Jun Hong Lu is the leader and the founder of the organisation Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door along with several other religions organisations owned by himself. Controversially, the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door created by Lu was denounced by Malaysian Buddhist Community and Singapore Buddhist Federation.
Early life
Lu was born on 4 August 1959, at Shanghai, China. He later migrated to Australia in the late 80s and became an Australian citizen. In year 2010, he launched the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door organization and created the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door religious belief.
Awards
The UK-based Unity of Faiths Foundation honored Lu with the 'World Peace Award ' and the title of the Ambassador for World Peace Ambassador for World Peace' in July 2012 for his effort of promoting Traditional Chinese Culture, Buddhism, and World Peace. The Unity of Faiths Festival was one of the events in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. In September 2012, Lu was invited to give a public talk at Harvard University. In October 2012, he received the 'British Community Honors Award' at the House of Lords, United Kingdom. On 31 March 2014, Lu was awarded Honorary visiting professor by the University of Siena, Italy. The visiting professorship is under the Master Program in Global Governance and Cultural Diplomacy of the University of Siena. Lu was invited to attend a global summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as a keynote speaker. The objective of the summit is to formulate a road map for a culture of peace as conflict prevention and mediation. In appreciation for Lu's dedication and service to the promotion of education to nurture a culture of peace, the summit awarded Lu with the title "Ambassador of Peace Education". The award was presented by Emil Constantinescu, the former president of Romania, and Joana, the executive director of International Strategic Alliance Committee.
Religious activities
Lu create an organization in 2010 and publicizes his own religious belief called Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. Since 2010, Lu and his propagating Team respond to Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door follower's invitations by organizing public talks in many countries and regions including major cities in Australia; New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston in the United States; and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Brussels in Belgium and Madrid in Spain and Rome in Italy. Lu also conducted speech in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Thailand, New Zealand, and Taiwan. The Dharma Convention held by Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door allows visitors to enter for free. The discipleship initiation ceremony is conducted for free. In December 2013 Lu was invited to give a speech at Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in recognition of Jun Hong Lu's contribution to the international community.
Publications
Lu has written more than 30 books about the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door teaching and issued publicly for free. Some of his books were being translated into English, French, Spanish and German. There are a few series of publications by Lu, one of his series – Words of Wisdom, now has 7 bilingual volumes. All publications he made are free for online reading and download.
Jun Hong Lu claims that Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door belongs to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and encourages people to recite the Buddhist scriptures on a daily basis, practice life liberation, make great vows to help more people and emphasized that these three "golden practices" lay a solid foundation for improved physical and mental well-being.
Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door practices
Reciting Buddhist Sutras/mantras: Guan Yin Citta believes that reciting Buddhist sutras and mantras on a daily basis helps one benefit from the blessings of Buddhas and Bodhisattva. Recitation will not only help eliminate one's negative karma; it will also bring strength, wisdom and inner peace, so that one can overcome all kinds of obstacles. The three major sutras and mantras recited by Guan Yin Citta followers are: the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, and the Eighty-eight Buddhas Repentance. A few optional sutras and mantras are Cundhi Dharani, Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots and Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra.
Practicing life liberation: that is, Release of animals, especially those in grave danger of being killed, is a popular practice performed by all schools of Buddhism. Guan Yin Citta believes that setting animals free helps one cultivate compassion towards all beings, and deepens the understanding that all living beings are all interdependent.
Making great vows: When one makes a vow, he or she will be motivated to fulfill the vow. The vow then becomes very strong energy; it can overcome countless obstacles. This is especially true when one makes a vow out of compassion. Seeing the suffering and hearing the cries of sentient beings, Bodhisattva bring forth immense compassion and vow to benefit all sentient beings.
Organization
On Jun Hong Lu's official Chinese-language blog, he emphasizes the importance of Guan Yin Citta followers' abiding by the rules and regulations in their respective countries and regions when practicing Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. The main principle of Guan Yin Citta is to love respective country and people, abide by the laws of the country, in achieving a harmonious society. The secretariat further state that, "The Guan Yin Citta practitioner must cultivate compassion for other people, must love respective country and the people, must protect respective country and cultivate harmony in the society; these are the basics of the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist practice, be a pillar of strength for society and respective country."
Religions
In an interview with Radio France Internationale, Lu stated that: "The reason of having 84,000 Dharma is to accommodate all beings and creatures to understand One's self in order to create a soulful world. It will be good enough as long as you have the heart and soul to create a better place for all beings. That is why I respect the Dharma. It doesn't matter which Dharma you choose; it will still be the path that you have to proceed. This is a very important point. Therefore, Chinese in Sydney will practice vegetarian during the first and the fifteenth of the Chinese calendar. There are also a lot of Chinese worshiping the Buddha during festive seasons. Some even know how to practice loving kindness. A few organizations in Sydney such as the Tzu Chi Foundation, Pure Land Buddhism by Master Chin Kung and also Master Hsing Yun's Nan Tien temple are all well established with the same priority, and that is to carry forward the Buddhism Teaching in order to unite everyone physically, mentally and soulfully. Hence, I believe that every Buddhist Chinese from all over the world should continue to practice Buddhism as it will benefit in the cultivation of One's mindset, and also to create a peaceful and harmonious world."
World peace
On 26 March 2014 in Washington, DC, Lu attended a global summit on world peace as a keynote speaker in the US Congress. He was awarded the title of "World Peace Ambassador" at the summit. Lu said: "the dream of a peaceful world could only be realized if we treat each other with compassion, and show kindness to our communities." In August 2016, Lu stated that: "We want the world to be filled with compassion; we want love to spread to all over the globe; we want countries to be well; we want the people to be well; we want every family to be well - this is Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. Let every one of us be well; let every family be well; let our society be well; let our country be well - this is Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door."
Philanthropy
Flood relief
Criticism
The Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door created by Lu Jun Hong claimed itself as Buddhism, and was criticized by the public and other religious organization for irrelevant teachings and activities towards Buddhism. An example indicated by the religious specialist which is Lu and the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door teaches the believer to burn the yellow paper, known as "Little house". However, the burning of "Little house" was pointed out that it is irrelevant towards Buddhism because it does not exist in the Buddhist teaching.The religious ideology founded by Lu were also criticized for intending to profiting the organization and Lu himself. Lu are also criticized for forcing the believers to donate money to fund his activities.
Malaysia Buddhism organization's reaction
On 28 December 2018, 9 Buddhism organizations from Malaysia publicly declared that Lu Jun Hong's Guan Yin Citta belief does not match Buddhism's teaching, and urged the public to avoid attending Lu's Guan Yin Citta religious event. The 9 organizations are Malaysian Buddhist Association, Young Buddhist Association Of Malaysia / YBAM ATC, Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia, Buddhist Maha Vihara Malaysia, Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia, Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia, BLIA, and Malaysian Buddhist Kulapati Association. Lu Jun Hong self-claimed he has the ability to conduct Totem reading, to see a person's previous life and the doings, and as well as communicate with the Buddhist god, the GuanYin. The Buddhism organizations pointed out that Lu's Totem reading, uses and burning of the "Little house" does not exist in Buddhism. They also declared that their actions of promoting a cult of personality for Lu Jun Hong are also not part of the Buddhist practice.
Singapore Buddhist Federation's reaction
The Singapore Buddhist Federation from Republic of Singapore indicated that they had received numerous complaints from the former believers of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door since Lu jun Hong starts his activity, including the spreading of his Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door's teaching, advertisement campaign and set up an office in Republic of Singapore. Singapore Buddhist Federation responds by issuing a statement on a newspaper from Singapore, declaring the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door is not Buddhism. As well as stating its position clearly in front of the news media by issuing the statement: "The 'Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door' founded by Lu Jun Hong is attached to the Buddha's external road, not Buddhism. I hope that the believers who have joined will quickly withdraw from the 'Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door', and those who have not joined should please stay away."
