To celebrate the Enlightenment Day of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, the Australian Chinese Buddhist Research Centre (ACBRC) Melbourne Branch held a large scale Free Vegetarian Food Tasting Event at the Preston City Hall, Melbourne on July 29, 2018. Holding an event on such a magnificent day, not only brings awareness of the contributions by the Guan Yin Bodhisattva, but also provides a great opportunity to increase people’s understanding about Buddhism and its concept of making the right food choices for both physical and spiritual enhancement.

Early in the morning before the event started, many people outside the City Hall witnessed a beautiful double rainbow in the sky. It’s considered as the manifestation of the blessings from Guan Yin Bodhisattva and a good omen for the day. The rainbow brought great joy to the volunteers and filled their hearts with bliss. To ensure the smooth running of the event, every volunteer devoted themselves to the preparation and worked hard with energy. At 10:30am, after wrapping up the preparation, many guests and Buddhist friends began arriving. In a short of time, the city hall was filled with people and turned into a lively place full of laughter and happiness. It is estimated that over 100 volunteers involved in the work and over 500 people attended. The total number of attendance surpassed 600.

Before the event officially started, the guests and Buddhist friends first watched Master Jun Hong Lu’s Totem Reading videos. They were fascinated by Master Jun Hong Lu’s great spiritual power and the ability to reveal one’s past, present and future. In the meantime, they were shocked by the miserable experiences and suffering of the people in the videos. The Totem Reading clearly demonstrated the Law of Cause and Effect, and showed everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance. The videos deeply knocked on the doors of attendee’s hearts and made them realize the importance of Buddhist practice.

At 11:20am, the event officially started with the delivery of a brief welcome speech by the host. Then the Head of the ACBRC Melbourne Branch, Sam Ding, thoroughly introduced the organization and all kinds of activities. As a non-profit Buddhist charity organization, the Branch has been dedicating to giving back to the local communities and committing to the promotion of traditional Chinese culture, Buddhism and Vegetarianism with the goal of improving people’s overall well-being.

Shortly after the introduction, all the attendees watched Master Jun Hong Lu’s Dharma Talk clips and learned the nutritional benefits and spiritual impact of the vegetarian diet on people’s lives. Many attendees were related to Master Jun Hong Lu’s words and deeply impressed by his approachable teachings. The subjects of most Dharma talk were taken from everyday life and were treated with a touch a humour. After video watching, some Buddhist practitioners enthusiastically shared their vegetarian experiences and the changes in their lives by performing recitations of Buddhist scriptures, making vows and practicing life liberation. These testimonials of miracles demonstrated the greatness of Buddhism and actual benefits that Buddhist practitioners received from cultivation. Then some youth volunteers performed a play “The Story of Amoti Guan Yin” on stage and received great applause from audience.

Since the theme of the event was “Free Vegetarian Food Tasting”, enjoying delicious food was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the day. Luckily for the guests, there was everything they needed from curries and soup to comforting fried noodles and hearty salads. Over 100 kinds of dazzling dishes surprised the guests and satisfied everyone’s taste buds. Most incredibly, all the delicious food was prepared and made by the volunteers from ACBRC Melbourne Branch, who devoted a great deal of time and energy to the food preparation and rewarded high praise from guests. After tasting the food, many attendees were amazed at the good taste and the balanced nutrition of the meals.

Even one of the staff working at the Preston City Hall marvelled at the volunteers and the work they accomplished. He said, “I’ve never seen a team with such high-performance and good collaboration. Everyone committed to every part of the event with passion and devotion. Their great teamwork and modest attitude guaranteed the smooth running and the success of this event.” The staff then joined the video watching session, and was blown away by Master Jun Hong Lu’s teachings. He took the initiative to talk to the volunteers and requested several books to read for further study.

Around 2:30pm, the celebration came to an end, whereas many people still immersed in the joy and were feeling invigorated and energetic. It is an event not only delighted the senses, but also fed the spirit and enlarged people’s understanding about Buddhism. Hopefully, more beings will start the practice of Buddhism and applying the wisdom of Dharma into their life to change their destinies.