Special Reports----Echoes Of The Australian Retreat

By Sister Initiate Shiourung Ju, Hsinchu, Formosa

The Sydney retreat was the first time that I, a new initiate, attended an international retreat and saw our beautiful Master. Like a shining star, She is so brilliant. Watching Her I felt totally calm, comfortable, peaceful and blissful.

It was very cold in the Cataract Scout National Park, and even colder during the morning meditation sessions. My teeth couldn't stop chattering since it was only 5oC. There was heavy rain and strong winds that made my tent leak so it wasn't long before I began to complain. As always, the ever understanding Master perceived our difficulties and told us, "No matter how difficult the environment is, we have to go through it anyhow. This is the lesson we have to learn, and there is nothing to complain about. Just try to adapt to it or get over it, and it will no longer be an obstacle for you."

Although I worked in the kitchen throughout the 4-day retreat and consequently did not have very much time to be with Master, I still perceived Her intense loving-power and learned from my work the importance of cooperation and mutual assistance that made me realize that loving others is loving oneself, and respecting others is respecting oneself, too.

On the third night of the retreat, the wind and rain finally collapsed my tent. Fortunately, the sister with whom I shared the tent managed to secure a place for me in the girls' dormitory. How amazing it was because the location, the dormitory and the whole scene was the same as that in a dream I had about ten years ago! In that dream, I was staying in a similar dormitory with people from all over the world. As I didn't understand the foreign languages they spoke, I walked outdoors into the forest, where instructions were on koala-shaped signs that hung in the trees almost everywhere. How incredible it was that now everything should seem so familiar!

On the last night of the retreat, I watched the numerous beautiful twinkling stars as I stood beside a resting place near the kitchen. Not very far to the left of the moon, there were three stars aligned, just like my first experience I had after initiation. In that dream, the three stars made a sloping straight line in the upper right corner of my vision. In my second experience, I dreamed of Master leading me out of a "time tunnel" into a very large tent where many people were meditating. As I looked back, I saw it was raining outside the tent. (Of course, at the time I did not know there would be a 4-day retreat in Sydney one day.) In my third experience, I dreamed Master was taking me out for a cruise. I flew into the sky, across a huge swimming pool (or ocean bay), and stopped where there was a far-reaching grassy plain below and numerous doves dancing in the sky. Farther off, a sea of white clouds rolled and billowed (which was exactly what I witnessed during a 1-day tour of Sydney).

Indeed, so many of my inner experiences became reality during the Sydney 4-day retreat! Moreover, during the retreat, I saw the inner Master standing ahead of us lighting up the dark wet road for us. Master, in fact, is a symbol of that guiding light in the dark.

Thank You, Master, for giving me the chance to attend this retreat, which was so special for me. In addition to Your blessings of love, we had a most wonderful birthday party with You, and I learned a lot of precious lessons from my dearest brothers and sisters. I hope it won't be too long before I can acquire Your Truth, goodness and beauty; fully realize these qualities in my daily life; and let my love flow directly from my heart.

★Creating A Paradise Amidst Violent Storms ★Buddha's Paradise Land Descends ★Creating A Heaven On Earth With Joy And Love ★Give Yourself To Others ★The Suffering Of The Living Christ ★The Best Prescription ★The Joy Of Loneliness ★The Glistening Milky Way ★My Dreams Come True