Word. Long-time reader, first time poster here.
Just wanted to offer some insight, which I feel like I'm in a good position to do since my family has been following some of the teachings of Thanh Hai (the name we use, since we're Vietnamese; the Chinese call her Ching Hai) for nearly 20 years.
Firstly, I agree, it can seem like a cult. To be honest, there are some practitioners out there (just a few, not a lot) that are kind of obsessive and they freak me out a bit, which is why I'm not too involved with this "community" anymore even though I do still follow some of the teachings. The term "master" doesn't help. However, this is just a translation of the Vietnamese word "su phu" (Chinese "sifu"), which does indeed mean master but in a "teacherly" way, sort of like a "headmaster" in a school (another example: a martial arts student would refer to their instructor as su phu/sifu). It's sort of analogous to the term "guru" in the traditional sense, not the "New Age-y" sense. It in no way implies that practitioners of Thanh Hai's teachings should worship her, though some seem to, which, again, freaks me out a bit. It's too close to the kind of treatment the Pope gets imo.
I really think she should get some better PR people, as the restaurants, websites, publications, etc. have that "cheesy Asian" feel, which I also think does not help with the whole "cult-ish" image.
I do recommend the Wikipedia article (which I did *not* contribute to, just to be clear). In my opinion her teachings are just a slightly modified Sramanic-based belief system with certain meditation practices lifted from the Surat Shabd Yoga school. Though restaurants opened by practitioners of the "Quan Yin Method" are vegan or mostly vegan, the Quan Yin Method actually teaches a lacto-vegetarian diet (no eggs, yes dairy; I'm actually a lacto-veg. but usually eat vegan, please don't hurt me!
), which imo reflects its Sramanic roots (as this is the kind of diet taught in Jainism and the sects of Buddhism that espouse abstaining from meat, which is not a universal practice in Buddhism as it is in Jainism). As a previous poster points out, she did not invent any of the ideas she espouses. Still, she has gotten some grief from a few Buddhist sects, which I don't really understand because a) her teachings are pretty in line with Buddhist teachings, though ideas are lifted from several different sects, and b) Buddhism has historically been an extremely syncretic and highly "pliable" belief system with a huge degree of variation (look up the term "upaya" to see what I mean). I personally think of myself as Buddhist and in no way feel that it conflicts with anything Thanh Hai has written or spoken about.
Secondly, I'd like to point out that when my parents first started reading her books many years ago, she did not have blonde hair; she was previously a full-blown impoverished bhikkuni (female Buddhist monastic), shaved head, robes and all. Part of her teachings state that you don't have to be a monastic to achieve spiritual understanding/enlightenment/happiness, that it just requires one to faithfully practice mindfulness (enhanced by meditating on a regular basis) and right action (helping others as much as you can, causing no harm, etc.). She later started dressing as a layperson in order to practice what she preached, so to speak. Yes, she is quite wealthy, though it was not always like that. She was never one to actively proselytize; it started out with a rather small group of followers who took it upon themselves to publish some of her writings and lectures, and now it's ballooned into this giant humanitarian/veg.-promoting/media-producing empire. I question her rather flamboyant style now, though she gives huge sums of money away for various humanitarian/natural disaster relief purposes so I can't complain too much. Same with some of those more, er, ardent practitioners... sometimes they freak me out a little, but when something bad happens they always show up in droves, ready to help clothe, feed, and care for people who need it. I can kind of understand why some love her so much though; many of them were refugees living in terrible camps in places like the Philippines, and she lobbied hard to improve their lot or help them settle permanently there or in other nations.
So, yeah. That's my two cents, though I'm not a religious scholar, official representative of the Quan Yin Method (gotta stress this; I don't want any other practitioners that might be out there to think I'm trying to talk for everyone), or anything of the sort, so take it with a grain of salt.
P.S.
I enjoy this site and appreciate all the work that goes into it. Thanks!
P.P.S.
To Alex above: I have no idea what that waitress was talking about. 2012? The who's in the what now? Never heard or read anything about that.
