Bogus Buddhas

Source:Phoenix Weekly-Global Times Published: 2013-11-3 19:28:01

A lama walks in Labrang Monastery, Xiahe county, Gansu Province, established in 1709, and one of the largest surviving Tibetan Buddhist sites in China. Photo: IC

A lama walks in Labrang Monastery, Xiahe county, Gansu Province, established in 1709, and one of the largest surviving Tibetan Buddhist sites in China. Photo: IC

Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, is more known for scandal than saintliness. But hundreds of users identify themselves as "living Buddhas" and refer to themselves as rinpoche, which is an honorific used to address high-ranking Tibetan monks. These accounts, some of which have tens of thousands of followers, post religious teachings or discuss spiritual questions with Net users.

Tibetan Buddhism, like other aspects of Tibetan culture, has been gaining popularity among Han Chinese in recent years, especially young people. But many of the self-proclaimed "living Buddhas" on Weibo appear to be Han and may be exploiting people's religious devotion.

Back in July, Weibo user "Laosi Laifu" started questioning whether a user called "Danba Buddha" is really what he claimed. Danba Buddha, a Han, had close to 28,900 followers at the time, although the number has dropped by about 400 now. His Weibo account shows that he's based in Beijing.

According to a screenshot posted by Laosi Laifu, Danba Buddha used to be verified by Sina as a  reincarnated Buddha recognized by the Bonpo, Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

This is very rare, if not impossible, as monasteries of different schools recognize their own gurus.

In one of Danba Buddha's blog posts in 2011, he said he would be hosting a Dharma event and would charge 200 yuan ($32.80) per attendee. He suggested that his followers didn't need to be present at the event because too many people might lead to trouble. He also asked his followers to donate clothes to a monastery in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

According to Laosi Laifu's investigation, Danba, whose real name is Wang Yongqiang, originally came from Liaoning Province and visited Tibet in 2007. Later he used a number of Tibetan-sounding names and eventually called himself a living Buddha.

Laosi Laifu reported to Sina Weibo questioning Danba Buddha's verification in late July and soon Danba Buddha's verified status was revoked.

But Danba Buddha continues to repost messages about Tibetan Buddhism online and still has followers. One of his followers, a trainer at a gym in Guangdong Province, told Phoenix Weekly that he still believes in Danba Buddha. He said studying Buddhism made him find inner peace.

He doesn't see anything wrong with the supposed living Buddha charging money to host religious events. For him, the donation could bring him good karma.

Zeng Chuanhui, a professor at the Institute of Religious Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Phoenix Weekly that in Tibet there are 150 to 200 "living Buddhas" recognized by the government, and about 2,000 acknowledged by Tibetan believers. But he said there are also thousands of unrecognized living Buddhas.

State-backed reincarnation

The term "living Buddha" is mostly used by Han people to address the reincarnation of high-ranking monks at a monastery. Tibetan Buddhism has its own reincarnation system and its own ritual procedures of identifying a reincarnated Buddha, known as tulku in Tibetan. Such identifications are led by monasteries or high-ranking monks.

The Chinese government issued a regulation in 2007 which requires monasteries report to the local government when they want to seek out a reincarnation. Reincarnation needs to be approved by the provincial level government and in some cases, the State Council. Only after the government approves can the monasteries seek the reincarnated Buddha.

Not all living Buddhas carry a State-approved "certificate" and it doesn't affect their influence among followers. On the other hand, some fraudsters use fake certificates to run scams.

For many Han, living Buddhas represents holiness and mysterious power, but for Tibetan believers the name in itself only represents a person's achievement in the past life. If a living Buddha doesn't have the spiritual achievements or doesn't behave properly, local people won't follow him, said Zeng.

After a person is identified as the reincarnation, it still takes decades of studying to become a tulku. They also need to sit in exams, which include days of debating over scriptures, to be granted academic degrees as proof of their religious achievements. 

Divine detectives

Another Net user called Ah Ming has also been exposing fake Buddhas online since 2007. A Han, Ah Ming became interested in Tibetan Buddhism in college and went on to study Buddhism in the Tibetan areas for years. He is skeptical of the Buddhas online. "Not all Han Buddhas are fake, but most of them are," he told Phoenix Weekly.

He started to post information about Tibetan Buddhism on his blog. "Too many people are blindly passionate about Tibetan Buddhism; too few actually know about the real situation," he said.

A Net user wrote to Ah Ming saying that she met a guru online and the guru wanted to marry her and promised her blessings. She was willing to marry him if he was indeed a virtuous guru, according to her letter posted by Ah Ming online. Ah Ming cautioned her not to rush into anything. Later they found out that the guru had asked several of his female followers to marry him.

In recent years there have been a number of cases where Buddhist or Taoist followers were asked to have sex with the gurus in order to dissolve them of their sins or avoid predicted disasters.

In another case of fraud, in 2010, Li Yi, a Taoist priest and an abbot of Shaolong Temple in Chongqing, was reported to have faked his resume and the miracles he performed. He became popular for promoting Taoist practices to achieve longevity and health. Many celebrities also visited him, which boosted his popularity.

The most common trick fraudsters use to gain people's trust is to post pictures of themselves taken in a Tibetan monastery or with Tibetan lamas.

Some may give money to a poor monastery in a remote area or promise to build a shrine or a statue there in exchange for an identity. They could even hire locals as extras to play devout followers kneeling in front of the fake living Buddha, according to Phoenix Weekly.

Fake Buddhas are not unknown in other countries, particularly India. Perhaps the most famous was "Lobsang Rampa," who claimed to be a Tibetan "living Buddha" raised in a monastery and published a number of popular spiritual books in the UK and US in the 1950s and 1960s. After investigation, he was discovered to be Cyril Henry Hoskins, a plumber from Devon, England, who had never visited Tibet.

Spiritual void

Different religions, not just Tibetan Buddhism, are growing in China. Experts in religious studies often attribute the rise of religion to people's need for spiritual fulfillment in a fast-developing society.

Another reason why some Tibetan monks have come to teach in Han areas is because these areas are relatively more developed than Tibetan ones and therefore could help the monasteries.

For many young people, Tibet holds a special place in their heart. They hitchhike, cycle or drive thousands of kilometers to Tibet, which they view as sacred, mysterious and spiritual. Some not only fall in love with the culture, but the religion as well.

But not many of them understand the religion fully, said Zhang Lei, a Han follower of Tibetan Buddhism who lives in Shaanxi Province. "Everything about Tibet has become 'in vogue.' But many young people today are only attracted to what's in the surface; they haven't really delved into the scriptures, nor do they have a deep understanding of the religion," he told the Global Times.

Zhang said some people fall easily into the traps of fake gurus because they seek out religion as an answer to their practical needs, such as getting rich or avoiding trouble. Fraudsters play into such needs.

He is concerned about the fake Buddhas misleading the public. "For one thing, it's bad for the followers because they are not learning the real thing; and it also deepens people's misunderstanding about Tibetan Buddhism," he said.

It has also led to conflicts among different schools of Buddhism. On online Buddhism discussion forums, there are quite a number of posts attacking Tibetan Buddhism.

Ah Ming said it's easy to check if a living Buddha is real or fake; simply check with the monastery. It's similar to exposing fake diplomas, he told the Hong Kong-based magazine.

But even after a fake guru or living Buddha is exposed, they may continue to have followers. Many lay low for a while and go somewhere else to run scams, said Ah Ming.

During one of his lectures explaining Buddhist teachings, Khenpo Sodargye, the vice chief of the Larung Gar Serthar Buddhist Institute in Ganzi, Sichuan Province, said that in pre-modern times the reincarnation system was very strict and there were many living Buddhas who contributed a lot to the religion. He said many Han are blindly attracted to living Buddhas out of superstition instead of true understanding of the religion. He asked Buddhists to observe and think carefully and to practice the religious teachings instead of seeking quick fixes.

Phoenix Weekly-Global Times

Posted in: In-Depth

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