Panorama of Events

[Mountain View, California] As brothers and sisters from the San Jose Center prepared for a video seminar in the Mountain View public library on April 22, Golden Year 3 (2006), they realized that it happened to be a busy day for the town since several other public events were taking place the same afternoon. A parade featuring vintage cars, fire trucks, marching bands and other people was scheduled for the same time as the seminar. Nearby streets had thus been closed to traffic and only limited parking was available, making access to the seminar more complicated. The local festivities also included large inflated structures that had been installed on the lawn behind the library for children to happily and safely slide and bounce on.

As the room for the seminar was a little tucked away on one side of the library, initiates weren't sure how much of a turnout there would be. Still, everyone worked wholeheartedly to prepare and in less than an hour, the small plain community library room had been amazingly transformed into a radiant exhibit of Master's pictures, paintings and lamps. Brothers and sisters were so enthusiastic in their endeavors to set up the room that they had to close the door leading to the lobby in order not to disturb the library patrons. This presented yet another challenge for inviting people in! But Master’s photos and strategically located posters drew a good number of people who were interested and ready to learn more about themselves and Master's teachings.

During the seminar, even with so much going on outside, something amazing happened, which no one even realized until the event was over. Master's energy shielded the room from noise the whole time. In fact, everyone completely forgot about the parade! The room had become a little sanctuary, a world of its own that encouraged more informal conversations and mingling of people. Initiates also provided an array of dishes to serve buffet style to the guests, who were amazed at how delicious vegetarian food could be.

One man who had driven about an hour from San Francisco had been looking on the Internet for events after he heard about Master on TV. He eagerly asked for initiation. A woman who had already learned the Convenient Method at a previous video seminar came back and asked for initiation. Another woman was given a flyer at the front door of the library, when a fellow practitioner asked if she was interested in attending a free video seminar on how to discover the true Self. After a pause, she agreed. During the seminar, she watched Master's lecture attentively, and during the break she shared with one of our sisters that she had learned Tai Chi before and now wanted to learn meditation. She stayed for the Convenient Method and was filled with joy.