A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing the leader of a Buddhist sect of coercing her into having sex after she sought blessings to help overcome a panic disorder.
The 41-year-old woman, identified only as S.H.C., is seeking unspecified damages against Grand Master Lu Sheng-yen (盧勝彥), 55, for "negligent pastoral counseling" at the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond, Washington. The lawsuit also accused Lu of preying on other female worshippers.
Lu moved to the US from Taiwan in the early 1980s and built the temple in Redmond in 1984.
Revered by followers as a "living Buddha," he has written scores of books on Buddhism and Taoism. His True Buddha School has about 4 million followers and more than 300 chapters worldwide, including 30 temples, according to officials at the suburban temple.
Karen Goater, a lawyer who filed the case yesterday in King County Superior Court, said Lu told the woman, who is married and has three children, that she would die if she didn't join him in an ancient "twin-body blessing," which turned out to be sexual intercourse.
The claims were denied by Colleen Barrett, a lawyer for the suburban temple, which also is named as a defendant, and by Master Teng Teck-hui, president of the temple's board of directors.
"This is the first and only allegation of this nature," Teng said in a prepared statement.
"No one at the temple has any reason to believe the accusations against Grand Master Lu are true."
Barrett said she would ask that the lawsuit be dismissed on the ground that negligent pastoral counseling is not a cause of action.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
RSS