Special Reports

Over the years, the Au Lac H.O. (See remark) and needy people in Southern California have known Supreme Master Ching Hai through Her compassionate and benevolent works. Although many had known or heard of Her before they left Au Lac, their most memorable impression was of Her love and concern as expressed through a significant contribution a year ago, which included various necessities such as rice, cookware, daily necessities and clothes, to help them start a new life when they first arrived in the U.S.A. for resettlement.

The Love Message

This year, upon Master's instruction, fellow practitioners of the Los Angeles Center again were more than ready to render help to this little community, especially during the traditional New Year festival. The program was launched immediately. With the help of the H.O. Association the most needy Au Lac H.O. people were located. Hundreds of items such as preserved fruit, cakes, tea, candies and items for the New Year festival, along with Master's publications were given to these families.

Groups of fellow practitioners happily visited each family and chatted with them while bringing to them Master's love and concern, and sharing with them the wisdom of enlightenment. Approached by the fellow practitioners with warm love and affection, many felt surprised and deeply touched.

One man who had been long abandoned by his family members, including his dear wife, was found living alone in a rundown garage. Upon hearing about Master's help, he was so excited that he kept the garage door wide open since early morning waiting for our fellow practitioners to stop by. When meeting us, he said that he didn't purposely wait for the material help to come, but rather it was Master's omnipresent power and great love that he had longed for for years. He also commented that, since he had shown great interest in Master for a long time, it must be God who sent us to meet him with an important message for him.

Some people expressed their exhilarating joy upon receiving Master's gifts by declaring "Supreme Master Ching Hai is number one" with their thumbs up. An elderly man, who had been imprisoned in various re-education camps in Au Lac for many years, said with a shaken voice and tears in his eyes that no one had ever treated him so well, not even members of the big church in the area.

The fellow practitioners also invited the Au Lac H.O. people and their families to a conference room arranged by the H.O. Association, where they were warmly greeted and given Master's gift bags. When shaking hands with fellow practitioners, everyone expressed their sincere thanks and gratitude to Master for Her love and thoughtfulness to their families during the traditional New Year festival. Many used the word "Su Phu" which they were not familiar with when saying thank you; fellow practitioners were deeply touched. Master's sample booklets also attracted sincere interest from many people, as they were seen with their eyes glued to the booklet pages after receiving them.

The H.O. Association working staff also received special gift bags from Master to thank them for helping the Au Lac H.O. people and their families who came to this country to start a new life after many years of suffering in the camps. Some staff members were even receiving Master's News magazine monthly, and they expressed their sincere longing to meet Master some day.

Au Lau Humanity Operation (H.O) people are asylum seekers from former Southern Au Lac who are seeking, or have been granted asylum because they have been persecuted ( including military, political and civilian people.)

Feeling the difficulties of many Au Lac families under the protection of the Humanity Operation (H.O.) who recently resettled in the United States, Master instructed fellow practitioners in San Jose to organize an activity to immediately distribute gifts to these families on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. She instructed that we give priority to those who have just arrived in the USA within the last couple of months.

At the beginning, the plan was simply to distribute gifts to those who needed them without any announcement on radio or in the newspaper. We tried different ways to get a list of these families through many agencies without success.

Finally, one day after learning of our goodwill one radio station offered to run a free announcement the whole day. One of the biggest Au Lac newspapers in San Jose, after noticing our wish, also agreed to put our announcement in their weekend edition. Thanks to Master's blessing, we suddenly got many responses.

As soon as the announcement was made the phone lines never stopped ringing. Our fellow practitioners were busy jotting down all of the callers' requests, so we could buy supplies or gifts according to their needs. In a short period of time, hundreds of families called in.

The gifts were: rice, cookies, preserved fruit and tea. We also offered more items such as electrical rice cookers, blankets, warm clothes and others. For those who expressed their interest in Master's teachings and poems on the phone, we prepared Her books, News magazines and CDs of Her Wu Tzu Poems.

The distribution took place at a San Jose Park Hall which has been used by an Au Lac Kung-fu Association to teach its students. The association leader sacrificed her teaching hour and allowed us to use this facility. Their students even performed a beautiful dragon dance to greet our guests -- the Au Lac H.O. families. The atmosphere changed into more cheerful New Years day.

Our greeting team dressed in Au Lac traditional costumes welcomed everyone with best wishes for the New Year. One of our fellow families gave an overview of Supreme Master Ching Hai's loving actions which brought love to every- one. The guests cheerfully applauded. The gifts were then distributed to everyone. They were happy and replied with many thanks to Master for Her kindness and care. One of our guests said that, for a long time, this was the first time in U.S.A. that he had seen an Au Lac "ao dai" (traditional costume). The atmosphere was filled with Master's love.

In addition to the families on the list, towards the end of the event, some other families also came as they heard about the news. Gifts were also given to them. They were distributed indoors, and there were bags of fragrant rice heaped high in the square outside which were also distributed to the Au Lac compatriots.

Most people were surprised to have received so many New Year gifts, and they said that, ever since they came to the United States, they had never been received with such compassion as from Master, nor had they met any groups as easygoing and cheerful as the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association.

Although the sky was getting dark, and the lights in the park were switched on, many people still lingered behind to ask more about Master's teachings. From their happy faces, we could see that their soul must have received Master's divine love, and they were bathing in the ocean of love of this enlightened Master born in Au Lac. (Gifts were brought the next day to the homes of families that were late or couldn't get to the park due to lack of transportation.)

Each grain of rice in the square bears Master's love