IS THIS GUAN YIN STATUE STILL PART OF THE BUDDHISTS’ PLAN FOR PEI?

Preamble

I suspect most of the information in this article will be new to you, as it was new to me until recently, when I received one of those infamous brown envelops with a thumb drive with a slideshow presentation with some important “inside“ information about the Bliss and Wisdom Buddhists’ long-term, secret plans for PEI that needs to finally get “outside“.  

The feature image of the Guan Yin statue was part of a long-term vision where that very statue was to be constructed in PEI and placed in the Three Rivers Landing subdivision in Brudenell.  My feature graphic is an unadulterated slide from a slideshow presentation that the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute (GWBI) prepared for IRAC and the PEI Government Executive Council in July, 2016.

The slideshow was put together after IRAC began an investigation into five (5) Buddhist organizations over an event that raised suspicions with a host of land purchases in 2015.

IRAC had somehow learned that one individual, Mr. Lu, had paid all the land and property taxes for 5 Buddhist corporations and an unknown (to me at least) number of Buddhist nuns, monks and Bliss and Wisdom followers.

Those 5 Buddhist organizations had each claimed to be completely independent from one another in their applications to IRAC seeking approval to purchase those properties, which likely resulted in IRAC providing favourable recommendations to Executive Council (EC), which in turn approved those parcels, no doubt because they believed those corporations were indeed “separate” from one another.

Learning that Mr. Lu, of the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS) had paid the taxes for all these different entities and buyers should have raised more than a “red flag” to IRAC, it should have been enough to blow the lid off the Bliss and Wisdom scam to acquire far more land in PEI than the foreign-based, CCP-supported corporation is entitled to acquire under our provincial Lands Protection Act. But that didn’t happen.

How could IRAC:  (1) undertake an investigation of something that seemed to be already proven [strategic deception and falsification of information submitted in applications to IRAC],  then (2) not tell the public about it at the time, or any time afterwards; and (3) take no action against the various Buddhist corporations caught colluding to deceive IRAC and the people of PEI in a bid to acquire as much of our Island as possible as an “asset” that was to be half-owned by Bliss and Wisdom, and half-owned by a Foreign corporation based in Taiwan?  This entire affair should not have been kept secret by IRAC and the PEI Government…it needs to be explained honestly and with full transparency – from the beginning –  to Islanders.

What I do know is that about a year or so into the IRAC investigation, they apparently decided to “come clean” to IRAC and the PEI Government and reveal their true vision and long-term plans for PEI, and put together a 39-page slideshow presentation to share with IRAC and the PEI Government. It wasn’t the most sophisticated slideshow I’ve seen, but the contents were clear and shocking. Here is the title page:

Can’t argue with that!  I won’t comment on the “good motivation” part, but the evidence shows it was the “correct method” part of the equation that the Buddhists were having some real ethical struggles with, as they conceived their plans to realize their long-term vision – I’ll have a lot more to say about that presentation in Part II.

I want to keep this article short and just focus on the statue in Part I; it’s distracting me too much to stay focussed on numbers and names with the picture of that statue plunked in the Brudenell river so fresh in my mind. Do you realize how big that thing is?

1.  Option #2: “IRAC Has No Legal Right To Tax Information”

I had mentioned in a previous article that the “General” was one of the powerful “three amigos” running the entire Bliss and Wisdom Inc. corporation and that he owns Master Zhenru’s PEI residence, as well as that huge complex that serves as the main headquarter offices for GEBIS and the hub of Bliss and Wisdom Inc.

I had also mentioned that it was the General who had issued that single cheque to pay the property taxes for those 5 Buddhist organizations and undisclosed number of Buddhists nuns, monks and followers, however, I didn’t offer any further details. I since learned that my earlier statement and claim  was not entirely accurate. I’ll explain.

A good researcher never assumes anything, and I foolishly did exactly that when I said it was a single “cheque” that covered all those property taxes. They were paid with “cash”!

The following email from a lawyer to 2 of the 5 Buddhist corporations under investigation [Grain Essence and Splendid Essence] outlined 4 potential “options” as a legal strategy to respond to IRAC’s request for documentation relating to that tax payment incident.

IRAC had ordered the Buddhist corps under investigation to cease purchasing properties. The monks and nuns and lay Bliss and Wisdom followers soon found a work-around (illegal mind you) that I’ll have a lot more to say about in subsequent episodes in this Monkileaks series.

The email to Grain Essence and Splendid Essence from their lawyer resulted in instructions to go with option #2, the significance of which I’ll not get into here. That decision was made for those two Buddhist corporation by a GEBIS monk, who apparently made the same decision and choice of legal response for all 5 of the Buddhist corporations, notwithstanding the different lawyers involved to maintain the appearance of independence.

It should also be pointed out that Master Zhenru was the owner of Splendid Essence and Director of Grain Essence at the time the IRAC investigation began in 2015, but for obvious reasons, removed herself at some later point and no longer appears as the owner and/or director now of either corporation now.

It was in that email to Grain Essence and Splendid Essence that I learned the payment was made using cash:

“As payments were made by cash, and the Order [from IRAC] requested copies of cheques, copies of confirmed cash payments are not being provided.”

Perhaps that’s part of the explanation IRAC might eventually give us as to why they took no action against the Buddhists when they closed the file on the investigation – maybe they went along or agreed with the Buddhists’ lawyers that it (IRAC) did not have the legal right to obtain the tax information documents, and without that information, could not show on paper what they knew in their heads.

The fact that the folks at IRAC who were involved [likely Doug Clow and Scott Mackenzie] had already learned what they needed to know to take action in accordance with the Lands Protection Act seems not to have been considered important since no action was taken.

It seems such ethical considerations are not part of what lawyers get paid to provide their clients, even when their clients are working to undermine and/or circumvent PEI’s laws.

That’s enough background for now….back to that humungous statue and my efforts to nail down exactly how big it is.

2.  Just how Big is the Statue Going to Be Anyways?

Perspective is everything when it comes to photographs. We’ve all put a nickel or a dime beside something we thought was “extra big” for a normally little thing – like a bug or something – to give people a reference so they can get a more precise sense of the true size.

I was trying to figure out a “reference point” for the statue that I could use as a standard to establish perspective. I figured that if I was to match the width of the base of the road leading up to statue with the same width of the entrance to Confederation Bridge, then size the Bridge pic to have the bridge light poles match the same length of the light poles in the statue picture, it might give a good sense of perspective:

It looked more or less right, but  I wasn’t really satisfied with that attempt to get a accurate sense of the true height of the statue.

I then discovered that the image used in the slideshow presentation prepared for IRAC and the EC, that may or may not have been delivered, was a picture of an actual statue that had been built and enshrined in Mainland China in 2005:

Again, it’s dangerous to assume anything, but since this picture of the Guan Yin statue in China was used for the slide presentation, I think it’s safe to assume the plan would not have been to ‘downsize’ a key money-making  component of the Bliss and Wisdom model that was being transplanted to PEI as a means to unite Buddhists from different countries and different traditions under one CCP-approved organization (Bliss and Wisdom Inc.).

The plan in the slideshow was long-term, involving the relocation of the  headquarters from Taiwan to Eastern PEI.  Consider what Wikipedia says about the “unifying power” and potential of the Guan Yin Statue in China:

“The statue took six years to build and was enshrined on April 24, 2005, with the participation of 108 eminent monks from various Buddhist groups in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China, and tens of thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada and Vajrayana traditions.^[3][4]

I found an English article from the China Daily newspaper announcing the upcoming event for the “enshrining” of the largest Guan Yin statue in the world titled, “Giant Buddhist statue enshrined in Hainan,” Xiao Feng, April 16, 2005. The event brought Buddhist masters and leaders from different countries, including Taiwan.

Guan Yin is popular in all Buddhist traditions and the enshrinement was an opportunity for China to announce that the statue was both a sign and a signal that the path forward for Chinese-speaking Buddhists (no matter where they live or what Buddhist tradition they follow) was to be one of unification with Buddhists globally, and reunification with Taiwan politically, all under the loving umbrella of the CPP regime.

Consider the opening words of that China Daily article announcing the pending event:

It is not just politics, personal contact, and burgeoning trade ties that could help reunify Taiwan with its motherland – a little divine intervention might play a role too. That is partly why a giant Buddhist statue will be enshrined on April 24, 2005, in Sanya of South China’s Hainan Province.

3. But Why So Big?

You can venerate a statue and get the same mental and spiritual benefits regardless of the size of the statue. So why such a big statue?

Same reason Oxford, Nova Scotia has a giant blueberry I suspect.

Or Shediac, N.B., has this giant lobster.

And then there’s [and this is actually pretty comical] this giant potato that looks like he’s suffering from constipation on the side of the road in Oromocto, N.B., competing with his fellow giant New Brunswick spuds growing a little further up north in…

Grand Falls, N.B., which has this pretty cool-looking Russet Burbank giant potato who likes to chill with the locals and get his picture taken with tourists; which is, of course, the whole point of these roadside attractions : giant things on the side of the road [or off coasts of provinces like PEI] beg people to come, see, take a photo or two, and [cha ching], spend money.

Not to be outdone, there’s also this way-too happy giant potato in Malden, N.B. I suspect his excessive glee has something to do with that huge bottle of vodka he’s holding. He (she?) looks more like a peanut than a potato to me, with that sickly-lookin skin freakishly devoid of any potato eyes which strongly suggests someone mucked around with his genes if you ask me.

Don’t misunderstand me:  I’d still stop for a picture with buddy, get some gas, and pick up a cold drink if I was driving by on a hot summer day…freaky or not, it’s not something you see every day.

With such “attractions,” the bigger and gaudier the better; anything that can make a kid in the backseat yell: “Dad!!…can we stop?” is all the designers have in mind when they’re slapping on layer after layer of cement over paper mache to build a bigger, better potato than the roadside attraction down the road.

You have to go even bigger – way bigger – when you’re trying to get the whole world’s attention and not just a kid in the backseat of a car, which brings us back to that humungous statue.

[QUICK ASIDE: I wonder if the potato growers in New Brunswick might be feeling a tad insecure living next to the real potato capital of the world with all those giant potatoes dotting their landscape?  I’ll leave that question to the hard-core academic researchers, but I think there’s a PhD dissertation and degree in psychology in there somewhere for someone willing to accept the risks of interviewing NB potato farmers and asking questions like: “Do you feel insecure or experience lower self-esteem constantly playing second fiddle to  your superior PEI potato farmers?”]

Sorry for all the seemingly-unrelated material about maritime food products and interprovincial petty potato politics and tensions (I helped groups of New Brunswick and PEI potato farmers each win $15 million for getting screwed-over by the Federal government in separate class-action lawsuits that my research initiated back in the early nineties, so I feel I’ve earned the right to have some fun with my very good NB potato farmer friends).  I had a good reason and a point to make with those foody pictures, which I’ll express in the form of a few questions I’ll leave with you to ponder:

1. Is that “bigger than the Statue of Liberty” Guan Yin statue really how Islanders want to present to the rest of the world?
2. Should we have been consulted about the statue?
3. Was that slide presentation ever delivered to IRAC and/or PEI government officials? If so, do you think our elected officials would have ever told us about it?
4. Now that this information is public, do you think we’ll ever hear a comment from anyone in either the government or opposition about the Buddhist’s plan to construct a giant statue of Guan Yin?

I’m not sure how far anyone would travel to see those potatoes, lobster, or the blueberry, but I’m pretty sure Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike would travel from every corner of the globe (if the world had corners) to see this statue!

Is that our vision of economic and social development for PEI’s future?

How high is the statue going to be exactly?

About 52 ft. higher than the Statue of Liberty.

Impressive!

Also, notice that the Guan Yin statue is not standing off-shore from our coastline – looking after and protecting our entire Island and all Islanders – it’s overlooking only the Buddhists and Three Rivers Landing subdivision in Brudenell, which we might as well start pronouncing “Buddha-nell”.

With nearly 5 years to test a promise made in the presentation on one slide titled “Why were the lands purchased?” where the Buddhists indicated that their plans for the Three Rivers Landing subdivision would allow both parents of monks and nuns, lay people (parishioners, followers) and all other Islanders to purchase lots in the Three Rivers Subdivision. That did not materialize.

From the date noted on that presentation [2016.07.06] there have apparently been dozens (perhaps even hundreds) of attempts made by local residents to purchase lots in the Three Rivers Landing subdivision.

I’m told that the Buddhists have refused to sell a single lot to any Islander to date. One individual told me he hasn’t even received a response to the last several emails he sent asking whether he could purchase a lot.

Summary

I’d like to know how Islanders from Eastern PEI feel about having that statue of Guan Yin on your river.  How many other huge, long-term plans do the Buddhists have in the works that Islanders have never been told about? I’ll be sharing some more information on that in my next episode.

The title of the very first slide was “1.1 The idea of a “thousand-year temple”...so one can only imagine what the mind can generate with a 1,000 year canvas to paint on!

It’s long overdue that Premier King, Minister Thompson, people at IRAC, etc. start being what they constantly promise us they are and will be: transparent.

The last slide in the presentation makes it clear the presentation was prepared for IRAC, and concluded with the Buddhists’ patented use of flowers and  expressions of appreciation for the “learning” opportunity afforded Bliss and Wisdom as a result of getting caught red-handed circumventing PEI’s Land Protection Act:

If you have a story about how your dealings with the Buddhists went, or how your efforts to buy a lot in the Three Rivers Landing subdivision didn’t pan out, then I’d love to hear from you before I publish Part II with more information on some other key issues mentioned in the same slide presentation, exposing the secret, long-term plans of the Buddhists.

I’d also be curious to know what members at the Brudenell Golf Course [or the owner of the Brudenell Resort] think about having the backside of a giant statue facing them 24/7. Will it be an attraction or distraction for golfers?

So many questions….but I’m still too distracted with the image of that giant statue towering over Anne’s land to focus on the details of land transactions or Chinese names usually spelled wrong and unpronounceable (by me at least), so stay tuned for Part II.

If you’re a monk or a nun with Bliss and Wisdom and find a whistle, pick it up and blow it! My contact information’s on the right-hand side of this page.