Panorama of Events

Report from Thailand

Visitors show great interest in Master's teachings at a vegetarian food exhibition in Thailand.

A Summer Vegetarian Retreat

[Bangkok] A vegetarian food exhibition was held in late July 1999 to remind people to cultivate blessings and merits as part of the 72nd birthday celebration for King Bhumibol of Thailand. Participants were also invited to observe a non-meat diet during the three-month summer retreat for Buddhists, which was meant to awaken their hearts of compassion and universal love. This meaningful activity, sponsored by the Vegetarian Federation of Thailand at a department store, was intended to foster a common understanding of the benefits that a vegetarian diet can bring to the world, the family, and the individual. Free samplings of vegetarian food were available and a cooking contest was held.

The Thailand Center of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association participated in the event, providing delectable delicacies and screening videotaped lectures by Master on the Quan Yin Method, meditation, and the meaning of vegetarianism. Visitors demonstrated great interest in the lectures and many pulled chairs up to the booth to quietly watch the tapes one after another. Filled with bliss, they later visited the Center to request and await initiation into the Convenient Method. The activity proved to be a success, and for this, much appreciation goes to the sponsors, who are full-time vegetarians and exemplary models of virtue in this Buddhist nation.