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Audience
members watch Master's videotape with rapt attention.
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[Geneva] At
the Geneva International Book Fair held in May 2002, initiates from
the Geneva Center set up an exhibition booth displaying Master's publications
in various European languages, including the French edition of I
Have Come to Take You Home. Master's teachings on videotapes and
DVDs were also available. Several fellow initiates came from Paris
to help with preparatory work for the Fair, while other European Centers
in London, Rome, Paris and Munich provided the required books, video
tapes and sample booklets and made a concerted effort to ensure the
success of their exhibition.
The Geneva exhibition booth was small,
but it was radiant with joy and permeated by Master's enchanting smile.
Geneva is an international city and people from many different ethnic
and religious backgrounds stopped by to ask about Master's teachings.
Some remembered Master from Her lecture tour in 1993 and others had
seen Her on Quan Yin websites.
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Guests
eagerly discuss Master's teachings with fellow practitioners
at the Geneva video seminar.
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Fellow practitioners engaged in a cordial
exchange with members of the Swiss Vegetarian Society, who sponsored
a booth at the Fair for the first time, and were very happy to learn
that Master supports vegetarianism. The Vegetarian Society members
gladly exchanged sample booklets with Geneva initiates and promised
to maintain contact. The adjacent booth was run by representatives
of an Islamic publishing company, who also were very interested in
Master's teachings, although they had to first get used to the idea
of a lady Master!
While working at the exhibition booth,
fellow initiates were surrounded by Master's books and videos, and
could feel a very intense and elevated energy, as if they were at
a retreat. This energy also attracted people with affinity, who not
only were interested in meditation, but also embraced an open attitude
toward Master's teachings and the idea of following the guidance of
a living Master.
In June 2002, fellow practitioners from Geneva held
another Truth-sharing event in the form of a video seminar. Prior
to the seminar, Master's posters were affixed to every lamppost on
a pedestrian bridge over the River Rhone in the middle of the city
so that every few meters, pedestrians were greeted by Master's beautiful
smile. Fellow practitioners simply named this bridge the Ching Hai
Bridge!
On the day of the seminar, a young lady who participated
shared her story with us. Influenced by an unhappy childhood, she
used to constantly quarrel with her family members. However, the more
she did so, the more difficult her life became. In the end, she realized
that it was better to accept her karma and thank God for giving her
the opportunity to grow through interacting with her family. She realized
that only love can overcome hatred, and only loving others can make
one's life content.
Organizing these two events was an eye opener for Geneva fellow practitioners,
who previously had been eager to share Master's teachings with others,
but always felt that though many people believed in God, few were
ready to accept a living Master. Now they have discovered that there
is a great deal of interest in meditation among young and old members
of the public, and a more open attitude toward Master's teachings
than they had ever imagined.
To keep
pace with the planet's ongoing spiritual elevation, the local centers
of
the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association are holding
more and more video seminars and other Truth-sharing activities worldwide.