[Taitung]
This
is how an ancient legend of Formosa's Bunun aborigines goes. Once, during
a losing battle, a Bunun elder escaped into the mountains with his enemies
close at his heels. While in this desperate situation, he heard a humming
sound. God was answering his prayers and inspiring him through the heavenly
music. He turned back and the Bunun won the battle. Since then, the
Bunun tribesmen have returned to their dominion and imitated this Sound
to create their world-famous octet. In the Haituang rural township,
Taitung County, Wulu is a typical Bunun tribal village located high
among the clouds. Its inhabitants are pious children of God who still
sing this heavenly octet. Several years back, they performed the octet
at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and even in the faraway Yunan
Province of mainland China.
Perhaps
God heard the call deep from their souls, because fellow practitioners
from Taitung visited Wulu, bringing them the divine message about the
ethereal Sound stream that might awaken the memory of Heaven among the
Bunun people. On our way to Wulu we found that several parts of the
Southern Cross-Island Highway, leading to this village, had been buried
by landslides, caused by Typhoon Bilis in late August. Many roads were
destroyed, as were numerous vegetable farms and orchards. The miserable
scenes revealed to us why Master had sent us there. Yes, material aid
might be of some consolation to the elderly in the village, but it was
the blessing from the divine Sound stream that helped the Bunun people
rediscover the true origin and glory of their ancestors.
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Free
medical consultations
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Free
hair cut
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Many
fellow practitioners from Taitung participated in the free medical and
barber's services that we offered in this mountain village. They were
joined by Pingtung and Taipei initiates, who were western-style phisicians
or naturopaths.
The Bunun
children were the first to receive free medical service. Then, they
accepted their share of candies before having their hair shaved completely
in the barber's area. Their innocent and shining eyes told us that Heaven
belonged to them. Owing to their purity and simplicity, heavenly Light
appeared in the photos that we took on this occasion. Many people clearly
experienced Master's intangible blessings, which added to the success
of the activity. Their unpolluted environment ensures perfect health
for the Bunun people, but they didn't miss the opportunity to get a
haircut. (The nearest barber was 30 km from the village.) Most of them
preferred to have their hair shaved to the scalp. We almost thought
that we were in a temple!
This was
just after Formosa had been hit by Typhoon Bilis, when for many days,
Wulu lost contact with the outside world. The people had to rely on
emergency supplies airlifted by Formosa's Seagull Air Squadron. When
the brother initiate contacting them visited Wulu to arrange for the
medical and barber's services, he was deeply impressed by the villagers
shouting in unison as they worked together to restore the water supply
in the mountains. It was as though the entire village were a large family
living happily and harmoniously together.
In addition
to offering the free services, we also visited senior citizens over
the age of sixty-five. Touched by Master's deep love, they cheerfully
thanked us in their native language, saying "Ur-ni-la". We,
too, said "Ur-ni-la" to Master from the depths of our hearts;
it is because of You that we are what we are today!