Front Line

An International book fair, under the theme of "When East Meets West," was recently held at the Taipei World Trade Center. Nearly a thousand publishers from dozens of countries participated, attracting over five hundred thousand spectators. The Taipei Center of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association realized it was a precious opportunity to introduce Master's spiritual teachings to the multitude, so they prepared for the book fair for a year.

Supreme Master Ching Hai, a modern enlightened Master for our time, creates a unique impression and a bountiful spiritual harvest for spectators at the Taipei International Book Fair.

A Multifarious Presentation Of An
Omnipotent Enlightened Master

In recent years, Master's styles of spreading the Truth have been manifold and ever-changing, to suit different levels of the multitude. Supported by various Centers throughout the Province, the Taipei Center also decorated the exhibiting booth in an innovative way based on a manifold design, and on the concept of "instilling art into daily life". This was an application of Master's teaching: "To beautify the world, first instil art into daily life."

With the objective of presenting "a multifarious exhibit," the ingenious fellow practitioners of the art team used large acrylic boards to display: "Supreme Master Ching Hai's Life Sketch," "World Disaster Relief - Love Pervades the Five Continents," "The Most Beautiful Tunes From God," "Restoring Truth, Beauty and Virtue To The Glorious World," "Spiritual Inspirations From Heaven" and "A Diet of Love and Wisdom".

Master's visible and invisible work, and Her creative masterpieces which included music, painting, a cookbook, Celestial Clothes and Celestial Jewelry, all were displayed to spectators to let them appreciate these things leisurely and in detail. This was a joyful experience for the heart, eyes and ears.

At the venue there was a Compact Disk Listening Area that allowed guests to enjoy Master's songs and music through earphones. Intoxicated by the high fidelity heavenly music, many people were reluctant to leave. Some of them simply closed their eyes and savored the enchanting melodies of God.

Attracted by Master's numerous creations, people with individual needs found themselves drifting into our exhibiting area. Fellow practitioners in charge of Master's publications abandoned their old concept of only selling Master's books and promoted themselves to "Art Revelationists," and guided spectators to each display area, so that people could tie affinities with Master in a most peaceful and blissful atmosphere.

Billions Of Manifestation Bodies

And Billions Of Appropriate Methods

The Center especially reproduced several large photos of Master to be placed at prominent spots in the venue, hoping that more sentient beings with an affinity could "have a look at the enlightened Master". As expected, these huge photos became the focus of attention for reporters and spectators as they clicked their camera shutters.

Another effective tool in spreading the Truth was a big TV screen. Taking the advantage of the good location, a gigantic TV screen was set up at the cross junction of the exhibiting booths, and Master's videos were shown continuously.

When the video tape of Master's lecture at the United Nations called, "The Mystery Of The World Beyond," was being shown, a tremendous crowd was attracted, and caused severe traffic congestion for the nearby exhibiting booths. This really showed that people are thirsting to understand the Truth, and seeking liberation.

During the exhibition, fellow practitioners on duty experienced many things that touched them deeply. Two years ago, Master kindly allowed fellow disciples from throughout the world to hold a "Pray For World Peace" International Seven-Day Retreat at the Asia World Hotel in Taipei. A gentleman visited Master's painting exhibition at the venue, and deeply felt that the ideas conveyed by the paintings coincided with his thoughts. He was greatly impressed, but he never thought he would meet our group again at this book fair. He said that if it hadn't been for Master's fantastic arrangement, he wouldn't have had another opportunity to appreciate Her spiritual odyssey.

A security staff member at the venue also came to know about our group several years ago at a vegetarian food fair. That time, Master showed him visions in a dream. At this book fair, he felt as if Master had come personally to remind him of that incredible experience, and asked fellow practitioners to help him resolve his doubts regarding spiritual practice. He is certain that Master's Quan Yin Method is "the ultimate goal of all paths".

There was one interesting incident: the side gate next to our exhibiting booth was closed and guarded by a security officer. When he first saw the big photo of Master wearing white Quan Yin Bodhisattva attire, he thought we were exhibiting wedding gowns. Realizing the mistake later, he was very embarrassed and kept apologizing to us. However, this misunderstanding provided us an opportunity to introduce the Quan Yin Method to him. Fellow practitioners were awed by Master's wisdom in saving different sentient beings by using different appearances.

When visiting the book fair, the famous master from the Black School Esoteric Sect, Mr. Lin Yun, specially went to Master's exhibiting booth. When Mr. Lin found out that all the fellow practitioners working at the book fair were volunteers, he commented that he had met members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association in many parts of the world on many occasions, and he was always informed that the working members in those activities were volunteers without demand from Master and even not inform Her of their activities in advance. Therefore, he truly admired Supreme Master Ching Hai's appeal. Master's

Master's Almighty Power Wonderfully Arranged Everything

Originally, it was only a book fair. However, in order to "display Master's teachings in the most beautiful way and with the best quality", with the devoted cooperation of all fellow practitioners, it became a highly successful activity for spreading the Truth.

From the initial preparatory work to the cleaning up after the event, all fellow practitioners who participated unanimously agreed that everything was being impelled by the Master power.

Before the event, fellow practitioners still thought that they were "doing Master's work". However, while participating in the work, they realized practically that Master had already arranged many situations to provide lessons for people to learn.

Preparing the exhibiting booth on the first day, a fellow practitioner responsible for Master's publications wondered why only a small corner was allocated to books since books were the main theme of fair. However, in the next few days, she observed that many people were discovering Master's teachings or tying an affinity with Master either because they were interested in the cookbook, fascinated by the spiritual music, absorbed in watching Master's videos or attracted by the beautiful Celestial Clothes. She then understood: Master's every action and word is a spiritual teaching. Hence, she was freed of her previous preconception.

Another fellow practitioner mentioned that at one point she was responsible for the photo display at a previous book fair, and had put her favorite Master photos in the most prominent spots. However, shortly after, an old lady approached her and asked if there was any photo of Master wearing Japanese attire - exactly like the one that she put under the table! Then she realized she had not been acting selflessly. She also understood that all of Master's things are good since each person has their own favorite image of Master. We must not confine Master with our preconceived ideas, which will only limit us and hinder other people from tying an affinity with Her.

During the book fair, the design of the exhibiting booth was changed everyday to accommodate the needs of different people. Actually, Master was behind all these alterations, impelling everything with Her omnipresent power. During the whole process, we knew that if we could regard ourselves as instruments, forsake our egos, and work sincerely, every task would naturally be accomplished smoothly and on time.

All the fellow practitioners who took part in this activity realized that all of Master's work in spreading the Truth is prearranged by God; and it is a blessing to be able to participate and to be used as a instrument. It is always Master's blessing power that takes care of everything. When participating in Master's work, everything is unique, and each instance provides a valuable lesson for us.

The rich variety of artistic creations by Master deeply evoke people's inner quest for "Truth, beauty and virtue".