During the years and after my university study, I was very ambitious and one of my main goals was to become really rich, to have my own companies, a big house, a few cars, exclusive holidays, etc. I proclaimed it publicly. My mind was fully occupied by this and forced me to realize it. I worked hard but without any extraordinary success. I even lost a lot of money trying to invest my savings. After one big financial loss, I felt physically and mentally exhausted, without any vision or goal for the future, (except to pay my debts), and completely empty. At that time (December 2003), instead of working I just surfed the internet all day long. I encountered some spiritual teachings and texts about meditation, but nothing really impressed me until I found the Supreme Master Ching Hai website. I could not stop reading it. I read the sample booklet, many of the online News magazines, and a lot about the Quan Yin Method of meditation. The teachings went directly to my heart. Everything seemed to be so simple, so clear and full of light, love and wisdom. Since that time my life has turned around 180 degrees, my old priorities were thrown away and replaced by new ones. I was able to become a vegetarian, day by day, just after having read Master’s teachings! Before that time, I had also been a casual smoker and sometimes drank alcohol at parties with my friends. I felt that it was not right and tried to quit several times, but I could never really do it. But now as easily as became a vegetarian, I also knew that I would not smoke or drink alcohol anymore. My family, parents, grandparents, etc. lived a very traditional way of life, so it was really hard for them to accept my vegetarianism, especially because it all happened a few days before Christmas. My friends and colleagues also did not understand it. After a few month of being a vegetarian I felt that it is time for the next step. So I called the nearest meditation C enter (about 500 km from my town) and learned the Convenient Method. Days and months after that I tried to meditate, but it was quite hard for me to do it regularly. I fought with myself and with people around me. After several tumbles and many months, I finally overcome that. But also in this period the power of our Master helped me and guided me. As I read more and more I tried to live a better life, to meditate every day, and keep the precepts. Anyway it took me two years to be initiated. Nevertheless as people around me saw the permanent changes in me, they also changed. The less I tried to change them, the more they changed. Not long after that, my mother, sister, girlfriend and one colleague became vegetarians. My father started to eat more fruit and less meat. Other colleagues also minimized their meat consumption. Now I am “freshly-initiated”
and when I look back and summarize, I have nothing to say but "THANK
YOU DEAR MASTER”.
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