Quan Yin Method (Suma Ching Hai)

Suma Ching Hai (born Hue Dang Trinh in Vietnam, 1948) began teaching publicly in Taiwan in 1986 after claiming initiation in the Indian Sant Mat / Surat Shabd Yoga lineage from a Himalayan master. The 'Quan Yin Method' is essentially Sant Mat's inner-light-and-sound meditation practice (cf. Radha Soami Beas) packaged for an international Buddhist-influenced audience, with strict lacto-vegan diet (later vegan) as a prerequisite for initiation. From the 1990s the organisation built a sprawling commercial network: the Loving Hut international vegan-restaurant chain (200+ outlets at peak), Supreme Master Television (a 24-hour multilingual satellite/IPTV channel that has been the movement's main public face since 2006), the S.M. Celestial Co. luxury-merchandise label, and substantial real-estate holdings including the Hsihu retreat centre in Miaoli, Taiwan. In 1996 a US Federal Election Commission case (Tenwood Investments / Suma Ching Hai followers) settled with US$1.27 million in penalties for straw donations to the Clinton 1996 campaign — among the largest FEC settlements of that period. The movement continues to function and has grown significantly through Loving Hut and Supreme Master TV in the 2010s–2020s.