing Tao Daily reports.

Cheng was found dead, along with another 6 people with one left injured.

Massive rainstorms struck China's southern provinces last week leaving 21 dead, 4 missing and more injured, including the 50-year-old feng shui master who was highly popular with Hong Kong's entertainers.

Cheng is said to have been working with a client to provide feng shui guidance relating to the orientation of tombs.

[ShaolinDiva]

Gene, where do you find these wacky stories from? they are sad but so wacky at the same time - makes me feel like i'm reading the "enquirer" .

[GeneChing]

curanado rekindled my curiosity about this guy (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?64712-Shaolin-Temple-OZ&p=1280182#post1280182) so I did a little follow up search. This is an old news item, but a picture is worth a thousand words, yes?



Abba: Profile of Marcus Bongart, the Buddhist monk (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/8164036/Abba-Profile-of-Marcus-Bongart-the-Buddhist-monk.html)
Marcus Bongart escaped communist Poland, was accepted in 2001 into the famous Shaolin monastery in Beijing and now runs the Yangtorp Qigong Resort in Sweden.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01772/Bongart_1772400c.jpg
Marcus Bongart has been running his Yangtorp Qigong Resort in southern Sweden since 2000

7:30AM GMT 27 Nov 2010

Sporting a long beard and flowing robes Mr Bongart looks very much like a Buddhist guru. According to his website, he is one of the most respected experts on qigong, an ancient Chinese art that practitioners claim can prevent disease, restore health and prolong life.

He first became interested in qigong when visiting San Francisco on 1971, and since then has climbed the faith ladder, and is now referred to as Master Marcus. The Polish-born man, who managed to escape communist Poland by stowing away on a chemicals lorry, was also accepted in 2001 into the famous Shaolin monastery in Beijing.

Mr Bongart has been running his Yangtorp Qigong Resort in southern Sweden since 2000. Offering a hotel, restaurant and exercise space the resort, according to Swedish radio, had a turnover last year of £3.14 million.

[GeneChing]

This is really a busted Domestic Security Chief.


China's fallen strongman and the mysterious "Xinjiang sage" (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-s-fallen-strongman/1909426.html)

POSTED: 11 Jun 2015 22:40

BEIJING: The sentencing of China's former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang to life in prison on Thursday exposed his alleged links to a mysterious fortune teller and healer who forged close ties with powerful figures in the country's political elite.

Zhou, 72, the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft probe since the ruling Communist Party swept to power in 1949, was found guilty at a secret trial of bribery, leaking state secrets and abuse of power.

Among his crimes was the unauthorised release of six secret documents to Cao Yongzheng, state media said, a man previously identified by Chinese media as a soothsayer, mystic and expert in qigong, a Chinese spiritual martial art similar to tai chi.

"Zhou leaked five 'extremely confidential' documents and one 'confidential' document to Cao Yongzheng, who should not have been given knowledge of the documents, directly contravening the State Secrets Law," the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the court's judgement.

Cao provided testimony against Zhou in a closed-door trial in the northern city of Tianjin on May 22, the news agency said, though it was unclear whether he had done so in person or by deposition, or if he was also in custody.

Dubbed the "Xinjiang sage" by Chinese media, after the far Western region where he grew up, Cao garnered a following in celebrity and official circles in the 1990s for his purported knack for fortune telling and curing untreatable ailments.

Cao's talents allowed him to cultivate contacts that reached into the upper echelons of the country's ruling elite, respected business magazine Caixin said last year.

In 2005, he teamed up with a former official at state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to set up a Hong Kong-based firm that jointly developed oil blocks in Xinjiang and Jilin province, the magazine said.

Zhou's trial did not mark the first time mystical proclivities of a senior leader has drawn the Party's ire.

Li Chuncheng, a former senior official in the southwestern Sichuan province, where Zhou had been party chief, had been an associate of Cao's, Caixin reported.

Li was accused of abusing his position to engage in "feudalistic and superstitious acts", according to Party accusations in trial against him that began in April.

Li later testified against Zhou.

China's officially atheist Communist Party brooks no challenge to its rule and is obsessed with social stability. It has particularly taken aim at cults, which have multiplied across the country in recent years. Demonstrations have been put down with force and some sect leaders executed.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Alex Richardson)

- Reuters

[GeneChing]

The spiritual guru to China's corrupt officials (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33130404)
By Tessa Wong
BBC News
16 June 2015 From the section China

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/83652000/jpg/_83652873_gettyimages-176757906.jpg
Qigong is a type of spiritual practice linked to exercise

One of China's most high-profile former officials, Zhou Yongkang, has been sentenced to life imprisonment on bribery charges and for leaking state documents to an individual. This was revealed to be Cao Yongzheng - a 56-year-old qigong master, businessman and mysterious "spiritual adviser" to the elite.
It is not known how Mr Cao personally influenced Zhou, but the two were said to be close, and Mr Cao had profitable business dealings with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) which Zhou and his allies headed for decades.
Mr Cao was also connected to Sichuan province's former deputy party boss Li Chuncheng and former CNPC boss Jiang Jiemin.
Zhou connection
In Zhou's verdict, the authorities said he requested Mr Li and Mr Jiang to "provide assistance in carrying out business activities" for a number of people - including Mr Cao - who earned 21.4 billion yuan (£2.2bn, $3.45bn) in "illegal profits".

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83659000/jpg/_83659648_487410633.jpg
Mr Cao reportedly grew close to Li Chuncheng (pictured) - a former deputy party boss in Sichuan now on trial for corruption

In the mid-2000s, Mr Cao was involved in setting up arms of the China Niandai Energy Investment company across the country.
The company signed lucrative deals with the CNPC to develop oilfields in Jilin province and Shaanxi. In 2005 Mr Cao reportedly paid a billion yuan to buy a building in Beijing and turn it into Niandai's headquarters.
But questions were soon raised about Niandai's huge profits despite little investment and development.
The Chinese authorities began arresting a number of Zhou's allies in 2012, and Niandai later shut down. The company was put under investigation for its dealings with the CNPC, and senior company officials were detained.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83667000/jpg/_83667344_69614748.jpg
Jiang Jiemin was a Zhou ally and former party secretary of the CNPC

Mr Cao first got to know Zhou Yongkang through his eldest son, Zhou Bin, around the year 2000. He quickly won their trust when he began mentoring younger son, Zhou Han.
Zhou Yongkang reportedly boasted Mr Cao was "the person I trust the most".

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83561000/gif/_83561235_zhou_connections_624in.gif

'Xinjiang sage'

Mr Cao first made his mark as a master of qigong - a type of spiritual practice linked to exercise - in the 1980s in the western province of Xinjiang.
Dubbed the "Xinjiang sage" for his gifts in spiritual healing and insight, he later moved to Beijing where he attracted the rich and powerful.
In the 1990s, a People's Daily article claimed he could tell a person's future based on a single look at his face, and could heal incurable illnesses with his touch.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83659000/jpg/_83659647_027702570-1.jpg
Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life imprisonment last Thursday

Some accounts said he made a barren woman fertile, and managed to predict, a week in advance, that a businessman would suffer from a heart attack just by looking at his name.
Those who met him said he was charismatic and knowledgeable, but strove to maintain a humble appearance.
Yaxin Online reported that when Mr Cao visited his Xinjiang home in 2000, villagers found he had "no airs".
"He dressed normally, wore thick glasses, and didn't at all look like a rich and cultured person. He looked more like a farmer," one resident told the news portal.

Mystical practices

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83652000/jpg/_83652871_gettyimages-176757902.jpg
Though it originated from China, qigong is now practised worldwide

The Cultural Revolution and subsequent fast-paced economic development created "a spiritual crisis" in China, said Kerry Brown, director of the Chinese Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Superstitions and alternative beliefs have flourished in this vacuum - qigong became a national craze in the 1980s.
On top of that, senior officials inhabit "a lonely place where it is difficult to trust anyone - which is perfect if you're a wily spiritual guru," said Professor Brown.
"On paper, officials are Communist, but privately many don't believe in this ideology. They go to these gurus when they run into problems and need assurance," said sociologist Ding Xueliang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Qigong borrows elements from traditional Chinese medicine, "so officials can say they follow it for health, not spiritual, reasons," he added.
Other well-connected gurus include qigong master Wang Lin, a close associate of former railways minister Liu Zhijun who was jailed for corruption; and Zhang Hongbao, the founder of qigong-based group Zhong Gong.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83652000/jpg/_83652869_gettyimages-174122618.jpg
China outlawed Falun Gong in 1999 and began a crackdown on followers

The party leadership closes one eye to such relationships because these beliefs are "not organised like major religions and therefore seen as less dangerous" to the central authorities, said Professor Ding.
But the government has cracked down when these practices were deemed to have crossed the line.
In the 1990s, as such movements became more organised and attracted more followers, the government discouraged "superstitious beliefs". Some, like Falun Gong and Zhong Gong, were branded cults and outlawed.

Wheeling and dealing

Gurus like Mr Cao - who reportedly boasted of knowing 600 officials - also serve as go-betweens among the business and political elite.
One entrepreneur told financial news outlet Caixin that in 2011 he approached Mr Cao for help. One phone call and 30 minutes later, a high-level official was summoned to help the businessman.
"Cao used to say, 'Those guys on the Forbes rich list are not even worth my little finger'," he added.
But Mr Cao's rise was halted with China's corruption crackdown. He was rumoured to have fled to Taiwan and was later detained by the Chinese authorities.
Not much was heard from him until last Thursday, when he resurfaced in Zhou Yongkang's verdict.
It said that Mr Cao had testified against Zhou during a closed trial on 22 May - the first official confirmation that he was in the hands of the authorities. Wonder where the mysterious Xinjiang sage is now...

[GeneChing]

Probe finds no evidence that celebrity Qigong ‘master’ practised illegally (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1833419/probe-finds-no-evidence-celebrity-qigong-master-practised)
PUBLISHED : Monday, 06 July, 2015, 6:24pm
UPDATED : Monday, 06 July, 2015, 6:24pm
Ellis Liang
ellis.liang@scmp.com

http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/07/06/wang_tsang2.jpg?itok=RAyDYW8o
Celebrity qigong master Wang Lin pictured with former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Photo: Xinhua

JIANGXI – An investigation into self-proclaimed qigong “master” Wang Lin has found no evidence he had practised medicine illegally, People’s Daily reports.

Several celebrities accused Wang in 2013 of charging exorbitant fees for medical services and claimed he had no expertise. The health bureau in Luxi county later confirmed to state media that he indeed lacked any formal qualifications. It said he had avoided the suspicion of the authorities by running his clinic inside his home in Pingxiang.

Over the next two years, county authorities checked 198 clinics in 138 villages and 11 townships but could not find anyone who had been treated by Wang, nor did they find any record he had advertised his medical practice.

They recently wrapped up their investigation and concluded his claims about curing people using qigong were just lies.

Qigong practitioners claim they can manipulate qi – the basic particle of matter in nature described by the philosopher Zhuangzi almost 2,000 years ago.

Wang, who once claimed he was a billionaire, attracted a large number of followers and high-profile clients, often opening up his five-floor villa and garden to visiting celebrities and journalists.

Photos of Wang’s limousines and villa have circulated widely online, along with images of him with former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, ex-Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin , disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun, actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and others.

Since the accusations emerged, Wang has stayed out of the public eye, and temporarily hid out in a Hong Kong hotel room. “It’s as if the whole country has turned against me, turning black into white and white into black,” Wang told The New York Times at the time. “It’s truly beyond my comprehension.”

It is unclear how the case will proceed.



Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242343#post1242343)

More on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242344#post1242344)

Even more on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1243860#post1243860)

& an update (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1254281#post1254281)

[GeneChing]

...for murder! :eek:



Qigong master to the stars arrested in China over disciple's murder (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1840646/qigong-master-stars-wang-lin-arrested-china-over-disciples-murder)
Wang Lin had been involved in a series of disputes with Jiangxi legislator
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 July, 2015, 10:27pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 16 July, 2015, 10:29pm
Li Jing jing.li@scmp.com

http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/07/16/b517f626adf3d3909090a75c4fd65144.jpg?itok=oMthmLWf
Arrested: the qigong master Wang Lin. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Wang Lin, the controversial qigong master who had many high-profile celebrity clients, was arrested on Thursday by Jiangxi police on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping and murder of one of his "disciples".

Police arrested two men, surnamed Liu and Zhu, on Tuesday evening, Xinhua News Agency reported. Police said the pair had admitted that they kidnapped and murdered the disciple, identified in media reports as Zou Yong, who went missing on July9.

During their investigation, police had learnt that Wang and a fourth man identified as Huang Yugang were also involved, Xinhua reported, adding that the investigation was continuing.

Reports said that the dead man was a businessman and provincial legislator in Jiangxi who had been close to Wang and had become one of his last disciples. But the two fell out in late 2012 amid commercial disputes.

The Beijing News reported that the two had sued each other in four cases involving disputes over the ownership of several properties and luxury liquor.

Wang had also reported Zou to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the top graft-buster, claiming that he was involved in bribery, news website Thepaper.cn reported.

Wang's wife said her husband had been taken by police to "assist the investigation" into Zou's disappearance, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Wang had been accused of practising medicine illegally, but his name was cleared last week after a two-year investigation found no evidence to prove the allegation.

In 2013, several celebrities had accused Wang of charging exorbitant fees for medical services and claimed he had no expertise.

The health bureau in Luxi county had subsequently informed state media that he indeed lacked any formal qualifications. It said he had avoided the suspicion of the authorities by running his clinic inside his home in Pingxiang .

Wang, who once claimed to be a billionaire, attracted a large number of followers and high-profile clients, often opening his five-floor villa and garden to visiting celebrities and journalists.

Photos have circulated widely online of Wang posing with former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, former Guangdong political advisory body chairman Zhu Mingguo , disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun , actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and others.

Since the accusations emerged, Wang has stayed out of the public eye, and temporarily hid out in a hotel in Hong Kong, where he acquired permanent residency nearly two decades ago.

The Beijing News reported in 2013 that Wang had been jailed in 1979 for seven years for deception


"Qigong Master" Wang Lin Detained by Police (http://english.cri.cn/12394/2015/07/16/2281s887665.htm)
2015-07-16 21:17:38 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Shi

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2015/07/16/754f0d32ff324db1a6ce08947d96db9d.jpg
A file photo of self-proclaimed "Qigong Master" Wang Lin. [Photo: weixin.qq.com]

Police in Pingxiang City in east China's Jiangxi Province have detained self-proclaimed "Qigong Master" Wang Lin for questioning in connection with a kidnapping and killing case.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the police also detained three other suspects in the case. Two of the suspects admitted kidnapping and killing the victim, Zou Yong, who was a former disciple of Wang Lin. The case is under further investigation.

A photo widely circulated on the Internet shows a man purported to be Wang Lin being questioned in an interrogation room with a clock on the wall indicating it was Wednesday morning, July 15. The authenticity of the photo could not be independently verified.

Wang Lin had reportedly been hiding in south China's Shenzhen before he was detained by the police.

Zou Yong, a businessman who formally acknowledged Wang as his master, sued Wang over a housing contract dispute involving more than 30 million yuan, or approximately 4.8 million US dollars, in 2012.

In 2013, a photo collection of Wang Lin with Chinese celebrities and government officials published by a Hong Kong publishing house raised eyebrows from the public. In the collection named "Chinese People", Wang claimed his special abilities to cure people using qigong, a traditional Chinese martial arts combined with meditation.

Wang, a native of Luxi County in east China's Jiangxi, once told Beijing News that U.S. intelligence agencies offered him 70 green cards to try to persuade him to emigrate, but he turned them down because of his attachment to his hometown. He also claimed that he had cured as many as 50,000 patients.

Many have questioned Wang's claims of medical cures and doubted whether he is cheating illed people for large sums of money.

The Health Inspection Institute of Pingxiang launched an investigation into Wang's medical practices in 2013, but ended nowhere.

Officials from the health department said that over the last two years, Luxi County authorities checked 198 clinics in 138 villages and 11 townships but could not find anyone who had been treated by Wang, nor did they find any evidence pertaining to Wang's alleged crimes.

Wang Lin has also been probed over illegal medical practices, alleged gun ownership as well as fraud.

[GeneChing]

There's been a lot of news on Wang Lin's bust. This article has a nice overview of the impact of his arrest on the whole.


A brutal murder exposes the close ties between China’s elite and their qigong mystics (http://qz.com/457008/a-brutal-murder-exposes-the-close-ties-between-chinas-elite-and-their-qigong-mystics/)

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/qigong.jpg?w=1600
A qigong demonstration at a temple fair in Beijing. (Reuters/Jason Lee)

Written by Zheping Huang
Obsession
China's Transition
July 17, 2015

A qigong mystic whose clients include some of China’s political and business elite was detained by police in southeastern Jiangxi province on July 16, after the brutal murder of one of his disciples.

Wang Lin, a so-called “qigong master,” was detained by police with three other suspects after Zou Yong, a fuel company president and Communist Party official, was kidnapped and killed on July 9, state-run Xinhua reports. Zou had been dismembered and thrown into a local lake, the Beijing News (link in Chinese) reported, citing an anonymous source.

Two of the suspects have admitted to kidnapping and killing Zou, Xinhua said. Wang, whose alleged powers include being able to conjure snakes out of thin air and cure cancer, is being questioned by the police.

The case has focused attention on qigong, the Chinese martial art and spiritual practice that focuses on the “qi” or life-force. While it is considered outdated by younger people in China, it still followed closely by older politicians and the business elite. Wang’s followers have included former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s sister, president Hu Jintao’s sister, a former Chinese health minister, the head of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate, actor Jet Li, and Alibaba’s Jack Ma.

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/wang-with-ma-and-lin.jpg
Wang (center) with Jack Ma (left) and actress Zhao We.(Weibo)

Before Zou’s death, he and Wang had a long, complex history.

Zou, who was the Jiangxi province’s deputy to the National People’s Congress, China’s legislative body, paid 5 million yuan ($805,192) to be a disciple of Wang in 2009, according to Xinhua. Then things went sour, though. The two filed several lawsuits against each other over commercial disputes since 2013, Xinhua reported (link in Chinese).

According to the Beijing News, after paying a hefty sum to become Wang’s disciple, and buying him a Rolls-Royce car worth 4.4 million yuan (about $700,000), Zou was not satisfied with what he learned from Wang. Then, they had a commercial dispute over two properties in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. In 2013, Zou told authorities Wang had illegal guns and an unlicensed medical practice. Local police and health authorities failed to convict Wang due to lack of evidence.

According to state-run digital publication The Paper (link in Chinese), Wang promised in a letter dated January 11 2015 that he would pay a reward of 5 million yuan if Zou was arrested and sentenced to death. The publication included an alleged photo of the letter, which included Wang’s Hong Kong ID number, and fingerprint.

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/wangs-letter.jpg
Wang’s letter of commitment. (Weibo/ The Paper)

How this connects to Zou’s brutal killing is unclear. Wang has a history of threatening his detractors. After media reports questioned him of faking supernatural powers to accumulate wealth in 2013, he reportedly (link in Chinese) told a commentator: “I can use qigong to poke you to death across dozens of meters.”

The juxtaposition between Wang’s alleged powers and Zou’s brutal death is not sitting well with China’s netizens. “It’s not reasonable. The master can poke people to death across air, why did he bother to send someone to do this?,” one blogger wrote on Twitter-like Sina Weibo on July 17 after Wang’s detention. “So many leaders and big stars can also prove his magic. How dare the police challenge those big shots?”

Zou once told Chinese media (link in Chinese) that Wang had promised disgraced railway minister Liu Zhijun he would set up a magic stone in his office, so he would never fall from power. Liu was sentenced to a suspended death sentence for taking bribes in 2013.

“Some do believe in his power, some just play dumb in order to get into this circle of the rich and the powerful,” an anonymous person familiar with the Wang case told Xinhua.

Being a Qigong master can be a lucrative profession in China, but it hasn’t been so lucky for clients recently. China’s ex-security czar Zhou Yongkang’s qigong teacher Cao Yongzheng was known as the “Xinjiang Sage.” Zhou trusted Cao so much he leaked him “confidential” documents. Cao became an integral witness in the trial against Zhou, who was sentenced to life in prison this year.

[GeneChing]

Self-proclaimed Chinese qigong master arrested for illegal detention (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-08/21/content_21662029.htm)
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2015-08-21 09:23

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20150821/b083fe96fac21740c28601.jpg
Aerial photo taken on July 18, 2015 shows Wang Lin's villa in Shenzhen.[Photo/IC]

NANCHANG - Police in East China's Jiangxi province formally arrested self-proclaimed qigong master Wang Lin Thursday for his alleged role in an "illegal detention" case.

The victim, a company president Zou Yong, was kidnapped on July 9 and murdered. Police detained four suspects, including Wang.

Wang and another suspect were arrested on the charge of illegal detention, while the other two were charged with intentional homicide, according to the public security bureau of Pingxiang City.

Wang, who claims to be a master of qigong, a traditional martial art combined with meditation, came to public attention in 2013 when images of his supposed "supernatural powers" were posted on the Internet. These "powers" include conjuring snakes from thin air and posing for pictures with celebrities.

Zou was introduced to Wang in 2002. In a TV interview in 2013, Zou said he had paid 5 million yuan ($804,000) in 2009 to become a disciple of Wang, who asked for nearly 30 million yuan from him thereafter.

Wang has been previously investigated for possession of a gun, unlicensed medical practice, bribery and fraud. Local police and health authorities launched an investigation in 2013 but failed to make any headway due to lack of evidence.

Police are further investigating the latest case.

Wang's background:

Wang has been in the public spotlight recently because of the many published photos of him hobnobbing with celebrities. His claim of "supernatural powers" has raised doubts among the public.

Wang had close relation-ships with many famous and powerful people, including actor Jackie Chan, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma and several high-level officials. Photos of Wang posing with Chan and Ma spread widely on the Internet.

Other celebrities such as actor Jet Li and actress Zhao Wei were also guests of Wang according to photos he has shown. Even top officials including Liu Zhijun, the dismissed minister of railway visited Wang and former health minister Chen Minzhang was shown receiving treatment by Wang.

Wang claimed he has treated more than 50,000 patients. But the health bureau of Luxi county said Wang was not qualified in medicine and has no license.

Wang is among the richest people in Luxi county and one of his villas covers more than 6,600 square meters with a man-made lake.

Wang boasts the legend of his treatment in his book published in Hong Kong. One example is once he cured a master with liver cancer in Qianyan Temple in Shenyang, Liaoning province, but reporters claim they found there was no such temple in Shenyang and the master allegedly did not exist.

There are some other similar cases. Wang reportedly cured a mail officer named Chen Zhaocai in Nanzuo town, Xingguo county, Jiangxi province according to the book. But it appears there is no Nanzuo town in the county.

Wang Lin almost needs his own independent thread here. Maybe I'll split it off soon... we'll see how it goes.

[GeneChing]

Journalist, Others Held Over Case of Chinese Spiritual Guide (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/10/19/world/asia/ap-as-china-qigong-master.html?_r=0)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSOCT. 20, 2015, 1:39 A.M. E.D.T.

BEIJING — A Chinese journalist and policeman have been detained over accusations of bribery and the leaking of documents relating to the case of a disgraced spiritual guide linked to celebrities and a fallen state minister, state media reports say.

The case involving investigative reporter Liu Wei of the state-run Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper has drawn the concern of foreign journalists' advocates about the ability of reporters to do probing work in China. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists has protested the holding of Liu Wei, saying China is now "criminalizing basic reporting."

The policeman, identified only by his surname, Zhong, is suspected of taking bribes in exchange for any help in dropping criminal charges against spiritual master Wang Lin, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Zhong is suspected of accepting bribes from the ex-wife and a former mistress of Wang, who in turn are suspected of leaking secret documents that could help Wang's case, Xinhua said.

Liu, who had been reporting extensively on Wang's case, was suspected of involvement with Zhong's illegal activities, Xinhua said, without further detailing the accusations against Liu.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the two women were also being held, and law enforcement departments declined to comment on the case.

Wang claims to have supernatural powers as a master of qigong, a traditional combination of meditation, martial arts and Chinese philosophy. He was arrested in August and charged with illegal detention in the kidnapping and grisly murder of a former acolyte.

Citing a detention notice issued to Liu's family, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Liu has been accused of "illegally acquiring state secrets," an extremely vague charge that can result in a lengthy prison sentence.

"The government's interpretation of state secrets has grown so broad that it now encompasses routine criminal justice matters," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a letter of protest. "Liu Wei must be released and all criminal allegations against him dropped immediately."

Xinhua said Liu and Zhong's case was being handled directly by the Ministry of Public Security, in an apparent indication of the seriousness with which it was being regarded. Zhong had been an officer with the police force in the Jiangxi province city of Pingxiang.

Xinhua said a "responsible person" from the Southern Metropolis Daily said the paper supported the investigation, had agreed to cooperate and "believes the law enforcement departments will investigate according to law and handle justly."

However, an editor reached at the newspaper's office in the southern city of Guangzhou said no official statement on the case had ever been issued. The editor, who declined to give his name, said the paper was not accepting interviews on the matter.

The case underscores the influence of spiritual masters in Chinese political and business life, a phenomenon sometimes blamed for encouraging corruption and abuse of office.

Wang was propelled to fame by reports of his purported mastery of qigong. Wang claimed to be able to conjure up snakes from thin air and to be able to "poke" people remotely with his powers of concentration.

He drew the wrong sort of attention from authorities after his former disciple Zou Yong was kidnapped and murdered on July 9. Zou had claimed he paid Wang 5 million yuan ($786,000) to become his disciple and that the two were involved in a web of lawsuits and disputes.

Wang had previously been investigated for gun possession, practicing medicine without a license, bribery and fraud, but those investigations were stymied by a lack of evidence, Xinhua said.

Wang once had the trust of former Chinese railways minister Liu Zhijun, who fell in a corruption scandal in 2013 even after Wang gifted him with a rock supposedly imbued with protective powers. Jack Ma, founder of Internet shopping giant Alibaba, and martial arts actor Jet Li also were fans of Wang.

Maybe his qigong powers will save him? :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

China Court Jails Religious 'Cult' Leader for Life (http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-court-jails-religious-cult-leader-for-life-1238410)
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: October 31, 2015 12:07 IST

http://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2015-10/court-generic_650x400_51445160799.jpg
Representational Image.

SHANGHAI: A Chinese court has sentenced the leader of a religious sect labelled a cult by authorities to life in prison on several charges, according to an official statement, with three of his followers also jailed.

A court in the southern city of Zhuhai on Friday also fined Wu Zeheng, head of the "Huazang Zongmen" sect, more than 7.0 million yuan ($1.1 million), it said. The charges included organising a cult, rape, fraud and selling harmful food products.

Wu seduced dozens of women by telling them sex with him could give them "supernatural power", state media has said. He also operated a restaurant which claimed the food was cooked with "precious" ingredients.

A police investigation showed Wu had amassed an illegal fortune of more than 6.9 million yuan through his activities, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The court also sentenced three of his followers to jail terms of one to four years, but one of those tried escaped punishment, the statement said.

The group, which operates under multiple names, claims links to Buddhism.

Analysts say China has tightened control over religious worship, among other areas, under the administration of President Xi Jinping, who took office in 2013.

Authorities have targeted cults after members of one group beat a woman whom they were trying to recruit to death in a McDonald's restaurant in May last year.

In February, authorities executed a father and daughter, who belonged to the Quannengshen group, for the murder. Another 14 members of the sect, whose name can be translated as Church of Almighty God, were jailed for up to three years in July.

In another case, a celebrity Chinese "qigong master", Wang Lin, who claimed to conjure snakes from thin air and cure the sick, was held by police on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in July, according to media reports.

In a bizarre twist to the case, his ex-wife and mistress offered 2.0 million yuan in bribes to a policeman investigating the matter in exchange for information to help Wang seek a lighter sentence, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Story First Published: October 31, 2015 12:07 IST I must copy this into the Buddhist behaving badly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68723-Buddhist-behaving-badly&p=1288467#post1288467) thread and the McDonald's (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65572-McDonalds&p=1288468#post1288468) thread.

[GeneChing]

Fri Jul 8, 2016 12:03am EDT

China jails 'Xinjiang sage' connected to former security chief (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-corruption-judgement-idUSKCN0ZO0B7?utm_source=applenews)

A court in central China on Friday jailed for seven years on corruption charges a man identified by Chinese media as a fortune teller and healer connected to China's disgraced former public security chief Zhou Yongkang.

Zhou, the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft probe since the ruling Communist Party swept to power in 1949, was jailed for life last year for bribery, leaking state secrets and abuse of power.

Among his crimes was the unauthorized release of six secret documents to Cao Yongzheng, state media said, a man previously identified by Chinese media as a soothsayer, mystic and expert in qigong, a Chinese spiritual martial art similar to tai chi.

Cao provided testimony against Zhou in his closed-door trial, though it was unclear at the time whether he had done so in person or by deposition, or if he was also in custody.

In a brief statement on its official microblog, the intermediate court in the central city of Yichang said Cao had been found guilty of bribery and illegal land deals, jailed for seven years and fined 73 million yuan ($10.92 million).

Cao said he accepted the judgment and would not appeal, the court said, without elaborating.

It was not possible to reach Cao or a lawyer for him for comment.

Dubbed the "Xinjiang sage" by Chinese media, after the far Western region where he grew up, Cao garnered a following in celebrity and official circles in the 1990s for his purported knack for fortune telling and curing untreatable ailments.

Cao's talents allowed him to cultivate contacts that reached into the upper echelons of the country's ruling elite, respected business magazine Caixin has previously reported.

China's officially atheist Communist Party brooks no challenge to its rule and is obsessed with social stability. It has particularly taken aim at cults, which have multiplied across the country in recent years. Demonstrations have been put down with force and some sect leaders executed.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard)




More on the Xinjiang Sage here:
"Xinjiang sage" Cao Yongzheng (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1266021#post1266021)
Cao Yongzheng, the mysterious "Xinjiang sage" (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1284494#post1284494)
More on Cao Yongzheng, the mysterious "Xinjiang sage" (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1284621#post1284621)

[GeneChing]

I initially posted about this on the qigong FAIL (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?63080-qigong-FAIL&p=1296966#post1296966) because there wasn't a name given. Now there is so hopefully they catch this perp.


'Qigong master' swindles, accelerates death of cancer patient (http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/1012/c90000-9125938.html)
By Yin Xiaohong (People's Daily Online) 13:30, October 12, 2016

Ms. Zhang, a 61-year-old woman with inoperable ovarian cancer, recently passed away after going through “Qigong treatment,” imposed by a quack specialist.
Discomfort first manifested in Zhang's right shoulder. As the pain grew worse, she resorted to painkillers to alleviate the symptoms. After seeking advice from other patients and trying all sorts of unconventional treatments, Zhang was found in November 2015 to have several tumors in her stomach. Finally, doctors at two top hospitals in Shanghai diagnosed her with terminal, inoperable cancer.
Full of despair and desperate for a cure, Zhang went to Henan province on Nov. 26 to meet with Shao Xiaohua, a so-called Qigong master, who claimed that he could cure her in 35 days without any injections or medication. In return, he demanded 300,000 RMB as a treatment fee.
Shao told Zhang to stop taking painkillers, and demanded that she consume nothing except ginger tea for six days. According to Shao, his plan was to “starve” the cancer cells in Zhang's body.
Starving and deprived of painkillers, Zhang suffered from pain and sudden weight loss while on Shao's regimen. On Dec. 22, she experienced excruciating pains, shortness of breath and cardiac arrest. After that, her health condition steadily deteriorated, and she finally died on July 19.
Shao has been unreachable since Zhang's death. Zhang's widower, Mr. Liu, recalls that Shao had no credentials to practice medicine - only a suspicious physiotherapist certification.
A manager at Shanghai Qigong Research Center pointed out that Qigong is only a supplementary treatment method in Chinese medicine. It is impossible to rely on Chinese medicine alone to cure cancer.

[GeneChing]

Controversial 'spiritual guru' who said he could conjure live snakes from thin air and cure terminal cancer dies of organ failure in hospital aged 65 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4212542/Chinese-guru-claimed-cure-cancer-dies.html?ITO=applenews)

Wang Lin, a famous Qigong master has died in China at the age of 65
Qigong is thought to generate energy and can help someone's health and spirit
He died from complications from a serious autoimmune disorder
Wang Lin was well connected to celebrities and businessmen in China

By Sophie Williams For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 13:26 EST, 10 February 2017 | UPDATED: 14:48 EST, 10 February 2017

A self-proclaimed Chinese spiritual guru who claimed he could cure terminal cancer and conjure snakes from thin air has died at the age of 65.

Wang Lin died today in Fuzhou, China's Jiangxi province, from complications from a serious autoimmune disorder which led to multiple organ failure.

He was detained in 2013 and charged with illegal detention, fraud, gun possession and bribery. However he was granted bail last month due to his poor physical condition.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/18/3D0EC67600000578-4212542-Wang_Lin_holding_the_snake_claimed_that_he_could_c onjure_reptile-a-93_1486750522919.jpg
Wang Lin (holding the snake) claimed that he could conjure reptiles with bare hands

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/17/3D0E059000000578-4212542-Wang_Lin_right_pictured_with_China_s_former_Foreig n_Minister_Qia-a-87_1486749044962.jpg
Wang Lin (right) pictured with China's former Foreign Minister Qian Qichen (second to the left)

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/17/3D0E057F00000578-4212542-Well_connected_Wang_Lin_pictured_during_a_hike_in_ Pingxiang_Scen-a-88_1486749049012.jpg
Well connected: Wang Lin (middle) pictured during a hike in Pingxiang Scenic Area, China

The Intermediate People's Court in Fuzhou said in a statement that Wang Lin had passed away.

Wang practiced the ancient form of Qigong, which is thought to cultivate energy. While some claim it can heal the body, help others and also reconnect a person with their spiritual side.

He also posted videos online of him conjuring live snakes out of an empty pot and filling an empty glass with wine by 'simply breathing on it.'

Wang shot to prominence in 2013 after photographs of him posing with celebrities and businessmen emerged in Chinese media.

He has been pictured with Alibaba owner and founder Jack Ma, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/17/3D0E05A700000578-4212542-Zhao_Wei_a_famous_Chinese_actress_and_businessman_ Jack_Ma_pictur-a-89_1486749056586.jpg
Zhao Wei (right), a famous Chinese actress, and billionaire Jack Ma (left) pictured walking with Wang Lin (middle)

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/17/3D0E059900000578-4212542-Master_He_has_been_pictured_with_Jack_Ma_and_Wang_ Lin_many_times-a-90_1486749061565.jpg
Master: He has been pictured with Jack Ma (left) and Zhao Wei (right) many times in media

Wang Lin (pictured wearing sunglasses) was detained in 2015 in connection with the death of a businessman (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/10/17/3D0E062A00000578-4212542-Wang_Lin_pictured_was_detained_in_2015_in_connecti on_with_the_de-a-91_1486749065712.jpg)
Wang Lin (pictured wearing sunglasses) was detained in 2015 in connection with the death of a businessman

Media also claimed that he profited from corrupt and superstitious officials, telling them that he could help advance their careers and would also connect them with powerful people.

When the pictures emerged many people saw him as a symbol of corruption, using his connections to gain wealth.

Wang was detained in 2015 along with three others in connection with the kidnapping and death of businessman Zou Yong. At the time it was reported that he paid Wang substantial sums of money to become a follower.

The Fuzhou prosecutor found Wang 'criminally responsible' for illegal detention, fraud, gun possession and bribery in November last year.

Last month he was granted bail as his physical condition worsened.

The number of religious groups and sects have been multiplying in recent years as more people seek spiritual meaning.


Wang Lin has many entries on this thread, so many that I considered making an indie thread for him.

Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242343#post1242343)

More on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242344#post1242344)

Even more on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1243860#post1243860)

an update (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1254281#post1254281)

Wang Lin busted (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1285156#post1285156)

More on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1285300#post1285300)

More on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1286400#post1286400"Wang Lin detained[/URL]

[URL="http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1287958#post1287958)

[GeneChing]

Crazy tale.


How a Chinese seductress is using Bliss & Wisdom to undermine the Dalai Lama (https://ladakh2017blog.wordpress.com/2017/08/12/mary-jin-gebis/)
ladakh2017blog Audio, News August 12, 2017
中文版

GEBIS (Bliss and Wisdom) guru Mary Jin’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party exposed; details of her sexual and verbal abuse of monks emerge; former abbot alleges he was illegally imprisoned in PEI on her orders

21 June 2017

Taiwan, ROC – Formerly a cult leader on the run from Chinese authorities, Mary Jin seized control of GEBIS and sought to quietly replace the Dalai Lama’s influence with the Chinese-sanctioned Panchen Lama, former abbot Venerable Fan Yin says in a publicized audio recording.

Born in northeast China as Jin Mengrong (金夢蓉), which means “golden dream lotus” in Chinese, she was the second-in-charge of qigong cult Zhong Gong, which amassed millions of fanatical followers in only a few years, mesmerized by wild claims of magical powers, potions and esoteric qigong practices. Before long, the Chinese government saw Zhong Gong as a threat, and began to crack down on the cult.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Taiwan strait, a monk named Jih-Chang founded Buddhist organization Bliss and Wisdom in 1991 to promote Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan. Master Jih-Chang, after decades of learning Buddhism from different traditions, took a special liking to Tibetan Gelug Buddhism and became close friends with the Dalai Lama. Master Jih-Chang saw it his duty to spread Tibetan Buddhism among Chinese people, and began traveling to China to teach the Tibetan text lamrim chenmo. Hoping to evade the Chinese authorities, Master Jih-Chang kept a low profile and sometimes disguised himself as a lay person.

For years, he thought he was still under the radar, as far as the Chinese authorities were concerned. He was allowed to enter China and there was no indication that the Chinese knew about his activities, or his connection to the Dalai Lama. But not for long.

In order to escape persecution, Jin Mengrong became a Buddhist and gradually infiltrated Bliss and Wisdom. Using a combination of psychological manipulation, supposed spirit visitations and mysterious magical abilities, Master Jih-Chang was tricked into believing that she was an enlightened being. Master Jih-Chang wanted to appoint her as his successor, and spiritual leader of Bliss and Wisdom, against the advice of the Dalai Lama. Master Jih-Chang sent senior monks to China to teach Jin Mengrong Buddhism.

The student soon became the teacher as Jin Mengrong began to teach the monks tantric sex. Many monks lost their vows of celibacy. Jin Mengrong, perhaps trying to become the Holy Mary, concocted a scheme to give birth to Lama Tsongkhapa. The father was to be one of the monks under Master Jih-Chang. Eventually, Jin Mengrong conceived, but the baby was aborted.

Ironically, Jin Mengrong was eventually introduced as Mary Jin to the Canadian media, after she moved to Prince Edward Island.

In 2004, Master Jih-Chang, already old and sick, was poisoned by a doctor hired by Mary Jin in Xiamen, China. Some senior monks who had broken their vows of celibacy to Mary Jin, moved to cement her position as Bliss and Wisdom’s guru. With her at the helm, Bliss and Wisdom has gradually reduced their ties with the Dalai Lama, quietly replaced by lamas linked to the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama.

Ven Fan Yin, the first abbot of Fengshan Monastery (Bliss and Wisdom’s main monastery in Taiwan), reveals many more details of Mary Jin’s sexual and verbal abuse of young monks and novices. He also reveals he was illegally imprisoned on Prince Edward Island under Mary Jin’s orders.

https://ladakh2017blog.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/fsmmyfu.jpg?w=1100
Monks bowing to Jin Mengrong on her first trip to Taiwan in Mar 2015. That was the first time pictures of her were released.
Listen to the audio here (in Chinese):


ladakh2017
Ven Fan Yin 21 Jun 17 (https://soundcloud.com/user-890908032/ven-fan-yin-21-jun-17)
https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000237992804-1nt0hb-t500x500.jpg

Here is the full transcript (translated from Chinese; any errors are mine):

From 1996:

At that time, Mary Jin (Jin Mengrong) was the second-in-charge of Zhong Gong, and was already blacklisted by the Chinese government. Zhong Gong’s leader, Zhang Hongbao, fled to the United States but died in a car accident a few years later, orchestrated by the Chinese government.

A female friend of Li Yanzhong (李衍忠; Ven Ru Zheng’s elder brother), who lived in a house belonging to a Chinese foreign affairs official, became acquainted with Mary Jin. So Mary Jin hoped to get protection through her links with the foreign ministry. She also hoped to clean up her image by become a Buddhist. Hence, she started learning the lamrim chenmo after being introduced to it by Li Yanzhong’s female friend.

At that time, she was already married with a child/children. Her husband went crazy and she divorced him.

In Beijing, she then lived with Venerable Zhong Jin (宗進法師) (NB. not from Bliss & Wisdom), caused him to break his vows and disrobe. He became known as Mr Song Jin (宋進). Jin and Song returned to Jin’s hometown in northeastern China, Daqing (in Heilongjiang province), to open lamrim classes. They called themselves Teacher Jin and Teacher Song. Eventually, Jin gave herself the title “Guru”.

A monk from Guanghua Temple (廣化寺), Mr Li Yanping, travelled to the northeast after being seduced by Mary Jin. Mary Jin slept with Li Yanping every night. Unsurprisingly, Li Yanping and Song Jin became rivals in love. Finally, Li Yanping managed to get rid of Song Jin, and lived together with Mary Jin.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

From 1998:

At Guanghua Temple, Mary Jin claimed that she was possessed by demons. Many gurus and Rinpoches were unable to help her remove the demon, she claimed. She met Master Jih-Chang, who gave her the three refuges and prayed for her. Mary Jin, while being possessed by the demon, told Master Jih-Chang that Mary Jin was Master Jih-Chang’s most important disciple in his previous lives. The demon threatened to kill Master Jih-Chang. Mary Jin then claimed she used magic to murder 10,000 demon soldiers to save Master Jih-Chang. Having been subdued by Mary Jin, and after negotiating with Master Jih-Chang, the demon agreed to become Master Jih-Chang’s spirit protector. Master Jih-Chang named him Tee Kong (提公), or Lord Tee, and enshrined him in Fengshan Monastery. Lord Tee became a very important spirit protector of Fengshan Monastery.

(NB. Other sources state that this incident happened in the year 2000).

Lord Tee told Master Jih-Chang that Mary Jin needed to be privately tutored by a senior monk, so that she could quickly regain the knowledge and powers she had in her previous life. Venerable Jing Yuan, who had just been serving as the third abbot of Fengshan Monastery for a few months, gave up the abbotship, and courageously went to northeast China to become Mary Jin’s tutor.

Mary Jin showered her attention on Ven Jing Yuan every night. This made Li Yanping very jealous. Eventually, Li Yanping complained to Master Jih-Chang that Ven Jing Yuan had raped Mary Jin. Master Jih-Chang believed Li Yanping.

By 2003, Ven Jing Yuan had clearly broken his root vows, automatically ceased to become a monk, and returned to Singapore.

Q: If Master Jih-Chang knew that so many sexual liaisons were going on, why did he allow it to continue?

A: By then, he was already firmly convinced that Mary Jin was an enlightened being and would be his successor, so he kept the sexual liaisons under wraps.

According to the vinaya, once a monk has broken his root vows, he cannot recover his status as a bhikshu even if he takes the “recovery vows” 增益戒 (note: recovery vows allow a monk to restore his vows if he has committed minor transgressions). Ven Jing Yuan took the “recovery vows” anyway so that he could pretend to be a monk. So Ven Jing Yuan is a fake monk.

Master Jih-Chang believed Li Yanping’s accusations, and was very angry that Jing Yuan raped Mary Jin. After Ven Jing Yuan returned to Taiwan, Master Jih-Chang stripped him of his senior monk status and sent him to Edu Park to oversee construction work. Jing Yuan was very upset and felt betrayed. He felt that Li Yanping had also broken his root vow, in the same way Jing Yuan did, but was let off scot free by Master Jih-Chang. Jing Yuan would bang his head on the wall every day in anger.

Around 2003, a Guru Kong (空上師) appeared on the scene. Guru Kong was a spirit which possessed Mary Jin, claiming to be Lama Tsongkhapa and sometimes claiming to be Khedrub Je. Guru Kong also gave some mysterious teachings. Guru Kong convinced Master Jih-Chang that Mary Jin was the reincarnation of Khedrub Je, and that Master Jih-Chang was the reincarnation of Gyaltsab Je. Guru Kong told Master Jih-Chang that they were only missing Lama Tsongkhapa to complete the holy trinity. Master Jih-Chang eventually sent Venerable Ru Cheng (如誠法師, of Fengshan Monastery) to create the holy baby of Lama Tsongkhapa together with Mary Jin.

At that time, many prayers and pujas were done in Fengshan Monastery to invite the Lama Tsongkhapa holy trinity (Lama Tsongkhapa, Khedrub Je and Gyaltsab Je; this trio is mentioned in the Tibetan tradition too) to be reborn in the Chinese lands.

Mary Jin became pregnant with Ru Cheng’s child. Li Yanping was enraged, and fought physically with Ru Cheng. The Chinese police were called. In the end, Ru Cheng agreed to abort the baby. Li Yanping complained to Master Jih-Chang again that Ru Cheng was treating Mary Jin badly and was abusing her.

Ru Cheng knew he had broken his root vows already, and returned to Taiwan. He sensed that something was wrong with the whole scheme, and told Master Jih-Chang that Mary Jin was a fraud. Having believed Li Yanping’s story, Master Jih-Chang was very angry at Ru Cheng for maligning Mary Jin, whom he was supposed to see as his guru. Master Jih-Chang ordered Ru Cheng to repent, kept him in confinement and prevented anyone else from talking to him. Ru Cheng was very upset and left Bliss and Wisdom soon after. After he left, Ru Cheng went all over India to report the matter to the Dalai Lama, the Ganden Tripa Rinpoche, Sharpa Choje and Jangtsey Chojey (the three main Gelug throne-holders). Many people reported the happenings to the Dalai Lama and the throne-holders in India, including Senior Brother Li (李學長 – important lay leader of Bliss & Wisdom). They felt that the scam could not go on, because it would harm a lot of people. But because there were only a few of them, the Dalai Lama and the throne-holders were not able to publicly express anything.

After leaving Bliss and Wisdom, Ru Cheng was harassed with death threats, and almost died. His mother also passed away. On the verge of a mental breakdown, Ru Cheng moved to the United States for his own safety, and is still there.

Mary Jin claimed that she pretended to get married to Ru Cheng, in an attempt to enter Taiwan. In fact, they were actually married, and had a marriage certificate. But at that time, the Taiwanese government did not allow Chinese spouses to enter Taiwan.

Mary Jin procured a fake passport which turned out to be a “spy passport” (NB. I don’t know what passport is this – maybe a stolen one already blacklisted by Taiwanese immigration?). Jin tried to enter Taiwan with this passport, was refused entry and blacklisted by Taiwanese immigration. A monk from Guanghua Temple, Ven Xue Cheng (學誠) (NB: he is now the secretary-general of the Buddhist Association of China, the most powerful position a Chinese monk can hold, and which is of course closely linked to the Chinese government , told me to beware of Jin and have no dealings with her at all. I trusted Master Jih-Chang and did not fully believe what Venerable Xue Cheng said. Because of her attempted entry into Taiwan with a fake passport, Jin had a lot of difficulty entering Taiwan subsequently. I was deceived for 20 years, and have finally put the pieces together recently.

After that, Venerable Jing Ming (淨明), Venerable Ru Xu (如旭) and Venerable Ru Qing (如清) went to China. A lot of wrongdoing happened, much of it encouraged by Guru Kong. Jing Ming and Master Jih-Chang were in China at that time, but Master Jih-Chang gave Ven Jing Ming the assurance that Guru Kong and Mary Jin were to be trusted. Out of veneration for Master Jih-Chang, Venerable Jing Ming never said anything, but felt uneasy. Venerable Jing Ming was kept away from all conversations and was not allowed to participate in meetings. He was sent out to buy vegetables at the local market every day. Venerable Jing Ming noticed something strange – Venerable Ru Cheng (如誠) was reading books about preventing unwanted pregnancies, which he found bizarre, but eventually understood much later. Jing Ming did not break his monastic vows (no sexual activity) but all the others had broken their vows, except possibly Ru Qing (如清).

Ven Ru Qing left 3-4 years ago. He knew a lot of what happened behind the scenes, and insisted on staying in Taiwan instead of going to Canada to meet Jin. Venerable Ru Qing如清 almost turned blind from an illness. I believe Jin applied black magic/poison on Ru Qing. Doctor Hsieh Hongbing (謝鴻賓) treated Ru Qing (如清) and can testify. Tiny worms were expelled from Ru Qing’s body after being treated with smoke treatment, which is believed to be evidence of black magic. Many monks suffered from mysterious illnesses – Venerable Ru Hua (如華) , Venerable Ru Qing (如清) , Venerable Ru Qi (如起) , Venerable Ru Hao (如皓). Venerable Ru Hao, after returning from the USA to disrobe, was so ill that he almost could not speak. A doctor found a bloody palm-shaped mark on my body, which many people in the sangha saw as well. Jin had many methods up her sleeve to harass, threaten and kill people. At that time, nobody knew why our illnesses were so strange and could not be treated with conventional medicine. We were told that it was because of our bad karma, that we had to confess and repent, and pray to recover.

In his later years, Master Jih-Chang had the intention of appointing Mary Jin as his successor, but Jin could not enter Taiwan. If Master Jih-Chang died in Taiwan, Jin would not have been able to become the successor, so she devised all kinds of methods to deceive Master Jih-Chang into going to China. Jin hoped that Master Jih-Chang would die of natural causes in China, under her care, so she could become his undisputed successor. She convinced Master Jih-Chang to go to China, both to teach her, as well as to recuperate from his illness. Master Jih-Chang arranged for his trusted personal doctor, Hu Maohua (胡茂華), to take 6 months leave and accompany him to Xiamen, China. Doctor Hu was sent back to Taiwan one day after arriving in Xiamen, presumably under Jin’s orders. An inexperienced doctor, who hailed from the same village as Jin, came to treat Master Jih-Chang. The doctor prescribed heavy doses of energizing medication. (NB: stimulating Chinese herbal medicine). Venerable Da Xian (大顯) was present and he can testify. Venerable Da Xian (大顯) left the sangha after master’s death as he knew the truth and dared not remain in the organization.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

After Master Jih-Chang consumed the stimulants, his body reacted very adversely. His pulse turned irregular and his body turned stiff. The doctor then prescribed laxatives, which weakened him greatly and finally finished him off. He died under such circumstances. He realized then that he had been cheated and died knowing that. We saw that Master’s eyes were protruding, his stomach was bloated and we were all shocked. Mary Jin told the senior monks that Master Jih-Chang was expressing an emanation of the wrathful deity Mahakala (NB: Mahakala is a Tibetan Buddhist protector deity, an emanation of an enlightened being). We were all cheated. When Master was cremated, Jin claimed that she saw Master Jih-Chang in the form of the wrathful deity Mahakala, filling the entire sky, but none of us could see it.

We all saw that Master’s remains did not contain any relics. The supposed relics in the stupa are all fakes. I was surprised then but suppressed my suspicions. Those who had their suspicions have all left, Venerable Da Xian (大顯), Venerable Ru Su (如速), Venerable Xing Hong (性弘) and Venerable Chan Zong (禪宗) were present and all the senior lay leaders knew there were no relics. Senior Brother Li (李學長) and Senior Brother Hsieh (解學長) became suspicious. Senior Brother Li knew the full incident, as he was the one who introduced Jin to Master. Mary Jin expelled Senior Brother Li with a lot of manufactured wrongdoings like slander, and I executed the sacking. This is a huge scam. Master Jih-Chang was murdered. Jin started to create a fake will, claiming that she was the successor, and that Bliss and Wisdom should not disperse. This is not Master’s will. Master Jih-Chang’s will was to appoint Venerable Ru Zheng (如證) as successor, and for all decisions in the sangha to be taken by consensus (羯磨: a democratic method of decision-making laid down by the Buddha for monastic communities. Guidelines are prescribed for how to arrive at a decision, how to take disciplinary action and so forth). Master had mentioned this every year. I am not sure who has seen Master’s will, but found out later that it is now in Jin’s possession. For obvious reasons, she is not going to release it. Venerable Ru Jun (如俊) is an accomplice in this, the fake will was released bit by bit, transcribed by Venerable Ru Jun (如俊). The prayer for Master’s reincarnation – many of you still believe it was written by the Dalai Lama, don’t you? No, it was written by Venerable Ru Ji (如吉), not by the Dalai Lama. The original prayer written by the Dalai Lama is with me, do you want to see it?

Jin subsequently appeared to take charge less often, and let the abbot Venerable Ru Zheng (如證) appear to do the talking. Jin is supporting him from behind. She took away many young novices into her inner circle.

I am not sure how much Ru Zheng (如證) knows. Ru Zheng (如證) should know quite a lot but he had to obey Jin, as he is afraid to be fixed by the Marco monks. Ru Zheng is in GEBIS now being held incommunicable. He cannot leave the GEBIS compound, every movement is monitored and reported, his passport and mobile phone are confiscated. (NB: As of August 2017, Ru Zheng is back in Taiwan and appears to be moving around freely).

The connection with Dorje Shugden had been reported to Dalai Lama and he was not pleased at all. Many Rinpoches knew that Mary Jin is associated with Dorje Shugden.

On another note: I know Master Jih-Chang had asked for a Nyingma lama to conduct rituals for Master due to this poor health. The Nyingma lama told Master Jih-Chang that there was something suspicious in his possession, and he was to surrender it, or he would refuse to conduct the ritual. The object turned out to be a ritual instrument of Dorje Shugden, planted by Mary Jin. After the incident, another monk told me that this shows that Jin is definitely associated with Dorje Shugden. Jin put the blame on Fengshan Monastery’s first Geshe, Tenzin Gyaten (NB: invited from India by Master Jih-Chang to teach), and claimed that it was he who put the Dorje Shugden instrument in Master’s room. The Dalai Lama has all along made his position very clear that he does not tolerate any practice of Dorje Shugden by his disciples. Because Mary Jin instigated Master Jih-Chang into disobeying the Dalai Lama, his practice and health deteriorated rapidly.

Jin took many monks from the child intake (預科班) into her inner circle, grooming and influencing them as they grew up. Many senior monks were sidelined. For 7 years I was banned from communicating with outsiders. Anyone who attempted to get in touch with me was warned. That’s why you’ve had no information about me for so many years. After I contracted tuberculosis, Mary Jin had no choice but to allow me to return to Taiwan. I was prepared to die in GEBIS in PEI. I thought, if you treat me like this, I will die for you to see. My father did not know my whereabouts for 2 years, not even when he wanted to include me in his will. I was not even allowed to call my father. This is proof of my persecution.

After I returned to Taiwan for tuberculosis treatment, Ven Jing Yuan and Ven Ru Jun told the two monks who looked after me to leave me. They said, “Ven Fan Yin is useless. You have a great future, why waste it on him?” But the two of them are genuine spiritual practitioners, who would not forsake someone in difficulty. The two monks looked after me for two years until I recovered. In that period of time, Ven Jing Yuan and Ru Jun asked to two monks to join the inner circle (Marco monks), but they refused to go. They are now in GEBIS PEI, and they have no intention of joining the inner circle. This is how they mistreat the senior monks, especially those who do not kowtow to Mary Jin.

Q: Ven Fan Yin, when all this was happening, how did you practice guru devotion?

A: At that time I was blamed for the Senior Brother Mu (穆學長) incident. They accused me of fund-raising without Mary Jin’s permission. In reality, that was not the case. In fact, she was the one who told me to do the fund-raising, and when things went wrong, she blamed it on me. Afterwards I thought, never mind, for the sake of the organization, for the sake of Master Jih-Chang, I will shoulder all the blame myself. At that time I thought, fine, if you want me to use this incident to help me grow, I will! I will practice the dharma and show you what I can do! At that time I did not see her faults at all. I was very grateful to her for helping me through. Because I almost died – I thank the Buddhas for giving me tuberculosis, so I could escape.

Q: Venerable Fan Yin, when was the turning point then?”

A: This year Rizong Rinpoche came to Taiwan to teach “Essence of Fine Speech” for three months (NB: Rizong Rinpoche, the 102nd Ganden Tripa, gave teachings from Feb-Apr 2017 at Fengshan Monastery’s Lake Mountain Campus, Taiwan). Rizong Rinpoche mentioned Bliss and Wisdom’s problems every day, such as our attachment to sensual pleasures, not genuinely exerting ourselves in spiritual development ….you know all that! Slowly, I started to wake up. I asked Venerable Ru Xing (如性) every day, “What happened? Why is Rizong Rinpoche talking about these topics all the time?” Because Venerable Ru Xing knew about many of Bliss and Wisdom’s internal problems. Rizong Rinpoche would discuss Bliss and Wisdom’s problems with Ven Ru Xing frequently. Venerable Ru Xing wanted to help Bliss and Wisdom as he was Master’s disciple (NB: Ven Ru Xing was ordained as a teenager by Master Jih-Chang in Taiwan, then sent to India to learn from Tibetan lamas. He lives in India and serves as Rizong Rinpoche’s Chinese translator when he comes to Taiwan). As time went by, he became very discouraged and felt it was impossible for things to change at Bliss and Wisdom.

From the bottom of my heart, I told Rizong Rinpoche, “I accept your advice and guidance. I would like to go into an intensive retreat under your guidance, and with the fruits of my spiritual practice, I will save Bliss and Wisdom.” Rizong Rinpoche agreed to help me. He told me that the single most important cause for Bliss and Wisdom’s problems is our incorrect guru devotion. Mary Jin’s teachings on guru devotion are not Buddhist, they are creationist and theistic, and building up a personality cult. Her teachings do not come from a pure lineage, like Rizong Rinpoche’s teachings. Rinpoche knows clearly, that all the problems we have are due to incorrect guru devotion teachings.

A few years ago, Rizong Rinpoche was already telling me this. When I was ill, Rinpoche refused to consult the oracle for me, and told me, “All these obstacles, all these problems including your illness are caused by indiscriminate guru devotion”. When I heard this, I sincerely repented and confessed my faults. Rizong Rinpoche saved me. I slowly gained trust in Rizong Rinpoche, and contemplated on his teachings. Rizong Rinpoche helped me to see the reality; otherwise, it would have been impossible.


continued next post

[GeneChing]

Q: So you only connected the dots recently?

A: Yes, only recently did I manage to connect the dots. I spoke to many people, whom I am not prepared to name at this stage. For those who know the inside story, some are not willing to face reality, some have children in the sangha or in the Edu Park, and some are comfortable with the present situation. They thought hiding the truth is better for Bliss and Wisdom. If they reveal the truth, a lot of people will have their faith completely broken. Their worlds will be shattered. After what I have told you, I think you will lose your appetite for a week, and lose sleep for a week. You will have to face the agony of having your faith broken, your lives and thoughts all turned upside down. I spoke to “the elder” (NB: identity not revealed by Ven Fan Yin) and realized the truth. “The elder” knew everything, Jin spoke to “the elder” for 10 hours in Taiwan when she visited Taiwan. “The elder” saw everything, what Jin was doing in her pyjamas with those people.

(NB: “the elder” appears to be a monk or layman holding a senior position in Bliss and Wisdom)

Subsequently, I wanted to do an intensive retreat with Rizong Rinpoche, Rizong Rinpoche agreed to help and provide support. I applied for leave from Mary Jin as she is my guru. That was 2 months ago (April 2017). I even bought my air tickets and planned to leave on 10th May. She agreed, but said that I had to go and meet her personally (NB: Mary Jin was in Singapore at that time). I wanted to go, but everyone advised against it. They told me I was finished if I went – I was sure to be confined again.

So I asked to speak to Mary Jin on the phone. She ignored my request initially. Finally, I sent her a message saying that if she did not want to hear me speak, I would reveal all her secrets to the whole world. That scared her and she immediately spoke to me on video conference. I started by criticizing her closest confidants and attendants – Novice Ru Fa (如法), Venerable Ru Qun (如群), Venerable Xing Jing (性景), and Venerable Ru Ji (如吉), revealing all their faults. She scolded them one by one, hoping to allow me to vent my frustrations. The next day, I told many teachers in BW Edu Park that I am leaving again. The teachers in Edu Park were very worried, because I practically evaporated from the surface of the earth for 7 years after going to Canada to meet Mary Jin. They wanted me to stay, so I could continue guiding them. Venerable Xing Chang (性長) advocated on their behalf – “The teachers are asking me, what if you get confined again?”, asked Ven Xing Chang. I said I can practice in isolation if I am confined again. Every adverse situation is an opportunity to practice. Just like her transgression of the vows – her behavior is teaching me how to discriminate between right and wrong.

Subsequently, all the teachers present in the meeting were warned. Mary Jin’s confidants named and shamed by me in the video conference wanted revenge. In the second video conference, Jin summoned Ven Xing Chang and I, and interrogated me angrily, “Why did you say I would confine you? This will cause many people to lose faith in me”. It can destroy her reputation. She kept scolding and scolding non-stop. I told her that was not the case, I did not tell them I would be confined. Many teachers knew about what happened seven years ago, and were concerned for me. It was Ven Xing Chang who asked me what I would do if I were confined. So I answered them honestly. Mary Jin was enraged. She said, “How could you answer like that? You should have said, you were not going to be confined.” She asked Ven Xing Chang angrily, “How could you ask that kind of question?” So Ven Xing Chang asked her, “Then what is the correct answer we should give?” That made Mary Jin even angrier, and she went on and on. Finally, it became obvious that Ven Xing Chang was against them. More on this next time.

At the third video conference, all senior monks were present, about 30 of them in Lake Mountain Campus. Jin told all of them, “The organization is in a mess now”. Jin is starting to get worried. She called Secretary-General Huang (NB: Sec-Gen Huang was appointed as the highest-ranking lay leader of Bliss and Wisdom in 2014/15, and held the position for two years before quitting. Before his appointment, he was a Buddhist but not a follower of Bliss and Wisdom) seeking a solution, “The organization is messy now, Ven Fan Yin and Xing Chang are too powerful and influential, what can we do about it?”. Sec-Gen Huang answered, “You have to face the reality now, shouldn’t you?” It was obvious that Jin was panicking and understood the crisis on hand. Not even Sec-Gen Huang could help her.

Jin tried to soothe the emotions of the senior monks by imploring them to be patient, to practice gratitude, and not to be like Ven Xing Chang. I asked, “Guru, we have something to say, the vinaya dictates that monks are not allowed to live under the same roof as women. Everyone knows this, and Rizong Rinpoche has even chastised you in the US, telling you not to live with monks and novices.” Jin started to cry and said, “They cannot leave me. If they leave me, how will they live.” It is obviously an excuse, she is the one who cannot live without them. This is a flagrant violation of the vinaya rules. When Jin heard this, she asked angrily, “What do you mean? Are you trying to drive me away? Where do I live if I don’t live here?” I said I wasn’t trying to chase her away, that I was very grateful to her contributions to this organizations and had great faith in her, but I told her, “Please do not live together with monks and novices.” Mary Jin said, “Who said we are living together? We are only living in the same building”. They are actually living on the same floor in expensive bungalows. Anyway, whatever she said was just a stone-walling tactic.

To show his support for her, Venerable Ru De (如得) started crying dramatically, and spoke a lot. It was all for show. Those are all her trusted lieutenants. Even Ven Ru Zheng (NB. former abbot) came out to say that it was very difficult for her to be the guru, she is going through a lot of difficulty for our sake….after that, I said, “Ven Ru Zheng! That’s not what you say in front of me. During the entire process you were badly abused by Ven Ru Qun and his gang, you came crying to me every day!” When he heard that, his face turned black, everyone was laughing. That’s what the monks are like now – always saying what they don’t mean.

So Mary Jin asked, who else is unhappy about her living arrangements? I said, many people outside the organization are criticizing us. A lot of people are asking me questions, and I don’t know how to answer them. So she asked, who has heard about this, who has doubts? Some people raised their hands. These people will definitely be warned and brainwashed.

The very next day, Venerable Jing Ming (净明) left hastily, because Mary Jin ordered him to go to PEI immediately. Venerable Jing Ming (净明) sensed the impending crisis, gave her an excuse and escaped. Subsequently, Jin said hysterically in an internal video broadcast, “No matter where you are, even if you travel to the ends of the earth, I will look for you.” (NB. can be interpreted as signaling concern, or a veiled threat that Mary Jin will hunt him down). She’s a very good actor. She would always start by saying, “I am here today all because of Jing Ming and Fan Yin, it was because they supported me as their guru. I will always be grateful for their contribution and support. I miss them so much. I treat them so well, why did they want to leave?” And she also said, “What Jing Ming and Fan Yin are doing is wrong. It shows that something is wrong with their guru devotion. Wherever Ven Jing Ming goes, I will look for him!” So they left no stone unturned in hunting down Ven Jing Ming.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

The Dalai Lama knows all about her transgression of the vows and all her wrongdoing. But we ourselves have to take the initiative to speak to the Dalai Lama about it, so that he can express his stand. We have to remain united, and be strong enough to bring her down within the organization before the Dalai Lama can publicly state his position. If the Dalai Lama only hears from Venerable Ru Cheng alone, he has insufficient evidence and support to make his stand public.

Eventually we discovered that Mary Jin needs a new man every night. She would summon a monk or novice after 12 midnight, telling them that she had some tantric practices to teach them. She has many different methods of persuasion, such as telling the monk how they were a loving couple in a previous life, how he was a king and she the queen, or that she has special tantric techniques to help treat your illnesses. The monks who’ve left Bliss and Wisdom can testify.

Now we have to think about how to report this to the Dalai Lama, how to combine and co-ordinate our actions, and figure out our responses to her.

Anything that Jin gave out, such as pendants, praying beads, and her hymns can cause headaches and nausea. Many sensitive people have these reactions. It’s best not to accept them.

The Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party are behind her. The transmission of the Four Interwoven Annotations came from Harwa Rinpoche, who is in cahoots with the Chinese government. He belongs to the Chinese Panchen Lama’s system. Their goal is to control Bliss and Wisdom, breaking the lineage away from the Dalai Lama and swinging it to the Panchen Lama in China, while sucking away Taiwanese money at the same time. It is estimated that they have sucked away about NT$8 billion, from the time Master Jih-Chang passed away until now. Senior Brother Mu’s affair was also a scam.

Venerable Hsing Yun (NB. Ven Hsing Yun is one of the most renowned Buddhist leaders in Taiwan. He is the founder of Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaoshiung, Taiwan) received her visit with great fanfare, when she came to Taiwan the first time. The reason is that when Venerable Hsing Yun visited China, he was told by someone in the CCP that he was to expect a representative from them, and he was to show his support to her. We have verified this. Ven Hsing Yun’s disciples were quite unhappy about this, because this was very unusual.

https://ladakh2017blog.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/1-2-2.jpg
Jin Mengrong meets Venerable Hsing Yun on her first trip to Taiwan

Her identity is clear now. We are all cheated, including Master Jih Chang, and everyone in Bliss and Wisdom, since 1996. As the saying goes, “Relying on the wrong teachings will break all the roots of virtue”. For all the wisdom Master Jih-Chang had, he was cheated as he did not heed the Dalai Lama’s advice. Pabongka Rinpoche was a wise man, but the same thing happened to him too as he did not heed his guru’s advice. When Dorje Shugden appeared in various manifestations in front of him, even as benevolent deities, he was deceived and believed them to be real. His guru knew it was a scam. His guru tried to help him, and wanted him to burn all ritual instruments connected to Dorje Shugden. Pabongka then deceived his guru that he had done so. So Pabongka fell very ill as a consequence of it. The Dalai Lama told me this story about Pabongka. A lot of problems arise when people don’t trust their gurus, and instead trust Dorje Shugden. Just like Master Jih-Chang, who preferred to trust Mary Jin instead of the Dalai Lama.

Dorje Shugden appears to be a dharma protector, but is in fact an evil demon. Just like Mary Jin, who came up with a Lord Tee – it’s a demon too.

Busted Qigong Masters (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters) & Buddhists behaving badly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68723-Buddhists-behaving-badly)

[GeneChing]

OCTOBER 11, 2017 / 7:00 PM / UPDATED 14 HOURS AGO
China's top paper warns party officials against 'spiritual anesthesia' (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-congress-religion/chinas-top-paper-warns-party-officials-against-spiritual-anesthesia-idUSKBN1CH06O)
Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s top newspaper warned Communist Party officials on Thursday not to “pray to God and worship Buddha”, because communism is about atheism and superstition is at the root of many corrupt officials who fall from grace.

China officially guarantees freedom of religion for major belief systems like Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, but party members are meant to be atheists and are especially banned from participating in what China calls superstitious practices like visiting soothsayers.

The party’s official People’s Daily said in a commentary it had not been uncommon over the past few years to see officials taken down for corruption to have also participated in “feudalistic superstitious activities”.

“In fact, some officials often go to monasteries, pray to God and worship Buddha,” it said. “Some officials are obsessed with rubbing shoulders with masters, fraternizing with them as brothers and becoming their lackeys and their money-trees.”

Chinese people, especially the country’s leaders, have a long tradition of putting their faith in soothsaying and geomancy, looking for answers in times of doubt, need and chaos.

The practice has grown more risky amid a sweeping crackdown on deep-seated corruption launched by President Xi Jinping upon assuming power in late 2012, in which dozens of senior officials have been imprisoned.

The People’s Daily pointed to the example of Li Chuncheng, a former deputy party chief in Sichuan who was jailed for 13 years in 2015 for bribery and abuse of power, who it said was an enthusiastic user of the traditional Chinese geomancy practice of fengshui.

Another much more junior official, in the southern province of Jiangxi, wore charms to ward off bad luck, it said.

“As an official, if you spend all your time fixating on crooked ways, sooner or later you’ll come to grief,” it said.

The founder of modern China, Mao Zedong, banned fortune telling and superstition in puritan, communist China after the 1949 revolution, but the occult has made a comeback since the still officially atheist country embraced economic reforms and began opening up in the late 1970s.

In one of the most famous recent cases, China’s powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang was jailed for life in part due to accusations he leaked undisclosed state secrets to a fortune teller and healer called Cao Yongzheng, known as the “Xinjiang sage” after the far western region where he grew up.

The People’s Daily said officials must remember Marx’s guiding words that “Communism begins from the outset with atheism”.

“Superstition is thought pollution and spiritual anesthesia that cannot be underestimated and must be thoroughly purged,” it said.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd; Editing by Paul Tait

Feng Shui (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?9565-Feng-Shui)& Cao Yongzheng (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1294761#post1294761)

[GeneChing]

Sorcery, geomancy, soothsayers, and other superstitious practices aren't quite feng shui (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?9565-Feng-Shui) and qigong (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters), but there's plenty of overlap. Actually, geomancy is basically feng shui.


NOVEMBER 15, 2017 / 7:45 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
Senior China minister says some officials practice sorcery (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics-religion/senior-china-minister-says-some-officials-practice-sorcery-idUSKBN1DG0CG?il=0)
Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

BEIJING (Reuters) - Some top Chinese officials are guilty of practicing sorcery and would rather believe in gurus and Western concepts of democracy than the Communist Party, a senior minister wrote on Thursday, warning of the danger they presented to its survival.

China guarantees freedom of religion for major belief systems such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, but party members are meant to be atheists and are barred from what it calls superstitious practices, such as visits to soothsayers.

Recent years have seen several cases of officials jailed as part of President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption being accused of superstition, part of the party’s efforts to blacken their names.

Some senior officials in leadership positions had “fallen morally”, their beliefs straying from the correct path, wrote Chen Xi, the recently appointed head of the party’s powerful Organisation Department that oversees personnel decisions.

“Some don’t believe in Marx and Lenin but believe in ghosts and gods; they don’t believe in ideals but believe in sorcery; they don’t respect the people but do respect masters,” he wrote in the official People’s Daily, referring to spiritual leaders or gurus.

People in China, especially its leaders, have a long tradition of turning to soothsaying and geomancy to find answers to their problems in times of doubt, need and chaos.

The practice has grown more risky amid Xi’s war on graft, in which dozens of senior officials have been imprisoned.

Attacking officials whose faith in communism is wavering, Chen said some consider it an “entirely unreal mirage”, and have lost faith in socialism.

Instead, they look to Western concepts of the separation of power and multi-party systems as their ideal, added Chen, who also runs the Central Party School that trains rising officials.

He did not name any officials guilty of practicing superstition or fawning over the West.

But elsewhere in the article he named some of those caught up in the most high-profile recent cases, such as the feared former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang and the former party boss of Chongqing, Sun Zhengcai, sacked for corruption in July.

They were “political careerist plotters”, whose cases showed that officials’ political problems were no less a threat to the party than corruption, Chen wrote.

“The higher the position, the greater their platform, the greater the harm they caused to the party,” he added.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

[GeneChing]

Here's an overview article from good ol' Epoch Times about the hypocrisy in communist atheism. When they establish separation of church & state, they mean it.


Atheist Chinese Officials Turn to the Supernatural During Desperate Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/atheist-chinese-officials-turn-to-the-supernatural-during-desperate-times_2435934.html)
By Annie Wu, Epoch Times
February 7, 2018 6:21 pm Last Updated: February 7, 2018 7:49 pm

https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2018/02/07/GettyImages-857394732-700x420.jpg
Chinese people burn incense sticks during the mid-autumn festival at the Jing'an Temple in Shanghai on Oct. 4, 2017. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

Wei Minzhou, the Communist Party Secretary of Xi’an, a city in western China, knew he was in trouble when he was invited for a “chat” with his superiors. He immediately consulted a seer who told him to plant bamboo in front of his house. The Chinese phrase for “bamboo” and “to stop” are ****nyms—Wei’s plea for the authorities’ anti-corruption investigation to stop. It didn’t work. In August 2017, Wei was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for bribery, pending prosecution in the judicial system.

The Chinese Communist Party is an atheist organization and rules China by tightly controlling what citizens can and cannot believe in, yet Wei is just one of a cohort of officials who have resorted to premodern practices of divination, fortune telling, and superstition in an attempt to get out of a bind.

The Party prohibits members from believing in so-called “superstition.” The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s sought to eradicate people’s beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and folk customs by launching a campaign to rid the country of “four olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Buddhist temples, statues, Taoist monasteries, and historical sites of cultural significance were destroyed.

Despite this traumatic and violent upheaval of spiritual beliefs, they are still deeply ingrained in the Chinese people’s psyche: evidenced by the Party officials who turn to Buddhas, gods, and spirits during times of need—despite Party rules.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2018/02/07/GettyImages-842770444-600x399.jpg
Buddhist monks pray inside the 135-year old Yufo Temple, also known as the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai on September 5, 2017. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

In a recent announcement of Liaoning deputy governor Liu Qiang’s purge from Party membership and his position, the CCP’s anti-corruption agency called out his “superstitious activities” among a list of crimes that got him in trouble.

In fact, state-run newspaper Beijing Daily’s WeChat social media account once published a story about officials who have been disciplined for “believing in superstition” since the 18th National Congress in 2012—when current Party leader Xi Jinping came to power and launched his campaign to purge the Party of misbehaving officials.

Escaping Fate
There were unexpected details of desperate officials who believe that a greater force is in control of their fates—and so sought out ways to foretell or change their lives.

During the 1990s, the disgraced former security czar, Zhou Yongkang, was general manager of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation. He once invited a senior monk to conduct for him face reading, a form of physiognomy to predict one’s future. The monk’s assessment was that his prospects were good, but to go even further in his career, he had to fix his ancestral tomb.

Zhou listened to the monk’s advice and asked his brother to fix it right away. The family hired a monk from Wuxi City, where the tombs were located, to perform Buddhist rites.

Within a decade, Zhou had made it to the CCP’s most powerful decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. In fall 2009, his family suddenly discovered that someone had dug a hole in his ancestral tomb—an act of desecration. Zhou mobilized the Wuxi, Shanghai, and Jiangsu Province police—eventually going all the way to the Ministry of Public Security—to find the culprit, to no avail.

He would later meet his downfall in 2012 amid the infamous Wang Lijun-Bo Xilai incident. In 2015, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/140696573-600x510.jpg
Zhou Yongkang at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2012. (Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Zhou’s ally, Sichuan deputy party secretary Li Chuncheng, was punished for using public funds to move his ancestral tomb from its location in northeast China to Dujiangyan near the city of Chengdu in southwestern China—at the suggestion of a Taoist feng shui master. He used up 10 million yuan for that project (about $1.6 million).

Zhou and Li were both officials in former Party leader Jiang Zemin’s circle, making up a faction within the Party opposed to Xi Jinping. And Jiang frequently sought the advice of Wang Lin, a qigong master said to possess supernatural powers.

Wang counseled many Jiang faction officials on how to improve their fortunes. Wang once told former railway minister Liu Zhijun that if he puts a mountain rock in his office, he would never fall down in life prospects. Alas, in 2013, he was charged with bribery and sentenced to death with reprieve.

Protection from Sins
Since the anti-corruption crackdown began five years ago, officials are wary of the day they may fall. If they catch wind of a coming purge, they seek protection from higher beings.

When deputy director of the People’s Liberation Army General Logistics Department Gu Junshan was arrested and interrogated for corruption, Party staff found a peach wood sword in one of his pockets: a weapon used to exorcise demons according to Taoist religious beliefs. The sword didn’t protect him from his wrongdoing though: Gu was sentenced to death with reprieve in 2015.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/04/01/gu-junshan-600x400.jpg
Gu Junshan. (Screen shot/Chinanews.com)

Former Party leader Jiang himself was said to be fearful of retribution; among his many crimes was launching the persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong in 1999. Hong Kong’s Open Magazine reported in 2001 that Jiang prayed to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in hopes of salvation. He sought out a nun in Beijing for a copy of the “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra” and endeavored to copy out the sutra by hand, considered an act of merit and devotion in Buddhism.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/08/JZ-Getty-156355790-20150708-600x398.jpg
Jiang Zemin at the 18th National Congress in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)

But Jiang has so far been unable to escape political demise. Xi’s campaign has eliminated Jiang’s allies one by one, leaving Jiang with limited clout.

Zhang Dun contributed to this report.

[GeneChing]

This one is different


http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03-04-hakalau2.jpg
Graphic by BIVN: image of Hakalau property by Hawaiʻi County Planning Department (left) next to Decision and Order

Damages Awarded In Hakalau Gender Identity Discrimination Case (http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/03/04/damages-awarded-in-hakalau-gender-identity-discrimination-case/)
Big Island Video Newsby Big Island Video News
on Mar 4, 2019 at 4:47 pm

HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi - The Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission awarded $95,000 in a housing discrimination case involving a Qigong retreat on the big Island.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03-04-primack.jpg
file image of Jeffrey Primack from a 2018 planning commission hearing

(BIVN) – The landlord of a property in Hakalau was found to have discriminated against a caretaker based on her gender identity, the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission decided.

The commission issued a news release on Monday, although the final decision and order was issued on November 30, 2018. Landlord Jeffrey Primack, the respondent in the case, did not appeal the decision.

The complainant, Kiona Boyd, was previously a caretaker for Primack’s Hakalau-area ag land off Kama’e’e Road, and was living in a yurt on the property.

Primack resides in Florida and occasionally visits the Hakalau property to host Qigong retreats, the state’s findings say.

On July 2, 2015, according to the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission hearing examiner’s findings of facts, Primack told Boyd “to leave the property because he believed his guests for his Qigong retreat would react negatively toward her because of her gender transition.” Threatening text messages followed, the findings show.

In the commission’s decision and order, Boyd was awarded a total of $95,000 in damages, including $75,000 in emotional distress damages and $20,000 in punitive damages. Primack did not appeal the decision, the commission says.

According to the Hawaiʻi County Planning Department, Primack was cited with a zoning code violation in Janaury 2017 for offering unpermitted retreat functions on the property. Primack appeared before the Windward Planning Commission on March 1, 2018, seeking a Special Permit to legitimize the operation that included overnight accommodations for up to twelve guests and the development of a certified kitchen on a 15-acre portion of the larger, 98-acre parcel.

As he appeared before the Planning Commission, Primack was already embroiled in motions and hearings regarding Boyd’s housing discrimination complaint, although the matter was not discussed during the planning meeting. The planning commissioners voted to grant Primack the Special Permit. Less than a year later, the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission ruled on Boyd’s complaint.

“The decision from the Commission reaffirms its commitment to the elimination of discrimination in housing,” said Executive Director, William D. Hoshijo, in a media release. “The award of punitive damages in the Commission’s Final Decision and Order should signal to housing providers that harassment, intimidation, and discrimination against individuals for expressing their gender identity will not be tolerated.”

The news release provided by the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission explains more about the case:


Boyd’s fair housing complaint alleged that Primack harassed, threatened, and forced her off the subject property after he saw her expressing her gender identity for the first time in person. Boyd lived and worked as the property caretaker while Primack resided in Florida. Primack visited the Hawaiʻi property to hold Qigong retreats for his mainland-based business and first met Boyd in 2012 when she was using a name traditionally associated with the male gender and presented as male.

At hearing, Boyd testified that she suffered emotional distress after Primack forced her off the property and harassed and threatened her both verbally and through text messages. Primack’s text messages included multiple threats to strangle, punch, and inflict pain on Boyd, belittled her gender identity and expression, and contained gender-based slurs. Primack gave Boyd one day’s notice to vacate the property, forcing her to become homeless and live out of her car.

In the Commission hearing, Dr. Rebecca Stotzer, an expert on bias crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, offered expert testimony and a report on the pervasive stigmatization of transgender individuals, and research indicating that transgender women are at greater risk of being subjected to violence. In light of this heightened risk of harm, transgender individuals have reason to take threats of violence seriously, stated Dr. Stotzer.

The Commission also ordered Jeffrey Primack to immediately cease and desist unlawful discriminatory practices, develop and implement a written anti-discrimination in real property transactions policy, and attend a fair housing training session. The Final Decision and Order in William D. Hoshijo, Executive Director, on behalf of Kiona E. Boyd v. Jeffrey David Primack, Dkt. No. 18-001-H-S, is posted on the HCRC webpage.

The Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing state civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and state-funded services. If you feel you have been subjected to discrimination on any basis protected under state law, contact the HCRC at: telephone (808) 586-8636, or email DLIR.HCRC.INFOR@hawaii.gov.

[GeneChing]

Her life was ruined after her famous employer discriminated against her. Now he won’t pay up. (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/03/life-ruined-famous-employer-discriminated-now-wont-pay/)
By Alex Bollinger · Monday, March 18, 2019

https://lgbtqnation-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/2019/03/kiona-boyd-702x540.jpg
Facebook/Kiona Boyd

A transgender woman who won $95,000 in a discrimination claim in Hawaii is now trying to collect that reward.

Kiona Boyd was the caretaker of a massive, 98-acre property owned by Qigong guru Jeff Primack. She also lived on the property, which is valued at over half a million dollars.

Now she is living in her car and occasionally couch-surfing after Primack fired her when she transitioned.

Last year the state Civil Rights Commission ruled that he discriminated against her and ordered him to pay $95,000, stop discriminating, and attend a fair housing training session.

He has refused to comply, and the Commission filed a suit asking a circuit court to enforce its ruling.

Boyd met Primack when she worked on his property and helped build a yurt there.

“I just knew that I loved that land,” Boyd told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

“And after the yurt was built, he asked if I could come and be the caretaker. And it was an immediate, ‘Yes, I’d love to live up here.’”

She said that she had an idea that she was a woman for decades, but she was living as a man when she was hired by Boyd. In 2015, though, after the death of a coworker, she decided to honor that person’s memory and live her authentic life.

Boyd said that people were supportive of her at first, then they changed.

“But after a couple of months I noticed that people who were, like, ‘Namaste, we are all one, peace, love, harmony with nature’ turned out to be fake,” she said.

Primack found out online about her transition and she learned through a neighbor that he was planning to fire her. He had asked the neighbor to take over her job.

He started sending her threatening messages in July 2015 and sent around 100 in one day. According to the Civil Rights Commission’s report, his messages said things like “I don’t like girls who wear makeup… Let alone men,” “My fist in your face is direct,” and “I will strangle you… you ***** ass *****.”

She was out of both a home and a job, and she couldn’t find another place to rent so she started living in her car.

So she filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission.

“They took my story,” Boyd said. “Took my case. Did a lot of investigation. Found validity in my claim. And it took off from there.”

Even though the Commission ruled that he discriminated and he hasn’t filed an appeal, he still hasn’t paid her $95,000. She hasn’t been able to find another job because of a shoulder injury.

“It damaged my credit when he fired and evicted me, and I haven’t been able to find housing for almost four years,” Boyd said.

“Everybody feels that justice is served, but until he pays for what he’s done, he’s still business as usual,” she said.

“He’s still booked at eleven places this year to have his seminars around the United States.”

Winning a case is one thing. Getting paid reparations is another. My car was broken into decades ago and they caught the thieves right away. Years later, I was notified that they were found guilty and owed me reparations. I never saw them. The sleeping bag they stole out of my car was returned, but that was it. And like I said, it was years later, so I had already replaced it.

[GeneChing]

More on Primack here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1312952#post1312952) and here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1313210#post1313210).



https://menafn.com/updates/pr/2019-12/17/N_d6297198-bimage_story.jpg

Jeff Primack, Founder of Supreme Science Qigong Center, Just Released the 2020 Edition of the Critically Acclaimed Food Healing Book 'Conquering Any Disease' (https://menafn.com/1099437030/Jeff-Primack-Founder-of-Supreme-Science-Qigong-Center-Just-Released-the-2020-Edition-of-the-Critically-Acclaimed-Food-Healing-Book-Conquering-Any-Disease)

Date
12/17/2019 10:46:15 AM

(MENAFN - Newswire) CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., December 17, 2019(Newswire.com) - Qigong is the practice of increasing life force energy and improving quality of life. No one knows how to do this better than its founder and expert practitioner Jeff Primack. Primack not only founded the renowned Supreme Science Qigong Center in 1999 but has also spent years teaching and educating others on revolutionary ways to unlock their human potential.

'Conquering Any Disease,' one of Primack's most insightful books, is packed with 300 pages of life-saving wisdom, was originally published in 2005. Now back by popular demand, the 2020 edition is giving some much-needed clarity on the latest diet trends such as keto, gluten-free, vegan and paleo to name a few, and whether these fads are harmful or beneficial.

Primack's passion for natural, energy healing is evident as you read through his books which he uses as tools to pass his knowledge on to others. Through seminars and teachings, many people have come to learn about Primack's belief and practice of natural healing through foods.

For the readers who enjoyed earlier editions of this book, the 2020 edition is the biggest update since the book was first published.

For new fans, this book promises to be both scientific and user-friendly. This food healing manual gives readers a lot to ponder about as they begin a journey toward optimal health with a little help learned through ancient truth.

'Qigong connects people to the spirit and natural state of being. What you eat contributes to your overall health, and it is possible to reverse health issues through natural food remedies. My book shows you how,' says Jeff Primack, author of Conquering Any Disease and founder of Supreme Science Qigong Center.

Supreme Science Qigong Center was founded by Jeff Primack in 1999. Since then, he has taught over 50,000 people in his Qi Revolution live seminars – dedicating his life to 'teaching as many people as possible about natural healing through food, Qigong, meditation, and high-powered breathing.' He has collected his food-healing knowledge from countless sources, including well-known Qigong Masters & Naturopathic Doctors. For more information about Supreme Science Qigong Center, visit www.qigong.com . Nice website address.

[GeneChing]

27-Year-Old Chinese Man Dies From a 54-Day Water Fast as Prescribed by Qigong Master (https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/26222/20200626/27-year-old-chinese-man-dies-54-day-water-fast.htm)
Hannah C.Jun 26, 2020 03:36 AM EDT

A 27-year old Chinese man died at a rehabilitation health center after not eating for 54 days. The 'health treatment' of consuming only water for supposedly 70 days was prescribed by his Qigong master, Liu Shanglin.

Qigong is an ancient Chinese health method, more than 5,000 years old, combining rhythmic breathing and mental concentration with slow, graceful movements. As a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is often called Chinese yoga.

Dr. Roger Jahnke, author of 'The Healing Promise of Qi,' said, 'Qigong is not exercise - it is a dynamic meditation. Doing repetitions is not the focus, it is the conscious application of three intentful corrections - lengthen the spine, deepen the breath, clear the mind, or visualize healing.'

The young Chinese man, known by his surname Li, left his home and moved to a private facility to follow the teachings of Liu Shanglin in 2017, shared his family. Li was told to go on a 70-day water fast for his health to improve as he struggled with mental problems.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FJy0EDoYK0&feature=emb_logo

Water Fast
Water fasting has proved to have clinical effectiveness in rebooting the body. According to Dr. Alan Goldhamer, who supervises therapeutic fasting for his patients, led a study showing the benefits of water-only fasting.

He founded the TrueNorth Health Center in Santa Rosa, California, where their typical fasting regimen included diet, sleep, exercise, and fasting. His water fast study focused on patients with hypertension or high blood pressure.

174 participants had two to three days to pre-fast on fruits and vegetables before transitioning to a water-only fast for about 10 to 11 days. Then, they had a refeeding period of about one week to a low-fat, low-sodium, vegan diet.

Dr. Goldhamer said that water fasts may last from any time between five and 40 days. 'The idea is to fast as briefly as possible, but as long as necessary, to accomplish your desired goals.'

One of his most recent studies this year shows how medically supervised water fasting can potentially stop tumor growth. The study focused on a woman with obesity, hypertension, and inflammation in her kidney and ureter. After a 13-day water fast 11 days of a plant-based diet after, the golf-ball tumor in her stomach shrunk by almost 50%.

Weight-Loss Treatment
One of the staff at the Chinese rehab center, who remains anonymous, shared that Li didn't have any problems. He just talks to himself a little bit sometimes. He was quite heavy. He was about 180 kilos (397 pounds). The teacher then asked him not to eat and said it was good for his health.'

Mr. Liu told reporters that the water fast treatment usually lasts five to seven days and it was Mr. Li's decision to extend his own diet. After almost two months, Li died of starvation.

Liu Shanglin was detained by local police in the Heilongjiang province, who owns the Riyuexia Elderly Forest Rehabilitation Center. A family member shared that Mr. Li paid over $700 for the recent treatment for wanting to lose some weight. The investigation is still ongoing, according to local authorities.
That's way too long for a water fast. When I used to fast, I'd be lucky to go just a few days.

[GeneChing]

Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71934-Wang-Lin) deserves his own indie thread from Busted Qigong Masters (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters) now that he has two whole documentary dedicated to him.



Wang Li: Qigong “Master” a Conjurer of Cheap Tricks? (https://thediplomat.com/2013/07/wang-li-qigong-master-a-conjurer-of-cheap-tricks/)
The famous Chinese qigong practitioner has been accused of being a charlatan.
By Jonathan DeHart
July 31, 2013
Two documentaries aired on China’s state-run CCTV on Sunday calling Wang Lin a “vulgar magician” who has done little more than sell bogus health techniques to the Chinese masses – not to mention some of its elite.

The qigong (Taoist breathing exercises meant to cultivate energy) spiritualist and advisor has fallen on hard times since the investigative reports played on television sets across the nation and has since come under investigation for fraud. The Jiangxi province-born “master” is reportedly attempting to evade scrutiny by disappearing from sight – some say by fleeing to Hong Kong.

Wang’s fall from grace has become a major topic of discussion in China, given his celebrity clientele, which included some of China’s most prominent entertainment, business luminaries – even heads of state – from Jackie Chan and Jet Li to Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, as well as relatives of former Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The prominence of 61-year-old Wang’s following was not in doubt, although some of his practices were strange by any standards. From “creating snakes” after placing scraps of paper under an upside-down basin which he jostles around until two snakes issue forth (see video here) to shredding steel with his bare hands, recovering paper from ashes, and even retrieving “an incinerated banknote intact from an orange” – some of his exploits are truly bizarre.

While actions such as these can be dismissed as magic tricks, things become morally hazy with some of his health suggestions. Wang has claimed to heal cancer and other serious illnesses, including removal of three “stones” from the body of former Indonesian president Suharto. All told, Wang estimates he has worked with some 50,000 patients.

Wang has dismissed claims that his practices are illegal, claiming that he has undergone rigorous investigation by a team of 17 Japanese scientist over a period of seven days, and has received numerous offers from U.S. intelligence agencies attempting to lure him to their shores with the promise of a green card.

He claims that he began to cultivate his supernatural powers from age seven under the tutelage of an Emei Taoist priest.

Despite accusations that he is a charlatan, Wang claims he donates up to 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) annually to charity – a claim that is backed by Pan Zhongwu, deputy director of social assistance at Pingxiang’s Civil Affairs Bureau.

Sima Nan, well known as a debunker of pseudoscience, invited Wang to Beijing to prove his claims, offering $1.6 million to anyone who can prove they have supernatural powers.

Wang has not taken criticism or questioning lightly, cursing at least one journalist. “I am telling you, you will die miserably, and your family will follow," Wang told a reporter with The Beijing News last week after she wrote a story that he thought damaged his name.

If convicted of illegal practice, he has a lot to lose. With the dubious earnings he has raked in, Wang has procured three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce that has been spotted parked in front of his five-story villa in his hometown of Pingxiang, Jiangxi province, nicknamed “the palace” due to the fact that his surname means “king” in Mandarin. He is also known to drive a Porsche and owns further properties in Shenzhen, Nanchang and Hong Kong.


GUEST AUTHOR
Jonathan DeHart
Jonathan DeHart is a Tokyo-based journalist and correspondent for The Diplomat.

[GeneChing]

Zhonggong: The “Cult” That Refused to Die (https://bitterwinter.org/zhonggong-the-cult-that-refused-to-die/)
12/16/2020 MASSIMO INTROVIGNE
Hundreds of police hunt for a new incarnation of a group the CCP believed it had successfully eradicated in 2016.
by Massimo Introvigne

https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Zhang-Xiao.webp
A devotional image of the current leader of Zhonggong’s largest branch, Zhang Xiao, with its deceased founder Zhang Hongbao sitting in the sky.
In the Northern province of Heilongjiang, hundreds of police officers surround and arrest in the early morning citizens gathering in public parks for Qigong exercises supposed to prevent the COVID-19 infection. This is happening in ten different provinces, although Heilongjiang appears to be specifically targeted, and involves hundreds of specialized agents. They are fighting a xie jiao, a banned religious movement, known as Zhonggong. The only problem is that, according to earlier CCP sources, Zhonggong should no longer exist. It has been liquidated several years ago, and totally eradicated by 2016, one of the few “success stories” the specialized agents tell about their long-lasting fight against the xie jiao.

However, it appears that even this “success” was not definitive. To understand what happened, a short history of Zhonggong is needed. Zhang Hongbao (1954–2006) was born in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, on January 5, 1954. While the organization he founded is labeled by the CCP as a xie jiao,and his theory “an anti-social, anti-scientific heretical system based on idealism and theism,” the part of the story the Party does not tell is that Zhang was himself a respected member of the CCP.

A high school teacher in Harbin, Zhang was sent by the Party in 1985 to Beijing to obtain a college degree. He did not complete his academic education, but attended the Chinese Qigong Further Education Academy and became an accomplished teacher of Qigong. This was before the Falun Gong incident of 1999, when Qigong was perceived with sympathy by the CCP. Since he was studying mechanical engineering, Zhang built a system of Qigong where an engineering jargon and theories of automation co-existed with ancient Chinese martial art, diet, and healing techniques. According to David Palmer, a scholar who had studied in depth the origins of the movement, he called it “Chinese Qigong for Nourishing Life and Increasing Intelligence” (Zhonghua yangsheng yizhi gong, 中华养生益智功), or, in short, Zhonggong (中功).

Just as it happened with Falun Gong in its early years, Zhonggong was not received with hostility by the CCP. On the contrary, starting in 1987, Zhang offered seminars inter alia at Beijing University, the China Academy of Sciences, the Central Party School of the CCP, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, and the China Academy of Social Sciences. These events were favorably covered by the Party’s People’s Daily. According to Palmer, at least one minister and one deputy minister participated. A hagiographic biography of Zhang written by Ji Yi sold ten million copies. Zhang himself claimed that Zhonggong had 38 million followers.

Just as it happened to Falun Gong, Zhonggong was a victim of its own success, particularly of its success among high CCP cadres. The Party started perceiving Zhonggong as a potential rival. And when in 1999 Falun Gong organized a demonstration in the Zhongnanhai area in Beijing, where the CCP senior political leaders live, the incident not only sealed its fate but persuaded the Party that the time had come to liquidate all Qigong independent organizations. This, as scholar Ed Irons reported in an article in The Journal of CESNUR, also involved Zhonggong. While Zhang was well connected, and vowed to resist by hiring the best CCP lawyers, he understood that his days as a free man in China were numbered when he was told that some twenty women were ready to testify they had been raped or sexually molested by him (a frequent charge against xie jiao leaders in China). In December 1999, Zhonggong’s considerable assets were confiscated.

https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Zhang-Xiao-lectures.webp
Zhang Xiao lectures in front of a portrait of Zhang Hongbao.
Zhang escaped via Guam in 2000 to the United States, where he failed to obtain full political asylum but was granted Protected Person Status in 2001. He became increasingly involved in militant anti-Communist activities, and even president of a Chinese government in exile, which led to quarrels and lawsuits with other Chinese dissidents living in the United States. Zhang died on July 31, 2006 at the age of 52, when his car collided with a large truck on the Arizona highway. His followers suspected foul play, and accusations of a Chinese conspiracy to kill Zhang were mostly relayed by the Falun Gong-connected Epoch Times.

After Zhang’s death, the authorities believed that the crackdown on Zhonggong initiated in 1999 had almost destroyed the movement, although some smaller branches remained. Great Buddha Qigong, founded by Zhang’s biographer Ji Yi in 1995 after he had left Zhonggong in 1994, was reduced to a small group. The authorities were more concerned with a branch called Maitreya Buddha Tao, founded in Shandong by Zhonggong leader Li Changlu, but by 2016 announced that it had been liquidated too, with its main leaders arrested and sentenced.

However, Zhang’s secretary, a woman called Zhang Xiao, born On October 4, 1966 in Longyan, in Fujian Province, kept Zhonggong alive overseas, and eventually moved the headquarters from the United States to Japan. Patiently, she reorganized a clandestine network in China, using several different names for the movement, including “Tianhua Culture,” “Oriental Health Cultivation Method,” and “Oriental Bigu Health Cultivation Method” (bigu is a Daoist diet and fasting technique, based on avoiding cereals).

With COVID-19, Zhang Xiao launched a set of anti-COVID Qigong exercises, which became quite successful. The CCP had discovered before that the network of her followers in China was far from being small. Originally believed to operate mostly through the Internet, in fact Zhang Xiao’s incarnation of Zhonggong has local centers in several provinces, the largest in Heilongjiang. According to the police, one was hidden in a massage parlor in Fuyuan, Heilongjiang. The city sits on the southern bank of the Amur river, and on the northern bank is Russia. Russian clients cross the border and liberally patronize the massage parlors in Fuyuan, but this one attracted the attention of the authorities because the masseuses were, unusually, old women. In fact, rather than massages, they were selling teachings on Zhonggong and artifacts blessed by Zhang Xiao.

https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Zhonggong-material.webp
Zhonggong material seized at the raided massage parlor in Fuyuan. Source: Xi’an Public Security Bureau.
Massages or not, the CCP had to admit that Zhonggong had not been eradicated, and Zhang Xiao’s organization is alive and well in China. This year, China issued an Interpol Red Notice to arrest Zhang Xiao in Japan, and extradite her to China. Normally, these requests fail, but one never knows what kind of political and other pressures China may now exert.

https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Interpol-Red-Notice-against-Zhang-Xiao.webp
Interpol Red Notice against Zhang Xiao, issued upon China’s request. Source: Xi’an Public Security Bureau


Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.

More on Zhang Hongbao here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=986476) and here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1304813)

[GeneChing]

CHINA / SOCIETY
Fake ‘Living Buddhas’ end up behind bars for using Tibetan Buddhism to amass wealth, rape disciple (https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202102/1214673.shtml)
By Gao Lei
Published: Feb 02, 2021 09:40 AM

https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-02-02/c34b2547-a9da-4494-b45f-e5aa371062b3.jpeg
Wang Xingfu disguises himself as a living buddha. Photo: file picture

Over the years, with the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism, many people including some television celebrities have been worshiping "Living Buddhas." Seeing profits in this, some lawbreakers made use of people's devotion to the religion to amass large amounts of money and even rape their disciples.

The Global Times dug out how two fake Living Buddhas used religion to harm their disciples.

Prison guard-turned 'living buddha'

Wang Xingfu, who claimed himself a "Living Buddha" and used the name of Lhosang Tenzin, swindled hundreds of millions of dollars and even raped several women over the past decades.

Wang had 21 "Ashrams" and more than 3,000 "disciples" across China. Before proclaiming himself as a "Living Buddha," Wang dubbed himself a "qigong master" in late 1980s when the country was caught up in a "qigong frenzy."

Like many other fake qigong masters, Wang profited from the wave. He embezzled the Tibetan Buddhism and fabricated a so-called "secret school of mind recharge."

Then he set up classes in cities including Ji'nan, Chengdu and Shenyang, earning more than 5,000 yuan ($773) or even as much as 7,000 yuan a month, a high income in the late 1980s and early 1990s in China.

Seeing the profits, Wang who was a prison guard at that time, had no interest in his work and kept asking for leave until he was fired. In the middle and late 1990s, as the government cracked down on the fraudulent "qigong masters," Wang changed his "secret school of mind recharge" to "ancient yoga theory application research institute," and developed a so-called "supreme secret yoga" to cheat money from disciples.

In 2006, Wang got to know the a Living Buddha named Gongzhi in Eruo Monastery, Ganzi Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Gongzhi was well known there and at that time he was seriously ill.

Wang, who was desperate to "legitimize" his schemes by using Tibetan Buddhism, tried hard to curry favor with Gongzhi. He took his "disciples" to donate money and goods worth over 1 million yuan to Gongzhi's temple. He then also claimed to have studied Buddhism in temples for many years and is the reincarnation of a "Living Buddha."

As a result, Gongzhi took Wang as his only disciple outside the Tibetan regions and told his disciple, Lurong, who would take over as the abbot of Eruo Monastery, to be good to Wang.

Lurong at the beginning did not welcome Wang but his attitude changed when he saw Wang was able to support the temple.

In 2008, Lurong illegally held an "enthronement ceremony" for Wang and claimed Wang as a Living Buddha named Lhosang Tenzin and even gave him a fake ID card showing Wang as Tibetan. Wang even fabricated a "reincarnation system" for himself.

In 2016, Wang divorced with his wife. When the case was exposed, Lurong was asked by the police why he illegally hosted "enthronement" for Wang and forged him as a "Living Buddha." Lurong said that Wang had many disciples and could donate money and goods to the temple.

After being arrested, Wang also attacked Lurong whom he used to call "vajra brother," saying Lurong treated him as a money machine and he felt deep "regret."

https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-02-02/e4ceeaed-6736-47e9-a806-f799f61ca684.jpeg
Wang Xingfu's villa in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province. Photo: file picture

'Religious teaching' for money

After becoming the "Living Buddha Lhosang Tenzin" following his "enthronement" in 2008, Wang became even more unscrupulous and committed many heinous crimes on his followers, such as fraud, molestation and even rape.

Before his crimes were uncovered, many of his followers, who had been seriously harassed by him, did not consider themselves victims of Wang's crimes, and some even chose to defend him.

One of his followers surnamed Wei said Wang controlled his disciples' mind in a horrific manner - he made the disciples swear not to betray him, otherwise, they would suffer terrible retribution and even lose their lives.

Laxianjia, vice director of the religious institute of the China Tibetology Research Center, said Tibetan Buddhism has "Exotoric Buddhism" and "Esoteric Buddhism." A disciple usually needs to spend more than 20 years in the period of "Exotoric Buddhism" with his or her master. During this period, the disciple can question and even change masters. But once the disciple passes "Exotoric Buddhism" stage to "Esoteric Buddhism," the disciple must fully follow the teachings of the master whom he or she had identified during the "Exotoric Buddhism" stage.

Laxianjia believed Wang used the close relations between disciple and master in the "Esoteric Buddhism" stage to make his disciples willing to be controlled. Laxianjia said Wang actually knew nothing about Buddhism, after questing Wang when he was in detention.

One of his disciples said that most of Wang's disciples were in urgent need of consolation of the faith due to their own or family troubles and Wang is good at using some concepts in Buddhism to appease these people.

Some had doubts about Wang, but their doubts were relieved when they saw how Lurong received Wang in the monastery.

According to the police investigation, the main way Wang cheated money was to charge people for his teachings. The money varied from 300 yuan to 8,000 yuan. He also sold "religious instruments" and carried out "religious activities" to make money. He made nearly 200 million yuan in more than 10 years.

Wang spent the money buying houses and properties across the country and gave his wife and son money. Wang said he gave Lurong more than 40 million yuan.

Besides fraud, Wang even used the concept of "Yuganaddha" to molest and rape female disciples.

Laxianjia said that the "Yuganaddha" in Tibetan Buddhism is about the combination of "wisdom" and "methods" rather than the nonsense that Wang talked about.

When he was arrested, police found condoms and "oil" that can boost sexual drive. He claimed the disciples he raped had consented.

Some of his disciples who had sex with him said Wang called them to the room for sex.

One of the women who was raped by him in 2013 said Wang came to the hotel in casual clothes after she checked in at his request. After she kowtowed to Wang and told him her family's problems and asked for his blessings, Wang became impatient and said the disciple needs to offer the master the body and mind. Wang later peeled off her clothes.

"I knew what he wanted to do then. I was quite scared. But as I thought he was a Living Buddha, and I was afraid that if I rebelled against him, there would be retribution. I didn't dare to resist. I just knelt down and cried and kowtowed to him," she said.

So far, investigators have evidence that Wang has sexually assaulted at least 10 female "disciples" over the years, including eight who were raped and two who were indecently assaulted.

A police officer told the Global Times that due to the reluctance of most victims of sexual assault cases to come forward, and the long time span of Wang's crimes, the number of women raped by Wang may be far higher.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-02-02/421b302b-8335-4290-bd7d-a5f6f487ce86.jpeg
Cash and foreign banknotes are found by the police from Wang's residence. Photo: file picture
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-02-02/f9ee3986-01fd-42e8-a622-9d99747ae4f2.jpeg
Cash and foreign banknotes are found by the police from Wang's residence. Photo: file picture

A key accomplice

Wang would not have had the opportunity to commit such heinous crimes if it weren't for Lurong, the abbot at Eruo Monastery.

Lurong, through stealing and violating the traditional convention of Tibetan Buddhism, turned Wang, a liar from qigong, into a "living buddha" and helped Wang deceive a huge number of believers in the country.

Lurong has known of Wang's crime as early as 2016, when a woman follower of Wang reported his sexually assaulting women and looting money. But Wang reminded Lurong about how the Eruo Monastery had been depending on Wang's followers' sponsorship.

To not lose Wang as a "money machine," Lurong became Wang's accomplice. He not only published an "investigation report" to prove Wang did not have any problem, but also hired people to remove online posts reporting Wang.

All the punishment Lurong gave Wang was letting him confess in front of the sacred tower and warning him to be a "qualified monk."

"I felt he wanted to use my money to renovate the monastery in order to lift his prestige among locals," Wang said.

From the perspective of Tibetan Buddhism, Lurong's behavior is also a serious violation of Buddhism, said Zhou Wei, an expert on Tibetology. "It completely violated the philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism and the concept of "integrity" in religion. It is all crooked ways."

This is also the reason why the two were prosecuted for "organizing and using a cult to undermine the implementation of the law." Their behavior deviated from Tibetan Buddhism and has long become a "cult."

https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-02-02/cb8d64aa-db7f-4789-ac59-5c2ac08bc508.jpeg
Wang Xingfu during an illegal "enthronement" in 2008 which seriously violated Tibetan Buddhism rituals. Photo: file picture

Another monster

Apart from Wang's case, police also cracked down a fake living buddha case as appalling as Wang's in Shenzhen of South China's Guangdong Province.

Yang Hongchen, the main suspect in the Shenzhen case, was born in Northeast China and became a monk in a small Hongye Temple in North China's Hebei Province in the late 1990s.

Afterwards, he went to Labrong Monastery in Northwest China's Gansu Province and fabricated a "living buddha" certificate and an ID as a Tibetan. With the new identity, he returned to Hongye Temple and began to deceive people there.

To bamboozle more people, he claimed himself to be the former head of the Chinese Buddhism Association and the reincarnation of respected patriotic monk Sherab Gyatso.

Many victims in Yang's case said that believed Yang's story. But monks in Labrang said Yang was never a monk in the monastery, let alone a living buddha. People from Yang's hometown said Yang wasn't even a monk.

Before 2017, Yang already had dozens of believers. He also raped many of his female followers and caused one to get pregnant.

Under the mind control of Yang, the violated women were either afraid of being cursed by the "living buddha" or believed it was for religious progress. None of the women chose to report Yang's assaults.

Finally, Yang's hedonistic life style drew suspicion from a follower, who reported to the religious administration department in Shenzhen.

The fair trial

In the past three years, the relevant persons involved in the Wang, Lurong and Yang cases have been convicted of serious crimes by the court in the first trial, and completed the second trial this year.

Wang was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined 20 million yuan for crimes of organizing and utilizing a cult to undermine laws, illegal operation, rape and compulsory indecency. Lurong was sentenced to six years imprisonment and fined 5 million yuan.

Yang was put in jail for 18 years and fined 150,000 yuan for using superstition to undermine law enforcement, fraud, rape and embezzlement. He pleaded not guilty in both court trials and blamed his followers.

Police believe that such scams are still hidden in society, and because some victims are mentally controlled, it greatly increases the difficulty of investigations.

To identify such criminals, Li Hanying, former senior official on religious affairs at the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, reminded that the public can check the identity of a "living buddha" at an online query system of the State Administration of Religious Affairs or check with local religious departments.

Li noted that Buddhism is a religion of rationality and wisdom and believers should not blindly obey someone because of admiration. Therefore, everyone must establish this concept of "right faith" and improve the quality of faith and the ability to differentiate between good and evil.

Once a suspicious "living buddha" is discovered, it is even more important to quickly report him to the religious affairs department and public security organs, Li said.

These cases also have triggered thinking of related departments on how to strengthen supervision, stop such frauds in the name of religions, and upgrade publicity on such crimes.

Laxianjia suggested that schools could open some courses on common sense about religions. "It is not to spread religions on campus, but to tell people the essence and knowledge of religions and lead people to have the correct values to avoid being deceived."

Lurong and some Tibetan monks served as accomplices and violated the reputation of Tibetan Buddhism, which experts believe shows Buddhist monks should strictly maintain their reputation and rituals of Tibetan Buddhism and discipline themselves, and therefore safeguard and respect for the freedom of religions in China.

threads
Buddhists-behaving-badly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68723-Buddhists-behaving-badly)
Busted-Qigong-Masters (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters)

[GeneChing]

Tough when you make a spelling error in your title.


Wang Li: Qigong “Master” a Conjurer of Cheap Tricks?
The famous Chinese qigong practitioner has been accused of being a charlatan.

By Jonathan DeHart
July 31, 2013
Two documentaries aired on China’s state-run CCTV on Sunday calling Wang Lin a “vulgar magician” who has done little more than sell bogus health techniques to the Chinese masses – not to mention some of its elite.

The qigong (Taoist breathing exercises meant to cultivate energy) spiritualist and advisor has fallen on hard times since the investigative reports played on television sets across the nation and has since come under investigation for fraud. The Jiangxi province-born “master” is reportedly attempting to evade scrutiny by disappearing from sight – some say by fleeing to Hong Kong.

Wang’s fall from grace has become a major topic of discussion in China, given his celebrity clientele, which included some of China’s most prominent entertainment, business luminaries – even heads of state – from Jackie Chan and Jet Li to Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, as well as relatives of former Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The prominence of 61-year-old Wang’s following was not in doubt, although some of his practices were strange by any standards. From “creating snakes” after placing scraps of paper under an upside-down basin which he jostles around until two snakes issue forth (see video here) to shredding steel with his bare hands, recovering paper from ashes, and even retrieving “an incinerated banknote intact from an orange” – some of his exploits are truly bizarre.

While actions such as these can be dismissed as magic tricks, things become morally hazy with some of his health suggestions. Wang has claimed to heal cancer and other serious illnesses, including removal of three “stones” from the body of former Indonesian president Suharto. All told, Wang estimates he has worked with some 50,000 patients.

Wang has dismissed claims that his practices are illegal, claiming that he has undergone rigorous investigation by a team of 17 Japanese scientist over a period of seven days, and has received numerous offers from U.S. intelligence agencies attempting to lure him to their shores with the promise of a green card.

He claims that he began to cultivate his supernatural powers from age seven under the tutelage of an Emei Taoist priest.

Despite accusations that he is a charlatan, Wang claims he donates up to 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) annually to charity – a claim that is backed by Pan Zhongwu, deputy director of social assistance at Pingxiang’s Civil Affairs Bureau.

Sima Nan, well known as a debunker of pseudoscience, invited Wang to Beijing to prove his claims, offering $1.6 million to anyone who can prove they have supernatural powers.

Wang has not taken criticism or questioning lightly, cursing at least one journalist. “I am telling you, you will die miserably, and your family will follow," Wang told a reporter with The Beijing News last week after she wrote a story that he thought damaged his name.

If convicted of illegal practice, he has a lot to lose. With the dubious earnings he has raked in, Wang has procured three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce that has been spotted parked in front of his five-story villa in his hometown of Pingxiang, Jiangxi province, nicknamed “the palace” due to the fact that his surname means “king” in Mandarin. He is also known to drive a Porsche and owns further properties in Shenzhen, Nanchang and Hong Kong.

AUTHORS
Jonathan DeHart

Jonathan DeHart is a Tokyo-based journalist and correspondent for The Diplomat.

Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242343#post1242343)

More on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1242344#post1242344)

Even more on Wang Lin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1243860#post1243860)

& an update (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1254281#post1254281)

Wang Lin - no evidence he had practised medicine illegally (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1284985#post1284985)

[GeneChing]

Follow up on this (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56283-Busted-Qigong-Masters&p=1318773#post1318773)


Victim’s family gets RM1.49mil (https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/10/20/victims-family-gets-rm149mil)
NATION
Wednesday, 20 Oct 2021

https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2021/10/20/1337877.jpg

Compiled by C. ARUNO, JUNAID IBRAHIM and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE family of a man, who died from fasting for 54 days after taking the advice of a Qigong master in China’s Heilongjiang province, was awarded 2.3 million yuan (RM1.49mil) in an out-of-court settlement, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Li Mouran, 27, had gone on an extreme diet under the guidance of self-proclaimed Qigong expert Liu Shanglin.

Among others, it involved subsisting on water for 70 days in order to purge toxins from his body.

He died at a rehabilitation centre after fasting for 54 days in what he believed to be a health treatment.

Police have detained Liu along with two senior workers of the centre.

Li’s family had retracted their civil suit and signed a settlement agreement.

The family’s lawyer said the settlement was reached last Friday and that the money would be used to cover funeral costs as well as other expenses.

According to local reports from China’s Shandong province, the woman had sucked too hard and created a vacuum with a suction force so strong that she was unable to pull the shell off.

She spent nearly half a day, trying to remove it before resigning to the fact that she needed help from the firemen.

One firefighter initially tried to “expand” the shell using hot water for easier removal but this attempt failed. They resorted to using an electric cutter to create a hole in the shell.

The hole managed to release the vacuum in the shell and they then removed it.

Internet users expressed their amazement at the peculiar cases which the firemen had to attend to.

He had suffered from complications from aspiration pneumonia.

Iijima joined the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in 1957. He became the writer and director for the TV programme Ultraman in 1966.

From the first series in 1966 (simply titled Ultraman) up until the 2001 film Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact, IIjima had often been credited as either the director or one of the writers.



The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.

[GeneChing]

‘I was frozen’: Woman accuses Qigong master healer of grabbing her breast (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/i-was-frozen-woman-accuses-qigong-master-healer-of-grabbing-her-breast/AYRQKURUR5GM5PUWS2FDEERD7A/)
Otago Daily Times
13 Mar, 2023 10:33 AM
3 mins to read
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/jyTrLzSqi3_BFMjFnIkQluy8efo=/1440x810/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/EYHWBDLF5ZEUJCXZIVSAGZLWU4.jpg
Sonny Hang Chin in the Dunedin District Court. Photo / Otago Daily Times

One of the eight women who have accused a Dunedin healer of groping her emailed him the day after the incident to complain it was “inappropriate”.

Sonny Hang Chin, 65, has denied indecently assaulting her or any of the other complainants.

While he accepted touching many of the women, his lawyer Anne Stevens KC said the physical contact was legitimate Chinese medicine practised by the “qigong master”.

As the Dunedin District Court trial entered its second week yesterday, the court heard from a woman who had booked to see Chin in late 2019.

She said he came “highly recommended” by a family member.

The witness described being taken aback by Chin’s questions about whether she had been sexually abused in her childhood but said she felt the physical benefits of the treatment.

At her second session a week later, the woman said Chin slid his hand under her shirt, beneath her bra and grabbed her breast.

“I was frozen,” she said.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/OaaiVbTUgVycGKhniBq9UhQNu_c=/1440x851/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/SL7YFB667PSPBHKOR3B2NNPMIY.jpg
The Dunedin District Court. Photo / ODT, File

She estimated the alleged incident lasted up to 20 seconds but said it felt like “forever”.

Counsel Deborah Henderson suggested the complainant had consented to Chin touching her breast and had voluntarily removed her bra when he was out of the room fetching oil.

The witness said that was not the case.

She repeatedly denied there had been any discussion about what Chin did before he did it, and there was no explanation about the impact on her “energy”.

The day after the alleged indecent assault, the complainant emailed Chin - an exchange which was shown to the jury.

“It has triggered emotional distress since. It was not justified in the treatment; it was inappropriate,” the woman wrote.

“Yes I did touch the lower lobe of your breast but I ask you that I was going to touch that area to feel the coldness of how disengaged you are with your chest area that affects your grief and depression,” Chin responded.

“If you feel I did not do a good job. No payment.”

The complainant underscored her disapproval a week later:

“I absolutely did not give you authority to touch my breast and did not understand that it was your intention to do so,” she wrote.

Chin responded within minutes to explain he had been clearing the “stagnant chi” from the patient.

The final complainant is the subject of four charges, also stemming from 2019.

In a police interview played for the court, she spoke about how she had been treated by Chin as a teenager and then again more recently when her ailments recurred.

On one occasion the woman said the defendant stressed she had to use her voice.

He allegedly put his hand down her pants and said: “Look, am I hurting you? Do you want my hands down here?”

The witness said she did not and when Chin allegedly asked her to tell him to stop, she said she did.

“He pulled out his hand and said ‘easy, see’,” the woman told police.

She said she felt ashamed of repeatedly going to see Chin despite the alleged abuse.

“I feel like I was manipulated and groomed by someone I trusted. I feel like he used some of my past sexual trauma to figure out a way to get handsy,” she said.

“This is something I can do to have a bit of a voice again and stop it happening to other people.”

The trial continues.
'clearing the “stagnant chi”' :mad:

[GeneChing]

It's about meditation so worthy of posting on this subforum, right?


FBI Arrests Key Member of ‘Orgasmic Meditation’ Group in Mendocino County This Morning (https://mendofever.com/2023/06/06/fbi-arrests-key-member-of-orgasmic-meditation-group-in-mendocino-county-this-morning/)
Categories:Anderson Valley Crime FeaturedNews
Sarah Reith

June 6, 2023

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[Stock image from Flickr user Oliver Riche]
FBI special agents arrested a leader of OneTaste, a “sexual wellness” company specializing in a practice it calls “Orgasmic Meditation,” in Mendocino County early Tuesday morning. Rachel Cherwitz, the former Head of Sales, was taken into custody without incident, on charges of forced labor conspiracy. Her co-defendant, founder Nicole Daedone, remains at large. The U.S. District Attorney’s Office would not comment on whether or not Daedone is considered to be a federal fugitive at this time.

Cherwitz appeared in court in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon, and will be indicted in the Eastern District of New York at a future date.

https://i0.wp.com/mendofever.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image-2.png?resize=696%2C433&ssl=1
Screenshot of Unconditional Freedom video showing Daedone
OneTaste claimed to offer sexual and spiritual wellness through a practice called “Orgasmic Meditation,” or stroking a woman’s genitals for fifteen minutes. The organization offered expensive courses in the practice, claiming it could heal past traumas.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced the charges against Cherwitz and Daedone saying, “Under the guise of empowerment and wellness, the defendants are alleged to have sought complete control over their employees’ lives, including by driving them into debt and directing them to perform sexual acts while also withholding wages.”

In October, we wrote about another organization that was founded by Nicole Daedone, Unconditional Freedom. The non-profit was operating in the Mendocino County Jail and Juvenile Hall, claiming to offer a restorative justice curriculum called Prison Monastery to inmates. We reported that all the Unconditional Freedom personnel involved in the program were also affiliated with OneTaste. At least one of the volunteers, Rachel Hemsi, was also listed as Director of The Land, a retreat center in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. The Land’s website still offers visitors the opportunity to donate to Unconditional Freedom. Cherwitz was arrested at The Land at around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

https://i0.wp.com/mendofever.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image-3.png?resize=696%2C262&ssl=1
A flyer for a training Rachel Cherwitz participated in San Francisco
Mendocino County Sheriff Matthew Kendall terminated the relationship with Unconditional Freedom during the course of our reporting.

The article came out shortly before a Netflix documentary about OneTaste called “Orgasm Inc.” Paul Boylan, the same attorney who sued Netflix on behalf of fourteen anonymous women, claiming a violation of privacy, also sent takedown letters to this news site and others who published the same information by this reporter. None of the sites took down their stories.

According to an eight-page indictment filed in the Eastern District Court on April 3 of this year, Cherwitz, Daedone, and their co-conspirators, who remain unnamed, “induced the OneTaste members, including OneTaste employees, to incur debt, and at times facilitated OneTaste members into opening lines of credit, to finance expensive OneTaste courses that the defendants knew the OneTaste members could not afford.”

The indictment remained sealed until Tuesday morning because the defendants were “at liberty;” and the government wanted to “ensure that the defendants do not learn that they are under indictment and to prevent them from fleeing justice to avoid arrest and prosecution.”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g5QCHHM07s

The indictment further state that Cherwitz, Daedone, and their co-conspirators “recruited and groomed OneTaste members to engage in sexual acts with OneTaste’s current and prospective investors, clients, employees and beneficiaries, for the financial benefit of OneTaste and, in turn, the defendants. According to the indictment, Daedone and Cherwitz also instructed the OneTaste members to engage in sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive as a requirement to obtain “freedom” and “enlightenment” and demonstrate their commitment to OneTaste and Daedone.”

The alleged abuses include providing and obtaining labor through the use of force and threats of force, public shame, humiliation, and retaliation. Between 2006 and 2018, the indictment claims, Daedone and Cherwitz “obtained the labor and services of a group of OneTaste members by subjecting them to economic, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse; surveillance; indoctrination; and intimidation.” Daedone and Cherwitz are also accused of failing to pay employees what they were owed and changing their employment status or locations so they would be entirely dependent on OneTaste.

While they are accused of committing a crime in Queens, the defendants’ area of operations is believed to cover a wide geographic range. The indictment includes a long list of affiliated companies using variations on the OneTaste name, as well as Mirror Clan Inc., Caravan Retreats Inc., Texas Limbic Network LLC, and The Next Right Thing LLC.

The property that Daedone and Cherwitz are alleged to have obtained through forced sexual labor is subject to criminal forfeiture. If they are convicted, the government will seek forfeiture of any property that can be traced to the offenses described in the indictment. If any of that property has been transferred to a third party or has diminished in value, the government will seek to make up the difference in value with their personal property.

Each defendant is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.