The shining compassion of Doctor Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World, is recognised by an award from the self-styled ‘supreme master’ Ching Hai. Is Sky 887, the Supreme Master Channel, mostly-harmless? If so, is the harmful-part bad, really bad, or as bad as all the others?
06h34-BST Saturday 26 April 2008-CE
Doctor Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World between Swanage and Weymouth, received a relatively modest but useful donation of money, along with a dust-catching, but no doubt sincerely-intentioned, thing to put on the mantelpiece. It is called the “Shining World Compassionate Award” from a lady who encourages people to call her “Supreme Master Ching Hai”. This was reported in Daily Echo yesterday by Jim Durkin,
I had no knowledge of this theist and vegetarian organisation entitled the “Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association” before I read the Daily Echo piece. But, as pure chance would have it, I decided yester-eve to check one-by-one through my Sky free-to-air TV channels and was bemused but entertained to find # 887 the ‘Supreme Master Channel’. It seems to be one of those Formosan deals. You can go to: suprememastertv.com
Any regular reader of this web log will be aware that I am not a theist, and that I regularly slag theists off. But on the surface, if we are to judge by the output on Sky 887, SMC TV might possibly be “mostly harmless” in the phrase of Douglas Adams. Caution: pacifists thought that the house-painter Adolph Hitler, who called himself ‘the leader’ and demanded, then received, slavish obedience, was harm-free. They were wrong. He meant what he said.
The periodic SMC station identification (ID) stated that the channel puts out on various other satellites around the geostationary orbit (that the late Arthur C Clarke put in the Suggestion Box of mindkind when I was a war baby) and covers Earth completely. I ignore theist and sales channels and had probably flipped by SMC earlier but I kept it on my screen-2 for the hour. I had TNG (on Virgin 1) on my screen-1. CFN was on my screen-3. npr (sic) was on my screen-4.
What I like about SMC is the technique for addressing (by prepared lectures) people who speak any of-up-to-20 languages: the spoken word is heard and a translation appears on screen cut into phrases, and these are shown in four vertical, and sixteen horizontal, lines of text. The sequence is fast, not for the slow reader, but I found it possible to follow. Far from being only fairy-folksy idealism of the hippie, the sentiments expressed are focussed-on-reality and convincing.
What is excellent, and appeals specifically to me (so much so that I have a déjà vue like conviction that I thought of it myself, ages ago), is the way she, her nibs, the self-perceived supreme boss, congratulates governments and organisations on their doing the right, humane, decent thing. This is an excellent public-relations tool. What I have not yet sussed 100% is whether this evidently ecumenical show-gang is basically Buddhist.
FIN 08h11
