Panorama Of Events

Located in southern Brazil, Blumenau, Santa Catarina is famous for its beautiful scenery. A grand "Oktober Fest" is held here every year from October 8 to October 25. During this time, local residents wear traditional German costumes, hold a parade and have a beer-drinking contest. The event attracts nearly one million tourists from all over Brazil and the neighboring countries.

This year, a fellow initiate who had recently moved to Blumenau, through his acquaintance with the mayor, was given a special free booth at an exhibition that is conducted during the festival. What immediately came to his mind was the hope of making use of this opportunity to introduce Master and the Quan Yin Method to the local people, as well as to promote vegetarian food and non-alcoholic beer. When he asked the Sao Paulo Center for help, fellow initiates immediately formed a volunteer team and set off for Blumenau. In a spirit of cooperative harmony, our team functioned as if we had been working together for many years instead of only a few days. Besides working, we meditated for at least five or six hours a day, including the group meditation.

To our dismay, the special booth was located on the second floor of the festival's venue, behind a stage used for performances, and where very few people passed by. Later we learned that only those with honored guest invitations were permitted to enter the second floor. According to the rules, we were not allowed to display Master's picture at the booth. On the third day, the wife of a fellow initiate raised an objection to our use of the booth for some reason, and asked that we remove our materials and leave. Although her husband had invited us, we said nothing, but quietly packed our things and returned to our lodging.

The next day we were given a free booth on the ground floor near the exhibition hall entrance. Not only was the noise level much lower in this area, but we could also display Master's picture in a place where all visitors to the festival passed by. Moreover, we were able to place a television set at our booth to play Master's videotapes. We could see God's wonderful arrangements through this experience.

Of course, a better-situated booth meant that more people could benefit from Master's presence. In the following days, many tourists and spiritual practitioners from different countries visited our booth, taking copies of our books and News magazines and samples of our delicious vegetarian food. Other exhibitors also came by to request issues of the Supreme Master Ching Hai News Magazine. After receiving a sample booklet, the chief of the venue's security staff summoned his staff members and requested that we explain the benefits of practicing the Quan Yin Method and of being vegetarian.

We also provided delicious vegetarian food at our booth every day of the event. On the last day, hundreds of vegetarian sandwiches were distributed to the cleaning people, security staff, and other employees of the exhibition to express our appreciation for their services.

During the exhibition, gifts consisting of videotapes of Master's lectures, books, News magazines, and sample booklets were presented to the Minister of Tourism, the Mayor, and other government officials. After watching Master's videotapes, they praised the Quan Yin Method and Master's teachings, and everyone showed a fondness for our loving Master.

The State Newspaper of Santa Catarina, Brazil, reporting on our exhibition booth, introduced Master's teachings, which included meditation on the inner light and sound, the Five Precepts and vegetarianism.

The state newspaper reported our activities in two of their issues, and two radio stations also interviewed us. Almost instantly, we began to receive phone inquiries about the Quan Yin Method. Some of the callers have since requested to learn the Convenient Method of meditation and have indicated a willingness to switch to a vegetarian diet. The sponsor of the exhibition cordially invited us to participate again next year.