International Reports

The Whole Life Expo also provided a variety of conferences and workshops given by many distinguished speakers in the field of human growth. Many enthusiastic spiritual seekers were impressed by Master's teachings and took some time to look at Her lecture playing on video tape or Her books and pictures displayed at the booth. Some people who had seen Her in previous expos, this time came by to ask about initiation.

Even though Master was not physically present, Her enormous blessing power was felt by many visitors. One child told us that this booth was the brightest of the whole expo. Many had perplexed expression on their faces wondering why they were so attracted to this booth and to this beautiful person (Master's portrait). One man kept coming back to the booth to put his hand over Master's pictures and books because he could feel the strong positive energy coming from these holy items. Another commented that every time he has attended the Whole Life Expo, he has felt the most positive, loving power coming from our Master's booth. Out of his enthusiasm and agreement with Master's teachings, this person took many sample booklets home with him to Hawaii to share with his friends and relatives.

In addition, a large number of people, after receiving the sample booklet and News magazines, were very interested in learning the Convenient Method of meditation and subscribed for the bi-monthly Supreme Master Ching Hai News magazine. Thanks to Master's blessing and fellow initiates' cooperation, this event was an enlightening one for both the participants as well as the visitors.

Such exclamations could be heard all over the Center. In Pusan Center, many fellow initiates gathered to celebrate the Korean's Fourth Anniversary. One of the programs was the brother practitioners' cooking competition.

Traditionally, Koreans are used to thinking that cooking is a woman's duty. However, under Master's influence and teaching, our Korean brother initiates have broken their old concept and come to the understanding that men can also cook. When the idea of the cooking competition was first brought up, most of the brothers immediately supported it. However, later they lacked the confidence and worried that they might not be able to do a good job. However, after the anniversary ended, they knew their worries had been unnecessary. During the competition, each brother initiate prepared one fabulous dish, and not one was the same as the others. When they displayed their work on the table, the dishes were splendid in flavors, looks and aroma. It made the whole competition look like a grand feast. All the winners received prizes from the judges. The first prize winner's dish was so good that it tasted and looked like it had been prepared by a professional chef. It was said that he had been practicing his culinary skill and cutting so much that he even got blisters on his hand. Nevertheless, in the end, the fruit of his practice was a beautiful and delicious dish. He truly deserved the award. The second prize was given to five brother initiates who worked as a team to joined the competition. The third prize winner mentioned that he had learned that women should deserve more appreciation and respect for their cooking everyday at home. He promised that he would provide more help to the sister initiates in the kitchen from now on. There was even a special prize for the oldest brother initiate who participated in the competition.

As a result of this competition, all the brother initiates who had participated were full of self-confidence. They even mentioned that in the future they are going to cook more creative and delicious dishes, so that at the next vegetarian feast they could show off their newly discovered talent. They exclaimed, We can do everything!

Later, some initiates got together and talked about their feelings and experiences. Not until then did they recalled that during the Formosan international retreats, there were a lot of brother initiates working in the kitchen. Why had they always thought cooking was not suppose to be a man's job? After the cooking competition, they learned that: it does not matter if we are men or women, as long as we want to do something sincerely, through hard work and practice, we will definitely succeed. Our Korean fellow practitioners really appreciated the Fourth Anniversary Celebration. Master had given them a chance to surpass their old concept.

It has been four years since Master's first visit to Korea to teach us the Quan Yin Method. Since then, we have set this date as our most important anniversary to celebrate our rebirth. Consequently, each anniversary has become a special learning experience for all of us. There are no suitable words that can describe how much love and appreciation we feel toward Master. The only thing we can say is, Thank You, our dear Master!

On the day of the event, everyone was ready and so excited to serve Master in spreading Her love and teachings to the people of Thailand. There were lots of people present at the exhibition. Some of them lingered around, admiring Master's paintings, which were exhibited on two sides of the hall around the building's atrium. At the same time, the vegetarian food stand was in the Food Center on another floor. Several kinds of foods were provided, including noodles, cakes, fresh fruits and a special drink. Furthermore, Master's sample booklets were the best gifts for those who have affinity with Her.

The atmosphere at the exhibition was so exciting and happy. Some of the guests were surprised that vegetarian food could be so delicious. One guest came to us afterward and asked the cook how various dishes were made, especially the northern-styled vermicelli. He commented that he had never had it this delicious before, even though he was from Chiang Mai, one of the northern provinces of Thailand.

Some of the guests even asked us to open a vegetarian restaurant in the same building, so more people could come and enjoy the pure, clean and delicious vegetarian food.

All fellow practitioners who participated in this activity want to thank Master for this opportunity and Her help in arranging everything. Otherwise, it would not have been this successful. They all felt very honored and privileged to be able to help in spreading Master's teachings and the heavenly message to those earnest souls.

The food delivered this time were those things most needed by the refugees. They included vegetarian protein, soy beans, sugar, peanuts, salt and milk powder for the children. The excess materials prepared by fellow practitioners were passed on to the administration of the refugee camp for storage in the hope that they would take good care of the refugees and distribute the materials to them when the need arises.

The Bangkok Center will continue to deliver Master's love to the Phanatnikhom Refugee Camp.