Beautiful Stories Relating to Alternative Living

 

Compiled by the Taipei News Group (Originally in Chinese)

Pink, the red poodle who switched to a vegetarian diet.

Thanks to God’s grace, the consciousness level of both humans and animals have been greatly elevated. All over the world are true stories of animals displaying their intelligent nature. In the process of distributing the Alternative Living leaflets, fellow practitioners in Taipei, Formosa, encountered many beautiful episodes. The following are some examples.

Sister initiate Zhang’s daughter has a red poodle named Pink that had been eating canned meat dog food all along. But after sister Zhang fed it with blessed food several times, surprisingly this poodle started to reject food containing meat; not even the very expensive brand-name canned dog food could tempt it. The dog would rather endure hunger, and yet she was full of vigor and energy every day. Therefore, sister Zhang bought vegetarian dog food, and since then Pink has become a happy vegetarian poodle. Moreover, each time sister Zhang plays Master’s Buddha Chanting or DVDs at home, Pink, who is usually very vivacious, always lies down quietly and is intoxicated in the blessing as if she has gone into samadhi.

One day, sister initiate Cai went to give an Alternative Living leaflet to a friend. The cat in her friend’s home acted very differently than before and rushed towards her to greet her and asked her to hug it. Sister Cai was really surprised by its warm welcome.

Another sister initiate was distributing leaflets, wearing a T-shirt printed with the Alternative Living message, when a black dog suddenly stood up tall on its hind legs and tried to embrace this sister with its front paws and fore legs. The sister could feel the excitement and sincere friendliness in the heart of this doggy friend.

Two sister initiates went to the suburban area of Zhong He, trying to distribute Alternative Living leaflets in a luxurious condominium complex. However, the security was very tight and they had to go through three guard posts. After the sisters explained to the security officer there, they received an unexpected reply: “It is good to distribute leaflets promoting vegetarianism.” Thus the sisters were granted entrance to insert the leaflets into the mailboxes of several hundred residences.

Sister initiate Shi often went to eat at a vegetarian restaurant that emphasized a healthy lifestyle. The owner tried very hard to serve the guests with the most nutritious, healthy and delicious vegetarian food. However, one time the owner was frustrated and told sister Shi that despite all her efforts, it was very difficult to attract the patronage of people who were used to eating meat. So, sister Shi gave her a big Alternative Living poster to be displayed in her restaurant. Later, when sister Shi came again, she found a steady flow of customers. The owner especially came out to thank sister Shi, because her business had improved a great deal after putting up the poster. Originally she was very worried that the restaurant might have difficulty in the month of April, because business was usually bad at that time. But her husband said that this poster had saved them. She was especially delighted that many new customers who were used to eating meat had come to try the vegetarian meals. She also witnessed many people standing in front of the poster who she said she could tell were meat eaters. But after reading the poster’s content, they then came into her restaurant.

A unique engagement festivity assimilates art, spirituality and vegetarianism. Hosts and guests alike enjoy it greatly!

For the engagement party of her younger sister, sister-initiate Gao shared with their guests the message of Alternative Living along with the idea that “You may also choose to have an ‘Alternative’ wedding feast.” She hoped to change their notion towards vegetarianism so that they would switch to a vegetarian diet and stop killing. The Gao family responded by deliberately trying to break away from the traditional practice, instead assimilating the noble ideas of art and spirituality for the wedding occasion. So, 17 of Master’s paintings and nine Longevity Lamps were displayed at the festivity venue. Moreover, the bride and groom appeared before the guests wearing Celestial Jewelry provided by fellow initiates. As a result, Master’s blessing permeated the whole occasion. During the event, when the video projection screen was introducing the new couple, an introduction of Master’s paintings and lamps that were on display was also included.

In the gift boxes that contained the wedding pastries, the family also included a document folder printed with the Alternative Living message into which was inserted a copy of the News magazine. All the guests were amazed as they browsed through the News magazine and discussed the message printed on the folder. The family even inserted Master’s aphorisms and information on where to buy vegetarian food supplies inside exquisite candy packets that were to be given to the guests on departure. The more than four hundred guests who attended the feast gladly enjoyed the delicious vegetarian food and wedding pastries. Afterwards, sister Gao’s family received a lot of positive feedback. Their father, Mr. Gao, a non-initiate, also agreed that this vegetarian feast was successful beyond expectation!