Panorama of Events

Formosa

Loving Hut—A Concrete Realization of
Love and Spirituality

Compiled by Formosa News Group (Originally in Chinese)

[Formosa] Since the vegetarian diet is the most effective solution to global warming, under Supreme Master Ching Hai’s guidance, members of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association recently opened a chain of Loving Hut vegetarian restaurants around the world, in the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Au Lac and Formosa. These places provide affordable and high-quality vegetarian delicacies to the public, bringing a positive impact on the food and beverage industry.

Award-winning Chef, Mr. Cai Rui-yao (middle), and other fellow initiates working at the Changhua Yongfu Loving Hut

Nine restaurants have already been opened across Formosa, in Taipei, Taoyuan, Nantou, Changhua, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The Huaining Loving Hut in Taipei was the first to launch a test run in April of this year. It was a success, as the quantity of food served jumped 2.5 times within a month of its opening. The chef of our Yongfu eatery in Changhua, Mr. Cai Rui-yao, represented the Loving Hut international chain of restaurants in the International Culinary Contest held at the Taipei Culinary Exhibition on July 16. He won first prize in the individual vegetarian section and was qualified to represent Formosa in international contests. Wen Kuo-Min, the Mayor of Changhua city, also visited Loving Hut, especially calling on the public to go veg, for the sake of their heath, but more importantly to fight the global warming and save the Earth!

All Loving Hut locations are filled with a relaxing and warm atmosphere with several LCD television sets broadcasting Supreme Master Television programs. Fully charged with bliss, our staff members serve each customer with the utmost care, while the guests, basking in God’s blessing and the spiritually elevating atmosphere, delightfully enjoy their meals prepared with love.

The birth of the Loving Hut international chain of restaurants is a concrete realization of love and spirituality. Fresh in our memory is the New Year blessing that Master gave us in February of this year: “...May Heaven bestow love and wisdom on the people of the world, so that everyone would walk the correct path and make the correct choice to sustain all the beauty, benevolence, love and harmony. …and be determined to adopt the noble lifestyle and quest for the noble ideal, bringing Heaven to Earth, and eternal peace to all sentient beings.” We pray that, with Master’s blessings, people of the world will make the life-giving honorable and loving choice by adopting a vegetarian lifestyle to resolve the global crisis and to create a peaceful and beautiful future for all sentient beings.

For more information on the newly opened Loving Hut, please visit: http://www.lovinghut.com/

 

 

“No Meat No Heat” 
Campaign Reaches into Communities

By Taipei News Group (Originally in Chinese)

A fellow initiate accepts a Letter of Appreciation on behalf of our Association for its public-benefit efforts.
Fellow initiates pose with Madam Chu, wife of Vice President Siew (third from right), and Madam Lin, wife of Taipei County Magistrate Chou (second from right).
Superintendent Teng Shih-hsiung of Cardinal Tien Hospital, Yongho Branch (second from right), and Vice Bishop Jin (first from right) receive the No Meat No Heat information materials from fellow initiates.

[Taipei] On June 21, Golden Year 5 (2008), the Taipei Center participated in a fair and an exhibition of indigenous products held by the Ai Wei Mercy Home for the Disabled in celebration of its ninth anniversary. We showed a short video on how vegetarianism could save the Earth and sold a wide variety of vegetarian delicacies. Distinguished guests gracing the occasion included Madam Chu Shu-hsien, wife of Vice President Vincent Siew, and Madam Lin Shan-shan, wife of Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei, who praised and presented awards to dedicated volunteer groups supporting the Ai Wei Mercy Home. A Letter of Appreciation was given to a representative of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association in recognition of our public-benefit efforts. Our Association contributed the proceeds of NT$15,270 (US$500) from our charity sale to the Ai Wei Mercy Home.

Mr. Yang Nian-fa, a district chief in Taipei’s Wanhua Region, agreed that saving the Earth is a mission for all citizens. At his invitation, we held a No Meat No Heat environmental protection seminar on July 5 to show the residents how to cook sweet-and-sour vegetarian hamburgers. Having become aware of the global warming crisis, many people were eager to do their part as a citizen of the Earth by eating less meat and more vegetables in the future.

On July 6, we were invited by the ROC Animal and Environmental Protection Association to participate in the “No Meat, Low Carbon, No Heat” fair held at the square in front of National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Its president, Ms. Liu Xiang-lan, and our fellow initiates carried No Meat No Heat placards appealing to the public to save the Earth by adopting a vegetarian diet and reducing their carbon footprint. We spoke about the crisis that could occur from a six-degree rise in temperature, which received tremendous response from the guests.

Students Ready to Say No to Meat

As the No Meat No Heat agenda is an urgent national concern, our Taipei Center formed a No Meat No Heat Group comprising of fellow initiates teaching in the Taipei area. In May and June, the group conducted activities in three senior and two junior high schools, nine elementary schools and five kindergartens. In Linkou, all the 2,000-plus students of Chonglin Junior High School participated in the event, which was accompanied by a seminar on carbon reduction to save the Earth and a European-style vegetarian food-tasting event for teachers and parents. A similar luncheon held at Hulu Elementary School has generated a ripple effect, with many schools inviting us to hold No Meat No Heat sessions when they open in fall. They also requested dieticians to prepare a nutritious lunch menu, as they plan to encourage one vegetarian meal a day during the new school term.

At the National Overseas Chinese Experimental Senior High School, students performed short skits promoting this concept at campus events. They added a link to the SOS Climate Change video on their Internet blog, put up SOS posters in their church and clubs, and invited our No Meat No Heat Group to conduct activities in their school. The teachers initiated a petition for “one voluntary vegetarian meal a week,” which has received support from almost 80% of their 1,800 students. The principal decided at a meeting that, beginning in the fall, the school would offer one veg meal a week instead of once a month. He considered it an obligation of all citizens to go veg and save the Earth. The school administration approved that students could serve their eight hours of community service per semester with our No Meat No Heat Group to learn about saving the Earth with a vegetarian diet. Photos of the group’s activities at the school have been posted on the school website. Hopefully everyone will adopt the vegetarian diet to save the planet!

 

Government Officials Go Veg to Save the Earth

On July 17, the Control Yuan (a watchdog agency that monitors the government) welcomed the “Go Veg to Save the Earth” campaign as officials and staff enjoyed themselves at the “No Meat--No Heat, Trendy Healthy Vegetarian Tasting” event designed to convince them that the vegetarian diet is the most effective and direct solution to global warming. About 300 people had the vegetarian lunch and were amazed to find that it could be so diverse and sumptuous. Secretary-General Tu Shan-liang of the Control Yuan said, “Good health is built on a good diet. Today, we have all learnt how the vegetarian diet is related to energy saving and carbon reduction. We hope that with this positive revelation, we will improve our lifestyle. For this very meaningful activity, we thank The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association.”

 

Health Seminar for Mothers

By Taoyuan News Group (Originally in Chinese) )

[Taoyuan] Mothers are usually the ones responsible for cooking and safeguarding the health of the family. With this in mind, fellow initiates in Taoyuan conducted a workshop and a seminar on the issues of global warming, vegetarianism and health on July 5, to introduce the vegetarian diet to mothers in the community. Brother initiate Dr. Xu Shang-wen, a physician of the Nephrology Department of Min Sheng Hospital, was invited as the main speaker. He cited the theories of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, and world-renowned Dr. Caldwell B. Esselystyn Jr., to support the fact that only a vegetarian diet can prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Sister initiate Lu, an expert in advocating the vegetarian diet, introduced her well-designed booklet, , Easy Cooking for Mothers: Ten Simple Vegetarian Dishes. This booklet teaches a novice to cook vegetarian dishes in just ten minutes. With its help, mothers can easily prepare many delicious vegetarian meals.

Sister Yan, an environmentalist, shared her experience in protecting the environment and promoting the vegetarian diet. As head of the Hygiene Section in her school, upon knowing that the Yilan County Education Department was planning to hold a seminar on environmental protection, she approached the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau and was invited to be the keynote speaker on ecological protection. She explained to more than a hundred teachers from different schools the reason why the meat diet is detrimental to human health and an enormous burden on the environment. She also discussed how we can support recycling and the vegetarian diet in communities and schools as well as in daily life. Through direct communication and explanation, we hope the participants will stop eating meat and become a healthy, happy vegetarian. Hopefully this activity will encourage them to urge the government to go veg and save the Earth.