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Divine Love beyond Boundaries: Raising Earth's Consciousness through Spiritual Practice--Report on the 2005 Taipei International Book Exhibition
By the Taipei News Group (Originally in Chinese)
As the joy of the Lunar New Year lingered, the scent of books filled the air at the 2005 Taipei International Book Fair held from February 15-20 at the Taipei World Trade Center. As in previous years, the Supreme Master Ching Hai Publishing Company participated in this annual cultural event by introducing the Supreme Master Ching Hai’s teachings through audio and visual aids, interactive Truth-sharing activities and various artistic media.
During the Exhibition, practitioners from the Publishing Company conducted twelve uplifting activities, including musical performances, short comedy sketches and Truth-sharing seminars, all of which received warm responses from visitors. The seminars, held from February 16 to 18, explored the wonders of the inner Sound current, the truth that all of God’s creatures are equal and the ideal of extending love to animals. Through Master’s videotaped lectures and the initiates’ personal accounts, the seminars taught guests how to gain spiritual knowledge through social interaction and grow in marriage relationships by practicing the Quan Yin Method.
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On the afternoon of February 19, a seminar with the theme “Divine Love beyond Boundaries: Raising Earth’s Consciousness through Spiritual Practice” attracted a huge audience. Participants included various Formosan notables as well as friends from abroad. One such dignitary, Ambassador Lu Ching-lung, spokesman for Formosa’s Foreign Ministry said, “It’s extremely important that we uphold the ideal of creating a global village through love. The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association conducts worldwide relief activities, becoming a source of national pride for Formosans in realizing the ideal of ‘divine love beyond boundaries,’ interacting with the international community and sharing the achievements of the government and people, who have made Formosa a democratic society that respects freedom of religion. To create a global village through love, we must have more than mere motivation. We must have action, wisdom and strategic planning. Over the years, the Association has put love into action and contributed to the enrichment of civilization. This is a substantial achievement that elevates the quality of our citizens and benefits humankind.”
Spokesman for Formosa’s Foreign Ministry Ambassador Lu Ching-lung (left)
After attending this seminar, the participants came to realize that since our planet is undergoing a turbulent time marked by numerous natural and manmade disasters, we need to pray together for God’s mercy, and only then will divine blessings continue to grace the earth. This insight coincides with Supreme Master Ching Hai’s teachings: “Drastic changes can be an elevating force. We must elevate the world’s consciousness through spiritual practice.” At the end of the Divine Love beyond Boundaries seminar, dozens of guests asked to learn the Convenient Method to experience Master’s omnipresent blessings and be baptized by God’s Light!
Then on the morning of February 20, the initiates held a remarkable Truth-sharing program entitled “Eden of Light: Who is the Light Bearer?” During this event Mr. Gu Mu-te, an aboriginal dancer in a shiny silver costume, performed a fantastic dance enhanced by light and sound effects and vivid narration. The performance conveyed the concepts “the Light of God gives birth to all of Creation” and “we are the Light and the Light is us.” Also, several excerpts from Master’s insightful discourses were simultaneously broadcast to help the audience better understand that we simply need to follow a living Master’s guidance to immediately experience the holy Light and become re-united with God.
In the afternoon, a seminar exclusively for young people with the theme “Finding One’s Ideal Partner” attracted dozens of youths. And afterwards, many participants learned the Convenient Method, thus joining the ranks of princes and princesses returning to the Kingdom of God!
During the Exhibition, approximately a hundred attendees learned the Convenient Form of practice and wonderfully contacted God. One such guest was Ms. Zhang from Taichung, who had learned of her affinity with Master Ching Hai after being told by a fortune-teller to practice the Convenient Method. That day, six months after she had switched to a vegetarian diet, Ms. Zhang saw the inner Master along with white and yellow Lights during CM meditation, bringing tears of ecstasy to her eyes. She thus knew that Master had been silently guiding her all the while and helping her overcome her personal problems. Ms. Zhang also felt that the sister-initiate who had taught her the Convenient Method was as dear to her as her own sister. All these experiences deepened Ms. Zhang’s belief in the fortune-teller’s view that she had been Master’s child in her last life!
Another attendee, Ms. Lai, was an expert in human potential development. Having observed that the sister-initiates working at the venue were always happy, she enjoyed being in their company and subsequently became interested in Master’s teachings. Then on the morning of February 19, Ms. Lai watched a series of short dramas performed by fellow initiates. And later, she was surprised as her eyes became glued to the booth’s TV screen for a whole hour while Master delivered a talk. Through these experiences, Ms. Lai felt that she had been completely transformed by Master’s love, and when discussing Her stories with a sister-initiate she said, “I feel like we’re old acquaintances and I finally understand the true meaning of ‘being one.’” Ms. Lai added that she enjoys practicing the Convenient Form of meditation as it alleviates her feelings of tension and stress.
An additional guest from Sindian had attended Master’s 2000 Formosa lecture at the Taoyuan Stadium, and when visiting the Book Exhibition, noticed the SMCH Publishing Company’s booth. After happily talking with the sister-initiates about Master’s teachings, she and her son asked to learn the Convenient Method. During the subsequent CM meditation session, the woman cried involuntarily for a long time and later returned to the exhibition booth to watch Master’s lecture DVDs. There she smelled the sweet fragrance of sandalwood and thought that the initiates were burning incense. But after inquiring about the source of the smell, she realized she was having a spiritual experience!
Also, a young monk who visited the SMCH booth had long thought that Master’s immediate enlightenment method was unique. Five years earlier, he had visited the Taipei Center, tried hard to study Master’s teachings and also visited the Hsihu Center. Thus he was extremely joyful to encounter Master’s teachings at the Exhibition and invited his mother to practice the Convenient Method with him, presenting another case of individuals with affinity returning to the gate of Heaven!
In another instance, a sister-initiate working at the venue became acquainted with the staff at an adjacent booth featuring Buddhist publications. Then one day, the booth’s manager invited the sister to be tested with a device called a “samadhi detector” that was on display there. The woman asked the sister to meditate at her booth for a while and so the sister closed her eyes and silently recited the Holy Names for a few seconds.
Afterwards the detector operator asked, “What did you do just now?” And the sister replied, “I silently recited the Holy Names as taught by Supreme Master Ching Hai.” The women were amazed by the sister’s reply and could not fathom why the machine had reacted simply because she had recited the Holy Names! The detector was a very expensive device for determining a meditating subject’s level of samadhi, and during the Exhibition the booth’s workers had measured approximately eighty people daily. But none—not even Buddhist priests and Catholic nuns—had entered samadhi as quickly as our sister-initiate had, providing yet another affirmation of the Quan Yin Method’s immense power.
The SMCH Publishing Company’s participation in the 2005 Taipei International Book Exhibition helped many spiritual seekers experience Supreme Master Ching Hai’s true love and gain inner liberation through touching encounters with Her and the initiates. So the brothers and sisters of Taipei profoundly thank Master for Her blessings and assistance in another successful Truth-sharing activity, which added color and vibrancy to the lives of countless souls!
Highlights of the above-mentioned events may be viewed on the CTI TV Entertainment Channel A Journey through Aesthetic Realms #132 at: http://www.godsdirectcontact.org.tw/eng/hichannel/index.htm (in English with Chinese subtitles)
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