Echoes Of Peaceful Sit-In
Master And Disciples Bearing The Same Aim! Across The Ocean, Sit-In Simultaneously Held In Hong Kong And Taiwan

By Fellow Initiate Chen, Taipei, Formosa

On April 29, the Taipei branch center launched a "Simultaneous Hong Kong and Taiwan peaceful sit-in protestation". The Formosa initiates held the sit-in in Taipei simultaneously as Master did in Hong Kong, also for saving the refugees. The compassionate spirit of a Bodhisattva spread from Master to each participating fellow practitioner.
Seven o'clock in the morning, fellow initiates from the whole province gathered at the Zhong Cheng Memorial Hall. They came voluntarily bringing dry food and seat pad. Quickly they formed four or five very long teams. They meditated on the spot until nine o'clock, and then divided into three teams, proceeding to the peaceful sit-in at the Legislative House, No.7 Park, and the British Trade Center respectively.

Legislators Joined The Signatories. Citizens Supported With Signatures

The sit-in outside the Legislative House Bore Important Missions--pleading to the Legislative House, and seeking supporting signatures from the citizens
Around noon, a fax from Hong Kong brought information about Master. The sit-in protest of fellow disciples led by Master was widely reported by media in Hong Kong and world-wide, attracting great attention. The Formosa legislator Lin Cheng Jie also sent a telegram expressing his concern.
The fax message was placed on the wall of the Legislative House. Fellow initiates were in high spirit after reading it. The simultaneous sit-in in Hong Kong and Taiwan received the same warm response in both places. Master's spirit of struggling for humanity encouraged us to carry on with our effort. At the noon recess time of the various departments, many people came out of the Legislative House expressing their concern. Pedestrians were also becoming numerous, more and more people were signing.

Across The Ocean, Master And Disciples Sit-In Together With Oneness Of Mind

April 28 was an important date marking the confrontation between humanity and tyranny. From early morning, the dawning light was contending the dark clouds. There were occasional light showers. In front of the highest institution of the Congress--the Legislative House, white banners with black characters were raised slowly against the old crude wall. Our team consisting of several hundred persons swiftly and quietly sat down with crossed legs on the outer edge of the pedestrian pavement at the front, left and right of the Legislative House.
That very moment, we were meditating together with our beloved Master across the ocean "simultaneously", praying for the refugees, and protesting against violence. Despite the hustling world outside, we have gone with Master when we closed our eyes. The longer we sat, the more we felt being linked to Master heart to heart. Master's love was also flooding our hearts. We sensed that the power gathered through the silence was getting stronger. The off-duty hours started. Passing by crowds again looked on with curiosity, and also brought waves of signing people.

A Lesson of Love

At six o'clock sharp, the sit-in was ended successfully. Fellow initiates left slowly after getting the blessed food. Embracing Master's love, we were grateful for this "lesson of love" arranged by Master, teaching us how to love others. We also have to thank the refugees. They created a situation with their blood and lives, so that we could learn from Master and the Supreme Buddha the ways to love others, and experienced: The Buddha's heart is linked to the hearts of sentient beings. The Buddha's love is given without regret to relieve the sufferings of sentient beings. The Supreme Master Ching Hai--the living Buddha on Earth now, is enduring the utmost pain teaching the world "the lesson of love".
This sit-in activity gained the supporting signatures of the Legislators. The signature campaign lasted a week. A million Taiwan people signed in support. In the whole country, there was an earnest loving wave of "Other's hunger is our hunger. Other's mishap is our mishap." This "lesson of love" that Master imparted to sentient beings is a precious one rare in million ages. We wish more sentient beings could be converted by Master during this lesson. We particularly pray that the Au Lac refugees will soon receive an arrangement by the highest Buddha, finding a secured abode.

Report From Korea

Before we held the peaceful sit-in on the street, we already had one-day of petitioning. The Korean people were very enthusiastic about these activities which were especially well received by so many children and foreign tourists. The day after we petitioned all the disciples joined together to demonstration in front of British Embassy. We met the ambassador, gave him the signed-papers and shared with him our reasons for protesting. If the Hong Kong government doesn't take care of the refugees, we Korean disciples will plan to collect one-million signature against the forced repatriation of the Hong Kong government and urge the free world to receiving the refugees. After finishing the sit-in, all disciples had a peace-march on the main street of Seoul, which attracted so many citizens' attention.

Report From Japan

Fellow initiates in Japan participated in the peaceful sit-in demonstration against forced repatriating the Au Lac refugees home. In the morning of April 30, we held a sit-in in front of the "International Refugees Relief Organization". Because this Organization was located in a large building and it was during the week of Golden Holidays in Japan, there were not many people around. The security guards were watching us very closely, but after the Quan Yin messenger spoke with the representatives, they gave us permission to stay. At noon, the guards recorded our intentions of protesting against sending the Au Lac refugees home by violent force. They comforted us by saying, "Good work!" All initiates received strong blessings from Master during the sit-in. As soon as they sat down, they went into samadhi immediately, which was unprecedented.
Later, we went to the British Embassy in Japan. In this country of limited space, land is as precious as gold. The embassy was situated on a large sized property with full security in a quiet section of the busy city. One could find traces of the splendid past of the Great British Empire. We prayed, "Namo Ching Hai Wu Shang Shih, please bless us and let things go smoothly." The security guard that met with us was a warm, smiling Japanese policemen. Then, came a British officer, who after questioning our intentions, allowed us to sit-in in front of the Embassy. We had successfully conveyed our message of love and peace. The lovely Japanese guard accepted our letter of protest against forcefully sending the Au Lac refugees home and turned it over to the Ambassador. He also gladly accepted Master's sample booklets in English and in Japanese. We believe that God will reward him with extra blessings for his friendly helpfulness.

Report From Paris, France

Fellow members of the International Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Association in Paris' and other supporters staged a three-day peaceful sit-in demonstration that started from the afternoon of April 28. The sit-in was held around the main thoroughfares around the British Embassy in France to protest the Hong Kong Government of showing no regard to human rights and ignoring humanity when it mobilized a large army to oppress the refugees at Whitehead camp on April 7, 1994, which resulted in injuries to hundreds refugees.
The peaceful sit-in demonstration started at 8:00am. until 6:00pm. Some meditated and prayed for the refugees; while others distributed SOS letters from the oppressed refugees depicting the truth and at the same urged the Parisians who were concerned about the lives and the futures of the refugees to sign the letters of protest. Support and encouragement were obtained from more than a thousand people in the three-day period. These letters of protest would be handed to the Meditation Center in Hong Kong that would in turn hand them to the Hong Kong Government to express the concern of France and to protest the brutal actions of the Hong Kong Government.
In the early two days of the sit-in demonstration, fellow initiates had already handed to the British Embassy in France the relevant information regarding the refugees, the SOS letters and the protest letters. When the French police heard about the protest, they sent a hundred police officers with three truck-loads of police stationed in front of the British Embassy. In addition, there were police officers in plain clothes and in uniform in the vicinity keeping watch over the well-dressed peaceful demonstrators.
According to the police in Paris, this sit-in protest demonstration was the most non-professional, the most peaceful and the most non-violent activity in the history of Paris. Each day after the demonstration was over, the police even escorted this group of protesters home. During the three-day period, the sit-in protesters presented fruit juices, candies and biscuits to the police officers in order to ease their tension. The response from the police officers was that they jotted down the slogans on pieces of paper. They also approached the desks of the protesters to browse through the contents of the pamphlets and to have an occasional chat with the sit-in protesters. On the last day, before the end of the protest activities, the police officers were so moved that they joined in the signing of the protest letters. Master's song of 'Sing Hallelujah to the Lord' was played throughout the protest. Each day after the activities, fellow initiates quickly and thoroughly cleaned up the venue. This protest was carried out in a peaceful atmosphere and it was set up to be the best example of protest demonstration in France.

Report From
Germany And Holland

On April 29, fellow practitioners from all parts of Germany including Munich, Dortmund, Berlin and even from Holland gathered in Dusseldorf, and held a peaceful sit-in outside the British Embassy. All fellow practitioners and former Au Lac refugees in this area joined the activity. Hundred persons shouted slogans protesting against the Hong Kong Government for treating the refugees with violence and violating human rights. Together they prayed for the well-being of the refugees who were living misery, isolated, helpless and having nowhere to go. Realizing the cause, the local citizens also supported eagerly. Observing these people from different ethnics, cultures, languages, and beliefs praying to God together to relieve the sufferings of the refugees, was a most touching scene.
The German police were bewildered by the sincerity of the fellow practitioners sitting-in. They have never seen such a peaceful demonstration. Our fellows shared with them some vegetarian snacks, drinks and fruits. They got along with each other happily. An official of the Embassy received some members of the sit-in group, and accepted their pleading letters containing signatures of all protestors. The Embassy officials promised they would present this pleading to the relevant British Government and the Hong Kong Government.

Report From
Oxford, England

All the centers throughout the world were holding a "peaceful sit-in" in support of the Au Lac refugees and praying for world peace. The center in England also held a peaceful sit-in and gave out relevant information to passersby in front of the United Nations office in London, England on April 29. On the day of the activity, the fellow initiates prepared many signs and hung them across the street from the United Nations office to Buckingham Palace was where the Queen of England resided. Because the location of the activity was very close to the Palace and the signs were very eye-catching, we had attracted the attention and inquiries from many local people and tourists. The police there were originally fully on guard, but since the fellow initiates behaved in a rational manner and the main activity was a peaceful sit-in, they finally relaxed. They even came forward and inquired kindly about the refugee issue in Hong Kong and its background story. When they heard about the Au Lac refugees were planning to commit group-suicide to resist forced repatriation, they all felt terrible. They were very touched by the compassion of Master and the fellow initiates in giving support to the refugees. In addition, they sincerely hoped the future of the refugees would be settled soon with a perfect and peaceful resolution.
After all the information sheets were passed out, the fellow initiates, accompanied by the local police, then proceeded to present the signed letters of protest and other related material to the officer of the United Nations. The officer accepted all the documents and promised to forward them to the proper department and notify the human rights organizations in the international community.
The fellow initiates then continued their trip through the night to Manchester, a large city in the central northern region of England. There would be a spiritual exhibition for the next few days and the center had reserved a few booths several months ago. Because the refugee issue concerned countless lives that besides displaying all of Master's books and art works, the fellow initiates also included the letter "Protesting the violent and ruthless repatriation of the Au Lac refugees" in the sample booklet. It was hoped that these spiritual practitioners would support this signature campaign. There was a practitioner who had been meditating for several years. Upon seeing Master's photo, she knew immediately that Master was a great enlightened person, because from Master's eyes, she felt Her boundless love. She signed and gave us the letter of protest without any hesitation. Through this activity the fellow initiates understood that Master used it also as an opportunity to help us grow. Some of the fellow initiates were very touched by Master's unselfish love, Her perseverance and unyielding spirit toward discouraging situations. All of the participating fellow initiates and other supporters would continue to give full support and hoped the problems of the refugees would soon be peacefully resolved.

Report From Belgium

We did a peaceful meditational protest on the same day as the usual weekly group meditation day, sharing the information and asking the people to pray for the Vietnamese refugees during the meditation and to continue when meditating at home. Official protest letters were sent to the humanitarian associations in Belgium: Amnesty International, Ligue des Droits de I'Homme (Human Rights League).

Report From
New York, U.S.A.

On April 28, the center in New York held a peaceful sit-in protest in Ralph Bunche Park across the street from the United Nations Building. The weather was clear that day, and some of the fellow initiates arrived early to help with the preparations. The sit-in began at 10 o'clock. The banners were very eye-catching with black or red letters written on white cloth. The slogans were: "Pray for the freedom and lives of the refugees", "Protesting forced repatriation of the Vietnamese refugees", "Refugees, please treasure you lives", etc. Some fellow initiates came all the way from New Jersey and Boston to support this activity. During the sit-in, information regarding the Au Lac refugees were passed out to interested inquirers. A photographer, Don Charles from The New York Times and an artistic designer, Miss. Eva Chrysanthe from The New Yorker magazine were there for several hours recording the interviews with many fellow initiates. We also forwarded all the relevant information to the international news department of The New York Times.
The activity concluded at three o'clock in the afternoon. Some of the fellow initiates had very good inner experiences during the sit-in even though it was in public. They felt Master's love and blessings. Through the sit-in, peace, love and humanitarianism were expressed. This meditation also made us understand that improving ourselves should go parallel with improving the society. We thank Master for giving us this opportunity.

Report From
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

On April 28, the fellow initiates held a sit-in in front of the federal office building in Atlanta, protesting the forced repatriation of the Au Lac refugees. Well organized and efficient, the fellow initiates accomplished the project beautifully. Besides the protest, they also went to different parts of the city for the signature campaign. They have sent all of the signed letters of protest by Federal Express that day to the President of the United States.

Report From
Washington D.C., USA

In the morning, fellow practitioners from Boston, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia centers joined the peaceful sit-in in the front of the British Embassy located on Massachussetts Avenue in Washington D.C. . The demonstration caught most attention from the people driving along the street.
Fellow Practitioners continued the demonstration in the front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. Visitors of the White House then all knew that the refugees' suffered the situation of being forcefully repatriated. One foreign TV channel interviewed the spokesperson for the demonstration.

Report From
San Francisco

We got to work immediately following Master's request to organize a day of peaceful sit-in in order to bring to public attention the recent incidents in Hong Kong. We had very little time to contact disciples from all centers (San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento) and prepare everything. No one had any experience in this matter, so I couldn't help smiling and thanking Master inside for making us do things that we maybe don't feel too inclined to do and definitely things that we probably would have never done on our own! This way we get over our likes and dislikes, discover new experiences and expand our boundaries. The wisdom of a great Master is indeed such that everyone without exception benefits from anything they do or say. We started our day in front of the British Consulate. The location was perfect for it was right in the heart of the San Francisco business district. Being so close to the ocean, there is always a cold wind in the city and I think that passers-by were really touched to see people sitting quietly, praying in spite of the cold, the constant noise for the sake of their forgotten brothers and sisters! We had selected the best articles and slogans. So everyone could see our message and understand what this was about.
Hundreds of people signed our petition and read our articles. Some seemed to be mesmerized by the peaceful atmosphere our group had created despite of the mist of the utter turmoil typical of downtown San Francisco. Later, we moved to the Federal building where all the VIP's are! We obtained a permission to stay on the steps at the entrance to give us more visibility. We ended our day listening to Radio Saigon which was broadcasting live the latest news from Hong Kong. By knowing the concern and care from Master and fellow practitioners all over the world, the refugees' hopeless mood had been pacified and they did not engage drastic way of protesting. I learned that day that silence speaks louder than words.

The Supreme Love Unites Us

By Fellow Initiate Lapaire
From San Jose, California, USA
(Originally in English)

During the sit-in, we decided to sing "Hallelujah to the Lord" very softly for a few minutes. As I was singing this beautiful song, I looked at my brothers and sisters and I started to cry. The love I felt for everyone, the suffering that they had to go through, the eternal bond that Master had created among us all was so overwhelmingly beautiful.
I happen to have just read in the last newsletter something Master said that when we meet other disciples we feel like brothers and sisters and we know that we can trust them. I can definitely vouch for this. I have been to far away places such as Hong Kong, Formosa, Costa Rica without really knowing what was in store for me and every time I felt that I was coming home, to kind people I would describe them as simple but deep hearted, caring yet not overbearing, supportive and unconditionally understanding. To the new fellow practitioners and those who are contemplating joining our family, I would like to tell you that you will not only have gained an eternal guide and friend who will always look after you, Master Ching Hai but you will also gain a family who will unconditionally care and support you in your growth.

Report From
Los Angeles Center

The fellow practitioners of Los Angeles held a peaceful sit-in at city hall on April 28, 1994. After we nail the slogan, which were written on bristle board, on the stick, we made a line in front of the city hall, held up the banners and then began to meditate. At noon, we walk to the federal building which is in the next block.
The sit-in was held in conjunction with the petitioning. This attracted a journalist from the city news who came and interviewed us.
Later, we went to the British Consulate. This time the Saigon NHD Radio Station came to video and interview some of the fellow practitioners. The interview was broadcast live on their radio station that day.

Report From
Ottawa, Canada

On Friday April 29, 1994, fellow practitioners in Canada had organized two peaceful demonstrations in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. One was in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the other in front of the British Embassy. The purpose of the demonstration was to protest the violent and ruthless repatriation of the Au Lac refugees by the Hong Kong government on April 7, 1994 at Whitehead detention camp. With short notice, preparation for the demonstration was arranged with Master's blessings. Everything worked out smoothly: the permit, the banners and the protesting letters were completed in the afternoon on the day before the demonstration. The police and local government also helped us.
Fellow practitioners from Kitchener, Toronto and Kingston arrived in Ottawa the night before the demonstration. We meditated together that night and in the morning prior to the event to pray for the well-being of the refugees. On the 29th fellow practitioners from Montreal arrived.
The demonstration began at noon. Many other supporters also enthusiastically participated in the event. Some fellow practitioners held the banners, some handed out the protest letters to the public and explained to them. We found out that most of the Canadians did not know about this forced repatriation. Upon hearing this they voluntarily signed the protest letters. The rest of the fellow practitioners meditated quietly on the paved area. Representatives of the United Nations, Mrs. Pat Marshal and Mrs. Nanda Na Champassak met the fellow practitioners at the event and we gave them the protest letter. Mrs. Pat Marshall said that she was very happy to see one of our banners stating "Refugees, think about your children and relatives. Do not commit suicide." At 1:00pm. our fellow practitioner handed in the protest letters to the representative at the British Ambassador who promised that the ambassador would read the letters carefully and would do something about this matter. Hundreds signatures were collected and the demonstration ended successfully at 4:00pm. Now many Canadians know the truth about the mistreatment of Vietnamese refugees in the detention camps.

Report From Chile

A group of peaceful sit-in demonstrators consisting of initiates and other supporters gathered in front of the British Embassy in Chile. In the afternoon, they brought self-made signs and slogans and proceeded to sit in front of the embassy. Among the supporters was an attorney, who presented several letters to the embassy to be given to the Queen and the Prime Minister of England. The group then moved to the office of the United Nations and presented letters to the Secretary General of the United Nations. The demonstration ended in the afternoon. Reporters from television stations made a complete montage of the activities and interviewed participants.
After the demonstration, initiates from the Chile Center and the other supporters provided related materials to all the major newspapers, television and radio stations, and UPI for publication throughout the world.
Initiates in Chile will meet with the Head of the Presidential Public Relations Department in a few days to voice the concerns of the Chilean people regarding the unjust treatment of the refugees. If necessary, they plan to hold a demonstration in front of the presidential palace. This demonstration has already received support from political parties and The National Assembly which will begin actions to aid the refugees next week.

Report From Cape Town, South Africa

On May 8, the fellow initiates in Cape Town, South Africa joined by the local practitioners' friends went to a park in the suburb to pray and have sit-in protest for the Au Lac refugees. When they heard about the desperate situation of the refugees in Hong Kong, the passersbys were all very sympathetic and willingly signed the letter of protest asking the Hong Kong government to reconsider its actions. That day, hundreds of freedom-loving people signed the letter to show their support for the Au lac refugees.