★The Joy Of Meditating In Hsihu

The Hsihu Ashram held a two-day retreat. It had been a long time since Formosan fellow initiates shared the wonderful experience of pitching tents in the ashram for the night, meditating in the Bamboo Grove amidst the gentle rustle of the tall trees, meditating diligently together in the main hall and watching Master's videotaped lectures together, savoring a glass of water from the Nectar River, or enjoying the murmuring sound of the water by the riverside.

Master has always stressed the importance of group meditation. Suppose each of us had a glass of water; if we were all to pour our water into a pool, we would be able to swim in it. Attending just one retreat where one can meditate in full concentration is more rewarding than years of individual effort at home. This is why fellow initiates are eager to go to retreats.

The path leading to the hills behind was packed by participants of the retreat, and in return for the enthusiasm they brought, Mother Nature has created beautiful flowers throughout the ashram. We hope every holiday is a retreat day, and all members of the Quan Yin family can come together to pursue their spiritual quest.

★Beautifying The Park

[Taipei]The Taipei Center in Formosa sponsored a park cleanup activity in conjunction with the Taipei Office of City Parks and Street Lights on March 29. Fellow initiates and their family members, both old and young, participated in this holiday activity of beautifying Hsinsheng Park. They weeded the grass, swept the fallen leaves, and gave the fences new paint, adding a touch of warmth and liveliness to the environment and atmosphere on this Formosan Youth Day.

Through this labor service, many participants came to understand better what Supreme Master Ching Hai once said, "Everything we do is for ourselves." The initiates had the opportunity to flex their muscles and relax under the warm sun. They also practiced removing distracting thoughts and frustrations that grow like weeds by concentrating on the actual job of weeding. This will lead them on to unearth the true self and as a compassionate move by spiritual practitioners, draw from the vast ocean of love and spread it among all sentient beings.

     

As the morning work ended, participants sat down to enjoy a picnic. The white clouds in the vast blue sky formed an attractive contrast to the colorful plants in the park. These, along with dancing butterflies, frolicking dogs, and children at play, presented a fascinating picture of a joyful holiday.

[Taoyuan]With great enthusiasm, a Resource Recycling Activity focusing on environmental protection has started in Taoyuan Center. From planning, searching for purchasers, promotion, volunteer training, to the current operations, the Taoyuan Center Recycling Group has done their best to impliment the whole process in the shortest time. The group members encourage other fellow initiates by posting slogans such as "Take action to protect our Earth now and enjoy a better environment tomorrow"; "Recycle whatever you can and bring it to the Center on the weekend".

Moved and inspired by their posters and presentations, all disciples have participated in this meaningful project enthusiastically. Recycling has become a part of the disciples' lives. Now all have developed the habit of sorting their garbage at home and have mastered the handling skills. For example, everybody knows that used paper needs to be bundled, and bottles and cans need to be cleaned, dried and crushed before they are brought to the Center, so that the purchasers can easily pick up the sorted and packaged garbage at the Center, where every weekend this garbage finally turns into gold.The money generated from recycling is used for our Center -- "home in Taoyuan".

With the recycling activities, garbage in disciples' homes have been reduced tremendously. Some disciples even extended their recycling activities to their workplaces. They bring the recyclable garbage dumped by others from their companies to the Center. Disciples feel relieved when they see bags and bags of garbage being carried by the purchasers to the trucks and tons of waste reduced from the Earth. In fact, the quality of our environment has very much to do with our good habits. On a day-to-day basis, if we could become just a little more conscious of our environment, even though each of our actions in dealing with garbage may well be a "small thing," we are actually helping a lot to the overall environmental protection on this planet. Let's all do it together!

★Sharing The "Extra Merit"

[Nantou] A park activity was recently held by a Formosan Catholic group at the Niuer Stone Sculpture Art Park in Puli, to raise funds for the Catholic "Resurrection Education Center." Learning that this center was raising construction funds in various ways to build classrooms, local fellow initiates applied to the sponsor organization for a booth. We collected all the "surplus merits" in our homes, including household electrical appliances, books, etcetera, that were of no use to us or were extra, but would contribute to the Catholic fund when sold. We then sorted and marked prices on them after our group meditation.

On the morning of the day of the activity, we came to the venue and then covered our tables with colorful cloth and decorated the background. Soon stars and moons were all over our booth and then the simple but lively "flea market" opened. Of course gourmet vegetarian food was an absolutely essential item.

"Come one! Come all! We have all kinds of items with great prices! A great selection, too! We have delicious vegetarian food! Be quick! Hurry! Or none will be left!" Through simple portable megaphones, each of our fellow initiates seemed to be a "skilled peddler." However, we peddled not for profit but for the enjoyment of making the best use of these items and for the pleasure of the buyers when they bought inexpensive and useful things. Of course, our final goal was achieved when the buyers and sellers both enjoyed themselves to the fullest and all the items were turned into beneficial merit, that is, the construction fund for the Resurrection Education Center.

After the activity, fellow initiates picked up the garbage and cleaned the venue, so that the Art Park regained its "original natural appearance." We did this work in the same way that we clean up the environment after each group meditation. However, the sponsor organization expressed its gratitude for our "good deeds" more than once over loud speakers, which embarrassed us, because these things are our duty and should not even have been mentioned, let alone praised.