Vegetarianism Is on the Rise in Austria

Compiled from the reports by Vienna News Group, Austria (Originally in German)

Upon receiving Master’s compassionate instruction to distribute the Alternative Living flyers in order to save more animal lives, Vienna Center took the opportunity to participate in some special events to bring the message of vegetarianism to large and diverse crowds of people.

On April 5, some Austrian, German and English fellow initiates joined the protest event “March for GMO-free Regions” on the occasion of the EU Conference “Freedom of Choice”, which was held at the Viennese Conference Center from April 4 -6 to discuss the possibilities of a coexistence of genetically modified and ordinary crops in Europe. We decided not only to use this event to propagate vegetarianism among GMO-opponents and environmentalists from all over Europe, but to also support their cause to protect the natural God-created seeds from contamination with genetically modified ones, which might produce a harvest hazardous to people’s health and the environment.

So with the help of an Austrian practitioner, who is an organic farmer, the initiates set up a table in front of the conference venue where the protest took place and gave away 2,000 organic apples for free as a symbol of the goodness of natural food. Along with the apples, we displayed English and German Alternative Living flyers and leaflets on the Quan Yin Method of meditation on our table decorated in bright rainbow colors.

At the march and the protest event, which included speeches and a musical program, the European elite of environmentalists and GMO-opponents was present. The international speakers at the venue included Austrian Green Party politicians Alexander van der Bellen and Madeleine Petrovic, and many prominent GMO-opponents and environmentalists from all over Europe. All in all, GMO-opponents and environmental groups from 20 European countries had come to join the protest.

The apples and flyers were received with great enthusiasm. Even two hours before the closing of the event, there was not one single apple left, and practically every participant at the event had received at least one Alternative Living flyer. Several shop owners even took a whole bunch of them to give to their customers. Many people, including the policemen, came back several times to get more of the delicious organic apples. These guardians of law and order at the event were very friendly and grateful to receive some of these apples as healthy snacks. A man who watched the policemen do this, remarked jokingly that our apples were also genetically modified. They contained some kind of gene that took away their resistance. Actually, he was not so far from the truth. Our apples were truly “modified” by Master’s boundless love and blessings!

Beautiful and shining as they were, the apples even attracted the attention of the television team from ORF (Austrian National Television), who came to munch quite a few apples, cheerfully cracking some jokes. Some time later they returned to film our apples and the signs at our booth, saying “The Natural Way is the Best”. And towards the end of the event, they came back one more time to interview the brother who is an organic farmer on his opinion on the dangers of genetically modified crops.

The initiates felt very lucky to have had the chance to experience the joy of sharing. As one brother put it, “Just being able to give something away for free is already so great…”

On April 22, an initiate who runs a vegetarian health shop in one of the wealthiest districts of Vienna, took part in a street festival, mainly intended for children and included a bazaar for children’s toys. He invited us to use this occasion to distribute Alternative Living flyers. Many families with their small children had come to the festival, at which many local shops and restaurants offered food and snacks to the passersby in the streets. To promote vegetarian food, we had prepared tasty vegetarian treats like different flavored muffins falafel, vegetarian hot dogs and sandwiches with different kinds of nutritious bread spreads.

Besides giving flyers to the people at the festival, we also offered them samples of vegetarian food to taste. Many passersby showed great interest in vegetarian food. Some asked for the vegetarian lunch menu that the shop offers to its customers during the week. The Viennese initiates are sure that their efforts will encourage many people to switch to a vegetarian diet. Actually the vegetarian meals served in the health shop are in ever-increasing demand, and were even mentioned as one of the highlights of that shop in a recent newspaper report on prominent health shops in Vienna.

On May 1, the activities and parade for the International Labor Day celebration drew huge crowds to the central area where the newly renovated National Assembly building is located. Sensing a good opportunity to share the Alternative Living leaflets with more people, our working team met quickly to divide areas of responsibility throughout the city for better distribution.

The day was beautiful and sunny, inspiring thousands of people to come out and enjoy the festivities. The most crowded places were the city’s central area and the nearby public park. The news media estimated that 150 thousand people participated in the day’s events. With God’s blessing, the working team was able to enthusiastically distribute a large quantity of Alternative Living leaflets, which were received with joy and understanding.

The Viennese initiates also did their best to distribute the flyers all over the country.

On May 13, initiates from Germany, Australia, U.K. and Croatia came to help with the distribution. Our plan was to completely cover Austria on the holiday weekend. So we drove to Sankt Pölten, the capital of the Province of Lower Austria, which is situated in the east of the country. This was the first stop and thanks to God’s blessing, it was a gorgeous day. The flyers were given to the citizens, as well as left on cars, motorcycles and bicycles in the most central parking areas. Everyone in the working group felt God’s blessing power pass through them to the people. Many were impressed by the “Alternative Living” title, the harmonious colors, cute characters and of course the content of the flyer. We could see that they were very pleased and grateful upon receiving this message.

That evening, at a brother’s home nearby, we shared the fun stories that we had experienced during the distribution of the flyers. We spent that night there, and the next morning joined his team to continue our trip to southwestern Austria. We stopped at Salzburg, a city located about 300 km. from Vienna. It was drizzling and many people had not yet emerged from their slumber; so we took advantage of this opportunity to stroll the beautiful city streets in the morning rain. The added blessing from God cleansed the atmosphere as well as the environment and prepared us for a wonderful day. As the flow of tourists and outpour of local citizens became greater, we started the distribution and extended it to the smaller towns in the area. Each Alternative Living leaflet was hand delivered to the people. We all felt their joy, as we knew they had received God’s love and grace. Many had especially stayed behind to inquire more about the vegetarian diet, as well as about Master.

Klagenfurt, the main city in the Province of Carinthia, is located more than 300 km from Vienna to the southwest. On May 26, our team spread out to cover every entrance of the main streets leading into the central area and in front of the supermarket to distribute the flyers. Leaflets were also put inside the library of a vocational school and this city’s university. We saw that the people here, living amidst nature’s peacefulness, had received the Alternative Living message with happiness in a very gentle way,

In June fellow brothers and sisters went to Switzerland to distribute flyers with local practitioners and practitioners from Germany. On their way home, they also visited the Austrian towns of Innsbruck, Dornbirn, Feldkirch and Bludenz to deliver the loving message. With God’s grace, we hope that this message will help change people’s way of living and their behavior toward animals so that our world will benefit more quickly from this Golden Age of greater enlightenment.

Recently we received the thrilling news that the efforts to promote vegetarianism had already born some fruit. The German magazine “Stern” just published two articles on famous vegetarians, stating that vegetarianism has become a fashionable trend among Hollywood stars, and also among many German celebrities like tennis player Boris Becker. According to the stars, the “plant eaters” are not only more healthy and energetic than the carnivores, but also cooler, trendier and more attractive.

Stern Magazine also cited some figures that show clearly that vegetarianism is on the rise. According to a study of the German “Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung” (Society for Consumer Research), in 1983 only 0.6 per cent of the German population had been following a vegetarian diet, but now the percentage of vegetarians has already risen to 7.6 per cent!

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