Queensland
Sowing Seeds of Compassion
in Rockhampton
By Brisbane News Group (Originally in English)
On the weekend of June 3 and 4, Golden Year 3 (2006), a group
of Brisbane fellow practitioners traveled by plane to the regional city
of Rockhampton to distribute the Alternative Living flyers.
At Rockhampton Airport, all arriving passengers are greeted
with a huge welcome banner saying: “Welcome to Rockhampton: The
Beef Capital of Australia”. When the initiates noticed the banner
they sincerely wished that the city’s ‘claim to fame’
would change to a more loving and peaceful one.
The distribution began in the suburbs, by placing the flyers
in locals’ letterboxes. Seeing that the houses were so spread
out, it would take more than a couple of days to cover the entire 5000
households that make up Rockhampton. So the initiates came up with another
plan: they placed leaflets on cars parked on city streets and in car-parks,
enabling them to distribute more in less time. They also asked employees
in some shops, like health food stores, if a handful of flyers could
be left there.
At the end of their second day of distribution, when it was
time for them to leave, the practitioners felt elated and are now looking
forward to continuing the distribution of Master’s message of
love and compassion in other Australian cities that have not as yet
had the privilege of receiving the Alternative Living flyer.
Tasmania
Inspiration from a Compassionate Saint
By brother-initiate Dixintas, Tasmania, Australia (Originally
in English)
Witnessing the deep pain that Master experiences from the
suffering of animals, and feeling inspired by the fantastic worldwide
response to the distribution of Alternative Living flyers, initiates
from the Tasmanian Center in Hobart decided to travel 200km to Launceston,
the second largest city in the north of Australia’s island state.
For two days we distributed flyers throughout the city. After
receiving such a cordial and positive response, we decided to extend
our distribution efforts to the neighboring country towns on the Tamar
River to the Northern Coast. Later one brother continued traveling around
the north and east coasts of Tasmania in his camping van, distributing
the Alternative Living flyers along the way. The local people were very
amicable after reading the Alternative Living flyer. One responded,
“Yes! Of course we all love animals here.” “By all
means, leave the flyers here,” said another, indicating the front
of the counter, being pride of place. Another lady shop-owner wanted
a bundle of flyers so she could put them into bags with the purchases
of her customers. Altogether, we were inspired by the bright and happy
look on the shop-owners’ faces after reading the Alternative Living
flyers.
Our efforts in helping with the Alternative Living campaign
were rewarded many fold. We have many wonderful experiences to look
back on: the magical camping we enjoyed in some of nature’s most
pristine settings, the companionship of fellow initiates sharing the
same noble ideal, and the warmth of local people who directed us to
camp sites and reminded us to pick up fallen tree branches for our campfire
along the way. We had a great feeling of well-being helping with Master’s
work and were impressed by the fantastic response from the relaxed and
friendly people we met.