By brother-initiate Thomas Lehninger, Vienna, Austria
(originally in English)

I was initiated on April 27th 1993 in Vienna. Two days before Master's lecture, I saw Her picture on a poster and I knew with an inner certainty that was unusual for me that I had to go and see Her.

The next day my girlfriend took the subway and there were two booklets lying on a seat. She took them both with her, and giving one to me, she said, "This one is for you!" When she asked if I would go to the lecture with her, I replied, "I am already going there, didn't you know?"

On the day of the lecture, when Master Ching Hai entered the lecture hall, She brought Her atmosphere with Her - calming, peaceful, loving, and light. I kept my eyes on Her. For some reason I liked Her - I liked Her voice, Her way of talking, Her gestures, the way She was dressed. My heart opened more and more and my love for that woman became stronger and stronger. A brief inner vision appeared in which I saw or I thought that I met Her before, long, long ago, when She said, "I'll come again." I decided to follow Her.

I turned to ask my girlfriend, who was kind of clairvoyant, what she thought about Master Ching Hai. But she was completely drawn inward. When I shook her out of samadhi, she said that she had never seen anyone with such a brilliant aura, all golden and very powerful with archangels and other light beings surrounding Her.

As for the content of the lecture, I can hardly remember anything. I was totally absorbed in Master who was spreading so much love. When the question and answer time came, I asked, "What is the best thing I can do to help the Earth?" on a piece of paper. It was during this time that I was thinking of joining Green Peace as an active member to contribute my part to save the Earth. Well, Master answered, "Get Initiation. Yes, that's it!" A clear and direct answer for me.

I was very satisfied with the initiation. After the initiation, very thankful, happy and full of energy I ran all the way home in the middle of the night. When I tried my first meditation, I could sit still for 20 minutes. It was great. Just yesterday I couldn't sit still for even 2 minutes. And meditation was giving me a comfortable feeling.

Deep inside I have a deep feeling of what a gift I got when Master Ching Hai gave me initiation. And when times outside are not too rough, and when I have a little bit of peace inside, I am filled with a thankfulness and love I can't express.

Thanks You my dear Master Ching Hai for leading me from surviving to living a life.