By sister-initiate Raffaella D'Agostino, London, U.K.
(originally in English)

In July 2004 I returned to London after a three month trip to Italy to nurse my older sister, who was receiving chemotherapy treatments for leukemia.

No one in my family in Italy follows a vegetarian diet or meditates so it was difficult to meditate alone for the whole three months and eat food prepared with dishes and utensils used for meat; in addition, my family drinks wine with meals. However, I was fortunate enough that my relatives at least tolerated my behavior, which was very strange to them. During my stay, I constantly prayed to Master to help my family, looked inward, played Master's chanting tape in my room and recited the Holy Names as much as possible. Thus I survived my visit without slipping away, and my sister's condition improved by 70% during the time I was with her.

Back in the UK, I was again able to rejoin our Quan Yin family and attend group meditation sessions at the London Center. Participating once more in group meditation was truly an amazing feeling full of blessings, true devotion to Master and pure love, and I cherished every moment. It was a wonderful gift and I had not felt so at home in a long time! Also, I was overjoyed to return to England in the knowledge that my sister had gone through the worst of her illness and that her condition was continually improving.

In addition, I have since been blessed to be able to move into a house with two brother-initiates. Together, we have begun a routine of evening group meditation practice, as well as individual meditation in the morning before work. During this time I have experienced a tremendous feeling of elevation, and have been getting increasingly stronger, with each day being a genuine blessing.

It is normally difficult to follow the spiritual path in a city such as London, but through regular attendance at group meditation, everything seems easy. I have never felt so much love for such a harsh town — love for strangers, love for the silliest little things, even love for rush hour! Being able to feel God so strongly with such heavy energy around me is truly amazing. My initiate housemates are very special to me because when we all arrive home from work we prepare a huge feast of blessed vegetarian food and then dive into group meditation; it's a superb feeling! Our evening meditation sessions have also made our morning sessions a true pleasure.

In addition, my sister called me recently to say that the latest results from her DNA tests, which are used to analyze levels of cancerous blood cells, showed no presence of cancer in her body! The harmful cells had practically vanished. It has been six months since she began her chemotherapy treatments, and amazingly, she is now working part-time and looking after her three-year-old daughter!

Master is truly remarkable. I feel extremely blessed to have the Quan Yin Method of meditation in my life and cannot find words to express my gratitude for being part of such a wonderful group as the Quan Yin family, and for being able to meditate even in the harshest of conditions and still come out smiling and grateful. Thank You, Master.