In a common room at a Taipei County hospital last week, dozens of parents lined up with their sick children, most of whom suffer from cancer, to receive a blessing from a young Tibetan monk.
The room at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (長庚紀念醫院) in Linkou filled up as still more people gathered. Some gripped conspicuous red envelopes while waiting patiently in line.
Later, when the group of lamas decided to leave, havoc broke out as some distressed parents claimed their sick children had been overlooked in the blessing ceremony.
Parents of children who had not yet received a blessing began to chase the monks, with some following them all the way to Taipei's Grand Hyatt Hotel where the monks were staying.
The young monk in question was one of the two claimants to be the reincarnated Karmapa -- the religious leader of a Tibetan Buddhist sect named Karma Kagyu -- both of whom visited Taiwan last week.
During the past week, the two masters, who each claim the exclusive right to the title Karmapa and were invited by different Buddhist groups, conducted relief ceremonies for 921 earthquake victims which drew thousands.
"The event marks the speedy development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan," said Chiang Tsan-teng (|螃樾?, a lecturer of religious studies at National Tsing-Hua University.
Yet some observers think that the rapidly spreading popularity of Tibetan Buddhism is not necessarily good for Taiwan's religious environment.
As a society steeped in the traditions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism -- the branch of Buddhism practiced by most Chinese followers, for most of Taiwan's history Tibetan Buddhism has had little social or religious impact.
According to Jigme Rinpoche who visited Taiwan last week, the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism can be traced back 30 years.
But the religion's following began to boom only 10 years ago. "The religion is growing because we have many good lamas," said 17-year-old Thaye Dorje, the Bhutan based claimant to be the Karmapa, on his visit here.
"Many local Buddhists and monks went to Tibet seeking further enlightenment, especially on the question of life and death," said Chen Yu-ting (3砝t廷), director of the Huayu Foundation.
The excitement around Tibetan Buddhism began to heat up with the visit of the Dalai Lama in 1997.
Tibetan Buddhism has a distinct and complete lineage, which is difficult to find in Chinese Buddhism due to the many upheavals throughout history that made preserving documentation of its development impossible, Chen said.
Chen and his father Chen Li-an (3紡i|w), president of the foundation and former president of the Control Yuan, have been trying to popularize Tibetan Buddhism since 1996, the year Chen Li-an lost his independent bid in the presidential election.
Celebrities have helped popularize Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, Chiang said.
After the Dalai Lama visited Taiwan, Tibetan Buddhism has been extremely popular, Chiang said.
"The endorsement of politicians and powerful people gave Tibetan Buddhism a great boost. Among the celebrities are Chen Li-an and his family, Huang Chao-song (黃肇松), president of the China Times and Ting Nai-chu (?B?D竺), a well-known actress.
Since the Dalai Lama's visit, many Taiwanese have converted from Mahayana Buddhism to the Tibetan variety, Chiang said.
According to Chiang, in Taipei alone, there are at least 200 Tibetan Buddhism centers in Taiwan.
The year after the Dalai Lama's visit, the China Times Group held a six-month exhibition on instruments and antiques of Tibetan Buddhism.
The exhibition attracted more than 200,000 viewers, including President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), James Soong (宋楚瑜) and John Chang (31孝嚴).
Chiang said the media has played a key role in promoting the mystique and exoticism of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan.
According to statistics from the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, there are more than 500,000 Tibetan Buddhists in Taiwan.
Every year, over 1,000 Tibetan monks visit and preach in Taiwan. But there are not many local Tibetan Buddhism monasteries, nor local lamas.
According to Lopon Rinpoche, abbot of the Tainan Karma Kargyu Temple, there are less than five temples in Taiwan and fewer than 100 Lamas.
Joseph Chen (3秘^富), a Tibetan Buddhism researcher and deputy chief editor of the China Times, said Taiwan has been a chaotic society where people actively seek spiritual guidance. Generally, Taiwanese are susceptible to many kinds of beliefs and people seem eager to accept Tibetan Buddhism, he said.
A saying that Taiwanese worship anything seems to explain the phenomena, Chen said.
"From one perspective, people's willingness to adopt Tibetan Buddhism suggests Taiwan is a liberal society in matters of religion, but on the other hand, it also suggests that the spiritual minds of Taiwanese are very fragile and immature," Chiang said.
Echoing Chiang, Chen said, Taiwanese followers tend to worship masters without verifying the authenticity of those masters.
Furthermore, Tibetan monks too often comply with their Taiwanese followers' wishes to conduct numerous blessing rituals, Chiang said.
As a result, blessing rituals are often emphasized over the basic two lessons of reading scriptures and meditation practices,Chen said.
Contributions to support temples or monasteries is part of the Buddhist tradition, but Taiwanese followers seem to overemphasize this part, Chen said.
People tend to believe donations will be rewarded with good fortune which allows some temples to amass considerable wealth.
"Some Lamas even charge for a blessing ritual. And there have been many cases of `fakes' deceiving innocent followers," he said.
Even the visiting Tibetan Lamas noticed the questionable credentials of some Lamas in Taiwan. "Here we found many monks claiming to be a Rinpoche, but we have never heard of them, nor have we formally recognized them," Tenam Lama, secretary of Tai Situpa Rinpoche, said during his visit.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS