Taipei

Everyday in all corners of Taipei, Alternative Living promotion activities are continuously being carried out. Apart from sharing the message by initiates individually, the Center also has been involved in large scaled campaigns. The activities included participating in the 2006 Taipei International Vegetarian & Organic Festival and Taipei Computers Exposition (Spring Edition); going to various schools to promote the message, such as Guang Hua Elementary School in Xin Zhuang City, Si Xian Elementary School, Jiankang Elementary School in Songshan, Zheng Gong Elementary School in Dan Shui , Xin Xin Elementary School, Cultural Elementary School as well as Dan Shui High School; visiting EAST (Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan) to express support and encouragement.

Taipei Center also had 40,000 pencil boards made with the Alternative Living message on them and gave them to young students so that the concept of love and protecting animals would be rooted in their minds at an early age. In addition, 10,000 multi-functional pads (could be used as computer pads as well as dinning placemats) were also produced with the Alternative Living message on them and were shared with friends who had the affinity to receive God’s message.

The most encouraging news is that Taiwan Daily did a comprehensive report on May 30, Golden Year 3 (2006) with the main headline as “Choosing the Vegetarian Lifestyle; Solving the Problem of Unbalanced Distribution of Global Natural Resources” and a small headline as “Numerous Great People throughout History Have Adopted the Vegetarian Diet.” On both sides of the paper were printed the Alternative Living flyer designed by Master as well as photos with initiates distributing Alternative Living flyers on the streets, donning animal costumes and accompanied by their pets. This shows that the media acknowledges the ideal of protecting the earth and vegetarianism and is giving positive feedback to our efforts.

International Vegetarian & Organic Festival
and Computers Exposition

From May 11 to 14, the 2006 Taipei International Vegetarian & Organic Festival and Computers Exposition were held simultaneously in World Trade Center in Taipei, which attracted endless streams of people every day from various age groups and different professions. Taipei Center took this great opportunity to distribute Alternative Living flyers at the venue and the crowded nearby crossroads.

The booths of 2006 Taipei International Vegetarian & Organic Festival displayed all kinds of colorful and tasty vegetarian foods, which were sought after by lots of visitors who were interested in an organic vegetarian diet. Some of them enthusiastically joined the initiates in handing out the Alternative Living flyers. Thus in short days, 70,000 flyers were quickly disseminated.

Guang Hua Elementary School
in Xin Zhuang City

On May 30, the initiates went to Guang Hua Elementary School in Xin Zhuang City. The school has more than 5,000 students. So we presented 5,400 Alternative Living folders for all of its students and staff. Mr. Li, Handun, the head of the school, accepted the gifts with joy. He was surprised to learn that there was such a group as us in the world who quietly contribute money and efforts. His gratefulness could be easily detected from his expressions. Mr. Li said that they would be willing to have further activities with us as long as the theme is in line with the goal of education and beneficial to the students, such as protecting animals, developing compassion, and respect for life, etc.

Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST)

EAST is a group that promotes “Harmony between Humans, Animals and the Environment” All the members in this group are vegetarians. On June 12, fellow initiates from the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association Taipei Center visited EAST, bringing with them News magazines, candies and cookies that were full of Master’s blessings. Also contributed were NT$50,000 (about 1,500 US dollars) as well as 1,000 Alternative Living folders to show support and encouragement for their work and our willingness to join their effort in promoting a humanitarian way of life that respects life and protects animals.

EAST has contacted our group many times in the past. The director, Ms. Chen, Yumin, greeted us cordially. She praised our altruistic acts and also was surprised to find that Master’s magazine was made with such good quality. In discussion, Director Chen mentioned that during the process of their work, the biggest challenge was to overcome the incorrect and ignorant habits that people had accumulated over the years as well as the pressure from industrial companies and interest groups. She thought highly of our group’s Alternative Living campaign and felt it had a far deeper meaning than the promotion of vegetarianism.

Si Xian Elementary School in Xin Zhuang City

On June 13, fellow initiates went to visit Si Xian Elementary School in Xin Zhuang City in order to contribute a big Alternative Living poster, 2,500 folders and 150 multi-functional pads. The academic affairs Director Yang, Tsungda accepted the gifts on behalf of the school and was very supportive of this activity that would benefit both students’ health and the spirit. He was planning to put up the big poster at the Health Center in school. Director Yang also cited that some of the teachers in the school are vegetarian, among them there is one whose high blood pressure lowered and lost 5kg weight ever since this diet was adopted. In addition to that, the cafeteria in this school provides special lunches for vegetarian students whose numbers are increasing. It’s admirable that Si Xian Elementary School has great respect and cares for those that adopt an alternative diet.

Hsinchu

Hsinchu Center has been using mobile trucks to promote the Alternative Living message. Initiates scheduled different routes according to the districts on the map. They park the trucks displaying the Alternative Living message close to the crossroads where there are a lot of passersby. At the same time, they also hold up Alternative Living flags and distribute flyers which attract attention from many people in vehicles as well as on foot. Some even stop their cars in order to the read the content carefully.

There are many Hakka people in Hsinchu. Therefore, while distributing, the initiates also explained the content of the flyer using Hakka language, which won many warm responses. At Er Mei Lake, a famous scenic spot, some tourists who did not receive the flyers took a special detour just to ask for them. The initiates also managed to obtain the permission of the local stores to entrust flyers to them to give out. One sister, who brings her dog to do the flyer distribution, achieved unexpected result. A condo administrator, who rejected her previous visits, agreed to let her in upon seeing the dog and even chatted with her about experiences in raising dogs.

On campuses, flyer distribution also received good responses. After discovering that the posters were for promoting vegetarianism, a staff member exchanged thoughts with the initiates and discussed the benefits of the vegetarian diet enthusiastically. Members of the Hygiene and Health Department also graciously allowed initiates to put up posters upon knowing the content. Coincidentally, there was another poster already displayed outside the Hygiene and Health office calling for a healthy living lifestyle, in which the first key point was “eating less meat,” echoing the theme of our activity.

Changhua

On May 28, right before the Dragon Festival, the initiates from Changhua Center were invited to participate in the 2006 Mayor Cup Dragon Boat Festival on the Ground held in front of the Changhua train station. Initiates not only provided delicious vegetarian food for free tasting, but also prepared interesting games to entertain both parents and kids. Also on display were Master’s paintings and publications. In addition, Master’s lecture tape was played and Alternative Living flyers were distributed.

For this special occasion, fellow initiates prepared 12 different kinds of vegetarian delicacies packed in over 4000 give-out-boxes and also wrapped more than 1000 vegetarian rice dumplings to serve the guests. Many people watched the dragon boat competition while enjoying the food we provided; others watched Master’s lecture tapes, or played games with their kids.

During the festival, the Mayor of Changhua, Mr.Wen, Guomin and Legislative member Mr. Chen, Jie visited our booth at different times. Apart from thanking the initiates for their contribution to this public activity, they also expressed their praise and admiration to Master for Her spiritual teachings and compassionate deeds, as well as their acknowledgement of the theme “compassion, health, environmental protection.” The sponsor of the festival, the Public Service Office of the city, was also very impressed by the devotion and the enthusiastic spirit of our fellow initiates. They pointed out that the initiates were not discouraged by the heavy rain at all, instead, they put more energy into the project and completed it from beginning to end and thus the festival was able to be carried out smoothly. Mr. Sun, the Director of the festival, also stopped by our booth together with Chief Secretary Mr. Zhang to give us encouragement and praise. What was most memorable was that Mr. Zhang gave a speech calling for the citizens of Changhua City to change to a vegetarian diet based on the ideal of health and compassion.

The festival lasted from 8:00am until noon that day, during which our booth had many visitors. After tasting the vegetarian food the satisfied smiles on their faces affirmed their stamp of approval. Children who took part in the games with their family also enjoyed the wonderful festive atmosphere. Those who received the Alternative Living flyers read the content with attention. Towards the end of the event, the heavy rain stopped and the sun emerged. In our hearts, we thanked Master for all the blessings that She has bestowed upon us and at the same time, tried to take advantage of the better weather to give out more flyers and shopping bags with the Alternative Living message printed on them. People lined up to get the shopping bags because they are so useful. Seeing everyone leave with a smile, holding the shopping bags, we felt very happy and grateful.

In order to help children gain the concept of vegetarianism through various means such as knowledge, practical experience and the family influence, the initiates from Changhua made a special trip to Beidou Elementary School, after Director Chen, Jinhuang expressed his interest in the information. We contributed 650 Alternative Living items such as folders, pencil boards and multi-purpose pads. Apart from showing his support for the ideal of promoting vegetarianism and protecting animals, Director Chen also formally extended his invitation to us to join the spiritual activities on their school campus. We immediately replied that it would be a great pleasure to share the knowledge when the occasion arose.

Nantou

It was time again for the university entrance examination. In the summer heat, during the first 3 days of July, high school graduated students in Formosa have to take part in this important examination. The exam took place in Zhong Xin High School in Nantou County. The local initiates creatively printed Alternative Living messages on fans and distributed them to students and parents in the early morning of the first day, hoping to bring them some coolness in the hot weather. All the students as well as the parents accompanying them were happy to receive the fans, especially the parents because they could not only use the fans to cool themselves but also read the content while waiting for their children.

To maintain order during the exam, the county arranged many policemen to direct traffic around the school. Among them there was one who strongly supported the Alternative Living message and even asked for more fans to bring back to the head office to share with others. Another policeman also requested more Alternative Living folders on behalf of his colleagues.

At the same time, in the sports field close to the school, there was a National Gateball Game for the Elderly going on. The initiates took the chance to share the fans with the participants of the game. All these grandmas and grandpas playfully fought to get one, and even asked for more for their team members. One of the participants praised us a lot after receiving a flyer and understanding the purpose of our voluntary work. He mentioned that in today’s world it is rare to see people who would truly selflessly serve the public and he thanked us again and again.

Tainan

Tainan has scheduled every Saturday to pass out Alternative Living leaflets at different locations in the city. On the fourth week of each month, they would also do a larger scaled campaign. In the month of May, the campaign was carried out at the Dragon Boat Festival during the Dragon Boat Competition in Tainan City where there were the most crowds; while in June, it was held at An Nei Elementary School. In addition, the Center contributed Alternative Living folders to various government offices in Tainan such as the Social Office, Education Office, County Cultural Center and County Public Office, as well as some non profit organizations such as An Ping Cultural Foundation, Jin Chen Cultural Foundation, Tainan Dialect Research Center, Nan Luo Dialect and Literature Association and Chinese Stamp Carving Art Society. At the same time, the Center also contributed Master’s books, as well as Alternative Living folders and printouts containing information including both the “Ten Reasons to Eat More Like A Vegetarian” and medical evidence supporting the benefits of keeping a vegetarian diet, to the libraries in the county, townships and universities.

International Dragon Boat Competition,
a Perfect Time for Promoting Vegetarianism

The International Dragon Boat Competition was held at the Tainan channel from May 27 to 31. It is the most special cultural festival in Tainan and this year, the Washington Dragon Boat team from USA also joined the competition and thus attracted crowds of people.

For the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Tainan Center arranged to use the space in a local restaurant owned by an acquaintance to set up a headquarters for distributing flyers and other activities. We were delighted to find that the Festival Committee as well as the central stage was right in front of the restaurant. Everyone involved was deeply grateful for Master’s seamless arrangement.

To support the theme, we put up an Alternative Living banner and posters, wore Alternative Living T-shirts, and had printed more than 1,000 copies of “Ten Reasons to Eat More Like A Vegetarian” and relevant medical research reports supporting the benefits of the vegetarian diet written by well known doctors and personnel. The kitchen group prepared over 700 nutritious and tasty vegetarian rice dumplings to share with the crowds. As soon as the poster was put up, the first visitor it attracted was unexpectedly a policeman there to maintain the order. He highly acknowledged our activity. Many people also came to carefully read the contents of the posters and very soon, several hundred of the loving rice dumplings were given out. That same night, since the Festival Committee arranged special programs, our booth was packed with people. The 1,000 copies of vegetarian information were passed out quickly. In addition, the Center also baked a few hundred almond cookies that they gave out together with the flyers. Those who received the cookies were very surprised and happy. A lot of people read the information right away and asked for sample booklets.

There was a 68-year-old gentleman Mr. Xu who saw Master manifest at a sister’s wisdom eye when she was explaining the content of the flyer and showing him the sample booklet. Master looked exactly the same as the photo on the cover of the sample booklet. He was truly amazed! With great interest, he listened to the sister’s explanation and realized that our Master is a great Master who has countless transcendental bodies. He decided to be vegetarian and started to practice spiritually. He also wanted to visit the holy Center in Hsihu and thus left some information with us, hoping that we would contact him soon.

One of the performance groups, the Tainan Singing Association, was also very supportive in our promotion of the Alternative Living lifestyle. They coordinated their performances with our activities in order to better spread the message. Though there was heavy rain that night, the enthusiastic audience still held umbrellas to watch the shows. Everyone present received an Alternative Living flyer, a printout of vegetarian information and a loving rice dumpling. Upon receiving the gifts, many expressed that they were lucky and happy that night, which was clearly visible by their smiling faces. All the initiates who participated also felt Master’s immense love and blessing!

“Respecting Life and Protecting Animals”
- The Promotion Activity in An Nei Elementary School

The campaign in June was held at An Nei Elementary School in Yen Shui Town, Tainan County. The theme was “Respecting Life and Protecting Animals.” Many initiates in the education fields took days off from work in order to participate in this event.

In January this year when Tainan Center visited senior citizens’ homes, the Principal of An Nei Elementary School Ms. Feng, Qiuxiang also brought a team of 20 to 30 students to perform a lion dance to entertain the elderly. All the kids in the lion dance group tasted the western style vegetarian buffet prepared by the initiates. They were so impressed that they advertised the delicious foods back in school and thus the rest of the kids became very envious. Therefore, as soon as the Principal announced the news of this event, all the kids were cheerful and looked forward for the day to come.

On that day, all of students gathered at the big hall and watched the DVD “The Real Heroes.” Before showing the film, principal Feng, apart from giving the usual welcoming speech, also advised the students to respect life and protect animals which surprised the initiates greatly because Ms. Feng had never watched the film. How could she know what the film was about? Later, principal Feng revealed, “Last night before I went to sleep, I was thinking about how to introduce this event to the students. Then this film actually played in my mind once. That’s how I knew.”

To help those younger children that could not read, a sister read out the subtitles for them while the DVD was playing. The next session was questions and answers. All the questions were about the information conveyed in this film. Students were very active in answering the questions. To our amazement, even the children in kindergarten and lower grades were able to understand the meaning and gave correct answers. Obviously they were very concentrated when watching the film. They must have been watching it with their “souls.”

The prizes for the winners included Alternative Living folders, candies and cookies brought by the Center as well as two big boxes of stationeries contributed by a fellow initiate who owns a stationery store. The bountiful prizes motivated the students to participate in the question and answer game and grabbed everyone’s attention.

The last activity of the “Respecting Life and Protecting Animals” program was the most anticipated, the vegetarian food tasting event. All the dishes were the favorites of the initiates and were made with love. Dozens of delicious dishes with both eastern and western flavors were displayed in the venue and showed the teachers and the students that without sacrificing the lives of animals, they could still enjoy tasty foods in the world. Some teachers said that they would like to try the vegetarian diet but did not know how to start. We immediately recommended the website printed on the flyer, where there are vegetarian cooking demonstration films, recipes and very complete relevant information available.

A student asked shyly if it was allowed to take some food home because his family is vegetarian and he would like to share such delicious food with them. We therefore asked a teacher to announce to all the students that everyone was welcome to eat as much as they liked and containers were available to take some food home.

The posters put up in the halls also attracted the students. After watching “The Real Heroes,” they were able to reaffirm the information on the posters and thus instill deeply the concept of respecting lives and keeping a loving vegetarian diet.

At the conclusion of the event, the amiable principal Feng expressed her admiration for Master and said that she appreciated every episode of the TV program “Journey through Aesthetic Realms” each Sunday, because the messages Master delivers resonate with her own life philosophy. She said that ordinary people only pay attention to the outside actions, but the Supreme Master Ching Hai is truly a spiritual guide from inside out to lead people to spiritual practice. Principal Feng also presented a certificate of appreciation to the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association. She expressed her impressions of the event that day, “I am deeply moved by the initiates from the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association. From them, I see the bright and beautiful side of human nature. Their devotion and positive spirit as well as the attitude of treating all with equal love including animals truly touched my heart. You are the shining examples for the society!”

Principal Feng (on the right)

In order for all the teachers and students in the school to obtain God’s message, we gave each teacher an Alternative Living folder containing a printout of the “Ten Reasons to Eat More Like A Vegetarian” and the list of the local vegetarian restaurants. To each student, we gave Alternative Living pencil boards. In addition, Master’s story books, illustrated tales and “The Real Heroes” DVDs were contributed to the school library. This event was a happy and unforgettable day for the all the staff and students in An Nei Elementary School.

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