hallo everyone! I am very glad to have the opportunity to share with you how I found the Quan Yin Method and received initiation. In Formosa (Taiwan), Pure Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism are very popular. I believe some of our guests here must have had similar experiences as me. Or, among your relatives and friends, some could be already practicing or looking for an enlightened master unknowingly.

A famous master who doesn't tell people's fortunes once told me that I would have a short life, so I should try to earn more merits, release captive animals and give more to charities in order to increase my blessed rewards and lengthen my life, to help me to live longer. Moreover, there was a spiritual practitioner who was good at fortunetelling and knew about "The Book of Changes" and "The Eight Diagrams," but he refused to tell me my future.

Instead, he told me that I had very heavy bad karma (retribution) and should recite Buddha's names more. When I was a child, I went to church because they had biscuits and candies; I can't remember whether it was a Catholic or Protestant church. In junior high school, a teacher gave me a copy of the Bible because I had helped at my school. Later, another teacher also gave me a gift, also another Bible.

Then I realized that there are two Bibles, "The New Testament" and "The Old Testament." I couldn't understand it at that time. Just to get it over with, I read the passages, pretending they were fairy tales. My mother often went to worship at the Emperor Guan Temple to pray for safety and for our whole family. We kids also went along for fun. In the temple they worshipped Lord Guan, Confucius, and Quan Yin Bodhisattva.

Following the local tradition, our family also learnt how to worship them. I left school at 19 and stayed with a colleague in one room. She meditated every morning and evening, chanting the "White Robe Mahasattva Mantra." It is said that one's wishes and ideals will come true if one chants it enough times.

Since then, I started to recite my first mantra. At that time in Taichung there was a householder practitioner, Professor Li Bing-nan, who was very advanced in spiritual practice. It was said that he was going to pass away soon. During that time, my friends and I attended every lecture given by Professor Li. We didn't even miss his poetry class at the National Chung Hsing University.

I attended them just because people would say that our wisdom and merit would grow by listening to the lectures given by a good spiritual practitioner. From then on, I also began to learn about Buddhist etiquette, prostrating to and worshipping Buddha.

I started to join Buddhist chanting and meditation sessions. Although it was only a few times, each time I heard people chant Buddha's name together, I was always moved to tears. I didn't know the reason then. I thought I was a person with heavy bad karma (retribution).

Why would I cry? Could it be the blessing from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to clean my bad karma (retribution) with tears? When I was in junior college, one of my classmates was a vegan. She never discussed our schoolwork with me but just imbued my mind with doctrines. When I had free time, I held prayer beads in my hand and would chant Amitabha Buddha or Quan Yin Bodhisattva so I could become smarter and wiser.

She told me that, originally, all religions were from the same source, without denomination. The purpose of worshipping Shakyamuni Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Jesus Christ, etc., was actually to seekthe supreme teachings from an enlightened master.