[San Paulo] The Brazilian fellow practitioners have been anxiously awaiting San Paulo's "Biennial International Books Exhibition" for a long time. This was a large scale exhibition in which people from many different continents, countries and cities participated. At that time, the city of San Paulo was swept by a cold current; but when the tour buses, one after another, arrived in the city, the air warmed up. It is with thanks to Master's ingenious arrangement that we had one of the best locations of all the display areas. Consequently, Master's graceful and compassionate picture was hung in the most prominent place in the entire exhibition; just seeing Her photo would naturally attract a number of souls back to God's loving arms. Many free sample booklets and News magazines were prepared and readily available to those thirsty for the Truth. Some people held Master's information as if they were holding precious jewels, trying to take more to read. Master's wondrous lectures were played on a big TV screen, giving all an abundant feast of spiritual food. There was a Brazilian woman who, upon seeing Master's picture, excitedly told our fellow practitioners that kindness and love radiated from Master's face, and that a loving power stimulate all the cells in her body. Another elderly woman, while watching Master's lecture, was filled with an almighty loving power. She exclaimed, "Master is unbelievably beautiful! Her beauty comes from the inside, it is the real beauty of God." After listening to this, all the fellow workers were very touched. It is true that everyone possesses God's quality inside; and Master seems to be reminding us all the time in Her lectures, "We are Buddha, we are God." |
The fair lasted two weeks. Everyday fellow practitioners worked over ten hours, but everyone was in high spirits and full of joy. At every moment, they could feel Master's positive energy permeating the entire exhibition hall. By means of this book exhibition, Master provided us with an opportunity to learn that only through God's holy work can we progress further, spiritually. From numerous miraculous experiences, the fellow practitioners truly and deeply understand that originally they are just instruments, and that everything is truly arranged and directed by the Creator. The Brazilian brothers and siters hope that we can become purer and better instruments in the future so that the good message of the Quan Yin Method can reach every corner of the world. May many more inner voices of the Self resound! Caption: At San Paulo's "Biennial International Books Exhibition" in Brazil, people crowded together in order to gaze at the "Light of the Soul and the Beauty of God".¸1 |
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[Sacramento] For many Chinese and Au Lac people, the Moon Festival is one of the main traditional festive holidays. Thus, on this occasion, the Sacramento fellow practitioners organized a vegetarian food booth in cooperation with fellow practitioners from San Francisco to bring the Quan Yin Method teachings to people, adding spiritual beauty to the Festival. The Quan Yin Method booth was frequented by visitors from all walks of life. In the early part of the day, a ceremonial Dragon Dance graced our venue to bring good luck. They happily left after receiving some mooncakes, a red envelope with money, as well as a sample booklet. There were also people from other ethnic groups who came to enjoy the festive atmosphere. Sample booklets were given out in Au Lac language, Chinese, English, Spanish, Korean, etcetera. Moreover, when some Cambodians came by our booth, they were surprised to discover the contributions Master has been making to their native country. They were happy to take the sample booklets along with the latest issues of the News magazines. |
Fellow practitioners were often touched by the local people's friendly and receptive attitude. Those who came to ask about meditation were gentle and sincere; it was a pleasure to share with them the Truth. Especially encouraging was the number of teenagers attracted to Master's teachings; the future of the new generations is bright with hope. As night began to fall, fellow practitioners started packing up. In the joyful atmosphere, they shared their impressions of the workday instead of feeling tired, all the while thanking Master in their hearts for the blessing of serving so many noble future Buddhas.¸1 |
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[Toronto] This is the third year that the Toronto Center has participated in the Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair, sponsored by the Toronto Vegetarian Association (TVA), North America's largest local vegetarian group. This year, due to the powerful hurricane Fran from the United States, it rained very hard outside during the fair. However, crowds of people still came each day in spite of the bad weather; the sincere yearning for the Truth won't be hindered by obstacles. At least half of the visitors were already vegetarians; they are ready for the teachings of the Truth. Most of the visitors felt great interest in Master's teachings after coming to our booth. Numerous sample booklets and magazines were distributed. Almost everyone was surprised that the sample booklets and magazines were free. Their gratitude and sincere search for the answer to the mystery of life overflowed and inspired all of the fellow practitioners present. |
The following week, Toronto Center received a lot of phone calls requesting more information about the Convenient Method and initiation. Thanks to this event, fellow practitioners have learned how to help and share with others, at the same time helping their own inner growth. The Toronto Center wholeheartedly thanks Master for Her grace and blessings in allowing us to help spread Her invaluable teachings to people with affinity and share the supreme message of eternal liberation with them.¸1 |
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[Chile] On Chile's Independence Day the local practitioners, with the help of fellow practitioners from neighboring countries, organized a seminar of Master's teachings. A vegetarian meal was also served immediately afterwards. For this purpose, we advertised in the newspapers and cordially distributed flyers on the streets, expecting more people with affinity to come to participate in the event. Also, we had an interview with Radio Portales, a station that has broadcasted daily in Chile for many years and is dedicated to topics of the soul and the spirit; very much an authority in this field. The interviewer, Mr. Patricio Verela, interviewed us in the most respectful manner; the interview also received a lot of positive feedback from the audience. |
People from various walks of life participated in this seminar. During the question and answer session, one of the audience critically questioned Master's teachings and the truth in the Bible. Suddenly, a young Chilean lady in the audience spontaneously stood up and sweetly but firmly identified and recited the right verses in the Bible to prove the truth of Master's teachings. Her voice rang with such conviction that enthusiastic applause spontaneously sprang forth from the audience. Needless to say, this young Chilean lady was one of the many people who later applied for the Convenient Method. When the seminar was over, fellow practitioners were full of joy and grace. An initiation was held the following day to welcome more newly born souls. Caption: Master's spiritual teachings and delicious vegetarian food receive great feedback in Chile.¸1 |
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[Hong Kong] As the Moon Festival approached, Supreme Master Ching Hai was greatly concerned about the refugees residing in the Hong Kong camp. After communicating with the officials in the camp, Hong Kong fellow practitioners received permission to give one mooncake and one apple -- the refugees' favorite fruit -- to each person as a special gift for the Moon Festival. After receiving permission, fellow practitioners especially ordered four thousand eggless mooncakes. Thanks to Master's invisible and miraculous arrangement, the mooncakes were purchased at minimal cost. One fellow practitioner's brother works in the food industry, and when he heard the news of this charitable event, he immediately made all the "full of love" mooncakes needed with wholehearted dedication and only charged us for the material costs. |
Fellow practitioners then went to the fruit market to order the fragrant and sweet American apples. After the apples were delivered to the Center, everyone worked in cooperation to pack all the gifts; they did not forget to also slip Master's love into the packages. In good time, before the Moon Festival, the responsible fellow practitioners sent the gifts to the camp. The brothers and sisters in the camp were eagerly waiting as they had heard that Master would send mooncakes and fruit to them to celebrate this holiday. Everyone was happy and grateful to Master for Her sincere loving care. caption: Hong Kong fellow practitioners worked in cooperation to pack the Moon Festival gifts for the refugees. Packed along with the mooncakes and fragrantly sweet apples was Master's love. Appendix 1: A receipt from the High Island Detention Center Welfare Department in Hong Kong to Supreme Master Ching Hai for the Moon Festival gifts.¸1 |
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[Jakarta] Upon Master's compassionate and loving blessings, the Jakarta Center in Indonesia has found a new and refreshing way to spread Master's teachings. Recently, fellow practitioners in Indonesia have gone to university libraries donating Master's sample booklets and "The Key of Immediate enlightenment". Moreover, they actively contacted all the foreign bookstores in Jakarta. At present, "The Supreme Kitchen" and "The Key of Immediate enlightenment" are sold in the biggest foreign bookstore in Jakarta and are welcomed by the public. Furthermore, the director of the company of the largest bookstore chain in Indonesia (around 40 bookstores already existing in major cities of Indonesia), responded warmly after he read Master's books. He remarked: "Why have such good books only come out now?" His enthusiasm came as a total surprise to us. Now, Master's books are on display for purchase in all of their stores. We know it was Master's blessings at work that made the whole arrangement seemed so effortless. |
Public response to the books has been extremely good with many of them enquiring about the availability of the next volume. Some of the readers came to the Center on their own accord to make further enquiries about Master's teachings. Their earnest yearning touched and stirred our hearts. Therefore, we are determined to work even harder to translate Master's other books into Indonesian, so that hungry souls longing for the Truth may receive the message of heaven through Master's lectures and be endowed with ever-lasting benefits. The Jakarta Center receives calls from people wanting to know more about Master's teachings almost everyday. To better accommodate the new spiritual seekers' needs, the Center has extended its opening time.¸1 |
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[Calcutta] Our fellow practitioners were invited by sincere spiritual practitioners in Calcutta to visit the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, and had a wonderful spiritual gathering with local practitioners. Situated on the bank of the Ganges River, Ramakrishna Math is enveloped by beautiful and natural surroundings with grand temples of the three saints -- Sri Ramakrishna, Sir Sarada Devi (well known as the Holy Mother) and Swami Vivekananda -- erected on the vast grass yard, attracting thousands of pilgrims everyday. Under the friendly guidance of some of their residential college students, our fellow practitioners had a tour around the Math and met some of their monastic disciples to exchange different viewpoints on spiritual practice. Many of their monastic disciples were impressed and acknowledged Master and Her teachings. They found many similarities between Master's teachings and those of Sri Ramakrishna, proving that since ancient times all the enlightened masters preach the same Truth. Unexpectedly, our spiritual discussion beside the sacred Ganges attracted a crowd of spiritual aspirants who joined us in the sharing of the pearls of wisdom of the past and present masters. Many of the audience left their address with our fellow practitioners and enthusiastically enquired about more information on Master's precious teachings. |
The following afternoon, by their monastic disciples invitation, we visited the 4th Patriarch of the Ramakrishna Mission, His Venerable Swamiji Bhuteshananda. After a brief and pleasant conversation, Swamiji kindly accepted Master's books to be placed in their library. Giving his loving regards in return, he then bid a friendly farewell to fellow practitioners. After the amicable meeting, many spiritual friends who attended our spiritual discussion the day before approached our fellow practitioners to enquire more about Master's teachings and the proper way of meditation. Some of them eagerly applied to learn the Convenient Method. Furthermore, some devotees of Sri Ramakrishna from other states even invited us to their hometown to arrange a lecture seminar to share Master's teachings with their family members and associates. "It would be our great honor to help you propagate the holy message of your Param Cura (Great Master)," they humbly expressed. Our fellow practitioners were deeply impressed by the open-mindedness of the Indian spiritual practitioners. India, how many spiritual masters you have bred for the world from generation to generation? The people living on this piece of holy land possess admirable noble qualities, glorifying the fruits of various generations of masters' teaching efforts, which shines upon the Indian civilization till eternity. Caption: India has bred many spiritual masters for the world from generation to generation, glorifying the Indian civilization till eternity.¸1 |