Many people are vulnerable. A lot, a lot of people. You can say the majority of people are vulnerable. So it’s easy to claim to be a master, a Buddha and all that, and they listen to you, and if they’re rich, they give you money offerings, and if they’re weak and vulnerable, you can even molest them, abuse them in any way, and they have nowhere to go, to tell to do anything to you. Just being heartbroken because they thought you were a real Buddha until you did all that, forcing yourself into their private life, abusing their faith, abusing their finance, abusing their body and their spiritual beliefs and everything like that. I cannot feel sorry for these kinds of “masters.” I do feel sorry for leaders, ignorant leaders of nations, but these “masters,” I don’t feel sorry for at all. They have nothing to give. They take everything they can.
“Media Report from WION – Jan. 11, 2024, Aditi Singh: The Nepal police have arrested Ram Bahadur, the self-claimed spiritual leader who’s also known as ‘Buddha boy.’ Now, the god-man is facing allegations of abductions and rape of his followers. The authorities said that they arrested the 33-year-old man from a house on the outskirts of the capital city of Kathmandu, and they also confiscated bank notes amounting to over US$227,000. Now, officials also found foreign currencies amounting to US$23,000.”
“Excerpt from ‘Preparing for the trial of the former abbot of Phước Quang pagoda for using many tactics to defraud 68 billion VND (US$2.7 million)’: Never before have we witnessed so many people who used to be monks and religious leaders yet engaged in deceitful and fraudulent activities as we did in 2021-2022. A series of former monks and abbots were exposed, and only when the press reported it and the authorities got involved did these fake monks and fake teachers reveal their true faces as professional scammers. The Vĩnh Long Provincial People's Procuracy has issued an indictment to prosecute Phạm Văn Cung, 40 years old, former abbot of Phước Quang Pagoda, and Nguyễn Tuấn Sĩ, 54 years old, residing in Vĩnh Long City, for fraud and appropriation of property. Cung organized many programs and events to build his own reputation. Cung introduced himself to the victims as being acquainted with many high-ranking leaders. He made video clips about the charitable activities of Phước Quang Pagoda and the Suối Nguồn Tình Thương Buddhist Orphanage Center, in which he was the main figure, and posted them on social media. Through these videos, Cung promoted his image and gained the trust of many people. Through this, Cung introduced his charitable work and described the arduous conditions of raising orphans to elicit their sympathy and assistance. Cung also fabricated events to borrow money. In total, Phạm Văn Cung borrowed over 77.7 billion VND (US$3.1 million) from four people for personal expenses, leading to an inability to repay. After being reported, Cung returned nearly 10 billion VND (US$400,000) to the victims. Thus, the amount Cung still owes is over 67.7 billion VND (US$2.7 million).”
“Excerpts from ‘MONKS PUNISHED BY THE BUDDHIST CHURCH’: On June 19th, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha announced a disciplinary action against monk Thích Chân Quang. Accordingly, he is prohibited from preaching in any form or presiding over large gatherings at Thiền Tôn Phật Quang temple or any other location for two years. This decision was based on a notification from the Standing Committee of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. According to the notification, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha received numerous complaints from Buddhists, the public, and the media, stating that the teachings of Most Venerable Thích Chân Quang caused confusion in society, provoked community reactions, diminished faith in Buddhism, and damaged the reputation of the Sangha. Monk Thích Chân Quang is well-known on social media for his controversial statements about karma, calls for donations, and his criticisms of other monks. On social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, it is easy to find his contentious remarks. Some of monk Thích Chân Quang’s controversial statements include: ‘You must find high-denomination bills and give them to the abbot. Only then can the abbot carry out the religious work,’ ‘Why do you have such a beautiful face? It’s because in a previous life, you participated in a statue casting ceremony and also made offerings,’ ‘Those with a true religious heart will even donate their house to the temple and move elsewhere,’ and ‘Those who sing karaoke a lot have a high risk of becoming mute ghosts after death.’ […] If Mr. Thích Chân Quang is found to have violated regulations, strict action will be taken. According to the same newspaper, monk Thích Chân Quang’s statements in online videos are inconsistent with Buddhist teachings, laws, cultural traditions, and the history of Vietnam, and he altered the precepts in the Three Jewels Certificate of Buddhism.”
“Media Report from Aljazeera – July 31, 2013, Reporter: The scandals and accusations of cheating have been taken to a new level, none more so than in the case of Wiraphon Sukphon, who was caught on video in a private jet, sporting designer labels, despite taking a monk’s vow of simplicity. He’s also been accused of money laundering and accumulating tens of millions of dollars in assets. There have been other cases since, each prompting investigations from within the monkhood.”
“Excerpt from a heartline from Ngọc Hạnh in Âu Lạc (Vietnam): Dear Supreme Master Ching Hai, I am eternally grateful to You for accepting me as Your disciple. I followed Trần Tâm for eight years and would like to share some information to caution those who are following or supporting him. I used to go to Trần Tâm’s meditation center to offer my help and noticed that outwardly, he appeared very dignified, like a good teacher. However, one day, I heard a close disciple of Trần Tâm recount that he had sexually assaulted his disciples. At first, I was skeptical because I revered him like a Living Buddha. I was heartbroken and cried for a week because this was too shocking. I prayed to the Higher Powers for the truth. Then I met the manager of Trần Tâm’s meditation center in Laos and a former close monk of his, both of whom confirmed this information as accurate. This former monk was also a victim himself. Trần Tâm sexually assaulted both male and female disciples, but mainly males. He even once sexually assaulted a teenage boy in the U.S. and deceived the boy’s mother into believing that the boy had bad karma and needed to stay at his meditation center. The boy’s mother sued him, but somehow the matter was hushed up. I know of over 50 victims who were sexually assaulted by him. Another disciple named *** publicly accused him on Facebook on December 4, 2019 (the post, as of the time I write this heartline on September 30, 2024, is still there), and several other disciples like ***, including one who used to be a host and helped film for Trần Tâm, along with two former monks who followed Trần Tâm, also made accusations but later removed their posts. Criminals of this nature often use the excuse of whether there is forensic evidence to accuse them, and they use money along with threats and bribes to resolve matters. It is truly sinful to use the honest money of others to sustain criminal activities, dragging them into the same whirlpool of guilt. I believe that when the authorities discover the truth, Trần Tâm will face justice. However, this may implicate those who are helping him run this criminal operation. I hope they will awaken and escape from it as soon as possible. Disciple Ngọc Hạnh from Âu Lạc (Vietnam)”
“Testimony by a former follower of Ruma Trần Tâm, Aug. 1, 2024: I used to be a follower of Trần Tâm. I was directly involved in internal affairs such as living expenses, food, and shopping. Therefore, I know all about his personality and lifestyle. I gradually realized that many of his actions were improper, such as taking money from the meditators, some of whom even had to sell their houses to make offerings out of fear of his curses. There were male meditators who left and reported him because he sexually harassed them during their participation in the group. Many people were abused in this way. He even wrote letters threatening and cursing that their whole family would get sick or die if they did not come back. His right-hand men, who called themselves his dharma protectors and monks, freely collected money from meditators for him and even put it in their own pockets. During the retreats, food was sold at exorbitant prices, even 20 times higher than the actual cost, because he claimed it had blessing power. For example, he sold a sapodilla (fruit) that he grew himself for US$100, a pancake for 500,000 VND (Vietnamese Dong ~ US$20), a plate of rice for 1 million VND (US$40), and many other similarly overpriced items.”
ETC…
Even devils, real devils don’t do that. I mean good devils; they don’t do that. They might try to seduce people to do bad things, but they don’t abuse people’s kindness to do bad things to them. They take only the bad people, the sinful people, to hell. If you are strong and spiritually mighty, and you are virtuous, you are moral, the devils don’t dare to touch you, don’t want to harm you. They even have respect for you.
But these so-called fake masters, they know nothing. They fear nothing. They just sit on the dais, look like a big thing, but they’re just big egos, you can tell. Anyone who has a little spiritual wisdom can tell who is who right away. The way they sit, the way they talk, the way their eyes look, the words they use, their actions on the stage and in daily life, you can see right away. This is just a true ego, a devil manifested in a human body, and it’s really sickening even just to look at or to think of them.
I only tell you those who are concerned with my teaching, these so-called fake masters. Others, I don’t want to tell. I don’t want to see them even. Their face, their ego, their action on the stage is really sickening already. How much more sickening if you talk about them? Truly like that. I just feel sorry for the vulnerable who have been cheated by them, deluded by them and abused by them, either financially, spiritually, or physically. ETC…
This is so sickening. But humans, you all have to be alert. You all have to use the best possible intuition that God gives you to discern who is who. Otherwise, you are farther and farther away from God if you follow these fake masters, just full of ego, greed and sickness inside their soul, if they even have any soul. They are soulless, heartless, just have egos and greed.
When I see them on the Internet, sitting there with maybe big turbans or/and big robes, or whatever colorful types of robes, or designer suits. Even with monk’s robes, all kinds of holy symbols of love and wisdom, but just sit there empty or stand there full of fakeness and falseness, just even talking nonsense or talking harmfully to people, telling people even to go astray, not to recite the Buddhas’ Names!
Photo Caption: 2GETHER, BEAUTIFYING THE WORLD
