When I met Shantung Zuber, he was simply Dr. Shantung Zuber, III. Now, he is the Reverend Dr. Shantung Zuber, III, Abbot of the Temple of Tao Ministries. He is fairly obscure (despite his ever expanding appellations), but I include him as a prime example of someone who talks the talk of enlightenment and nothing else.
A friend discovered Zuber’s book, The Underlying Roots of Consciousness, and I must say I was impressed. It was a classic account of an experience of Everythingness and Nothingness. A profound case of Enlightenment, if I ever read one. By an amazing coincidence, shortly after reading his book, I had the opportunity to housesit for friends in Florida near Zuber. Surely this was a sign of providence.
Despite repeated phone calls, I was not allowed to talk with Dr. Zuber. His secretary (wife?) told me I could make an appointment for his medical practice for $75 if I wanted to talk. After another call, I was told I could attend a talk the next week for $20. Zuber’s unwillingness to talk with me, even on the phone, unless it involved money, gave me a bad feeling.
I drove an hour to the talk only to first have to suffer through a fellow (who was as white as the driven snow) expound on Native American practices. Finally, Dr. Zuber took the stage only to ramble for 45 minutes about nutrition and martial arts. The climax of his talk was his striking his chest with a machete to demonstrate his “iron coat.” Not once did he even mention enlightenment or the spiritual search. Grasping for a last thread of hope, I wondered if he saved the esoteric discussions for more astute audiences (like my self, of course). Alas, I was disappointed again. I cornered the good doctor after the lecture to ask him about his enlightenment. From his squirming, you would think I gave him the fourth degree.
He was quite reluctant to talk to me. He did say he had several enlightenment experiences and there were practices that could lead to enlightenment. Enlightenment wasn’t all that important, though. He was more eager to talk to the heart patient who wanted to make an appointment for the good doctor’s practice. Shantung turned from me to more lucrative business and I left shortly after.
My theory is Shantung Zuber first tried making a buck posing as an enlightened spiritual teacher. Next, he tried his hand at medicine. Finally, failing to make a splash at either profession, he’s become a reverend. Good luck Shantung! If nothing else, he is persistent.
2020 Update: I haven’t seen a word about Shantung on the web for many years. Any information would be appreciated.
I can help you with Shantung?!?
http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/details-released-on-jensen-beach-man-pretending-to-be-doctor-ep-630697959-331802631.html
http://florida.arrests.org/Arrests/Shantung_Edinburgh_18576554/
I went to high school with this Shantung Zuber. He is not right in the head. I remember him saying that his ambition in life was to be a vacuum cleaner. Yes, that’s right, the actual machine.
Karen Amy Tanz, did you go to school with him in Sacramento CA?
I knew Shantung back in 1995 for martial arts he told me he was the next Buddha, he is delusional and dangerous and he acts like a cult leader, very sad I was just looking for a great martial arts teacher, he was unfortunately not that. Stay far away
I knew another of his students. He explained their workout routine to me, it was extremely rigorous and exacting. That alone dissuaded me from going! But I did attend a few Sunday talks, and never saw anything untoward going on. Was never asked for money. One time Maria brought me to Shantung after a talk. He proceeded to impress me with a technique that verified (for me) that he could control chi through his hands. Quite interesting & unique to say the least. Can’t say they weren’t harmless. But I myself never say anything dark… besides their hair (both Shantung and his partner/secretary Maria appearing to be dyed black. This was in the mid-to-late 90s in Jensen, Florida.
For anyone on a spiritual journey, please avoid this man. A dear friend of mine began going to Shantung in the mid 2000’s. He was suppose to be offering her sessions that would transfer energy to promote all sorts of positive results. Sadly, it turned out that he was deceptive and abusive towards her. He used his status and influence to convince my friend that being intimate with him was a natural part of the experience. He simply took advantage of her, when all she wanted was to better herself. She wasn’t the only female student that he engaged in this type of unethical relationship with. He would tell all the women that visited him, that in order to not jeopardize the energy he had given them, they could only have sex with someone who had gone through his sessions. This of course left only him to be intimate with. This restriction even included giving other people hugs. At the request of my friend, I went to see him for a couple of weeks. He struck me as a charlatan right away, but I gave him a chance. There were a few things that he said to me about my friend that caused red flags to go up in my mind. Shortly after that, my friend told me about what was going on, and that we should both stop going to him. I felt the most sadness for my friend. She is a wonderful person, who only wanted to deepen her spirituality and consciousness. So please please please, do not go to this man for any spiritual guidance, or anything else for that matter. There are plenty of other good teachers that you’d be better off learning from. Good luck out there.