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From: Stig_Agermose@online.pol.dk (Stig Agermose)
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 02:30:22 +0100
Fwd Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 05:05:26 -0500
Subject: Taiwanese Cult: The Transmigration Of Dr. Chen

Appetizer from The Fortean Times' site. URL:

http://www.forteantimes.com:80/artic/109/chen.html

*******


THE TRANSMIGRATION OF DR CHEN


BY RODNEY PERKINS AND FORREST JACKSON


With the year 2000 approaching, incidents of strange religious
activity have increased throughout the world. During the 1990s, a
few aggressive cults have reared their heads with bizarre and
sometimes lethal results. Branch Davidians, Aum Supreme Truth,
and the Order of the Solar Temple are the most prominent examples
of marginal faiths gone sour. Recently, another doomsday cult has
emerged near Dallas, Texas. Variously known as God's Salvation
Church, God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation, and Chen
Tao (True Way), the group has proclaimed that God will arrive on
Earth in a flying saucer to warn humanity about an impending
nuclear holocaust. Although Chen Tao may not become dangerous,
their predictions of the End of the World are indeed cause for
alarm.

When theories of UFOs merge with New Age concepts like
reincarnation and channeling, the result is space religion.
Groups like Unarius, the Raelians, and, most notoriously, Heavens
Gate, have built entire religious systems around space aliens who
reportedly watch over Earth. In the case of Chen Tao, flying
saucers (masked as clouds) are an important component of a
theology that mixes the tenets of established Eastern and Western
religions with millenarian paranoia.

The leader of the True Way is a Taiwanese national named Hon-Ming
Chen. He has drawn international attention by claiming that God
will be reincarnated in his body on 31 March, 1998 at 10:00 AM
Central Standard Time. Six days before this epiphany, God will
make a worldwide announcement of his return on television Channel
18. Chen boasts that he will perform three miracles to prove his
divine power. He will be able to 1) turn invisible, 2) duplicate
his body to greet everyone simultaneously, and 3) speak with
anyone, regardless of his or her native tongue. In his
spiral-bound book Gods Descending in Clouds (Flying Saucers) on
Earth to Save People (1997), Chen says, I have the full faith to
say that God will appear at the referred time. At that time
people shall see the One in exactly the same look of me to meet
the people. I guarantee this on my life. (178) Based on this
statement, some people have surmised that the group might be
suicidal like Heavens Gate, but Chen and his followers disavow
this morbid speculation. Citing strict vegetarianism as proof of
respect for life, he denies that they will commit mass suicide.

The 42 year-old Hon-Ming Chen once taught at Chianan College of
Pharmacology and Science. Originally, he received direction from
Ms. Yu-Hsia Chen, who he believes was one of Gods representatives
on Earth. His first spiritual proclamation was that on 11
February, 1996 all Gods and Buddhas descended upon a temple at
Pei-Pu village in, Hsin-chu County, Taiwan. According to Richard
Liu, Chens translator, before that time there wasnt a gathering
place, but we were instructed by God to build one so that God
could come down to operate on the Earth. We built it in haste.
Everything was built in great haste.

God next told the group to move to San Dimas, California where
they established Gods Salvation Church. Chen drew attention in
mid-1997 when he claimed to have discovered a man in Vancouver,
Canada who was supposedly the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Chen
already had a 10 year-old boy named Chi-Jen Lo within his group
who was touted as the reincarnation of Buddha. The mentors goal
was to arrange a meeting between these two embodied gods. In the
preface to The Practical Evidence and Study of the World of God
and Buddha (1996), Chen describes the soul of God as divided into
two parts: one recognized in Taiwan and the other living in
Canada. He wrote that when the time comes, they will meet people
of the world at some place in the USA, and get together with the
elect. (ii) The meeting between Buddha and the Canadian Christ
never occurred, but a 9 year-old named Che-yu Chiang has now
assumed the messianic role.

The True Way has now landed in Garland, Texas because to them it
sounds like Gods Land. Chen purchased his creek-side residence on
26 March, 1997, which is coincidentally the same day that the
Heavens Gate mass suicide was discovered by the San Diego police.
During the next few months, about 150 members of his congregation
bought expensive homes in the same neighborhood. At first, the
group attracted little attention and most neighbors were unaware
of their presence. However, eventually there were signs that
something strange was on the horizon. In late September, groups
of thirty to forty members dressed in Chinese farmer hats and
white robes started riding bicycles through the streets.
Neighbors found peculiar fliers at their doorsteps explaining
that the bike rides were instructed by God to prepare for and
welcome the descending of Gods Kingdom in America. The tone of
the message was polite and even apologetic, so none of the
recipients feared that the End of the World was nearing.

More on the enigmatic Dr Chen in Fortean Times 109, on sale now!


Photo:Alfred Pasieka Science