China Buddhist Association Asks the Government to Crack Down on the Zhengjue Fellowship

Theological criticism surrounds the Taiwanese movement, known internationally as the Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association. Banning it in China is an entirely different issue.

By Dong Deming

July 14, 2025

Master Xiao Pingshi. From Weibo.

The China Buddhist Association, which the government controls, recently accused the Taiwan-based Zhengjue Fellowship—also known as the Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association—of “brainwashing and secret activities.”

They alleged that the movement “engages in illegal religious practices in China, violating laws and disrupting religious harmony,” and called for it to be banned nationwide as a xie jiao, or organization spreading heterodox teachings.

In 2024, the Pingshan District Civil Affairs Bureau banned the Fellowship as a “cult promoting Taiwanese infiltration.”

The announcement of the ban of the Zhengjue Fellowship, 2024.

Founded in 1997 in Taiwan by Xiao Pingshi, born in 1944, the Fellowship has established centers in Taiwan, China, and among the Chinese diaspora.

Xiao’s unique interpretation of Chan (Zen) Buddhism views tathāgatagarbha (True Suchness) and ālayavijñāna (Eighth Consciousness) as an eternal and creative “First Cause.”

Achieving the realization of ālayavijñāna signifies the attainment of fundamental wisdom.

Only those who realize ālayavijñāna are considered enlightened and on the Path of Vision of Reality in Buddha Bodhi. Followers firmly believe in their realization, considering it authentic enlightenment.

Plans for a great Zhengjue Temple that the movement is building in Taiwan. From Weibo.

Other interpretations of Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism, are regarded as heretical, so much so that Xiao has been accused of being a Chinese agent in Taiwan (while his followers are denounced as Taiwanese agents in China). On July 2, 2025, in a lengthy answer to the China Buddhist Association’s statement, the Fellowship reiterated that Tibetan Buddhism is heretical and demonic.

Other Buddhist schools worldwide have responded to his abrasive criticism by condemning Xiao as a non-Buddhist heretic.

These theological disputes have a long history in Buddhism. However, the China Buddhist Association’s stance is different. It seeks to resolve theological disputes through police intervention and uses the Chinese regime’s repressive power against what it views as a competing minority sect. 

Source: bitterwinter.org