Jun Hong Lu

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Jun Hong Lu
Other names 卢军宏
[[Image:
Lu in 2012
|300x300px]]
Website www.richardjunhonglu.org
Born 4 August 1959
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Died 10 November 2021
Sydney, Australia
Occupation Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door organizations owner, Australia Oriental Radio director

Richard Jun Hong Lu (4 August 1959 – 10 November 2021), also known as Lu Tai Zhang (盧台長, literally means Master Lu) by his followers, was a Chinese-born Australian man, a founder of the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door religious belief (觀世音菩薩心靈法門), and several other organisations' owner.

Biography

Early life

Lu was born on 4 August 1959 in Shanghai, China. In his youth, he studied traditional Chinese opera and graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy; he then studied at UNSW Business School in Australia between 1989 to 1995. In meantime, he launch publications of Chinese language magazine. After graduating, Lu then migrated to Australia permanently and obtained Australian citizenship in 1995.[1][2] In 2007, he started Australia Oriental Radio and served as the director. In 2010, he created the the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door organisation and created his own religious belief.

Death

On 10 November 2021, Lu died at Sydney in Australia at local time 4 A.M. due to undisclosed illnesses at the age of 62. According to the reports, Lu was critically ill on 7 November 2021.[3][4][5]

Controversy

Accusations of self-profit

Based on reports, since Lu's practice mainly consisted of reciting mantras centric to Guan Yin, he encouraged students to keep track of their counts on sheets of paper, colloquially known as a "little house" for its shape. Lu claimed that the burning of the "little house" could help his followers to eliminate disasters on them and change their lives. Lu also claimed that the little house can be photocopied for free. However, according to the report, majority of Lu's followers believed that the "little house" printed by Lu was more effective and they chose to purchase from Lu's organisation. In addition, Lu told his followers getting close to him will be able to gain more benefits. Followers who wanted to get close to Lu would serve as an apprentice to join Lu's organization. Lu would collect at least $10,000 for apprenticeship entry fee. Lu also gained profit through selling radio devices and accepting large number of donations from his followers, which resulted in many families facing financial difficulties.[6]

Malaysia Buddhism organisation's reaction

On 23 January 2015, one day before Lu's Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door event started at Penang in Malaysia, sixtheen Buddhist organisations from Malaysia made a joint declaration to warn the public that the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door preached by Lu was not, in their view, orthodox Buddhist teaching and urged the public to avoid attending Lu's event on 24 January 2015. In the declaration, the organisations also condemned Lu for abusing Buddhist mantras and use the illusion of supernatural power to mislead other Buddhists.[7]

On 28 December 2018, nine Buddhist organisations from Malaysia jointly issued a public statement, declaring that Lu's Guan Yin Citta belief was not orthodox Buddhist teaching, and cautioned the public to avoid attending Lu's religious events. The nine organisations were Malaysian Buddhist Association, Young Buddhist Association Of Malaysia / YBAM ATC, Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia, Buddhist Maha Vihara Malaysia, Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia, Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia, Buddha's Light International Association in Malaysia, and Malaysian Buddhist Kulapati Association. In the joint declaration, the organisations point that Lu's claim to his ability to conduct totem and tarot reading, to foresee a person's previous and future lives, and being able to directly communicate with Guan Yin Bodhisattva did not fall in line with mainstream Buddhist ideology.[8] Additionally, the joint statement also declared that practice of tracking mantra counts using "little house" and burning it, plus the actions of promoting a cult of personality for Lu are also not part of Buddhist practice.[9][10]

On 16 October 2019, several Buddhist organisations urged the public to avoid Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door and to be clear that Lu's Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door had caused harm to society. A monk, namely Dahong, told the media that monks who attend Lu's events are not really into learning Lu's Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door teaching, that those who understand Lu's teaching will see that it does not match Buddhist ideologies and will refuse to attend the event, hence Lu will invite different monks to attend his event every time to give the appearance that his teachings are valid. In these events, only a small amount of monks (usually novices) were brainwashed by Lu or will purposely attend his event for financial benefits. Dahong also pointed out that many Buddhists misbelief in Lu's teaching have resulted in family problems, change in temperament, conduct illegal publishing of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door's book, and refuse to see doctor when sick. Malaysian politician Lim Lip Eng confirmed to the media that he had received complaints from several Buddhist organisations regarding Lu misleading Buddhists to burn "little house" papers.[11][12][13]

The Hong Kong Buddhist Association's reaction

On 30 June 2016, the Hong Kong Buddhist Association published a statement on its official website stating that Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door does not fall in line with orthodox Buddhist doctrines, adding that the movement did not accurately cite or contradicted sutra texts to quantify their claims, and that the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door added many of Lu's own interpretations to the sutra texts that had not existed before. The association also declared their stance is in line with Buddhist associations from Malaysia, who also discredited Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door.[14]

Footnotes