Robert Popper has posted an appreciation of Supreme Master Television, a cult-backed satellite television network I've seen advertised in airports around the world, but never before bothered to google. There's a lot to love in this clip. Robert: I'd like to know when we can say "hebbo!" to a Tarvuist Faith television channel.
Supreme Master TV has a website, the cult behind it operates a chain of vegan restaurants, and they have offices in Southern California. Their leader is one Supreme Master Ching Hai, and Rick Ross says it's more like ka-ching. That's her, at left (click for large size), and here's a Wikipedia article. She sells hair extensions and stuff. She has opinions on global warming. She sings spiritual lounge music. She designs "celestial clothes and sleeping mattresses for dogs," which are spiritually themed costumes designed to bring your "blessed canine friend" closer to enlightenment. If you do one thing today, please: watch the dog video.
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The Supreme Master Television people come to my little hometown annually to sell the greatest vegan food during the music festival week. I have their flyer on my kitchen wall - "please don't kill us" the cows say, "we love you"!
The food photos in the restaurant menus really do look fantastic. Similarly, some of the finest vegetarian food of my life I ate at Hare Krishna temples.
I've been to one of the Supreme Master's restaurant's in Worcester, MA. Every one of the waiters wore the same strange necklace and all of the items on the menu were pretty much exactly the same thing, but in slightly different combinations (think Taco Bell), also all the food was served in military-style metal bowls...creepy. While you ate, you could watch videos of Supreme Master Ching Hai, who, as I recall mentioned that she had come from the past.
ryderdie -- I grew up in Worcester, MA (how I ever got to be commenting on BoingBoing I will never know, but will be ever thankful for) and have to say I LOVE that restaurant. They recently moved and upgraded the plates and things. Plus metal cups and bowls are how food is served in many developing nations. It is kind of nostalgic to me. I think the food is delicious and the Supreme Master TV is great to crack jokes at while dining with friends. =)
I live just around the corner from one of these Loving Hut restaurants and it creeps me out so much. The food was not great, but mostly it was the TV right by our table playing culty propaganda the whole time that put us off. The funniest part is that the workers all plaster their cars with massive stickers telling us to go vegan to save the Earth. Every one is an SUV.
I frequent her Chicago restaurant Alice & Friends often. There is a small TeeVee constantly playing Supreme Master TV along with some of her literature by the cash register which I always found charming but never pay much attention as it is well away from the main dining area. The staff is nothing but nice, the ambiance is very soothing and, most importantly, the food is fantastic (and I am a carnivore).
Does she sell special oatmeal for the dogs too?
Dear Christians,
Does this video creep you out? Yes?
As much as this video creeps you out... this is just about how creepy you guys make me feel.
Could you imagine being surrounded by these delusional nutjobs all over the United States and having to deal with them on a daily basis? Could you imagine these star-twinkies influencing your government and passing inane laws that you must obey?
Now you know how I feel... welcome to my world.
Hail, Sagan!
Cowicide
Were those...hyenas?
I was too fascinated by the obscene amount of subtitles that I didn't really pay attention to the content. Bring on the text!
Holy subtitles!
I like the meditation products: Three tents, one mosquito net, two tinfoil mats, a folding chair and a plaid dog bed masquerading as a meditation cushion
The dog video made my day.
"The Poet" ftw.
I think that dog video was an attempt to brainwash me, because I found myself laughing uncontrollably. Did anyone else experience that?
So, that's what those child beauty queens look like when they grow up!
It is always a wonder to behold how complete and utter nutbags can create such a hysteria around themselves. Some of us are just born with the can't-help-but-follow-a-nutbag gene.
Oh goody, another strange belief in a supreme being. This one is so special he...it create two universes. Are they like the light and dark universes in LEXX? I don't know, didn't care to read much more.
There is a Buddhist temple (at least it used to be) down my street and all the people that live there have the big magnets all over their cars. Now I know what/who the Supreme Master is.
Thanks BB!
I frequent a vegan restaurant in Sacramento called 'Au Lac Veggie' and they have flyers for this stuff in the restaurant. Interesting to understand more about what I have been supporting with my dining dollars. Kind of creepy, but the food is undeniably delicious.
@cowicide
It's true. The laughter is painful. I feel like I've just been subjected to a kind of reverse Turing test. The robot concludes I can be manipulated into anything, and will even like it if tickled enough. I conclude that I believe in nothing.
Jesus effing Christ!
I mean...
Supreme effing Master Ching friggin Hai!
@ antinous-- yes.
@ GauchoAmigo-- I work as a closed captioner for the hearing impaired and my first thought when the video started was, "What this really needs is a few more lines of captions."
Every now and then I get a reminder of why bOINGbOING is better than a Snuggie and a bong hit. Wow. Just.....wow.
This meat-filled agnostic seconds the report of SUPREMELY delicious food at Alice & Friends in Chicago. I am normally instantly freaked out by any sort of religion being pushed in my face, but every time I've been to Alice & Friends that little tv was muted. So...hear-no-evil & try the "un-meats".
remember me when the rain falls.
Crap, I just recited Tarvu's Prayer! I guess I'm in, however reluctantly. They tricked me! I'm going to shout out to all the octopuses (octopi?) and start a octopus/human militia, and we're taking ALL you fools down!
Ok, I'm sorry I threatened everyone with my octopus/human militia. I hereby renounce Tarvuism. Being nice all the time is effing stupid! I do think Supreme Master Ching Hai is a naughty, naughty girl.
she was convicted on environmental grounds in Florida, cut a swathe through a neighbouring national park so her followers could build an artifical island for her
http://www.rickross.com/reference/ching_hai/sumaching11.html
"Go veg save the planet"? Don't think so...
The best vegan restaurants in Seoul are all SM Ching Hai sponsored- there are even a couple of buffets. I have always found them nice, and even though the SM TV is distracting, the staff never seems to try to convert you, which makes it better than Seventh Day Adventist restaurants.
click for large size? already looks pretty large to me.
I live right around from the corner and it's the best vegetarian food I've ever tasted.
They have been running an ad on Australian TV for some years now.
I always thought it to be an offering from an environmentalist group as it mainly discusses global warming.
Only recently I noticed this Supreme Master logo at the end of the ad and looked them up.
Parenthetically, does anyone know if they have a veggie restaurant in San Francisco?
Some of the TV has been screened seemingly randomly on the community TV station in Cape Town, South Africa. I, too, was so mesmerised by the dozens of simultaneous languages, the scrolling ticker, and the popups on screen that I have no idea what the broadcast was about.
(But my subconscious did go: "WTF? Is this a cult?")
i like it. go vegan newagers!
Looking for vegetarian restaurants on our honeymoon in San Francisco we stumbled on a Supreme Master restaurant called Golden Era on O'Farell. Noting the widescreen play that news channel on a loop I bet my wife that a vegan cult ran restaurants like this all over the country. Thanks for settling in my favor. Really great food by the way.
This... this can not possibly be real.
I'll sooner believe it's the world's most elaborate viral ad/practical joke.
@Cowicide,,,
Not all Christians are that way; I'm one. Don't get me wrong, I look at my more fundamentalist friends with a sideways glance; they're really going out of their way to turn a fairly good philosophy into a death cult. There are a good number of us who simply prefer to go about doing the best we can, not proselytizing to everyone, letting our acts say what needs to be said, and chuckling at the Fundies who are constantly convinced the end is nigh. Seldom if ever do we watch the religious networks or listen to their radio. We don't take all of the books of the Bible at face value; we remember that they were written in a totally different age, and we accept that humans are humans, and some of those biases show in the book. But stripped down to the bare bones, it's not a bad.
Yes, I'm Episcopalian.
Something wrong with being happy?
Something wrong with being rich and happy?
Incidentally, when I first saw this, I thought it was a tie in to "V". Then I read the article...
Must...go...murder...cows? I think I received the wrong message.
@antinous I actually think those are wild dogs from either Africa or Australia.
This group proclaims to have an environmentalist agenda...yet they attached 5-page, glossy fliers to *every single bike in sight* at my university, once. And we're talking about literally thousands upon thousands of bikes (we have ~55k students).
Somehow, I don't think that use of paper seems quite in line with their goals. I have to say that the flier itself was quite entertaining, though.
Why is BoingBoing always so quick to call any group (other than Apple) with passionate followers a cult? Cult is a pretty serious allegation. This is the one area that I think BoingBoing fails to live up to the thoughtful and intelligent writing one expects from them.
Just because a bunch of people are passionate about something that Xeni thinks is weird, doesn't make it a cult.
My favorite is the episode where she tells us about speaking with the people on Mars. It's not a news clip, but it should still be on some web site or other!
You're right, Stronzo, there is nothing cult-like about this organization at all.
I'm not defending Boing boing explicitly, but Supreme Master Ching Hai definitely runs a "cult," according to most definitions. Her followers worship her specifically. Watch any of her "talks" if you are interested in learning more.
I've been to Golden Era in SF, Alice & Friends in Chicago, Loving Hut and One World in the LA area and all were pretty great. If you can ignore the crazy religious aspect of it, the food is fantastic.
How is it possible that wikipedia does not have an entry for this TV network?
They do however have a whole category for self-declared messiahs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Self-declared_messiahs
Ching Hai is interesting, but her book "Aphorisms" was a disappointment-- the packaging was nice, little red book, and it had a bunch of photos of Supreme Master Ching Hai dressed fabulously in a wide variety of elegant outfits, but the aphorisms themselves were pretty trite, lots about leading a simple life etc.
quan yin may be goofy, even tacky, and certainly extremely curious, but it is not a cult.
let's look at today's post on cults- http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/04/goldwag-cults-in-the.html -- is quan yin "a coercive or totalizing relationship between a dominating leader and his or her unhealthily dependent followers."? no. does it have "1) A charismatic leader who makes him or herself an object of worship; 2) A process of "coercive persuasion or thought reform" ("brainwashing," it is sometimes called); and 3) Economic, sexual, or psychological exploitation of members by the cult's leadership."? well, no no and no (ching hai is indeed a "charismatic leader", who is a teacher, not an object to be prayed to). i've gone to the restaurant mentioned by ryder more times than i can count. it's good, it's cheap, it's fun. never did i feel like i was being preached to or subtly indoctrinated. pretty bummed that boing boing is denigrating rather than celebrating this-- i mean, look at what you're criticizing:
- she has her own television station (and seriously who doesn't nowadays?)
- she urges people to go vegetarian (as does ray ghandi, morrissey, and coltrane)
- she designs her own cool-looking clothes
- she sings spiritual lounge music
- she makes halloween costumes for dogs
are these things you want more of or less of in the world?
Um... "Supreme Master?"
Cool-looking clothes???
Oh! So, how long have you been a devotee?
@49: Your arguments aren't very sound, but I place the burden of proof on the sane rest-of-the-world to demonstrate the bullet points you've described. But the phrase "Supreme Master" has that hyperbolic connotation that just makes you automatically think "CULTCULTCULTCULT".
I remember seeing Ching Hai on public access TV back in the day. I think she was on after that UFO guy with the eye patch. She wasn't blonde back then, but I like the new look.
In my neighborhood of San Francisco I have the option of two Vegan Chinese restaurants. One provides "supreme master" bumper stickers and the other sports a rack of pamphlets about Christian morality.
The staff of both eateries are pretty nice, but the Christians irk me more because their interpretation of the bible is so weird. Something that's completely alien and unknown is sometimes easier to brush off than something you understand and have an opinion about.
The Chicago North-side Alice & Friends resto is now part of the Loving Hut chain. Haven't been there since the change of ownership (the signs out front read "same chef, same menu!") but I can vouch that the vegan offerings at the old A&F were very tasty - and I'm an omnivore. Was a great place to take out-of-town vegan friends, if you don't mind a little "Supreme Master TV" in the background on CC/mute.
It probably has something to do with how similar this seems to other cults, right down to the supreme master thing. Anyone up for kool-aid!?
I love their san jose restaurants--they are both on santa clara street, one's called vegetarian house and the other is ToFooComChay. The food is really good, and the vegetarian house is full of Supreme master artifacts. It's a nice scene.
The pastel colors...the multiple swirly typefaces...the cute doggies in clothing...the artwork...the blond hair...there is just so much! I feel dizzy! wheeee....
She may be crazy, but Veggie Heaven near UT in Austin is a kick ass restaurant; and I say that as an avid eater of all things meat.
The rest of that new age clap trap can suck it.
My inlaws (like 30 of 'em) are all disciples. I've always thought of it as a (personality) cult, but of the most harmless kind. They volunteer to feed the homeless (great veggie Vietnamese food), contribute money to the various charity arms of the thing, and the doctors in the group are always flying to poor countries to do volunteer work.
The spirituality part of it is just simple meditation, right living, positive thinking, and the only thing I have ever found off-putting besides the personality and wacky crafts of the s.m. herself it the sort of one-upmanship between disciples over who is most pious. Part of the whole cult thing is just cultural, in the asian tradition of discipleship to a spiritual teacher. I've never detected anything sinister emanating from any of what I've observed.
African wild dogs, Antinous.
I'm thinking that even if the food at the restaurants was delicious and the staff didn't seem too pushy about their agenda, food prepared by a group like that would be too scary for me. I guess the high profile extremists and cults have left me with a bit of a fear of groups like that, but I'd worry that at some point they might tamper with the food. The fear that the food was poisoned would keep me from being able to eat it. It wouldn't matter what religion or fringe group or cult or what was serving it, I just couldn't eat it.
I do like the universal subtitle system.
My story about "Supreme Master's" crazy cult and restaurant:
They opened a restaurant in downtown San José on Santa Clara st. back maybe 15 yrs.(?) ago conveniently named "Supreme Master of Meditation Suma Ching Hai's International Vegetarian House Restaurant" (they were somehow able to fit all of that plus a picture of "Supreme Master" herself on a tiny awning over the door). The name has since been shortened but I used to love reciting it verbatim to folks as a vegetarian restaurant suggestion. Anyway, when it first opened I dropped in on a whim one day and was treated to a giant screen indoctrination video of "Supreme Master" (pre blond bleach job) addressing a soccer stadium full of hapless minions while I enjoyed a reasonably good vegetarian meal in the otherwise empty dining room. As she launched into some rant about being able to bring the "true beauty and peace of the world" into my life I heard shouting coming from the open window I was seated next to and was treated the spectacle of a drunken vagrant in the parking lot pissing himself while loudly fighting an invisible opponent. Just as she raised her hand and said something like "Now feel the power of God!" he took a staggering dive and hit the pavement, (evidently K.O.d by his invisible opponent). He then lifted his head and puked profusely, stared down at his output and exclaimed "Now who the fuck did that?". The last thing I remember her saying was something like "Remember that here today I have shown you God's beauty and power at work in the world". The whole experience was just so perfectly synchronized for unintended comedy. Sometimes I think life's random events just conspire to entertain me.
Just wanted to say by chance we went to one of these restaurants for the first time the other week.
We live in Perth, Western Australia.
They work off a 'pay what you feel' system, so there were plenty of uni students there.
The big screen projector and loud music was freaky and hypnotic.
This restaurant was total vegan, not just vegitarian.
I am so sick from the cloying, nauseating sweetness I cant eat my chicken dinner! A job well done, Supreme Master?
Lighten up guys.....she is taking the mickey out of you. Search "Sufi masters". Those that are meant to get it do and the rest are just left quoting misinformation. I have known her for 13 years and think she is sooooooo funny and endlessly tolerant and switched on. Yeah some of the followers do seem a bit "fundamentalist" but that is just THEIR level. Go get initiated, it's a must do before you die.
I went to one of their restaurants in Brisbane the food was amazing. Some western, some asian styles. All presented well the vegan cheesecake was to die for. I had two slices chocolate and blueberry.
The staff were polite and courteous, and like in the previous comments did not push their agenda.
Trying to save the world by encouraging a vegan diet may not work but its certainly not sinister.
I found the positive TV occasional sickly sweet but a break from the usual crap that is universally banal or negative.
I was told their teacher does not accept donations of any kind and even though they call her Master they said the main focus was to find their own inner master.
I can see why some people could see this is sinister but in reality many eastern groups have a master who followers respect an hold in high esteem. The Westerners in particular seemed casual and pretty easy going.
Gotta say the atmosphere was much like the Hari Krishnas ie. not pushy but the staff seemed genuinely happy to be there and the food was in my opinion of a higher standard.
If I'm in Mt Gravatt I'll go back.