Forewords: When it was first published in 1986, Ami, Child of the Stars by Chilean author Enrique Barrios, achieved immediate success in the Spanish-speaking world. The story then appeared in several more languages and was endorsed by education experts in many countries as well as spiritual leaders such as Pope John Paul II.

The book, which tells the tale of Pedro, a boy who befriends extraterrestrial beings, was written for both children and adults with high ideals, dreams and loving natures who are able to perceive the many wonderful, fascinating dimensions of our own and other realms. Thus, the story resonates with children “of any age or nation on this rounded and beautiful homeland, future heirs and builders of a new Earth with no division among brethren.”

In relating the tale of the protagonist and his other-worldly companions, the author calls upon his own childhood experiences with a sense of inner contemplation, peace and spiritual upliftment and an understanding of universal law, showing a great concurrence with the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai.

For example, the narrative envisions visits from extraterrestrials, the unveiling of cosmic secrets, an interplanetary fraternity and the Golden Age, and also addresses the topics of vegetarianism among these beings, their belief in God, their practice of meditation and the notion that every highly evolved world in the universe is based on love. Other interesting subjects handled in the book are the attitudes of other-worldly beings toward our civilization, the possible destruction of Earth, the spiritual levels of the various planets and the implications of karma. There is even mention of a music that requires a previous “initiation” to be enjoyed!

By way of dialog between Pedro and the other main character, Ami, who travel on a spacecraft, the author uses a simple, direct, humorous style to express noble ideals about all civilizations. For instance, Pedro shows initial skepticism because of his incorrect views about “Martians,” and being unable to contain himself, wants to know when the extraterrestrials are going to invade and colonize Earth. To his surprise, however, Ami explains that these ideas are simply fantasies because if a planet were full of bad people they would destroy themselves first: “Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, there was on Earth a civilization akin to yours. The scientific level of that humanity went beyond its love level. Being thus divided, what happened was bound to happen.”

The book also deals with the fact that any civilization not based on compassion and goodness towards all beings, which includes a vegetarian lifestyle, will not attain great advancement. For example, while he and Pedro are traveling in outer space one night, Ami uses a special camera to see through Pedro's house, notices a plate of food Pedro’s grandmother has prepared for him and is amazed to see a piece of meat! “Ugh!” cries Ami, feeling sick. “How can you eat a carcass!” After seeing the situation from this point of view, Pedro cannot eat the meat when he returns home that night.

Another topic addressed is extraterrestrials’ beliefs about God whereas Pedro imagines God as an aged man wearing a beard and robe, his intergalactic friend Ami explains, “God has not a human appearance, has no form at all and is not a person like you or I. It’s an infinite Being, pure creative energy… pure love.”

An extension of the extraterrestrial notion of God is their spiritual practice. The book says that beings from other worlds meditate on God and also on love. In fact, on Ami’s planet the name for God is “Love”; that is, the concepts of God and love are expressed by using the same term. As Ami states, “These people have around a thousand measures [of spiritual levels], but they concentrate on love to attain more than two thousand, … There are other worlds to which neither you nor I can [go] at the moment. There dwell beings that surpass the ten thousand measures: the solar beings—they are almost pure love.”

In their travels, Ami and Pedro also discover the most fundamental law of the universe; namely, that every highly evolved world in the universe is organized on the basis of love. To quote Ami again, “Evolution means to get closer to love. The beings more highly evolved experience and convey more love. The true greatness and smallness of every being is only determined by the measure of their love. If you understand that love is the universal law, if you join together as a family, without frontiers, and if you organize according to love, you’ll manage to survive.”

Finally, Ami, Child of the Stars even discusses the implications of karma: “The violations to love are paid in any number of ways. When you see the suffering in so many places—those who suffer accidents, who lose their beloved ones, ‘bad luck,’ so many things - that’s the way we pay the violations to love. And there are many other ways.”

So how can one know if one is making spiritual progress? “The more highly evolved you are, the more you are like a child,” Ami explains to Pedro. “In these worlds we have many places like this one. An adult soul is also the soul of a child. We need to play; we need fantasy, creation. And there is no game, fantasy or creation greater than the universe, whose Creator is love.”

These are just some of the correlations between the message of Enrique Barrios’ fascinating story and the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai, begging the question as to what it would be like going for a ride around the universe in a swift spacecraft in the company of Master, the most expert of instructors! Quan Yin practitioners are indeed lucky to be initiated by Her so as to be born again, retain the innocence of children, evolve in love and have the chance to help the entire planet remember the path leading to the Golden Age of peace, spiritual upliftment and comprehension of our universe through Her teachings and through books such as Ami, Child of the Stars.

To read the entire text of Ami, Child of the Stars in Spanish, please visit the following website: http://www2.11argentina.com:8080/BOOKS/AMI_01.zip