The "One World... of Peace Through Music" videotape concert in Tokyo, Japan was scheduled for October 2, 1999, and local practitioners had barely a month's time to complete all the advertising, printing, promotions and other advance work. We seemed to be losing in a race against time, but it turned out that everything proceeded smoothly, as though it had been pre-arranged.

Our first task was to produce posters announcing the event. We wanted to have them printed in Korea, where it would be cheaper, but it had to be done within a week. How could we do it? Unexpectedly, a sister initiate in Kyushu, southern Japan, contacted us, saying, "I have a week's leave from work and I'm planning to visit Korea." Korea? What a coincidence! The next day, we mailed the layout for the poster to Seoul and asked the traveling sister from Kyushu to contact the printing group in Korea about bringing the printed copies back with her. After she arrived in Seoul, she called us at midnight and said, "No problem! I can bring the posters back to Japan with me." So, these posters were mounted in the subway stations of Tokyo a week before the concert.

Now we had a more difficult job, especially for an inexperienced crew-producing videotapes carrying Japanese subtitles. Moreover, we had two videotaped lectures needing translation in this short time. Just as we were wondering how to possibly get this project done in time, a sister from the Korean translation group called and asked how long it would take us to complete the work in Japan. We replied honestly that it would probably take two months, since our three translators were inexperienced and had full-time jobs. The Korean sister recalled that a Quan Yin messenger had once asked the Korean translation group to render help to their Japanese counterparts, should the need arise. The Korean staff remembered this, honored its promise, and started working right away. We expressed our gratitude and replied to them that we would try our very best to complete the job. It took us only four days to translate the first tape, and three days for the second one. Both tapes were mailed to Formosa for proofreading and processing.

Things were going so well that we began to relax a bit until a phone call from Formosa had us sitting up again. We were told that we had been working on an older version of the tapes. We had to wait for another week before receiving the new editions to work on. As soon as they arrived, we set about making adjustments and setting line breaks so that the subtitles could fit the screen. We had to work quickly because the Formosan sister in charge of linking subtitles to images was leaving for the moon festival celebration in Florida three days later and would be returning only three days before the concert.

We wasted no time getting started. Over the next 30 hours, our staff members set all other work aside to concentrate on this challenging job. When the translation was e-mailed to the sister in Formosa for proofreading, Formosa had just experienced a strong earthquake. Despite the many aftershocks and long hours of power outage, the sister proofread the translation before leaving for the USA. The Formosan group then completed the post-production work and when the tape arrived, it was the eve of the concert. Yet, we still could not sit back and rejoice. One of the plastic cases had been broken in the mail and we were not sure if the tape would play correctly. One hour before the concert, the person in charge of the venue bought a new case to replace it and carefully examined and adjusted the tape before handing it over for screening.

During the concert, the vivid pictures on the big screen and the beautiful background music deeply touched the audience. Some were even moved to tears. And those who had taken part in this work knew that it was the support and guidance from the Supreme Love that had made this moment possible. We learned through the work to have faith and put our minds down, since the job was completed just in time. The local fellow practitioners have become more united and have found oneness among themselves. We deeply appreciate the support we received from fellow practitioners in other countries who helped us accomplish this work.

The concert also raised funds totaling ¥287,100 (NT$85,260 or US$2,708) for Formosan earthquake victims. The contribution was made to the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.

Receipt from the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation
for a monetary contribution of NT$85,260 made by the Japanese Center of
The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association
to September 21 earthquake victims in Formosa.