Q: Many so-called experts say there will be disturbances during the next year, social problems, computer problems, etc. are predicted for the next year. What preparations do You see that we should make for our families, Centers, to help our community just to be prepared for everything.
M: Yes, be prepared to die anytime, that's my advice, [Laughter and applause.] because we die in any millennium, I tell you. Anytime, be prepared. It could be in the next few days. It could be the next moment. I am prepared all the time. Disaster may strike at any time in any area anyhow, in any millennium. For example, sometimes you are here and the weather forecast is for a storm or flood coming, then of course, you have to prepare your Noah's ark somewhere. Put it in the attic or hang it from the ceiling to feel secure for your children. Of course, you are responsible for their safety, and do your best to bring them into safety. That's it. Whenever it comes, there is no millennium as bad as now.
They have been predicting that for thousands of years. We are supposed to be dead already according to their predictions [Laughter]. Some of the predictions say our planet is supposed to be kaput already. Finito! But it goes on, you know. And if it doesn't go on, we have other planets. We have the inner planet, which is indestructible. Don't concern yourself much about physical things. All these predictions are concerning the physical only. There's not much to worry about. Even if we do worry, even if I know tomorrow is the end of the world, what can we do? You think we can escape somehow by preparing, or hanging some bottles on the ceiling or something like that? When God wants to take us away, or to bring us back to where we belong, we go. But meanwhile, if we don't know that Hes wants us to go, then we prepare whatever, like everyone else, because what else is there to do?
The reason why we prepare, I'll tell you why. For example, even though you are a practitioner, and you believe in God. You say, "Oh! God will take care of me, and everything." But why let God worry about two bottles of water and packing rice and some bread for you? These things you can do yourself. And why do you do it? - To have peace of mind. Why should you sit there and worry about whether you will be safe or not, whether God will come or not? And why would you let people who depend on you, like your children or wife worry about whether you have food to eat, if supposing a flood comes? So that's why you have to be prepared. You prepare it when the flood comes, prepare some food, put it safe somewhere, or drive them to safety, things like that. This is a normal thing to do.
I don't advise people to put away anything, anyway, or make anything anywhere. And if I do so, it's just because it's at a specific time to ease their mind. I want them to concentrate more on the wisdom than on food while they are at it. If they already know: "Okay, we have a cave of food somewhere," they will meditate better. That's all. It's not because that can help us. Lots of people are concerned about the millennium and the end of the world and all that. It's okay. As long as we do our spiritual practice and send out loving energy, the world will still go on splendidly and get better and better. And if people don't practice well, and there's not enough good energy, then the world has to go, and that's okay. God will make another.
Q: Do You think the reason it hasn't happened is because there are more and more spiritual practitioners?
M: That, also. Yes.
Q: Do You think there are other reasons?
M: There are many reasons for why it hasn't happened.
Q: Like so many changes were supposed to happen right now.
M: Yes, and it's supposed to be true, too. And if it's true, the reason why it did not happen is because the atmosphere changes, people's consciousness changes. They fear God, and they pray more, and they go more inside, they repent, and they go in a more right direction, so the energy changes into being more positive and uplifting. So it changes. Everything changes. Because disaster is attracted by bad energy, by a vicious atmosphere, if everyone starts to think good thoughts and pray to God, then the atmosphere will change. When the atmosphere changes, the disasters, which are bad energy, have nowhere to hook onto, so they have to pass by or disappear somewhere else in the vastness of the firmament, or, in the atmosphere. So if we are happy-go-lucky persons, we attract more luck and happiness. That's normal.
And another reason that it doesn't happen is because that person probably predicted wrongly. [Laughter] He had clairvoyance or some astral psychic powers, and what he saw happening was somewhere else, or was his own illusion. The third reason is that sometimes he sees these things in the past, or in another place, not this planet, and gets it all confused. Since he lives here, he thinks it's here. Since he lives in this present, he thinks it's now, but the time in dreams sometimes doesn't coincide with the time of this reality.
When he thinks it's coming this year, he calculates it wrongly in the different dimension. The time is different. And maybe there is no time at all, so when he comes back, he thinks it is this year. He calculates that everything is this year, but it's not so. So, there are many reasons. There is no need to bother about all these metaphysical and physical phenomena. The more we meditate, the more we spread the good news, the more we feel good. And even if we don't feel good, and we have to go, then we go. We have to go at the end. We don't stay here forever, whether we practice or not.
Q: How do you develop the third eye?
M: You don't develop the third eye; it's already there. We can't develop what is not material. The third eye is just a way of speaking; there isn't an eye at all! It just means that normally we have two eyes and see things in a limited vision. But if we have the other eye, the third eye, we can see things in the whole universe. That's why it's called the third eye. Actually, the soul doesn't need the eye to see, doesn't need ears to hear, doesn't need any sensory apparatus to perceive things. That's the highest Truth, that's the highest perception, without having to use any fleshly instruments. That is our soul power, the Supreme Master within us, which knows all things, hears all things in all ways, everywhere.
That's what we have to find. Because we are the Supreme Master of all the universe, can you imagine how great you are, and how you live your life now? (Master sighs.) That's why I feel very sorry for you. You come here to listen to me, but you shouldn't have to do it! We are equals, we are exactly the same, and we have the same power. You shouldn't even have to respect me; that's a very sad thing. You know it if you accept what I say and then you know just what I know, what Christ knows, what Buddha knows.
Q: I'm in theater, working with some artists and I also work with a lot of dancers, actors, actresses, and musicians. I often see those people I work with smoke pot, doing a lot of stuff just to get out of their own personal frustrations. As an artist, we always want to be open-minded and try as many things as possible; but since I'm following the Quan Yin Method, I sometimes feel like I'm unable to do that. Of course I know that I shouldn't do it, but sometimes they have this theory like, "Try something in order to be a good artist." Sometimes I get very confused so I'd like to ask for Your suggestion and support.
M: These people are confused. They feel very empty in their lives. After they've tried all their best to please the public, of course then they are empty, and they don't know where else to turn. When they call to Buddha, Buddha doesn't answer, when they talk to Jesus, Jesus just hangs-in there. [Laughter] So then of course, they try something to quickly fill their emptiness inside. Any kind of work for the public gives you this empty feeling aftermath. You must know; that's a great sacrifice that every artist must make.
Q: Should I change my career?
M: No, you have your Master and you have the Quan Yin Method. You have the meditation, which is quicker than the pot to fulfill your inner satisfaction and peace. Why do you need these cheap substitutes? You tell them. You should lead them instead of letting them lead you. You are the light; you don't follow the darkness.
Q: Sometimes I just feel like I'm so alone among these people.
M: No, you're not alone. You are there to lead and bless them; you are there to give them what they don't have, to be their strength because they are in darkness. You are the only light, and you want to dim yourself and go into the darkness too? God put you there so that there is one light in the darkness. Talk to them and tell them there are better ways, nobler ways, less damaging and more fulfilling. They are lonely; they need you. You must be strong. Be thankful. Artists' jobs are very noble. You make a lot of people happy, make their time pass quicker. When they watch a good movie or a good theatrical performance, it's educational.
Of course, whenever we give, we empty out. That's why they feel lonelier. Artists feel lonely after the big applause from the people. They feel empty. I know that. Every Sunday I know that. After every group meditation, I know that. I feel empty too. I empty everything out, so that you feel fulfilled and happy. But I often feel very lonely and empty, not to talk about artists. But I have to be strong. You have to be strong. We are there to be strong, for people to lean on. We are there to show the way, to be a beacon. Don't be tempted to go the easy way. You'll fall, and then you will regret it and bring a lot of people down with you. You know your mission, why you are there. You're not only an artist; you are a saint. I hope that it helps you.
You are a saint. Remember! Forget your outward mask as an artist. You are a saint in disguise to be there so people feel better. Talk to them about something more noble, more meaningful. Even though they reject you, their minds record. Give them more good recordings than what they have been recording up to now. Up to now, they have recorded all the negative things, so you have to replace that with better recordings for their minds. Whether they accept it or not, the mind still records it. Later, it will germinate; it will bear fruit. You don't have to take credit for anything you do, just do it.
Every time you talk to someone or you please someone, even though it is very good, it takes something out of you. That's for sure. That will be refilled later, only if you know that. But some people don't know and it takes longer. They want quick results. They feel such a tremendous rush of emptiness upon themselves and they just get confused, panic, and feel lonely. So other people tell them, "Oh! You just smoke this and you'll feel in heaven." They try that out of curiosity, out of weakness, out of frustration and then they go down the hill and they cannot stand up anymore. That's the problem. Anything you can try, but how will your life be later? So we have to understand every choice we make is free will, but the consequences are different. God lets you try anything you want, but because you have wisdom, you have to know what choices are good for you.
Pearls of Wisdom Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai Singapore September 29, 1994 (Originally in English)
One person makes a lot of difference. If you truly believe in your goodness, in what you are doing, you will influence other people; but if you don't believe, they will influence you. They'll try to make a strong person out of your personality. Whatever you believe is good, stick to it and don't let other people make you waver. A good example in this world is rare, so make yourself a good example. Try your best in everything so people will know that because you practice, you have become better. Then you really are being useful for society. That's how you prove it; that's how you help other people; that's how we rescue the world from the great destruction that may be coming.
Q: I had a most amazing experience. I was in my bed, it was nighttime, and all of a sudden, I heard angels; I heard thousands of them. It was like "ah", but magnified by thousands. Then I left my body and went out into the courtyard and I was flying with the angels. They were really, really big, and they were angels. Then the next day, my brother was at the table, (I hadn't told him about this experience), and he said "Guess what! Last night, I heard angels, and there were thousands of them."
M: He also heard them?
Q: He heard them but he didn't fly. He didn't go up there with them. My question is, I never really believed in them so much before, but now I really believe. Was that real? Are there realms like that where there are angels?
M: Of course, that's when you die; you die daily. You leave your body and come back. That's the real "resurrection". People only meet angels when they die and they come and take them to a higher realm. But you can die like that all the time and come back. That's what we call liberation in this lifetime; heaven is at hand. Now you know what the Bible is talking about.
Even though your brother is not in the same category as you are, he also heard them because of the transmission between you as brother and sister. Your vibration lifted him up also. That's what we do; the Quan Yin practitioners, we, the meditators, the serious practitioners, bless everywhere we go, everyone we see, everyone we think of, be it humans, animals, ghosts, or angels. We bless them without knowing it. It's just by chance that you know. Your brother was blessed by you at that time because you raised your level and he was nearby and was blessed. He's more sensitive, so he picked it up, but your whole family was blessed; it's just that they did not know it.
All wars come from ignorance. If we are ignorant, we don't know how to stop hatred, we don't know how to stop aggression and possessiveness. The higher the position we're in, the more danger we may cause for humanity; so first, you'd better be enlightened, and then serve the world with greater understanding.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai California, U.S.A. November 30, 1993 (Originally in English)
Of course, war is inevitable, and I'm equally grateful if they protect the world or they keep the peace, but to keep peace is better. It doesn't matter how big the war is, it cannot go on forever if no one fights. If only one side fights, it gets fed up. It doesn't matter how aggressive a person is, if he continues alone in a war, then he gets tired and the war ends even more quickly. Sometimes we interfere with other people's wars, prolonging them and causing the loss of many lives.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai West Virginia, U.S.A. February 17, 1991 (Originally in English)
If we read the Bible, the Buddhist texts, or any other religious scriptures, we see that it is always stated that the kingdom of God is within us, we are the temple of God, or we have Buddha nature within us. Now, why don't we make use of this Buddha nature, or the kingdom of God within, to deal with things instead of using just outer material power, which is unstable, unreliable, and causes a lot of misery and the loss of the lives of many talented, young, beautiful, creative, intelligent human beings, which is a waste.
It takes tremendous creative power from God or the Universal Force to create a human being. It takes a lot of intelligence, time, money and love to raise one human being. Now, in just one second, it is destroyed, along with thousands and millions of others in war. That is very, very miserable. It is very unfair of us to do these things. It doesn't matter if we are right or wrong in war; it always creates misery for both parties.
We understand that even our enemies have souls, sentiments, intelligence, compassion and understanding. It's just that we don't sit together and talk. We don't make friends. We're not supposed to make friends with our enemies, so we sometimes forget that they are also human like us. Therefore, it is easy to slay someone whom we do not think much of or whom we don't hold in high esteem.
Q: I have a practical problem due to previous yoga work that I did; I have problems which most of Your initiates do not. That is with regard to entities. Spiritual beings are attached to me, and that causes me a great deal of trouble. These creatures are not human; they are animal-related creatures, and I have some of the appetites that these creatures have. What I am hoping to find out is whether there is a way that I can rid myself, be cleaned of these creatures, and progress in this spiritual practice?
M: How is your meditation?
Q: I am able to hear the Sound, and that's primarily what I work with and concentrate on. I do the Light meditation faithfully, and I don't expect too much that way; but the Sound is strong.
M: That is the problem with the killing karma. That's why we try not to kill, or the souls will attach to us. Even people who have abortions, they don't know that the children's souls are attached to them all the time. Try to be more patient and loving. Pray more to the Inner Master. When God gives us the free will to kill or not to kill, and we do kill, sometimes the entities come. We may have made enemies with many people, many beings, and now that we meditate because we want to run away from all these debts, they come and obstruct us for a while. If we are determined to practice, then they will leave, or they will benefit from our blessed atmosphere and then become liberated themselves.
So the only thing is patience and love. Pray for these people - these entities, or these animals, or whatever brothers. There was a book written about people who have abortions. The children stick to them, and they grow with them. They grow just as normal children because they don't have anywhere else to go. They are supposed to be a child of yours, so their soul sticks around. Because they are a different kind of entity than we are, their vibrations are more negative than positive, and so they will influence our life in a very negative way. Sometimes they will make us sick, make some things go wrong, or we will get a headache or stomachache, and won't know why because we can't see these entities, these children, hanging around us after the abortion.
Many people think it's "pro-choice," but it's "pro-life". It's a life; it is not a choice. Then it is also a life of misery you make for yourself if you have an abortion. You will have a lot of trouble, headaches, and sorrows and you won't know where they are from and why. It is because of all these children hanging around, all the Yin entities, not Yang entities. We belong to the Yang; the children who are aborted belong to the Yin, the negative side of life, the death side of life. Then they hang around us and make our lives very negative, very dark; they belong to the shadows of life, not the real things. They influence us and make our lives not real bright, not always on the positive, but half-negative, half-positive. It is similar with killing animals and other people, murdering and all that.
That's why you ask me about choice. We make all these entities; can we make friends with these entities or make trouble with them? No, we don't make trouble; there is no choice anymore now. There was a choice before: the free will to be good or to be evil, to use the positive inside us or to use the negative inside us, to kill or to spare lives, to kill or to do charity. We do sometimes make the wrong choice; therefore, we suffer the consequences in this life, the life after or continuously until we pay the debt, clear and clean. Should we make more of such choices or more of such karma, and then, of course, we will continue to suffer again, maybe worse than this. That's why we have the Precepts, so that we don't do it again.
So, whatever you did in the past, you suffer for, but in a limited way and then after this you are finished. But if you continue without the Precepts, without a vegetarian diet, you will not know when to stop and you will have no fence, no regulations, and no limit for the negative use of your power. The Precepts and the vegetarian diet are the ways to help you to always continue going in the positive direction.
Whatever you did negative in the past, of course, you will suffer the consequences now; and the Master helps you to a certain extent only, otherwise you cannot develop. If the parents give the children who are bad and good the same candies, the same treatment all the time, then the bad will continue to do bad, and the good will also imitate the bad ones and do bad things. They will say, "Well, he has more fun and he still gets the same love, the same treatment, so why don't we have fun with him, and also our parents won't say anything." The same love, the same treatment, the same reward for bad and good, and then it's no good for the children; they cannot learn to distinguish between bad and good.
Therefore, there is hell; there is a distinct punishment for each individual. Not because God is not merciful, but we humans deserve it. There is a film called "Lost Horizon." Have you seen it? If you haven't, you should. There was a funny sentence that was very correct. He said: "Well, this is a very beautiful place here; if everyone could come here it, it would be nice." And the other person said: "If everyone comes here, it won't be beautiful anymore." [Laughter] It's true, too. You know that very well.
Suppose I am very compassionate, very loving, very generous, very magnanimous, and treat everyone equally. I let the children roam around here, all the non-initiates come here with a bottle of alcohol in their hand and walk on your head, from that corner to this and walk here and there, anywhere, then can you meditate here? Can you enjoy this peaceful atmosphere, which is made for you? No! And if you bring all your dogs and cats here as well, then we're finished, for example. It can't be.
If we cannot be loving to our own people or to our own dog and cat in a certain place and certain time, how could God do that to us? So don't complain that there are so many levels, or bad and good, or there is heaven and hell. It's necessary. Can all the people in this world really live together peacefully in one place? The answer is "no". So don't ask for world peace. Pray for it only. Pray and hope for world peace. Then the dogs and cats will also want world peace, and all the cows and buffaloes will want world peace, because their worlds are not peaceful. We kill them. They will also stand up and say, "We want world peace for us." How can there be?
As long as human beings are following their negative tendencies, there will always be retribution, lessons to learn for people to open their eyes and their hearts to go back to the right side, or to the middle side, to know what is the best way to handle things, what is noble for them, what is really a human being's nature. The way many people act is like animals; therefore, we have all these entities, possessed spirits, and things like that. Possession by spirits is karma, retribution for what we did in past lives. If we truly want to avoid it, then we must avoid it starting from now. The past we cannot change; we can minimize it by initiation, by the Precepts, and by trying to follow a good life.
Sooner or later, they will be finished when we pay off the karma. If we don't get initiation, we will get even more entities than that. The lesser entities are already taken care of; just the heavy ones, the burdens, the hardheaded ones stay around, but they will go, for example like that. And if we don't get initiation, we are worse off than what we are now or what we will be in the future.
So actually, it is not that after initiation everything is done and then you live in heaven all the time. You may do so if your karma is not so bad, but some have to suffer a little hell for a while. Even now, sometimes initiates are not all good. They don't do what they are supposed to do. They don't meditate; they just come here and hang around looking for a woman or man. It is the same; sometimes they create a very unpleasant atmosphere for us. So some of them, I have to throw out. I am sorry if it disturbs your compassionate heart but I have to protect other people, the more worthy. Those people, after they know their mistakes and repent, will become better and they will join you again.
Q: I'm wondering why sometimes it seems like I hear the sound appropriate for certain levels and I see things appropriate for certain levels, but it's kind of intense light; I see light, and it's bright, but it's not really like what Master said.
M: Whatever light it is, just look. I wonder why you, at that moment, are not in deep samadhi enough, and you still are wondering, "What level am I at," and all that. Don't wonder about anything; just concentrate on that and it will do you lasting benefit. Levels won't help you; change in your heart will. What for do we need to know the levels? Actually, there is no such thing as levels. It's just for the mind to understand that, "Okay, I'm getting something."
We have such a business mind that the Master has to cut a deal with us, and say "Okay" like in business, "You go up here and you will have this; you go up there and you have that." But if we really are practitioners, we care for no levels. We just know that we are very sincere and we work for our improvement so that we become a noble being, a real being. We need to be a noble and real being, very good, loving, compassionate, and wise. That's what we need to be. And the more we work at our homework, the better and quicker we become that being. That's all there is; levels and positions are only for outside people. We have no need to worry about that.
Maybe you haven't reached the home you wish to. There is no need to rush; you have light and that is better than darkness. Many people don't have that, so it's already comforting to your soul. These things are helping to encourage us to continue with our practice. It's not a course of pride and competition, and no eagerness to be a president or something like that. [Laughter] You will know what level you are at pretty soon, if you really concentrate and devote yourself to the life of practice. And then soon, very, very soon, you won't care about it, and that's the best level. You still continue to practice; your heart is still very sincere; you still develop in all ways, but you don't care for anything, not even Sainthood. That's the best level. It doesn't mean that you drop everything altogether, but you don't mind in which corner or in what low level God will place you in order to serve the universe, understand?
Q: What are the thoughts of a being that doesn't have ego?
M: Thoughts of the Master, the Holy Names, the kingdom of God, and all the nobility that you can imagine. When you think of the Master, you have everything - all the qualities inside, and everything else comes naturally. I don't say that meaning that you should pray to me, or anything like that. The "Master" means the representative of all that is the best in the universe. Only in that light should you think of the Master, and consequently all the best will come to you because the Master channels all the best.
When something channels all the best, and inside is only the best, it doesn't matter what it looks like outside. Inside, it's the best drink. We only consider the best drink inside, regardless of how the container, the cup, looks. But I also present you with the best cup because people love beauty. Why not beautify the world we live in if we can? If God gives me that talent, why should I not use it?
A simple life means that whatever you have, use it. You don't have to struggle with it; just flow with it. It doesn't mean you have to throw everything out and look like a beggar, against your character, your habits, your mannerisms. Whatever you are comfortable with, it is okay; the most important thing is to keep the discipline and meditate, know your Self, be vegetarian, no wine! But I don't say anything like an order. I just advise you in leading a better way of life, as an older sister to a younger sister. Yes, maybe I'm older in the spiritual aspect.
A German fellow initiate said to Master: "Every day, I remember that I found this Method. I found You. It's like a miracle. I'm so happy and I feel that everything around me has transformed. My whole family is so loving now, and things that I never thought could happen have come true. Everyone that my mother has ever prayed for has gotten better. It's so fantastic!"
Master answered: "Good! Like attracts like. Because you're better, everything better will come to you. That's why people say to you, 'Think positively!' It's not because you say, 'I think positive and I expect positive,' that the positive things come. It's not. When you are able to think positively, that means you are elevated to the positive level. You are higher already, so the negative cannot touch you, cannot catch up with you. That's why you're happy. And once you're in the positive level, you just attract the positive, of course. If you are in America, you can't be in France; that's very simple."
"Try to climb to that level. Try all your best. Meditate more; read the holy teachings, read positive books; read anything that reminds you of your Higher Nature, of the contact with God. Then you'll be better, more and more every day, and everything will turn out better for you. You'll know without my doing anything, without you doing anything. Of course, you pray sometimes to the Master Power for help, and if you need it, of course It's always there, but if you raise yourself to a higher level, you'll have it permanently and you can only come up all the time. The Quan Yin Method is a way to bring you up there, but it's you who do it, you who want it. You make the effort."
Pearls of Wisdom Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Hsihu Center, Formosa, September 29, 1991 (Originally in Chinese)
Thoughts are very important. When we think nobly, the whole universe admires, loves and serves us; and waits for us to visit their place. When our thoughts are not noble, not glorious and not as generous as the enlightened ones, we become ordinary sentient beings. This is what is meant by: "All is created by the mind!"
Sometimes you may think that it is merely a thought, it is not very important. No! It is very important. As human beings, our actions, speech and thoughts are interrelated. If the atmosphere generated within us is not one of purity and benign practice, or is dishonorable, it will be expressed in our actions.
Q: Master, if someone keeps attacking you with negative energy, do you have to take it, or is there any way you can stop it, if it really becomes too much?
M: Recite the Holy Names and pray. That's the only way you can attack people. That's the best weapon. Kill them with friendliness. Kill the enemy by making them become a friend, and then they are an enemy no more. There's no one in this world you can't overcome with kindness and love unless they're cuckoo or something. But they will still feel your kindness and love. So that's the only way we can return their attack: with kindness, love, reciting the Holy Names and prayer. Pray not for yourself but for him or her, so that God will make her/him enlightened and then he/she won't do this kind of thing to you any more.
Q: If God is within us, why does evil prevail in so many men?
M: It is the misunderstanding of God's law. We have the free will to choose. When we descend into this world, due to circumstances, we collect information and experiences; some of them are very good and useful, and some of the information and experiences are harmful and useless. If we are not strong, and we pick the bad ones, discarding the good, then, of course, we are unbalanced and are more inclined to the bad side. Then, we have more bad, we are trapped, and it becomes worse. The nobility and strength of the soul is weakened until we become totally enveloped by evil and act against the law of God. So, take heed that we choose the good information, and regain our strength of the soul.
Cling to God; pray to God for protection and for the opportunity to accumulate only goodness. We forget God. That is the problem. We do not call for help. We choose everything and decide everything on our own, like children who do not take the advice of their parents. But, we can change. No matter how much evil, how much misunderstanding, the moment we understand, the moment we want to rely on God, the moment we want wisdom, the moment we want goodness again, at that moment, all evil will fall away.
So, if we want to go back to God again, we just have to know our weaknesses and repent, and then there is an opportunity. If you want to prove God's forgiveness, then come for initiation. It will be proven to you that no matter how bad we have been, God always loves and forgives us. Immediately we will have the Light and Sound of God. That's the proof of Hiers unconditional love.
There was a story about a person who tried to look for Heaven and someone said, "I know where Heaven is; I can show you. "So he took him to a small well, where he showed him several people sitting and meditating happily, living together in that hole in the ground. And he said, "This is Heaven!" The seeker said, "No! Are you kidding me? This is just a dark hole in the ground." So the person said, "No, no! Heaven is in the Saints who are sitting there, not in the hole."
The Quan Yin Method is the method for returning to where you came from, and where we came from is Heaven. We came from God. We came from the greatest Source of Creation. We're not the human physical body. So if you concentrate and return, step-by-step, back to where you're from, you will know where Enlightened Masters live. "Everything is created by the mind," Buddha said. So just go back and see the real Creator.
That's you! You and me -- One! You and everyone -- One! You and nine generations of your family -- One! That's why it's possible for me to help you go back; it's possible for you to liberate nine generations; it's possible for the Buddha to be enlightened and to say all sentient beings are already delivered or already liberated. When you go back to the Source, you see nothing but just the "Oneness" of us -- no Master, no disciples. You're one part of me; we're one part of God.
So, it's possible that when one person is enlightened, everything's already delivered from inside, and everyone knows already. I don't need to deliver you; I don't need to give you initiation. You'll be saved because your soul knows from my soul connection inside. But the mind doesn't understand. So I have to continue teaching you and telling you this and that and the other, so that you'll feel peaceful here. And so that your life, this fixed physical karma, will be smoother, more bearable and more joyful until you leave this physical world.
So, it's possible that when one person is enlightened, everything's already delivered from inside, and everyone knows already. I don't need to deliver you; I don't need to give you initiation. You'll be saved because your soul knows from my soul connection inside. But the mind doesn't understand. So I have to continue teaching you and telling you this and that and the other, so that you'll feel peaceful here. And so that your life, this fixed physical karma, will be smoother, more bearable and more joyful until you leave this physical world.
Enlightened Masters' places are not far from you -- they're inside you. Just concentrate on the inner world, and one day you will see better.
That's the Indian custom, to always run to the seat of the saints. They believe that saints are like the sandalwood tree, transferring to every tree around it the fragrance of sandalwood. Yes, this is true. Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, the San Jose Ashram, Costa Rica, June 2, 1991 (Originally in English)
Relocating for a Child's Sake
In China, there was a story about Meng Tzu. Meng Tzu was a very wise man of China, one of the saints. But he had a saintly mother, so that's why.
When he was a child, his house was next to a slaughtering house that killed animals. So he went to see the people who slaughtered the animals. When he came home, he began to catch all the small animals, like frogs, cats and dogs. And he also began to slaughter them, because he imitated what he saw.
Children imitate everything, good or bad. I didn't; I did not imitate. I remember many of my cousins and the neighbor's children always went and fetched birds, and would roast them and eat them. And they killed all kinds of insects, making them become like their toys. I never did this; I never liked it. But most children imitate things, whether good or bad.
So when the mother saw that the child had developed this very bad habit due to their neighbor's influence, she moved, because of him. She said, "This is not a good place for my child." She was a saintly mother. And they were not wealthy. I think she was alone. Her husband wasn't there; maybe he was dead. She raised the child alone as a weaver, weaving cloth. She was very poor and didn't earn much money weaving cloth. Even then, she sacrificed her time, energy and money for her child. Can you imagine how saintly that is? That's why I say she was a saintly mother. And in ancient China, moving was not easy. There's no transportation, no one to help you, only the mother and the child. You can imagine how difficult that would be.
So she moved to another neighborhood. Some time later, she discovered that her child came home every day wailing and crying, making a ceremony for the dead. He was making a funeral service every day. And then she discovered that they lived very near a funeral home; that's where he learned it. So she said, "This is not a place for my child."
She moved again, for the third time. Then, at last, she moved next to a school, where they taught about Confucius and all the saints' teachings. And the child came home behaving like a saint! He had all the manners of a good scholar and the thinking of a saint-very polite, very noble and very saintly. So the mother said, "Wow, this is the place for my child."
And then, when this child grew old enough, of course, he went to school. He liked going to school. He said, "I like it!" He liked to be like the scholars, so he went to the school. But one day he became fed up with the school for some reason. Probably the teachers had scolded him or his roommate wasn't nice, or else he was lazy. So he went home and went to sleep, in the middle of his classes. He didn't want to go to school any more.
A Cut in the Cloth
The mother used all her logic to persuade him to go back to school that day, but he didn't. He said he didn't want to and was very insistent and stubborn. The mother was weaving a piece of silk at that time. After he had been so stubborn, she took a knife and cut across the piece of silk she had woven. And then she asked the child, "Can we use this piece of silk now? Can it be useful?" And the child said, "Of course not! Why did you destroy it? Why did you cut that piece of silk when it was so perfect?" And the mother said, "Well, it is like your education. If you don't continue, it's of no use. If you break it in the middle, what is the use of before and after? Something broken in the middle is of no use."
It's the same with our practice. We should also continue every day. Otherwise, even though it's beautiful before and it might be beautiful after, if it's broken in the middle, it's not a continuous flow. And we will experience some kind of difficulty or obstacles or uneasiness in our life. We cannot expect things to go smoothly and easily, the way we want, all the time. We must learn to take and to give, to be strong and also to be flexible, when the situation requires. Otherwise, we will have a lot of trouble during our life, and we will never grow up.
The Forgotten Mother-saint
If the mother of Meng Tzu had been a very ordinary mother, then today we would never have heard of the name Meng Tzu. He would never have left his name in the history of sainthood. And in China, there are so many people, a vast number of people, with vast lands. To be listed in the names of these vast people and vast lands-as one of the handful of saints-is not easy. To make a name for yourself in China, where there are so many people that you cannot count them all-to make a name distinguished from these masses-it's not easy! And they have four or five thousand years of history; to be distinguished as one of the few is not common.
But people have forgotten his mother. They don't know who she was or what she did, only that she cut pieces of silk and moved three times. But her actions were worth more than all the lectures that Meng Tzu ever offered to the public. She is worthy to be a master, a master of all time. She was master of all mothers, of all the masters! If she weren't a saint and a wise woman, she could have never sacrificed so much in her situation and in her poverty.
Can you imagine what Meng Tzu would have become without such a mother-a brilliant saint who would have been contented with killing animals every day for a living? So you see how saints are made. We can make saints out of stones. I think I will start a manufacturing plant for building saints. We could! Just give them good examples, a good environment and good lectures, and they will become saints.
The Importance of Childhood Education
The Tibetan people train their monks from childhood. Most of the monks learn from childhood. They come into the monastery when they are young, mostly as orphans or poor children whose parents cannot afford to raise them; they get offered completely to the temple and never go back home. So they are trained from childhood, and that's how they grow up. Even if we don't say anything about their levels of sainthood, at least their manner and behavior are very sweet.
So everything we were taught in childhood is very important. I guess my grandmother and my father were good teachers for me. My grandmother used to make me read a lot of books to her because she couldn't read; she was very old. I read her all the philosophical books that were meant only for adults, but she was very fascinated by them. And I loved her; I was always sticking around her, so I was the one who read a lot for her. And I was more fascinated than she was. Sometimes she went to sleep or she was busy, and I would read them all by myself. So I read all the things that a child should not read, like Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu and all kinds of Chinese and other cultures' philosophies. In the evening when I slept, I would fly around meeting saints and things like that. And I had all kinds of magical powers in my dreams. Anyhow, I guess that's what made me become what I am today; it had an influence. In the world today, people teach pregnant mothers to read good books and imagine beautiful faces, or hang beautiful pictures in the bedroom or around the house, just to make a beautiful baby, to plant noble ideas into the fetus. It helps.
The Parents' Sacred Mission
Actually, the parents are commissioned by God to teach Hiers children. But most parents do not remember their duty. They love the children but they think of the children also as property, that the children should grow up and make a name and make money for them, to repay them for their kindness. So most of the time, they emphasize more to the children that they have to go to school, they have to learn a craft, or they have to do this and do that. There's really no moral motive behind it at all, just a monetary motive. This is just most of the time; I don't mean all families are like this. But the people who are like that teach each other-that you have to spend 10 years or 20 years in education just to get a position, to earn good money, to get a good husband or wife and to be secure in life. This is always emphasized in our society. And then if they have a religious background, they send their children to the priests, and the priests know nothing.
So that's how we are left alone to struggle for ourselves spiritually in this world. If we are not lucky enough to happen to stumble into a saint or the saintly teaching of a living Master, can you imagine how we carry on with our life? You're born and you die and you have only one ideal in your head: making money, gaining position, and raising children, like raising ducks, pigs, or any other animals. If we as humans don't have a higher ideal about life and God, we are just like the animals. But how do you find a teacher who will teach you anything like this? We have been brainwashed for 15 or 20 years in school, just for money! Let's face it; that's the only motive. It doesn't matter how much flour they put around it or pepper and chili on top to cover it, it is all for monetary purposes, nothing else. And not only to earn enough money for a living; sometimes money tricks people into selling their dignity and forgetting all their moral standards.
That's how the society teaches us, even our family members. Of course, not all families are like that. Thus, we should earn money or have a position to take care of ourselves, but not to the extent of forgetting everything else. That's why we are very far away from God. If we are near God, it must be a money god, or a banker god!
A Thief's Story
There was a story about a thief, a very, very great thief. He committed so many crimes and killings that the government decided to hang him. So, before a person is executed, he is entitled to one last personal wish. He was very famous; they had hunted him for many decades before they caught him. He was a big robber, without any repentance and without any conscience. He killed people like chopping bananas.
Now his last wish was that he wanted to see his mother. Everyone was surprised that he even had affection for his mother. But they thought, "Well, in the whole world no one probably loves him, so he must have love for the mother. And the mother is the only one who loves him, so it's natural that he wants to see his mother."
So the mother was fetched to see him. And many people came to see his execution because everyone knew about him. It was a big gathering, and he was in the middle. Then the mother came, and he embraced her. Suddenly, the mother began crying very loudly and then fainted on the ground. On the side of her head, she was bleeding. Then people saw that in his mouth there was her ear. And the people rushed up to him, saying, "What happened? Why did you bite your mother's ear off?" So he took the ear up and pointed to the mother and said, "She is the real criminal, not I. You made the wrong judgment."
And he started to tell the story. When he was a young schoolboy, his family had enough to live on; they weren't poor but weren't wealthy. One day, he forgot his pen and he borrowed one from his classmate. But he forgot to give it back, and he brought it home. And he told his mother, "Oh, look, I forgot to give back my classmate's pen that I borrowed! I must go back and give it to him now because otherwise he will miss it."
And the mother said, "No, no! You keep it! Keep it! Tomorrow you borrow ink and then books, and don't give them back. See what happens. Then I won't have to buy them for you. If they forget, it's good. What's in your hands belongs to you. What you can take is yours." But when some of the classmates wanted their things back, the child didn't know what to do. So he came home and said, "Mother, they want their things back! Can I give them back? Is it OK?"
And his mother said, "No, no! Next time you have to punch them! Say, 'No, it's mine!'" She taught him how to steal by force, even in childhood. So slowly he stole bigger and bigger things for himself and for the mother, at the mother's command. First he bit people, then forced them, and later he killed. He killed even when it was not necessary; it became a habit.
Seek the Company of Saints
So you see, originally he was a very honest child; he wanted to give back the things that he borrowed. He was even better than Meng Tzu, the Chinese saint; he was better! In childhood, he could already discriminate between good and bad, and Meng Tzu could not. Meng Tzu just imitated everything, but this child knew what was good and what was bad. Meng Tzu just had a good mother, that's all, who turned a bad child into a good saint.
Therefore, our company is very, very important. In Vietnam we say we have to pick our friends, meaning we have to be careful in choosing friends. But how can we choose our family members? That's very unfortunate. Therefore, it takes a strong will to get out of the influence of the family. And if we don't happen to stumble into some saintly person, we will never know anything better. You can see from the examples of these two children: One was an ignorant, bad, stupid child who turned into a brilliant saint, and one was a very honest, pure child who turned into a vicious, deadly criminal. Therefore, sometimes if we want to judge a person, we also have to know their background. And we cannot know that unless we are enlightened.
That's why in the Bible it says don't judge people so you won't be judged. But when you are enlightened, you don't want to judge anyone. You only want to help. That's the good part about enlightenment. If we want to have good judgment we must be enlightened, and when we are enlightened we don't have any judgment. We look at everyone as erring children, lacking in good information, and we try to provide it. And that is the very good part of enlightenment, if there is nothing else.
That's why in India people tell you that we should always seek the company of the saints. That's because in India, saints are very precious; everyone runs after them. In the West or in other countries, people run after money, but in India they run after saints. They hunt for the saints until all the saints are scared. Sometimes they have to run away. They do; they hide! They're scared of people.
As a Chinese saying goes, "We need to cultivate ourselves, harmonize our families, before we can govern the country and bring peace to the world." When this Enlightened Master spoke on "bringing peace to the world," most probably he was referring only to China, and not the whole world in a broader sense. Nevertheless, we can now extend its definition further, for all the countries on Earth can now communicate and engage in exchanges. I believe that one day this communication and exchange will no longer be limited to countries, but will be extended to other planets as well. We ought to expand our thinking and we must start preparing now. Otherwise, when the time comes, we, or our children, will be caught unprepared.
When I was little, I had a great dream, a great aspiration. I wished that when I grew up, some immortals or Heavenly beings would descend to teach me and open up my wisdom, and that they would teach me how to fly to Heaven and then fly back. I don't know why I had such an aspiration when I was little, but my dream eventually came true! Therefore, it's also good that we sometimes have dreams and aspirations. If we're truly sincere and focus our thoughts on that wish, one day it will come true. The Americans also have a proverb that goes: "If you don't have a dream, how will you have a dream come true?"
Therefore, we should be mentally prepared now. Perhaps one day we will have a kind of inter-planetary hierarchy. This isn't just a dream; I have faith that it will come true one day. As to when that will be, it depends on how well we Earthlings prepare ourselves, and when the other planets want to communicate with us. In fact, they started to communicate with us long ago. For example, UFOs and beings from several stellar systems have been appearing for a very long time, but they're still very cautious. If we were capable of communicating with them, they would teach us some superior knowledge.
Some people are capable of communicating with other planets. Sometimes they write books or make movies about it. Extra-Terrestrials from other planets may sometimes want to come and communicate with us, but they're afraid of us, because we Earthlings are rather unfriendly and barbarous. If we were to give a thought to what happened to Jesus before, we would acknowledge this comment as being true. However, instead of blaming ourselves, we should try to find out what we need to rectify.
First of all, we need to broaden our thinking until it encompasses the whole universe, instead of just thinking about our family and country. We're humans, "the masters of all beings in Creation." As such, our thinking ought to be very broad and vast, to deserve our status as the masters of all beings in Creation. Perhaps we still don't understand why we're so great, and why we're the masters of all beings in Creation. However, we still need to start changing our thinking, broaden our thinking. There's no harm in having some sensational or incredible dreams; perhaps one day they'll come true.
How are we going to change our thinking? We can read some good scriptures, and learn broadminded thinking and the spirit of pursuing spiritual practice from them. Besides, we can listen to people's lectures. Some people are very good spiritual practitioners; they're capable of communicating with sentient beings in numerous worlds. For instance, when Shakyamuni Buddha was alive, He knew of many different realms, different planets. That's why we have the relevant scriptures with us today. For example, the Amitabha Sutra describes the Amitabha Buddha's World. Others like the Universal Door Chapter in the Lotus Sutra also depict many other realms. In our time, there are also many people who do the same as Shakyamuni Buddha did; they're capable of travelling the universe instead of just round the world.
Can you imagine that two or three hundred years ago, people were not even aware that the American continent existed? Today America has become one of the superpowers in the world, having influence over the whole world. However, she did not even exist several hundred years ago! Unlike modern people, people of that time did not have so many convenient machines like the airplane, fax machine, telephone, video recorder, camera, and so on. However, in a short span of time, the Americans have founded their own nation, built and developed it, and educated their citizens. In no time at all, they have transformed into the number one or number two super power in the world. In only a few hundred years, the Americans have achieved so much. Can you imagine what more stunning things will happen on our Earth in the next few decades or next few centuries? Therefore, the Inter-Planetary Hierarchy that I talked about just now may not be merely a dream.
Columbus was the hero who discovered America. Some time before that, he had seen America in inner visions; he knew it in advance. However, he couldn't reveal to others that he had seen the land where he was heading; therefore, some people thought he was crazy at the time. In their small ship, and without sufficient food, they just sailed across the ocean on a seemingly uncertain course. In fact, Columbus had already seen everything in a dream. However, at that time, if he had told people that he had seen it in a dream, and that they would definitely find it, surely most people wouldn't have believed him.
In fact, many people then were sceptical. When they were about to reach America, there was no more food on the ship. They had to eat the leather soles of their shoes. The crew members sailing with Columbus were very angry, blaming him for leading them on a course to death. They didn't believe in the existence of the new continent of America, and almost killed Columbus. Facing such a predicament, Columbus remained patient and confident. It's precisely because of his great patience and confidence that America, a strong country of today, came into being.
The same thing happens to an Enlightened Master who is beginning to disseminate the Truth. Many hindrances, difficulties and humiliations confront him. All of these he has to endure alone. People around him, including his disciples, may not be able to understand his tolerant spirit and painstaking intent. "Everything is most difficult in the beginning." However, the Truth will eventually shine forth. Therefore, although Jesus Christ was crucified, His teachings and name continue to be passed on. Today, two thousand years later, we still know about His stories.
One day in the future, extra-terrestrials from other planets will appear to us and communicate with us openly. Then we can learn from them and exchange experiences with each other. Therefore, we should now get ourselves ready in body and mind. How do we prepare? We ought to rectify our undesirable lifestyles. Also, if we don't have enough understanding about the world and the universe, we should begin to research gradually. When we observe the many unfair happenings in the world, we should manage to help and change them.
However, the changes must first begin from ourselves, and the best way to change is for us to connect with the power of God, and let God's power change us. In this way, we don't have to worry about doing things the wrong way, or being deceived by our ego. Otherwise, we might think that we've changed, when in fact we haven't. We have to practice introspection. If we find that we still have heavy desires for fame and profit, and heavy greed, anger and infatuation, then we must improve. However, this isn't easy. Without the power from the enlightened Saints, from God, it's not easy to change ourselves.
God truly has great compassion; Hes will give us everything. However, we have to know how to receive it, and we have to wait patiently and believe in God sincerely. And belief alone isn't enough; we also need to communicate with God. Only when we are in communion with God will we understand what good situations Hes has arranged for us, in what aspects Hes has taken care of us, and what beneficial things Hes has bestowed upon us. Otherwise, even if we've prayed sincerely and God has already responded to us, we aren't aware. Sometimes, Hes might have given us some good stuff, but we're ignorant and think that it's not good because it's not what we expected. And then we blame God for not giving us what we've prayed for, which in fact will be bad for us. However, we're ignorant and don't understand, so we think God isn't compassionate and isn't helping us. I'm saying this from personal experience.
Having practiced the Quan Yin Method, anything that we pray for, as long as it's good for us, we'll get sooner or later. It's just a matter of time. Why does it require time? It's because God needs to make arrangements. When a person prays for a certain thing, sometimes it's not purely that thing alone, and also it doesn't concern him alone, but could involve a lot of people. Therefore, when God wants to arrange something for a certain person, sometimes Hes must first take care of many people related to him. Or the time is not yet right. Should God give it to him too early, it could be bad for him. So, God has to first give it to other people, and give it to him later when the time is right and the situation is ideal. Only then is it good for him.
God truly represents love. If we say God isn't good, or think that God has created many difficulties and let the world suffer greatly, then we're doing Hirm a great injustice, and truly misunderstand Hirm. Ever since I've known God, Hes has always been very good to me. Hes is my best friend, the best lover, the best husband, the best father, the best mother, and Hes is everything. However, I can't show you my realization and feelings toward God, and the so-called kinship and love between us. Nevertheless, I know very clearly that Hes is the greatest love power, and the greatest rich man. There's nothing that's beneficial to me and other sentient beings that Hes wouldn't do.
Perhaps someone may ask, if God is the greatest love power, why are there still suffering, difficulties and catastrophes in our world? It's because we don't know how to accept God's grace or communicate with Hirm. We walk in the wrong direction and ask for the wrong thing. I can guarantee that if everyone practiced the Quan Yin Method, the world would have been in peace long ago. It would be just like our group, very peaceful. Even when thousands or tens of thousands of people get together, we're still quiet. Each of us is doing our own thing, and everyone is very happy and contented; every face is glowing. All of us fulfil our obligations in society. When we play, we play wholeheartedly and joyously. When we work, we also work wholeheartedly and happily.
Most of our fellow practitioners work very fast. Whatever they pray for will definitely be realized. As long as they pray for the right thing, God will definitely give it to them. The same applies to me. But because I seldom pray for anything, I have very little to share with you. However, as for my disciples, almost each of them can write a thick book about their experiences after they practiced the Quan Yin Method and purified themselves throughout their actions, speech and thoughts. Such experiences include how well God treats them and pampers them, how God bestows much grace on them, and so on. On my part, I can only talk about how God helps me in my preaching mission, takes care of my disciples, and helps me bring joy and happiness to many people. Furthermore, Hes also helps me a lot with respect to finances, wisdom and organization. If there were no God, I would be a useless person, and my achievements would be "zero."
The Way to Accept God's Grace
Therefore, I would like to introduce to you this gentleman called "God." Or you may address Hirm as "God Nature" or "Godhead." Hes is a very nice gentleman, a very nice rich man. If we truly know how to reach Hirm within and ask for Hiers help, Hes will help us in every aspect. Hes will try all kinds of methods to help us, through many people and various situations. Most people only look for God from the outside, so they have not found the real God. Therefore, their prayers aren't answered. All the teachings and stories that I tell you are the personal experiences of me and my disciples. I don't get them by reading books or the scriptures. I have already experienced the greatness of God; I have found out where Hes is; I can see Hirm every day. Therefore, I can guarantee that all these things are genuine.
I used to be a Catholic, and had heard of the existence of a God. However, at that time I didn't admire Hirm because I virtually did not know where Hes had taken care of me. The world that I saw at that time was full of pain and injustice, which made me feel very resentful. I wondered why God didn't take care of Hiers children, but let them suffer so much instead. Now I understand, but I can't tell you all that I have comprehended, because language can't possibly express God's love. I can only tell you frankly, clearly and definitely that God is absolute love and absolute generosity! Only if we know how to find Hirm and communicate with Hirm, will we have everything. Hes will help us in every way. This is absolutely true!
Suppose, if by standing on one leg or kneeling here all night worshipping God, I could let you realize how I adore God, I would do it. Sometimes I really don't know how to express my gratitude and joy; I don't know whom to talk with. Our fellow practitioners can understand, but it also depends on their level. The more advanced fellow practitioners are more able to realize God's love, because they've received God's infinite blessing. The more they meditate and purify their actions, speech and thoughts and keep a vegetarian diet, and the more strictly they observe the precepts, the more they will be able to perceive God's love.
It's not because we're vegetarians, or because we meditate or think of God that Hes takes care of us. This looks as if we're bribing God or doing business with Hirm. This isn't the case! It's because only after we've become vegetarians, observed the precepts and purified our actions, speech and thoughts, will we be able to realize how God has been taking care of us. Previously, we were hoodwinked by all kinds of distracting thoughts. God takes care of us and tells us what to do, but we don't listen. We head in the opposite direction, toward troubles and complexities. God has been giving us things, but we discard them or let them drain away. When a cup is placed upright, it can hold water inside. But if it's turned upside down, all the water inside will drain away. Or suppose we were wearing a raincoat, even if we walked outside in the rain for a whole day, we wouldn't get wet.
God's love exists forever. It's always by our side, within and without us; it's everywhere. However, we cover ourselves up with our preconceived ideas and habits acquired from many lifetimes, and then we say God's unfair and Hes never blesses us. The truth is that we've failed to place the cup upwards. In practicing the Quan Yin Method, it's as simple as turning an upside-down cup back in the right position! Therefore, from that day onward, we're always filled with nectar, filled with God's grace. The method is very simple really, if we only know how to do it.
Those who practice the Quan Yin Method never know what "fatigue" means, except when they're burdened by the karma of sentient beings. We work a lot but spend very little, because we don't eat much and don't sleep much. Every day, we only eat vegetarian food, observe the five precepts and live a simple life. This afternoon, a disciple said to me, "Master, if everyone in our world practices the Quan Yin Method, there will definitely be no war or famine. We'll work very quickly; we'll help and trust each other. The world will surely become Heaven!" I agree with him.
Although Quan Yin Method practitioners will get whatever they pray for, we actually seldom pray for anything except in an emergency. We have fewer and fewer desires. We work to earn enough money to spend, and vegetarian food is cheap. Furthermore, in observing the five precepts, we don't steal or drink alcohol, we don't snatch other people's husband or wife, and we don't abuse drugs. We consume less food than before, our life is simple, and naturally our expenditures shrink. Therefore, we don't have any financial problems. After finishing our work for the day, we meditate whenever we have time, so we don't fool around indulging in pleasures or doing bad things. Going home after work, we meditate or join group meditation. Every day we listen to Master's teachings. We virtually have neither the time nor the intention to do any bad things at all.
However, this is only my dream. Whether it will come true or not still depends on God's will. If the whole world or at least half the population practices the Quan Yin Method, it can really help the world a lot. Then we can offer support to some outstanding scientists and doctors. Some of them have invented very good tools that can cure people; some tools can even cure all illnesses. However, due to lack of financial support, these tools haven't been developed. Some scientists have invented very good machines capable of benefitting lots of people in a short time, but they lack support. Conversely, some people are jealous and sabotage their projects, so as to deter their development.
If all people practice the Quan Yin Method and are mutually supportive, contributing to society selflessly, and serving God and humankind wholeheartedly, then everyone will be able to develop his/her talents. The scientists will then invent all kinds of machines to benefit people. The doctors will also come up with many prescriptions and tools to heal all illnesses. In this way, our world will not only be spiritually elevated, but also have many advanced means to cure diseases and make our life comfortable. At that time, we won't want to go into nirvana at all. This may only be my dream, but it can come true. If I have your blessing, the blessing of all of you, it will definitely be realized!
Q: Must a person be fated to achieve enlightenment?
M: Fate is in our hands. If we go around all our lives thinking, "I am fated to do that, this and all that," we'll never do anything. We always have to do our best, do what we want to do, and then see what fate has in store for us. Then we will know. Otherwise, how do we know?
How do we take care of bugs and insects in order to keep our houses clean and hygienic? Master recommends the following practical tip, which is also good for our environment. Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Fresno Convention Center, California, USA, June 23, 2001 (Originally in English)
You should just clean your house thoroughly with water and vinegar, 50/50. This disinfects and deodorizes everything, and neutralizes all the odors that attract insects. Clean whatever is infested once and for all, put it in the sun, shake it out and clean it every day or as often as possible with 50 % vinegar and 50% water. You should use more vinegar, if possible, if you can bear its smell. And you have to spray your window frames and door frames with an insect repellent, a harmless one, outside your house. Then the insects won't come in later. Otherwise, they will keep coming all the time. You should spray them once a week or every once in a while, and then they won't come in. And you must keep yourself washed and clean and hygienic. Then they won't have the grounds to breed in your house.
Q: My question is: I know I struggle to do the right thing and to do my practice. And I know I'm struggling against something that is struggling against me. So, how do I get beyond this struggle? How do I win?
M: That's where the fun is. (Master and everyone laugh) If something is too easy, you lose the challenge and you don't want to even win it. Therefore, we have two powers inside of us: we call them yin and yang in Chinese, and we call them negative and positive in western terminology. The negative power pushes us to do something that is against our will, and the positive power helps us to conquer that tendency. Sometimes we lose; sometimes we win. It depends on our spiritual discipline and power.
So try to struggle and continue, just like the United Nations struggles with the refugees' issues and the wars in the world. Sometimes you win in the end; it just takes some struggling.
Q: Is meditation necessary before initiation? How will initiation help me in my everyday life?
M: Meditation and experience about meditational practice are not required. If you have it, it's okay. If you don't have it, it's okay. You might have to start all over again because you didn't meditate in the right way anyhow. We start to help you from A, B, C.
And after your initiation, you will see miracles every day. It helps you in all aspects in your life. Whether you work better or you take better care of your family, you're more loving toward your family members, more loving toward yourself, more self-confident, everything, one thousand and millions of things. I cannot tell you all. You have to experience it. It helps you; otherwise, what is the good of meditation and suffering every day waiting for Heaven? We have to bring Heaven to Earth by meditational practice. We enjoy some part of Heaven here, and then when we quit this Earth, we will enjoy even more.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Initiation is meant to remind you of your greatest inheritance, and then you can make use of your Treasure every day instead of relying on any Master at all, whether dead or alive. That is the purpose of our method of practice, and there is no other purpose besides that.
Q: Why is it that just after initiation, the inner experiences of people practicing the Convenient Method become worse?
A: Those who practice the Convenient Method have already been endowed with Master's love and blessing and have already had inner experiences of God's Light and Sound. Therefore, these inner experiences may not seem unusual at the time of initiation. It is analogous to one who eats gourmet cuisine daily. He would certainly not be surprised or astonished if he is treated to the same sumptuous meals by friends.
Even though I teach you things about cosmetic skills and virtues to remind you that you should do your best to maintain yourself and express your esthetic aspects, this cannot guarantee that your marriage will definitely be happy and satisfactory. It is because karma may sometimes create situations that are different from our expectations. Therefore, if we have already done our best, yet our marriage is still unsuccessful, we should thank God for liberating us. There is nothing to complain about.
If we have not fulfilled our obligations in a marriage, in a case when it has failed, we will feel uneasy at heart. We will think that perhaps it is our fault, perhaps we have not done well enough, our cooking was lousy, or we didn't beautify ourselves to please the eyes of our husband. That is why we ought to do everything as well as possible. However, that doesn't mean that after we have done everything well, our husband definitely will not leave us. No one can guarantee this kind of thing.
In the same sense, if a husband is all-perfect and also very gentle, it doesn't mean that his wife definitely will not leave him. The causation and karmic hindrance in this world are really hard to determine. Therefore, doing our best to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations lets us have peace of mind. In case something really happens, our conscience will not feel uneasy. We can face our conscience candidly, because we know that we have fulfilled our duties, and have done everything that we should do well.
Therefore, it doesn't mean that after I have taught you cosmetic skills and virtues, your marriage is guaranteed to be a satisfying one. No one can guarantee this kind of thing. Most of the things in this world are ephemeral. Therefore, in doing anything, we just do our best to fulfill our obligations, just like when protecting our marriage. Then, whatever happens, we know that it is arranged by God, by destiny. We no longer need to expect anything, blame anyone, feel uneasy or sad, or be attached to anything. Besides, when we have done everything well, even if our marriage has failed, we will still have become a contented person. This is the most important thing.
There are only two choices, the positive and the negative. If the positive doesn't act, then the negative will come. If we don't use our positive thinking and power, then there's only one other choice. When the time comes, we will use the negative because the chance has passed. Then, the more we use the negative, the more we get used to it, and we will never do anything else except keep using it again, again and again. We will never get out of it. That's what we call the "wheel of transmigration", because we keep running inside that circle again, again, and again.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai New Jersey Center, U.S.A., June 24, 1992 (Originally in English)
We also have a destroying nature inside us. Depending on each person, the destructive tendency is higher or lower. But try to control it, otherwise, you will carry on the whole time with your destructive spirit, and that's very negative. We have both negative and positive inside, but we only use the negative when necessary. It's not that I'm saying we can't use it, because, a negative power, when you use it in the right place, is very good.
Just like the children at home, you're always positive with them, encouraging them, loving them, and telling them all good things. But when they're too naughty, when they try to be stubborn, are not obedient enough, and do wrong things - harm other people or the neighbors, then you have to use a so-called negative attitude; but actually in that case, it's positive.
You have to scold them, or maybe punish them lightly, like they have to kneel, stay at home when you go out, or you cut down on some of their enjoyments, pocket money, or whatever. These look negative because parents are always supposed to be loving, forgiving, smooth and soft-spoken. So, why punish the children? But they deserve it; they have to be punished, otherwise, they can't turn to the positive.
That's when the negative power is for a useful purpose. Don't always say that the negative can't be used or the positive has to be used all the time. If you use positive power or a positive attitude in the wrong way, it becomes negative. For example, your child is very naughty - you have given him everything already, but he goes out to steal just for fun or because he associates with bad guys; or he gets on drugs, and goes out and breaks into people's cars, and you tell him, but he doesn't change. If you still keep rewarding him, loving him, forgiving him, then you are negative. Then your attitude is negative. You're spoiling him, you're harming him, you're harming his future, because one day the police or the neighbors will catch him, or another stronger guy will hit him, break his bones, break everything of his future, and your heart as well. In that case, your positive attitude is absolutely negative.
So, we have to understand this Yin-Yang nature, and make use of both accordingly - not dislike one and cling to the other, but know how to use them. That's the art of living; that is wisdom. Otherwise, how else can we survive in this world with ourselves and our loved ones? There has to be some limit. It's the same with me; so don't always expect me to give you candy and smile all the time. I have to do some of my negative work, and turn it into positive, turn these negative people into positive. Otherwise, you'll never grow up.
Q: How does one understand the karma of a couple?
M: If the couple is in harmony, then they have a good karma. If the couple is in strife every day, then you know what kind of karma that is. It is easy to understand, no? If it's in harmony, then be happy. If it's not in harmony, then try to adjust and be tolerant to avoid next time coming back again as a very undesirable karmic couple.
Tolstoy had a very terrible wife. You know Leo Tolstoy of "War and Peace"? He had a terrible wife, so it is told. Every day she nagged, cursed, scolded, and even beat him and threw him out sometimes. One day, his friend couldn't bear it any longer, so he asked Tolstoy, "Why don't you kick that devil out of your house and then you'll have peace?" Tolstoy said, "Shhhhh! Don't talk so loud. Last life, I did that already. Therefore, it got worse this time. I don't dare to do it."
The more you struggle, the worse the situation becomes. So just accept anything as given by God, try to get through it, and train yourself in patience, tolerance, and loving thy enemy. Even as wise a man as Tolstoy couldn't deal with his terrible wife, so we ordinary beings had better keep silent. Silence!
Some people are not content with seeing my transformation body, so they still come to see me. I don't know why they act like this. Perhaps it is because the physical body is very rare; every enlightened being has a manifestation body.
It is easy to see the manifestation body, but more difficult to see the real body, which only exists when an enlightened Master is living in this world. After the Master passes away, only the manifestation body is left. Of course, it is more desirable to see both the transformation body and the real one.
Ordinary enlightened beings have only manifestation bodies, but not real physical bodies, so they cannot help sentient beings. Likewise, Shakyamuni Buddha still has His manifestation body, but He cannot initiate us or give us any help. Perhaps He can guide us to a living Master, who has a physical body, to get initiated.
Everyone loves the real body because it is rare! There are too many manifestation bodies. The universe is full of manifestation bodies of enlightened beings, who are omnipresent. Physical bodies are rare - there are only a few. Only when enlightened beings come, can sentient beings see their real physical bodies.
The first precept that we have to observe in spiritual practice is "ahimsa," meaning "non-violence." This story discusses the ahimsa ideal.
One day, a poor man was walking through a mango grove, where he saw many mangoes on the trees that looked extremely luscious and tempting. He was very hungry because he had not eaten for three days. So he quickly picked up a stone and threw it at one of the trees. A few huge mangoes fell on the ground and the man was very happy. He then picked up the mangoes and had a hearty meal.
It just so happened that the king was playing chess with his beautiful consorts in the mango grove at the time, and the stone that struck the tree had felled the fruit and then landed on the king's head. Fortunately, the king's hat protected his scalp, but the stone knocked it off, and thus the poorest man met the richest man in the kingdom. The king, feeling very lucky about his close call, showed no interest in investigating the cause. However, the consorts and ministers by his side were very angry, and they hunted for the offender who had thrown the stone. They could not figure out why someone would dare to throw a stone at the king. On the other hand, they were also eager to earn some credit for their work. They soon arrested the poor man, held court hearings on the spot, and condemned him to death for assaulting the king.
Then the king rose from his seat and questioned the ministers about why they had condemned the man to death. He then ordered the stone thrower to be brought before him and asked, "Why did you throw the stone?" "To get mangoes from the tree," replied the man. "Did you get any?" "Yes, your majesty." "Have you eaten the mangoes?" "Yes, your majesty."
The king next turned to his ministers and said, "The poor man was hungry, and he struck the tree with this stone. He got some mangoes and ate them. Now tell me, how long will he be free from hunger after eating those mangoes?" "About twenty-four hours, your majesty. He won't be hungry for a whole day." "That's right. Now I will pronounce my judgment." The entire crowd waited anxiously, thinking, "Could there be anything worse than the death sentence? We have already condemned the man to death. How else does the king want him to be punished?"
Then the king announced, "I command that from this day on until the end of his life on earth, this poor man shall receive from us enough food to feed himself. Convey my order at once to the minister of economics." Everyone was amazed and confused. What kind of punishment was this? They had never heard of such a judgment. The queen thought that it was because she had served the king well, and thus put him in a good mood. She smiled, thinking that it was her merit.
"My dear!" said the king to the queen, "Tell me, is the mango tree a sentient or an insentient object?" "An insentient object, my lord," answered the queen. "And how about me?" asked the king. And the queen replied, "What a question to ask, great one. Humans, the highest of creatures, are sentient beings, and you are a jewel among humans, saintly, great, virtuous and wise."
The king continued, "Then, my beloved, since I am a sentient being, how am I worthy of my human status if I fail to prove that I am better than that tree? What good is there for God to give me this human status?" The queen said, "You are, my lord, worthier than all other men for the human status that God has given you. But why do you say this? What do you mean?"
"Look! That poor man struck the tree with a stone, and the tree gave him luscious fruit to eat, which fulfilled his hunger for a day. That stone also hit me. Since I am the lord of all sentient beings and the gem among humans, should I not prove myself worthier than the tree? (Master and everyone laugh; applause.) That's why I have ordered that his food be provided for the rest of his life."
Immediately, the queen, consorts, ministers, subordinates and servants all fell at the king's feet, prostrating to him. They glorified him, proclaiming, "Oh! Your majesty! You are truly a saintly king so rare. Who but God Hirmself could manifest such compassion and magnanimity? God is inside you. Your merit, blessing and love are comparable to Lord Buddha and Lord Jesus, and the great saints and sages of all times. Only rulers like you can inspire people to cultivate their compassion and inner cosmic love. Inspired by your glorious example, people will love and serve each other. They will purify their bodies, speech and mind, and change their bodies and souls to become cultivated people. Please bless us, so that we may be your worthy servants and followers forever."
This is a very good story. This is how we ought to behave. Sometimes, we may not be any better than a tree. When you punch a tree or shake it, it drops down fruit to feed you. But when you shake or punch a person, he might kill you for it. (Laughter) Some people are really no better than trees!
Q: I heard you say on a videotape that when we look at someone's wisdom eye, it helps them also. It makes me feel really good to do that, and I hope to remember to do it. What I'd like to understand better is how it helps the other person.
M: Well, it's when you yourself know what you're doing. If you're already thinking of the wisdom eye, that means you yourself are reminded of the spiritual center of wisdom and enlightenment. And, if you yourself remember that, of course your atmosphere will be spiritual. So that person will of course benefit from you. It's just like standing next to a fountain: Even though you don't jump directly into it, some water will sprinkle on your face and make you feel cool. Similarly, if you stand next to a person who's spraying perfume, even though you don't spray it on yourself, you will still have some scent on you. So you're important. Whatever you are is what the other person will receive. That's why, whenever we remember anything about the spiritual center, about our true Self, the person next to us will benefit. That's how it works.
Q: With our various religions as they are today, why do You believe we've had such a history of so many different religions? What has man through the ages been seeking through religion and philosophy? What is that need that we're seeking to satisfy, or that fear?
M: Yes, fear is one of the reasons. Another reason is that inwardly, we are the essence of the Most High. You know we came from God, otherwise where did we come from? You think we came from plants, from the walls or stones? So, we must have come from God, the Most High, the Most Intelligent, the Highest Consciousness. That inner, inherent, latent consciousness always keeps seeking itself despite all the coverage, like dust, position, wealth, fame and all this worldly knowledge that keeps occupying our attention outwards. The Highest Consciousness inside always keeps seeking, not really seeking, keeps telling you, that you are not that; you are not the Ph.D. and you're not this garbage that you accumulated; you are not Mr. So-and-So or Mrs. That-and-This; you are consciousness; you are God-like. Before you came to this world and got a Ph.D., became Mr. and Mrs., and had all kinds of knowledge and habits that you call yourself, you knew that other Self. The Real Self is God-like and belongs to the kingdom of God. We're called God's children; it means we are God-like. The God qualities always keep reminding us that we are not this, that and the other.
Q: Are we supposed to believe then that we are part of that universal and divine God energy and intelligence?
M: Not supposed to believe; you just are. Now look at what you identify yourself with: Mrs. So-and-So, and I have so much knowledge, I have so much wealth, and I have such and such habits. All these are not you. You are the one behind all this and all that is covering us. Therefore, we make ourselves suffer because we identify ourselves with our mistakes, our successes, our failures, our this, that and other circumstances that affect us. We forget the real Super Consciousness, the Supreme Inner Self, the Supreme Spirit, which is God, which dwells within us. That's what the Bible says: "God dwells within you." That means you are God - apart from the body; there is God inside and nothing else.
Q: Are we closer to our true Selves when we are children? You were wonderful with the girls up here a while back. Are we more God-like as children because we've learned less or is it when we get older that we take on all those trappings and become too physical and materialistic?
M: You're right. When we were born, at least we were cleansed already, partially, from the residue of the last life or whatever existence we had, so when we were born, we were nearer to God. We just came directly from the "resting place," more peaceful and abundant. That's why children are more innocent and forgive easily. They have no worries, nothing, but the more we grow up, the more we accumulate all these experiences and then we identify ourselves with that. For example: I'm an angry person, I'm an agitated person, and I'm a bad-tempered person. This is not you. It's just that you grew up with all kinds of circumstances that made you like that. Then you think you are like that, that is the "you". It's ridiculous. When you were born you were not like that. It is not true.
Once in a while, we should get together to meditate and recharge ourselves, and then we will be full of light and love. When we go home, we can benefit the society, the country, and our relatives and friends.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Hsihu Center, Formosa, February 18, 1990 (Originally in Chinese)
During group meditation, the power is enormous. Even if our spiritual level is very low, it will be raised to a much higher level after we have joined in group meditation for some time. On the other hand, even if our level is high, not going to group meditation will push us down to a very low level. This is because, in this world, we are reliant on and related to others; no one can accomplish anything alone. It is the same with spiritual practice. It will be wrong for us to think that we can be successful in spiritual cultivation by practicing alone; it only shows our ignorance and low level.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Laguna Beach, CA, U.S.A. November 6, 1993 (Originally in English)
Every Quan Yin practitioner shares the responsibility of cleaning up the planet to some degree or another. Therefore, when we are sitting and meditating together in a group, it's not that we do it for ourselves, for the liberation of five generations of our families, for America, or for our families alone. It's for the whole planet. And the more people who do that, the better.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Melbourne, Australia, March 14, 1993 (Originally in English)
It is very, very important that you come to meditate together because the power is greater; and you sit longer and are more stable when you are in the company of others. That's why Jesus said, When two or more sit together in my name, I am with them.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai European International 4-day retreat, April 28, 1995 (Originally in Chinese)
When we want to stay away from the terrifying atmosphere of the world, we need to concentrate within. That's why we have to meditate every day to cleanse the contamination. When we join the group meditation, we are together as one, thinking only about the good, positive, pure, and wonderful Power, so we will feel very comfortable. When you come to the Center, don't bear negative thoughts. Don't bring your garbage here; don't bring your trouble or anything troublesome here. You will contaminate your fellow initiates if you do.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Japan, March 12, 1992 (Originally in Chinese)
The merit derived from group meditation is many times greater than that of one person meditating at home for days, months or even years, depending on the number of participants in the group meditation. Therefore, the more the participants and the longer we meditate in the group, the more difference it makes to our Spirit. Many people, I can tell just by their looks whether they go to group meditation or not. Fellow practitioners are aware of this, too. There are obvious disparities. If you attend group meditation often, don't attend for a period of time, and then attend group meditation again afterwards, you will feel different - that you are not so pure.
We gain more blessings for our country when more people attend group meditation. There is no need to wonder: "How can our nation derive blessings just because a few of us are meditating together?" It is true! Just like when several people are living in a big house, it is enough if one of them is rich and willing to contribute. He will repair any of the leaking areas in the house and thus benefit the whole family, even if dozens of people stay in that house. This would benefit himself, and all the residents would feel secure. Such is the case with one family. In the same way, definitely other people would benefit from the spiritual practice of just the few of us.
Just one light by the roadside is useful to so many people, thousands and thousands of passersby. The lamp loses nothing, but becomes even more functional when more people are using it. Therefore, although many people in our world might not be practicing spiritually, it is sufficient if we do. Otherwise, it would be even worse if no one were practicing at all. Just like when the entire village has no light, there would be total darkness. If we could have one or two lights, it's better than none! The highway is very dark, yet we could see a long distance if there were several lights. So, practice more diligently, benefiting yourselves and everyone. This is what the Master loves most.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Paris, France, August 15, 1995 (Originally in English)
I tell you to go to group meditation because here you have the truest friends. Then, if you have problems, or maybe sometimes you make mistakes, because of many friends, they can talk to you; they love and encourage you. You will come back again to the correct direction. Having group meditation is just like having an unconditional good friend or a good beloved. We all grow together; we share together some problems and happiness. This is very good for the human psyche, not even talking about spiritual practice.
So you see why we have to practice now, or why we must go to group meditation; it is because we are weak. Sometimes we go alone and if someone tempts us, we will fall. But if we go as two, three or four persons together, and if we want to be tempted, our friends will say, "No, no! It's no good for you. Come back!" That's why we must have friends to practice together.
In this life everything is like that, even with politics. If a man wants to be president, he must collect a lot of followers who have the same ideal as he has and who support him. Everyone knows that. Otherwise, do you think one person alone could create a particular movement or change the whole country? There must be a lot of people to support. So, when we blame one person, we have to think more. It is a shared ideal; it is a responsibility of a lot of people, not only one or two men.
It's the same with every ideal, the same with every goal we reach for. We must have supporting friends to go the same way so that when we fall, when we are weak, our friends will help or carry us. So, we must have friends. That's why we must have group fellow practitioners to encourage each other, because this is like a big family. When you come in and meditate together, you also share the spiritual energy, not only the mundane problems; and then everyone is just connected together. The stronger ones help the weaker ones, and then we have less weaknesses. We can come together at the same level. Everyone is happy. You are cleansed, and you become happier and happier; and you feel lighter and lighter every day. '
Q: Do good and bad come from our hearts?
M: The good comes from the positive side of our nature; the bad comes from the negative side. Mostly, when we come here we borrow the negative side from environmental effects, influences, and the habits that we've learned from the people we are with, the company we are in. Just like you are not born a smoker or an alcoholic, you learn it from society. Once smoking becomes habitual, whenever you see a cigarette, you want it. And when you don't see a cigarette, it's still in your mind; you want to have one, or you want to have one more glass of alcoholic liquid. It is because you get into this habit; you are not born with it.
For example, you see your neighbor hitting someone else when he is angry and that person hits back. Then you keep seeing these images of your neighbor in your mind all the time, or something like that. The next time a person makes you angry or hits you, you will hit him back because you have learned that; you have practiced that in your mind, or you have learned it together with the people who taught you to hit other people when they do not please you.
That's why even in twins with the same DNA that are supposedly a split personality of the same person, the same construction, who have the same day and same minute of birth, or only one, a few seconds, or a minute apart, one person grows up to become a star of a political or other field, or a movie star, and the other grows up to become possibly a murderer, a thief or a violent person. It is because each was exposed to different environments.
In learning this, we can easily forgive the person; otherwise, we will think he is very bad. Actually, no one is so bad. He is just born with the tendency to learn, and he learns things quickly - the good as well as the bad. If he learns the good, he becomes good; if he learns the bad, he tends to become bad unless he has a strong will to resist it, and this is rare.
So, bad things do not come from the heart, but from the habits. Good things come from your heart because you are born with them. You are born with heavenly qualities, you are endowed with heavenly tools to come down, and then, coming down here you drop into this school with all kinds of things to learn and to react to. If you happen not to be strong enough and give in, then you will drown.
That's why I tell you that in heaven they don't look at sins and virtues the way we do. They are very tolerant, forgiving, and loving, but still you, yourself, have to check up, and you will probably feel bad yourself. That is the final day of judgment.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
By strong will, good habits, association with good people, you quit a lot of bad habits.
Our bodies are created life after life from desires. Strong desires repeat themselves again and again, forming certain fixed habits that cannot be changed. This is what is called "being tied down to karma". Karmas are the habits cultivated through many lifetimes. Regardless of whether they are good or bad, they tie people down.
Meat is the cause of all wars and suffering in this world, as well as that of your personal self. To refrain from eating meat is to contribute to peace on this planet because in this way we terminate the cause of killing. Therefore, we will not reap the results of being killed or being wounded.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Panama, November 29, 1989 (Originally in English)
Nowadays there are certain happenings, such as changes in the weather, famine and all kinds of diseases inflicted upon our world. Some people with little faith blame God again. Everywhere I lecture, people ask me, "If there is a God, why do such and such disasters happen?" But these people should remember that it's not God who does all these things. It is we who have made all these troubles. For example, a few nations test atom and hydrogen bombs, which disturbs the structure of the atmosphere, shaking the stability of the Earth. They think they can just shoot missiles into the air and it will create no problems, or do it in the ocean and it will make no problems. These practices still make problems, because the universe is constructed with many kinds of materials, some with solid substances and some with invisible substances. So, by disturbing the invisible substances, they also disturb the stability of the universe and interfere with the natural evolution of nature.
Meditation is a kind of education, a kind of learning process. It's just like when you go to college, you ask your professor or teacher something, and then you must sit quietly and listen to his/her instruction and wisdom. If the student just goes to college and asks the professor something, and then walks out immediately and does something else, will he ever be wise? So even though the professor is in front of him, he gets nothing, because he doesn't give him/her a chance to speak.
Meditation is like any other science in our lives. We must learn. We must be willing to accept the wisdom that will be given to us. And like any other science and study, we learn by listening and by practicing. When we sit quietly in silence, there will be a lot of information, blessing, love, and energies pouring into our being. We will feel differently after meditation. And the longer the period and the longer we meditate, the wiser, the more peaceful we become. This is how the world will become peaceful.
Spiritual Practice and Physical Matter
Sometimes we think that our lives would be very uncomfortable if we lacked physical things. But then, we could still preserve our lives and keep our hearts incorruptible. Sometimes too much money can be harmful to our lives and cause our morality to waver. If we lose this body, it won't matter. However, if we lose our longing for the Truth because of money, it will be very difficult to get it back again.
That's why Shakyamuni Buddha said that the path of the renunciate is broader, simpler and purer; while the path of the layman is narrower and more difficult to walk on. This is because the layman inevitably develops relationships with other people, and they pollute or fight with each other over fame and riches. Mundane possessions and relationships are not necessarily bad. It depends on how we use them. Having a husband, a wife or possessions may not be bad. Sometimes we don't know how to manage them; then they aren't good. Once we attain a certain level in our spiritual practice, we lose interest in the money, fame, possessions, love, desires and passions of the world. However, this doesn't mean that we've turned into a piece of wood, but that we've transcended all these things.
For example, when a child starts to learn the ABCs, he makes progress and the rate of his progress is very obvious. After he goes beyond the ABC level, he's able to recognize words. He studies every day, but doesn't feel that he's making any progress. By then, there's no need to test his ABCs, for he's already above that. It's not that he doesn't recognize words or isn't making any progress; it's just that he's at a different level.
Why are worldly possessions and passionate relationships not beneficial to spiritual cultivation? In reality, these things aren't bad. But if one becomes lost in the mundane passions and loves worldly people more than God, then of course, his level is not high because he's weighted down inside this world. For example, if one side of the scale is heavier, naturally it sinks lower than the other side. If the weights on both sides are equal, then there is balance. Hence, this doesn't mean that we can't practice spirituality if we still have mundane possessions or passionate relationships. The main point is the attitude of our mind toward these things.
If we're troubled or overly concerned about someone or obsessed with certain feelings day in and day out, then we should realize we're not yet free of the net of passion in the astral realm. Or if we're saddened by the loss of some possessions, then we're still inside the astral realm. If certain losses occur that may create difficulties and hindrances for the family, then of course it doesn't matter if we worry a little. But if the loss is not going to have too big an effect on the family, and we still feel very attached to these possessions and worry too much, then we should realize our level is still not very high.
We measure our level not only by sitting and seeing the Light and listening to the Sound. In spiritual practice, we should be careful every hour of the day. It's not only the two and a half-hour meditation period that counts as practice. We have to be on constant vigilance, knowing when our level is falling or rising. We should watch our own responses when people scold us, and see if we feel that our ego or self-respect is hurt. Or when people take our things or damage our property, see if we react strongly. This way we'll know if our ego has arisen at that moment.
Of course, we have to protect our property, feelings and families. However, protection is different from excessive craving and attachment. Every one of us has the right to protect our own emotions, family and possessions. However, if we feel very miserable and painful about these things and are unable to let go, then we must hurry to do more meditation.
What we call renunciates are those who can completely renounce those things that worldly people regard as very important and greatly needed, and cling tightly to. They have no difficulty leaving these things. Neither do they cry bitterly when they leave them behind. They clearly understand and truly want to let go. Of course, they may feel a little sad about parting with certain souvenirs or friends and relatives. However, it doesn't mean that they don't want to leave or are still attached to them.
The Importance of Quan Yin
For those of us who are practicing the Quan Yin Method, Quan Yin (contemplation on the Sound) for at least one hour each day is essential in order to erase the effects of the world on us, and for our spirit to attain genuine bliss. Of course, even if you only practice a little bit, you can still get a joyful feeling, but you won't feel completely happy.
Of course, it may be difficult to do Quan Yin for one whole hour, but you still have to try your best. Sometimes the situation improves after practicing for twenty minutes. The body becomes more stable and the spirit more inspired. Then the body feels nothing. By this time the initial atmosphere of excitement and instability will be gone. All will be well if only we endure it for a while.
Practicing Within the Truth
There's a book about people who practiced the Quan Yin Method a very long time ago. It says that when we practice, even when we're in touch with the Truth for a very brief period of time, say a couple of hours, or half an hour, or dozens of minutes, we can still manage to cleanse eons of heavy karmic burden.
The book also says that there are many aspects of spiritual practice. We can listen to a lecture by a Master, take a look at Him or join His disciples in group meditation. If one can't see the Master or listen to His lecture personally, one can read His scriptures or listen to His recorded lectures or follow His directions about spiritual practice. All this is considered spiritual cultivation and staying within the Truth. All this can cleanse the heavy karmic load that we've accumulated over eons, and make us relaxed, happy, comfortable and uninterested in quarreling with anyone.
The Benefit of Coming Close to Spiritual Mentors
Sometimes we need someone to remind us of the benefits of spiritual practice in order for us to remember to practice. Otherwise, we come in daily contact with many mundane beings or beings who are not at such a high level, and their non-practicing aura drags our level down a little, so we become like them, busily engaged in worldly and mundane matters and then we forget our most important goal.
That's why it's really useful to be with spiritual mentors and Saints! That means it's useful to be in the company of fellow practitioners and the enlightened Master! It's useful not because we see them or listen to them talk. Sometimes even when we don't hear them speak, the aura of their spirituality serves as reminders and gives us spiritual encouragement. Then we think of spiritual practice naturally. Sometimes just being near them makes us feel very comfortable and gives us the desire to meditate, so that we no longer want to think about mundane matters again.
That's why in India they say to see your Master every day if possible; if not daily, then at least every two to three days. If that's not possible, then see your Master at least once a week; and if that's not possible, then at least once every two weeks; if not, then monthly. If that too isn't possible, then see Him once every few months; if not, then once a year. If that's still not possible, then at least once in a lifetime! If even this isn't possible, then you'll see the Master at the time of your death. At that time He'll surely come to take you. Therefore, in the end you'll still see Him. However, we must have affinity with the Master for Him to come.
That's why the saying goes, "It's not easy to meet Shakyamuni Buddha." We don't necessarily see a Master even if we live with Him in the same world, or hear His words if we live with Him in the same era. If we're the same age as the Master, or live in the same country or same village, it doesn't necessarily mean we can receive His blessings because sometimes we lock ourselves up. Our heart is very important! That's why some people, like many fellow practitioners in China and Au Lac who can't see the Master, have never seen the physical Master, can see the Master's Inner Light manifestation form. It's because their hearts are with the Master. This is also considered spiritual cultivation. The heart is very important!
Heart-to-Heart with the Master
If we're good at heart, then it's simple for us to be one with all and in contact with the Saints. If our hearts are segregated, it's like we've built a wall around ourselves. The Saint didn't build the wall. We built it and set up the obstruction ourselves. We're not necessarily with a Saint even if we come close to Him. Our hearts have to come close. In this way even if we're thousands of miles away from Him, we don't seem to be separated spatially. If we're near a Saint but our hearts aren't with Him, it's the same as being separated by distance.
Once during Shakyamuni Buddha's lifetime, a disciple found a huge ant in the Jetavanna Grove. Buddha told the people that seven Buddhas had come and gone and given discourses in this place, but this ant was still there as an ant. It had no way to transcend the level of an ant. This is like the story we heard today about Sariputra previously being a venomous snake. (For the details of the story, please refer to the same videotape.) This is the first time that we've heard about this. We used to think that he had high ethical standards in his past lives, which was why he could become one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha. Never did it occur to us that he was formerly a venomous snake. As a snake, he had made good affinity with Shakyamuni, who saved him after attaining Buddhahood. Why was he a snake for so long, for thousands and millions of years? According to the scriptures, it was because his heart had not opened up and therefore he remained a snake for hundreds and tens of thousands of years. Once our hearts open up, immediately there is no more karmic hindrance.
We come to follow an enlightened Master and learn from Him. This means that we're prepared at heart to disentangle all the evil ideas, attachments and bondages to the world that we've accumulated over many lifetimes. Once these areas have been straightened out, the karmic burden from the past several lifetimes will be erased. Only then will we be able to come close to Saints, and see the Light and hear the Sound of the Real Self, the inner Sound.'
Q: Does everyone have a soul mate? And if so, do you have to find your soul mate before you can be liberated?
M: The so-called soul mate: It could be. Then again, some soul mates are already liberated, so you don't have one to find here. But some soul mates are still around so then you have to wait.
Actually, this is some of the theory: If you have no more longing and no more desire in your heart, then even if your soul mate is in Heaven or hell, it doesn't matter to you. You have to arise and arrive at a level of desirelessness. Then the soul mate is everywhere and nowhere because you are omnipresent. There's no need for a soul mate when you're omnipresent.
The meditation is important, but the theoretical teaching is also important. Make sure, at least, that you read or listen to the teachings of the Master every day. And there is a lot to learn from the past and present Masters. You also should keep some theoretical teaching in your mind, to control the mind. That is for the mind only; the soul does not need that.
So every time you encounter some problem or your bad habit, you should read the teachings of the Master, and that will tame your mind to a great extent. You must read or listen to good teachings and noble dharma every day, not only sit in meditation. Otherwise, you won't know why you sit in meditation. You won't know the purpose, and you won't get good results. Your heart will not long for it. Your mind will not be peaceful enough so that you can enter samadhi and have a real, real, good wisdom afterward.
Suppose you do all these and you meditate every day, but you still think you have a bad habit or you still think you are too attached to this and that. Then it's all right, don't worry. You have tried your best; at least your conscience is tranquil, and you will grow out of these bad habits in time.
Q: Is it possible to live a life completely free of doubt and fear forever, and if so, what does one need to do or not do?
M: Fear and anxiety come only from darkness, from ignorance, from fear of the unknown.
Once we get to know the stable side of our Nature, the real side of our life, our fear and anxiety will disappear. We only fear because we think that after this life, we will have nothing. We only fear because we know only the ephemeral existence of this world. If we know that life is eternal, if we know that we are the greatest beings in the universe, we will have no fear at all. So I invite you to get to know your Self through the means of initiation (into the Quan-Yin Method).
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
We should not fear anything in this world; we need only fear that our minds are not stable and our wisdom is not developed enough, and therefore, we do not understand the true meaning behind those things.
Your faith must be stronger than your fear; that is the lesson. The Master is always stronger than the negative power, so if you are with the Master, you don't fear.
"Fearlessness" means ignoring the extent of our fear, our fearful minds, and cowardly areas, and just doing whatever we need to do.
Do not be afraid of your fearful feelings because the more we're afraid, the stronger will these fearful feelings become. The more we think about something, the more powerful the thing will become. So, let's just think about "love." At all times, we should simply think about "love," the "love power," and always maintain positive thinking, then the Master Power will naturally take care of everything. Gradually, we'll get used to it and then there will be no more obstacles, and all our fears will vanish. We should trust the power of God and strengthen our faith in God's love power daily. Then, we will grow stronger and stronger.
Q: When I meditate, my thoughts wander and I am restless. What should I do?
A: After working all day, it is not easy to calm down right away. Meditate for a while longer. It will help you to calm down. Remember to recite the Holy Names whenever you can. Ignore all the wandering and unwanted thoughts. You may read Master's books, listen to Her tapes and watch Her videotapes before you meditate. You may also play one of Master's tapes softly while meditating, but be sure the sound comes from the front and not from behind you. Any or all of these practices will bring you tremendous blessing. Remember to focus your concentration on the wisdom eye when you meditate.
Q: Should we love our enemies?
M: Well, what else can you do with him? (Laughter) That's a practical question. If you kill him, his wife might kill you, or his daughter or son. It will continue forever. So we'd better love our enemy. It's the best way to kill him! (Laughter) If you love your enemy, he or she becomes your friend. Then the enemy's gone for good. And you have more friends: from his family: his wife, his kids, his relatives and his friends as well. Make one friend and you have many friends. Make one enemy and you make many enemies. So we 'lose business' if we hate the enemy.
Q: Master, how can I remember my past lives so that I can retrieve the knowledge I learned then?
M: It is enough to learn in the present because in our present life, we haven't even learned enough yet. The past life is gone and God has drawn a curtain between the past and present. It's for our own benefit. Therefore, it's not always necessary to retrace the past. If we know too many things about the past without having enough power to handle it, or to improve it concerning the present, then we will be in trouble. That's why people sometimes come into a possessed state of mind. Or knowing too much of the past, they are miserable living in the present.
Suppose you knew that in a past life, you were the sultan of such and such country and now you are driving a taxi, would you like it? Or suppose you knew that last life, you and your wife had some kind of bloodshed with each other. Now, every time you see her, would you be afraid since she killed you in your last life? Could you ever be loving again toward her? It would affect very much your family harmony and your personal relationships, as well as your own happiness. Is that not so? Therefore, we don't need to know the past. We take care of the present, and the future will come beautifully. Meditate on your Inner Self, or choose whatever method you like. But I would only recommend the Quan Yin Method, because I know after all the studies, that it's the best; that it's the highest, the quickest, and the safest. So, we offer that to you in case you want to gain more knowledge in the present and for the future. And the past will take care of itself. The past is gone, the past we can just forget.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
What is the spirit of Zen? It is to enjoy today, to do what is required today. No matter if it is happiness or suffering, it is all today. Don't bother about the past. The past cannot be retrieved; the future is not here yet. But very few people will devote their attention wholeheartedly to the present moment. That's why everyone suffers so much
Pearls of wisdom ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
If and when we feel that our life is not going smoothly, we should understand that we have formed undesirable affinities in the past; therefore, we have to strive hard. If we have good affinities, we should also understand that we have done something good in the past; therefore, we must cherish them. We must strive persistently until our mind is entirely stable, absolutely uncaring about anything and not attached to any situation, and until nothing in this world can bind us. Then, it is truly good.
The past decades, generations, and eras of our Earth's history were mostly very dark. If we had been the Earth's inhabitants, we would have gone through one of the kind of happenings, which is very difficult for us to forget. Should we be able to remember, it would give us tremendous suffering and depression so that we wouldn't want to even know about it! That's why it is a blessing from the Most Intelligent that we don't remember our past lives.
Q: We think we are important now, but we are not, so I suffer from this feeling of self-importance. Actually, I want to know how to overcome this feeling of self-importance.
M: It's good that you know that you have this self-important feeling. Your illness is already half cured. There is a very good way to overcome this pride. Think of the greatness of the universe and all the things in the universe that you have not been able to understand, that you know nothing about the universe, about the law of God, and then you will feel very small.
Whatever worldly knowledge we gain is so small. Whatever important business we have, it is so ephemeral. And then when we die, we have nothing. So you had better get enlightened. The more you are enlightened, the more humble you become because you see that you know so little and that the universe is so great. And then you are more humble and more humble, until you are the most humble person. Then you admit that you know nothing, and then you know everything. That's why Lao Tzu said, The wise are like the dumb. That's why Jesus said, I work, but not I; it is the Father Who works in me. He is so great but He knows He can do nothing without the Father. He knows He can do nothing, and that is why He can do everything.
Q: I sometimes sense the guidance and presence of the ascended Masters. Can they really help humanity from afar?
M: Sure! We're all one. So if you're enlightened, they're affected. Can you imagine if after the Golden Age our planet were all destroyed and not too many people survived. Can you imagine the state of human beings at that time? Everyone was kind of groveling in darkness, and they all affected each other. We do all affect each other. And that's why we became the way we were, and now that we've been practicing and practicing, year after year, our planet's become better. Don't you feel it? Don't you feel we've progressed? (Yes.) Yes.
I'm not saying you should come and practice the Quan Yin Method or have the experience of Heaven. Even if you don't have it, you can feel that our planet now has a different energy. It's different; happier, more open and very relaxed. And human beings are really different from before, even a few decades ago. Our technologies such as science and everything are just blossoming so fast. It's very amazing what we've discovered lately. Can you imagine? e-mail, and the Internet: Wow, this is incredible! There are so many other things you don't know about that they've already developed as well.
Q: When a Quan Yin messenger was here, she taught us a very beautiful thing. She said that we should dedicate all of our bad or good actions to the Master, regardless of the results of those actions, and in that way we can say that there won't be any obstacles. I think I understand a little about what she said, but I want to understand more.
M: It is not that you have to dedicate all your good and bad actions to the Master. You should, as far as you know, do only good things. But in case you are not sure whether these things are really as good as you think, then say, "Please, Master, I've tried my best to understand. I think it is good, but in case it's bad, please forgive me. Please take care of me. Please do something if this is bad; stop it, or help me to understand that it is bad or something." Then, it's okay! Or, you can write a letter or ask in meditation until you receive the sure answer. If it's an emergency and you cannot do that, and you don't receive the inner message because you're too crowded or cannot wait for the answer, then pray, "If it's bad, please forgive me. I don't intentionally do bad things, but my understanding was like that. I thought it was good, so I did my best."
That's probably what she meant. So sometimes, expression in language doesn't give full wing to the bird of our intentions. And probably, the other meaning would be that whatever we do, whether the work is pleasant or disgusting to us, we have to do it with the best intentions and in the name of Master. Whether the work yields fruit or is unfruitful, we should just dedicate it to the Master and be happy. That's all! But not to intentionally do bad things and say, "I dedicate it to the Master."
I think all the presidents or leaders of the world should try more to remind people of the spiritual aspects, instead of just material aspects because it lasts longer. It's actually beautiful to remind people about spiritual practice because that's all we have. That's the only lasting thing we have. That's the only thing that helps us to have peace in the world and among nations. If all nations become more enlightened, we'll be more peaceful toward each other.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Hsihu, Formosa, October 26, 1991 (originally in Chinese)
Sometimes, when we have done good deeds, we feel good about having done the right thing. At that time, we are close to the nature of God and the Saints, our love develops, and we feel happy. Then paradise is there, not at our death when we grow a pair of wings and fly about at random! (Audience laughs.)
Q: We do hear so much about child abuse in terms of us as a society abusing our children sexually or physically with violence and also emotionally. We basically touched on children, and how innocent and free they are, but what would You have to say about abusing children, mistreating them, and not giving them the environment to develop into their highest selves?
M: Well, fortunately, there are not many. Sometimes we read it frequently in newspapers or hear it on the news, but even as frequely as it is, they are just individual cases repeated, so it looks a lot. But actually our society is still okay, still clean. You can't help if some people have mental disturbances and they don't know it. If they knew it, they would go to psychiatrists or treat themselves. These, we can just look upon as disasters, accidents - the individuals' lives which they cannot grow out of, cannot help themselves, or the time has not come for them to realize their mistake. Besides, when we talk a little bit deeper, then there are many things that contribute to these crimes, as well as many other disasters. There is a root cause for all this retribution. So, no one is truly as innocent as we think, except God is innocent, except our soul is absolutely innocent. But we collect so much "not-innocent" information with which we live, through which we grow, and with which we die. We bring it back again, again and again until we are fed up with it, until we learn to grow out of it. That's the negative side of life. Fortunately we don't have that many, I think.
Q: And is that the purpose of reincarnation, to return and conduct unfinished spiritual business with God or with ourselves?
M: Right. Until we find the right way, the right purpose of our life in the universal plan, we always are miserable because we will be doing wrong. We don't do it exactly the way it is planned; therefore, of course, it is chaotic, so we have to come back and redo it until we touch the right "button". Then we are satisfied. That's the way. When we're enlightened, we find God, and then daily nourish this knowledge of enlightenment until we're completely sure and discover all the things that we have to discover, so we don't have to come back again. We can come back as a teacher, a spiritual guide.
Q: I'd like to know if there is any relationship between negative energy in the world and things like natural disasters - volcanoes, earthquakes and things like that?
M: There is a relationship. Negative energy comes from our own bad thoughts and actions throughout the whole world. It gathers into a force that affects us and is just the law of cause and retribution, nothing else. Don't blame any devil for anything. We are the devils; we are worse than devils. I mean people. Devils only punish those who are sinful, but human beings sometimes don't know who is who, and punish everyone - repay goodness with bad, sometimes betraying. Look at what Judas did to Jesus; look at what Buddha's cousin did to Him.
You know what human beings are like. Don't blame devils. I think devils have more of a sense of justice, of good and bad, of repayment, of how to requite kindness. The devils are very fine. Some of them are good. If you treat them well, they will water the plants for you; they will stay on guard in the garden and won't let other things come and harm, take, and smell your flowers. Some gurus keep devils around to guard their house and their flowers. The devils do that out of favor. If they like that Master, if the Master is good to them, they will do everything. Devils are a little bit underdeveloped beings; that is all.
If we want to see our own Nature or our Buddha Nature, we have to see through a different eye, through a different perception. This eye is what we call the wisdom eye or Buddha's eye, the heavenly eye, or what the Christians call the single eye. Jesus said, "If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light." What does that mean? Should we put our eyes together and make them become one like cross-eyed people? No, even like that we will see no light. So the eye that is mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, the Christian Bible and the other scriptures is not the physical eye, but the single eye within our wisdom, within our ocean of consciousness. Actually, there is no eye. But because we can see everything from Heaven to hell, from this world to the Buddha's Land, we call that an eye. So, to open this eye we need someone who can show us the way to do it, just like when we want to drive a car, we need someone who already knows how to drive the car to help us.
I'll say something to the new initiates. I don't know what initiation really means to you, but it means a lot to me. It's not that you sit there, listen to the instructions, and still struggle inside about whether I'm worthy for you to accept as your teacher, or if this initiation is worthy enough for you to accept. It's not like that. It's a once-in-a-million-years' chance. I don't know how much it means to you. But you should know how much I have to do, before and after your initiation.
It's not that you sit there on your backside and still wonder whether you should stay with me or if you should go. If you stay or you go, it's your problem. It's your right and your choice. I have no intention to bind you, to keep you or to do anything at all to you physically, mentally or psychically. I just stand by as a very unconditional friend. Whenever you need me, you can come. Should you decide to go, you can go. If that's all the initiation means to you, it's like you're going shopping. Only your mind is so imperfect that you cannot recognize the difference between a true diamond and glass; therefore, you struggle. But you don't know what it means; you really don't.
At least at the time you die, you will know. You will know what initiation means to you. At that time, no one is around you and no one can accompany you. No money can buy you power. No position can protect you from hell fire. At that time, the Master is the only one who comes to you. Then you will know.
Whatever you do, you should do it wholeheartedly. Then you'll get the sum total result. Otherwise, you get nothing. Even during initiation, if you just sit there and think of your past master, your past Buddha or your past whatever, you will get nothing. And then you ask me why you didn't get it. You wonder why you came here, wonder if this is right or wrong for you.
You will continue to wonder all your life, if you keep doing things the way you do. And no one can ever give you enough answers. Your time is very valuable, as mine is. If your time is not valuable, my time is. I don't have time to run around on a bus and airplane for fun, just to come so that you can see me whenever you want. And then you hang around, go for a stroll and do anything you want. But then you come and complain that you get nothing, that you don't know why you came here, that you don't know why you are sitting here, or why you do this and that and the other. You expect me to do everything for you, but you don't do anything, not even just come here and sit.
We organize everything for you, so it's not even that you have to organize! You do nothing; there's nothing to do. The cooking people also cook for you. And then you don't even take that little bit of responsibility. So what do you think? You think that's going to be OK? You think you will get God's blessing at all this way? And then you think you have everything, but I have to do everything. And some of you still criticize!
In the old times, if you wanted to find a master or even any kind of teacher, do you know what you had to do? Even now if you go to college, you still have to pay. If you don't pay, then your parents pay. If they don't pay directly, they pay taxes to the government and then the government pays for the teacher. And you have to go there and enroll your name and pass exams and all that. It takes a lot of time and trouble.
You keep asking me why I don't go out and lecture and save people in the world. Is it easy to save people? Today at the initiation, the highest God power was already here, present, and it still couldn't touch some of them. Only hell fire can burn. It's so difficult; so hard are some people's hearts that even when they sit in God's presence, in God's power, they don't feel moved.
I'm frightened to think about it. I'm so frightened to think of how hard people can be, that even the power of the Most High cannot touch them. That's why the world is as it is. So don't ask me why there is war, disaster or killing. What can the poor Mr. God do? This power can shatter mountains; it can dry up the ocean or make the whole universe crumble into dust. And yet it doesn't touch some humans' hearts. It's very frightening, what we have become.
Then you always ask me to go here, go there, talk to you, go to stay with you, save your friends, save your family members and do this and that and the other. And if I refuse you, you feel like, "Why doesn't Master do Her job? Why doesn't She have compassion and love for humankind? They're suffering enough," and things like that. If I could do it, I would. If Jesus could have done it, he would have finished it. We wouldn't have had to wait until our time. If Jesus could have saved the whole world, he would have done so. If Buddha could have saved the whole world, my turn wouldn't have come and your turn wouldn't have come.
You see how difficult it is? It is because we are too proud and too arrogant. We think we know too many things. We know this sutra, we know that Bible, we know all this and that. We learn everything by heart, and then we're so proud of our own stupid knowledge that we think we know everything already. So whenever someone wants to teach us something new, we refuse. Or we try to find fault, we try to criticize or show other people that we are fantastic, that we know everything or we know better than that person. But we are only harming ourselves and blocking our road to freedom, blocking the road of real knowledge. We're just taking all the advertisements as the real thing and feeling proud about it.
Q: In one of your lecture collections you mention "The Ocean of Love," a poem by Kabir. Is that right?
M: Yes, I've talked about Kabir's poems many times, but what is it about the Ocean of Love?
Q: It's about the highest God, they call Sat Purush; He comes through different incarnations in each age (Yuga). And in the Kali Yuga, Sat Purush makes a deal with Kal (Lord of the Three Realms) to take a lot of souls back home.
M: Yes, this is the Kali Yuga, the Dark Age. It needs a strong guy to come down and take everyone up! Big car! Strong! (Master laughs)
Q: Is that why so many souls can be liberated so easily?
M: Yes, that's right; you know it already. Of course, it's like that. It's the last age of this cycle. So whoever is left behind: Hurry! Hes brings everyone up; that's why it's very generous. But it takes a lot of power, just like a hurricane brings a lot of water. It takes a hurricane to bring so much water inland; normal rain doesn't do that.
So, at this time, it's like "wholesaling." Because we have a lot of room and a lot of grace, so everyone can be covered. It's no problem. You're lucky! (Audience applauds.) God is generous, but Hes has never been so generous before. In the old times, at most there would be a handful, maybe a thousand people. There could never be so many, and they could never be so openly gathered together despite everything. You guys are really lucky.
In the old times, if they wanted to have group meditation, they all had to hide and run all over the place, using secret codes, secret handshakes, secret hand signals like mudras (hand gestures), or the salutation that you use -- even this (Master makes a gesture) -- remember the wisdom eye, repeat the Holy Names, do the Quan Yin, and then we're together. That's the secret signal the Christians used to have, for recognition of one brother to another. Because in those times Jesus had to hide; all the disciples also had to hide. They didn't even dare to recognize the Master in public, saying, "I don't know Him." Even the foremost disciple Peter denied Him three times.
Such was the negative power -- so oppressive that even so mighty a person as Jesus, and so devoted a disciple as Peter, could not open their mouths. It was very oppressive then. But in this time, we're very lucky.
Q: With children who practice, when should we start and how should we help them not become attached to materialism from an early age?
M: Well, you can tell them about the ephemeral nature of all things and make them see some examples from books, from others, or from nature.
Q: Will the child's mind naturally become detached from material things if we don't pollute it, or do we have to train it that way also?
M: We can train it, but still, if they go to school, if they go out, they will be affected by the society. But at least if they have a good background, they will be able to withstand the pressure and disappointment that life and company will bring to them. It's not that they won't have the disappointment and pressure and loneliness that the company will bring. But they will be able to withstand it. They will be strong enough to understand and overcome the sorrow or unhappiness that arise from these circumstances.
Q: Thank you for that, Master. (Applause)
M: You're welcome.
Q: Many of us have children and they are practitioners and half initiates, and it's always very difficult for us to know how to raise them. The guidelines for us are quite clear, but raising children is transferring your thoughts to someone else. It's very difficult, so thank You for Your advice.
M: You're welcome. I hope it works. In this world, it's never a thing that's absolute or 100%. You can only do your best and be proud that you're doing so. Everything else also is the effect of karma, of society, of the collective consciousness, and God's will, and weather, and the country where you live, the traditions, and the friends that they have and everything else. You can't control everything. So do your best. And be a good parent. Be loving and good. And that's good enough already. These are very fortunate children who are born to spiritual, saintly parents like you are.
If children grow up having very good ethical roots from childhood, like a tree has good roots in the earth, when they grow up they don't fall down easily. But when the tree is not rooted well it just grows up a little bit, and then it gets broken down by winds or other natural forces.
Q: In one of Your video cassettes, I heard about Emerson, an American philosopher. He said, "It's a difficult thing to reach Godhood on this plane." I don't understand if this is against what You're talking about.
M: No!
Q: Then You said, "Let God do the business," and "let God do everything for us, through us." What I need is Your guidance.
M: He said "difficult". He didn't say "impossible". Of course, it's difficult to reach God. That's why we need the guidance of a master and blessing from the Master Power. And after that we should let God bless and guide us, and do everything through us, instead of doing things with the ego. Everything is correct the way I said it; there's nothing contradictory. It's just that you understood it differently. It is not that it's different. Emerson said, "A big burden will fall from our shoulders if we let God run the universe." Most of us run the universe. We worry about this, we take care of that, and we don't rely on God's power. That's why we exhaust ourselves without much success. So, if we do things to our best ability and let God arrange whatever the outcome will be, and then we won't feel so hurt, so disappointed, and so tired. That's what he meant. Are you satisfied?
Q: This is confusing to me, Master. I have a lot of expectations that God should run all these things. But I am facing all these troubles, and it has not been lightened, and it is a burden for me. I'm expecting God to do that for me.
M: It's not that you're expecting, you're dictating to God what to do, and Hes won't listen. Obstacles and troubles are there for you to overcome, but God will dictate the outcome. You have to always try your best, but don't expect anything. That's the best. That's the proper way of expectation. If you expect and say, "God, I'm putting one hundred dollars here, and I want to get one thousand dollars tomorrow." That won't do. You expect too much. Most of the time, we do things and we expect the outcome to be like this or that. But it doesn't come out like this, it comes out like that. Then feel disappointed, sad, hurt. But it may be that this is good. Maybe the third outcome is better than the first or the second that we expected. We don't know. We should just try our best, and when our conscience is at peace we can say, "Okay, I tried my best." And if the outcome doesn't suit our taste, just let it be. Then that way, you don't feel burdened. You don't feel exhausted. You don't feel hurt. You might still feel hurt, but in the end we realize whatever happens is best for us.
I've told you many stories about surrendering to God's will. Remember the Indian story about the person who came to take refuge in a house, during a wartime bombing. And the family members, the owner and the other members, just pushed him out into the street again. They didn't let him stay in their house and take refuge, so he had to get out, and meanwhile blamed God for not protecting him. But as soon as he got out of the house, the house exploded. A bomb dropped right onto house, but he survived after being kicked out. So, we never know what's good for us. It's better just to try our best and accept whatever comes. But you always have to try your best. In that way you'll rest in peace and you'll know you have tested your strength and wisdom.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
A few obstacles are good for us. They give us the incentive to strive; our willpower will thus grow stronger and our determination to seek the Truth will also become firmer. ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Q: Could you speak about the third eye and the chakras?
M: The third eye is the true eye of our being. "If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light." That is the third eye. Mostly we see the physical manifestation of God with the physical eyes. But if we want to see God as a non-manifested being, we use the spiritual eye, which we call the third eye. In the physical body, the connection between Heaven and Earth is in that third eye center. And actually during meditation, sometimes you see that eye, a single eye, just like your eye but just one single eye. That's called the third eye, or spiritual eye, or wisdom eye or heavenly eye. Whatever, it's the same.
And the heart chakra is not where the heart is, but it's the invisible heart energy that is around the heart. Just like you have an aura surrounding your body, this is the aura surrounding the heart. And the heart chakra is the place where you concentrate if you want to intensify your feelings about something - about love, even about hatred, anything. That is when you use your heart. But if we want to know wisdom, we have to concentrate on the wisdom chakra, which is the third eye again.
We have different chakras in the body - chakras at the feet, charkas at the knees, a chakra at the sexual organs, a chakra at the stomach or the solar plexus, a chakra at the heart, a chakra at the throat, a chakra here (Master points to the wisdom eye center), and the crown chakra. So depending on the purpose of your searching, you concentrate on that chakra. If you concentrate on the wisdom eye, everything intensifies. This is the center of all chakras, the headquarters of our being. So once we concentrate there, we free ourselves and we intensify everything. You love even better, and you understand things better. Your food tastes better. And you work better; you think better; you create things better, you paint better, and so on. Everything intensifies.
Q: When one becomes a Master, will he or she ever have fear, doubt, or anger? We call Jesus a Master, however, according to the Bible, Jesus was frightened the night before He was crucified. And before His death, Jesus cried, "Why, God, have You deserted me?" Please explain, if Jesus had fear and doubt, how can we have no fear and doubt?
M: Yes, they probably would have fear and doubt, but that fear and doubt are not deep-rooted like in us. If Jesus had no fear of the crucifixion, then His sacrifice was not so great. He had fear, but He accepted it. Whereas when we have fear, we run away and we try to blame it on others, or we try to escape. We try to put that cross on someone else. That is the difference.
We might have fear, we might have emotion, but we can withdraw it anytime, or we can make use of the fear or emotion for the benefit of other beings. After enlightenment, all the feelings or the emotions are still there because we are made to have these in order to use them to understand other brothers and sisters. If you have no feeling, no emotion, how can you understand human beings? How can you help them? But the fears of the Masters are different.
The fear of the Master sometimes is also affected by the fear of the disciples. He takes the fear from the disciples, so the disciples are fearless. The Master will take some degree of that fear, but that is only very shallow and not deep-rooted - only illusionary. And the Master, on one hand has fear, but, on the other hand, definitely has no fear. He knows he has to have fear, but he doesn't fear the fear. [Applause]
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Enlightenment doesn't mean we should altogether eliminate the emotions. We just know how to use them.
Q: Master, please say something about devotion.
M: Devotion? Look at me. I am very devoted to you. That's devotion! [Laughter and applause.] There is no need to explain. Today, I just happen to be very tired and very sick. I don't want to see people, but I still come to see you and that's devotion. [Applause] Not for any selfish gain or for anything for me to be happy, especially not during these days - it's out of duty, out of love. I fulfill my obligation and make you happy. That's devotion.
Now, if you are a householder and you devote yourself to your family - that's devotion. If you love your wife with all your heart, try your best to make her happy, and do everything she requests - that's devotion. If you have a friend, and you lay down your life for him or her in a time of need - that is devotion. You have come all this way, spending all your money for the airplane, and spending your time sitting for your own liberation and world peace - that's devotion. Whatever you do, if it's a good, noble idea and you put in all your effort - that is devotion.
In everyday life whatever you do, if it's good for yourself and other people, put all your best into it. That doesn't mean you have to be successful in order to know that you are devoted. You don't have to be. Whether you are successful or you fail, if you put out all your best, your most sincere desire, to accomplish whatever you do, or to try to make that person happy - that is already devotion.
Devotion brings concentration, one-pointedness; and devotion, one-pointedness, brings success and happiness to you, especially if you do it for a good cause, for a noble ideal. Because at that time, you concentrate everything on that thing, and then you forget everything else, so your mind is very clear. That is also a kind of putting down everything. That is also a way to practice. That's also a kind of samadhi.
Sometimes our fellow initiates don't want to continue their business anymore after they have practiced for a while; they have no more desire for fame and wealth. However, since we are already in the business, we should fulfill our obligations. Although we no longer do business with the "life-and-death" spirit as before, we can do it even better and in a more relaxed manner than before. The reason is that previously, we were so concentrated on the tussle that we were blind and were not smart. When a person is nervous, busy and keen in struggling and fighting, he does things badly. It is the same with any work.
On the contrary, as we don't want to do it now, we just do it casually; but the results are even better. The logic is very simple. Since we are mentally relaxed and we don't have the intense fighting spirit (for fame and profit), our wisdom and intelligence will suddenly and naturally emerge. Therefore, the more relaxed we are, the better we can do our work.
Q: I want to know the difference between the wisdom in the wisdom eye, the wisdom in one's heart, and the voices in the mind?
M: The mind has no wisdom. It just records what you encounter every day, or what's been put into it. For example, say that your mother kept telling you, "Don't eat ice cream, because, because, because..." So whenever you see ice cream, your mind starts screaming and you don't eat it, "...Because, because, because..." It's just like a record player.
And the heart is not a wisdom center; it's a center for feeling. That's why when you love someone, you say, "Oh-h-h-! It's an affair of the heart. " The wisdom center is here. (Master points to the center of the forehead) Because we are in a physical body, I have to say it's somewhere. The wisdom center is not in there, of course. But if you are in the physical body, you have to find it in there. Inside the middle of your brain, there is a spot. That's to start with. And later you find out that you are everywhere. You are the wisdom; you don't need to find the wisdom. But you have to start from somewhere. The heart chakra is functioning for some other reason, not for finding wisdom. And besides, the real heart is not the physical one that's pounding in your chest.
You are attached to the existence of "I", attached to an "I" doing this and doing that. That is looking for trouble, letting yourself forget your great inherent wisdom and ability to save the world. This is the only difference between you and me. When you completely forget the existence of "I", you'll understand who you are. All your troubles and pains will disappear. If you meditate more, you'll be able to purge yourself of "I" and erase those records of the past. If you create interference and erase "I" with the inner Sound, you'll forget it more completely. ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Aphorisms
If we sense in ourselves any ego, any motive that is not pure, stop it immediately; do not go on with it, or make some change instead. In this way, there will be no problem.~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
To kill our ego is to merge ourselves with God. When we are one with God, then we lose ourselves. It's as simple as that.~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Q: How should we protect ourselves from the violence of nature and the violence of human beings?
M: We don't need to protect ourselves. What do we have that we should protect? Before you were born, what did you have? After you die, what do you possess? What is it that's so valuable that we should protect it? Throw everything away. Let it be. Whatever comes will come. If your body dies, your body decays, you have thousands, billions more. Don't worry about anything. If the possessions should be yours, you can't even get rid of them. If that girl should be your fiancée, no one can snatch her away. If that job was ordained by heaven to be yours, no one can replace it. Don't worry. Just relax. Get enlightenment. All this fear keeps us from living in the happy, present moment.
All guilt, all conflict, all hypocrisy arise out of these fears of the ego self - that we have this, I have that, I have fame, I have face, I can't lose face, I can't do that because I'm in this position, I can't scold people because I'm a Master; I'm supposed to be very graceful, very soft spoken, very gentle, etc.
Just throw everything away and be in the moment. Whatever's required at that moment, do it wholeheartedly with faith in God and with faith in the whole plan of the Universal Project.
Q: If a wrong is done and can cause bad karma, how can it be reversed or undone?
M: Do the opposite. Try to make up for it. Not only stop doing wrong, but continue doing right, or start doing right. Not only do we not steal from other people, but we also help the people who are poor and truly in need. That's the true correction for what we did. For example, you have a husband and you have an affair with another man. Only for example, please! [Laughter] Now you feel sorry about it. It is not only that you have already stopped the affair because your husband doesn't like it, but you also have to love your husband more. Take care of him more. Help him to feel better. Help your family relationships to become more solid and happier for you, your husband, and your children. That's the positive way of repenting our wrong deed. Not only do we stop doing wrong, but we have to do right.
Once Gandhi heard a Hindu person say, "I am going to hell. I killed a Moslem because another Moslem killed my child." Then he asked, "What can I do now? I will go to hell anyhow." So Gandhi said to him, "I know a way out of hell. If you raise an orphan to become a Moslem, you can make up for that. Maybe you will still go to hell, but at least your conscience will be clear. You'll know that you have done your best to make up for the wrong you have done and also made someone else happy. At least when you go to hell, you will go happily."
Q: I have heard that we will improve very quickly in our practice if we can do the "Quan Yin" (contemplation on the Sound) for three hours continuously. However, is it all right if someone does more of the Sound contemplation and does not adhere completely to the right proportion of contemplation on the Light and Sound? Do we have to strictly adhere to this proportion in our daily meditation?
A: To be able to contemplate on the Sound continuously for three hours can quickly bring our straying mind under control, and correct our wrong thinking and concepts. However, this only applies when we have contemplated on the Light for six hours or more with very good concentration and can contemplate on the Sound continuously for three hours with natural ease. Therefore, it is still necessary to meditate according to the right proportion of time. However, if someone meditates and has unconsciously exceeded the same ratio as instructed by Master, like when he has entered samadhi, then it is all right. Just be natural. As long as we do not purposely contemplate on the Sound more than contemplating on the Light, it is all right.
Pearls of Wisdom Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Hsihu Center, Formosa, October 29, 1995 (Originally in English)
Please remember to do the Quan Yin according to the proper proportions. The Quan Yin is the one that cleans. Sometimes people sit there and they don't do the Quan Yin. In that case, they cannot progress very quickly.
Also, try to check your thoughts. If you check your thoughts, there will be no bad speech and no bad deeds. If one thought arises and you check it immediately, it will not come out of your mouth or result in action. So, thought is important. Don't follow your passions or your thoughts in your mind.
You remind each other. The Precepts begin from your thoughts. Purity begins from your thoughts. So, check your own thinking.
Marriage doesn't mean bondage and slavery. Marriage is just a partnership. Each one must encourage the other. Some people misunderstand, and that's why a marriage doesn't work. But you have to be the understanding one and try to reason. Only after numerous trials and trepidations and nothing works out might you consider, for your own spiritual development and safety, which course is appropriate for you and for him.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Five-day International Retreat, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A., December 28, 1996 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 573
So be the one that you desire to have, instead of having the one that you desire. Just be the one. If you want your husband to be romantic, why don't you be that way? Then he will learn, he will cooperate. Or if you want your wife to be nice and romantic, then tell her what you need from her, tell her what you like, or hint in a very special way. Work at your partnership and bring out the best in each other. That is the best.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Five-day International Retreat, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A., December 28, 1996 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 573
Love, like trees and flowers, also needs watering every day, at least in the dry season. Otherwise it dies. People think, oh! I love you, and then it will be forever. No, no. You have to nourish it through devotion, through daily renewal, through appreciation of each other's value and loving kindness, and help your partner to develop the best qualities within him or herself. That's true marriage. That's true partnership.
Q: For enlightenment, is service in love to humanity as important as meditation or is service more important than meditation practice?
M: Both have to go hand in hand. We meditate because we want to do service better, we want to be clearer in what we do. Therefore, we will be more efficient in our work and of more service to others. Without meditation, sometimes we have the very best intentions and we are willing to serve people, but we don't know what is the best way. Therefore, meditation is a helping factor to true selfless service.
Nowadays many sicknesses, different diseases, kill people, about eighteen million a year. Because some of us also don't take precautions to guard our precious body which has been given to us by God to do some mission on earth for some purpose, and also to realize our almighty power. We do something like smoking too much, drinking too much, eating too much flesh, inviting all these bacteria from the flesh into our systems, etc. All these killing factors make our lives a miserable time.
Actually we could live a better life if we organized more, if we appreciated our body more. If we ate just nutritious food for our body, and ate not just because of the taste, and ate just a reasonable amount, then of course, our health wouldn't be so greatly endangered. You see, most vegetarian people become healthier. Is that not so? [Audience: Yes.] Many of you became healthier after receiving initiation and switching to a vegetarian diet. Is that not so? [Audience: Yes.] Actually, the hospitals are full of meat-eating people (laughter). No problem; we can see the proof there.
It's not only because the vegetarian diet is healthy in itself, but because the vibration is very harmonious to our body whereas the vibrations of animals are not that harmonious, not so peaceful. Actually, it's very easy to live a simple, healthy life. There's not so much need for medicine, no need for so many injections. Many of us harm ourselves because we put poisonous substances into our bodies. Otherwise, if we know how to live a simple, nutritious, healthy life, we really don't need doctors so much. And the doctor can have more holidays and both of us can stay healthy.
It doesn't matter if we're right or wrong in war; it always creates misery for both parties. We understand that even our enemies have souls, sentiments, intelligence, compassion and understanding. It's just that we don't sit together and talk. We don't make friends. We're not supposed to make friends with our enemies so we sometimes forget that they're also human like us. Therefore, it's easy to slay someone whom we do not think much of or whom we don't hold in high esteem. ~ Supreme Master Ching Hai
Why do most people reincarnate in the cycle of life and death? It is because they are reluctant to leave this world, and so they want to come back again. There is something that they can't give up, so they want to come back to enjoy it. Or, some people have serious guilty feelings and so they want to come back to repay their debts. However, we no longer have karma! Our past karma has been burned by Master and now we don't create new karma anymore. We keep the Five Precepts and are vegetarian. We don't owe anything in the world. If we earn money for our own use and don't accept any offerings from others, then do we owe anyone? The karma in our storage is very simple to get rid of; a fire can do it. With the San Mei fire (Holy Fire), the whole world can be burned, let alone your little karma.
Only the present is important. In the present and future, we are not creating any new debt so we will not owe anyone. If we are no longer reluctant to leave the world, then why would we want to come back? At the time of dying, although we try our best to think of something that we like, we just can't find anything. What we think of are all very painful and very terrible so that we only want to run away fast. Therefore, spiritual practice is not blindly believing, but is, instead, logical.
Even if you do not believe that I can incinerate your past karma, you still have other logic to believe. For example, a farmer has saved a lot of taros or rice in his storage for the next season's planting, or he has saved the seeds of a new crop. However, when the planting season comes, he does not take them out but keeps them in his storehouse. So, the longer he keeps them in there, the more rotten they become. They can be eaten by insects, become rotten, or be carried away by mice and ants. Then they have no chance to develop and no chance to sprout. No one gives them water, no one gives them enough soil, and there is not enough sunshine. They lack everything. Therefore, they will become rotten themselves.
Similarly, our past karma remains in our memory. When it has a chance to come in contact with the outside, it will develop further. Now, we don't do that anymore and we don't give it any chance to develop. For example, now we no longer make mistakes like we did in the past. In the past, we did many things wrong. If we continue to do a wrong thing now, it will trigger our past mistake and develop into present or future karma. However, we don't do that anymore so that it has no chance, no material and not enough conditions to develop further. Therefore, we should keep the Precepts, we should be vegetarian, and we should meditate. Even though we meditate, we still create a little bit of karma each day. In case we have created new karma carelessly, we can do the Quan Yin to wash it out. Therefore, we are very safe and have no leakage to let the karma sprout.
Q: What do You think of divorce?
M: It's bad; divorce is the last solution of a loving relationship. And it should not happen at all. But it's very difficult to work things out with each other, since men and women are very different. Men are cooler, more straightforward, simple, and women are more sentimental, more romantic. So the warlike and the beauty don't often mix well, but there are many ways to reconcile with each other. There is marriage counseling, and there are books about it. And there is, of course, meditation, which will reconcile a lot of differences. You'll see that both of you will change and get more loving, more understanding and less demanding. And that is if you both are at an almost similar level; otherwise you still have conflicts. But you will still love each other. You will not resort to divorce as much as the other people who do not practice inner peace. They will do it more.
I would not have divorced my husband if I had been enlightened at that time. I tell you, he was the best man, and he still is. But he's someone else's best man now. After enlightenment, you will learn to appreciate your partner more. A lot of a family's conflicts are erased after initiation, if husband and wife meditate together. It really helps because you realize you are both God. The love in you will spring forth, will magnify to cover all the differences between the man and the woman. You'll learn to love each other, and respect each other as God, even. Apart from the physical love, there is another, holy love that will bind you to each other, make you more loving, more responsible and more sensitive to each other's feelings and needs.
We have always looked for peace in this world. Many nations and the United Nations, etc. have tried their best to reconcile broken ties between the countries that are having conflicts with each other - sometimes with success, sometimes without. It's not because the United Nations has not tried its best; it's not because many presidents or politicians are not pure in their motives. It is because many of our brothers and sisters have not truly found peace within themselves, and they are forever still searching for happiness and true peace outside. So long as we still have these brothers and sisters who are trying to look for peace and happiness outside of themselves, we will not have true and everlasting peace in this world. Therefore, most of us know that despite all the finances, all the time, all the energy spent in making world peace, we often fail. Even if we succeed, the outcome is only temporary, or if we succeed in having peace in one country, war will break out in the next country.
Q: How do we begin to rid ourselves of all our attachments that might keep us further away from our spiritual path? Can we become more selfless, and not want to have this and be this?
M: It's difficult if we water the plant from the leaves and not the root. The basis of all this misunderstanding, ignorance, and greed is because it comes from the root. We have not opened the power of understanding; therefore, we misunderstand and we think money will make us happy. We are seeking the Truth, which is eternal happiness, but then we misunderstand; we think money or beautiful girls will make us happy. The true thing that will make us happy, that we seek, is the true happiness: it's the Truth, our real spiritual power, the real God Self, but because we don't know that, we keep wanting this, that and the other. But as soon as your real source of understanding is opened for you, then you will understand differently. You will say, "This is what I want, not that!" Then all these things will fall apart. You don't need to do anything to it - just like watering a plant on the root and then all the leaves will be green.
Pearls of Wisdom Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Washington, D.C., U.S.A., December 25, 1997 (Originally in English)
To be detached doesn't mean that you become a stone or wooden statue. Being detached means that you have to do what you have to, but that it is not important. If you don't have to, or if you can't do it, it is okay, too. If you have to do it, you do it and then forget about it. You don't kill yourself over some problem of the world or a personal setback. You try to solve your problem as best as you can at that moment. Maybe tomorrow you will see things differently, and then you will do it differently. Today, you see it that way, and you do it that way. But then you are not overly grieved about this thing, and you forget it. We do still have sorrow, happiness, stress and all that; but the thing is that we forget it quickly; we overcome it fast.
More detachment comes later; as the days pass by, you become more detached in a very subtle way. So, even though sometimes you are angry or you are crying, you feel that you are very detached from that emotion. You still let the emotion show, but you are detached from it. In the depths of your heart, you know this is nothing. "I can cry, but I can also stop. And why should I stop? Why should I make the effort or take the trouble to stop?" If you need to stop, then you stop, and if you need to cry, just cry. You know that you are in control of that emotion. It is okay. To be detached means that you see yourself cry, but then you aren't overwhelmed by it. You let it be. You don't make it a more important issue and cling to that crying or that sadness all the time. Just let it be, and then move on.
One person makes a lot of difference. If you truly believe in your goodness, in what you are doing, you will influence other people; but if you don't believe, they will influence you. They'll try to make a strong person out of your personality. Whatever you believe is good, stick to it and don't let other people make you waver. A good example in this world is rare, so make yourself a good example. Try your best in everything so people will know that because you practice, you have become better. Then you really are being useful for society. That's how you prove it; that's how you help other people; that's how we rescue the world from the great destruction that may be coming.
Q: Why do people who have done no prior practice receive this enlightenment?
M: There are many reasons, the most important reason being sincerity. Maybe that person was an atheist, but at that moment, he was sincere. Maybe he had encountered hardships in life and was pushed into a corner with nowhere to turn, and God blessed him when he could not think of anything else to do except to pray inside with extreme sincerity.
Also, there is another reason; it is that maybe he just met an enlightened person on the street; maybe he encountered a Master going shopping, but he never knew it. Then he carried the blessing with him, and when he sat in church in quietude and concentration, he would see that. He didn't know the Master had helped him. It was not the church; otherwise, all the people there would see the same thing or at least something similar. One who has no experience in spirituality, but has an experience like yesterday at the initiation, obviously has been blessed with the Master Power. Practically everyone who was initiated experienced something when asked whether they had seen or experienced anything.
Of course, because we don't know what the Master is, we feel surprised. But there is more than just that. When we go inside in the higher spiritual hierarchy, we discover more and more about what the Master is. The higher our level, the more knowledge about the Master we will have. Most of the Masters are very casual. A real Master is like a child, very normal, and sometimes looks stupid or very innocent, but the greatness of the Master lies inside - the Master can destroy hell and open the gates of heaven to anyone who wishes to follow or who asks for the help of the Master.
Anything can happen when you encounter a Master. For example, if someone sees a Master only on the street and looks at the eyes for one fraction of a second, even just one fraction of a second, then when that person dies, the Master will help him also. Beginning from that day, his karma will slowly be changed; the Master tries to purify that person until death and then will take him to heaven.
There is no measure of a person who is called Master, no measure of the power. That is why the people who come to any Master of that high degree have experiences without prior knowledge or spirituality, without any preparation, without even following a vegetarian diet. They just ate their last piece of beefsteak in the restaurant, came to the lecture, got initiation, and went to heaven.
Marriage means partnership in trying to improve each other's life, trying to support each other's ideals, and trying to make our lives nobler.Aphorisms
The Ego Arises from Habits
Where does the ego come from? We can say the ego is a kind of personality, a personal mental attitude. Where does the personality come from? The personality is nothing great; it's not our original Self; nor is it our enlightened God Nature. It's just our personality, born from habits that are continuously accumulated. Every time we're born, whether as a human, a wild animal, a Heavenly being, a hell being, a domestic animal or a demon, we possess certain habits. Each kind of being has its own particular habits and they are all learned.
For example, if we were tigers, of course, we'd be fierce. Every day we'd hunt for food and kill animals. This is how we'd live in that lifetime. Then if we were immediately reborn as a human after dying as a tiger, traces of our vicious animal nature would remain. We'd have a violent temper, love to devour meat and be very vicious. We wouldn't be easily compatible with others or forgiving, and we'd enjoy squabbling and always overdoing in trivial matters.
If after our life as a tiger was over we were reborn as another kind of animal, perhaps a more benign one like a lamb, of course, we'd "baah" our way through life and be very benign. Even if the tiger's qualities were still in the animal that we had become, it would have little chance to manifest. We'd gradually forget them and then this vicious nature would diminish. We'd stop killing and eating meat. Our animal qualities and killing instinct would diminish. If, after we left the body of the lamb we were reborn as another lamb, we'd become even more benign and "baah" our way sweetly through another life.
If we were reborn as a human being after our life as a lamb had ended, of course we'd look rather sheepish. We'd be very benign, and we wouldn't look very awful. We'd be docile and easily controlled and we wouldn get along with others! Our palate would be easily satisfied. We might prefer to eat weeds, and go looking for leafy or wild vegetables. Thus we can see that each person has his own distinct personality since each collects different habits.
During our incarnations as animals, should we die as a tiger and be reborn repeatedly as another tiger or as some other fierce beast such as a wolf or snake before we were finally reborn as a human, our qualities would not be much different than that of a demon. That's why we find that some people are very fierce for no reason, and communication with them is almost impossible. It's because they've just transitioned from the life of an animal and taken on a new body. They've been reborn repeatedly as an animal, and very often, as a fierce beast. This isn't coincidental. Otherwise, why isn't everyone reborn as an animal, while continuing to be reborn as a fierce beast? It's probably because before they took the animal form, they had incurred lots of bad karma, having taken too many lives or been forced into the situation by destiny and letting violence overtake them.
For instance, we know that some criminals are imprisoned. The government's original intention in doing so was to teach them a lesson and give them a chance to repent, rectify their lives and become benevolent. However, they get worse in prison. Out of wrath, some try to escape and seek revenge when they succeed. They commit more crimes and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to pull themselves out of the situation. They may encounter unpleasant situations in prison and may misinterpret other people's good intentions. Sometimes their inferiority complex may mislead them into believing that they've been ill-treated though the police treat everyone equally. This feeling may intensify in their heart and they may seek vengeance when they get out by commit more serious crimes, thus end up receiving a harsher punishment. This harsh punishment in turn evokes greater hatred in them, which causes them to fall further until they finally become truly difficult or impossible to reform.
When we're fierce beasts, we're steeped in karma. Should we fall into such a situation, if we fail to reform or repent and continue to commit more vicious acts, we'll remain permanently at the animal level and have much difficulty rising to the human level again. Even if we wanted to become humans, it would take many, many lifetimes before we could succeed.
When we're tigers, we collect a tiger's qualities, vicious actions and habits. Our magnetic field becomes a vicious aura. And when we become human, this magnetic field is registered in our so-called Alaya consciousness, where the good and bad thoughts and deeds of our past lives are recorded. With its massive recordings, it reacts spontaneously to similar situations. This means that if a person or situation stimulates us, that quality immediately emerges because we forget that we're now humans, not tigers.
If we humans want to avoid such situations, we should check for the animal-like qualities that we possess. And then we'll know that we have very heavy karma. But what is karma? In the past we collected many habits. As we transmigrate, we collect and record far too many vicious actions, just as on a recording tape. When the button is pressed, it plays back. And what's this button? It's the opportunities or occasions we encounter that turn the recordings on automatically.
So sometimes we're very fierce to people, but we don't know why. It's because the button has been pressed. A particular person happens to say something that we'd heard in the past when those words upset us. Now when we hear something similar, we immediately get upset. Or perhaps in previous lives when we were humans or animals, someone set traps for us. Now, whenever we see something that resembles such traps, just in appearance, we become afraid. We have no idea why a particular kind of box terrifies us. Some boxes look similar to the traps that we encountered in our past lives so we dread and abhor them. That's why some people prefer round furniture, or hate square furniture or like triangular furniture. This is all related to past life impressions.
The conditions that we like, dislike, abhor or love constitute what's called the ego. "I" only like it this way; this suits "my" taste- this is called "ego." The "ego" means the personality. Such and such is "my" habit; this is what "I" think; "I" can't change; "I" don't want to change, or this is what "I" am and "I" can't change! This is called the ego, but in fact, the ego is the personality; it's nothing mysterious or incomprehensible.
Only the Vibration of Sound Meditation Can Cleanse Karma
To stop ourselves from getting more steeped in karma, we have to avoid our habits and prevent them from emerging. If a habit emerges, it will grow stronger, and we'll become even more irascible. For instance, in past lives, we may have been wrongly accused of committing crimes that we didn't commit. And we may have been beaten and painfully hurt, or persecuted by those in power. Then in our current life, we might meet someone who persecutes or hurts us for justifiable reasons. In fact, we're in the wrong, and it's right for him or her to persecute us. However, someone had wrongly accused and persecuted us in our past lives and we hated it. And when we encounter a similar situation again, we can't tolerate it and attempt to take revenge or counteractions. Thus, we deepen the animosity in our heart and let the malicious atmosphere grow denser and stronger. In the end, it forms our spiteful personality. So if we want to avoid this situation, whenever we want to take revenge on people, we should immediately tell ourselves: "Will tit for tat ever end?"
Each time we perform an action or learn a new idea, a new channel is created in our brains for storing the new material. This is for storing animosity, that's for love, this is for jealousy, and that's for fame and profit. Each spot is taken up by a different quality. The more habits we have, the more boxes or channels fill our brains.Originally, these boxes or channels can disintegrate by themselves. It's very simple. If there's nothing inside, they'll fuse together and be reduced to nothing. However, there's a substance called "gray matter" in our brains that fills these channels or boxes. All new ideas and actions are registered in the gray matter, which fills up the empty channels in the brain, much like a computer that maintains records exclusively.
We can never erase the things or qualities that we've newly learned. So we have to practice the Quan Yin Method to flush away the bad habits inside. There's no other way to cleanse them! You've often heard about brainwashing a person, but brainwashing with words is not thorough enough. Our brains are very small, yet they can record everything, in infinite volumes. That's the trouble. Having recorded too much, it can't be erased quickly enough. We have distracting thoughts every day, all because we record too many things.
Therefore, if I'm now brainwashing you with words, I'm merely adding more channels and boxes. It's futile! You're already filled with old preconceptions and ideas. If I add more new ones, they'll simply mingle with the old, and it will be useless. The old ones will continue to function while new ones develop, and it only becomes more complicated.
That's why I say, "Truly, spiritual cultivation requires no language!" So during transmission of the Quan Yin Method, I don't speak and make no new additions. I'm chatting with you now only because there are knots and problems within you so I have to explain a little to solve your inner conflicts. Otherwise, I don't speak. Why do I have to talk so much? You already know more than enough. For instance, if you're not Buddhists and know nothing about the Nirvana Sutra or Diamond Sutra, you will not ask me questions about the scriptures, and I too will not need to speak so much to explain things to you. I speak a lot because you speak a lot. You've gathered too much garbage so I have to use many ways to remove and incinerate it.
So the Quan Yin Method isn't words; it's the vibrations, the electric current, the God-power that cleanses our distracting thoughts and wrong ideas. It doesn't add any channels or boxes inside us. That's because, if we want to use a certain thought to eliminate another thought, there will be resistance. It doesn't mean the old thought is cleansed! No, we're simply adding another one. Consequently, it becomes more crowded and we become more agitated. Therefore, all great spiritual Masters say, "The more learned and knowledgeable one is, the more difficult it is for one to attain the Truth." We simply heap things within us, squeezing them together until nothing can develop. Good and bad things mingle together. The good things cannot develop, and the bad things cannot be cleansed; it becomes heavily congested. Now you understand why the more learned one is, the more difficult it is to become enlightened!
So only the Quan Yin Method is logical for it's not Zen riddles or some kind of chant, which will only add more to our brains. Instead, we cleanse it. That's why I tell you that, although I've instructed you to recite the Holy Names and meditate on the Light, it's not effective if you don't practice "Sound meditation." This is so because chanting the Holy Names and meditating on the Light also add extra things; although these additives can control other things and make us forget worldly vexations. Suppose we're angry with someone and want to get even or scold him. Now when we recite the Holy Names, we forget the hostility. It means that we can use these benevolent Holy Names to control our distracting thoughts and stop them from troubling us. It doesn't mean that they've vanished, or been cleansed by chanting the Holy Names or Amitabha Buddha. No! We add tens of thousands of repetitions of the Holy Names every day, to control the distracting thoughts. After that, we should use the "Sound meditation" to erase them, including the Holy Names! (Applause) I'm very glad that you understand.
That's why I say, if someone doesn't practice Sound meditation every day and yet claims that he's been completely enlightened or become a Buddha, he's lying. Some people also say that when one becomes a Buddha, meditation becomes unnecessary. It means not doing the ordinary kind of meditation, where we tax our brains chanting the Holy Names, just reciting two names and forgetting the rest, or reciting one and forgetting the other four, or reciting the first and forgetting the fifth, or struggling with distracting thoughts. "Good grief! I have so many distracting thoughts. My God! I hate that person. My God! Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha. Good grief! That person is really disgusting. Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha.... Oh! I'll surely get even with him tomorrow. Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha...." Oh! What a painful struggle it is. This is called meditation because we're training our minds and suppressing our distracting thoughts, hatred and habits.
Buddhas Are in Constant Meditation
It's not true that a person doesn't meditate after becoming a Buddha, but he meditates without struggling. He still meditates without having to sit in meditation so we say he doesn't meditate. Now, when we meditate, we know that we're meditating. A Buddha doesn't know that he's meditating; he meditates effortlessly. This is what Lao Tze meant by "doing without doing." He didn't mean that we should sit the whole day long, remaining oblivious to the world, not managing the country, not taking care of the family, not bathing our body or doing the laundry and not even eating. This isn't "doing without doing"; it's being insane. (Laughter) Thus, when some people say that once we become a Buddha we don't need to meditate anymore and instead we just enjoy gambling and singing karaoke all day long, this is becoming the devil. This is becoming a negative Buddha instead of a Buddha like the Amitabha Buddha.
So when you notice that someone isn't meditating or reciting the Holy Names, you know he's ignorant. This is only befitting for the lowest Astral realm; he's been deceived! A Buddha (Enlightened Master) doesn't meditate, yet he does meditate. Why? He has to bless the world; he has to bless his disciples. If even we ordinary humans can derive such great merit from meditation, imagine what happens when a Buddha meditates. He can't shirk his responsibility. If a Buddha comes here and doesn't meditate, then what does he want to do? Besides, he also needs to replenish his inner spirit and vitality. Don't we feel physically comfortable and mentally happy when we meditate? Though we don't have a desire for inner levels, we attain them all the same!
We cannot remain physically healthy just by eating. Many people eat, yet their bodies are weak. For us, we only have to meditate for an hour or two, and we're happy in spirit, and can work tirelessly throughout the day. Therefore, even a Buddha needs to meditate to restore his power. Eating food alone cannot sustain his body. If he were only an ordinary person, then even if he ate a lot, he still wouldn't be able to take on the numerous responsibilities of a Buddha. Since a Buddha eats very little and has to shoulder so many responsibilities, how can he not meditate?
He does meditate, except that he doesn't struggle hard like we do or meditate with so much effort. A Buddha meditates in a very relaxed way. He enters samadhi soon after he begins to meditate and he's in samadhi even when he's not meditating! He's in samadhi twenty-four hours a day and he can meditate at any time. This is called meditating without meditating. Spiritual cultivation is not all about meditation. Even then, he still meditates to set an example for his disciples. Otherwise, everyone would think that he had become a Buddha and didn't need to meditate anymore, but just enjoyed worldly pleasures. In that case, everyone would be the same, and everyone could do it. Since there would be no need to meditate, lazy people could also claim that they had become Buddhas. What a wonderful excuse! No way!
Remember that after Shakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha, He meditated every day. That's why the scriptures mention that every time Shakyamuni Buddha came out of samadhi, He would begin to give a discourse to His disciples. They never mention Him giving a discourse after coming out of the washroom, or after enjoying karaoke, singing, dancing or gambling. Never! Therefore, reading the scriptures without really understanding them will bring us harm. Our spiritual practice will be impaired. We'll boast and thirst for fame and gain, and thus hurt ourselves.
Humility Is the Most Important Element in Spiritual Practice
So humility is the most important element in spiritual practice. Anyone who tests our patience is our teacher; people who beat and scold us are our teachers, training our tolerance and giving us a chance to reflect. This is also good. It's not bad unless such actions hurt the public, then we must try to stop them. If he's only testing us, then let him test us to the end; the harder it is, the better it is for us. Gold shines more radiantly when tempered in fire. Genuine gold fears no fire!
I'm not just telling you this; I practice what I say. I have to do it because I'm your example. So, don't ask me why I'm totally unmoved when people slander me. If I can't even tolerate that, then what can I tolerate? How can I teach people to be tolerant? Unless it causes harm to the public or other people, then I'll think of a way to stop it. If it hurts only me, it's all right!
Now you know what the ego is and how to eliminate it. Don't allow your ego to grow stronger and confine you like a wall. As such, you'll believe that you're this person and this is what you are. That's the ego. You'll just carry on and do the same wrong things, and subsequently, you'll become even worse. If no one stops it for you, you'll become worse. You'll think that it's fine and feel happy about it. Finally, it will become a habit, just like smoking and drinking. Though you know that it's bad for your body, you'll still become heavily addicted to the habit as you drink more and smoke more.
This is why we must learn to be humble. We shouldn't add more to the habits that we've accumulated through many lifetimes, and we shouldn't let them grow stronger until they become irreparable later. We already have a great many bad habits. If we don't minimize them but add more, how can we handle them? There's no way to minimize them even if we want to. When can we finish reducing them? We've collected so much. It's already difficult enough for us to avoid getting more, not to mention that we need to erase those firm habits, and even traditions, that we've gathered through many lifetimes! That's why we have to use this supra-worldly power, the vibrations of the Sound meditation, to cleanse them quickly. Ordinary brainwashing is useless. Only practicing the Sound meditation is the true "brainwashing."
You ask me how to avoid the ego. I advise you to do more Sound meditation. If you're aware, endeavor to check and control yourself. Don't add more to or repeat the habit. If you can avoid it, then stop. If we're not aware of our ego, then there's nothing we can do. That's even worse. We must do more Sound meditation! Do more Sound meditation! Do more Sound meditation! It cleanses us automatically; there's no other way. (Applause) Now you realize that the Quan Yin Method is truly great! Without it, we can never cleanse our myriad habits!
Our meditation is the best way to cure illnesses, including our mental illnesses, karmic illnesses and physical illnesses. All can be healed. Why are they all cured when we editate? It is because we have returned to our original Self; orgetting our worldly identities such as Mr. Wang or Mrs. Liu, we have resumed our original form.
Our original Self is never born, nor does it die, and it is neither filthy nor clean. Therefore, when we return to this original source of not living or dying, our body also becomes more inclined to not living or dying. However, because we do not meditate enough, naturally, we cannot make up for the causation of living and death. Otherwise, we can also become immortal and forever young.
You're the best doctor for yourself if you think positively and live a healthy, simple life.
I remember I have a home remedy. Toast with black pepper and concentrated soy sauce can cure diarrhea. Add black pepper according to taste. Either black or white pepper powder is okay. Cook it in soy sauce until it becomes thick like a paste, like a spread. And then, spread it on the toast or dip the toast in the paste, and eat it. This stops diarrhea immediately. When you burn the toast black or very, very brown, it becomes like carbon and absorbs the poison. When you cook the soy sauce until it becomes concentrated, it becomes a paste. You put some black pepper powder in it and it warms the stomach inside, because when you have diarrhea, your stomach is cold. The black pepper also has a disinfecting quality. So I just eat the toast with that, and then, top it with congee, that is, rice soup, and the diarrhea stops immediately. Or you can drink some ginger tea, that is, ginger powder in water. All these combinations will certainly cure diarrhea immediately.
Q: Dear Master, I always wonder how to love others wholeheartedly and receive the same treatment.
M: Well, you can love people, but people might not love you. So the best thing is to just love them with no expectations. Then you will not feel hurt. That's difficult in marriage. It's very difficult to love some people that you do not know, so the best is that you love someone that you know wholeheartedly and devotedly as best as you can and sincerely. There's no need to show off too much, but if you love someone, just say so. And show it, because sometimes people think, "Oh, I love him, I love her; I don't have to say it, she will know; he will feel it." Feeling and hearing are different. We have many organs: smelling, seeing, and hearing, and so we love to see and hear as well. Most men do not show emotion and this is why sometimes a marriage doesn't last, does not feel very solid, does not feel very secure; the husband does not show his emotions. It is better that we show each other that we appreciate each other before it's too late.
Love your family members wholeheartedly; sacrifice for them whenever necessary; do everything you can in your power to help them and to let them know that you love them. And to other members of humankind, just show your love universally, and help whoever needs your help. That is the way of love. You don't have to hug everyone on the street, just to show your big love. I don't hug people that easily. Except that I do sometimes to the disciples and when I see poor people, I have to hug them more. I don't know why; something pushes you; something inside just makes you feel you want to do it. And you don't even think; you don't have time to think about it at that moment.
When I see poor people, not only do I feel like giving money, but with their fate, their miserable condition, I don't mind anything - I could kiss them, hug them all day long, no problem. Or prisoners, or sometimes the more dreaded people, I just don't think. I cannot think anymore at that moment. I just feel, "They need something; they need my love." I feel something urging inside that makes me do it spontaneously. And that is the time you should show; at that moment it is really true love. You cannot reason anymore. You cannot tell yourself to stop or you cannot tell yourself to do it. You cannot tell yourself why you want to hug. There is no more reason; no more thinking, you just do it. If such a thing happens, then you know that that is true love; that is spontaneous love. There's nothing to talk about. Otherwise, if we sit here and reason about how to love people, that's nonsense. You can't teach anyone to love anyone.
Q: What is "immediate enlightenment?"
M: Enlightenment implies light. When anyone helps you to see Light from heaven immediately, that is called immediate enlightenment. That's what we help people to do. When people can see Light or hear the heavenly music, it means the message of God. It's what is called the "Word" in the Bible: ... and the Word was God, and the Word was with God... Remember? The Word is what we can hear from God. The moment we hear that, it is called the moment of enlightenment. It's difficult to hear the Word from God, the message from God, and it's difficult to see Light. Nevertheless, some people see them in deep prayer, in deep sorrow, or in a blackout kind of situation where they contact with the higher world instead of this physical world, but rarely. So when you cannot see the Light or hear the message of God yourself, you need to find someone who can help you to do it quicker. That is called the process of seeking the Truth, seeking the teacher. Whoever can help you to see the Light and hear the Sound immediately, that is a so-called spiritual teacher.
To be detached doesn't mean that you become a stone or wooden statue. Being detached means that you have to do what you have to, but that it is not important. If you don't have to, or if you can't do it, it is okay, too. If you have to do it, you do it and then forget about it. You don't kill yourself over some problem of the world or a personal setback. You try to solve your problem as best as you can at that moment. Maybe tomorrow you will see things differently, and then you will do it differently. Today, you see it that way, and you do it that way. But then you are not overly grieved about this thing, and you forget it. We do still have sorrow, happiness, stress and all that; but the thing is that we forget it quickly; we overcome it fast.
More detachment comes later; as the days pass by, you become more detached in a very subtle way. So, even though sometimes you are angry or you are crying, you feel that you are very detached from that emotion. You still let the emotion show, but you are detached from it. In the depths of your heart, you know this is nothing. "I can cry, but I can also stop. And why should I stop? Why should I make the effort or take the trouble to stop?" If you need to stop, then you stop, and if you need to cry, just cry. You know that you are in control of that emotion. It is okay. To be detached means that you see yourself cry, but then you aren't overwhelmed by it. You let it be. You don't make it a more important issue and cling to that crying or that sadness all the time. Just let it be, and then move on.
Q: Will intimacy with our marriage partner who has not received initiation weigh down our level and affect the progress of our practice?
A: To practice the Quan Yin Method is to do what the saints do: we should share the good atmosphere obtained through practice to help purify the hearts of others. Therefore we should not mind that our relatives and spouses are not initiated, but rather we need to show more love and patience, sharing with them any merits we have gained from our spiritual practice. It will be fine for us if we meditate more. If we only care about our level of practice and do not have compassion and love for even our dearest relatives, then we are no longer Truth practitioners.
Q: Is praying meditation?
M: Yes, it's a kind of meditation. But praying is only one-way meditation. We talk to God: "Oh God, please do this!" But we don't hear what Hes says. That's why it's one-way. Meditation is two-way communication. We offer our pain, our sorrow, our happiness and our gratitude to God. And Hes in turn lets us know what we should do next. We have communication and we have a connection with God. Praying is just the talk of one person; we don't hear what God says at all. But in meditation, we hear; we know. Hes guides us. Hes brightens our life with thousands of suns inside. Hes makes us shining, loving, wise, humorous and beautiful, inside and out. That's the difference.
An Indian farmer and his child were toiling in the fields. It was almost dark by the time they had finished their work and the farmer said to the child, "Wow! It's getting dark! Quickly pack up the tools and run. Let's run quickly!"
"Relax. We're not far from home and we know the way home. Why are you in such a panic?" asked the child.
"There's something you don't know. I'm generally fearless. I'm not afraid of tigers or lions. I'm only afraid of the night. When the night comes, I'm completely powerless. The night is most terrifying to me. I'm really frightened of it. I can't stand it," answered the farmer.
It so happened that a lion was hiding nearby and overheard their conversation. "What's this thing called 'the night'? How could it be more fearful than I am? I must find out about it," the lion mused as it moved closer to the farmer, hoping to learn more about this "night" that was even more frightening than itself.
Then darkness fell and the farsighted farmer couldn't see nearby objects clearly. He only saw the vague outline of an animal approaching, thought it was the donkey he had recently lost, and beat the lion several times, saying, "I've been looking for you all day. Where have you been? How dare you come back so late?"
"This is the end of me," the lion thought with regret. "How could I have been so stupid as to come so close to this thing called 'the night' that beat me just now? It's really horrifying. What should I do now?" As these thoughts flashed through the lion's mind, the farmer again slapped it several times, urging it to go home with him. The petrified lion then obediently followed the farmer back to his house.
It was even darker when they reached home. Since the farmer continued to mistake the lion for his donkey, he tied it in a corner outside his house before he went to bed. That night, the lion stayed out in the cold, starving, petrified and not knowing what to expect of "the night" when morning dawned. It believed that the farmer was "the night."
Early the next morning, before dawn broke, the farmer got up and took his "donkey" to the fields. On the way, another lion passed by and found it hilarious to see a lion obediently following a farmer. It then approached the captive lion and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you walking behind this man?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down and leave quickly. Don't you know that this being walking in front is something called 'the night.' He's very terrible. Last night, he beat me and shackled me, leaving me cold and starving the entire night. I have no idea where he's taking me now. Run along or your life will be in danger!"
After hearing this story, the other lion said, "You're incredible. You idiot! You're a lion, the king of animals! You've been deceived! Just roar at him now and you'll know who is more terrifying." The lion accepted his advice and roared loudly, so the farmer took a closer look. Now that the sky had become brighter, he saw that it was a lion. Wow! He bolted like lightning, and the lion was free again.
The moral of this story is that we humans have wisdom, immense power and status. However, if we're stupid, ignorantly follow the Prince of the Devils, and are thus controlled by karma, we can't possibly be liberated. However, if another soul who knows who he is and is not afraid comes to teach us what to do, we can be liberated. This is what an Enlightened Master does.
There's a similar Aulacese story that I may as well tell you.
A farmer and his buffalo had a hard day plowing the fields. Both were exhausted, but since the work wasn't finished, the farmer beat the buffalo repeatedly, urging it to work faster. The buffalo was panting, with saliva dripping from its mouth and its tongue hanging out, and it was almost breathless, yet it still had to work ceaselessly.
A tiger was hunting for food nearby and saw the man and the buffalo, but couldn't decide which one to eat first. As it looked on, its curiosity was aroused. "This is strange! How could it happen?" It decided to postpone its meal and continue its observation. The buffalo was so huge and strong, yet it was subservient to a little farmer and obeyed its instructions. It dared not resist even when beaten. The tiger was baffled and dared not take a chance for fear of a hidden mystery.
After some time, the farmer stopped for a rest and found a place to take his meal and nap. The tiger then quietly approached the buffalo, which could only take a break and eat some hay during that time. The tiger came closer and shook its head, saying to itself, "How pitiful! It works so hard and yet eats so little. I really don't have the heart to eat it!" It came up to the buffalo and asked, "Excuse me! I don't mean to offend you, but I really must ask. You're so huge and strong and you have two sharp horns. You can kill the farmer with one kick. So why do you obey him? You've toiled for half a day. He beats you and you still continue to work. Only now has he given you a break but he only feeds you hay. What kind of animal are you? Why are you afraid of him? He's many times smaller than you!"
You have no idea. I'm stronger and bigger than he is, but this little man has a very terrific weapon," said the buffalo. "I have no choice but to obey him because his weapon is truly powerful! Don't ask any more questions because you're filling me with shame. We don't have this weapon and that's why we're inferior to him!"
Then the tiger became even more curious and said, "Oh! Please! Please tell me. I've never heard about this. I've never been here before and have never seen such things!"
The buffalo took its time chewing the grass, and then closed its eyes and said, "Aah! Why must you ask about this?"
"I want to learn. This is a rare opportunity!" The tiger implored the buffalo. "I may not run into the same situation again. I usually stay in the mountains and have never seen this. I have the chance to see it only because I ventured down here today!"
"Since you're so sincere, I'll tell you!" said the buffalo. "The weapon is wisdom. Since humans have this thing called wisdom as their weapon, we animals are all dominated by them, no matter how big, fierce or strong we are. Do you understand?"
"No! I've never heard of it!"
"All right! Enough!" the buffalo continued. "Please stop annoying me and let me take a nap!"
The tiger then pondered for a long time, thinking, "What exactly is this weapon that's so powerful? I must see it. My mother never told me about it. If I can learn about it, I'll be more powerful than anyone, including my grandma, grandpa, dad and mom because they don't know about such a thing. We were never taught about this weapon in school."
Next the tiger waited patiently for the farmer to return. Though it remained skeptical, never having been conquered by any other animal before, fear stirred its heart and generated in it some respect for human beings. When the farmer arrived, the tiger held its forepaws together and respectfully asked him, "I heard that you have a 'weapon of wisdom' that gives you control over everything, including huge, strong animals like me. I beg you to let me take a look at it. I've never seen such a thing. Besides, I'm still skeptical about what I've heard. Your body is very small so how can you carry such a big weapon that allows you to control enormous animals like us?"
"Of course, this weapon is so big that I can't carry it with me all the time, so I left it at home," said the farmer.
"Will you please go home and bring it here so I can have a look?" asked the tiger.
"Of course, but I think this is a hoax. You don't really want to see my weapon. You only want me to go home so you can eat or abduct my buffalo," said the farmer. "What if I don't find you or the buffalo when I return carrying the huge 'weapon of wisdom' with such great effort? I won't do it."
"That's not true. I sincerely want to see your 'weapon of wisdom.' I've never seen it before. Oh, please! Go home and bring it here so I can take a look," the tiger begged. "Really, I'm not deceiving you. I won't eat your buffalo. I'll wait for you here."
"All right, if you want me to believe you, then you have to let me bind you to a tree before I go home to fetch it. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll do something evil after I leave," said the farmer.
"Of course, that's no problem! Tie me up quickly," said the tiger, extending its legs and allowing the farmer to tie them to a tree trunk with rattan. And before the farmer walked away, the tiger even urged him, "Please come back soon!"
The farmer did return very quickly with a huge stick. "This is my wisdom," he said, as he killed the tiger with the stick.
The on-looking buffalo laughed until it was breathless! It laughed so hard that its head rolled back and forth, hitting a rock and knocking out its teeth. Since that day, old buffaloes have been without teeth. This is one of our Aulacese stories, very similar to the previous one about the lion, though the moral is not very similar.
Therefore, we humans are truly the masters of all animals. We're honored to be the king of animals. Originally, God told us to take care of the animals, but in the end we dominate them instead. Good grief! We're truly "honored!" So these are our stories. The story about "the night" is lovelier, isn't it?
Q: I'm a new initiate here this week, and I'm lacking a little understanding on one thing regarding group meditation. Since our meditation is something between us individually and God, what really is the value or benefit of group meditation?
M: It's because the same energy is helping each other. Sometimes it even helps physically. For example, if you sit alone at home, you tend to laze around, wander or lie down whenever your body dictates. But in group meditation, since everyone is sitting, you feel uncomfortable lying down. So it helps in that way. And sometimes you lack the effort to meditate. But in a group, you feel more supported. Just like in playing football or anything else: It's your own business to be a good football player. You have to train yourself and make your own effort. But in a group, you train better. It's the same with everything. We need to have a supporting environment to do anything successfully; that's all. Otherwise, we are God already! What need is there to meditate to find God? But this is the way we play around, so we just do it.
As we all know, most sickness comes from eating meat because of the antibiotics fed to animals, because of the anxiety that produces toxins in an animal's meat. Because we eat all these antibiotics, our body loses its self-resistance to disease. Our body normally can fight disease, but because we're fed so much antibiotic-filled meat, our body becomes weakened, and the resistance system goes out of order. Therefore, any kind of disease affects us and ends our lives. It's a pity.
Now, most people think that if we pray to Jesus or Buddha, that's enough. But I think we should add to it meditation and a virtuous, wholesome way of life. Then we speed up our wisdom and liberation. For example, if we practice together in our method, which we call the Quan Yin Method, just listen to the instructions of God within, see the wisdom of God with a Heavenly eye and keep a vegetarian diet and a virtuous way of life then we fear no sickness. Many of our initiates overcome sicknesses overnight. I mean dangerous ones normally needing operations or resulting in death. Some people just come back from the death bed, out of the power of their virtuous life and the power of the Godhead that protects them. If we open this power within through a correct technique, then that power which we call the Buddha Nature or Buddha within us or God within us will protect us twenty-four hours a day, and will protect us even after we leave this body.
Q: If we get everything from our Master, is practicing our meditation the best way we can compensate?
M: Yes, that's the best for world, for yourself, and for the Master. The more you meditate, the more wisdom you have, the more peace you feel, and the more detachment you grow into. You live in the world, but you don't feel attached to the world. And you forgive people easily, because you're contented within. Before initiation or before practicing meditation, if someone scolded you, you felt very upset or angry, but now sometimes you don't care that much. Sometimes you just smile away. Maybe you react, but not with anger like before. Sometimes you might pretend to be angry just to suit the circumstance, but you're not truly very deeply hurt like before. Sometimes you might cry or laugh like before, but your crying and laughing are not the same anymore, not so deeply emotional. We cry and laugh just like it rains - it must rain or it must shine - without attachment. Even if we have anger or an emotional upheaval, it's just very short, and not for so many long days like before. If you feel this, that's the mark of your success in meditation. That's a great improvement - not vision, not magical power, not riches, not healing powers and all those sorts of things. No, these are not important. Love is important. If you feel your love inside that emanates toward all beings and you feel peace within yourself, these are what's most important.
People make war with each other because they identify too much with their bodies, with the immediate needs and all the demands of their bodies. Therefore, they kill each other. The only solution to this problem is to find a way to realize that we are not our bodies, and therefore no one opposes us and we are in no danger economically or politically. Enlightenment is the true and lasting answer; otherwise, we will continue to identify with our bodies and try to fulfill the needs of the body out of worry that other people will come and steal our crops, take our wives, or invade our nations.
Some nations make war with each other because they want to expand their economic power. In order to feed their overpopulated countries, they fight to gain more land, to gain more of the economic market, etc. It all has to do with the body. Even though we say it is differences in ideals, it all amounts to bodily demands. If we become enlightened, these wars will stop by themselves. We will realize truly the brotherhood of humankind.
Human beings are the most precious and wisest beings in the world. Therefore, you can go to school at such a young age, understand what the teachers teach, and become increasingly intelligent and better. If you were to put a bird in school, would it learn anything? (Children: No.) However, we humans should be worthy of our behavior, otherwise, we're no better than animals.
We humans also have the qualities of animals; for example, when we enjoy bullfighting or cockfighting. What do we look like when we sleep too much? (Children: Pigs.) And what do we look like when we eat too much? (Children: Pigs.) Still pigs? (Laughter) Are pigs so bad? They have both of these qualities. (Laughter) I mean we human beings also have animals' qualities, but that doesn't mean we are lousy. Why do we have these animals' qualities? It's because we have bodies like theirs. Animals also have eyes, noses, ears, and mouths. Some animals also have hands, and some don't have hands, but they have wings. So, we just cann't get away from animals' qualities.
However, human beings have an advantage: We can control these qualities, increase or decrease them, depending on how strong our willpower is. For example, sometimes when we eat too much, we can retrospect and tell ourselves, "Oh, you don't have to eat so much. Eat just enough! Otherwise, you will soon get sleepy, or you may lose concentration in school. When the teacher teaches, you will begin to snore." We can warn ourselves like this, and then we'll eat less. Or when it's time to go to school, but we have not had breakfast, we can tell ourselves, "It's time to go to school. That's more important. I can eat when I have time."
But a pig can't do that. If a pig goes to school, it has to eat until it's full before it's willing to go. Even if you put the food aside, it will rush to get it. Therefore, although we humans have animals' qualities, we still have wisdom and willpower, with which we can control ourselves and develop other good qualities in ourselves. But animals can't do that, not even the intelligent ones. They can't learn as much as we humans can.
People are different in terms of intelligence and talents. Some are smart; others are awkward. The difference comes from their knowledge or inborn talents. Some are born clever; some have to study long to catch up; others are still awkward even if they go to school. Although they can become a little more intelligent than before, the difference is barely perceptible because they don't study hard.
However, since we practice spiritually, we understand everything very quickly. That's why some schools also teach their students meditation. But the meditation has to be very short, because they are mostly not vegetarians. Of course, they practice ordinary methods only. But they still benefit a lot, even if they practice like that. Their intelligence grows and they become smarter.
Originally, we humans came from very high dimensions, where we already knew everything. Our minds are full of all kinds of materials and they'll be of use if we know how to operate with them. Our brain is just like a computer that's full of all kinds of materials from the universe. It's just that most of these materials we can't utilize because we don't know how to operate it.
We practitioners have to find the right "keys" and then we can understand everything, we can do anything, and we can do everything much better than ordinary people. It's because after we practice, our inner wisdom adjusts itself automatically and the inner Master presses the right keys for us whenever we need anything. It provides us with the necessary materials. This is nothing mysterious! If anything we request comes true, it's because we have it originally. It comes out when we press the right keys. There's nothing mystical about it!
Sometimes we don't know how to choose the right keys because we haven't learned how. Thus, we pray to God for help because the we will know how to choose the right keys, and miracles will happen. Every request is answered because we've found the right keys. After we practice well, we don't have to pray to God for anything. We have everything we want because we know how to find the right keys.
We meditate, keep a vegetarian diet, carry out charitable acts, and observe the precepts. All of these things are part of spiritual practice. The more we practice, the more we know how to handle our own things, the more we know how to use our abundant inner materials, and the more we know what to use in various situations. You have heard many miraculous stories about great practitioners performing magical feats or performing miracles in the Himalayas. They can do these things because they practice, not because they have magical power. Each one of us can have this power. Whatever Jesus can do, we can do also, provided we know how.
The same goes for school. Before you started going to school, you couldn't even read the ABC's, but now you can. Why? There's nothing miraculous about it: It's because you have learned them. Those who have not learned them can't read the ABC's however simple they're.
Spiritual practitioners go to a different school, one that's higher than universities. Our worldly knowledge ends at the universities. Secondary schools are higher than primary schools, and universities are higher than high schools, but that's the end of worldly knowledge. If we want to know greater things, we want to know about the universe or other mysterious things, we have to practice spiritually.
After we graduate from the university, we should go to Buddha's or God's school if we want to enhance our wisdom. It's just another kind of school. But this kind of school is different from ordinary schools because it doesn't involve organizational work. There are no written tests, and there are no tuition fees, and students don't have to go to school every day. That's why people don't think it's a kind of school. Of course, we can do as ordinary schools do, but I think people who can go to this kind of school are already mature. They are good enough and don't need the kinds of disciplinary methods that are used to control children. So, this kind of school is freer.
Although this kind of school is freer, students have to study very hard. They have to meditate at least two and a half hours a day and strictly observe the precepts. It's stricter than ordinary schools in this respect. And there are still tests although they are not in written form. Ask your parents. They have a lot of tests. Sometimes, if they can't pass the tests, their levels drop. But that doesn't matter since they can take the tests again! We have no deadlines for the tests. It doesn't matter when or how many times you take the tests! You can continue to take the tests as long as you have patience and sincerity. In this school, you also learn a superior kind of knowledge.
Therefore, it's also a kind of school here. I teach different knowledge, which is superior to that of the university. Worldly knowledge cannot compare with this knowledge because there are many mystical things that cannot be explained through worldly knowledge. Universities have their good points; many different subjects are taught there. However, we teach everything here, and it's taught inwardly without the use of language. Our school is thus a superior school.
Now you're still in primary and secondary school, so you should study hard and do your homework carefully. But you shouldn't do it for fame or fortune. You shouldn't do it because you want to become a boss, run a big factory or become a president. You should do it as part of your responsibility, to please your parents and teachers, to fulfill your duty as a member of society. After we complete our education, we go wherever God arranges for us to go, and do whatever God arranges for us to do because we know God will take care of everything.
Read Good Books from a Young Age and Cultivate Good Ethics
When I was a student of about your age, I loved reading books. We should not only read books from school, but also other books that are worth reading, such as scriptures and books about ethics or life philosophy, which are very nice and interesting. If we read many books, we won't misbehave outside, and we won't have too much free time, so our minds won't be misled. You're still young; it's okay. After you grow older, you should read more books and do more research. There are many kinds of books in this world. Some are scientific books and some are medical books or theological books. We can read and research any books that are beneficial to us.
If we learn to be a good person at a young age, we won't bring trouble to other people when we grow up. Therefore, we should learn basic ethics from childhood. If there's anything you don't understand, ask your parents first. I think your parents are very good. They practice spiritually, and they have good morals and common sense. They're older than you are and have learned with me longer than you have. Ask them first about things that you don't understand. Ask before you grow up; otherwise, it will be too late.
Some initiates come to learn with me when they are old, and I become tired when I teach them. There's an Aulacese saying that goes, "Bend the bamboo when it's tender; you cannot bend it as you like when it grows up." Similarly, my parents trained me strictly when I was young. Sometimes I didn't like it, and I'd say, "Oh, I'm just a kid! Why are you so tough on me?" However, after I grew up, I appreciated my parents very much because everything I do right is to be attributed to my parents' strict discipline. If I do anything wrong, it's my own fault.
Although you're still young, you'll grow up very soon. I felt I was like you yesterday, but I became like this very quickly (Master laughs); I've gotten a few extra strands of white hair. Time really flies! When you're still a student, you have plenty of time, so you should study hard, and look for good books to read; otherwise, you won't have time for it after you grow up. Ask your parents if it's true that they don't have time to read books. They can't be absorbed in the books when they do read, because they're always dealing with this and that, busy with financial problems, and busy with daily troubles so they can't concentrate on reading.
If you're not a good child now, who can help you after you grow up? Bad kids become bad adults, and they make families and society unstable, and bring chaos to their country. Therefore, for society to be sound and stable, it has to depend on you, the future pillars. You should behave well from now on, and cultivate your manners.
Do you remember the story about Mencius' mother moving her residence three times? (Children: Yes.) If it weren't important to study well at a young age, Mencius' mother wouldn't have exerted so much effort to move! Now that you have such good parents and a good learning environment, you should really study well. Read any good books you know of. Ask your parents if you don't know of any. Ask them to find some good books for you. When you have free time, don't play too much. Have enough fun. Do some physical exercises to keep fit. That's enough. Read some meaningful and moral books. You should learn basic ethics from a young age; otherwise, it'll be too late.
When I was little, I liked moral books very much, such as books that teach us not to steal under any circumstances, or not to take what doesn't belong to us. After I grew up, there was a time when I drifted. But I wouldn't steal even if I had no money on me. Once, when I was in Au Lac, a friend let me live in his house, but he didn't know that I had no money and I didn't tell him. One day, I was very hungry, but I had no money. It was wartime, so I couldn't receive money from home, which put me in an urgent situation. My friend put all his family's food on the table, and it looked delicious and smelled good. I didn't eat it although I had gone hungry for days because they had not returned home by that time. I didn't tell them about my situation. I tried to get a job or find some other way to settle the problem. I did so because I had been trained that way from the time I was young.
My friend's family trusted me very much, and they left me at home when they went out. I didn't touch their property or steal their food because I had learned that from when I was young. My parents didn't wait to teach me only when the circumstances arose, which might have been too late. Just like when you learn Chinese, you should learn when you are young, and then you can speak it fluently later. You will learn how to use all kinds of words, and then you will speak Chinese very well. There was another time when I lived in Paris. I didn't have much money with me, because I was an overseas student. I lived somewhere first and then I had to move to the other place for some reason. I needed money to move, but I didn't have very much money at the time. You know, things are very expensive in Paris! The rent is much higher than in Taipei. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me, a foreign student, to be forced to move immediately!
One evening, I was looking for a job, one that offered living accommodations, so that I could resume my education. It was OK for me to study at night and work during the day. I went to look for a job, but did not find one. On my way home, I passed by a park, and a man thought I was a "street girl," so he showed me a lot of money and wanted me to go home with him. Of course, I said, "No!" He first showed me 200 US dollars, and then raised it to 400. I said, "No" again. Then he raised it to 600, so I warned him, "If you say another word, I'll call the police!" The man became frightened, and then he finally realized I was not that kind of woman so he ran away. Six hundred dollars was a lot of money at that time.
Why didn't I forget my honor or morality for the sake of money? Because I had read good books from the time I was young, and it became a habit of mine to resist worldly fame or fortune in any situation. I liked to read moral books such as Zhuan Tze, Lao Tze, or the Buddhist scriptures. Others like The Story of the Gods, Spring and Autumn, Tales of the Three Kingdoms, Tales of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, The Thousand Flower Mansion, and tales of Chengyaojin (a humorous and loyal character in Chinese folklore) are also books containing moral lessons. In these books, good people obtain good consequences, and receive special protection or help whenever they encounter disaster. Bad people are found out sooner or later, and are punished in the end. These stories teach us and firmly build up our ethics.
If we cultivate our basic ethics at a young age, we'll not waver in any situation; otherwise, we'll fail our first test. We'll harm other people or seek fame and fortune in dishonorable ways. We'll not mind even if we sell ourselves or hurt our honor.
Therefore, I think you should form the habit of taking care of the moral aspects of your life since you are little and not just read your textbooks, or just learn foreign languages or math. That's not enough; although they make us a little more intelligent. They make us know how to do business, or teach us how to find good jobs, but they cannot build up our moral concepts or protect our souls or dignity. Therefore, if your school doesn't teach you about ethics, you should train yourselves, or read some good books. When you have free time, don't indulge yourselves in meaningless games. You can play games, but don't overdo it; otherwise, you'll waste a lot of precious time.
You remember and absorb everything you learn at this age, so it matters what you absorb! Keep away from immoral books and violent movies. Choose the right movies or books so that you can develop a good spirit, and nourish healthy ethics. You should cultivate this habit at a young age and refuse immoral publications and films. You don't have to wait for your parents to forbid you and then protest against it. You should be responsible for yourselves. Even if you're still young, you're human beings. You have eyes, a nose, and ears, just like I do. So if I could read good books when I was young, you can do it, too.
From now on, you should begin to discipline yourselves, and get prepared for your future life; or else, you'll have no time for it after you grow up. At that time, you might make boyfriends or girlfriends, and concern yourself with romance. You might also be concerned with taking on family responsibilities after you get married. You might be involved in earning money after you find a job. So how can you find time to train yourselves? Therefore, this is the best time to train yourselves because you don't have much responsibility now, and your parents take care of you very well, buying clothes for you and cooking for you, so you have nothing to worry about.
So, cultivate your moral concepts from now on, and make them sound and healthy. Then you'll become a good citizen after you grow up. You'll become a good husband or wife, and you'll be good in every respect! "Cultivate yourself, discipline your family, govern your country, and bring peace to the world." You should undergo all this training when you are young, otherwise when will you have the time to do it later? You should learn from our ancestors, you should learn from the good scriptures passed down from the ancient Masters, you should learn good morals and precepts, and you should train yourselves from childhood!
When we suddenly encounter a catastrophe or karmic hindrance, we're shocked and can't think straight. So sometimes you may hear monastic disciples say that I always ask them to do things suddenly. Being sudden is also good; karmic hindrances also come very suddenly, don't they? Thus we ought to train ourselves to respond quickly at all times so that we can protect ourselves and get used to that vibrational energy. Then, when we later become an enlightened Master, we'll be able to ascend to Heaven or descend to hell in no time at all. If, at such times, you still ponder whether it's the right time to go to hell or Heaven, it'll never work.
The faster we are, the easier it'll be for us to be omnipresent later. We won't have to come and go; it will seem as if we had never come or gone because we're so extremely fast that we transcend the worldly concepts of time and space. We simply connect different areas of space together, transforming them into the same point. It's like an ant trying to crawl from one end of a piece of paper to the other; if we fold the paper, the ant can cross over in one leap. That's the logic in transforming space; though there's a different way to do it.
There are secret tips to learning martial arts or any other thing; not only diligence is required. Under the same theory, the enlightened Saints have their own ways of doing things. They act extremely quickly without moving at all. That's why they're venerated as being "omnipresent," that is, motionless. They're motionless, but they can accomplish anything and go anywhere. They're present in every place without having to go there. Only this is true magical power; only this is the true supreme level in spiritual practice. It requires no effort! So sometimes you say that Master's transformation body has been here and there, doing this and that, or saving you in this or that place, but actually I never went anywhere or took any action. Also, I never performed any mudras (ritual hand gestures). You can see that I haven't moved at all! Have you, monastic practitioners by my side, ever seen me recite any incantations or perform any mudras? Never! Most probably at such times I'm sleeping, playing a musical instrument, playing chess, reciting poems, singing songs, planting grass or correcting someone. I could be doing anything. It requires no effort.
Take the example of a tai chi expert, a brother initiate. He doesn't have to lift his finger, yet anyone who touches him falls down. This is only when people touch him; he doesn't touch them! Anyone who touches him accidentally falls down by himself. Some people have practiced martial arts to such a superior level that they don't have to move their hands. They're different than those who use a lot of force, kick fiercely and look rather brutal. When such people encounter someone more powerful, they're brought down. For martial arts experts who use very little force, an opponent cannot bring them down. This is the theory of "softness subduing sheer strength." In the universe, softness always subdues sheer strength. Anything that has lesser strength but is more intangible, more formless and more pliable is more powerful.
You see, air is vital to us, and dripping water can penetrate rocks. The longer the water drips, the deeper it penetrates. "Chi" - the vital life force - can sustain the body and even the whole universe. This invisible vital force - the vibration of Sound meditation - is even more inconceivable. Nothing is better because It's the Mother of the universe and gives birth to all forms of creation. When we get hold of It, we'll have all the secrets of the universe in our hands. Getting hold of the mother means getting hold of the children, and we'll know where the whole family is. This is simple logic. It's just like in the ancient battles, if the general was killed, the whole army would become like a headless snake, fall into complete disarray and be easily defeated.
Similarly, all the scriptures that we study mention the vibration of the universe, the Sound, that is, the Tao, the original power. Getting hold of It means getting hold of everything. If we get hold of other things, for example, magical powers or intelligence, we've grabbed only one small part, one corner, but not the head. For humans or other creatures, once their head is caught, they're doomed. Isn't that right? That's why we say that the Quan Yin Method is the best, the most original, the fastest and the highest. There's nothing better. This is really true. No matter how much you research, this will be the ultimate conclusion. I'm very happy to have found this Method and that you too have gotten hold of It. We're indeed very fortunate!
The only source of happiness is inside. So whenever you meditate, try to get in touch with that source. It's only one little center inside the so-called brain. It's there, physically inside the brain. Every little nerve and center is responsible for something in our being - psychologically, emotionally and physically. And another one is spiritually responsible for our enlightenment and eternal happiness. There is a little center, almost in the middle of the brain physically. From here (Master points to the middle of Her forehead) and here (the top of the head) go inward into two-thirds of the head. The wisdom eye center must be there, really inside.
So when you look with the wisdom eye, it means you are trying to make contact with that center. Even just sometimes, when you make contact there, in just a matter of seconds you immediately feel different. There is a flash of light and then you feel elated for a long time. Of course you cannot always get in touch with that center, or you are not consciously always in touch with that center. But keep practicing. Practice makes the Master. That's what we do. I am still doing it. I need my happiness to "deal" with all of you! I will die if I don't have this joyful energy to give me something every day to carry on with my work.
You cannot always keep on giving. You will be depleted if you give with the ego or the physical strength of an ordinary human being. Then you will come down in your spiritual practice, and you will become bad and sour. And that's how many so-called gurus became bad, sour and degraded after some time. Perhaps in the beginning they were very pure, very holy and very saintly. But because the method of their practice was not correct and was not directing them toward this forever giving, eternally content center (Master gestures toward the wisdom eye center), they gave everything they had, with all the best intentions, and then they crumbled. They succumbed to all kinds of traps and temptations, like the pressures of society and every circumstance around them.
But these people are very pitiful. If they are such people, we feel more sorry for them. Because they haven't been able to stand themselves, and they have been forced to run. That's why they failed. And that's why I always emphasize to you that you must meditate. Not so that you become good disciples, no, but to save yourselves.
Q: Is it correct to say that You know everything but You only choose to respond to some things and other things You just don't respond to, even though You know.
M: I also don't know. [Master and all laugh] These are very intellectual issues. You know, the mind is different from the soul. The body is different from the Master Power. The body eats, but the Master power doesn't. The body sleeps; the Master Power stays awake 24 hours. The mind responds, and the Master Power just acts with knowledge; it doesn't react. The Master Power has to be above the body, outside the body, and inside the body, in order to know everything at the same time.
If it's not really necessary, the Master Power does not direct the mind to understand that, or to do anything. If it's really necessary, then the Master Power will direct the mind to do something, to react to something physically. If not, the Master Power just does it in the abstract sense - outside of the physical realm. Not that the body can understand; not that you and I can understand; not that the brain can understand. The Master Power works 24 hours nonstop. The brain can get tired, overloaded, and exhausted because of too much information, too much stress or too much thinking. The Master Power never does.
So, what you're referring to right now, whether I know or not know, refers to my brain. In order to know the way you think I should know right now, I have to use the brain to know the way you think. But that's also the brain's domain. Knowing is the Master Power. The mind can be briefed about it with a little information. It doesn't have to know. If that thing is really important, the Master makes the mind react, makes me react - "me," in the physical sense that you see. However the "me" who is the Master Power always does something, always knows everything, but not in the physical realm.
In the physical realm, if something happens, if something is necessary, then the Master Power directs the body and the mind to do it for that particular thing, that particular event only. Not everything else that the Master does the body should know, or the brain should understand, because the brain and the body are limited. They will burst, explode, become exhausted, be overpowered; they cannot take too much. So, the Master Power does things, not always with the body and with the brain. Even the physical Master's body and brain can only take so much. Just like your car, it doesn't matter if you are a president or king of the Arabian world, you can't drive your car all day, all night, every day, every night. Even if it's a Rolls Royce, a Volvo, or a Mercedes, it needs a rest sometimes. It needs gas; it needs a lot of things. But actually, the Master's body is more than a car, of course. It is different, but it can get exhausted also, because of the law of the universe, the material law. So that's why I tell you, just take my teachings, do the meditation, and don't bother about what the body does or what I'm doing.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Why are the Enlightened Masters capable of doing anything? It is because They are always in a state of concentration, focusing Their acts, speech and thoughts on whatever They are doing, and at the same time being omnipresent.
When a Master comes to Earth, not only are the disciples uplifted and shown wisdom, but the whole race of humankind is purified and uplifted to a certain higher level of consciousness.
Q: I love my original master very deeply and usually recite his name. If I continue to do this, will I lose Your love and blessing? I love both of you. There's no difference because without my original Master I would not be alive to sit here and listen to Your lecture.
M: I'm not in competition with anyone. You can love ten more masters if you wish. No problem. Just be enlightened. That is the best way to show gratitude to your previous master. You don't even need to be grateful to me, or anything. Whatever you do, I love you all the same. It's you who probably do not love yourself because you think, "I do that very badly; I do this very badly." And it's you yourself, who stop feeling loved.
To the ones who have progressed: congratulations. You've done your best. You've put down many things. That's how you've progressed. For the ones who have not progressed: You have progressed, but too little.
The only secret is to put it down. God takes care of everything. We can't do anything! If God's Grace isn't there, we can't do anything. Of course, you come here and ask me to intervene in your destiny. Sometimes I could ask God to do it. But it's not my problem. I could intervene; I could do anything for you. But it's your problem. Because if you come here with that intention, that's all you get. Maybe your son gets better or your daughter has a good marriage, but that's all you get. The whole treasure, you leave behind. And that's a pity for you.
That's why I'm not bothered if you ask me any questions, even mundane or petty questions; I can answer them for you. I can help you with anything. But I just feel bad for you. You came here for only five days, and you can't even remember God.
Just for once, you should come here just for Hirm, just for God! But no, you always come here and try to make excuses, asking for all kinds of favors. All these kinds of favors you could ask for at home. I tell you truly: Anytime you pray to God or the Master Power, it's heard. We're not deaf! I hope you don't think so. (Audience applauds.)
And I hope you don't think that "I" am here (Master indicates the physical body) -- that I am sick, I am ill, I am weak, I am small, I am big, I am this and that. No, no, no! It's not me; it's not this person. We're not deaf, we're not dumb, we're not blind and we're not stupid. So there's no need to come here whining about your family and friends or your problems and misfortunes. You can; you can talk to me about anything you want. Of course, if you want to take me as a mother, as a friend, as a shoulder to cry on, that's fine also. But remember, these are only secondary.
And whenever a retreat comes, you should take advantage of the time, of no disturbances, no demands from family and friends, no business, no work, no boss, no colleagues, no husband or wife ¡V we separate for you ¡V no quarrels, no kids. You should concentrate. Treasure this time as if, after this, you'll die. You'd have no more chance then to even worry about your family, who would be left behind! Will you have a chance to worry about them when you die? No! And you don't know if I'll be alive again the next day, much less after five days if I'll still be here to conduct another retreat. So you're really silly.
The ones who don't progress are really silly. Every time you come to a retreat, we remind you to concentrate on one Guy only: one Husband, one Wife. That's true faithfulness. It's not about you being loyal to your spouse on this planet. But you have to be loyal to the Spouse in Heaven; this is most important because the spouse here can leave you at any time. If you become ugly, sick, old, or he meets someone better, like the karma loosens and he meets someone from a past life he feels better with, then you're doomed. But the Spouse in Heaven will never, ever leave us. And we're very unfaithful; that's bad news. Nevertheless, I hope you learned your lesson this time, those of you who haven't progressed. Whenever or if we have a next time again, take your chance then, OK? (Applause)
I'm not angry with you; I'm not frustrated with you; I'm nothing. I just do whatever I have to do, at that moment only. So whatever poison you feel, give it back to me now. You can go home and you're free. You're good, you're perfect again, and you're the person you are. When you're here, I have to correct you, I have to cleanse you, and the process is sometimes very painful for both of us. But it's OK. It's done, and you're free. After the five days, whatever's bad here or good here, it's gone. (Applause)
So you're perfect, you're loved and you're wanted, as usual, and during the retreat, too. But other kinds of treatment might make you feel that you're unwanted or unloved. It's not true. It's just that administering medicine was necessary at that time. So whatever you don't need, give it back; put it back right here and go home free. You're perfect as usual, even if you haven't progressed. You've just learned another lesson, at your own expense. I mean, money-wise, also. (Master laughs.) You spend a lot of money, coming here and going back for nothing.
It's not my fault; I sell everything! Everyone has the same sale. I don't reserve anything for anyone special; everyone can have the same merchandise. If you want to buy it, everyone has a chance.
Now, for the ones who have progressed, you should be happy and proud of yourselves. I don't have any reward or certificate to give you, but you know you're rewarded. You have your own certificate. You should be happy. (Applause) And for the ones who have not progressed at all or maybe just a little bit, since you can't help but progress a little ¡V I hope there will be a next time for you, so that you can undo your mistakes. Next time, if we have any time, if you have any more chances to come ever again for such a retreat, please be one-pointed as if you're dead. If you're dead, no one can do anything to you. Put the word "Dead" on your forehead before you go out the door. Take it off and say, "I'm alive again!" when you get out of this retreat. That's really what it is. (Applause)
Because if you're not dead to the world, you can't be alive with God. It says the same thing in the Bible: "You can't worship both God and mammon." So we have to be one-pointed. Whatever I did during this retreat was to guard you or herd you into this one-pointedness. Be it loving, be it petting, hugging or scolding, it's all to help you during these five days only. So don't think that you're more special if I give you more tenderness, and don't think that you're terrible if I give you a scolding. You're all equal, equal, equally loved in my heart. (With tears in Her eyes) I love you so much! (Extended applause)
Because even though sometimes you do things I don't like you to do because I know they're not good for your practice, or you have something in your heart that's not good for your practice, I know it's not your fault. It's just the circumstances that made you this way. It's this terrible world that pushes you into these situations.
I have nothing but love for you. I don't want to give you any harsh words or anything, but I have to. It's for your own good, but I just want you to know that I love you through all that. It's just like sometimes you scold your children, but you never stop loving them. And maybe if some of your children aren't well, you put them in the hospital. It's a terrible treatment for them, but you want them to be well. So you put them in the mental ward, because you want their mind to be sharper, you hope, in the future. That's all there is to this treatment, but treatment is never pleasant. Just try to meditate more so you don't have to have this kind of treatment anymore.
Some of you were more enlightened in Heaven before you came here, but you wanted to be even more enlightened than that. For example, when you were 80% enlightened in Heaven, it means you were in the Fourth World or something. But you came down looking for me because you knew I'd be here. And when you came down, your enlightenment became less than when you were in Heaven. And you suffered and suffered here, and forgot everything that was on the path and in Heaven for you. You've suffered more here because you've forgotten.
So I'm trying in every way to make you remember, to reach back there and above it, above the level you were on before you came down. So anything that's possible, I'll do for you. But you also have to try to remember your real Self. Otherwise, the less we remember, the more we suffer. Anyway, I just want you to know that you're very much loved and very much respected because you're good. It's not because you were bad that you're good. It's because the situation makes you so bad, yet you're still trying to be good. That's why you're good. (Applause)
You have so much pressure from home, society, friends, colleagues, jobs, boss, husband, wife and so on. And you still try your best to meditate at home, go to group meditation and also come here on retreat. Even if you come on an airplane, it's easy and all that, but it's not all that easy. So for that, I really love you. I know you try your best, and God will know. So anything you want, you should just pray for at home. The next time you go to a retreat, just desire to know God: For just five days, be dead to the world. (Applause)
This story is called "The Farmer and the Snake." Every day, a farmer went to the city to sell his flowers and farm produce and then went home after selling all his things. One day, he left home very early, so early that when he arrived at the city, the gate was still closed. So he lay down to take a nap, when he awoke he found that the storage bin containing his farm produce had become empty except that there was a gold coin inside. Although all the things in the bin had vanished, the gold was much more valuable so he was still very happy. He thought most probably someone had taken his things and left the payment there, and went home happily with the money.
The next day, the farmer again went out to sell his things but again arrived too early so he slept outside the city gate just like he had done the day before. And the incident repeated itself. All the produce that the farmer had brought disappeared, and there was a gold coin in the bin! At that time, gold was very valuable. One gold coin had a value many times higher than the farmer's produce.
Then one day some time later, the farmer's father asked him, "Where have you gotten so many gold coins lately? Where did the money come from?" So the farmer revealed to his father what had happened. After listening to his story, the father thought, "One day I'll follow my son as he goes out, and see who's been consuming his things and leaving the money in the bin."
So one day, when the farmer went out to do business, his father quietly followed him. While the farmer was sleeping near the city gate, his father saw a snake crawl up to his bin and eat his produce. Having finished eating, the snake once again spat a gold coin into the bin as payment to the farmer before leaving. Seeing this, the farmer's father thought, "If I kill the snake, I'll be able to seize all its gold coins!" He then picked up a stone and cut the snake into two parts.
At that time, the head and trunk of the snake were already in its den, and only the tail was outside. The father thought that there must be a big treasure in the den so he told his son to reach inside for it. But unexpectedly, when the farmer reached his hand into the den, the snake bit and killed him! Even though it had been cut into two, the snake could still bite! I understand how this could have happened because that was how I got bitten when I was small. At that time, I saw a centipede that had been beaten and squashed by someone, leaving only the head intact. I thought it was dead, and to make sure, I poked it with my foot. It bit me hard and I cried for three days. (Laughter) I was really dumb! Remember! Don't play with a centipede even if it looks dead. Sometimes it just fakes death; it's not really dead.
Perhaps that was what happened to the snake in the story. Its head wasn't dead yet. Thus, it bit the farmer, who subsequently died. Seeing his son killed, the farmer's father cried brokenheartedly next to the son's dead body and asked the snake, "You snake! Why did you kill my son? Why did you bite my son and kill him?" Instead of answering him, the snake asked, "Why did you break my back with the stone? There was no animosity between us. I had never done anything bad to you, nor had I done you any harm. If you had been more patient and waited, I would have given the entire treasure here to you. However, because you struck me, I bit and killed your son. Had I killed you instead, you would not be in such deep sorrow. I killed your son so that you'd live the rest of your life in agony." This snake was venomously wise! Instead of biting the man who tried to kill it, it bit his son so that the father would be in agony for the rest of his life. It was truly amazing!
We can also learn something from this story. Sometimes you may ask me, "Why don't You take me to the Fifth Realm immediately? As such I'll be liberated from suffering and promptly become a Buddha. Wouldn't it be better? Why do You tell me to meditate for two and a half hours each day, and observe the Five Precepts and a vegetarian diet? This is too slow, way too slow!" Actually, this isn't slow! You can digest it only in this way. If I gave you too much at one time, you'd be filled to death! Because you're too greedy, in the end you get nothing at all.
Sometimes we spiritual practitioners have no obstacles. We understand very well why we're pursuing this spiritual path. Every day we meditate diligently without any doubts and never create obstacles for ourselves. However, when Maya can't hinder us from practicing spirituality, it annoys our relatives, using them to obstruct us and cause us harm. Shakyamuni Buddha once said that when Maya couldn't attack the Buddha, it would attack His disciples. So when the disciples sometimes encounter many troubles, the Master is also involved and affected. It's because the Master can't look on without doing anything when the disciples are in danger. This is like when parents see something happen to their children. They don't have the heart to just stand there watching so they're definitely affected.
In the course of spiritual practice, it's inevitable that you'll sometimes have friction with relatives and friends. We all have such experiences. Just try your best to endure, explain to them, neglect them, leave them, ignore them or be as cordial as you can. We should react depending on the situation. Each person has different situations; there's no way that I can set an exact example for you. You have to apply your wisdom to handle problems to reach a satisfactory result as best you can. Nonetheless, you mustn't give in too much and sacrifice your spiritual progress.
Q: What is the real practical purpose in our everyday life of following this meditation? Where will You lead us?
M: Because we don't use our complete wisdom, we have a lot of anxiety, and sometimes we do things in an unsure way. Sometimes, we are unhappy and feel many external pressures, and also we are frightened of situations; therefore, we are not peaceful and stable no matter which position or how much money we have. If we find this greatest Wisdom inside, we can do things better and clearer. We are happier, more stable, and peaceful, and this is good for daily life already. Also, we love others more unconditionally; all hatred and envy fall away.
The Quan Yin Method is also a kind of martial art. With this martial art we can conquer all kinds of negative forces within and without ourselves. ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
Our God Nature is great and infinite. We ought to develop and recognize It every day instead of just being content with a little enlightenment. This is absolutely not enough!
The God Nature is Great and Infinite
You must meditate more! Otherwise, not only will you do things poorly, but you will also feel mentally uncomfortable. If you've meditated a lot, you look at everything cheerfully and you're mentally relaxed. Isn't that right? (Yes!)
Meditation doesn't mean just sitting there cross-legged. You also have to focus inwardly with sincerity and concentrate inside, ignoring worldly matters. If we can remain in this state for twenty-four hours a day, our aura will become very comfortable. We'll look at everything lightheartedly, and won't keep it in our minds for a long time.
Don't think that it's enough to be enlightened. Take Shakyamuni Buddha for example. After He was enlightened, He continued to meditate daily to make Himself more enlightened. Our God Nature is not that limited. So, don't be overjoyed at just seeing a star or the moon. Don't think that it's enough to be able to see the inner Light, or the Amitabha's World, or the Heavenly realms every day. Our God Nature is great and infinite, and we ought to develop and recognize It each day instead of just being content with a little enlightenment. This is absolutely not enough!
Transcend Gossip and Rise to Great Heights
Some spiritual practitioners aren't cultivated enough, or don't even meditate at all, but then they complain that their lives aren't comfortable. When our lives aren't comfortable, we should meditate more! Only through meditation can our lives become a little more pleasant. Otherwise, we're engulfed by the bad atmosphere of the world. How can we find ease under such circumstances?
Thus, you had better ignore these senseless, trivial matters. The less you know about the things of the world, the better it is for you. Don't care about too many trivialities. You ought to transcend and ascend. Only then can you practice with tranquility, attain greater enlightenment, experience results in meditation and have motivation. Otherwise, caring about these trifles all day long will make it very difficult for you to meditate with concentration. If you just sit there wrestling with the chaotic, distracting thoughts that constantly emerge, how can you possibly sit still?
The best way for us is to soar high and ascend, transcending all the gossip in this world. That's why I'm always changing in this aspect or that aspect, just to let you learn this lesson. You have to learn faster, and not confine yourselves in these petty, useless and worthless corners of your life.
Don't be Hooked by a Tiny Thorn
Each time we're angry or critical, our hearts become narrower and can't accommodate all. It's like when your clothes are hooked by a little thorn on a tree, and you can't free yourself unless you pull out the thorn, however tiny it is. So, we shouldn't mind our neighbors or our Master, or the good or bad in anyone. Only then can we meditate wholeheartedly. If there's any garbage in our hearts, we'll be stuck there; we'll be hindered.
Why have you progressed so quickly in your spiritual practice? It's because I change a lot, and you can never "catch" me in time. (Master and everyone laugh.) You're not fast enough to get attached, to praise or to cling to any form. All you have to do is follow my teachings to practice, and you'll benefit and progress, and then be happy, joyful and cheerful. However I act is my own personal matter. It has nothing to do with you. It's the Master's Power, the universal power, and not I, this person, who is helping you. Therefore, don't mind what I do, and especially don't care about the rights and wrongs of your neighbors and fellow practitioners. Of course, if you feel that they've done something wrong, and you can't stand it anymore, then you may talk to them. If they don't listen, forget it. Don't keep it in your mind for long.
Sometimes, when we're angry with someone, do we meditate badly? (Yes.) The more you try to forget him, the more his disgusting face appears before you, (laughter) just like watching television. However, a television is easy to turn off, but his image is out of control and keeps appearing right in front of your wisdom eye. It's truly intolerable!
Thus, try not to mind about the good and bad aspects of other people. Let the big ones become small, and the small ones turn into nothing. Try your best to forgive and understand others. The more we forgive and understand, the better it will be. Don't be angry with people. When we're angry for a long time, cancer may develop in the body. You all know that anger is the most harmful emotion to the body.
Dissolve Anger to Benefit Yourselves and Others
When you're very angry, try your best to reduce your anger; if it's only a small anger, try your best to reduce it to nothing. Later, just laugh and forget about it. This is better for us. We can control our emotions; it's not that we can't. If we can control them, then it's very good for us.
I've tried this. Just as we adjust the sound volume higher or lower, we can also adjust our anger. It's up to us. If we turn our anger higher, we'll be in a bad mood the whole day, and it's also harmful for other people. If we turn down our anger a little, later it will seem as if nothing has happened. It's good for us and for everyone else as well.
Q: I work in a hospital; sometimes I work with children who are very sick. I was wondering why it is that some small children, who have no choice and who can make no mistakes, have to suffer so much?
M: I understand your heart. I used to wonder like that also. I used to say, "If we are adults, we can make some mistakes and take the retribution for it, but the children are so innocent." But now I know. That is the law of reincarnation, As you sow, so shall you reap. If you do not reap enough in this life, you will reap in the next life. You reap the minute you are born; otherwise, how can we explain God's mercy, which is so differentiated? Some are born with disease, some are born having some trouble, some are born blind, some are born deaf, etc. God is ever merciful; it is just that we must reap what we have sown. Otherwise, we can't explain it. Now, it may be difficult to believe this, but it isn't difficult if we meditate in some kind of transcendental way. We may go to a higher plane of consciousness and see through the past lives of a person, and we can know why it so happened. Then we are satisfied or justified.
I'm happy to know that you work from your heart. Anyhow, every time you work, try not to feel personally involved; otherwise, you will be drained of energy. Just do your best and leave everything to God. It's God Who cures or Who severs. It's not in our hands to help. Actually, Hes only uses our hands to help those whom Hes wants to help and who deserve the help. The others have to go through some kind of lessons, some kind of cleansing process through suffering, in order to be greater in the next lifetime. We are continually in eternity. We are not born only once. Otherwise, it would be too depressing. One hundred years - what a waste of creative energy on God's part. Hes creates, and we live all the time. What we do mistakenly in this life, we will make up for in the next. What we cannot pay for in this life, we will pay for in the next - just like taking out a mortgage.
Why do you sometimes hear the Sound but not see the Light when you practice the Quan Yin Method? - Because of breakdowns - television breakdowns. Therefore, we need to repair it very diligently every day. How? We have to be pure in thought, speech and action. We should not hate anyone; we should endure everything. No matter how others treat us, we have to use endurance and love. That is the way to repair our breakdowns.
Why do we have breakdowns? - Because our angry atmosphere becomes a very hard substance. It stands in front of us and keeps us from the Truth. We ourselves create all our breakdowns. When we are angry, we form a very dense and unpleasant magnetic field. The thick, dark and unpleasant magnetic field covers us like a wall and keeps us from goodness. It covers us and is very close to us just as though it were our clothes; very dirty ones which make it impossible for us to connect with the good magnetic field. That is why we cannot see the bright kingdom of God; we only see the painful karma.
We have to purify our thoughts, speech and actions, and keep the Precepts in order to repair our broken-down television and watch it every day. The TV outside takes money, cables and performers, but the inner TV doesn't need any of those. A little repairing is enough. We have to use this TV every day, watch it every day, and then we will develop a habit and be able to use it whenever we want.
Remember, you are greater than anything else in this life, be it happiness, disaster, personal affairs, business, success or failure. Nothing is bigger than you are. So keep it up. God loves us. I know that for sure. I experience it often. Even though Hes makes jokes with me sometimes, I am still okay. (Applause)
Really, you'd be surprised. For example, there are sometimes very small things that you don't notice. Like recently I renovated a place where I wanted to stay. It was an old place and it was dirty, so I asked some people to fix it up a few months ago. I left the money with them, but they didn't do it. It was one excuse after another. When I came to the house, it was still empty, dirty and not ready. So I rolled up my sleeves, called people, grabbed anyone I could and finished it in one week. They told me it would take maybe a few months. I said, "Nonsense! There's no such thing as a month of time to waste." So we did it in one week, not even one full week.
I got people only because it was like an emergency; I would grab them wherever I could. In the supermarket or wherever, I would ask them if they wanted an extra job. If they said, "Yes," I would say, "Come here, and I'll tell you what to do." They weren't even professionals, meaning they could only do it after work, from seven to ten at night, or seven to eleven at the most. That's it! But we finished the three or four rooms in one week's time.
But then one place in the kitchen was not painted; because they had to do the tiles first. But the tile guy could not come in the daytime, and that night I had to come here. So I said, "Okay, I'll do it myself." But then I had already worked for a week or more before, running around trying to organize things. So I was very tired. Apart from our other jobs, I also did the painting and sweeping and all those kinds of things, so I felt half-bad. I also had a little physical problem on top of that; I was stiff all over.
Anyhow, on the last day, I was supposed to go, but I said, "I have to paint the kitchen before I go." I wanted it done before I left. So I lay there, tired! I didn't sleep the whole of last night. I said, "Oh, God, how am I going to paint my kitchen now? I'm really tired. I talked big to all the guys, and now I am not doing it." It would be kind of like "losing face." (Master Laughed.)
I kept thinking like that, and then I just walked out the door. I just went out for some reason. And there was a man passing by me on the street, and he wanted to talk to me and said, "Do you need a painter?" (Applause) Yes, it happened. So I said, "What do you paint?" And he said, "I paint the walls and all that." I said, "Oh, when are you available?" He said, "Right now." (Laughter) I said, "Okay, come in." And then I showed him the machine and he got it done in no time. So I finished it before I left. (Applause) In some places you can't just get people like that. Big companies are busy, and it's holiday time and everything. Even if you have money, you cannot pay because people won't just come and work for you when you want. You have to make an appointment, and so on.
But everything just came. Within one week, everyone came: security, carpet, tile, even though they had threatened me before that it would take months to organize such a place. Even in America it takes time. You have to make an appointment, maybe a week ahead at least. Nothing! I did it all in a few days. And everyone just came running from nowhere. Normally, they are busy, and even there you don't get them like that. But I said, "Well, I need it done before I leave, so could you make it?"
And they said, "We'll try." And then they did try. Everyone came. And everything was done in almost one day's time. The rest was just touch-up and everything else. I'm really grateful, you know. The Guy is doing some job, really. Hes is not so bad, you know. Our Father, Hes takes care of it if we really need it. Sometimes we don't need it, and we just want to be spoiled. And that's also fine. But then we don't have a chance to learn what we can do. If we delegate everything to everyone else, then we also delegate the power. The people who do things for us have more chance to learn and to be more capable. And we, meanwhile, are not left with much.
Actually, that's also true. In a lot of things, I am handicapped because I have a lot of people who do things for me. I don't know how to use a computer. I don't know how to use many things that are a lot of fun: e-mail, the Internet and so on. I don't know anything about them. Because I have people who do them for me. Maybe also I don't have time, but if I did have time, I could do it and I would learn some new things. And I would be more able and have more fun. But even before this time, there were many things I didn't do: I didn't book my own airplane tickets, I didn't take taxis, I didn't know where terminal 'what' is and I didn't know what 'where' is.
So I missed out on a lot. There were a lot of things I didn't know. Also, I didn't know about driving. And I didn't know how to spend money. Now I know it's fun! (Laughter) It's fun to spend money. Buying things you need and getting them at the time you need them is fun. It feels satisfying. So I missed out on a lot in life because I was too busy doing all the so-called big things. But it's also good that I learned to do some small things, to get more in touch with life and reality, to truly know how people live their lives and how they feel.
You have no idea how busy I am. It can get quite hectic at times. So don't look at me sitting here smiling and think nothing's happening in the world. Things are happening all the time. But it doesn't do me any good or do you any good if I sit here crying or complaining.
We just smile it away. Things will go away. And most of the time, we see through it as an illusion and just play along. That's it; it's not so bad. To live alone is not so bad. You can see things more clearly and see through the illusion more clearly. But don't see so clearly that you go and leave me! When you see too clearly, you don't want to do much. So sometimes God keeps us a little bit in the dark or in the closet, so we continue to do the things we must do before we leave this world. If we see too clearly, there's not much we want to do, and we want to go Home quickly. We might cheat; we might try to tie things up quickly, do everything fast, put everything together and then say good-bye. Good-bye, cruel world!
Q: Do You believe that the Supreme Maker of the universe, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, said, I am the way, the Truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me, and that no one can enter Heaven, God's home, except by Jesus?
M: Yes, it's true. Every Master says that. Jesus is the name of His body, and Christ is His title. Every Master should have His Christ power; therefore, in a sense, Jesus never died. Jesus works through all the Masters throughout the centuries, throughout the ages, to liberate and enlighten us, the ignorant, who are still left behind. Jesus alone cannot enlighten us if He is gone. Of course, He can to some degree, but we are human. We can't get in touch with Him when He is in a higher sphere; therefore, a physical Master is necessary. But the Christ power works through any physical Master who is destined or posted to be at that time; therefore, when Jesus said He was the only way and the only one, He spoke the absolute truth, but so does any Master, when the Master is alive.
I know it's a trouble with clinging to the Bible - the same with many of the Buddhists. The Bible and the scriptures are excellent evidence of the past Masters, but also excellent stumbling blocks for our intellectual attachments. I know it's very difficult. I only can wish you the best, and I can only be patient to wait until the time comes that you understand. The Bible is only a record of a Super-Master who has graced our Earth, but what about those before Jesus and after Jesus? Those after Jesus, probably we would say, "Okay. We hear His name and we get redeemed." But how about those billion, trillion years before Jesus - there was no one to rescue them or what? Is the Father so merciless as to send only one son and at only one time? Could Hes be so stingy, do you think?
If Jesus really redeems all of us, can you truly answer me, why are we still in ignorance? There are many things we don't know. Heaven, we can't contact. Some people can - when they pray very deeply and sincerely to Jesus, probably He appears to them and teaches some of them, but very few. He doesn't appear to all of us. But to our disciples, He would, because we know how to contact Him. We can ascend to His level and get His teaching directly. I'm not teaching anything different. If you would like to see Jesus and God, I just will help you, if you would like to see Buddha, I will help you - but only if you believe it, instead of clinging to a past record of a great Master, most of which we do not understand.
Q: I see in the recent News magazine that Master stresses the importance of positive thinking. I know that positive thinking will drive positive energy and avoid the negative energy around you. Does positive thinking change karma, or not?
M: Sometimes it can, sometimes it cannot. It depends on how deep the karma is and on how truly positive your thinking is - the power of your thinking not just because you want to think positive, it will be positive. It depends on how much money you spend behind your desire. You can't just desire something and have it. You must have the money for it, too. Similarly, if you think positively, but your mind is not strong enough to invest the power of mental control over this thinking, then even if you think, it's just a thought for a fleeting moment. It doesn't have any effect. So, we must meditate. We must harness the power of our will again in order to focus it together. And once we are focused and we concentrate the power in whichever direction we want to use it, or for whatever purpose, it would be powerful. But before that, whatever you want, whatever you think, is just very flat - no power. So, people just go with positive thinking, but nothing is done. Nothing happens. Then they will doubt the people who say what positive thinking will do. But, it's not the author who says that who is wrong. It's the person who practices, who is wrong. He didn't have enough power to even think, never mind negative or positive.
Q: We must work outside spiritually, but we cannot always choose our work and our boss; and sometimes some bosses are not honest and they force us to follow them because we work for them. They exploit us, they want money, and we have to follow. How can we consolidate this with spirituality? If I could work twenty-four hours a day for You I would do it, but I have to earn money.
M: You don't have to work twenty-four hours for me. Meditate two and a half hours for yourself and that will be enough. Regarding your question, you don't have to follow the boss; you just work for the boss. You do your duty, perfect your job, and earn the money that is assigned to you. Whether the boss is honest or not, you don't care, because you don't really know if the boss is honest or not. If you know and if you feel uncomfortable, then leave and seek another job.
To be a boss is also a very difficult position. As you have pressure from the boss and the job, he has pressure from his job, the environment, and the connecting aspects with his position and his business. He has to struggle in the world of great competition to survive. Sometimes he's forced to do things that he might not conscientiously like to do. So we do not really know. Just forgive him if he is wrong, and do your best in your job.
To be a boss is very difficult, I can tell you. If you make one mistake, you might lose millions of dollars, the whole company will be closed down, and thousands of people will be out of work. So, sometimes the responsibilities and pressures upon the boss are enormous. Maybe we should understand the boss better.
Q: Sometimes I get confused about love and attachment. When you love a person, it becomes attachment. I understand that an attachment results in suffering, so sometimes I feel it's worthless to fall in love.
M: If you fear attachment, then don't love. If you love someone, you have to pay the price. Surely, love includes attachment too, whether we deny it or try to cover it with, "No, I'm not attached to him; I just love him." But this is also a kind of attachment; otherwise, why do you need to love him? You are attached to an object because you love that object. People can tell you to minimize your attachment to give each other more freedom and not to control each other, but just to love unconditionally and try to adjust to each other. That is love with minimized attachment, but not without attachment.
Anyhow, there are many kinds of love. Even the best kind of love in this world, which we say is between a mother and child, still has attachment. Who dares to take a mother's child away, harm or say something bad about her child even though she knows it is true? Her child is the best, better than all the neighbors', even though she knows it is not true. This is also attachment. She cannot leave her child; most can bear it, but not willingly.
Everything has attachment except when you love God. Then you love without attachment because there is nothing to be attached to. You don't gain what we gain materially as in this world. You just gain bliss, happiness and contentment. You cannot be attached to something when there is nothing there. The more you love God, the more relaxed and non-attached you become. But still you can love people in this world because your heart is large. A heart that is large can include anyone, even enemies; otherwise, it is difficult to love your enemy.
Q: Dear Master, are you willing to establish a university to nurture the most excellent and moral students?
M: I have already established a university. The Quan Yin Method I teach is exactly that! (Applause) Our disciples are the most moral and excellent ones. They do not gamble, smoke, speak untruths, engage in sexual misconduct, take what is not offered, or kill man or animal. They are all vegetarian and meditate every day to find their inner wisdom; this is the highest morality. (Applause) Yes, that's right. Our Quan Yin Method is the supreme university.
Q: Master, You said that only a Living Master could lead disciples; so, my question is what will happen to Your disciples when You pass away?
M: I don't "pass away" because I was never "born." It is just my physical instrument that gets rotten sometimes, just like your car after twenty years. We are always connected with each other spiritually. We are not the body. You and I are not the body; therefore, after you leave the body, your body is still there but it doesn't function. So, you have to understand that basically, we are not the body. I just borrowed the body to connect you with the spiritual Power. Once we are connected, we'll never be apart, and even if my body passes away, you are connected. That's important.
We are not the body. And in the True Self, the big Self, we are all together as one. ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
M: That's right! Yes. Make it like a pleasure. It is a pleasure!
D: I even apply this to my work. For example, when I feel exhausted because of my work, I feel too tired, and have no more energy, but then I ask myself where the energy comes from, and remind myself that it comes from the universal source, not from my body, then I suddenly feel myself filled with an inexhaustible strength. I don't feel tired, and even if I do, I still recover quickly. Therefore, I think we have two choices; either we choose this humble "I" and are very limited, or simply think, "I'm nothing. I'm nobody. It's the universal power that does things." This way I feel very good. I see no problem.
M: Yes. That's right. When we sit, we should relax. That's right. We should thank God for giving us time to rest. The other yoga schools usually refer to meditation as "a time to relax." Nowadays, if you read newspapers or magazines, the regular ones, you'll find them mentioning meditation, or when they talk about how to live longer and healthier, they'll somehow mention that we must find time to "relax," rest or meditate. They do mention meditation.
Meditation is very popular now. They don't say "meditate to find God," but "meditate to relax, to become healthier, feel better, live longer and be successful." That is, to be successful in every aspect, we must choose a time during the day to rest, not to sleep, but to meditate, or breathe in, breathe out, or whatever. Everyone knows about it now because science has proven it. If we choose a time during the day to rest or meditate, our bodies become healthier. One of the best methods is meditation; that is, choosing a time to meditate every day. Now all the magazines, even the lousy ones, mention this. Meditation has been accepted by science and people worldwide. So don't make it sound so painful, like "Oh God! I have to meditate now; otherwise, I can't attend group meditation, or the contact person will say this and that." It's not like that. It's good for you.
It's a time for you to treasure. We've worked all day, busily taking care of the world and others. So whenever we meditate, that's a time for us. We must love ourselves first - love others but also love ourselves. Whenever we meditate, at that time we concentrate all the treasure onto ourselves alone in order to nourish our body and mind. It's not because I say this and that that you have to mediate enough otherwise this and that will happen. No. It's very good for you. The most precious time for you since the moment you were born and until you die is meditation time. It's the best thing you do for yourselves. No one can give it to you; only you can give it to yourselves. It's the best thing that you can do for yourselves - meditation. While you do it for yourselves, others will naturally benefit as well. Your family, relatives, dogs and cats will also benefit. Trees and flowers will benefit too. I've already told you this.
So when we meditate, the people and all the things around us benefit but we're the ones who benefit the most. It's the best thing that you can do for yourselves, the best medicine to nourish your bodies, the strongest energy to nurture your brain, the best book to develop your wisdom. No matter how beautiful a car you have, how big a pearl you get, and no matter how expensive they are, they're not as precious as the time you spend meditating for yourselves. That's the most precious gem in the whole universe that you can offer to yourselves. Like one initiate said, meditation is resting, nourishing ourselves, bringing in all the precious jewelry to beautify you. Who wouldn't want that? When our mind hears "precious gem" it says, "OK!" or "rest," it says, "OK. I like it. I don't like work. Relax, man! OK, I'm ready." It's just the brain.
Our brain only knows how to discriminate between "good" and "bad," "black" and "white." Work is a problem, or "job," "Oh, no!" It's been working all day already. "No. No. No." But if you say, "OK, let's take a break," then it's OK. Our mind knows what "good" or "bad," "resting" or "working hard" means. So whatever we say, it understands that way. We must teach it. Also, the cells in our body all listen to us. If you say it's good, then it's OK and if you say it's bad, it thinks so as well. Therefore, Buddha said, "All things are created by the mind." Our mind we must create; we must speak good things, think good things, and then we'll change the negative to the positive. We teach the cells in our own bodies to think positively. Whatever good you think or speak, your mind, your body, and the millions and billions of cells in your body all listen to it immediately. That's why I say you're your own master. You don't need me, but you've forgotten how to teach yourselves.
All day long you've been dragged down by the negative power, listening to bad stuff, and then repeating this trash in your head. Whatever your mind hears, you let it think that way. Therefore, I've told you, "Don't listen to bad things, don't think bad things and don't speak bad things." That's purifying your actions, speech and thoughts. If you hear anything bad, stop and toss it out. If you've already heard it, then tell your mind, "That's not true. She's wrong. Don't listen to her." We tell ourselves so our mind understands "Ah! These things are false information. Toss them out. Trash them." Because if we accept it, our mind will think this information is OK so it'll record it, and later it will spit it out. All the good and bad things in our lives are created by us. We say good things and our mind takes them and thinks, "OK! It's good." We speak bad things, and our mind hears them and thinks, "OK! It's bad." So, who else is our master but we ourselves?
For example, when you want to drink, is it you who tells your hands to get the water, or do you ask your neighbor to tell your hands to get it for you? And when you're hungry, is it your mind that tells you to look for food? Isn't it you who gives the order? And when you want to go to work, you must either look for a bus or drive a car yourselves to the office. We're our own boss in everything. Thus, we should direct ourselves with a positive perspective, in virtue and goodness, so that our lives will become better each day. The bad things that happen in our lives are all created by ourselves - if they weren't now then they were in the past. We put them in here, but we forget to cleanse them out, and thus they come back to harm us later. Therefore, don't blame anyone. From now on, whatever bad things you hear, you must tell yourselves immediately that this information is not true, is negative, is not good and not beneficial to anyone or ourselves. Stop it. You must get rid of it immediately. When you go home, at night, recite the Holy Names to cleanse it out. And in the morning, pocket a big reserve before you go out. Therefore, you should meditate in the morning, and at night, when you come home, if there's some leftover garbage in your pocket from outside, meditate to cleanse it out. The more you cleanse yourselves the better; the more surplus in your pocket the better; so that when you run into some garbage, you can cleanse yourselves right then so there's no need to carry it home with you.
The most important things in this life, in our principles of spiritual practice, are loving others, loving ourselves and being liberated from all hatred, prejudice, criticizing attitudes and negative thinking. And once you're already liberated in this lifetime, you'll surely go to a higher level. Because these are the negative things, the burdens that bind us to this physical world or within the Three Worlds. If we have none of that, we're liberated while living. That's most important, not visions or sounds. These are only the food to support our well-being.
Q: A new book is out called "Embraced by the Light," and it's about a near-death experience that a lady had some years ago. One of the events she wrote about was that after her near-death experience, she was pursued by demons or what appeared to be Satan. And I'm wondering whether Satan as a personality exists, or is he more of a symbolic kind of evil that may reside within each one of us?
M: Yes and no. Yes, we have both negative and positive power; that we all know. But the devils are sometimes inside of us and also outside. They come from other people as well. But if the positive side of us is very strong, our negative power is subdued; that's first. Secondly, other people's negative power that has surrounded us or has been aimed against us also has to give way.
That's the point of practicing being in God's Presence and meditating every day: to develop the positive side of our qualities. So when that lady saw these kinds of so-called demons, she actually saw them because they're also all over the place. We just don't see them because our positive power is strong. If somehow we wade a little bit into the negative side or if we want to peep into the negative region, then we might see them.
As for the negative forces, I have to explain to you where they come from. I can use the Buddhist scriptures and explain it scientifically. Now, in one of the very famous Buddhist scriptures, the Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha says that human beings can create all kinds of demons through their behavior or way of living. For example, eating meat or being aggressive or hateful becomes a kind of energy, and then slowly it will form this kind of dark force. And then it can even appear as any form, like energy that can appear as form sometimes.
For example, with electro-magnetic energy, sometimes you just push some buttons and forms appear on the screen. You can create a cartoon out of nothing, out of just electricity or electromagnetic energy. Sometimes we can create a force, with form or without form. Similarly, these kinds of evil forces can appear in a form because they're also energy. They can be charged and then they can be formed, and they appear like devils or demons, with very distorted figures because they're negative power, so they can't be very beautiful. And therefore people can sometimes see them.
So we humans also create them, but these things aren't real. In a way, they're illusionary, just like the angels. They appear to have form, but they're not real. They're not eternal; they can be destroyed; they can be chased away; they can be multiplied; they can be minimized. They're not real forms. They're not eternal. They don't have the God quality within them.
People sometimes can train themselves to see devils, just like we can train ourselves to see God. Therefore some of the voodoo people, or the so-called witchcraft people train themselves to deal with demons, to subdue them or use them for some purpose. That's possible. You can even make them; it's been proven that we can make things happen. They can be formed through the energies.
Now, if you read a book called Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Madame Alexandra David-Neel, it will tell you that in Tibet people can use their own power in the practice of concentration to make another being in whatever shape or whatever appearance they want. You can make a monk appear; you can make a common person, or you can make a beautiful girl. These are the methods that Heaven uses to create angels. And these are the methods we use, sometimes purposely or unintentionally through our deeds and thoughts, to create demons.
She herself, Madam Alexandra, made a monk, just to try it through that method. So she made one. But afterwards, he got out of control. He actually appeared in the form of a monk. And she said that at first she made a very jolly one, a happy, fat old monk, the easygoing type. But later, as he developed, he got out of her power and got out of hand. He became thinner and more mischievous and more aggressive. So she eventually had to destroy him, using all her might. Because once you create something, it's difficult to destroy it if you don't have that power. But these things aren't far-fetched fairy tales. People nowadays still can do it.
Q: How do You deal with the fear of letting go of the self, of becoming selfless, egoless?
M: I don't remember how I dealt with it. It just naturally goes by getting in touch and merging yourself with God. You just naturally have no more self. Slowly, slowly the self will go out. That's it. I don't deal with it. To have to deal with it is a problematic thing. The self is very big; therefore, let God deal with it. After you practice this Method, you have less and less self, and then you become greater and greater. The less you become, the greater you are. This is a paradox of God. It is not for us to understand.
Q: I go back and forth between surrender and wanting to ask God things, and then feeling like if I ask, it may limit something greater that God has. What should I do?
M: It's good that you asked this intelligent question. If we have to ask, then we ask. God knows how much to give. Hes shouldn't give according to your limit, but Hes should give in Hiers limit, if Hes is God. So why bother? Ask when you need to. When a child is very young, he can't pretend to be an adult and not want milk. If you need milk, ask for it. Later you will grow up and give it up. Don't worry. God knows what you truly want.
Q: Can we go within and allow ourselves to ask things of God?
M: You can ask, and say, "God, I probably shouldn't ask You this, but let me ask You anyhow since it will settle my mind, and then whether You give it or not is up to You. You see what I need. I ask, but You don't need to give what's not good for me."
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
When we truly ask, truly have courage, truly hunger for, and sincerely pray, God and the saints in the ten directions will help.
Q: What makes You the equal of other great Masters?
M: The same thing that makes you equal with other great masters makes me equal. All of us are equal. You are as great as Jesus and Buddha - if you want to be, if you know where your greatness is. I know; that's what makes me great. If you don't know, okay it's fine. If you want to know, you will be as great as any.
Truly, we have to devote more time to spiritual practice while in this world, but we should also try to make our lives more comfortable and fun. Recently, I converted a cave that had served as a cow pen into a cozy living room. I cleaned it up, and then covered the ground with a few straw mats and a carpet -- all very inexpensive materials. An ordinary carpet costs little, and it makes you feel snug and warm. Then, with a few cushions, you can meditate there. This is not a luxury. We can make any place beautiful as long as we know how to decorate it. That cave was dark, dry and dirty, and had originally been used for rearing cattle. But it was converted into a beautiful place; that is a way to balance your life.
If we act as a teacher instructing people about the Truth from morning till night, and do not find balance in life, our brains will complain. For me, this kind of work is an excellent hobby. (Master and audience laugh.) An attendant once said to me, "Master, You've overworked Yourself and gone without sleep the last few days. You must be exhausted. Why are You spending the whole night on building that fireplace?" So I told her, "You don't understand. If I didn't do this, I might go mad!" (Master and audience laugh.) This is a way to find equilibrium in life.
The attendant had thought that Master would be physically exhausted after working day in and day out, and should spend the next seventy-two hours in bed to make up for lost sleep. But I said, "Doing these things gives me a respite. I can't stay in bed the whole day and night. This is a break for me for it brings a change into my life." When I do the work that I like, it means I'm resting. Otherwise, I'd be devoting all my time to making others happy, and leaving none to pursue my own interests. The two are different.
Although I work to make you, others, refugees and needy people happy, and I too am very happy, it's in response to requests and circumstances. I have no control over the work, nor do I have any say in the matter. For example, when someone asks for two kilos of rice, I have to bring them to him. In this kind of situation, I can't act as I wish for it's done to meet the requests of sentient beings. This is different from being your own master and making your own plans and designs to suit yourself.
So I still have to find a balance in my life. Otherwise, my mind will be unhappy. It's not I or the soul that's unhappy, but the mind. It will not be accustomed to it. So I told the attendant, "This is the way I rest. You don't have to worry." She thought that I had already worked quite a few days and nights at a stretch. Besides traveling overseas to deliver lectures, I had rushed to help the refugees in the Philippines. So why did I stay up the whole night building a fireplace in a cave when I was so tired? She felt pity for me. (Master and audience laugh.) I said, "No, that's the way I rest. Otherwise, I can't go on." Then I asked her, "If you were required to sit the whole day without doing anything, not even your laundry, and food were brought before you, would you be able to stand it?" She said, "No, I wouldn't." Of course not; she would still want to wash her own clothes and handle some of her own personal matters.
I'm no different. I can't devote all of my time to others, without having some interests of my own. When it's something that interests me, I can go without sleep at night and use my time as I like. In this way, you won't be affected because I save the day for you. I am here whenever you need me. Should any emergency arise, or any urgent papers arrive, I can deal with them immediately. I only make use of the intervals between events, or do my own work while waiting or by sacrificing my sleep. At those times when I do not have specific public-interest work to do or documents to read, I do my own personal work in order to maintain mental balance.
Don't ask me why I'm attached to these material things. No, it's not attachment! I have built things at centers in a number of countries. But I do not live in any of those places. These designs and creative works are all left there and not reserved for me. Of course, things like the paintings that I have drawn, I can take with me. But I don't really take them with me; rather, I send them to the Miaoli Center for the residents to keep in a special room so they won't be damaged, and copies can be made for everyone to appreciate. If I carry those paintings around with me, I can't take good care of them because I'm always tied down by other things. I'm only responsible for painting them. After taking a few looks at them, I leave them in the care of the residents. I can't look at my own paintings for long so sometimes I miss them. When I was abroad previously, sometimes I would think of returning to Formosa to take a look at those paintings. (Master laughs.) But those were just passing thoughts; getting to look at them or not doesn't really matter. So even though painting is my hobby, it's you who get the benefits. You can collect my paintings; whereas I myself can't collect anything.
But unlike the paintings, the artwork in the cave cannot be moved to Formosa for the residents to preserve. (Master and audience laugh.) Some things can be moved, and others can't. Those that are stationary are left in their original place for everyone to appreciate. I create these things not for the sake of possession or preservation, but to fulfill my desire to create. Sometimes it's a form of relaxation. It's the same with all my hobbies; they're only for maintaining balance in my life so I am able to continue to serve all people. Thus I converted the cave not because I liked it, and I won't be staying here long. Besides, I can't transport it anywhere I go.
While practicing diligently in this world, if you do not also try to find balance in life or enjoy a little of the colorful world, then once you go up to Heaven, you might think, "Why is it that after following Master in spiritual practice, I have no idea what the mortal world is like?" Then, you may blame me, and quietly and secretly run back down here. You can't hold me responsible then. (Master and audience laugh.)
You are mature and very intelligent. Your IQ is very high. (Everyone laughs.) And you know many things that I don't know so why should I tell you everything? I can only tell you one thing: You have to become livelier. And whatever you want to do, do it! Whatever is fun for you, do it, as long as you don't hurt other people. So if you want to get to know a movie star, then chase him! If you want to see the President, write to him.
If what you want has anything to do with political or social change in the world, it's a little bit difficult. But concerning your own ambition or your own fun, it's not that difficult, really. Just do it with all your sincerity and all your wish to succeed, and then you'll get it. Most of the time, we're miserable because we can't succeed in what we want to do and because we have fear. Sometimes you love a person but you say, "Oh, he's too handsome for me." Who knows? Maybe you're too beautiful for him! You never know. I don't encourage you to chase around with boys. But, you see, that's what makes our lives miserable: We don't believe in ourselves, and we don't try.
It's very easy. For example, when I was very young, I looked up to those who worked in television or who owned television or radio stations, like they were God or second to God. But now I know it's nothing; I could do it. I could make one; I could even buy one. It's very easy and no big deal. Because if you don't find out how people run or operate a station, you think they're God. But it's no big deal.
When I was in high school, I lived next to the Saigon Radio Station. It was a big one. I was next to it every day. And I didn't know anything about it so I worshipped all the singers who came up and down, in and out, and all the personalities who passed around or next to my house, going inside that big massive God-like station. And I just sat around and dreamt that maybe one day I would sing or recite a poem in there; I just dreamt about it. And I never thought it would happen.
But sometimes the people in the radio station would have some kind of competition, like you would write a poem or answer some question and then they gave you a prize. So I tried and I won! Just once, but I never thought I could win. I thought it was too far-fetched for me. But actually, I only tried it once, and I won.
Afterwards, I changed to another district and didn't have anything to do with the radio station anymore. I stayed there maybe only one or two years, but that was long enough. I could have gone inside and talked to the people and told them that I wanted to sing or recite a poem. I recited very well, so why didn't I do it? Because no one told me the way I'm telling you to do it. (Applause) Of course, it's no big deal that I didn't become a singer. I would eventually, anyhow. But I lived all those years there, standing around the station not doing anything that I wanted to do. I could have, and I'd have had fun meanwhile. But maybe God didn't want me to so it's also fine.
What I mean is that you should just do it. I don't think all of you will become Masters anyhow so why not have fun! (Laughter) Maybe God wanted me to become a Master so Hes "prevented" me, prevented the world's most talented singer and artist at the time. (Applause) But nothing prevents you from doing what you want and fulfilling your dreams. Have fun "the last time!" Actually, I also have to try to have fun. I try all kinds of things to keep myself here. Otherwise, there's nothing to keep me here so what can I do?
People keep asking me all the time, "Why do you put make-up on? Why do you wear beautiful dresses?" and things like that. Before I became the Supreme Master, the Master Ching Hai, I was just like this. (Master points to Her 'ordinary' clothing.) And then for a long time I wasn't like this. And now I've become like this again. So it's kind of puzzling for me also, but it's nothing puzzling. Just like when an old person becomes old, he becomes like a child again. So maybe that's happening with me.
It's very simple. It's just like the story I told you about with the king who would go out and play the fool in the dirt, in the commons and sometimes in a dirty restaurant or dirty street. He would walk alone with only a few attendants, just because he wanted to be free: free from glory, free from security, free from the fear of walking on the street as a king. You know what I mean: just to be free. So I wanted to be free from sainthood. And now I'm liberated! (Applause) I was sick; I had meditational sickness or Master sickness. Well, it let people know that I was a Master. But I'm free now; the sickness is probably gone.
So sometimes we practice for some time and become sick. That's what we call "saintly sickness." But you have to cure yourself. Whatever trace of Sainthood you wear around your face or your nose or your ankles, or that you hide in your heart - you should cure it, one by one, slowly or quickly, it's up to you. Just now I remembered a story to explain this to you once and for all. Because everyone loves to know why I wear clothes like this instead of asking me how I became an Enlightened Master. They keep asking me many questions and finally they have to say, "Wow, I have just one question, but I dare not ask you; can I ..." And finally, the cat is out of the bag: "Why do you wear this?" So it's like that.
In Tibet, there are many people who practice flying. How do they do it? It's just like in China where they practice Chin Kung (a kind of Chinese martial art, that trains practitioners to become very light). You can fly, you can jump onto the roof, very high or very far. People still do this form of practice in China. Sometimes you see Kung-Fu that's not real. But it represents the truth from the olden times when people could still fly.
Nowadays, some people in Tibet can still fly; due to the difficult situation in Tibet they have no cars. They have only mountains with freezing snow all year round sometimes. So they have to go a very long way without much food or many restaurants or anything in between. They have to take very small packets of things. Sometimes they don't even have horses, or they just have what they call a yak (a large, long-haired, dark brown Himalayan ox). And then they have to go with what there is. They can't be too long; sometimes they have to go quickly for some urgent matter. So they have to practice this kind of flying. And some people practice so hard that they can never land on the ground again. They always remain flying in the air. You can read the books of Madame Alexandra David-Neel about this. It's all the truth, but I have to refer to her so that you know I'm not speaking nonsense. You'll know that people write about it and you'll have proof.
So what happens to these people when they fly all the time in the air is that they have to come down sometimes, I mean at least for the toilet or to take a bath. (Laughter) After flying too long, they smell, too! So they have to come down sometimes. They have to put a lot of heavy metal iron chains around their bodies so that they can control and balance their take-offs and landings. That's what they do.
So some time if you go to Tibet and look up into the sky, you'll see something like that. And you'll think they're torturing themselves by chaining their bodies and so on. But that's what they have to do. If they fly too high and they're too light, they have to make themselves heavier so they can land on the ground and stay on the ground as long as they want. Otherwise, they'll just fly in the air all the time.
Similarly, when we first practice spirituality, after some time we become a Saint or a Buddha and say, "Oh, I don't believe that; I don't look at that. I don't talk to that person; I don't wear those kinds of clothes." That's when your sickness is the most serious. (Laughter) Then, after some time, you're too saintly, and you have to cure yourself. You have to pull yourself down to the ground again, in order to integrate into the society and do something about your knowledge, your Sainthood or your Wisdom. Because many people need you; you can't just lie around in Nirvana all the time. It's also no good for you while you're here. If I were always in Nirvana, I wouldn't care about anything; I'd just stay in Nirvana all the time. I mean as a state of being, not that I'd have to fly to the sky. But then I'd have nothing to do with you, and I'd never understand how you suffer. I wouldn't know anything about your mentality. I wouldn't know anything. I wouldn't understand your suffering or your love, your hate, your failures or your virtues. I wouldn't understand anything because I'd be too saintly, too pure: P-U-R-E. (Laughter and applause)
So these are the chains. It doesn't matter what color. They're only dirt: yellow dirt, blue dirt, white dirt - so why bother? Those people who criticize me are saints; that's why. They're in the hospital of sainthood. So as soon as they come out, they'll recognize. They'll be normal again and we can talk to them. So don't worry; being too saintly is also no good. We're out of touch with reality, and then we can become imbalanced. Just like the people in Tibet who always fly in the sky and can never come down for the rest room. Just make sure that if they don't have chains on, don't pass under them. (Laughter) You might be in trouble. Changing your clothes is not always convenient in that kind of cold climate and altitude. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Q: Master, just now when I was meditating on the Sound, my whole body vibrated vigorously. I was sitting on this rock; I toppled and fell down, and then woke up. (M: Do you feel comfortable?) I'm feeling very comfortable. I had a headache yesterday, but now it has gone.
M: Sometimes, the vibration is stronger than we are, so we cannot get used to it. The moment we get used to it, we become stronger than it. Then we will feel very natural. It is as though a person has been starving for a long time, not having enough to eat and suffering from malnutrition. If he is suddenly given a lot of food, he may swallow too fast, resulting in indigestion. That is why we have to meditate seriously and regularly. When we have gotten used to meditating for a longer time, it will become a very ordinary practice, and we won't even be aware that we are meditating.
Why does a baby cry when he is born? In the mother's womb, he was immersed in water like a fish. When he suddenly emerges into our world, his skin gets in touch with the air for the first time and he has to begin breathing with his lungs. Therefore, it hurts and is very uncomfortable all over; that's why he cries. As he cries, he has to use his lungs, and then he will get used to our world. He now understands that there is no more water, that it has been replaced by air. He will get used to it slowly.
Our spiritual practice is similar to the situation of the baby. As we practice more diligently, we will get used to the higher vibrations. These vibrations are much higher than ours and that is why we are unaccustomed to them. A newborn baby also cannot get used to our comfortable and free-living environment; instead, he is accustomed to the dark and confined environment in his mother's womb. Therefore, when he is just born, he feels scared and unsafe, as if he has lost everything.
Similarly, it is not difficult for us to be liberated; the only problem is that we have to get used to the free and liberated state. When we eventually get accustomed to it, we will not want to come back to this bodily prison again. Sometimes in meditation, we enter deep samadhi and go to very high dimensions; we feel absolutely free and unrestricted. However, because of our unpaid karma and unfulfilled obligations, and the fact that we still have lessons to learn in this world, we have to come back to this physical body. The moment we are drawn back, we feel extremely frustrated and agonized; the feeling is so bad that we may cry.
There are difficult moments on our spiritual path. When karmic hindrances come, we really have to exert our greatest effort to overcome them. Suppose a baby refuses to go out because he has lingering feelings for the safety of his mother's womb. Would it be good for him? Though the environment is more familiar, safe, comfortable and warm, he cannot grow in there! He will only make trouble for himself and his mother. Therefore, he had better go out when it is time to be born.
During the process of delivery, the baby has to squeeze through the narrow and bony places in his mother's body, which can be quite painful. It is as though his head has to squeeze through two stone gates and is going to split open; it is really difficult. So you see, even such a tiny baby must make the breakthrough when the time comes. Originally, he lives like a fish in his mother's womb where there is no air, no sunshine and no material contact. After he is born, he has to live in a totally different world where everything is just the opposite! Anyway, it is good for him to force the exit; it may be uncomfortable outside, but it is still better than hiding inside indefinitely, because it is not his permanent abode in there.
In spiritual practice, we may sometimes encounter obstacles; we may feel very exhausted and want to quit. There are also times when we are battered hard by our karmic hindrances. However, we ought to stand up again, because we are human beings! We ought to be brave, and act like a hero! We just cannot lower our heads and surrender to the situation every time or give in to our insignificant obstacles.
Yesterday I read you the story "The Journey to the West". The first part of the book describes a group of monkeys, some old and some young, some very clever and so on. However, none of them dared to go beyond the waterfall just because they dreaded getting wet. What they didn't know was that there was a paradise behind the waterfall - a very beautiful cave. Whoever went in could live in that brilliant and comfortable cave. Being adults, if we fail to constantly think about making breakthroughs, then we are weaker than babies! Where can we put our pride then? Therefore, remember that we must not lose to the babies, as they are also very brave!
Pearls of Wisdom ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
We must always react quickly so that we can protect ourselves and get accustomed to the faster vibrations. Sometimes, Master will suddenly tell you to do something. It is good to do it immediately because karma also comes suddenly. We must be trained to always be ready! Then, when karma or disasters come unexpectedly, we won't be frightened and stuck there not knowing how to react.
Many decades ago, when I wasn't on this "job" yet, I read in the newspaper that, one day, people would be able to talk together and even see each other's picture through the telephone. So this is what we have; the prediction came true. And soon we'll have much more exciting news. I'm not sure how we're going to realize it. But a lot of things you already know, like when I told you about the other planets where people don't need to carry babies in the mother's womb.
In this world, we'll have the same thing. It won't take long. The technical advances are so awesome that we have no time to even catch our breath before something changes again! In Japan, I heard that they've already developed a kind of box in which they put some liquid that corresponds to the natural liquid inside a mother's womb when she's pregnant with a baby. And they'll try to raise the baby that way.
So maybe in the future, if you want to have ten babies, it'll be no problem. (Laughter) For nine months, you can come see the baby every weekend or every day, whenever you have time, even after work. They can even make the shape of the baby, the way he or she looks, and choose the sex and whatever. It's very exciting; we're catching up with the advances of the higher planetary systems.
And right now we're also using laser and light to heal patients. Remember, in one of my earliest lectures in Formosa ? at that time, I didn't even speak Chinese well ? we mentioned the light therapy used on other, more advanced planets. Those scientists have been born on this planet now, and they're bringing their treasured memories with them. So they're making our planet a better place in which to live, as far as physical comfort is concerned.
And also, maybe soon, or not very far in the future ? we're talking about years only ? we'll probably have flying cars and so on. And it'll probably be easier to see each other, with less traffic congestion. And we'll have a faster commuting service.
All of this is very exciting for me, too (referring to Her view of Centers in a worldwide conference). Seeing your pictures right here, thousands of miles apart, is really good. So, it's because we're also practicing very well, thanks to you, all the beautiful, lovely, happy yogis. (Applause) All of this has to do with us. So as much as I'm excited about this news, I also want to thank you and many other groups of practitioners. Maybe they don't belong to our group, but they're also doing their meditation on the Light and Sound, or maybe some other less advanced techniques. But they're trying their best to contact God. And that's how we uplift the ambience of this planet.
And so, because the planetary vibrational frequencies have been lifted up into the higher levels, those highly developed scientists from the higher planets are able to reincarnate into our world with less suffering, without losing much of their memory about where they came from. And hence we have such wonderful advances in technology nowadays, thanks to you.
This is beautiful. So we should continue to practice, even if we're not scientists or computer wizards or anything. But as long as we meditate diligently, to purify ourselves, our aura, our environment, we indirectly contribute to the progress of our planet. And that's really the great contribution we can make to our society. This is wonderful. So all the things you enjoy right now are not only the labor of the scientists and the laboratory people, but also the fruit of your own spiritual endeavor.
It's so wonderful to see the outcome of spiritual practice. You see how we didn't have anything before! And suddenly, in just one-and-a-half decades, everything has developed and we even have a hard time keeping track of our technical developments. But you can see the difference.
So this is a practical outcome of our spiritual practice. It's not just spiritual enlightenment, it's not just individual happiness and blissfulness, it's worldly development as well. We're catching up with Heaven. We're catching up with the more exciting and more advanced planets. Can you imagine? And soon, if we live that long, we're going to be traveling to other galaxies, other planetary systems live: not just sending a robot, not just going to Mars to pick up some dirt, but going to some populated and spiritually advanced planets to say hello. And we can even teach from here; we can even say hello from here. And we can see each other from zillions of miles away, light years away. We can say hello then like we're saying hello to each other right now. Won't that be wonderful? (Yes!)
So keep on your Golden Path and never doubt for one second. You're on the right track. I guarantee it. (Applause)
Q: There is so much crime in the world now, so much one-on-one violence within humankind. What can we do to begin to have greater respect for ourselves and human lives so that we are not killing one another, so that we are not so violent and so cruel to one another?
M: Spread the love message all the time. Always progress positively. It's better to tell the children, "Honey, you . . ." Just say it in a positive way instead of the negative way that we most often do. For example, we say, "Don't be so dirty," but we could say, "Honey, keep yourself clean." And the word "clean" will go inside the mind instead of the word "dirty." It doesn't matter about the "don't" or the "do". It's the essence of the sentence that's important. Most people say, "Don't be so dirty," "Don't be so cruel," or "Don't be so nasty," this, that and the other. Instead, just say, "Be kind, be gentle, be gracious, be graceful," and then the essence of the words will boil down to "kind, gentle, graceful." And when everything else is gone, only the essence remains. We always keep telling children, "You are dirty," "Don't stay up late." Just say, "Go to bed early." I make that mistake too, so I'm still learning also.
This is a story from India. Once an enlightened master asked his disciple to renounce the world and join his monastic order. However, the disciple said that his wife, parents and siblings all loved him very much, and he could not forsake them. His departure would bring unbearable pain for his family. "Well, let me show you how much your family members love you," said his master.
Together, they came to the home of the disciple. Then the master gave the disciple a pill and hid himself outside, pretending to be a stranger. After swallowing the pill, the disciple became like a dead man, with no heartbeat or breathing. His body turned stiff and icy cold. His family members burst into tears, crying and imploring God to save him, but to no avail.
Suddenly the master entered and said to them, "I can save your relative." On hearing this, they became very happy. They bowed down and begged him to waste no time saving the man. "But there is one requirement," said the master. "For him to be revived, one person must die in his place, because this is the law of cause and effect. If I raise him from death, then I have to die for him. But I am not his kin! He is your relative. Since you love him so much, you must be very happy to die for him. I am just a passer-by. How can I die for him? So if one of you is willing to die for him, I can immediately bring back his soul. As we cannot transcend the karmic law of cause and retribution, an exchange has to be made."
None of the relatives were willing to die for him. They found very good excuses. "If I die, who will take care of this home?" "If I die, who will take care of this business?" Though the wife of the disciple loved him very much, and had cried desperately and rolled on the floor, she answered, "No, no! If I die, there will be no one to take care of my two children." Then they said, "Oh, well! The man is already dead. Then let it be so. Let us just send the body for cremation." Hearing that, the disciple got up immediately and said, "I am not dead yet!" Then he said good-bye to his family and left with his master.
There are many stories like this. Sometimes when we love someone, or when someone loves someone else, there are always some aspects of imperfection. Usually we do not love others to the extent of forgetting ourselves, or to the extent of being willing to die for them. Hence, with certain things, we do not know the truth without personal experience. We perceive only the outside appearances, which are not correct.
The attachments that we feel for this world are not the ultimate. It is best that we do not have to come back anymore because no matter how deeply attached we are, after a while we still have to leave. So, it is best to be prepared beforehand, and at the time of departure, to be gone forever. Otherwise, the next time we come back, we will again become attached, and get tied up with one another. After a while, we will have to leave once more. Again at that time, our relatives will feel great pain. Therefore, it is best to just be gone once and for all, without any need to come back again to trouble others. This is also an act of filial piety. Don't you think so? (Audience: Yes.)
It is this way between husband and wife. After a while, each goes his or her own way. Since both feel so attached and miserable at the time of separation, do not repeat it. Hence, we should be prepared spiritually. It is better to leave in a clear-cut manner. Do not come back again to re-play these painful scenes. Otherwise, we will be miserable and so will be the other party. What good will it do us?
There's a story about the spirit of Cholera. One day he passed by a meditation practitioner and said, "Hallo, I'm going to China." And the Spiritual practitioner said, "Oh! You're going to make trouble again!" And Cholera just smiled and flew away to China.
So, about a month later, when Cholera came back from China, he just passed by again and said, "Hallo! I'm back." And the practitioner, perhaps a Quan Yin Method practitioner, said, "Oh, so you killed 50,000 people in one month?" And the Cholera ghost said, "No, no, only 25,000." He added, "The other 25,000 died from fear. I didn't even have to touch them."
So sometimes the actual situation is not as terrible as we imagine. And if we face it, it won't be so bad. It's just that if we're very afraid and fearful and run away, we make a lot more trouble than if we just face it.
We've heard it said by the Buddha: "I am the Buddha; you will be the Buddha; everyone is equal." So what's the difference? Why are we not the Buddha? It's just because we don't think in the way of the Buddha; we don't do things in the way of the Buddha. We don't act in the way of the Buddha; we don't live the life of a Buddha.
The Buddha, He meditated, and then He was not attached to any possessions. People might have given Him a golden bowl for food or some beautiful silk for His dress, but even though he would take it or wear it, He was never attached to it. He always sacrificed His life and His time to teach other people. He used His time to remind people to set an example of the noble ideal of humankind, of a Buddha. And all the time, His mind and His thinking were always set on the Buddha, on the highest ideal, on the noblest goal of humankind and of the universe. He never thought of anything else, and He never feared anything. So Maya, the so-called negative force, came and bowed to Him. But here we sit and bow to the negative Maya. That's the difference. Fear makes a lot of trouble for us; it pushes us below our dignity. So we have to choose a different way of life.
If you don't think of these negative things, they won't exist. That's why I tell you not to watch all those bad movies. Don't watch ghost movies, and don't go to see all those mediums. Then you believe, "Oh! There's a ghost coming inside of him." And then you come home and think, "Oh! Maybe that ghost followed me home. Maybe the ghost thinks I'm handsome." Things like this affect us, too.
But this is just our feeling; it's not real. Sometimes fear and attachment stop us from doing many things that we originally could have done or would have been able to do if we hadn't felt so afraid or weren't so attached to more comfort and an easier way of life. So try to concentrate all the time on the Buddha, not on ghosts.
There are two very effective methods to keep ants out of the house. They are economical and simple, and do not pollute.
1. Put vinegar around all the openings and entrances to your house. Ants produce a pheromone that smells similar to vinegar, and once the ants smell the vinegar, they will think other ants are already colonized there and won't enter the house..
2. Sprinkle red pepper flakes down around all the openings and entrances to your house, and keepthem there for about two weeks. Then sweep them up. This will remain effective for a very long time. You need to do this only once or twice a year.
We expect our partner to be this or be that, to do that or do this. And when they don't do it, we're disappointed. When they aren't the one we like, we're disappointed and get hurt and all that, and we get out of the relationship. But the relationship is not meant for you to expect the other person to do what you want. It is for you to do what you want yourself, to be who you are, to show what you are, how good you are, how you want to be and what kind of person you want to be in that relationship or marriage. You might want to be a good wife, a "super-wife," the tolerant one or the faithful one. It's what you want to be in your role, and not expecting from your husband all the time what he's going to be, how he's going to act toward you or how he's going to talk to you.
But that's the problem with marriage; you've got it all wrong. You think, "Okay, now I've met him or her, and my life is changed. It's fantastic. He or she is going to make me happy." This is not true! You are going to make yourself happy or not in that relationship. But most of the time, we expect our partner to make us happy, to be the one that we like in our picture. And that's the problem. We forget to be what we want to be. We forget to make an idealistic kind of agenda for ourselves. Instead, we make an agenda for our partner, a kind of appointment or picture for our partner to fit into. And then both expect the same way, and that's why things fall apart.
We've got it all wrong. In whatever situation, we have to check ourselves only. What are we going to do with this situation? What are we going to be? What do we want to show? Which part of goodness do we want to present to the partner or to the world? It's not the partner who has to present us with anything. Whatever he or she wants to present, that's their problem. Our problem is just ourselves; it's always us. But most people, when they are married or when they have a partner or a friendship, they pay all their attention to the other part, the other half, and check it out: "Oh, he did it wrong. She did it badly," or "She's no good. He is not nice." Forget that! We have to check ourselves. We are the one who is important. Any relationship, any situation is for us to learn, not for the other person. The other person is only a catalyst, an excuse for us to exercise our power and our imagination about ourselves.
That's the problem. That's why marriages often don't work. So check out your marriage and revise it. It's not about your husband or your wife, but about yourself, what kind of person you want to be, or what you want to show him or her in this relationship. And if he reacts well to it, fine. If he or she doesn't react well to it, there's not much you can do about it. But just check yourself, see if you're still balanced, if you're still on a good track and if you are OK or not. And if he stays with you, he stays; if he leaves, he leaves. You can't do much. You cannot pay all the attention to him and then lose yourself and forget. Then the more you pay attention to him or her, the more you go wrong. And then, he or she criticizes more, and it becomes worst!
Spiritual Practice Repairs the Mind
Although after initiation you're liberated from birth and death, you still have to practice spiritually. Because if your mind doesn't allow you to become an enlightened saint, it will be difficult for you. Your mind will tell you, "You, a saint? Don't be ridiculous!" Or others might also say the same thing. Without self-confidence, it will be useless being a saint of any kind. Even if you've become a saint, what purpose could it serve? We still need to have a deportment that befits the superior realms. Before we've become well-trained or practiced diligently, our mind won't be convinced. It will assume that we're cheating, and refuse to let us ascend. It's we who obstruct ourselves. So, we still have to diligently practice spirituality to thoroughly convince our mind and allow it to realize that we're now different, that we really befit the status of an enlightened saint. Only then will it totally accept this status, and we'll have no more problems.
Spiritual cultivation is thus a process of repairing the mind. Life after life, the mind records too many undesirable things and ensnares us with a guilty conscience. That's why we have to train and rectify it, illuminate it with Light every day, educate it and also brighten all our bodily cells. Every single bodily cell is imprinted with all the good and bad impressions, or karma, from many lifetimes. That's why sometimes people only need to take a look at you or your body to be able to tell what you did in previous lives or what you've done in this lifetime. It's because each of our cells, each vibration of our bodies, distinctively records all our actions, behaviors, thoughts and desires. We can't cheat anyone.
We've heard that after we die, when we go to see the Yama King (the King of Hell), we'll see a mirror that shows the details of our entire life as clearly as we watch television, except that it runs very quickly and in a relaxed way. This is absolutely true. This is our personal "video recording" function. Therefore, spiritual practitioners can perceive and identify who is who, what they've done in previous lives, what they're doing now, and what they'll do in the future. Our personal record is encrypted in our bodies and in our mind, or in the atmosphere around us. Each of us - whether we practice spiritually or not - has such an aura. But the more we practice spiritually, the lesser this aura will be.
Developing Protective Power by Continually Remembering Master
Now when we mingle with people in society, we definitely run into such an atmosphere. The more we practice spiritually, the more sensitive we become. Don't ever think that longer practice will strengthen your protective power. It will, but your sensitivity will also increase many hundreds and thousands of times. Do you think that Jesus Christ didn't suffer when He was nailed to the Cross? He was in extreme agony! He felt greater pain than others because His body was different than those of ordinary people. He was highly sensitive, as all His bodily cells had changed completely. In this world, such individuals are in great danger, are very pitiful, very miserable and very helpless.
Whatever we do - good, bad, evil or charitable - will become attached to our bodies and be distinctly recorded. Whether we're spiritual practitioners or not, we can detect this if we know the secret method. So if we mingle with people in society, inevitably we're sometimes contaminated by their auras. Our blessed rewards fly onto their bodies, even if they don't want them. When you have two pipes or barrels full of water, one at a higher level than the other, the water will definitely flow from the higher to the lower one. So if you want to protect yourselves, to close off the water pipe, you should constantly recite the Holy Names. This is the only way.
Sometimes there's still some leakage because you forget that the Master is always by your side. However, as soon as you seek help, you'll receive an immediate response. If it's a matter of carelessness on your part, of course Master's power will rescue you. But if you willingly do something bad, you do it despite knowing that it's wrong, and you refuse to let me intervene, then of course I can't help you! Don't blame me then. You'll continue to sink lower. It doesn't matter if you forget about me, but don't refuse me. Don't think that you're great and can solve all your problems by yourself. No! No! No! This world isn't a place for fun. The positive and negative forces are almost equally powerful. They're both aspects of the power of the Universe, which anyone can use. It only depends on where it's being applied. The negative force is also very powerful. It's not something that we can play or have fun with. This is one aspect of nature with which we should not casually meddle.
Q: Recently I told Master in my meditation that when I check out of here, I would like to go straight to the Fifth Level. (Laughter) I really don't want to come back here.
M: You don't ask for much. (Laughter) Well, it shall be done. (Q: I don't care what it takes.) It shall be done; don't worry. (Q: This time, I've had enough.) Don't worry, you'll change.
Q: So, do you think it's possible?
M: Yes, it's possible. If that's all you want, that's all you'll get. It's no problem. If you keep that idea in your mind all the time, until the time you die, then you're there.
Q: If I work to reach the Fifth Level even before I die, I'll be able to help Master better here.
M: Oh, sure, sure. (Q: If that's possible) It could be possible, too. But I don't know if it's possible with you. It depends on you. (Q: I'll do anything) No one needs you to do anything. You have to control your brain. It's not that you need to do anything. It's not like you die a hundred times and then you become a Buddha, or you offer anything and become a Buddha. It's not that. It's just the determination of the soul inside, whether he wants it in this lifetime or not.
Q: Does he have to prepare for that before he comes? How spiritual he wants to ¡K?
M: It depends. Everyone wants to prepare for this. But when they come down, it's just that they sway around a little bit. And then, because Maya, the king of illusion, is there, waiting for you, saying, "Ah, hah! Welcome home, baby. Let's see how strong you are. Here's a beautiful girl, here's a presidential position and here's a big company with big money." And then you work yourself to death, you serve the girl, and you're so tired that even if you wanted to go find the Master, you wouldn't know where. You lose your energy, you get sick and then you die. And then you say, "OK, it's my time to go now. Next time, I'll try again."
Q: The director says, "Cut!"
M: Yes, "Cut." But it doesn't really matter. You're determined to find God, anyway. Before we come down here, that's what we're going to do. We want to know ourselves as God by being "not God." You want to find a mirror so you can see your face. Although the mirror is an illusion, you need it. The one inside there is not you, but you need it to see yourself. You look into it, and you recognize yourself. How else would you see yourself? Should I stand here and look at myself, or stand where? The mirror is an illusion. The one who looks inside is you, yet it's not you. So this world is full of God, yet it's not God. God is inside looking at the God outside here.
Q: It's a bad reflection of the real thing, right?
M: Well, it's a good reflection. It's just that we look into the mirror and we get confused because this mirror of Maya is different. It's a magic mirror, a "mirror on the wall." It's not the mirror, but the mirror of the mirror. So we get confused here, and we see all things reflected together in the mirror. And then we say, "Oh, what's that there? What's that over there? And what's that?"
You even forget to look at your own picture, the mirror is so big. It reflects everything in it, and you get lost in that illusion. You chase one thing after another. "Oh my God, this looks good. That looks good." And you get lost in your mirror. You forget. The time it takes you to realize it's a mirror is maybe a fraction of a second. But the time we take to realize Buddhahood is also a fraction of a second in universal time.
*"Mirror, mirror on the wall" is a line from a fairy tale called "Snow White," in which the step-mother believes that the reflection from the mirror on the wall is real.
Q: Recently, I've been reading a book called The Ocean of Love by Kabir; he was an incarnation of the true God. (M: Yes, yes) He talks about the mouth of Kal. After uninitiated souls die, the messengers of death come and kind of trick them. The souls go towards Kal, and then Kal chews them up. I don't understand what that means.
M: If you are not initiated, Kal, meaning the negative power, will come to you. Kal means negative power in Sanskrit. If you're initiated, the Master will come, and Kal cannot trick you. After initiation, Kal stays away because the soul doesn't belong to him any more; he cannot control you. But he still tries to trick you, of course. He tries to make trouble, but that's his job. And your job is to walk your way, no matter what he says.
Q: It just sounded scary.
M: Ah, no, life is scary; its end is always deadly! (Master and everyone laugh.)
Q: It's scary for uninitiated people.
M: But you are initiated, so you are always protected by the Master. If you really, sincerely want to go Home, even 10,000 Kals can do nothing to you at all.
Q: Is it the same for the people we love and our close friends?
M: Yes! Definitely, yes. The Master will take care of them all. That is the great, great merit of being initiated. If you knew about it, you would die of gratitude and the shock of knowing how great it is, this initiation. Really, it's great.
I cannot describe how great it is. I can only be happy for you. You're really lucky -- yes, very lucky. Absolutely, you have no idea. There's nothing that can buy you this, nothing you can exchange for this and nothing that can earn you this, except God's grace. Of course, it's your time also. But otherwise, even if you pray for a thousand years, you won't get this gift.
It's the greatest thing you can ever have anywhere in the whole universe. Anyone who doesn't have it, even some higher spiritual beings, will envy you. They will envy you very much because you are on the road to mastership, and they're still just spiritual beings, or angels or devas (beings living in the various realms of Heaven). They will die one day, but you won't. They will go lower, but you won't. You'll keep going up all the time, past them, higher than they are, being more glorified and more beautiful. You'll have anything, anything at all. You'll be next to God while they're still swimming somewhere in the three worlds, looking for guidance.
It's very difficult to get this initiation. Oh! My God, when I think about it, oh, wow! Do you know how to win the lotto for six million dollars? This can compare to that in the spiritual world. If you know too much, you might have a heart attack. But how lucky can you be? In the whole universe, you are the best, the picked ones, the selected, the very, very fortunate.
Really, you do not know until the time comes. Sometimes you have to work in this world, so God lets you know very little. Also, we are still in prison, no matter how many things your parents give you to comfort you. You might have a TV or a radio there. But you can't have a lot of things, like your fast car, your helicopter, your palace, your 'air-con' living room, your swimming pool, etc. You're only comforted in prison; you just have livable conditions.
But once you're in there, even when your time is up and you're free from your sentence already, you still have to wait for the bureaucracy. Also, there may be some things you have to take care of. Or maybe your time is not up yet, even though you will be free soon; the lawyer is helping you to get free more quickly, and for sure you will be free since you're not sentenced to death. But still you have to wait. While in prison, you are as comfortable as a prisoner can be; you have the best in the prison. But you're still a prisoner. You have use of all the facilities, but you're still in prison. Therefore, when you really know what your parents have for you to welcome you Home... my God, you cannot imagine it!
Actually, what I will show you is a self-teaching method. Your own Buddha will get up and teach you. Your own God will get up and teach you. But first I must show you how to wake up that God or that Buddha within yourself, which is the greatest teacher. The Kingdom of God within or the Buddha inside you, that is the greatest teacher, not I. But I just know how to wake Hirm up and introduce you to Hirm, tell Hirm to get up and do the work right. That's all my job is.
Q: How can I stop being ambitious?
M: It's not easy. Only when you see the beauty, the glory of the kingdom of God, can you forget the ambition for success in this world. That's why I offer you the Quan Yin Method, so that you might see the glory of God, of Heaven, and then lose the desire for the material gain and fame. It is like the baby - if you give him milk then he will not suck the dummy.
Q: Can you tell us about God, the Father? What does Hes look like?
M: Hes is like you. Hes has two parts: a good part and a naughty part. The naughty part, Hes uses to make life go on in bitter and sweet, and in all the follies so as to amuse whoever likes to see these things. The good part, Hes uses to give us strength, spiritual knowledge, and all the holy, noble things that we can do.
If we say, "God is all good and love", it is fine also, but then we can't explain all the devils in this world. There is actually no evil in this world. It's just the way we look at things, that we do not know how to play the game with God, and that makes things turn sour and become negative. If we learn to contact God, things reconstruct themselves, and then we see things in a different light. We know how to mix them, just like some so-called poison, even. The scientists know how to use it for the benefit of people's health, but if we use it in a layman's manner, it kills.
God is not a person or not even a "non-person." It is the Supreme Power that pervades the whole universe, and we are within It; we are of It, and also we are the totality of It. We know this God according to our diligence in searching, according to the grace of God, which comes in proportion to the sincerity of our thirst for knowledge of the kingdom of God within. That is a temporary explanation of the so-called God. Otherwise, look at your neighbor if you want to see God. It's next to you; look at each other and try to see whether you find God within him, because the Bible says so.
When you do something good and noble with all love to your neighbors or to someone you don't know, that is when you realize you are God. That's when the God within you awakens. When you do something that you think is undesirable or harms some person, that is when you allow the naughty part of God to take the upper hand. But it's all a game, anyhow. We have to be enlightened to tolerate both, and turn bad into goodness.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
God is our True Self, with all wisdom, beauty and virtues. These are the true qualities of a human.
This is very difficult. It's even harder than breaking off a love relationship. Why? It is because the ego is the self-pride of humans. Therefore, to eliminate the ego is very difficult, as we have been used to being the father, the mother, the saint, the God, for such a long time. However, there are ways to eliminate your ego. Just look at your practice diary each day and see if the things you have done are good. If the good deeds are few and the bad ones are many, and if we are full of greed, anger and hatred, then we know that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Then, gradually, we will become more humble, and we will not dare to criticize others because we can see that we are charcoal-black. Is that not so? If our own feet were soaked in mud, how would we dare to use a torch to shine on others' feet? So our ego is lessened.
When you practice the Quan Yin Method, gradually, the ego will be lessened. This Method allows you to use the Divine Light, God's Love, the Source of infinite power or our own true Self, to erode the mundane ego. It is not that we use our limited human power to control it. Many people practice by strictly disciplining themselves. They dare not do this or that; dare not open their mouths too wide when they laugh; dare not walk with big strides; dare not run; dare not do anything. Even then, the ego still cannot be eliminated. Why? It is because they are using the mind and their mundane experiences to eliminate their mundane egos. Both of them are at a mundane level, therefore, it's difficult.
Pearls of Wisdom ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
You are attached to the existence of "I", attached to an "I" doing this and doing that. That is looking for trouble, letting yourself forget your great inherent wisdom and ability to save the world. This is the only difference between you and me. When you completely forget the existence of "I", you'll understand who you are. All your troubles and pains will disappear. If you meditate more, you'll be able to purge yourself of "I" and erase those records of the past. If you create interference and erase "I" with the inner Sound, you'll forget it more completely.
Aphorisms ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai
If we sense in ourselves any ego, any motive that is not pure, stop it immediately; do not go on with it, or make some change instead. In this way, there will be no problem.
To kill our ego is to merge ourselves with God. When we are one with God, then we lose ourselves. It's as simple as that.
Q: Please explain more about mass suffering. Are people guilty from before, and that's why they suffer?
M:No one is innocent. I'm not condemning anyone at all. It's all a process of learning lessons. Learning is very painful. Once you're awakened, however, you see things in a different light, and you know it's all lessons.
Look at the mass killing that we do every day in order to keep this body for a hundred years. How many lives have to be sacrificed - all the fish, all the shrimp, all the chickens, all the pigs, all the buffaloes? Do you think all this energy will be dissolved without war, without suffering, without physical ailments? Everything we do is recorded in the air. Nothing is lost; it's only diluted with a different energy. It's only equalized by different actions, not lost. For example, if air has already become ice after being water, and if you want it to disappear, you have to put sun rays, a lamp, light or heat on it, in order to get it back into the form of air again. So if we've been killing, conducting mass massacres all the time, all these animals are suffering, and they also have consciousness, thoughts and hateful energy, all this hatred and fear condenses itself into a powerful energy and hangs around in the air. Too much of that will result in mass suffering.
We have to pay for everything we use in this physical universe. Therefore, all the Masters emphasize following a vegetarian diet, which has the least cost to the various forms of existence. Animals have life, plants also have life, but they incur the least cost. Just like if you earn only a hundred dollars and you want to spend two hundred, of course you go into debt, and you're in trouble. If you try to buy cheap things and satisfy yourself with the minimum cost to live, then you have no worries about debt. That's why we choose the vegetarian diet - fruit, nuts, milk or cheese. All these things have less crime, less consciousness within themselves. Now if you take milk from a cow, will the cow die? If you take a few nuts from the trees, the trees still have plenty of nuts to grow thousands more nut trees. They won't be lost. If you cut a flower, or a branch of a vegetable, it will grow even more from that cut stem, even more vegetables will come out of it. So in this way, we know that the vegetarian diet is less harmful and incurs less cost.
Q: What causes the problem of alcoholism? What causes it to arise in the alcoholic's spirit?
M: There are many causes. First of all, a lot of people are weak and they cannot resist the temptation to run away from problems. Instead of facing their problems, they run away. People run away from problems in different ways. Some people choose alcohol; some people choose to literally run away from the scene of the problem, or from the person that they think is causing them problems or embarrassment. Instead of solving problems by talking with each other, they run away. They use any excuse, or go to another house, visit other friends, or do anything to run away instead of talking. Or instead of making the person understand why he or she is angry, they just run away.
And other people cannot talk and cannot run away because they have no chance, no choice, or are too lazy to run away, and then they consume alcohol. Running away in the mind, pretending to be deaf and dumb to the world, they make a mess of themselves. And then they make themselves worse, so people don't even bother with them or talk to them, and they just pretend to be dead. This is a way of running away from problems. These people are weak. That's all. This is a sign of weakness.
Because we are all God's children, we are used to heavenly bliss over there in heaven, and when we come here, nothing is to our liking. Everything is so terrible; everything is so hard on us. And then when we have a few more problems, we can't bear it any more and we try to run away. We try to recover the peace that we once had in heaven and so we use all kinds of substitutes in order to shut out the problem. That's alcoholism. And then they turn to alcohol, drugs, women, gambling, or whatever. And sometimes if they are weak, bad spirits, ghosts, also possess them and make them drink. If they don't believe in God too much or if they're too prone to negative, dark thinking too much, then they will attract the dark elements.
When I talk about spirits, it doesn't necessarily mean ghosts. There are bad elements everywhere, as well as good elements. If we clean ourselves and become good, and our energy is good, then we attract more good energy, more positive elements and they surround us everywhere. And if we are bad or dark, then we attract more dark elements in the atmosphere of the surroundings. Do you know where the dark elements come from, and where the good elements come from? - From human society. When people think badly, they create the dark elements, dark energy, and woe to us if we become dark and susceptible to this kind of dark element; we say that we are possessed by bad spirits.
If we are cleansed and pure, and we raise our thinking and spirit to a noble level, then we attract more noble energy, noble elements, from a noble group of people whose thoughts are noble and elegant and beautiful. Then we attract that. So, say, if the people who are dark, who give in to the pressures of life and want to run away, don't elevate themselves, then they will attract this kind of bad energy from people who generate bad thoughts. Everything we think and say generates energy, and it hangs around in the air everywhere. And whoever belongs to that group catches that kind of thing.
So, with the people who are alcoholics, sometimes it is like that. Or gambling addicts, they are like that. But don't blame the spirits for anything. Blame yourselves. We have to choose. That's why I say, "Choose your lifestyle." You have to choose whatever you want to be. You have to choose it with all your might or else you are weakened. And then all the bad energy will overpower you, and you can't get up anymore. Once you are down, it's difficult to get up. Choose your way of life. The way you have chosen is good already, so just continue to make it better and better. Then you will just attract better and better energy. That's why your life has started to become better. It's not due to me; it's due to you. You've chosen a better way of life. You chose to walk in the sun, so you see the sun. If you choose to stay in a dark room, you will see darkness. It's all your doing. I am not doing anything.
You should pursue spiritual practice in a moderate way. It's OK to become a Saint tomorrow, so why must you rush to make it today? You have waited for many lifetimes, so what is the big deal in waiting just a few more days? The more you are anxious, the more you obstruct yourself.
In ancient times, there was a person who followed an Enlightened Master to practice. One day, he asked his Master, "Master, how many sincere persons like me can you find in this world?" His Master replied, "The universe is full of disciples like you." (Master and everyone laugh.) Still skeptical, the disciple asked again, "Master, I am truly sincere. If I were to renounce everything, including my parents, wife, children, relatives, and friends, then how many years of practice would I take to reach Sainthood?" His Master told him, "If you are diligent, you can achieve it in five to fifteen years." The disciple asked further, "This is too slow. If I refrain from eating and drinking, and even skip sleeping, and only meditate with my legs crossed twenty-four hours a day, when do you think I can become a Saint?" His Master said, "In this way, perhaps it will take you thirty to fifty years to become a Saint." (Master and everyone laugh.) Do you know why? He was being too anxious. Who did he think he was? Who cares whether he becomes a Saint or not? Who would need a person like him?
Shakyamuni Buddha was very magnificent, and India was a holy land. Lots of people were vegetarians, and knew that they should pursue spiritual practice. Yet, He delivered no more than several tens of thousands of people. Even after His departure, some people still defamed Him. Other religious sects said that He was a heretic, an evil practitioner, and a demon! Similarly, people also slandered Jesus Christ. The two of Them are still defamed by people today. It is because They were predestined to become Enlightened Masters, and were assigned by God to deliver people, so They had no choice but to come to deliver sentient beings. When sincere aspirants pleaded with Them to impart the Truth, They didn't have the heart to refuse, because They didn't want to break their hearts. Therefore, there is no big deal in becoming a Saint; eventually, everyone will become a Saint .
Shakyamuni Buddha used to have a disciple who didn't sleep even at night. It seemed that he meditated in the day and chanted the sutras at night, until later his eyes almost became blind. Shakyamuni Buddha told him, "The way you are practicing will soon make you Maya instead of a Saint. When you play the zither, and the strings are stretched too tightly, can they produce any sound?" The disciple answered, "No!" "And if the strings are too loose, will any sound come out?" He said, "No, none." Then Shakyamuni Buddha said, "The best way is the middle way."
Therefore, a balanced life is the Tao; an ordinary mind is the Tao. We should not crave for anything. Craving to become a Saint quickly is also a kind of greediness. We ought to be moderate in whatever we do. How can you demand a newborn baby to ride a bicycle? You may be anxious to see him grow up and become a capable person, but you must not rush him. He cannot even walk steadily, so how can you ask him to run? Even if he forces himself to run, he will soon fall down. When a toddler learning to walk tries to run, won't he fall down in just a few steps? As a result, he will break his nose and injure his body, all because he is too anxious.
We should first take good care of our mind. Check whether or not we have a pure and noble ideal, that we have reined in our greed, wrath and infatuation, that we are loving and patient enough to others, that we are magnanimous, understanding and generous enough to tolerate others' mistakes. When we have achieved all these things, it is still not too late to become an Enlightened Master or Saint. Before we have reached perfection, who can benefit from our becoming an Enlightened Master? We have not yet erased our guilty feelings, or cleared up our preconceptions and ignorance. Being still very narrow-minded, we cannot tolerate many people. Our love is still too insignificant to love a lot of people. Then what is the benefit of rushing to become an Enlightened Master? Even if all the Saints and Masters pour all of Their power into such a narrow-minded, agitated and ignorant person, what is the use?
Endowed with power but not love, one will become Maya. There is no significant difference between Maya and a Saint. Both have similar power, but the Saint has love, which Maya lacks. Maya is very selfish, demands everything and takes all. He only criticizes and never forgives. The Saint not only criticizes, but He also forgives. He criticizes when it is the right time to do so, in order to help people to progress, and let them realize their own shortcomings. When it is time to forgive, He will, giving people due encouragement to live on, without being burdened by heavy feelings of guilt.
To really become a Saint, we have to be perfect in every aspect, not just a particular aspect. If we are only magnanimous, but never criticize, then it is also no good! For instance, at times when you should criticize and educate people, you praise them instead, then you will only spoil them and ruin their judgment ability in spiritual practice. That's why I say, "One must be balanced in Yin and Yang to become a Saint." We should penetrate all aspects of this world. Living in the world, we still need to eat, sleep and interact with people; therefore, we ought to be normal. As to our inner level or spiritual progress, we should just keep it to ourselves, and refrain from revealing it through our outer deportment.
Q: Suppose I'm doing something; how do you know it's karma causing me to do it or if I'm making new karma?
M: It's hard to tell now because we are very deep into the trouble, so just try your best to avoid what you can avoid and to finish what you have to finish - what you cannot avoid. Also, you can tell sometimes whether it's new or old karma like this: if something happens to you and you cannot avoid it no matter how much you dislike it, that is old karma. Surely the force of karma is forcing you to do these things. If there is something you can avoid, but you like to do it by your own will, then you know you are creating trouble, new karma. You know that it is wrong and you can avoid it but you still want to do it, then you know you're getting into trouble. If it's a good thing, of course you do it and forget it, thinking that it's God, Who is doing a good thing to benefit others through you, and then it's fine. But if you know it is a wrong thing and you still deliberately want to do it even though you can avoid it, that is new karma and surely you'll have trouble.
Q: Master, how do I overcome fear? Does fear come from our imagination, or is it because of our karma or poor spiritual practice?
M: There are many ways, but it is also very difficult. You have to be diligent and courageous. Even spiritual practitioners may not immediately be able to get rid of this feeling of fear because it has been with them for too long. It is a kind of predestined karma for this life. Most probably we have intimidated or hurt many people before, so the vibrations of these victims' souls hang around our magnetic field and make us feel fear. We may not see or feel anything, yet we have that fearful feeling. Therefore, we should be more loving and charitable, endeavor to comfort others, and send out vibrations and thoughts that give a sense of security. This may help us a little and may be practiced by visualization. When we practice it, we close our eyes and imagine we are sending out courage, comfort, and love to the orphaned and the widowed, to the soldiers and police officers patrolling alone in the dark, and even to people we dislike or once detested. We send our love in all directions. Once we have practiced this method for some time, courage will grow within us. Try and see if it works.
If we want to progress in our spiritual cultivation, the best way to do so is to introspect on ourselves more. We should find out our shortcomings and anything illogical in our actions. We must analyze and review ourselves daily. If there's anything that we've handled improperly, we should find out the reason. Was it because we didn't utilize our brains properly or didn't analyze the situation carefully when we acted? Or was it because we didn't give careful consideration to our options? We must be careful to remind ourselves! Otherwise, we're all "refugees." Whatever people say, we agree with; whatever people teach us, we accept. Then, we become garbage bins!
We have very good brains. Each person's brain is more or less the same. But why is it that Shakyamuni Buddha could use His intelligence to good advantage while we can't use it properly but waste it instead? Thus, we must remain vigilant. Whatever the situation may be, we should always analyze it and check thoroughly to see whether or not it's correct. Shakyamuni Buddha said that, even regarding what He said, His disciples should analyze it clearly before they believed it. We shouldn't blindly believe anything that people say, but believe only when it's logical. He elaborated on this very clearly and even cited His own words as an example to educate His disciples. Thus, we ought to be cautious. Any ideas, either new or old, if they're illogical, unsuitable, too troublesome, too complicated, and do not benefit us or others, then we shouldn't act on them.
Q: Deep in my heart, I know Master is an enlightened Master, and I can feel the blessing of Master's loving power. Why then do I still occasionally have suspicious thoughts?
A: All through our previous lives, our mind has recorded many dark thoughts and wrong conceptions that cannot be erased in a short time. In fact, we have two kinds of forces within. One is positive, and the other is negative. This is the cause of our inner struggles. We practice the Quan Yin Method to develop our positive power. As long as we can practice methodically and persistently, and communicate with the highest Power every day, the God Power within will bless us and cleanse all our dark thoughts.
Master Ching Hai initiates sincere people longing to know the Truth, into the Quan Yin Method. The Chinese characters "Quan Yin" mean contemplation of the Sound Vibration. The Method includes meditation on both the inner Light and the inner Sound. These inner experiences have been repeatedly described in the spiritual literature of all the world's religions since ancient times.
For example, the Christian Bible states, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) This Word is the inner Sound. It has also been called the Logos, Shabd, Tao, Soundstream, Naam, or the Celestial Music. Master Ching Hai says, It vibrates within all life and sustains the whole universe. This inner melody can heal all wounds, fulfill all desires, and quench all worldly thirst. It is all powerful and all Love. It is because we are made of this Sound, that contact with it brings peace and contentment to our hearts. After listening to this Sound, our whole being changes, our entire outlook on life is greatly altered for the better.
The inner Light, the Light of God, is the same Light referred to in the word "enlightenment". Its intensity can range from a subtle glow to the brilliance of many millions of suns. It is through the inner Light and Sound that we come to know God.
The initiation into the Quan Yin Method is not an esoteric ritual or a ceremony for entering a new religion. During the initiation, specific instruction in meditation on the inner Light and inner Sound is given, and Master Ching Hai provides the "Spiritual Transmission". This first taste of Divine Presence is given in silence. Master Ching Hai need not be physically present in order to open this "door" for you. The Transmission is an essential part of the Method. The technique themselves will bring little benefit without the Grace of the Master.
Because you may hear the inner Sound and see the inner Light immediately upon initiation, this event is sometimes referred to as "sudden" or "immediate enlightenment."
Master Ching Hai accepts people from all backgrounds and religious affiliations for initiation. You do not have to change your present religion or system of beliefs. You will not be asked to join any organization, or participate in any way that does not suit your current life-style.
However, you will be asked to become a vegetarian. A lifetime commitment to the vegetarian diet is a necessary prerequisite for receiving initiation.
The initiation is offered free of charge.
Daily practice of the Quan Yin Method of meditation and the keeping of the Five Precepts are your only requirements after initiation. The Precepts are guidelines that help you to neither harm yourself nor any other living being. These practices will deepen and strengthen your initial enlightenment experience, and allow you to eventually attain the highest levels of awakening or Godhood for yourself. Without daily practice, you will almost certainly forget your enlightenment and return to a normal level of consciousness.
Master Ching Hai's goal is to teach us to be self sufficient. Therefore, She teaches a method that can be practiced by everyone, by themselves, without props or paraphernalia of any kind. She is not looking for followers, worshippers, or disciples, or to establishing an organization with a dues paying membership. She will not accept money, prostrations, or gifts from you, so you do not need to offer these to Her.
She will accept your sincerity in daily life and meditational practice to progress yourself towards sainthood.
The Five Precepts
1. Refrain from taking the life of sentient beings*;
2. Refrain from speaking what is not true;
3. Refrain from taking what is not offered;
4. Refrain from sexual misconduct;
5. Refrain from the use of intoxicants;
*The keeping of this precept requires a vegan or lacto-vegetarian diet with no eggs.
Q: Master, why is it important to meditate in the morning?
M: You can meditate at any time. It's just that in the morning, most people have a night's rest. And in the morning it's still quiet. Like from three to six, most people are still sleeping: no traffic, no noise, no children and no telephone ringing. And your mind, after a night's rest, is calm. And your body is also still not fully active. So you can sit better and you can attain samadhi, meaning Heaven, more and more quickly. If you do it at home, it's even better. Because you're calmer there; you feel more secure and quiet.
And the morning has the best hours. But that doesn't mean you have to do it in the morning. I do it at any time: on the bus, in the car. Our people do it anywhere except when driving, please. (Laughter)
Q: Previously I was devoted to another master to whom I am indebted for his grace. I also took a serious oath in front of God. I only realize the outstanding superiority of the Quan Yin Method now. Will I be punished by God if I leave that master? A: If you fully understand the pure purpose of spiritual practice and desire to progress by practicing a method that will give you eternal liberation, but your teacher cannot teach you such a method, then of course you should find another teacher who can truly bring you into the lineage and give you the proper guidance on the right path.
Actually, if a master of any belief is incapable of leading sentient beings to liberation, we should look for another master. A real master should be able to transmit the correct method to you, initiate your wisdom, and enable you to attain the Truth, henceforth to return to the kingdom of God. It is just like a ship, the chief function of which is to bring us to the opposite shore. After we reach the other shore, we don't need it anymore. We must not cling to that ship and forget about the real objective.
Let's take another example. When we graduate from primary school, our teacher should allow us to be promoted to junior high school and then high school. We should not feel that we have disappointed or betrayed our primary school teacher just because we have been promoted to senior high school.
Q: Dear Master, how does a man cope when he's been married unhappily but then falls in love with another married lady?
M: You have to look to your own marriage and see whether it is absolutely not salvageable, amendable or improvable. Or whether you are seeking love in another relationship just as an excuse for your own pleasure. Because it's already troublesome enough to have one marriage. So it is better if we can take care of our marriage relationship. I know it's difficult; everything is difficult in this world. But that doesn't mean it's impossible.
Talk to your wife about where the problem lies. But don't talk to her about your affair, please. If you talk about that, there may be no more solution. It's alright; if you think it was a mistake, you may try to cut it down or forsake it. But talk to your wife about how to improve your relationship: where she is failing, or where you are failing, and where you need her attention or improvement, or where she needs you.
Talk to each other. Buy new presents for her; buy a beautiful dress for her. Adorn her with beautiful things; make her your beauty. Make her the beauty of your life, instead of spending time and energy on somebody else's woman. Because you don't possess her anyhow. It's better to take care of what you have, and not waste time and energy on other people's possessions. It doesn't matter how much you like the neighbor's car, you don't go and spray gold on it. Spray it on your own car! Take care of your car, because you drive the car and you need it every day. The car is necessary for you. The neighbor's car you can admire quietly, but don't spray gold on it. Don't look after it too much and neglect your car. One day maybe the driver of the neighboring car will drive that car away, and suddenly you will have to go without anything. Your car is in the garage, broken down, uncared for, and now you are in trouble.
So work for your marriage, if you think it's worthwhile. And then also, at the same time, respect other people's marriages. It hurts to forsake the things you love. But think of the other man. If you were in his position, would you feel happy? Would you not prefer your wife to be faithful and devoted to you? So make your wife a good wife, and make yourself a good husband. And make the neighbor's wife also become a good wife to her husband. That would be the best solution, if you don't find a better one.
Thank you for trusting me with your personal family problem. But this is also very important. If your heart is not peaceful, no matter how many wives you have, your business and everything will go wrong. It's better to be satisfied with what you have, and take care of it and beautify it. Make it more beautiful and more suitable for your taste. Just like you cultivate your garden and plant your roses, make what you have more beautiful for yourself.
Q: Could You tell us something from the spiritual point of view about the influences of war?
M: What can I say? What can I say about the ignorance of humankind that drives people to kill one another in cold blood? What can I say to those who have suffered tremendous agony in the war, who lost their parents, who lost their children, who lost everything that they had worked their whole life for? I can only pray that their sorrow will be eased somehow, that God will bless them inside so that they know that life is eternal, and God always loves them. It doesn't matter if they are bad or good, and it doesn't matter how much they lose in this world, Heaven is still theirs.
I can only tell you that if we, the spiritual aspirants, try our best to raise our consciousness to a higher level of understanding, then the world will be a better place. This comes only by knowing that we are God inside, that we can respect the God who sits in front of us or next to us. Only with God's love can we erase all the hatred and differences between brothers and sisters, and then the wars will stop.
Since ancient times we have been warring with each other, destroying the property and the nutrition of this planet. We have even destroyed the teachings of the spiritual Masters; we damage their bodies and their way of life. And what has it brought us? We gain nothing out of this war or any war. I feel sorry for the ones who caused the war, and I feel sorry for the victims. But I feel even sorrier for the ones who caused the war because they are so far from God; they are so desperate that they feel they have to resort to violence.
They feel so much lack of love within themselves that they break out with crimes of such a violent manner because they are so desperate. They are so deep in the illusion of life. For the one who does not know right from wrong anymore, we can only feel sorry. And we can pray that God will bless them with more wisdom and more love, so that they will be awakened to a better way of life. We can help shorten the war and ease the conflict into a better state or even stop it if we all put our positive energy and thinking together, and we meditate daily for the betterment of this planet. The victims of the war, even though they suffer so much in this physical life, will be welcomed by God in the life after.
So I am here to try to remind you that you have the power within yourself to bless the world, to stop the war, to ease the suffering. It is up to you to make use of it. The more awakened the people, the less trouble in this world. Our world is getting better. There are more spiritual practitioners and more vegetarians. In a few more hundred years to come, we will see almost Heaven on this planet. If we live that long!
Q: Master, in one of the News magazines recently, You said that there was no Maya, only God wearing a mask. When You do good things for us, we always have obstructions ahead, so I am wondering whether that is the Maya doing a bad scene to prevent You from doing everything for us?
M: Of course there is a struggle, because Maya is just another force trying to keep the people here, and the Master Power is another force trying to uplift people, because the people who come here are the ones who want to remember they are God. But if it were so simple - you just get a mother, come into the womb, become a baby, and then grow up to become an enlightened Master - then it's so easy, so cheap; what for would you even have to come to the physical body?
So there must be something, like a test in the school. The teacher who gives you very difficult tests is also the one who teaches you every day, who loves you, and who guides you in every step of your education. But he has to test whether you've become strong enough, whether you've understood it, whether you've grown up, whether it was beneficial for you. So Maya is just a test. If you fail the test, then you fail and you will have to begin again, and sometimes it's more difficult. Every time you fail a test, it's doubly difficult the next time. And if you fail the third time, it's six times more difficult.
Be careful all the time with your actions, speech, and thinking; don't fail the test. Whatever is good for other people or good for you, you know you must do it; and there's not even any "in case" and "suppose to" about it. Just do it if you can do it; and don't listen to the Maya, the mind, telling you, "Think of yourself first. Why are you doing that? You have your life to take care of. Forget about her, forget about them; forget about everyone else except yourself. Just do what you want right now regardless of how many people suffer." If you listen to that voice, you will fail. If you listen to your soul, you will pass with flying colors.
So, Maya is no problem; the problem is you, is us. Suppose you go to school and there are no tests, no exams, then what for? How do you know if you're good or not? All the people in the Olympics have to pass their tests also. It's very difficult to pass the tests, and they would say, "Oh! That's Maya!" Most of the time, it's very, very difficult. Often we fail. Only once in a while we succeed in standing up. Once we can stand up, we feel the real difference in progress. We feel we have been uplifted to a much higher level; we feel like a burden has been lifted from our shoulders and we will be stronger, more clear, and more proud of ourselves. Try it! I have tests all the time also. I do.
Q: Since You are an enlightened Master, and if the Maya tests You, is there a way to know the Maya is testing You?
M: No, it doesn't test me straight away. It puts a lot of disciples and trouble in front of me. If it tests me, I would just say, "Get lost! I know you." It just tests my attendants, my disciples, my loved ones, my friends, relatives; it brings that person trouble, and in turn, he troubles me. That should be enough. It never tests me alone, no! It knows me. For example, I want to go to group meditation, and then probably I have only one driver or one attendant at the time. Normally, we don't have any problems with each other, but suddenly, just before I go to group meditation, all kinds of problems come. Maybe he's sulking; maybe he is thinking of going home, maybe he is thinking of his girlfriend, maybe he is thinking of going somewhere else instead. And then he makes a lot of noise, a lot of trouble: anger, arguments, and walks or drives away somewhere else leaving me alone there. Maybe I am late for group meditation, maybe I couldn't come at all; maybe I am too tired and exhausted after trying to win him back onto the right path. Just to rescue one person alone sometimes can be very exhausting because that person is next to me, and all the force of Maya is on him. So I have to help him; and in helping him, I am exhausted. Then I can't go to you, I come late, I come with a big head, or I come in no mood at all to talk.
That's the way it works; it doesn't test me. Nothing can test me. How - money? Give me money so I'll stop being a Master or what? Give me a lover so I'll stop, no! I cannot. Even give me money, okay, I'll accept it, but I'll continue my work. [Applause] Give me a husband, okay, come work with me. What now, make me become a president? Make me sick? Okay, I'm sick, fine. I'll go to the doctor, get a shot and all that, and then I'll get up to do it again. It can only stop me for a while and not for long; it knows that.
All these sicknesses and troubles on my part are not Maya's tests on me; they are tests through my disciples, through my close ones. It is always like that, one hundred percent of the time like that. So even if it doesn't make me sick directly, through the disciple, it can make me sick, make me worry, make me sleepless, make me hurt. Then I get sick, and that also can, in turn, hinder my work or make me weaker for my work, make me work with effort, with suffering that I have to try to overcome. That's all. How else can it test me? The Maya can't do much. Even if it kills me, that's the worst. Then I'm free.
Talking about Maya, I know it every day. It just hides behind some of my people; it never comes face to face with me. Never! But I know it is somewhere. The problem is that most of the disciples are Maya themselves. Like attracts like. If you're strong and good, how can Maya attract you, how can Maya use you? You know immediately that you're doing wrong to yourself, to the Master, and to the public, and then you stop. But they don't know; they think they are doing good. They help the Maya to trouble me, often times. So you can see whether a person is weak or strong by seeing his actions or her doings. You know right away whom he is helping, who he is working for, who the boss is. Anything that works to help the public or the Master is the work of the Master Power; anything that goes against that for any reason at all is the Maya. That is very simple.
You see it right now, but you don't see it when you're around me because that's the time the Maya will dig out the Maya in you, and use it. Now it's lying asleep under control. You will know how much Maya there is when you come face to face with a test; when you have to work for the public; when you have to sacrifice your ego, your time, your physical being, and your likes and dislikes for the benefit of other people. At that time, then you will know how much Maya you still have in your body, in your mind. Otherwise, you will never know. Nothing changes. It's just that you have it inside, and the Maya or the God quality comes when the time, when the situation comes. When it's required, that side of nature comes out. Then you will know how much God Nature and how much Maya nature you reveal to yourself and to other people to see. Everyone can become an enlightened Master. It's just that they don't choose to, that's all. They choose the easy way, the habitual way. That means they take care of themselves first. To take care of yourself is very good, it's a duty, but not at the expense of everyone else. That is disastrous; that is when you are really working for the devil.
Q: What can I do to maintain a daily meditation schedule, when there aren't enough waking hours in the day?
M: You can't wake up? Me, either. No one likes to wake up when we're snug in bed, but we have to try. Suppose you have a job and you have to get up to go to work, then you must. For something like two thousand dollars per month, you wake up every morning at five o'clock. But for God, you don't wake up! So what am I to do? You make your own priorities. We can wake up a little earlier than usual and then get used to it.
For example, say it's too early to get up at three o'clock; then don't wake up three o'clock. If you normally wake up for work at five o'clock, then wake up at twenty to five the first day, or ten to five, or even five to five, and the next day or next week, at ten to five. Get yourself used to the idea and reward yourself abundantly. Tell yourself, "If you wake up early today, I'm going to give you a double bagel or one more cup of cafe latte." Whatever your mind loves to have, reward yourself with it.
You must also love yourself because let's face it, we have only this one physical body, and we're very tired sometimes. We work hard for eight or ten hours a day, just to keep this machine running. And then we sometimes have to attend to other work such as family: a wife, children, parents, friends, neighbors, relatives, and so on. We really make very hard demands on this physical body.
So of course, if you can't wake up in the morning for meditation, forgive yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself, but train yourself slowly. Watch less TV, go to sleep a little early so you can get up better. Whatever activities you used to do too much before to pass the time when you were bored, use that time for knowing God. It's a matter of organization. I'm also pretty busy. You don't believe it; I sit here and look pretty, but I'm very busy, too. And it's also hard for me to get up early sometimes. But you have to put on the alarm clock. Sometimes it's like that.
In the old Indian tradition, there was a saint who could wake up all night, but he slept sitting instead of lying down, so it was just the same. (Laughter) Our people are the same. When they go to our retreats, they sit there and look very good, but they sit in any fashion. (Master humorously drops Her head to one side to show someone "nodding off.") So never mind. Try your best; that's what counts. The saint in India had long hair like me, and he tied his hair to the ceiling. I'm not kidding! And then he became a Master, because he tried so hard. He tied his hair to the ceiling, so whenever he nodded off: "Oh! OK! Ow!" (Laughter)
I'm not saying that you should grow your hair long or do that. But find your own way. Like you can wake up early; for example, in the beginning I had to put a flask of ice water next to me. And then when the alarm rang, I would reach for the ice and throw it on my face: Oh! The ice comes through your clothes and everything, and you just have to jump out of bed.
You don't have to do that; you'll have your own way. But when you want to do something, you can. Believe that you can because you're God. There's nothing impossible with God. Just remember that you have God inside you and no one else there. Don't listen to the mind and the brain; it's just a computer. The mind tells us, "Oh, sleep. Sleep is good for you." But that's not God's voice. God's is behind that.
Q: What was the physical feeling at the moment You found the Truth? What did You feel?
M: There are many ways. Sometimes you have no physical feeling whatsoever. You enjoy in a different dimension. It does not always relate to the physical feeling. You do not use a physical body to enjoy the heavenly bliss. It is a different kind of enjoyment which also manifests sometimes in a physical feeling, like you will feel very peaceful, that is, nothing will move you at all: no anger, no hatred will arise in your mind, and your body will feel so relaxed and so beautiful. That is a lighter kind of samadhi.
Once you are in a deeper samadhi, there's no connection whatsoever with your physical body, and you can't tell. But when you come back, the manifestations of the Light take place at the physical level. For example, you will be more loving to people, you will do your work faster, you will think more quickly, you will be more tolerant, and you will look at all the books and understand them in no time. In other words, you are more intelligent, more loving, and calmer. That is how it manifests through a physical body. But otherwise, when you are in very deep samadhi, you are disconnected from the body, with no physical feelings.
Q: Is it necessary to pray before doing the meditation?
M: We can, but it's not necessary. Meditation is the deepest prayer through which you get anything you want. Anything that is good for your spiritual and physical well being will automatically come your way, whether you pray or don't pray for it. That's why the life of a Quan Yin practitioner is full of contentment and satisfaction - he wants nothing. The more he practices, the less he wants. The more he practices, the less he prays. Seek you first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you.
Q: Is there any difference between initiation by Master and initiation via the Quan Yin messengers*?
A: There is no difference. As a matter of fact, the power of initiation originates from the Master and not from the Quan Yin messengers. With Master's permission, the Quan Yin messengers only explain those pertinent and salient points that pertain to spiritual practice and the meditation technique. They are merely conveying Master's omnipotence that constitutes the source of the dharma (holy teachings). Therefore, no matter where one is in this world, as long as one sincerely prays for initiation and Master's blessing, it is as though the power conferred by Master through the Quan Yin messengers were administered by Master in person.
*Quan Yin messengers are resident practitioners who administer oral instructions during the process of the Holy Initiation when the physical presence of the Master is not possible.
Actually, when we're very happy, it's very difficult to meditate. And when we're very miserable, it's also very difficult to meditate! That's why we always try to strike a balance in between, so we don't feel such extremes that we forget that the real happiness is inside. Truly, it is!
It doesn't matter how much we love someone, or how much someone loves us. One day or another, he or she will disappoint us. And then it hurts. Maybe we misunderstand, or maybe it's true. But it hurts. Even with our children or husband, if we truly want them to love us, we have to be like a slave 24 hours a day to their every wish. Then they'll be happy, and then they might stick with us. But even then it's just maybe.
Sometimes children also make trouble for their parents because they misunderstand their parents, or they want their parents to be with them all the time and give them all of their time. But sometimes, if the parents can't satisfy them, they just don't care. So even children sometimes cause a lot of pain for their parents. And sometimes a husband and wife cause pain for each other because of too many expectations or even just normal expectations.
Still, they're not always easy to fulfill. Like today someone loves you and then you expect tomorrow he will be the same or maybe even better. But then something happens tomorrow. And then he's cranky and moody, and he doesn't want to talk to you. It may not be your fault. But then you say, "If you don't care about me, why should I care about you?" And then you both say it, and then you separate or at least feel bad about each other. And then it takes many days before you reconcile with each other again, or maybe never. Sometimes even just small things make people fall apart, and it hurts a lot. It's not that it doesn't hurt. If it didn't hurt, it would be OK. But it does hurt.
Actually, if we truly rely on the inner happiness, then everything will come. Then we'll never be disappointed or have to rely on anyone. If someone comes, it's OK, or if they don't come, it's OK. We don't feel so hurt or pained inside.
So all the pain, sorrow and misery come not from the outside, not from other people. They come from our inner ignorance. We expect too much from everyone and everything, and then we're disappointed. So the only source of happiness is inside. Whenever you meditate, try to get in touch with that source. For your sake, for your own happiness, contentment, satisfaction, you must always try to get in touch with that joyful center which is inside all of you. That is where the Master power is. That is where every miracle in the universe can manifest. That's all loving kindness, that's where all loving kindness is born. That's where all the Virtues, beauty and the Truth laying dormant there for you to discover.
Otherwise, sooner or later we all die and go where, who cares? At least when we're living, we must live a very worthwhile human life. We should be happy and be able to carry on our life in a joyful way. Because that befits our dignity as a human being, as the "Top Ten" of all the animals in this world. We're the top of physical creation. We don't know if we're the top of the universe yet. Maybe not, but at least here, we're the top of creation. So we must carry on our life as dignified as a human being should be, and not be fearful of everything and stupid and in misery, especially when we have the treasure inside that we can always use.
That's the only purpose of meditation: that you know yourself and know what true happiness is, not because the Master says so and you have to obey the Master. You obey the Master because it's good for you, but you must know why. You must know it's for you, not for the Master. The Master doesn't care. I don't care. If you don't meditate, you don't meditate. It's your life. I can't control you, and I don't want to. If you control someone else, you're bound to him or her. Just like the policeman with a criminal, they're both handcuffed. The policeman has to take care of the prisoner.
I don't want to be in that position. So whatever I tell you is good for you, and if what you hear is logical and you know it, then carry on. Not because I force you or anything like that. It's an honor, it's a privilege, and it's the best fortune of our life to be able to know such a secret. It's not being forced, it's not a bargain, and it's not an obligation. It's the best of all privileges, the best of all luck, in thousands or millions of lifetimes, that we're being so easily shown such a door to liberate ourselves of all misery. So work on it. That's all there is to it. (Applause)
Sometimes, if I work until very late, sometimes until twelve o'clock or one, two o'clock, I still meditate before I sleep. I always long to meditate apart from all of my obligations and duties. I never feel like I shouldn't meditate, or that meditation is terrible. Never! It's a joy, a source of relaxation, a way of recharging, even physically.
That's not talking about becoming a Buddha or anything. If you don't meditate during one day, you can never recover from the whole day's exhaustion and all kinds of mental bombardment of society's negativity. So don't complain to me if you're tired, if you're all this and that and the other. If you don't meditate enough, that's it. That's the price you pay. In the beginning, maybe you're unsettled. But the more you meditate, the more you feel like that's it, that's the only method. Now even if someone gave you one million dollars to change the Master or change the method, you wouldn't do it. You never would. Because you just know it; you can't lie. You can't lie and say that this not the method for you. Even if your meditation is lousy, you know it's only your fault. (Master and everyone laugh.) You honestly know that.
And then when it comes to deep down in your introspection: The Quan Yin Method is the only way, right? That's it, full stop, finished, no argument, no "but," "however" or "nevertheless." That's it. That's the feeling we have in our heart, and that's what we know. And that's the only thing that's sure. So if you know that, then you know it. I don't have to tell you.
Q: Can we reduce our karma by praying?
M: Yes, we can if we are sincere enough, because a very sincere and deep prayer is a kind of meditation. We are in a meditative mood and therefore it reaches the deepest recesses of our great store, our merit and our blessing store. And it affects our karma; it cleanses it. Only if you are truly sincere and deeply longing for forgiveness, does it help.
Q: Do You see there being something special, something unique about You being a female Master? About You being so youthful? Why perhaps were You chosen as You are in this particular form to be our living Master?
M: I guess this is the will of the Most High, and I cannot do anything about it. I guess we need a change. Always having male Masters is boring. We need a change. [Master and audience laugh.] [Applause] You know, being a female spiritual teacher has also some advantages. Like, many women don't like or feel shy talking to men teachers, so maybe they find it easier to communicate with a female teacher. Maybe that's why God chose me to do this job.
Q: I'd like to know if the things that happen in our life have meaning: good things, bad things, natural disasters and so on. And is it good to be aware of the hidden significance behind these events?
M: Well, they happen for our spiritual development even though sometimes during a crisis or event we might not be able to understand it. But everything has some purpose. If you can be aware of the hidden meaning, it's fine. If you can't, just let it be. Things happen; it doesn't matter how they happen. It's not what happens but how we react to the event that's important. The event is there so that we can reflect on ourselves and our development. Then we know how far we've grown up, to what height.
I'll give an example so it's easier for you to understand. Some journalists write some things about us that aren't true. Some people get upset, and they tell me. They cry and all that, thinking that because of the journalists, I get my name blackened, and they're upset for me. But I say there's no need. The journalists write what they write. I am what I am. How I react to them is what's important, not what they write about me.
If they write something good about me, if I'm proud or very excited, happy and feel very arrogant, then that's bad for me. So it's not that writing good things about me is good, but whether my attitude toward it is good or bad. It's for me alone. And then if they write bad things about me and I get really upset, I feel bad for a long time, I hate them or I want to make revenge, and that's also no good for me. It means I'm not truly so developed as to have my peace at every moment, in every situation. So, if you look at the situation like this, then how you feel, how you react and how you solve a problem, that's the lesson. That's the tool to help us remember who we are, how great we are, how tolerant, how loving and how understanding.
I also feel upset sometimes for a very short while because the situation should not have happened that way. It should have happened in a more beautiful way. That's just my expectation. But I'm not upset because of bad people who write bad things about me, nor do I expect them to write good things about me. They write bad things because they don't know me. Even you don't know me so how can outside people know me? That's a very obvious reason; they don't know me. And I'm not going to go out into the world and tell all the journalists how good I am. Even if I tell them, whether they believe me or not is another question. Why should they believe me?
Even you, so-called disciples, came here by yourself voluntarily, and you really love God so much that you can even humble yourself to ask questions and learn from me. But sometimes you doubt me. You think bad things about me. You look at my appearance and my actions in a distorted way and then criticize me and leave the path. You look at my personality instead of my teachings. I was born the way I am. God made me the way I am. I can't 'wig-wag' myself to please everyone the way you think. I am what I am and I'm perfect: finished. You're also perfect: finished. If you don't know you're perfect, then you have to know.
You have to learn how to accept yourself as perfect. Anything that's not perfect according to your opinion you can change if you want. I think I'm perfect. (Applause) I don't mean that sometimes I don't make a mistake according to your opinion, but that's all right. I accept my mistake, too, as long as I don't stick there all the time thinking it's good. But maybe it is good! (Master laughs) Maybe my mistake is necessary for someone else. It looks like a mistake, but it might not be. It might not be a mistake.
Say for example, there's a man who's crying in distress and emotion. Maybe he looks handsome and good-looking. And I might hug him or comfort him. In your opinion, maybe I shouldn't do that. Maybe I should refrain from hugging him because I'm a woman and he's such a good-looking young guy. But I care not about what you think. So maybe in that instance, you think I make a mistake. But maybe my mistake was necessary for that man. He needed my mistake. Maybe I shouldn't have done it in order to keep my reputation more flawless and to keep your respect. But I don't care. Why should I care about everyone's opinion? His or her opinion might not always be correct. I just do what I feel is correct at that moment according to my understanding. And I always stand for what I believe in and what I feel at that moment only. For anything else, I'm not responsible. That's the way it is. (Applause)
So that's one thing. If all the newspapers or people outside talk bad about me and I feel very hateful toward them, it means I don't understand. It means that I still have to practice harder, I have to control myself and try to look into the situation better, with more intelligence. That's my job. Their job is to write what they want. They're responsible for their actions and I have to be responsible for my actions. So I look at it this way: They don't know me. They can't understand me and that's fine. They write according to their beliefs, their understanding and their opinions. And that's all right with me. If I can, I'll explain it to them. If I can't, then I just forget it.
I have to tell you that even though we're spiritual practitioners, we don't always immediately have understanding about every situation that we encounter in our lives. We may not always understand, but at least because we practice, after a few minutes of anger and immediate reaction, we reflect and say, "What is this here?"
So don't blame yourself if in some moment of natural reaction if you feel angry or you feel you want revenge. But afterwards, after it subsides, you think, 'This is not the way I should react to this situation. How should I react? What should I do in this situation that's the most beneficial for me and for the opponent?' And that's the way it is. It's not that you don't get angry sometimes, but that you don't overdo it. You don't overdo it and you don't let the anger override you for a long time so as to affect your health, your spirit and your situation. It's not that you don't get angry sometimes. It's good to be angry sometimes. It's healthy. But what you do with the anger, that's another thing. Don't let it destroy you. So for any event that happens in our life, it's up to us to measure how we've grown already in our spiritual development. If you can look at it that way, it's fine. And try to know how to react to it in the best way for yourself.
Q: Why can't I see the transformation body of Master when I meditate?
A: Master is always around us. Seeing the transformation body is not the only way to communicate with Master. You are communicating with Master whenever you think or pray sincerely to Her. How each of us communicates with Master depends on how well we concentrate while we meditate, how pure our heart is, and furthermore, how well we cultivated ourselves spiritually during our previous lives. When we reach higher cultivation levels, we will see the inner Master. The Master's vibration is very delicate. If your acts, speech, and mind are not purified enough and your vibrations are too coarse, you will not be able to see the transformation body of Master.
Q: To live in today's society, competition with others is unavoidable. As such, does this infringe upon the merciful teaching of the enlightened Masters?
A: Master has said that a competitive attitude is not necessarily bad, as long as the competition is lawful and fair. For example, when we make food, it must be better than the others and worth the money the buyers spend. Genuine competition not only calls for beautiful packaging, but the food also must be delicious. If the food is not good, not well packed, is inedible, or if we ask God and the Master to help ruin our competitors' business, that is not a good attitude.
Actually, a competitive attitude is a good one because we can learn from the successes of others and by looking at our mistakes, so as to correct them, improve our business, and make it more attractive. In such circumstances, we have the right to compete because it is legitimate, rational, and ethical.
Q: Master, what are the manifestation body, the reward body (the physical body), and the dharma body in Buddhism? How do we attain the three-fold body?
M: The dharma body is the Truth or the Tao, the True Self, the Heavenly Kingdom, God, or Creator. It exists eternally. It has never been born and will never perish. It is indivisible, neither good nor bad, compassionate nor wicked. The manifestation body comes from the dharma body - that, which is neither good nor bad, has never been born and will never perish. Therefore, the manifestation body is also the dharma body. We sentient beings pray a lot because we suffer much anguish. These prayers form a kind of atmosphere, which can transform itself and move to some place, where it emits a beam of light. This light is the manifestation body. It originates from that huge Source of Light that has never been born and will never perish, which is dazzlingly brilliant and nameless, has no upper limit, and does not move. We can say that the beam of light thus transmitted from this huge Source is the manifestation body. It becomes denser as it descends and takes a form. At the higher level, this form is light, transparent light, and is intangible. It can be seen, though not by the physical eyes. However, sometimes it is visible to the physical eyes as well. As the beam of light descends further, it becomes denser and changes into a physical body of flesh. The physical body looks just like the brilliant, transparent body above, except that the brilliant body is more beautiful, attractive, better-looking to the eye, and more powerful because it is not confined by this silly tool of flesh. So, this is the meaning of the dharma body, the manifestation body, and the physical body.
A person who has attained the Truth should be able to use his three-fold body. We, who have not attained the Truth, have only the physical body. We are always falling ill. We are helpless, unable to help ourselves, or take care of ourselves or others. A person who has attained the three-fold body through the unity of the physical body, the manifestation body, and the dharma body is able to do anything. His physical body is connected to the manifestation body, which, in turn, is linked to the highest Power in the universe - that which exists forever, has never been born, and will never perish. Therefore, the three are together in oneness. Catholics speak of this as the Trinity. This is the meaning of the three-fold body of the Buddha in Buddhism. A person with a three-fold body is an Enlightened Master, a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, a Christ, a Saint, or one who has attained the Truth.
Q: Why is it that although we're all equal in God's creation, some of us suffer so much misery while certain others, though they live a life of evil misdeeds, prosper materially ?
M: That's because of the different paths that we've chosen. When we gain material wealth or comfort, it doesn't mean that we're blessed or we're anything good because as soon as we die, we leave everything behind. If we gain spiritual knowledge and wealth, that's everlasting .
So don't envy those who only acquire material possessions, but have nothing for their soul; because soon they'll be empty. But you, even though you don't have many material acquisitions, are rich in your heart. You have great love, great compassion, great knowledge and wisdom. Like the Buddha or Jesus, they were walking in bare feet. They didn't have any money; they didn't have cars. They didn't have anything, and yet people fell at their feet to worship them. People still listen to everything they said and worship them, two or three thousand years later. So who's richer, the millionaires out there or Jesus and Buddha? You already know the answer. There's no need to compare ourselves with others. We have to know what we're worth inside. That's what's important.