[Hsihu] On Sunday, October 21, 2001, fellow practitioners and guests rejoiced during an early celebration of Ching Hai Day at the Hsihu Ashram.

That morning, fellow initiates proceeded as usual to the Bamboo Grove to meditate and recharge themselves with the Light and love bestowed on them by God. Later, after enjoying a delicious lunch, they watched a videotape introducing Master's charitable activities around the world, as well as Her many honorable awards. On October 25, 1993, Mayor Frank Fasi of Honolulu presented the World Peace Award and a certificate of Honorary Citizenship to Master, and declared October 25th "The Supreme Master Ching Hai Day." A bronze sculpture of Supreme Master Ching Hai was presented and later erected at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, Honolulu, in recognition of Her loving concern for humankind, and Her contributions and efforts toward fostering world peace. Mayor Fasi praised Master as follows: "If we had someone like Her in every country in the world, we would have eternal peace, eternal love, and we'd all have the good life." This was the origin of Ching Hai Day. The videotape also recorded grand charitable concerts featuring Master's music and poems. The lingering music of the concerts ended with a memorable video presentation.

Ching Hai Day is celebrated in a simple yet solemn and meaningful way.

In the afternoon, fellow practitioners gathered at the Forest Meditation Hall for meditation. Following the celebration, one of the Quan Yin messengers who hosted the event shared the message of peace with attendees, saying that after the September 11 disaster in the United States, he had made this maxim from Master his motto: "That mankind may understand each other through more peaceful ways." He added that Master has taught us to frequently recite the Holy Names in silence to transmit peaceful vibrations that are unlimited in scope. It is Master's hope that we all become happy yogis, and bless the world with our joyful atmosphere and the light of our meditation. In particular, since now is a time when economic recession and unrest plague the world, we should perform our spiritual practice more diligently, in hopes that people around the world will no longer suffer from war, starvation, and poverty, and instead live a peaceful and happy life.

Photography Course

Fellow practitioners learn fundamental photography skills with undivided attention.

On the day of the celebrations, the Taipei News Group held a still photography course at the Hsihu Ashram to teach fellow practitioners about the basic structure of cameras and fundamental photography skills. All interested fellow practitioners from centers around the island were invited to attend.

In order that fellow practitioners could learn basic photography skills quickly and effectively, the lecturer, brother Wang, prepared handouts with substantial contents. He also displayed films of various exposure indexes, and photos of past activities for reference. In addition, he made use of several cameras brought by fellow practitioners as real examples for elaboration. After attentively listening to and observing brother Wang's comprehensive explanation, course attendees immediately put their learning into practice, using "the Ching Hai Day celebrations" as the theme of their photos. They hoped that onsite instruction and group interactions could yield the best learning results within a short period of time. Their ultimate aim was that more initiates would be able to take photographs of future relief efforts, and thus help build a more complete record of Master's loving activities.

Artistic Creations Exhibition

A makeshift structure built of canvas is decorated to resemble a palace, successfully bringing out the magnificence of the Celestial Clothes designed by Master.

While the whole universe was celebrating Ching Hai Day, the SM Celestial Clothes group elaborately conceived and prepared a "Celestial Clothes in Retrospect" exhibition of Master's fashion designs from 1991 to 1999, including Celestial Clothes from the first to the seventh generation. The objective was to give people a clearer picture of the Celestial Clothes, and enable them to appreciate this aesthetic collection designed through Heavenly inspiration.
Meanwhile, the Celestial Jewelry group held an exclusive exhibition of Celestial Jewelry that shone with the radiance of love under the theme "Embracing the Light of Life." The group also prepared "maxims of love" on slips of paper for people to draw at random. In the Artistic Creations Exhibition area, displays of Master's paintings and Longevity Lamps were arranged so as to complement each other beautifully.