Mark of Growth
By Fellow Initiate Lo in Oxford, UK
The new center is a two-story house with a very spacious living room. At present, with the cooperation of fellow initiates, the living room has been redecorated and is now the main area for meditation. The bedrooms upstairs provide fellow initiates with a place to rest. The whole center, filled with Master's posters and art works, has a warm and peaceful atmosphere.
The following Sunday, the small center was immediately put into use. Master sent a Quan Yin messenger to the United Kingdom for the initiation and the Oxford center was chosen as the venue. At the time of the initiation, old and new fellow initiates had very good experiences. One new initiate, at the time of initiation, saw the manifestation body of Master walk out of Master's poster blessing every fellow initiate there. This confirmed Master's great omnipresent power!
After initiation, every-one gathered in the back garden to enjoy a meal in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Fellow initiates also took the opportunity to discuss the problems encountered in daily life, other doubts about practice and to exchange achievements and reflections. It was really happy and fulfilling. With the setting sun and the gentle evening breeze, the scene was just like heaven on earth.
Love Signature Campaign
in England
Fellow initiates got free stalls for exhibiting. All initiates enthusiastically decorated these stalls with Chinese knots, Master's longevity lamps, paintings and publications.
Passing by our stalls, most visitors were attracted by the poster - "One Signature Can Save Many People's Lives." They read the information about the refugees carefully before they de-lightedly signed their names. The daughters of one of the brothers spoke in fluent English to visitors about the situation of the Au Lac refugees, then asked them to sign their names in support. In just a few hours, hundreds of signatures were collected!
Some other fellow practitioners went to the biggest shopping mall in Europe - Milton Keynes to collect signatures. After a few hours, around one thousand signatures had been collected. Sample booklets were also given to those who were interested in knowing more about Master's teachings. They also prepared pamphlets in English to summarize the refugee issue. Across the entrance of the mall, several eye-catching posters supporting the refugees were also hung. Fellow practitioners' sincere voices attracted hundreds of people of all ages and nationalities. One mother held her little daughter's hand so she could sign her own name, teaching her how to express her compassion. One gentleman volunteered to offer financial support to the Au Lac refugees. He was touched by Master's compassion and wished fellow practitioners good luck.
One old veteran who did his military service in Au Lac around the 1970s came to encourage us: "Yes, I understand why those boat people risked their lives to escape from the communist government. The free world should accept them instead of forcibly repatriating them back to Au Lac."
Fellow initiates are still continuing to communicate the fact about the Au Lac refugees in Hong Kong to the British mass media and influential politicians. We firmly believe that a series of activities supporting Au Lac refugees will continue non-stop until these refugees finally find their real homes.
One-Day Retreat, Group Meditation, Encouraging One Another To
Practice
At present, besides Oxford and Sussex having formal centers, the new initiates at Milton Keynes also started to provide their own residence for group meditation and for circulation of Master's books. This facilitates neighboring fellow initiates and initiates-to-be to attend group meditation and to study Master's teachings.
Every weekend, each center regularly holds one-day retreats. New and old fellow initiates would, besides the meditation and the discussion of Master's teachings, share with one another techniques of nutritious vegetarian cooking and experiences of how to fulfill one's duty at home, etc. The various centers would also arrange group meditation sessions at other times to accommodate those who live too far away and are unable to take part regularly in the one-day retreats. The small towns of Chester and Birmingham in central UK also hold one-day retreats regularly.
The Sincere Group
A professional clergyman in Milton, Mr. Richard, after studying Master's teachings, was deeply impressed by them. He has already started eating vegetarian and has registered to practice the Convenient Method in preparation for initiation. He indicated that after initiation, he is willing to join everyone in spreading the Quan Yin Method.
A group of young friends who had practiced yoga and transcendental meditation regularly took part in the weekly Convenient Method group meditations. They indicated that after learning the Convenient Method they felt that their bodies and minds were much more relaxed and at ease. Thus they naturally stopped their previous habits of smoking and drinking.
In London, one university professor who has been vegetarian for several decades was originally a pious Sri Lankan Buddhist. After studying Master's teachings he became deeply convinced by Her fully rounded wisdom and thus has decided to register for initiation.
An Indian Sikh family in Nottingham, with three generations present in his family, have been vegetarian since they were young. They also meditate and have experiences of the inner light and sound. The family has visited the center and has invited fellow initiates to their home to meditate together. They indicated that their inner sound was especially clear and loud while meditating with fellow initiates. They believe that the Quan Yin Method transmitted by Master and the method of inner light and sound transmitted by the founder of Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, are the same. They also believe that only a living enlightened Master is able to take people out of the transmigration. The whole family is very sincere in looking for a method to practice. This reflects what Master has said, "Indian people are really very humble looking for the Truth and taking spiritual practice very seriously."