By sister initiate
Tan Yu-ying, Los Angeles, California, USA
This is a very long story that goes all
the way back to 1968 when my sister spent her summer holidays working
in Chicago. At my husband's request, Mr. Liang, a Chinese classmate
in the area, took care of her. This planted the seed for the close
friendship that later developed between our two families. In October
of that same year, Mr. Liang's fiancee arrived from Au Lac for their
wedding in Formosa. My father presided over their wedding, and this
was the first time that I had met the couple. After the wedding, we
went our own separate ways. The Liangs lived on the east coast of
the United States but later moved near San Francisco. We stayed in
the Midwest for a long time before moving to Los Angeles. We did not
communicate often but our concern for each other never faded. Every
time there was a disaster, such as an earthquake or fire in Los Angeles,
the Liangs called to make sure that we were fine. The couple were
both quiet by nature, but a warm friendship silently held our two
families together.
Then, in the summer of 1994, Master
opened a vegetarian restaurant in San Jose to promote vegetarianism,
and fellow initiates and guests were invited to a dinner reception.
A large marquee was set up in the parking lot to accommodate the numerous
participants, who sat quietly, waiting to see Master. When She finally
arrived and saw how quiet everyone was, She exclaimed, "This
is more like a military camp than a dinner party!" A week later,
word spread that Master was going to entertain us again with a "romantic"
dinner party.
Before that, I had received an invitation
to a surprise 50th birthday party in San Jose for a very close high
school friend, which was being planned by her two sisters. Many friends
were invited to the party. We heard that the Liangs would be going
and looked forward to seeing them again.
Before I made the airline reservations,
I was worried about how we could get to the party venue, when I received
the surprise message that Master was going to invite us to another
dinner scheduled for the same day as the birthday party. What was
more wonderful was that the birthday party was to be held in the afternoon
and Master's party in the evening. A friend of my sister's offered
to give us a ride. The arrangements were just perfect. Just before
the trip, I received an inner message during meditation that I should
bring Mr. and Mrs. Liang to see Master. But I wondered if it was my
own mind that had construed this thought, for I knew nothing about
the couple's religious inclinations.
On this eventful day, I arrived for the
birthday party before noon. As everyone was busy with the preparations,
I went into a room to meditate and stayed there until after many guests
had arrived. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Mr. Liang and his
wife standing outside the room. And before I could speak, Mr. Liang
asked, "Yu-ying, I heard that you are practicing meditation.
Can you teach me?" I realized immediately that these had all
been God's arrangements. I responded at once, "I am here today
because of you.
" I told them how we had gotten to know
Master, and Mr. Liang was deeply impressed by our experience. Our
conversation that afternoon lasted longer than all our previous exchanges
put together in the past twenties years.
Later, the Liangs naturally came to Master's
dinner party with me. The atmosphere was great. We had barbecue and
Master was in a great mood. She not only gave a discourse, but also
told stories and even sang. Some people requested initiation and Master
happily agreed. I could see that the Liangs were very interested in
getting initiated, but I did not want them to make a hasty decision.
I wanted them to first learn more about Master's teachings, and asked
them to read Her books first. The following day, Mr. Liang called
to say that he regretted not having received initiation the night
earlier. I suggested that he first practice the Convenient Method.
Nevertheless, he expressed in every subsequent call that three months
of waiting were too long for him. I smiled and said, "You have
already waited for so long. Why can't you wait another three months?"
Of course, I understood his anxiety very much.
Afterwards, he told me that he had been
seeking the Truth for many years and had participated in other spiritual
groups, but none had met his expectations. He prayed for God's guidance
every day, hoping that Hes would show him the real path. After reading
Master's books, he knew that God had answered his prayers. He became
convinced that "when the disciples are ready, the Master appears"
because this was an apt description of himself.
As I write this article, I am deeply
touched by God's detailed arrangements! The many things that happened
in the past - from the friendship between the Liangs and our family,
to Mr. Liang's acquaintance with my sister and parents, to Master's
"second" party, and the timely arrangement of the birthday
party - could only have been so perfectly arranged by almighty God!