Opening Doors Within - Pt. 1

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OPENING DOORS WITHIN Book - 1

A Compilation of Excerpts from Lectures delivered by

Supreme Master Ching Hai

Due to all inhabitants of the world's good karma, this beautiful planet was created. But if it's all covered up by the new bad karma, then the planet and/or the inhabitants will perish. Make good karma: Be Loving. Be Veg. Be Green.

-Supreme Master Ching Hai

A Brief Biography of Supreme Master Ching Hai Supreme Master Ching Hai is a world-renowned humanitarian, environmentalist, author, artist, designer, musician, film director and spiritual teacher, whose love and care for humanity extend beyond all racial and national boundaries. Since the early 1980s she has also been one of our planet’s most dedicated ecological pioneers, promoting environmental protection, biodiversity preservation, reforestation, sustainable living and most importantly, the organic vegan diet, the quickest, most effective way to solve the climate crisis.

With unwavering determination, she devotes her time and resources to awakening the world to the disastrous impact of climate change and to the vegan solution. From 2006 to 2008 she launched the Alternative Living and SOS global-warming-awareness campaigns. She also publishes a news magazine, writes books, produced the 2005 vegetarian documentary The Real Heroes and the TV series The King & Co., broadcast on Supreme Master Television, a 24/7, global satellite channel offering news on climate change, the vegan diet and other uplifting topics. Since 2007 Master Ching Hai has also shared her knowledge with environmental experts, government leaders, VIPs and concerned citizens through over 27 climate-change conferences in 13 countries broadcast live on satellite TV and radio. As a result of these efforts, her motto “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet” has spread around the globe, inspiring humankind to embrace the healthy, sustainable vegan lifestyle and thus evolve into a higher state of peace and harmony. Through her kind example, Supreme Master Ching Hai also reminds us of our inner goodness and love for all of God’s creations. The profound insights she gained through her spiritual attainment allowed her to identify the root cause of human suffering, social discord and environmental degradation: the violence we inflict on other beings, including our innocent animal friends. Out of compassion for the weak and voiceless, Supreme Master Ching Hai thus wrote the #1 international bestsellers The Birds in My Life, The Dogs in My Life, and The Noble Wilds. These literary gems, available in various languages, reveal the deep thoughts and feelings of our treasured animal coinhabitants, highlighting their divine nature and unconditional love.

Born in central Au Lac (Vietnam), Supreme Master Ching Hai studied in Europe and worked for the Red Cross. She soon realized that suffering exists in all corners of the globe, and her yearning to find a remedy became the foremost goal in her life. She then embarked on a journey to the Himalayas in search of spiritual enlightenment and eventually received divine transmission of the inner Light and Sound, which she later called the Quan Yin Method. After a period of diligent practice, Supreme Master Ching Hai attained the Great Enlightenment.

Soon after her return from the Himalayas, at the request of those around her, Supreme Master Ching Hai began sharing the Quan Yin Method, encouraging her students to look within to find their own divine greatness. Before long, she

received invitations to give lectures in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Supreme Master Ching Hai’s compassionate heart is also reflected in her care for the less fortunate. Funds generated from the sale of her artistic creations have enabled her to support her mission of comforting God’s children in need through worldwide disaster relief and charity work.

Although she seeks no acknowledgement for her humanitarian work, Supreme Master Ching Hai has received numerous awards from governments and private organizations around the world, including the World Peace Award, the World Spiritual Leadership Award, the Award for Promotion of Human Rights, the World Citizen Humanitarian Award, the Award for Outstanding Public Service to Mankind, the 2006 Gusi Peace Prize, the Los Angeles Music Week Certificate of Commendation, First Place Silver for the 27th Annual Telly Awards 2006, the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award from former US President George W. Bush, and the 2010 President’s Volunteer Service Award from US President Barack Obama.

In addition, October 25 and February 22 were proclaimed “Supreme Master Ching Hai Day” in the US by government officials in Hawaii and Illinois.

Congratulatory messages were sent to her during the Illinois proclamation ceremony by former US Presidents Clinton, Bush and Reagan. And to commend virtuous individuals and encourage others to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has also created the Shining World Awards series, recognizing deserving humans and animals for exceptional heroism, compassion, leadership, bravery or intelligence.

Supreme Master Ching Hai thus selflessly dedicates her life to creating a beautiful future for our beloved planet and its precious co-inhabitants.

Throughout history great visionaries have had dreams, and Supreme Master Ching Hai expresses hers as follows: “I have a dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that all the killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed. It takes billion, billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it’s so beautiful, so wonderful. I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love.”

Appreciate LIFE, START WITH ENLIGHTENMENT.

Colorado, USA April 10, 1993.

The Real Homeland Of The Soul How is everyone? Still recognize me from last time? Is there anyone from last time? Please raise your hand. (Some of the audience raise their hands.) Oh! Fine! So, I don't have to start from scratch. No?! Is this still very early for you?

(Audience: No!) No, ha? You don't work today? (Audience: No.) Oh, fine. And I have to work.

I had a lot of inspiration about what God is, and how to better our world, and how to better ourselves, and how to be in samadhi, etc,.. but I lost them all when I came to Colorado. I guess because Colorado people are very spiritual, and the environment here, it looks like Himalayas. So, I thought all of you are yogis, (laughter) yes. So, you don't need to prove that to me by any funny gestures, okay, or mudras or anything. (Master laughed.) This is one of the places that I might consider to stay, and make myself at home. Consider only!

Ha, Consider (Master and everyone laughed.), because I have many other people who consider that I should stay at their hometown. And I can never win because I am alone, and there are so many people. But today maybe I would like to take some of your time to introduce you to our real hometown , or maybe invite you to have a look at it.

Many people believe that God creates only goodness. And then other people believe that God creates also evil, because they say everything comes from God. Ah, what do you agree? The first one or the second? (The first one) Ah? The first one. Right? Then where does evil come from? Ah? (Audience: Image.) Image?

(Humans) Ah, humans. Oh, so you're very enlightened indeed. (Master laughs.)

You see this place which is called our world, it's not the original plan of the universe. And it has become this and that and others, with all kinds of suffering and all kinds of undesirable situations, because of the by-products of humans and other beings' inter-relationships. If evil has truly existed, then it couldn't have changed from one place after another, or from one country to the other, or from one period of time to the other.

Humans Can Stop Evil As you see, in the old time, we did not have guns, and we did not have atom bombs and all kinds of these things which could destroy mankind in no time. So, actually the evils that exist in this world are not God-made. It was not already there. Therefore, it changes from time to time, and from different countries, yes.

Why were we talking about this? Because we must realize that if evil is manmade, then man can also stop it or avoid it, instead of blaming God all the time, or waiting in a corner of the church for God to descend and do something about it.

For example, between I and Mr. Smith, whoever that might be, we never met each other and nothing happened between us. And suddenly someday Mr. Smith came to see me, or I came to see him. Suppose we are both very ignorant and then, we both wanted to do something. We both wanted to arrive at a position which is very lucrative and profitable and famous and all that for ourselves. Then both of us are in competition about that object. And then if one of us wins, of course the other will feel very frustrated. And if he is a bad tempered man, he might try to revenge in some kind, or make trouble for me. And therefore, in this process we breed another kind of atmosphere between us and apart from us. Originally both of us had no hatred and then, now we have hatred. And that hatred is the third energy which is born from both of our energies.

So, you see, this is not necessary. It wasn't there in the first place. If we come to think about it like that, we couldn't blame God for anything that is unfortunate in this world. Most of the people think God has made everything including evil. I used to think that way. But I think, as I am getting older, and you know I have more sympathy for the Old Man. You get more understanding, you know, for old people as you grow older. (Master laughs.)

Yes, it's just like you and your wife or husband. Normally both of you have no children. But then, you got together, and then the third kind was born. Those are your children. And your children may be exactly like you in character, in intelligence and in ambition or virtues. But, they might not be. And they might cause you a lot of trouble and headaches. So, these are not your making, not entirely. Maybe some of it is your making. But, if you are very virtuous parents, and very exemplary, and your children are the opposite, then it is not your making.

Similarly, our world has become, sometimes, intolerable. It is our own making.

So now, in order to improve this or repair the world, or the house, the big house that we live in, with so many rooms which are the nations, then we should know that evil is avoidable. Evil is avoided by doing good, by keeping the commandments, by loving thy neighbors. But because our mind is so used to an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, it is difficult to do what we think we ought to do, or to treat others in a very loving, kind way. Therefore, we need a stronger force to help us, to pull us out of our habitual thinking and actions. That is why enlightenment is necessary. It is just like a woman who is already very beautiful, and if she dresses herself up, and wears a little bit more jewelry, and learns to walk in a graceful way, then her beauty is more enhanced.

Everything In This World Is Beneficial To Us Everything in this world is actually also good for us, even evil. Evil is our mistakes, fine. But, then we don't have to stay in the mistakes forever. At least the mistakes are a kind of shock. When we receive the effect of our mistakes, we will be shocked into realizing that this is not a proper thing to do. And they cause us misery and unhappiness, therefore, we turn around. And even all things in this world which are beautiful, enjoyable, are reminding us of our true happiness within, or in our true home. Therefore, it's not a sin to enjoy the things that God created for us. But if we always feel very attached to these things, and God will remind us that this is not proper. And therefore, we will

sometimes experience unhappiness, or misery from the things that we cherish most.

It is wrong to deny the world. But it is not right to sink deep into the world all the time. Because we miss the better half of life which is spirit, which is more enjoyable than anything in this world could afford. Everything in this world is just a reminder of the true happiness, the true glory and the true life that we should have, and that we should know, because we have forgotten.

Many people ask me about a kind of woman and man relationship and sexual pleasure and that. Whether it is sinful. I say: It is not. But you should know there are many more pleasures than that. And for example, sexual pleasure is only a copy of the true pleasure when you are in union with yourself, when both forces within you, the feminine and the masculine aspects within yourself are united. And the union between man and woman is just a duplicate of that one.

So, actually God sends us into this world not without any instruments to remind us of the Kingdom of God. It is just that we have forgotten that these are the reminders only, and we just love the copy and forget the original. And that's what makes our life miserable. And even then, we could not enjoy the copy completely.

Therefore, many of the man and woman relationships even, are rocky, and the sexual relationship between you is not that holy, not that mutually respecting.

But it's a kind of sometimes abusing, and just a frustration release; a kind of instrument. Therefore, if we truly want to enjoy this life even, we should enjoy the true life which is a hundred thousand times better than the life that we know on earth. And by knowing that life, we can also enjoy this life.

More Intense Feelings Toward Things After Enlightenment Just like one of our friends just expressed her opinion-that after initiation or enlightenment she enjoyed life also. She would feel whatever is there, in very intense awareness. And when you are happy, you are truly happy. And you have no reservations for your laughter. You are not constrained and not feeling ashamed for laughing very loud, very heartedly with your friends, or even alone.

And when you feel sorrow, you truly can weep. You weep all of your emotions out, and then you get relief. Not that after enlightenment we become like wood or stone, and have no feelings whatsoever.

Some people keep asking me whether I fall in love sometimes. Are you interested, by the way? No, ha! If not, I don't talk about that. It is private. Are you interested? (Audience: Yes.) Okay, okay. I thought it was too personal. You come here to talk about Buddhahood and God and all that. And here I bring things which sound very mundane, yeah. Never mind. You see, and I say yes, yeah, off and on, now and again. Or maybe I don't know if that is falling in love or not. Well, when I see a person probably I like him, and then after he is gone, good-bye. Is that in love or not? Steve, you have more experience. (Laughter.)

Is that falling in love, Steve? (Yes.) Yes? Really! Okay! But not in Colorado though. I haven't... okay. But before that, before enlightenment, I didn't know this kind of feeling. You understand? I never missed anyone. I didn't love

anyone. I didn't care about anyone. I did not enjoy the friendship with the people. I was a very lonely child, very quiet. I did not feel lonely though. I was just a very alone person, until now, until I was forced into this job. (Laughter.) I was a very quiet person. I could not talk. I mean I didn't speak. I didn't make friends. I enjoyed myself. I felt I needed nothing. And you know what it's like in our society. You work and then one month a year, you have a vacation, right?!

Even if you don't want to, you have to. It's the law. So, when I was alone there, I wasn't married then. And then, this forced one-month vacation was the time I had trouble. I didn't know what to do, because I had no friends and there was no where I wished to go. But you had to go because if you didn't come back with a tan, people would not respect you that much. So, you come, you spend all your money and go to Costa Bravo or whatever. And laying there, bake yourself to death, spend all your time in the sun, and get burnt, get peeled, get scorched, and do whatever you can with the cream and all that to comfort yourself. And then go home, to show people, Here I am . Yeah, from Costa Bravo, cost a bomb , cost a lot of money . [Laughter] Yes, so that was the kind of life that I had. Probably some of you experienced the same up to now.

And then, after I became, you know, the "Main Bro" in this 'office', I became more talkative. I changed, I became an entirely different person than if you knew me before. Might have been five, six, seven years ago, you wouldn't recognize me now. When I was married, and my husband had a lot of friends from his medical doctors' circle. And they talked a lot to him about many things, yes. And also they talked on phone a lot. But I hardly could speak anything to him. And sometimes I stood around and felt very envious with these friends. I said, Jeez, if I could just talk half of the time like them, I would feel already very good. I felt a little bit inadequate because I couldn't speak. I mean, I am not a talkative person. I'm always quiet, do my job, and have feelings, but nothing more. And even the love for my husband, I don't know it was a love or not. Well, I missed him when he was away. And I was happy when he was around. But that was it, that was just about it. It was not very kind of passionate thing that you read about in a novel romance or watch movies, things like that. I thought, oh, looks like I am not the person of this world, don't belong here. The Fabulous Network Leading To God But after enlightenment, you feel that your feelings and your emotions and your affections, and your... everything are very sharp. You know, you realize more that you are truly living beings. Many people fear that maybe after enlightenment they would shave their head, and yeah, cast off their beautiful clothes, and go into the Himalayas, or find a cave in Colorado somewhere. But it is not true, it is not true. Maybe you do that in the beginning because you are too fanatic, too eager, too eager to know God, and forgetting all the while that He is always here. Because you are God, you are the representatives of this God power, and we are all connected together in this marvelous network. And should we forget that, we will be very lonely. Deep in our heart we will never be satisfied. Doesn't matter how many friends we have, and how much money we earn, or how busy we are. Many of the moments of our lives will be in loneliness, dissatisfaction. We just don't know what is it that is lacking in our lives. So we do feel something missing. That is because we have forgotten to tune in with this network which connects us as the whole, with the whole universe. And therefore, whatever we do, we do alone. We work alone and we feel great burden on our shoulders. That's why Emerson says: A great burden falls from

our shoulders when we let God run the universe. To let God run the universe doesn't mean we sit there and wait for bread to fall from the sky. It means that we work together with the whole universe. And whatever we do, it will be blessed, watched over, and helped by the whole power. Therefore, we will be the great beings. And everything within us including so-called human emotions will be very alert. We feel for the first time in our lives that we are truly alive, that we truly enjoy everything that God gives us in this life. Not the denial of the world. Not truly. Not like that. I don't think an enlightened person is so negative in his attitude. Because I feel, and I see, and I know that my fellow initiates, people - you can call them disciple, that's your word, yeah - they are very alive, they are very alert, and they are happy. They know that life is alright. Eh, not that all of them are. Very seldom that they want to run away from life. Maybe in the beginning because before I used to wear nun's clothes, and looked very serious. So people thought to be serious and become a monk is the end to all means of Buddhahood.

Enlightenment Solves All Problems After I realized that, I changed because that was a wrong conception. It's okay I wear the clothes if I want to. But that is not the leading motive of enlightenment. That is not the condition for enlightenment.

Enlightened people are very happy. And they accept the situation whatever it is.

And I have a very positive knowledge that if all people are enlightened, then we don't need to change the world at all. We don't need to make India become rich, we don't need to change communism into capitalism, because everyone will be contented under whichever circumstances they are in. And we don't have to change anything. We don't need to even vote for a new president every four years. And Mr. Clinton can stay there forever, (laughter) whether he is good or not, because we are good. That is important. You see, one president however good can not do much. But the whole nation is strong when people in that nation are altogether, at oneness, because of the connecting network. And the whole world is altogether in unison because they're all connected with that network.

And then, the president cannot help himself but to be good. He has to behave, right. I don't mean Mr. Clinton, please don't tell him. He might not give me visa next time. (Master and everyone laughed.) So the problems in this world are not to be blamed on politicians, not to be blamed on the economic system of any country or any ism of any nation, but to be blamed on the ignorance of our selfnature. That we do not know how great we are, that we do not know that we are the contentment incarnate, that we do not know that we are love personified.

Therefore, enlightenment is a cure for all illnesses, for all worldly problems, for all wars, and is once and for all finished! And as long as all of us are enlightened, the world will never come to an end. Everybody predicts about the end of the world. I mean not everybody, everybody worries about it, just some people predict, and make many people worry. But even if the world comes to an end, the enlightened people will never feel bothered, because they know this world comes and then it will go one day. But the life eternal always goes on, and that nothing can affect it. Life eternal is what we are. Wisdom is what we possess.

Love is what our nature is. And that cannot be destroyed with any bomb at all. It cannot be limited by space and time. Therefore, the masters initiate disciples without the limitation of the space and time. The master doesn't have to always be where the disciples are, but can help the disciples and bless them. And the

disciples will grow into mastership, and also can do the same, yeah. So whatever I do you can do also. That was what Jesus said to us.

The World Is The Shadow Of The Kingdom Of God But can we do it? Can we do what Jesus did? No, not yet, because we did not learn what He learned. We have not tuned into the Kingdom of God. We have forgotten our Father who is perfect. Therefore we live in imperfection. Now to correct this is very easy. Yes, if we want to go northward, then we have to face north, and continue, begin and continue to walk or to go northward. But if we want to go south, then, of course we have to turn back and face south and begin to go there. It's very simple.

Therefore, everyday we face the world. We walk toward the world, we think toward the world, we merge ourselves in the world. All our attention, energy, emotions, best talents face the world. We don't face God. Now, it's very simple.

Turn around. I will show you how at the initiation and there you are. Very simple. But you will ask me the question is that, If you face God, then you have to turn your back to the world? It is not so in the Kingdom of God. Because actually if there is no Kingdom of God then there is not this world. This world is only a copy of the real thing, of the real life. Therefore, you do not have to forsake the world in order to know the real. But you have to know that the world came from the real by realizing the real. Just like you get to know a beautiful lady instead of chasing after her shadow. Then you have both. If you want the shadow that much, you can include, because the shadow comes from this beautiful lady. It's no good always clinging to the shadow and not knowing the real. But soon as we know the real, the shadow also belongs to us.

Since ancient times we have always heard many stories about how fantastic a master is. Just like Jesus, yeah, Jesus, He is great, fantastic. He can do many things, and we admire Him. But He should not be the only one in this position, because it is said in the Bible that Know you not that you are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells within you.

We house God. You understand that? We house the almighty within ourselves.

And here we are having nothing of this almighty glory. It is because we face the other way. We face the shadow, we chase after the shadow, and try to correct the shadow to suit our taste-that the legs were too long, the head is too flat, or the ear is too pointed. It was because of the light which projected the real and made it become the shadow. And if we chase that all the time, and trying to make it different, of course we make trouble for ourselves. We exhaust all our energy and we achieve nothing. We might be able to adjust a little bit here, a little bit there, but this is only a shadow. Right? Tomorrow it will become ah, ear, the ear will be pointed again. Therefore in order to truly enjoy we have to correct the real... we have to know the real one and adjust accordingly.

If you know the beautiful girl, where she stands, then you can even make the shadow become more beautiful if you wish. See, you can make the light behind her go a little bit above or under, and then her shadow will become very much like the real person; or do some technique to adjust the shadow. But if we do not know the real and try to adjust the shadow from the shadow itself, then we

always have problems. That is the problem with the world. That's why our world is always in trouble, because we try to correct the shadow and not the real object.

A Peaceful World Comes If Everybody Is Enlightened And so many heroes have come and gone. So many great kings have reigned the world, but the world is still the way it is. If you have fixed some problems here, other problems will breed themselves elsewhere. If you have enough medical care for the people, now you have incurable diseases like AIDS for example, troublesome. And so we never come to an end without problems, if we always try to fix the world.

I have known one person, he is very much interested in our teaching and wants initiation and that. But he told me that he would like to stay in the world, to remain in the world as worldly people, in order to understand their problems and in order to help them. Many of the heroes of our history have thought the same thing, and the world has not become a paradise. Even though we have a lot of better equipment, more civilized society, but then we have other more troublesome problems. So you see, our brothers and sisters, what the conclusion should be. It's not that after enlightenment we forsake our political career. Or leave the President alone in white house and all the aids will go out, because they're all enlightened. But we stay there, and we do better job because we know how to adjust the shadow now. Or we don't bother at all to adjust the shadow anymore. Whatever the shadow may be, fine, because we know it's not important. We may feel amazed at the shadow, of its changing shape and size and color, of different time of the day. We might watch it with amazement, but we no longer chase after that, and we no longer put great importance upon this shadow. That's why everyone should be enlightened. And the world will be at peace. No other thing needs to be done. I don't know if you agree, yes or no? I tell you from example, not sheer talk. See, for example. Now you look at me, I'm wearing beautiful clothes. Actually we designed ourselves, I designed myself and I have seamstresses who are monks and nuns, together yeah. I mean we are those who live together and do not have family ties and that. So we work everything together without wanting any wages or any position anyhow. So, now it's very inexpensive anyhow. But it looks beautiful, right?! So now I am happy because I am beautiful, fine.

But when I am alone and I have not to see you in such a great event and important greeting like this, then I just wear whatever it is, right - very old clothes but very comfortable and old shoes flat. And I don't even care to wash them very carefully because I would just pitch my tent next to the river and put my clothes in the bucket and some soap in it, river water and I use my feet to stamp on them and while I clean my teeth at the same time, yeah. I use my feet to just, you know, walking on the bucket, walking on the clothes after a while and then let it be in the sun for a while. And then after I clean my teeth or I bathe, and I swim, and then I just shake them loose, yeah and get the river water to clean them. Then I throw them on the rocks and after some time they are dry. And that's a life of beautiful enjoyment that I most cherish.

But nevertheless when I go out I stay in, sometimes, hotels, sometimes stay in a very beautiful mansion which some of the disciple lend us for few days, and I also enjoy that. You see, I also enjoy the freshly cut lawn and the beauty of the flowers that you plant around in your gardens and every so-called luxurious thing that you have. I enjoy. Yes. An Enlightened Person Conforms To Circumstances Whatever They Might Be Therefore enlightenment affords us the enjoyment, not the situation. So I enjoy in both cases. I do not deny luxury, and I do not cling to asceticism, because both have its beauty. Whatever it is there, you accept it and that is the simple life. Some people ask me, Simple life means going to the forests and living in caves and eating weeds, and all that? I say no no no. Simple life means you stay where you are enjoy whatever you have. If you are rich, you enjoy your rich life and share whatever leftover, too much, with other people. If you are poor, enjoy your simple life and be happy that you don't have to worry about thieves.

[Laughter] And that is simple living. You see, simple living, yeah - stay where you are, enjoy what you have, that is in my thinking a simple living. Do you think that's alright? Because if we try to change our life it makes us not simple.

Right? You are so used to with clean bath rooms and all that. And now you have to punish yourself and adjust yourself to kind of outside open toilet and it freezes in the winter and maybe you are not used to with the cold. You'd get cold and you'd get sick. And then is that simple? No, then you have to be administered to in a hospital and get all the needles in your tongue, in your knees and wherever necessary. (Master laughs.) And that looks very complicated indeed. At least from the outside. Therefore simple living means you are comfortable where you are. But of course there are somethings we adjust to life. For example if we meditate a lot, then we cannot afford to eat meat too much because that excites our energy, stimulates the passion, and we would like to sit still in order to know our own treasure and wisdom. Therefore if we do not follow a simple diet then it will have some side-effects. Therefore, some people meditate at random and do not adhere to the vegetarian diet they come into a kind of disturbance, you see? Many people have mental derangements. It is because of violating the law of nature. The law of nature teaches us to be vegetarian.

You know all of this. And I think in the sample booklet that you were given it has already been proven scientifically that we humans are vegetarian species.

Because our teeth and our intestines... is that right? yeah? okay - are made for vegetarian beings, yes. And the meat-eaters beings are different in the body construction and the inner organs and the digestive system are all different.

Anyhow I'll be long about enlightenment and short about diet, okay? Because in case you are allergic to vegetarian diet I won't mention anymore.

The Quan Yin Method Is The Ultimate Method But be enlightened anyhow, by all means and by whatever you can afford in your environment and in your mental state of preparation. There are many ways to enlightenment. But there is best way, quickest way, or longest way, yeah, safer way or a little bit risky way. Just like you climb the mountain there are

many roads, but some roads are even and some roads are more rocky and some roads are dangerous.

So I have found that the Quan Yin Method, the method of observing the inner Word, the inner sound and the inner heavenly light is the best, and is the ultimate because ultimately we have to arrive to the light of God and to the Word of God in order to get the wisdom. All other roads are leading you to that state - that you could hear the sound of God and could see the light. Or other methods are having this same goal, but we are right here, - the teaching directly and you immediately experience the enlightenment taste, you see immediately.

So you get this light and sound right away at the time of initiation. Whereby other methods, you have to take a long time or many years or many ascetic kinds of sacrifice in order to arrive there.

Therefore, actually this is not a method. It's just a fruit and the meal is already prepared for you hungry guests. The others, maybe they are not hungry so they try to mess around with their food or cook all the time and not eat it. Many of our people who stay permanently in many of our centers around the world, their life is very simple, but they are very happy. Our life is so simple that when compared to the most simple life styles in other countries, theirs seems pale!

The other day we were speaking with some of the people who work with the government in Au Lac. They are not the governmental officials, they are just working in a businesswise and so we had a chance to talk about this. And then, I said, Actually the Au Lac people in Au Lac if they were enlightened they wouldn't feel so troubled about communism even.

I say because, actually I am a true communist. Because whatever I earn I share it all with people. Communist means you have everything not for yourself, but for the community, you see. You live in a community. Therefore, actually I don't talk communism, but the communists should give me the best medal for it, yeah, because I live what they preach. (Laughter.) I live in tent. I live simple life. I don't earn money for myself. All the money runs around the world for the sake of my disciples, for the enlightenment of others, and for the poor and needy. And even my clothes I design for myself so it's cheaper.

Changing Ourselves Is Changing The World Therefore, it's not what we should have in life but to what degree we are contented with life. To tell you honestly I have no better life than any of the people who live in the communist system. For example, from thirty-six or forty hours up till now I have only had one meal and that wasn't much. There was only maybe half a bowl or one bowl of rice, just a few tofu and a few vegetables.

That's all there was. And I am working so, very... you can not say it's not hard.

It's hard work because we run from one place after another and we are always packing and unpacking and talking to hundreds of, thousands of people all the time. I seldom rest with my voice, very seldom. I'll tell you my schedule. For example yesterday, the night before, I was in Seattle, yeah, talking to thousands and after that talking to the disciples and non-disciples, etc. And then, I did not go to bed until about five o'clock in the morning. And before that, I meditated for a while and then slept a little bit. And got up again at nine or something, got ready to go for the airplane. And then, at the airport I had to

speak to hundreds of people and make them happy, right. And then, went to the air... (Laughter.) What, you're laughing at? It's not true? It's true, yes. Because, if not, then they are not happy. And then, in the airplane, I have to talk again to the neighbors because they will ask me where I come from and what I do and all that. Fine, I enjoy also. And then I had a little rest, maybe ten minutes. And then, again, came down to the airport. And hundreds of people were already there awaiting for me to talk again. Okay, I talked, until nine or something, huh?

And then we went home. And then I had a little rest. And then came the telephone, and I talked again for about one or two hours, one hour at least. And then came out, and then all my disciples, their immediate friends, the Americans, they wanted to be exclusively treated. So only Americans were around, and I talked only in American language. Ah, that was about, yeah, just for a while, yeah? And then, I came and took that meal that I told you. Yes, and that was it. Up till... I had nothing from that meal until now. And before that I didn't have meal. Before that meal I nibbled two mouthfuls of bread and two mouthfuls of milk. That was before I left Seattle. And I came to last night and had that meal. The only meal up till now. So, therefore, I had in forty hours or fifty hours, actually only one meal. Nothing more. And if the communists are proud of their teaching, they should be more proud of the action, and they should give me a best medal. (Laughter & applause.) Actually I am too proud of myself. It's my ego at work, you see. (Master laughs.) Don't worry, I'll put it aside later. (Laughter.)

So, the problem is not to change anything of this world but to change ourselves you see. I would have complained before. Without enlightenment I would have complained. I would have loved to have my beautiful house, my lovely husband and my, whatever is mine. You understand? And I can't just sacrifice like that.

But by the way doing this, I do not even feel sacrifice. You understand what I mean? Just very natural, very happy to do it. Of course I am tired and I complain sometimes. Because of some of the unnecessary tiresome questions or demands from people and disciples. And sometimes it agonizes you. You understand what I mean? Having to accompany kindergarten children while you are teaching in college, yes. It is very difficult also, but I get through, I get through. That's a reasonable complaint, no? Is it not? (Laughter & applause.)

Enjoy The World Within And Without Thus, if the people in any poor country or in whatever situation if they get enlightenment, they would not feel suffering. Some of our disciples are relieved from even the most dangerous sicknesses after initiation or after they practice for a while. Yes, it depends on also their sincerity and karma. And some of them have to undergo sometimes this retribution, but they go with smiles on their faces.

Yesterday while I was in Seattle, even one of the women told me she had to undergo operation, but then she had prepared herself already to go to play in heaven while the body was undergoing operation. She told me: Ah, fine. I know already. I will go and let the doctor inject me and then meanwhile I will go to Buddha's land and have a look around. (Laughter.) Yes, that's what she did. And she had no fear of whatsoever. Yeah, yesterday some of you had heard it. Any of you from Seattle yesterday? Yes, you heard this, yeah. That was an Au Lac lady. She is about my age, maybe younger. But don't make me feel very old.

(Master laughs.) Yes, that's what they do. And sometimes some of our fellow practitioners, their lives are not rich like you perhaps in Formosa. They drive taxi. Okay, they are taxi driver but while driving the taxi they can see Buddha's land or heaven, Kingdom of God at the same time. Therefore their lives pass very quickly. And whatever they do, they do it in joy. They enjoy the real life and the shadow of the real life, because both will blend together-there is no separation, no rejection of any kind.

The Beauty Of Enlightenment When I was in Indonesia or some other country, some people said, Oh, you look beautiful. Would you consider to remarry? Yeah. What do you think? Do I have time for that? (Master and everyone laugh.) Yes, but I said to him, Why do you ask this question? He said, because he thinks that enlightened people would not care so much about these things and no love and very dry and all that. I said, No, if you consider you should propose first. Yeah, you propose and I will put you on the marry list. (Laughter.)

But then, that's the last I heard of him. (Laughter & applause.) Probably after a close examination of my face and figure and whatever, and my life style and he thought he had better not take adventure. (Master and everyone laugh.) So, my disciples everywhere are enough to scare the biggest hero on earth. (Master laughs.) They would run away you know. When you are at home, and you have only one husband and wife and if the third person comes, you already feel very scared, right, very frightened that your love would be shared. How much more if they see my disciples! They hang around twenty four hours, they eat everything with me, and they interfere with all kinds of privacy, except when I am in the bathroom. (Laughter.) My door is never be able to lock. Always coming up and down and my room is just like a restaurant. So whoever dare to be my husband should prepare for war. (Master and everyone laugh.) So, that's the life it is. You see whether you have or you don't have it's fine. It's very fine with you because you are contented within yourself. You do not reject life. But you do not sink into life deeply so that you know nothing else except the material existence of life.

And that's the beauty of enlightenment.

Alright, I am ready for your questions, because there will be more talk by the way. You can ask anything, yeah. And I am free to answer or not, so don't worry.

It is a very good atmosphere today, huh! Right? Yes, for the first time and then you can laugh so much. I think we don't charge the lecture with money but we charge the laughter because this is very rare. (Laughter.)

QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION Q. In the Bible Jesus Christ said: I and my father are one.

M. Yeah.

Q. But, how can I reach this state?

M. Get enlightenment, yeah. Get initiation. That's what we are here for, to help you.

Q. Dear Master, I have never eaten vegetarian. However, after I listened to your videos and read your magazines, I started to eat vegetarian once or twice a month M. Wa, big deal, big deal!

Q. Can I meditate? If yes, is there any danger?

M. Fine, it's already a big improvement, yeah. From thirty days to twenty-eight days.

Q. Dear Master, how to live a happy life?

M. Didn't I tell you? (Master and everyone laugh.) To get enlightenment is a sure way of a happy life. Okay, I am very patient.

Is Abortion An Offense To The Precepts?

Q. Could you please explain your precepts against killing. Specifically against abortion.

M. Wa! You get me into trouble. Ah, Thou shalt not kill is the precept of all religious scriptures, not only Christians. It's even in Jainism, Hinduism and other religions also. If they truly take this thou shalt not kill in a true sense of the precept, abortion, of course, should be avoided. And the doctor should be very precise in determining what is the special situation that people should undertake this. Because maybe sometimes it's dangerous for the mother, yeah, or dangerous for both. So, the doctor should be fair in determining that situation.

Otherwise I think we should save life in any way we can. Whatever special circumstance with you, that you have to answer, your self-conscience, and the doctor has to determine that. Okay? I am not here to condemn anyone, because I know life is very hard, and very difficult to say which is right and which is wrong. Because we are also all under the sway of karma, of the law of cause and retribution, and sometimes it is very difficult for a person to go above that, to be saintly, and to be decisive about anything in life. But, bear in mind that if you have faith in God, and in all our wisdom and if we are enlightened, no circumstance is difficult, no situation is hard to handle. So, I just propose enlightenment, and no condemnation for anything.

Q. Is it okay to receive initiation from more than one master?

M. Yeah, it's okay. But why is it necessary? For example, if your master has already taught you the light and sound within you, and you are satisfied and you're making progress with that path, then you don't have to be initiated by another master who will teach the same method. But nevertheless, if you are not completely satisfied and you would like to have more, I mean you are more convinced in some other master, of course you may do so.

Respect The Talent And Qualities Of Other People Q. Jesus ate fish, why do you not?

M. You always put fish in Jesus' mouth. (Laughter.) Alright, suppose he ate fish, he is Christ, he can do many other things that you cannot do. Why you look at the piece of fish only and not at his qualities and his holiness? As soon as you become holy as he is, and powerful as he is, you can eat human beings, okay?!

(Laughter & applause.) If you are that desperate for meat... Oh God! We always compare the things that other people do to suit our taste. But we do not respect their qualities and their talents, yeah. We have to know what we have and other people have, hm, and then we can say what we can do or not. The president he can stay in the white house, he has a lot of bodyguards, he has power over the whole nation. So, somethings he can do, we can not. Okay, right?!

Q. Are pain and illness always the result of present karma? If so, how do we clean them out?

M. We clean it out by enduring it. Alright? reverse the wheel of karma. But we could being enlightened, by meditation on the through the guidance of a teacher, through things. Yeah, um.

Because it's already too late now to minimize it, we could lubricate it by perfection of the Father every day initiation. Then, we minimize a lot of

Q. Do you feel this initiation is important? Why can it not be done on our own?

M. The question answers itself, um. If you have done it yourself, then it's not necessary to get an initiation. But if you couldn't do it, if you haven't seen the light of God and the sound of heaven, then, initiation is necessary. Besides there are many steps to heaven that you must know, verbally, the instruction, and so many pitfalls that you should avoid. And if you do not know that, you'd waste a lot of time, and sometimes it's dangerous, um.

Q. Who was your Himalaya master and what lineage?

M. I think I talked about that already in some of the tapes. You go and have a look, okay? Now I'm here and you keep asking about my master all the time. I am jealous. (Laugher.) I am so beautiful, and you don't care about me. (Master and everyone laugh.) You care about an old man with wrinkled eyes and cranky mood and doesn't talk to any one, doesn't accept disciples. (Laughter.)

Q. Master, specifically what is the difference between enlightenment and the power to initiate, and which one does the patriarch of the Bible have?

M. The power to initiate came first. You will have the power of initiation also if you are pointed by the master, because a master will initiate through you. And also you have the power, the true power, the perfect power, not the borrowed one, when you become a master. When you reach the fifth plane of consciousness, then you become Christ or Buddha, yeah. At that time you can initiate. But enlightenment is a part of it, part of the power. And you will expand

this, and get to know more of your greatness, more and more until you realize your complete self. And that is the time you'll know God. That's the time you'll be able to initiate people.

In The State Of Samadhi Q. Dear Master, is it right that we have to be at or beyond the second level of spiritual practice to have a samadhi experience?

M. No, no. It's not true. It's just that deeper or shallower samadhi. If you see the light or hear the sound, that means you're already in samadhi. It's just a little bit not very deep. And sometimes you're in very deep samadhi, and you sit there and only aware of the inside, and sometimes aware of both, inside and outside.

Q. If initiated, can one practice meditation an hour in the morning, half hour in the middle of the day and an hour at night? Does one have to meditate two and a half hours continuously a day?

M. No, no. You can separate it. You can do it on the bus, in the park, on airplane and the train, etc. to make up for the hours that you need.

Q. Please explain the reason for not eating or using eggs, and how do eggs represent life and death?

M. Because egg is a symbol of life and death. In it contains life, yeah. And many of the black magicians or white magicians they use eggs to withdraw some of the negative possessive spirit within some people, yeah. Therefore, if we eat eggs too much we tend to attract this negative force toward ourselves. Yeah, that's one of the reasons why we should not eat eggs, hm.

Q. Do you have homosexual disciples?

M. Yes. Do I have to report to you their private business? You see, homosexuality is just a misconception about their awareness. They misunderstand their body's function. And when they become enlightened, this will be less and less, because they will identify themselves less with the body, but more with the spirit. Therefore there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, when the children are very young, they play with plastic models and they cling to their teddy bears, but when they grow up, they will leave them. So do not worry about your misidentification with your body or with your birth appearance. It's alright, just get enlightenment, and everything will fix itself in due course.

Q. Master, I often see that in meditation it is my mind watching my mind, I lose faith that I can't go beyond this technique. Any advice? Thank you!

M. Oh, of course, it's not the very suitable technique for you perhaps. Because if we use the mind to watch the mind, we are still inside the mind and inside the creation's destroying and nourishing process. We should go beyond the mind.

Therefore in our meditation, we don't use the mind at all. Yeah, and that is the most advanced technique. So, maybe try ours, Okay?! Um.

Q. What happened to your husband?

M. Oh, thanks for your concern. We've lost contact for, I think, several years now. Well he waited for me six years, alright? And then, he remarried after six years. And during the time we wrote off and on, half a year a letter, or one year a letter. And after six years, he got married again, with a vegetarian doctor wife.

And then he got a son and he reported that to me. That was the last I heard of him. If you are interested to know, maybe I'll go into the second level and have a look at his future. (Master and everyone laugh.)

Q. Master, how important is it to see the light eighteen inches in front of me. I only see it close to my forehead. Thank you.

M. It's fine, It's a good beginning. Don't worry. It will grow further.

Why Budhi Dharma Sat Facing The Wall For Nine Years Q. I don't know if it's my business to understand, but I would like to find out about Buddha's message when he came from India and sat facing the wall for nine years.

M. Oh! The patriarch, the Budhi Dharma? Facing the wall for nine years?

Because He had nothing else to do. (Laughter.) If it weren't for you, I would probably sit and face the ceiling for nineteen years. (Laughter.) You see. If they have things to do, they would do them whole-heartedly. If they have nothing to do, they just do what they want to do. Yeah, that's it. And if He loved the wall so much, why not? (Laughter & applause.) You see actually, of course I make a joke about it. But you see, to elaborate it further, you should understand that an enlightened person is very contented within him or herself, and does not desire to do anything when it's not necessary. For example, if I don't come to you or if I don't lecture or if nobody requires me to come out to see them or talk to them, I am always in my room. Yeah. Of course sometimes I like to take a walk in the garden or in the forest whenever it's there. If not, I stay in my room. I do nothing, I am just happy. Yeah, I may read books, or not read books. I might meditate, or not meditate. I may sleep, or I may feel awake. I may eat something or not eat something. I'm fine within the walls. You see! That's the problem with the prisoners. Because they are not enlightened, therefore they feel walls separate them. If they were enlightened they would sit pretty well in there and they'd never probably want to leave prison at all. Yes, it is because we are very contented within ourselves. You see. That's why the patriarch, He sat there and felt good. At that time, probably there was no lecture hall for Him, and not many people understood Him. So, He just sat there and enjoyed Himself. He could have done other things, but it wasn't necessary at that time.

There was a story about a Zen master and his disciple. I am afraid to lose your time. Is it okay to tell? (Audience: Yes.) Okay. One Zen disciple, yeah, very enlightened perhaps, came to see his master after some time, and then his master asked him, Ah, well, well, what did you do all these months? Yeah, you had a summer vacation, now what did you do? He said, Oh, in my backyard, there is a big piece of land. I cultivated it and planted some vegetables, and they tasted so good, they looked good. Yeah, and I feel very good about it. So,

the master praised him and said, Oh, well, well, you did not waste your time, huh! You know how to use your time, it's very good, yes. And so the disciple asked the master: Then what did you do during this time that I was not here?

What did you do? And the master said, Oh, in the daytime I ate and read books, in the nighttime I slept, hm. So, the disciple also nodded his head and said, Oh, well, well, master, you also know how to use your time, you didn't waste your time, you are very useful! You understand? Yes, it's very comfortable, huh! It takes an enlightened mind to understand an enlightened mind. So, that's what it is, with the enlightened people. If they have work to do, they do it. If they don't they don't miss anything. So, whenever we are on tour, we are sometimes in a kind of very famous place. You know? Like when we were in Mexico, we were next to the pyramid, yeah and of course people would like to go there. It was about one hour from our place actually, and my room was in the middle of the city, with all the noises and all the narrowness, everything. But still I didn't long to go to the pyramid. So, we never did go.

Even though I stayed there six days, and lectured only one day. But I saw people every day of course. But I had no longing to go to see pyramid, or anything else. I stayed always every day, every minute of the day in my room.

And so, I told you again and again, enlightenment is the only way for the cure of everything in this world. Otherwise, if anyone else, you put them in the room like that, yeah, and don't let them go to see pyramid, something, they will be unhappy. But we are not. I and my disciples, the immediate crew, you know, nobody wanted to go to the pyramid. I asked them, If you want to go, you are free to go. Don't have to wait for me or ask my permission. But nobody wanted to go. They are just happy to serve. They sleep when they have time. And when they wake up, they go and prepare for the lecture-equipment and all that. No one longs to go sightseeing, nothing. It's because we are very contented within ourselves.

Therefore, the first patriarch, Bodhi Dharma, the Buddhist who came to China and faced the wall nine years, it was the same situation, um.

Why Ego Exists?

Q. During meditation do we need to keep ourselves awake so that we know that we are meditating? If I fall into a state of not fully being awake or I fall asleep, is there any good in my meditation at all?

M. Yes, it's a good sleep. (Laughter.)

Q. I have been on a vegetarian diet for three months, but I can't cross my legs because there is a problem with my legs. So, am I qualified for initiation? And can you comment on posture in meditating?

M. Then don't cross your leg for God's sake. Do what you want with your legs. I don't want your legs. I just want your enlightenment, okay.

Q. After initiation and if Master is not with us, if I have any problems with my meditation, what should I do?

M. The Master is always with you, hm. Master is not the body. We are wisdom.

We are connected with the whole universe. And the master who is worth his name is omnipresent. So, whenever you are in trouble, the Master knows. And the Master is always helping you to progress. Whether you see the Master or not, it depends on your power of samadhi. Otherwise, Master is twenty-four hours awake and taking care of you. So don't worry, okay?

Q. Master, You are very beautiful and have much to offer. I am glad to be here.

My question has to do with the ego. What are we to do with it, if anything, and why does it exist?

M. I see. The ego doesn't exist actually. The ego comes from the information that we collect during our time, and during our inter-relationships with others or with all things around us, yes.

For example, when you were born, you had no ego. But when you grow up and then you know yourself to be beautiful or handsome, yes, then, the ego begins to grow yeah. And everybody praises you. Wa! you're beautiful! And then, You have a Ph.D.! You grow more in pride, and that is the ego, yeah. But, don't worry about it. It's just a good accessory sometimes. And you can throw it away anytime you don't need. But, you have to have enlightenment first in order to know when to wear it, and when to put it down. Okay?

Initiation Is The Only Way To Reach The Fifth World Q. What kind of light and sound can I hear when I reach the fifth level? I mean what symbol will let me know if I come to the fifth level of meditation?

M. That I tell you at the time of initiation. Because I cannot just tell you like that at random. I don't know what kind of meditation you do. If you want to elaborate further, maybe it's better, um. The fifth level is meant for the initiated people only, not for other disciples. They couldn't even reach the first.

Q. Dear Master, I'm married, but I sometimes have dreams of being with other beautiful girls. How do I prevent these dreams? Am I creating heavy karma?

Please tell me.

M. It's alright! Just enjoy your dreams okay?! (Laughter.) Just don't do it in the reality. Otherwise, your wife will not let you enjoy it. And keep it a secret. What can we do with dreams? Right? Forgive yourself. It's okay!

Q. When does the soul enter the body? Is it before our birth or after our birth?

How can it happen if we are born as a twin?

M. No, because you like to stick together, I guess, huh! You have affinity with each other, um. And you want to go out at the same time to have companion.

No problem about twins, yeah. We are twins ourselves. We have both feminine and masculine aspects inside. And we, if we reunite that, we're happy, um.

Forget about the physical aspect.

Experience Is Better Than Empty Talk

Q. Dear Master, please let us know more about energy, the relationship between energy, peace and love. The only thing we know from science is that energy can not be destroyed or created. Energy can be transformed from one kind to another kind. Some say God is energy, God is love. What do you think?

M. I think these are only sayings. Before you experience that, all sayings are empty. I do not like to be a living dictionary but an example of the true knowledge. When you are enlightened, you understand this energy and all the metaphysical questions. Energy is many kinds, negative and positive. When we are enlightened, we balance both and make use of them for the purposes in life and in the right time, the right situation. I told you already. If we are enlightened, the world will be at peace. No need to change anything. Of course, that is peaceful energy that we radiate after enlightenment.

Q. How to affect our beloved, such as husband or wife, to be a more moral person. Is there a special method to help them?

M. Yes, enlightenment. Enlightenment helps you to be sharper in all feelings, yeah. And you'll be a better wife, be better husband even. Many of our initiates claim that their married life became much better after both of them practiced God's presence, yeah, the light and sound. Before that they just had a kind of very lukewarm relationship, or cold to ice cube. And after enlightenment they know how to care for each other and then feel more toward each other, um.

Q. Dear Master, I had a lot of nightmares in childhood. Now the nightmares are gone, but, I still dream frequently every night. Please tell me are these dreams involved with my karma?

M. Maybe you had a very rough life before, um. You lived in truly nightmarish life . Therefore, the influence still lingers up till now. Well I sounds like advertising manager, but enlightenment is also for everything. If you want to live a fearless life, and dreamless life, then, of course enlightenment is the answer.

Q. Master, were Hermes, Zoroaster, the Essences, the Gnostics masters? And who were the first masters? And who is the great white brotherhood?

M. All masters, all true masters are one. They come from one source. And the highest master is the supreme master, the almighty which is in all of you. When we first came here we were masters before. And we came here, we blessed the world. And, we forgot all about our power and our glory. And our energies were also exhausted, because we paid attention to outer phenomenas. So, all the masters who came here are the ones who are awakened in this awareness and know their true glory, and they can travel the road home frequently. And they can lead us back home. So, no need to discriminate between any master. All the religions are founded after the master has gone. Therefore we have Christian after Christ, Buddhist after Buddha, etc., okay?!

Q. Enlightenment always seems so lofty. In what ways will I be different after enlightenment ? How will I know? Is it in black and white?

M. Oh, you'll know it, you'll know it definitely. You'll know it, just like you walk inside the door and when you walk outside the door. It's very definite and very beneficial to your daily life. You will know it, very definitely. Just like an educated person and an uneducated person, there is a great difference.

Q. Is it true that to become fully realized one must practice the highest yogatantra and the secret mantra? And if Buddha performed these before full realization?

M. I didn't see anything like that in the scriptures. I only saw that He sat under the Bodhi tree for forty days or more. And He saw the stars at the time of realization. So, if you want to have this same realization as Buddha, you can have it, right now, um. And about tantra and tantrum, I do not know. I did not see anything in the Buddhist scripture referring to the Buddha's practice before He was enlightened. I only know that He saw the stars and He saw the light. So, if you want that kind, we have it. Okay?!

Q.There is a vow to refrain from intoxicants. What about chemicals on fruits and vegetables?

M. Oh, my God! You are fanatic. Wash them with the salty water, yeah, and eat them. Otherwise, you die, hmm? (Laughter & applause.)

Q. Since I started the vegetarian diet, my son who's seven years old asks, Is it another no-meat day? I realize my son was born with the great nature of not eating meat. But due to my ill-concept I started his meat eating habit. How can I restore his greatness and reduce my guilt?

M. Um, then take time. You have taken much time and efforts to force your son into meat, and now you have to take the same amount of effort and time to reverse.

How Dictators Emerge?

Q. Dear Maser, please explain what kind of karma it is when there were dictators like Hitler, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, who caused the wars that killed millions of people, and made millions of others suffer.

M. That is a collective karma of mankind which, as I told you, are by-products of the inter-relationships between humans and other beings in this world or other worlds. And those kinds of by-products became a kind of very forceful strong energy hanging around our earth's atmosphere. And when it is too condensed, then it has to manifest into some kind of visible, such as a very great dictator who kills millions, etc. As you have asked, so therefore, these people are not to be blamed also, in a sense. But, ourselves are to be blamed. If each one of us leads a life of virtues, keeps the commandments, and refrain from killing of any kind - including the indirect killing, so keeping the vegetarian diet - and the world would never have bred these kinds of dictators in the first place. These are there to remind us of the virtuous way, and if we are not awakened yet, then these things will continue to remind us until the whole mankind is awakened.

How To Eradicate Anger?

Q. What is anger? Why does it boil inside us? And how do we release this anger?

M. Sometimes it helps to release it outwardly. Sometimes between husband and wife or men or parents and children there exists some kind of tension. And after you have cleared it together, you clear the air, it's also helpful. Whatever comes naturally, just let it be. If you cannot control it or you cannot control it completely, just try not to bear hatred in it. Just express what you feel, express it in as best manner as you can okay?! Because sometimes anger, when swallowed too much of the time will breed disease within the body.

So the best is that, first we have the virtues of God, and then other passions like anger, greed, attachment, will subside by and by.

Q. You say only human beings can become a Buddha. I want to know if when a disciple passes away and he is on the 4th level, does he need to come back to this world to be a human being and after that to study until he becomes a Buddha?

M. Oh, no, he doesn't have to. He studies from there. The Master will continue to teach the disciple and never leave the disciple until the disciple completely realize himself, hm!

Q. You said You denounce immorality. What is meant by sexual misconduct? Is that wrong?

M. I do not denounce anything. I just propagate correct way of life. And you are free to follow it, okay?! I do not denounce anything. If you feel that is a denouncement, it's not true. Just that you go into the wrong direction. Now you should go back to the right one, if you want to arrive at your destination which is the Kingdom of God. Too much sexual abuse and indulgence tires your body, exhausts your mental power which should be conserved for the greatest enlightenment, and to help yourself and to help mankind. It's more noble that way. That's all, yeah. Sexual misconduct means you have too many girl friends, too many boy friends, too many husbands and wives. It exhausts your storehouse of energy, okay?!

Q. How do You suggest that a person go about attaining enlightenment when that person lives in extreme and almost constant pain.

M. There are many drugs that help you with pain these days. You do not have to endure that. Medicine, you can take in order to prevent the pain. And then when you are calm and peaceful, then you can meditate.

Q. Please let us know if God, the comforter that God sent, the spirit of truth, is only one comforter or a few comforters? If there are a few, please let us know how many?

M. You want to shop, uh, shopping for enlightenment! (Laughter.) One is enough for you, right now, okay?! Because even if there are a few, who knows if they

will come to you and when, and whether you are still alive when the other comforters come, understand? Okay?

Q. Oh, Master, I have a hard time meditating because my head hurts when I start to meditate. Please tell me how to stop the headaches?

M. Maybe you try too much. You should not have any effort, yeah. But I don't know what kind of method you study, so it's difficult to tell you. But whatever you do, relax, yeah. Just do it just like you are mowing a lawn or eating the breakfast. No need to put strain on your brain for concentration. In our method we do it without effort. We just sit there and the light comes. Therefore, it is better.

Q. What does it mean when some people are absent-minded when someone talks to them, and they just don't react, or they instantly forget what you've just said. Is it because they're too mental or they use their mind too much?

M. How do I know? You ask them?!

Q. Dear Master, when You die where does your soul go and what happens to your energy and karma?

M. Me or anyone? (Q. It says when You die.) I'll tell you after I die, okay?!

(Laughter & applause.) It's too early. I mean I am still very young.

Heavy Karma Incurred In Meat Eating Q. If after being initiated and I still make a mistake like eating meat or having an evil thought, does it mean that I'll be disconnected from God or suffer some bad punishment?

M. Evil thought, you might not be able to control it immediately after enlightenment, because it's just like the car brake, you see. When the car runs sixty miles an hour, and if you want to brake it, do it slowly, yeah. So, it'll probably take some time to be able to purify completely yourself. But the meat you can avoid it, yeah, except when you don't know it and you eat it by mistake, then that's fine. But you have to meditate more on that day to clean that, because that is a very heavy karma. That's what makes people ill, what makes our body suffer, and what makes us go to hell afterward to repay for the suffering of other beings.

Q. Dear Master, I sincerely thank You for the lecture today. I wish that You take care of Your health, so that You can continue to give lectures for the rest of the world, and save people who have the sincerity to find the way back to God's home. Thank You again. Please take care of Yourself.

M. Thank you, thank you. God takes care of me. You take care of me. Because you have love for me, you have good thoughts for me, you have loving wishes for me, therefore you take care of me. I can't take care of myself. I just flow with the water. Wherever there is demand, I just have to fulfill it. I have no time

or actually no very fixed schedule to say that I can take care of myself. Never mind, I am okay. I work hard and I am alright.

Q. This question is about discipline. I find that I am very devoted to trying new techniques for a period of time. When I do not see results or when I get too busy or too tired, I just give up, I don't stay with the discipline. How can I push through my weakness and continue with daily routine and mastery?

M. Ah, of course if you have a method and it doesn't work very well, and also maybe you do not follow the practice regularly and diligently and sincerely, then, you lose your faith, yeah. So, try to do what is instructed, and then your faith will grow more with the results. Of course if you don't have results, you don't have faith, and the less faith you have, the less results. So, you'll be in the circle.

Awaken The Primitive Force Of The Universe Q. Master, sometimes during meditation with the Convenient Method, I feel a chill from my spine going up to my head, and then there seems to be a feeling of energy encircling in my head. What does this mean? Is this a bad or good sign?

M. It's okay. It's your kundalini at work. Afterward you'll be used to it. It's only a Convenient Method, and still it works all so much, because of the master power blessing you. Other people they practice many years to try to awaken the kundalini, and they can't do it.

Q. Did Jacob receive bad karma for tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing?

Did Benjamin receive bad karma for tricking his brothers into bringing his father to Egypt?

M. Oh, he talks about Bible?

Q. Ah, the Old Testament.

M. Oh, what do we know about these people? Why do we care? They are all gone, yes. (Laughter & applause.) I think we have enough work to do with our own. Okay. That's it? I am relieved? Ah, fine. Thank you for your attention.

God Takes Care Of Everything Spoken by The Supreme Master Ching Hai Munich Center, Germany August 18, 1995 (Originally in English) I am always happy when I am in Munich. I don't know why, but it's maybe my home town. Except my birthplace in Au Lac, I have never stayed anywhere as long as in Munich -- non-stop. Maybe because it's my second home.

Congratulations on your beautiful Center! God has blessed you so much, and God has loved us so much, including myself -- a very humble servant. God has

blessed me to have the honor to serve you, Hiers children. God has blessed us to be always together in harmony and peace; and then whatever we want, we need, Hes always gives us, without asking. So, we must always thank God in our hearts that Hes is so good to us, and we should also pray sincerely for those people who have less fortune than ourselves.

Remembering God Is Our Duty Every time we meditate, we thank God first, we pray for the less fortunate, and then we remember God with all the sweetness and devotion. That is our duty -very simple, very pure and very effective. Then everything else will come along, without even we asking.

You have so experienced? (Audience: Yes.) Me too. I never ask that Hes gives me the talent to do the painting. I never ask that Hes gives me talent to design the clothes or to design the jewelry so that I can take care of myself financially and help the other people as well. I never ask anything but everything just comes. And sometimes too quickly. I have to organize myself in order to receive all the blessing without wasting any.

The Heavenly Treasure Is Within Us Do you have any questions? It's also good that you don't have questions. The more we meditate, the fewer questions we have. Even some questions are not important anymore. After we meditate we know that nothing is so important and we just feel happy and blissful. When we're happy and blissful, nothing matters, really; and we don't think with the mind so much.

When a person is happy, even at a very mundane level -- two persons falling in love, between a man and a woman, you still feel very happy and blissful. You don't care where you stay, what you eat, what kind of clothes you wear, or what kind of comfort or discomfort you have. It really doesn't matter anymore.

Similarly, we become even more blissful and more happy if we are intoxicated inside. Then we don't have anymore questions really, we don't care. Even if we don't know too many technologies in the world, what is the newest invention, who is the newest movie star, and what is the newest building in the world, we're still not affected by anything. We're just happy, with love from God alone.

That is the purpose of our lives -- to find this love, and then we're satisfied. All of you know this already, so I don't think I should talk too much. Without this love from God, we're just miserable. We continue to be miserable all the time, keep wanting, taking, and greedy. We take all kinds of harmful drugs, sometimes alcohol and all kinds of things in order to make ourselves happy. But then we'll be worse, we'll have more trouble because we don't have the true happiness.

That's why we must meditate on God, and if we cannot, the master power always gives us someone -- some messenger, in order to guide us, help us to remember how to meditate on God correctly. Meditate on God, otherwise you'll

meditate on money, you'll meditate on girlfriends or boyfriends. It's also meditation, but different effect -- bad effect. (Laughter) A lot of people meditate on different things. The businessman, he meditates on his enterprise. The politicians, they meditate on their reputations and careers.

And the womanizer, he meditates on beautiful girls, and things like that. So, it's different concentration. Concentration we all have already. The only thing we have to do is to change the object of concentration.

Change The Object Of Meditation Instead of meditating on all these ephemeral things, like money, fame and ephemeral pleasures of this world, we just switch to meditation on God, and then everything else will come along, even beautiful women will come too, (laughter), money and everything.

I did not come to God for money or for fame. But because I'm so concentrated on God Hes gives me everything, and that is the proof of my concentration, that is the proof of my devotion to God, and that is the proof for you and anyone else. That you know: Seek you first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will come to you. The money I make, it's like it comes from heaven. I don't even do much work.

The people outside sometimes they work a lot and they don't earn that much money. I can't spend all this on myself. I give it to other people, or sometimes buy some Centers for people to meditate together. It depends on what is requested at that moment. So, really, if we always devote our lives and concentrate our love to God, everything we need will come. Everything, absolutely everything, without effort. I make no effort. You know how long it takes me to paint a picture, or how long it takes me to design clothes?

Everything comes along just because I don't care for these things. I just care for God and then everything belongs to God. If I care for God, everything belongs to me too, very simple and logical.

You remember the story of a king in India? When he gave everything in his possession to the people, they could come and take whatever they wanted.

Everyone came and took this and they wondered about the lamps, and took some jewelry. Some people tried their clothes on; and some people took the cutlery or silver or golden vessels, anything like that. Everyone was so happy to take something of their own taste, and they thought their possessions were very beautiful and precious treasures form the king. But they only had one or two things of his whole possessions, but not all. One girl, she came straight to the king, and she said, "I want you." And everything belonged to her -- the whole kingdom and the king himself.

The same thing happens to us when we only want God and nothing else; everything else will belong to us, definitely, hundred percent. I am living proof. I am always happy because God always looks after me, Hes never leaves me in any want, anything that I really think I need I will have.

The Best Gift From God

Actually I don't need anything. After all, I realize I need nothing. Finally, we have no desire anymore. If we meditate more and more, finally we know that we don't need anything. But even if we don't need anything, God will see to it that every necessary thing we will have in life. I think as you meditate along, day by day, you have also noticed this miracle. Everyday is a miracle for us, and we're happier and more loving everyday. That is the best gift from God. If Hes gives us also financial blessing, it's all right. If Hes gives us something like loving relationships as a blessing, it's all right. If Hes gives us more houses, more cars, we accept. Everything God gives is all right. We don't go on to say, "Oh, God, I don't want material things. This is not what I want." It's okay. If Hes gives us anything, that's all right. And we share with everyone else, and this is okay.

That's how the world will become a paradise. Everyone shares with each other.

Everyone becomes happier. Then no one will want to steal from the neighbor, to hurt the neighbor, or to do anything else; because everyone will be happy. That is the future vision of our planet. That's what we should always try to strive to achieve.

One day it will be so. Let's pray for that. And if it is not so, at least the world of our own environment is peaceful, is happy, and is harmonious. Yes, our world with our husbands, wives, our neighbors, our children, this is our world, our planet. It's always blissful, happy and harmonious, at least. That is a world that is important to us too, because our world is the most important foundation.

Without our world, the big world, the big universe doesn't exist. Without one brick of this world, the big world would not exist. The world exists by many bricks put together, so every brick is important.

So, our small world -- our small unit of family, of friends, of neighbors, is very important. That's why if everyone of us takes care of our small world, then the big world becomes peaceful alone. No need for anyone to go to Geneva and have a big meeting, drink a lot of champagne and coffee, and eat a lot of beef in order to talk about world peace. If every unit of the family takes care of its inner peace, if it gets in contact with God and gets this everlasting, unconditional love, then the world will have peace. There's no need to talk. That is an ideal picture, ideal vision for our planet, and for every other planet in this universe.

God Takes Care Of Everything That's what is God's will. That's what God wants us to understand. It doesn't matter what, doesn't matter how long it takes us to understand, God will allow the time, the instruments, the information and the way. God will allow the way.

God will make the way. God will provide the way for us, as long as it's necessary for us to understand these fundamental things about our lives and its connection with the universe.

We have an eternity to learn but we can have it right now. That's what we have through the method of the light and the sound. We have it immediately.

Otherwise, we could wait and wait and wait through mistakes, through miseries, through sorrows and through transient happiness until the day we learn.

So, that's why God sends someone, some messenger, to remind us that we can have it quickly and immediately; as from ancient times it has always been so.

That's better if you already don't wait, you've already got it. But tell your friends, if they want to wait for eternity, it's all right with God, too. (Laughter) God has a lot of patience, far too much!

With this inner meditation and contact, we will soon discover that everything is arranged, everything is okay under the sun. God takes care of every minor detail of every being's life. That's why we're happy. That's why we are satisfied. That's why all the sorrows and miseries in this world cannot affect us because we know the Truth, the one and only Truth, the solid Truth - that God takes care of everything.

So, I think we have to thank God every time that God gives us the opportunity to learn the fastest way, to understand the Truth which erases all of our miseries; because the Truth really will set us free. The only thing that sets us free is the Truth. If we don't know that, we always worry. We always feel terrible: Why is there misery? Why is there someone troubled? Why is there a disaster? Then, because we don't know, we worry all the time and we try to take care of every little thing. But we can never take care enough, because everything goes with the universal plan and we are just a small particle of the cosmos. We always worry like we are God. We try to arrange the world's peace.

We try to do everything in our lives in order to achieve what we think we must.

Then we forget, only God's will will be done, not ours, because we don't know anything.

Only when we meditate on God -- directly contact with God through the light and the sound, then we know. We know everything without even learning from anyone, without reading books, without reading newspapers. We understand deeply, profoundly and everlastingly. You know everything if you meditate regularly and diligently. There's nothing I need to teach you, nothing anyone needs to teach you at all, because you are your own master. Everyone has God inside and everyone knows that.

So the more we come back into our own wisdom and master power, the more we know. It's a very natural way of teaching. It's not teaching by verbal language. It's teaching from inside. It's so simple. We feel sorry that the worldly people don't know. It's so simple like the air we breathe; so simple like the water that we drink. The Truth and the way to the Truth are so simple, but the worldly people, they are so used to complications. They are used to expensive things and hard to get things. So, when anything is offered so simply, quickly and unconditionally, they don't understand.

You see how the people work in the world. They work eight hours, ten hours, fifteen hours, eighteen hours. Just for what? Just to have a roof over their heads, just to have two or three meals a day, a few clothes to wear, and maybe a vehicle to move around in order to work. And they work so hard for these very basic, minimum necessities of life. People are used to hardship. That's why

people cannot believe in anything that is free, anything that is simple, anything that is so direct and unconditional.

That's why it's our duty, if we want to take this duty, to remind the people and to try our best with all the loving kindness that we receive from God to make people realize that the best things are always simple and always unconditional.

We prove it by our living standard, by our moral quality, by our loving kindness which is visible to everyone. We must show God's love through our way of living, through our own behavior, through our devotion and love to God, and through our devotion, love to all mankind. That's how our preaching works, not by verbal languages, but by examples.

Colouring Our Life Spoken By The Supreme Master Ching Hai At The Group Meditation, Singapore September 29, 1994 (Originally In English) I read in the newspapers today that life a hundred years ago was very terrible for people. They didn't have it so clean like today. And they didn't have it so convenient like this, really! At that time, I think the cars were drawn by horses.

And sometimes in the winter, it was very cold. And they kept the horses next to their houses, or in the buildings. And all the smell, you know, they had to share together. Because of the manufactories' smoke and environmental contamination, the people's health were a little bit endangered. That's why in the old times, people died younger than now, because the environment was so filthy and contaminated by all kinds of hazardous substances from the manufactories and the chemical waste from all these big companies.

Actually only one hundred years, and we, humanity, have made a big step of progress in all kinds of aspects. But they said even before we had cars, they had a lot of road accidents, more road accidents than we have now with cars. I could hardly believe it. But it could be true, because they said sometimes the horses, they broke loose and then they killed thousands. And sometimes they just ran around on the road and kicked people also. Today we have car accidents also.

But even at that time, they did have road accidents with horses. That is one of the main reasons.

But even then nowadays still many sicknesses kill people, kill about eighteen million a year - different diseases. Because some of us also do not take precautions to guard our precious body which has been given by God to do some mission on earth for some purpose, also to realize our almighty power.

Somethings like we smoke too much, we drink too much, we eat too much flesh and invite all these bacteria from the flesh into our systems, etc. All these killing factors make our lives miserable, a miserable time.

Live A Better Life 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 not ate because of the taste, and ate just a reasonable amount, then of course, our health would not be so much endangered. You see, most of the vegetarian people, they

become healthier. Is that not so? [Audience: Yes.] Many of you became healthier after taking initiation and switching onto 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.

Not because the vegetarian diet is healthy in itself only, but because the vibration is very harmonious to our body. Whereby the vibrations of the animals are not that harmonious, not so peaceful. Actually, it is very easy, not difficult to live a simple and healthy life. There is no need so much for medicine, no need so much injection. Many of us harm ourselves because we bring 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 stay healthy.

You see, I work hard, I am very small, and I don't really take so much nutrition or I don't have time to consider so much. But still being a vegetarian saves me a lot of sickness, saves a lot of money for the doctors. Otherwise, if I have to keep going to the doctor all the time, it would be troublesome. I go to the doctor sometimes, but minor things. Compared to you, I go very little. Compared to the people outside, for my size. (Laughter) You have to consider my size also. Yes, I am blessed by God and Buddha to do my job.

And sometimes, if I don't do my job, I also will get sick, because the energy is built up inside and not let out. Therefore, you don't worry about hard work. You should work and spend your energy, because in our body, there are about seven chakras which can draw in the energy from the universe. They are just like a battery, automatically charged by universal power. That's why we can run our machine all the time. And when we meditate, this power is even in more abundance. So the more we give, the more it comes in. It will never stop. So we don't worry. Don't worry about karma and helping people, or taking karma and all that. If people need help, you help.

It's only when we try to interfere with the people's mind, like try to control them, or try to tell them to do what we want them to do for a selfish purpose, then we create karma. Otherwise, if we love people and we want to help them in their time of need, even if we truly get karma from them, it doesn't matter.

Understand? It doesn't matter at all, because we should sacrifice for each other.

We should live with each other in love and don't mind the karma.

Just like today, occasionally you have a buffet like this, it's also very good. You can eat different food, and you see how tasty it is, and maybe you try to ask them how to cook it. Or you buy some books, cookbooks, Indian cookbook, Chinese cookbook, vegetarian and then you can cook tasty dishes for your family, keep them healthy, and also introduce them to a vegetarian diet. Most of the people like to eat vegetarian. It's just that they cannot find tasty food. And then they cannot eat it. They cannot survive if everyday they eat salad and soya sauce. (Laughter) Yeah? You know what I mean? So if sometimes our family members don't want to eat vegetarian food, we have to check-up whether our cooking talent is up-to-date. If something is wrong with our cooking technique, we can improve it by asking a neighbor, learning from the big restaurant, or learning from the people giving courses, dish courses. It's very easy.

Always try to live your life with the most fulfilling program, yeah? Never idle your lifetime. Just do everything you want. Try to learn new things. Be outgoing.

Be social. Be friendly, be loving to all the people and learn everything from each other. There is no need to sit there and feel miserable about your life, about your misfortune. There is no such misfortune in this life.

We always must keep positive energy because even if you think positive, even just thinking positive, if you can see your body, you will see each positive thinking will change the pattern of your aura, change your outlook, and change your energy inside. It becomes more overflowing and healthy. But if you think negative, just think anything negative or bad or miserable, and then your pattern changes immediately. Any psychic person can see this. That's why some people can read your mind because when you come in, they can see your aura.

They can see the pattern change in your energy counterpart of your body.

Energy counterpart is the shape of energy which looks like the shape of your real organ. For example, your heart is like this. Suppose someone took your heart away, and that heart place is empty. But still it has the shape of your heart in it - something there. That is the energy counterpart of the heart. Sometimes this energy counterpart has problems, not the real heart; and so they have to fix it.

So you are the best doctor for yourself if you think positive.

Make Use Of Our Inborn Advantage Live a healthy life, and simple. Simple living and high thinking. Always think positive. Even just thinking, changes your pattern of living, changes your day, and changes your fortune. So always try to keep being positive. Then a lot of accidents, a lot of illness can be avoided. It's very difficult if you are a kind of doctor or nurse, or sometimes social worker to be positive all the time, because people will come to you with their sicknesses, their problems, their very low thinking and depressive energy. But for ordinary people, you can always keep up your positive energy. Always think that God is around you, masters from the ten directions are always protecting you. Because it is true. It is true.

We are not left alone in this world to do all things ourselves. We are always protected by angels, everyone of us, and always guarded by Master's spirit, even though we don't see them. Even if you don't believe in angels and spirit, you must believe there is a God who exists. Otherwise, we wouldn't exist. You know what I mean? We cannot run away from this God. So don't worry. Every problem will solve itself in time. Even if it doesn't, we live in this world for only a very short span, we can bear it. Okay? Because we have real hope in heaven which we'll go back to later. Each one of us will go back again sooner or later, when we leave this world. This is not really a real problem.

Most of the problems are our own making, because we think negative, we act negative, and we let the negative influence from people affect us. Sometimes if you go to see the doctor, they will tell you that some of the diseases are selfmade. Not because you want the disease only, but you are run down in resistance. For example, like allergies. Sometimes you never get them. But only when you're run down, you are depressed, you are overworked, you are exhausted, then the allergies will come. You eat the same food everyday, have

no allergies. But one day, you have them. It's because at that time, probably your resistance is very low. Your defense system broke down temporarily or something like that. Whereas if you think positively, the disease also will go quickly. Because sometimes the defense system is so run down already, it's like broken down, it's very difficult to fix it. At that time, then it's too bad. Either we live or we die.

So try to take care of your system and don't let it break down. Try to take care of your system by acting positive, thinking positive, talking positive. That is very simple. Even just thinking positive is already a tremendous help to you. Some people think if you think and you don't do it, then it's all right. But it's really not all right. When you think of killing someone, you actually also do it.

In India, there was a king who tried it. One day he came out and approached a man on the street. And he was thinking that he was going to kill that man. He was thinking only that. Then he asked that man to come up and to tell the king what he felt at that moment about the king. And he told him that he could speak honestly, because it was only an experiment. Also he should not be afraid that the king would kill him if he told his honest feelings. So the king encouraged the man to think, to tell him what he thought of the king when he first saw the king.

Because at that time, the king was thinking he wanted to kill the man, the man said, "I just want to strangle you." Yes, exactly the same moment that the king wanted to kill him, the man also felt he wanted to come and strangle the king.

Probably self-defense system.

Because the soul is omnipresent, the soul is part of God, it has the omnipresent quality. Therefore, if we think about someone, they know it; we talk about someone, they know it; whether they are present or not. That's why we should not talk badly, we should not talk bad about people behind their backs, we should not run down people behind their backs, we should not do anything bad behind someone's back; because they will know. Normally people say God knows, but that person will also know, even though you don't tell him. That's why many crimes, sometimes, they do them in the dark; but they will surface sooner or later. It's because of the omnipresent quality of the soul. Even if that person doesn't know, many invisible beings will know. The ghosts will know and sometimes the ghosts will tell.

Yeah, sometimes you read in the newspaper or see on the TV that ghosts manifest themselves occasionally and make trouble. It is because they have seen something, they know something that we don't know, we don't see. If they don't have the body, they have more intelligence, more freedom. When we have the body, we have also an advantage, that the body protects us from many of the negative effects and a lot of negative knowing. If we don't have this body, then we will know too much, know too much through the brain, like we will know who is going to kill us. That person thinks very bad about us and that person is going to do something bad. We will know too much all day long and then our mind will be bombarded with all kinds of negative seeing, feelings and knowing of the world. Even though our soul knows, but if our brain doesn't know, then we don't suffer so much. You understand? Yes, yes. Therefore, we have this body to protect us from this negative atmosphere of the world.

But nevertheless when we have this body, we also have the disadvantage of not knowing many things that the angels know and the other people who don't have the body know. So we have good and bad. But nevertheless, we can have both.

We can make use of this physical body to shield ourselves from the negative influence. But we can also learn to leave it when we want to, through the process, the technique of meditation. We can go out of this physical prison and then learn something of the paranature quality, like we go to heaven, go to different dimensions to learn a higher wisdom. And then when we come back, we can make use of that to serve ourselves, our families, our nation and our world. Understand? So the people who don't have the body have less advantage than us. But only if we can make use of this life, make use of both the physical dimension and the beyond-physical dimension, then we have both advantages.

We are above the angels and better than all those disembodied spirits. We have more advantages. So try to take care of your life. Make use of your physical greatness. Even though the body is a very troublesome instrument, it is also excellent. Excellent. Actually when you practice very hard, sometimes you don't feel the body. Is that not so? You have this experience? Yeah, you feel very light, right? Yes. Like you are driving but it's not you who's driving, someone else. No effort. That's how we achieve the effortlessness in the physical dimension. Then we can do many things in a lighter way, and we don't feel so exhausted any more. The more we meditate, the better we feel, and the faster we work, and no problem.

And you must also try to pass on the news to our fellow beings to rescue them from their misery. Try to comfort them and bring them the good news that they could be lighter, greater, happier in their lives if they practice the age-old wisdom, getting in contact with the Kingdom of God within themselves, with the Buddha nature within themselves. Then they don't feel so miserable and wornout, or blocked and feeling lonely in this world. That's the only cure for humanity. Otherwise, everyone will tell you that the end of the world is coming.

(Laughter) But so what? Even if the end of the world comes, we have security.

We already know where we are going so then we don't fear. We will have many other worlds to live on.

It looks like so many disasters are coming to the world, huh? But I don't feel like the world is going to end so quickly. Maybe it will end in some parts, maybe have a great destruction for different people. But the virtuous people, the blameless persons will be preserved for the next generation. And with the help of the positive energy from you during your meditation, during the group gatherings, during your silent prayer time, our world is preserved to a greater degree than we might have hoped for. And that's why I hope that you'll spread more good news to people. Adding more water into the pool so that many people can swim in it. Yeah?

Live A Fulfilling, Positive, Happy And Learning Life Even if you have to sacrifice a little bit of personal taste or maybe your vegetarian wife cooks so lousy, but try to swallow it (laughter), for the sake of humanity. But the wife should improve the cooking, or maybe the husband. Why not? Why should the wife always be the one who cooks? You don't know men

have more cooking talent than women. (Laughter) [Audience: Yes.] Yes, only they don't try. (Applause) I have eaten food from many men, they cooked very, very well; and you know all the biggest chefs in the biggest hotels are men, huh? Right? [Audience: Yes.] Very rarely we hear of a big women chef, right? So maybe men should have a try. Surprise your wife, and don't complain to me that 'my wife won't cook for me, so I cannot meditate'. (Laughter) It's nonsense.

There is nothing we should say we cannot do. Is that not so? If it's a big thing, maybe you have an excuse. But cooking, washing, you try, you learn and have fun with it. Okay?

And we should make use of every minute of our life to live a fulfilling, positive, happy and learning life. There is nothing boring about this life, really. Nothing is boring. You try to look for books. There are many books you can read. Read anything that you like as long as it doesn't damage your spirit, doesn't pull you out of the righteous path, doesn't make you stray away from the righteous life, doesn't make you become evil. Then every book you can read. Newspapers, everything can give you information. You select what you read, of course, yeah?

You can read anything to enhance your worldly knowledge. And then meditate to deepen your knowledge in heaven, so you have both knowledge in the world and knowledge in heaven. How can you get bored?

I sometimes don't have even enough time. Of course, I am busy doing spiritual work. But then I am also busy doing some charitable work. And then for that I am very busy. But still I have to make time. I read books and things like that.

How can you get bored? There are so many things in this world you can amuse yourself with, I mean, intellectually. Also you can do sports if you need. Go swimming, or learn something. Make your life happy, healthy and very useful.

There is no need to sit there and say, "My life is boring, my life is miserable."

This is nonsense.

You do it to yourself. Is that right? [Audience: Yes.] Before I came here, I was reading, and I struggled for every minute. (Laughter) I kept reading and looking at the watch, because I wanted to read until the last minute before I came here.

Of course, my duty I have to do. I have to fulfill my duty as a teacher, as a good friend. But I also make my life not miserable, by not only working. I also go swimming sometimes, if I have time. It doesn't take half an hour. Instead of sitting there idling and thinking something negative, you go swimming, yeah?

Also good for your work, for example, or go walking, or take the children go out and play. Teach them to swim or teach them something that you like. Share with them your life and teach them to be intelligent.

The children, you should not leave them to play with children. Children should learn with adults. That's how they grow up. And actually we should not have too many children if we can not individually take care of them. You should devote your life to children, one child at a time. You should always be there for them and with them. Then they will grow up very quick, become very intelligent, and become very useful persons in the society. Then they will save you a lot of headaches. They will be very good, very brave. So, of course, it's very tiring to play with children, but you will learn to play with them. And they will learn from you. You learn patience and love from them - unconditional love. And then they will learn from your wisdom, your intelligence, your way of life.

So make yourself a shining example by learning yourself. Read books, learn new hobbies, be healthy, sportive, live a simple life, be truthful, be virtuous. Then the children cannot help but grow up the same way as you are. So there are a lot of things to do in this world, really. Also hobby-wise. Don't come to me and tell me that you are bored, you are miserable. I don't accept this. You know I don't accept it. You should not be irritable. You should not be miserable. You should not be bored. There is no such thing in the practitioners' dictionary.

Because you should be more intelligent, have more energy, and then you have more ideas. You should even be more active and more energetic. Is that not so?

You don't feel better afterwards? [Audience: Yes.] So if any person comes to you and tells that they are miserable, you know they don't meditate either, for sure.

And you can tell them, "Go and sit more and then you will feel better."

Meditate more and then outwardly we can be more social. Learn from each and everyone. Sometimes the questions you ask in your mind are answered by the neighbor or by the one who sits next to you. You have to feel. Sometimes you ask a question, and if you are not sure the Master has answered for you inside, you have to look for sometimes the answer outside. Sometimes suddenly you feel the person next door wants to talk to you. If it is so clear, then it is an indication that you should listen. And that is the answer for you. And sometimes you suddenly borrow a book, and then the answer is there. Or sometimes you listen to the tape, and then it just comes out that sentence for you. All right? If you can't be so intuitively clear about what the Master answers you inside, you try to look for answers outside. Okay? But it's all right if you make mistakes. It's okay. Don't do them again next time. Don't worry. All right?

Make Yourself A Shining Example So I hope you enjoy the food. And then try to remember the taste also, and go home and cook the same for the husband, or wife, children. In that way they won't complain that the vegetarian diet is so difficult. If everyone eats the food like today, they would never complain. Is that not so? [Audience: Yes.] I told you already the time when I was still married to the German doctor, huh? All my neighbors came to eat vegetarian food. One day, my ex-husband felt sorry for the neighbors, that I was always cooking vegetarian. So that day, he bought some cold fish, already cooked, ready-made. He also bought some cold meat or something like that; and he put a lot there, a lot on one side. And I as usual cooked vegetarian food for both of us, the German doctor and myself.

But all the people came to the vegetarian side to eat. So all of us were hungry because I didn't cook enough. I only cooked for two. I believed that the German doctor was right, (laughter) and so I thought all the neighbors would come and eat all the food that he bought. So I only cooked a little bit for two. But everyone came to eat vegetarian food because it was so tasty. And they are engineers, lawyers, doctors, because we had similar neighbors. We lived in a very posh area, where only these kinds of rich people, so-called rich people live.

They are not kind of average citizens; they are a little bit higher class. So even they said to me, "Wow, if vegetarian food is so good like this, we'd eat everyday." That's why they didn't want meat. I said, "Why don't you go and eat the fish and meat over there. The doctor bought it for you." They said, "No, we don't come for meat and fish. We have them everyday. We want your vegetarian food."

So from then on, I cooked only vegetarian food whenever I invited the neighbors. And when they invited me, they also cooked vegetarian food. So because we ate vegetarian food, all the neighbors became vegetarian. At least partially. And when I went to my in-laws, they also cooked vegetarian food for me, and gave me opportunities to try different dishes. They also thought they were very delicious.

So 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, because the good example in this world is rare. So make yourself a good example. Try your best in everything so that people will know that because you practice, you become better. Then you really are being useful, being useful for society. That's how you prove. That's how you help other people. That's how we rescue the world from the great destruction that may be coming.

For what I see, I don't need to be a prophet. I don't need to cast prophecies. I don't need to be a clairvoyant to see the future. None of us have to be. We can see that our world can encounter great destruction because of a lot of selfdestructive drugs and weapons, the way we live our lives, and the way we infect each other. It could be the end of the world. There is no doubt about it. Or we can see our neighbor, how we affect their life? How one person who has AIDS can affect hundreds of thousands of people just by contacting or by careless actions somewhere.

Just like in France, some doctor just gave a patient an infected blood transfusion. And hundreds of people caught this disease, innocently by doing nothing. Even though they were all careful, they didn't go anywhere, and they didn't do any bad things themselves, they just caught the disease. This is not fair. You know what I mean? So in that case it is terrible. And then those hundred people might spread out to a hundred more. And then hundreds become thousands, thousands become millions. Every year, millions of people die of all kinds of nonsense. So we don't need to ask the prophet whether the world will end. If we continue the life-style that most people live today, we might have to believe that the world will end. Understand?

So it's our duty to rescue people if we love this planet, if we think it's a beautiful place, which it is. Takes billions, trillions of years to make one until it is beautiful like today, so beautiful like this. So we have to also make a contribution. If we can, we fix it. Of course, after all, we've tried our best and still the end of the world comes, then let it be. But if we can fix it, we do it. All right? So spread the good news and let the people go back to the natural way of life, the righteous way of life, that is, being vegetarian, being virtuous, keeping the precepts, and living a simple life and positive thinking. Then our world will be no problem, and we will probably live a few more thousand years in a better condition.

There are two choices now - one is total destruction, another is go ahead with progress in all ways of life, including spiritual. And the future is in our hands, really. There are no aliens who can do anything about it. There is no God who

punishes us. There is no Buddha who blesses us. It's only ourselves. We have to make a choice, because that's how we grow - by making good choices.

Year 2000 - The Dream Actually, in the future, if we get over this year 2000 apocalypse crisis, we will be able to develop further in the future. And I can probably imagine that the people in the future after year 2000 won't have to work so hard. We will have a different system, a wiser system, and people will probably work for hobby only.

And we probably won't need money. Everyone will produce what we have and then we share with each other. Will be better. But that is what I imagine. I hope it will come true. I think it might.

At the moment, we work a lot for nothing. We work a lot, we earn little, and waste a lot of our time which we could use for more intelligent practices.

Because actually if a man has more time, he can contribute more also. In his relaxed time, he can produce, he can learn, he can train himself in another way of work, and he can use his intelligence for his hobby developing. And sometimes people put more energy in their hobby and then it produces better results.

I think everyone should work only half a day. That should be enough. And the other half day should be used for hobbies, whatever they like to develop or their own invention, their own research. Hobbies don't always mean useless speaking or football, or anything like that. Anything done voluntarily under their own will and intelligence is called a hobby. But a hobby can be very productive and helpful to society.

Maybe in the future, we can go to that. yin & yang QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. So my question is that I know that I struggle to do the right thing to do my practices and I know that I am struggling against something that is struggling against me. And my question is how do I get beyond the struggle? How do I win?

M. That's where fun is. If something is too easy, you know you lose the challenge and you don't even want to win it. Yes. Therefore, we have two powers inside us. We call "yin and yang" in Oriental terms, and Chinese. We call negative and positive in the western terminology. Negative power just pushes us to do something which is against our will, and positive power helps us to conquer that tendency. And sometimes we lose, sometimes we win, depends on our spiritual discipline and power. So try to struggle and continue. Just like the United Nations struggle with refugees issues and the wars in the world.

Sometime you win at the end, it takes some struggling. .....

Q. Dear Master, I always make the same mistake that I don't want to make. I feel there are two of me inside, one good and one bad, how can I stop this?

M. Well, maybe that's the balance proportion in your life that you need to learn.

Actually we can't be too good all the time. You will break! Yeah? You see the man in the circus, when he walks the rope, he has to walk this side, that side.

You know what I mean? One time he dips in this side, the other time he is siding to this side. Otherwise, if he walks just like this, he will fall down. This life has two sides anyhow; one is positive, and the other is negative; one is happiness, and the other one is misery. Sometimes we can't help ourselves to dip from one side to another. It's okay! Forgive yourself. Try if you can; if not, forgive yourself. Alright?

Do other things in contradiction to that, to counter attack this habit if you think it's bad. For example, if you are normally very stingy; don't want to give to people, now force yourself to give. Every time you want to take, you give instead! So next time you dare not want to take any more, because every time you want to take, you lose the business! (Laughter) For example, if you want to take one dollar, then force yourself to give two dollars. So next time you dare not to want any more! Or if you normally like to look at other woman besides your wife, so every time you want to do like that, just go home and look at your wife. So next time you are fed up, and you don't want any more. Maybe you try it.

An interview with Supreme Master Ching Hai by Ms. Helen Stone, KLOE Radio Station, at the Quan Yin Vegetarian Restaurant, Houston, TX, U.S.A. November 14, 1993 (Originally in English) Q: Is it possible to have a balance in life by having the yang and the yin, the good the bad, the suffering?

M: Yes, sure. Now we have to do it, because we live in this world. It's too late to say, "I can avoid it altogether," so we have to accept suffering as a part of our yin-yang, balance of positive and negative. But nevertheless, we don't sow more for the future, first. Second, we don't sow suffering for our neighbors. Also, we will minimize the results of our past actions by adding more strength of the positive spirit into our daily lives through meditation, by thinking of God the right way. Everything has a way, actually.

Q: Do You believe in the anima and the animus - the male spirit and the female spirit - within each of us, and having a harmony and balance therein?

M: That's what we call positive and negative forces. Yes, the female is supposed to be a negative force. Whatever is weak, slow or kind of inert, we call negative.

The other, a little bit kind of outgoing and strong, we call it positive. Many people call it different names, like creative power; that is also called negative, actually. But then it has side effects because when you are created then you're supposed to be demolished one day. But in the whole, when they're both

balanced, then we are in equilibrium with the universe, in harmony; and we don't have much suffering.

Spoken by Phnom Pehn, (Originally in English)

Supreme Cambodia

Master May

Ching 11,

Hai 1996

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 New Jersey June 24, 1992 (Originally in English)

Master Center,

Ching

Hai U.S.A.

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.

The Wisdom Of Life Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai At Raising Center, Cambodia July 30, 1996 (Originally In English, Unabridged) In heaven, we have only one name -- that's the name of love and wisdom. (Applause) Thank you. So, don't worry that we are apart from each other, because we are not really apart. We are the same, the same substance; and as long as we go in the same direction, sooner or later we will meet each other again or we will arrive at one point, one destination.

So meditate everyday and enjoy the privilege of the sainthood that you have been admitted into. The light and sound are there sometimes to assure you that you are doing okay, you're going in the right direction.

Whenever the light is very intense and the sound is very, very clear that means you have entered deep into the higher consciousness; when the sound is faint or the light is dim that means you are just at the border of higher intelligence.

So these are the measurements for you to know yourself, how far you have advanced, not for anyone to really judge you, whether you are a higher Buddha or you're a lower Bodhisattva. There is no nonsense like this. We're all going home. Someone goes slower, someone goes faster, just like here. If you are a lot hungry, then you run fast to the kitchen. If you've just eaten biscuits in the tent, then you go slower; or if your legs are longer, you walk faster. The Asian people with shorter legs like me walk very slow. That's why we have become a snail family! (Master and audience laugh.) Last time we bestowed upon ourselves all the titles: golden snails, silver snails -- all kinds of snails -- stainless steel snails (Master and audience laugh), ordinary snails.

Only The Light And Sound Can Help Us Only the light and sound can help us in any kind of situation in this world.

So for us, any kind of karma, any kind of bad burden from the past, present or future, there's nothing else in this world that we can rely on.

These, the light and the sound, are the only methods, the only equipment that God has bestowed upon us when we descended into this world, so

that we can protect ourselves, so that we can remember the Kingdom of God, so that we can dissolve any difficulties and obstructions on our way of finding the Kingdom of God. Any troubles in this world -- be it in your business, in your family circle or in the personal love relationship -- are there actually just to make trouble for you, just to sidetrack you from the journey back to the Kingdom of God. And God knows that beforehand, so we are given this equipment, the light and the sound, so that we can slash them all asunder and then advance further. Without light and sound, we never can make it back home... never, ever. Just like without the airplane, you can not make it here to Cambodia so fast and trouble-free.

So anytime you have any problem, be it with yourself, with any of your love ones or any of the employments or businesses, anything, you just sit down and meditate. The problem will become clearer to you and then you'll know how to solve it, or the problem will just disappear itself in time. Sometimes we panic, really because the world seems to press upon us for certain things, or at a certain time and certain demand. We panic and say, "Oh, my God! I cannot make it. I have only one more day or half more day and I just don't want to do something else. I want to do this thing right now and other things just come making demands on me. But then after we meditate for a while, the world withdraws its demand on us, or the problem just goes somewhere else and then we panicked for nothing. (Master laughs.) So, just keep cool. C-O-O-L, cool. (Laughter) Keep cool, baby (Master and audience laugh), and everything will be all right.

Listen to your intuition inside. Sometimes it's difficult. You have to see which is the strongest voice and remain steadfast on that strongest intuition, because sometimes you feel like you should do this, continue to do this job, but some other people come and demand you to do the other job, and the other people come to tell you this is better and it's no use now -- "It's going to be no use. You'd better run fast to the other direction and do this, that and that. But then you feel inside you should do this, but it makes you feel like in a struggle and torn apart from different directions. Then sit down and meditate and listen to your own Buddha voice, the intuition voice inside, the silent voice that tells you what to do.

Or at least stay calm and you can see clearly for yourself which direction is better for you.

I tell you all these from experience. I'm not telling from a book. Books don't teach us this kind of thing, not too many. And it always works, because where else can we run to and what else can we use to deal with the world as it is, huh? So much overwhelming suffering, so much nonsense, so much pressure upon us, the small creature; and sometimes we really don't know what to do and it makes us feel very, very anxious, very restless. Meditation on the light, on the sound are the only things we can do at that time of necessity. But anyhow, you can pray, too. Praying doesn't mean "Oh, please do this, please do that for me, or, "Please, help!

You can say that but at the same time, you must believe that help is already there. If you don't believe that, it's very bad for you.

Faith Is The Best Prayer Only faith can bring the things into actualization, because actually we are God. We are Buddha already. Help is always there. We don't even need help. If we are the Buddha, we know what to do, no? So believe it. If you

cannot believe in your own Buddha Nature, then believe in the Master power, the Master's Buddha Nature. Then that will help you, because even if you didn't have a Buddha Nature, supposed you didn't have, supposed you were not the Buddha, then okay, at least someone else, like the Master, would not leave you in trouble. The Master would immediately know, would know before you even called, and would already have tried to find a way to help you. So just believe in it. That's the best prayer for you. Believe that it will be done as best for yourself, whatever happens it will be the best for you and you will see it in the future, very soon, that is the best.

So, anytime any problem and you want to pray for yourself or want to pray for anyone, just believe in it. You can ask Master to help or ask your own Buddha Nature to help, but you must believe that it will be done and it is being done, it has already been done. Then, it's okay. Remember the Bible also says whatever you pray for, believe that it has been granted to you, then it will be done. It's the way it is. If you keep crying, "Oh, please help me! Why don't you help me? It has been five minutes...it has been ten minutes. I'll give you another ten minutes. (Master and audience laugh.) That's not the way.

You must believe. Your faith in yourself is the greatest healing power of any illness, of any problems that you might encounter. You must believe this, because you are the only Buddha within yourself. We are all the Buddhas, but the Buddha inside knows what to do already. The soul knows what to do. If you cannot believe, just believe the Master power will help you, because it will. It does help anytime. What's the use of having a master and then the master doesn't do anything for you. Even an ordinary father, mother would try their best to help their children; ordinary teachers would try their best to help the students. How would a spiritual master, having access to all heaven and earth, just leave you alone in darkness and in trouble?

So, there's nothing we cannot solve with faith in ourselves or in the Master power, because actually the Master power is your power. You and I are one. So, if you cannot believe in yourself, okay let it be, because you feel separated from the Master, fine. Then believe in the Master power. If you really think the master is good, why would the master not help you?

And the Master power is omnipresent; there's nowhere the master is not.

Anywhere you call, it's just the Master right there, twenty-four hours, remember! So, everywhere you stay, everywhere you live, whatever you face, don't panic, just believe. It will be solved if you can't solve it yourself. Try your best. If you cannot, then the Master will help you.

That's what the Master's there for. Until you find your own Master power, the one who knows must help.

You Are The Answer You're Looking For Just like the teacher, before you know English he must help you to know English, to see, to learn, to teach you A-B-C, and to repeat this sentence, that sentence, and to read all these articles until you know them yourself.

That's what the teacher is there for; but you also must know, learn yourself, and believe in your own ability, because you can do anything you want. You are the Buddha, never forget. Even if you cannot believe it, don't forget it. Don't forget what I've told you, because what I've told you is the truth. Don't believe anything less than this about yourself.

Have confidence, not pride but confidence within yourself because you are that which you are searching for now. There's nothing else but that inside you, what you search for. The one who is searching and the one who is searched are only one. Have you thought about who is searching for whom? Who is the one that is telling you to search that person, for that being? It's you yourself. Only God can know God. Only Buddha can feel longing for the Buddha Nature, longing for your Home. If your home was not in the palace, if you had not been the prince in the palace, you would never miss the palace, you would never long to go back to the palace, understand?

So, if in your heart now you find yourself longing to go back to the Kingdom of God, or for God realization, it is because you're God. You have been God, and now you have forgotten or something else that separated you, that's why you long for. Don't fear that we are not together because we always are, we always will be. But for the fun of creating a lot of things, we have been separated as it is right now. It's also fine, no? Don't you think so? Yes! Suppose we're all one already, me, you are one, only one face in the whole room here, only one big body like this, wouldn't it be terrible? (Laughter) No fun, huh? Everywhere is my head, everywhere is my arms, everywhere is my feet, nothing else I see here. (Master and audience laugh.) No men, no women, nothing, and no winking eyes sometimes. (Master laughs.) Then nothing to do, understand?

We should be really thankful for the creation as it is, so that we can enjoy each other, so that we can have something higher to long for, to hope for, to aspire for. Otherwise, "Okay I am sitting here. I am God. I am Buddha, and that's that, you know? "I want nothing, I wish nothing, I see no one, I do nothing for no one. No one loves me, I love no one because I am me, me and you, you are I, I and you. That's that, and also no fun, huh? So creation is all right. It's just that if we suffer so much from our wrong choices, previously, then we must change now.

The five precepts or the Ten Commandments we must keep because that's your salvation. Do not think the body is not important. The body is important. Without the body, the mind cannot exit there. Without the mind, the soul has no experiences in this world. The mind and gray matter -- the brain -- are different. The mind is invisible. The brain is the material instrument with which the mind uses to touch, to know the things around it. So, don't confuse the mind with the brain. But the mind is also very, very strong. So you have to feed yourself adequately, bodily, so that your body is strong and keeps long, so that you can practice better and you can benefit the world longer. Don't disregard your body. Give it enough care, proper hygiene and protect it from weather, hunger, accidents and sickness. You have to think always positive and strong. Anytime you're ill, either you willed yourself to be sick or you probably let someone else affect you by your own will. Then just meditate more, take proper medication, and make yourself feel better.

Don't think that the five precepts are from any strict Buddha or rigid Bodhisattva trying to control your life. No, no, no! The body is not made for alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and all kinds of strong stimulation. That's how we shorten our lives, and that's how our ancestors, or parents shortened their lives and imparted this knowledge to us of the shortened life span. Otherwise we would live longer. So you heard that Jacob and whoever it was in the Bible lived long, long, long years. Oh, they had

about eight hundred children or something like that, remember? Also in many of the Chinese legends, they lived until eight hundred years or many thousands of years. Still there are some people who live that long.

Actually, we could live very long, longer than in this kind of life, about a hundred years. Like this, too short. That's why sometimes we wonder why life is so short. What can we do in this kind of hundred years span.

We were not meant to live a hundred years. We are meant to live long, long, long, longer than this; but because of ignorance, self indulgence in all kinds of poisons, our genes from our ancestors kept shortening and shortening and imparted to us this kind of weak body. Then when we come here, we're also influenced by society, like okay, take a glass of alcohol or whiskey is cool. It's sociable, it's high-society. Actually, it's no good for us; anything that contains alcohol is terrible for your body. It shortens your life. It dulls the mind. It confuses the vision.

That's why if you have a risky sickness or an operation, doctors always advise you: Don't drink alcohol two weeks after the operation, don't smoke, don't have this and the other. Then why? Even if after sickness we should not drink alcohol or before or during the sickness we should not drink alcohol or take drugs, then why should we do it ordinarily? It is very harmful. So, if you want to live a healthier life, if you want to live longer, take care of yourself and your family, then stay away from all these toxins. It's not a rigid rule. It's just a natural way to live our life so that we'd be more healthy and clearer in our mind, not drugged all the time, not groggy and sluggish.

The Only Secret Of Longevity Actually our lives should be joyful, active and meaningful. We can learn a lot of things with our time, learning just for the sake of joy, for the sake of learning. You can start learning how to play the piano, guitar, dancing just for exercise, or learn golf, football, baseball, tennis, anything you like to do. You still can always start because your body will obey your command and the cells will start to produce younger cells. Because you want to live so they say, "Oh! You want to live, fine. We do, why not? The cells just listen to the command of the mind. So make sure your mind is healthy, lively, active and you want to live, then you will live longer. That's the only secret of longevity.

Also you can take some vitamins, if you believe in them, because faith is also in the medicine. If you believe vitamins are good for you, of course your faith is invested in the vitamin pills and when you take, it's good for you. Of course vitamins can help supply some of the missing elements, because sometimes we don't take enough nutrition or we take too much of one kind and not the others. Actually, if we are active, we're strong, and our mind is healthy, it can convert any kind of food into a healthy diet and make us healthy; but stay away from the poisons -- alcohol, cigarettes, drugs. Drugs, I mean those heroine kind, marijuana, things like that. These are poison for you, and these poisons are expensive.

You're stupid! Pay so much money for poison. Whiskey is not cheap!

Anything alcoholic is not cheap, hmm?

Drink fruit juice, drink water, mineral water or tap water if it's clean enough, if it's drinkable. These are good for you. Eat wholesome foods.

Eat fruits, vegetables, tofu, vegetable protein. All these are very good and prolong your life. Eat nuts (Master and audience laugh), nuts are good for

us nut-cases. Actually, to the world we are crazy, you know? So if we are already seen as crazy, there is nothing else to worry about. Just be as crazy as you want. All kinds of margarine, all kinds of things that are good for you; olive oil, anything natural is good for you so don't spare your body the nutrition that is needed. But don't over eat, because that also will make you feel very bad and sleepy. Even if the food is good, eat as much as your body needs. If it's too much the body also cannot digest and a lot of it is wasted outside.

Even if I don't have a good example for you about eating, you'd better listen to me. (Laughter) The doctor can be sick but he can also cure you, can heal you. Even if a doctor has the same sickness, he can still cure you because he is a doctor. He knows how to heal people, so don't come to the doctor and say, "Oh, my God! He looks so...! Last year he had a liver operation, how can he cure my liver problem now? It has nothing to do with it. Maybe his lifestyle is not so good or maybe he was poisoned by some of the environmental toxins, like some time he went to India and got hepatitis, things like that. Very difficult when you go around the world to keep the hygiene condition intact, unless you bring all your kitchen with you, the staff, too; and they cook for you everywhere you go, which is inconvenient. In hotels they don't let you cook, so you have to eat the hotel food; and sometimes the cook, he just tastes it, and donates some of his saliva free of charge into the food. That you don't have to pay for, but then you pay a lot for doctor's bills later. That's all troublesome.

Sometimes I am also ill, because I run around too much. I stay in hotels, I eat restaurant food. I eat anything because sometimes people invite me, and I eat with them so as to make them feel good. If I sit together with all the guests and demand my own food, my spoon, my fork and everything like that, oh God! Then they would feel very uneasy.

So, don't look upon my body and sickness and my hospitalization sometimes, feeling that my advice to you is not worthy. It is very good advice for you, all the precepts and all the things that I've imparted to you are good for you. Just live according to them and your life will be longer, your heath will be more strong, and your economy will be better than before -- you'll save a lot of money for medical bills, for doctors and for suffering. Not only save the money, you save the suffering. You don't have to go to the hospital so much. If possible, you just eat at home, cook yourself, I mean cook for yourself. (Laughter) Cook for your husband and your children.

Now and again, of course you want to enjoy you go out to eat. That's all right, but pray a lot before. Make a lot of Five Names, cleanse it with light and whatever power you can get from anywhere, from ten directions, eat it, and believe that it's clean and wholesome. That's the only choice. Even if you don't believe it, try to. What is the use of not believing in the food?

Even if the food is bad, would it help you to believe it is bad; it would not.

So might just as well believe positively that it's good, that it has been cleansed by the Buddha power. Then it is, because nothing that the power of the Buddha cannot do, nothing that God cannot do for you. Hes can make poison become nectar, so if you have to go out and eat, try to believe this. It probably won't help you every time but it helps a lot of times, depending on your karma and your faith.

Sometimes very difficult because you talk to the person next door and he leans to you, talks, and donates some saliva at the same time. At that

time, you're busy listening to him and forget to pray (Master and audience laugh), but just pray in advance, and pray after, "Please, whatever I have eaten (Master and audience laugh), I know you take care of it, so it's all right. Try to believe it. Otherwise what can I do for you? What can I tell you, because your life is like this. Our life is like this. For you, it's easier because every time you travel, you just come to my Center and our Center is as clean as possible already with people taking gloves, and cover all their noses and their mouth, so that the bacteria or whatever don't come into your food.

Extra-Terrestrials From Outer Space Our world is covered with bacteria and a lot of disease, but we're already much immuned to this system. If other people from other planets, suppose if there are some from other planets, if they came here they'd get sick very quickly. So if they come here they have to equip themselves with a lot of sterilization, masks, suits and gloves, everything. That's why sometimes you look at the extra-terrestrials they look very weird, don't look like humans so much. Actually, they are very beautiful; except the bad ones and the ugly ones, they are from a different dimension. But most of the advanced extra-terrestials they are very beautiful. Some are very high, taller than us, three times bigger than the Americans, some.

Some are higher than that, bigger, but some are average like us. Some are smaller, but they mostly are very beautiful and friendly. I suppose. I heard. (Master laughs.) I am told; I read it, okay. (Laughter) So don't ask me anymore. (Laughter) You can read it in books, and ask those abductees, things like that. They'll tell you stories. Don't ask me. I only read, tell, and learn like you.

According to the Buddhist sutra, there are other beings as big as that.

One time, namely the reverent Meguada something. Oh! I forgot his name, he was the one who was very good to his mother; his mother was in the hell. I don't know the Sanskrit name, I just forgot. One of the biggest disciples of the Buddha, one of the ten foremost disciples of Buddha, flew up to some other planet to visit other terrestrials. He stopped in one of the planets and at that time, some of the people there were having lunch. The bowl for rice and food, so big that he stopped at the edge of the bowl and he looked like a fly. So the beings talked to themselves and said, "Oh, God! This is a strange fly. We have never seen such in our place. Actually, it was the disciple of the Buddha, an Indian monk, but because people there were so big that even just to land on the edge of one of their rice bowls, he looked like a fly to them. So when you look at the fly on top of your bowl, maybe consider (laughter), maybe from another planet. Try not to kill them, because maybe they're some monks from somewhere on other planets, who knows? (Laughter) So even within this planet alone, we already have so many different looking people. How could it be the same for us -- if the whole galaxy, the whole universe looked the same? It could not be the same. Perhaps some of the other planets have been keeping their tradition of a healthy diet, the secret of longevity, whereby our planet has lost it, because of disaster, because of our stubbornness or because some accident has befallen us that we have forgotten the secret of life. So we have degraded into this stage of living and into which our life span has become so much shortened than it is necessary for us to do things in this world.

If our life would be longer, probably we could do a lot more, but I don't know. The world has to have peace first. Then they have to sit together and talk about how to preserve this planet, how to purify the atmosphere so the citizens in this world will lead a better life, have a better future for our children. But if they continue to make war like this, even within their own country, within their own party, then I see no hope. Even if our life is healthy and stronger, war can destroy it anytime. They just drop an atom bomb and we're finished, with all our healthy cells ready to live (Master laughs) three, four, five hundred years. So maybe in the future we'll know how to live a better life or we'll be born in another planet which is better for our health, long life and spiritual progress.

The Vibration Makes A Difference That's what we are trying to do, bring you to a better environment. You still will have your body, it's just finer. Every being has the body, it's just the vibration is faster or slower. If it's faster then we don't see it much or it's invisible. The faster, the more invisible; the slower the vibration, the more visible. Our finer body has been condensed into this block of material that is visible to all the naked eyes by slowing down the vibration of the energy. You can see when you're young, you sometimes use like a yo-yo or something. You spin something. When it spins very fast, you don't even see it, the thing, right? Or the electric fan there. It's moving very fast now so it's like almost transparent whereas it has four wings.

When it stops you can see the four wings and through the four wings you can not see anything. But now because it's moving so fast you can see right through the four wings. And this is not even that fast compare to so many things in the universe.

Everything that your naked eyes don't see doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

That's why sometimes during concentration time you step beyond the border of visibility and then you see the other world, other people surrounding you. Buddha is also around here, no where else He can go.

All the beings also surrounding us; or if you left your physical body and went around with the astral body, also people don't see you but you can see other people. You can hear them, but they cannot hear you, they cannot see you. Just like after a person is dead, if he came back to see his relatives and friends, no one hears him, no one sees him, and he becomes very frustrated. So sometimes he has to try very hard to materialize for some time, maybe seconds or a few minutes and then people say, "Oh! I saw ghost! (Laughter) Actually they were in a finer body.

We also were in a finer world, then we tried to come down here. We had to slow down, slow our vibration so that the matter would be solid so we could have this. Actually, it's energy only. There is nothing really material about us, about our body even. Just that it was materialized by a slowing down process. So revere your body to use it for a noble and good purpose. Take care of it as long as it should last for your purpose of realizing yourself and helping our brothers and sisters to go back to where they belong so that they have eternal happiness and don't have to suffer in the dark here, where they should not even though they have chosen to do it. But when it's time, they should go home. We should be around and help them -- pull them out of the darkness, and bring them back, go together with us home.

Good night. Thank you.(Applause) Every time I speak differently.

Sometimes I say the material body, don't care. That is for the people who indulged themselves too much in sleeping, eating, sexual indulgence and forget their real purpose. You can have all these as well, but beware, be moderate. The spiritual purpose is always the foremost. Take care with other things, slow down with other things. Go back Home, it should be the main goal of our life.

Good night. (A: Good night.) See you again. (Applause) Start With Nirvana And End Up On Earth A lecture by The Supreme Master Ching Hai Group Meditation in Malaysia.

Feb. 23, 1992 (Originally in English) Export To Other Planets It's terrible. Even the excess fruit could be decomposed and made into fertilizer again. Why throw it into the sea? For example, let it become an organic plant or an organic plantation with the natural fertilizer. Why should they throw it away?! Anyhow, it's all disorganized; every nation is self-interested. I wouldn't say all the nations, but many are like that. Each one jealously guards each other's so-called secret, which the whole world already knows, which all the Buddhas known. They think it's a secret.

They guard all their secrets, but don't help each other that much. And the one who does help, the others try to exploit them, make fun of them, and try to give them pressure so that they cannot give any more; so they cannot help any more, or they may cause a lot of troubles. Our world is rich in everything. We could feed the whole, entire planet and export to the next thirty three more planets, to those who don't have earth to cultivate, or to those planets on which minerals have been destroyed, or to those whose atmosphere has been poisoned by "Star Wars", (Master laughs) something like that. We could export to them, give them fresh fruits and vegetables, and then import their UFOs instead. Yes. We could exchange. Import their excellent equipment, machines, and we could export to them our tofu, (laughter) red beans, rice, wheat, etc., and even cats, dogs and birds for them to look at. They don't have that many, on some of their planets. The atmosphere was destroyed, so they can hardly keep people there. They keep down the population, because they have to recycle their own atmosphere, oxygen and all kinds of things. So they cannot afford to keep pets. So we can even export our atmosphere; give each one of them one packet of oxygen from the earth with love. Yeah!

We can do that.

If the world leaders only realized how harmful it is to be self-interested; how short-live that kind of attitude is towards themselves; and how harmful it is in the long run, to their own and even later generations, to their children; if they realized that there are other planets, other civilizations in the whole universe, which we should interrelate and try to communicate with, try to learn from and try to benefit from each other, then they would stop arguing and warring with each other. They should try hard at least to seek the way and put all the financial resources or energy into finding the way to make peace instead of war.

But how can I talk to anybody now? Should we begin to search for Presidents, one by one? Shoot them down with our light beam energy and

loving, T.L.C. (laughter), tender loving care. We'll shoot them with T.L.C., tender loving care. We give them each three packets of love. But if they swallow them.... If I approached the world leaders, they might think that I want something from them, because everybody wants something from each other. So they might think in this way. It's very seldom that somebody does something and doesn't want anything in return. Well, I do want something in return. I want them to take care of the people, to truly devote their lives for the benefit of their nations and also for the whole planet, to make good for what we have done wrong, to beautify our planet and to try to make contact with other worlds beyond our world, in order to improve our techniques, our machines, our way of understanding, our way of life, and to elevate the suffering of our world and also the other worlds, if possible.

World Leaders Should Think On A Vast Scale If we truly are the world leaders or national leaders, we must think broadly and do things on such a vast scale; think in such a large pattern of thought, instead of just taking care of a small group of people, politicians, a group of nations, a group of interested people, or our aids, our group, or our supporters or even our nation alone. We degrade ourselves if we think in such small terms instead of broadening our mind and enlarging our heart. It's very difficult, but we might make it. If the world goes bad, up to a point of time, then people will awaken and will be together. We'll stick together. That's why sometimes we are not awakened, and God has to use disaster as a consequence, also as a remedy, to shake us out of our slumber. But this is too tragic, and the effect will last a long time. It's better if we awaken ourselves before the disaster comes.

For a while we become shaken, and then we fall back into our bad habits again: Unable to learn from the past, previous beneficial experiences, in order to improve. I hope that we have gone down enough for the world leaders to realize that they must change our way of life. They must think larger than life. They must think beyond the borders of their nations. They must think beyond the atmosphere of our planet. Otherwise, it is a waste of our greatness, to think, to work and to live just like animals or ants to feed our stomach; only taking care of our surroundings, relatives and friends, or nation. Don't ants do that? Don't bees do that? They are even more organized than some of us. They are even more supportive to each other than some of us. They are even more loving toward each other than some of us. They share equally among each of themselves the portions of their earning. They work together; they put things together and they share with each other. We have enough. We have too much. Our world is still very rich, very rich in everything, in minerals and in all kinds of resources. Even if we don't have oil, we'll find something else to run our cars. The UFO's don't have oil. They don't need oil. Can you carry enough oil from Mars to here? Seventy-eight million kilometers away, is that right? The nearest planet is Mars, right? Anyhow, it is as near as our fuel can go and come back. It's not that near, actually. It's not like going from here to Hong Kong; we all know!

There are different kinds of fuel that we can use for different purposes. In the higher worlds they don't need oil like we do. It's too troublesome and too heavy. They use different kinds of energy, not necessarily the sun's

energy. We have other kinds of energy which are in the atmosphere. I think some scientists have begun to find out, but have not put it to use.

Because sometimes when the scientists find something out, somebody else will try to brake him down, and not let the public know about it or support him. Maybe he ran out of financial support; he could not experiment further, or someone else is after him and steal the patent and destroy it, or use it for a very bad purpose, or try to sell it. It's a lot of money and nobody wants to buy it. It will get stuck there, somewhere in the hands of no one, doing nothing. Understand?

Our planet, as long as we still have people who have this kind of mentality, we'll go nowhere into the future, into the worlds of civilization, into the worlds of a worthwhile human life: the true, dignified and respectable human life. Very difficult. Therefore, I think our job is not very bad, yeah? We can try to educate people: at least to be honest, to work hard, to rely on themselves and to find their wisdom. So even whatever small work they do, they do it with their heart, with devotion. And even if they can't do their work, at least they are honest to the society. They don't cheat people. They don't make trouble. They are patient, and they serve. Or at least, they do not cause trouble. Then they will not have jealousy or provoke people to break down other people's successes in science or in whichever field they happen to work in.

The Practicing Group With Confidence And Love Most of our disciples, whenever they meet other disciples, on the street or anywhere else, if they run into one another in a strange land, they just feel they're brothers. And they know they can trust that person. They know that person will help them, will love them, or at least will not harm them. Is that right? (Yes.) Therefore, if the whole world is like that, what do you think? (*I bet you:) I dare challenge any other so-called religious organizations to produce such brotherhood. Is that not so? You name them, and you'll find none. Yeah? None of the other so-called brotherhoods can trust each other the way we do. Right or not? (The audience replied, "Right!" and applauded) Of course we still have our failures and our personalities, but we know we can trust each other, and we know we have love. We know we can give love. We know we give whatever we have. On this, we have confidence with each other. If we create the world like this we don't need to go to heaven; no need to discuss Nirvana. We'll stay right here. (Applause) Therefore, we started with Nirvana and ended up in the Earth. That's fine.

Our motive is actually not to run away from our duties or from our Earth.

It's just that if we could not stay here and if we could not change it, then we have to go. (Master laughs) Is that right?

So, if you love our world; if you are a down to earth person; if you think the earthly people are still worthwhile and trust-worthy, then save them; save them with your wisdom, with what you know about the practice, about compassion, about love and about the Quan Yin Method. That is our duty. And even after all, if everyone changes to Quan Yin and a vegetarian diet, and you still don't like this planet, well, other planets are ready. Other places are waiting for you. We have plenty. In my Father's house, there are many mansions; that is for sure. The one who can come up can always go down, but the one who is down cannot always come up.

Stable Practicing With Firm Belief In case, you have any doubts at all about our method, or about our motive or about my teachings, because you are a new comer, or because you have not had such a shaking experience like your neighbor, who related his beautiful experiences, or because you have been on another path or another practice, or because you have eaten the wrong food intentionally, may I remind you to start again, to have a firm belief. You have my word of honor that I am never for self-interest.

Never for one second do I think anything to benefit my own body or my relatives. I always say that, and everyone can bear witness to it. For example, my family in Au Lac, for the first time have a television since I left just two months ago. Understand? Just because I sent them a few thousands dollars. And why do they have a television? Because they want to watch my videos. (Applause) So from this example, you might as well know I am not for self-interest, not even the interest of my family.

Of course, I help them when they call for help. If they don't call, I ignore them. I think they can live. I don't worry much about their physical well being. As long as they live, it's okay. I let God take care of them. But of course I will not let them starve or die or anything like that. If I can help others, I help my family, but not by giving them richness and fame. Who am I? I'm just as helpless as you, not to give them richness and fame. I don't even let the disciples come and bow to my parents, or look at my house. Even then, if it's for my glory and for my parents' glory, I forbid them to come. The ones who come, I forbid them to come back to see me.

There is no use making glory out of material existence, out of two or three bodies. The best glory you'll find in meditation, in bettering yourself, in making yourself become a very beautiful citizen of this world. That's how you glorify me. There is no other way. Therefore, have your faith again in your own choice of a good path, a good Master and good teaching. You can call me Master, it's okay. I am no more glorified if you call me a beggar. But you call me Master because you realized that this is the one who knows what we want to know; this is the one who has realized what we want to realize. This is our goal to reach. Understand? She is a representative for what we want to become. She has mastered herself, so we called her "Master".

Sooner or later when we master ourselves, we can call ourselves "Master".

The one who masters himself or herself is the true Master. And that's the only purpose for calling me "Master". Otherwise, I am no more glorified than before I took over this business. It is the same! Yes, and there's no self-interest. And our path is truly the correct one, the one that benefits people most, the fastest. Our disciples progress faster than any other disciples from any other organizations worldwide that I have ever come to know of.

Put In All Your Energy To Get The Most Benefits I can tell you in all honesty, and you can try to find out. You may take your time to learn to know other paths. I am not jealous. I have no fear. I have no fear that you'll run away from me. I only fear you'll lose your time and feel sorry when you come back again, saying, "What a waste!"

(Applause) Do you understand? So, find out what you want to know and then be firm on your feet. Understand? If you truly must find out about

me, do find out, by all means. If you truly want to find out if there's better path than ours, please do it and fast. Don't sit there hesitating, wasting both of our time. Do you understand? If you find another, better one, I am only too happy to let you out, because the less disciples, the less tiring it is for me. And I might come and join you. We can both become fellow practitioners. I could sit there like you now, enjoying the disciple-ship: all nice and taken care of, and loved, with no responsibility. And I could run from one place to another like you do, following one guru. It's very romantic and healthy.

As you know I have not forced you into believing this, and I have never used any magical power or any ways apart from logical speaking to coerce you into this group of crazy people. (Laughter) You have chosen to come!

Yes? If you have chosen something, make sure it is good, because if you have chosen a bad thing it is also a choice. It's also a waste of energy and time to follow something which is unproductive. And once you follow something you must make sure that it is okay; it's good; it's correct. And once you make sure it's correct and beneficial, stick to it, to get the most benefit out of it. Put your whole energy into it, otherwise you'll gain only half, and it's a waste of time, and you might just as well leave. Is that right? (Yes.) It just like a marriage, once you have chosen a partner, try to work with each other to protect the marriage, because, if you are miserable in a marriage you can not work outside also; you have no energy, no interest.

Both have to work for the marriage. But after you work hard and you think you have chosen a good partner, but it doesn't work somehow and you both don't want to mend it, then it's better not to. Yeah? Don't torture each other, wasting each other's time and energy. If you think it is good for you or you cannot live without it, then you must work for it.

Everything we must work hard to maintain.

Take Care Of The World With Our Hearts Our world can become as beautiful as Nirvana. It is that the world's people don't work towards it; otherwise, it can be as beautiful as any Nirvana can be. All the money that is wasted in arms, in wars, in killing each other, in capturing each other and in chasing each other around the world, we can use to pave all the streets in the whole planet and plant all the beautiful trees, all the exotic flowers, and the most nutritious fruits and food, even just to look at. Yeah, I don't need to eat! If we have too much, we can look at them, and let them fall down and decompose and become fertilizer again on their own. We can smell their fragrance and we can look at our planet and we make it become a beautiful paradise.

Our roads don't need to be paved in crystal and gold, like the worlds of Amitaba Buddha. We will be content with cement or with black tar. It's clean and it's good enough for us. We can walk, with no mud, but even mud is beautiful too, if it is clean; if there's no garbage lying around; if there's no radio active batteries running all over the place; if there's no plastic and rubbers infiltrating the whole area; if there's no gasoline car pollution pumping in our nose. We can use the money, resources and energy to invest in science to find the way to run our cars better than we do now; to find the way to give people more security and to share it equally, not like insome or systems so-called communism in which they pull everybody down to a poor standard, rather to raise the poor to a rich

level. That should be the way, not the other way around. I am not a politician, but I'm just talking logic. I don't like politics, but sometimes you cannot separate politics from the so-called religious or moral teachings, because in the old times only the wise ruled the nations.

Ideal Leaders Are Good Instruments Of God Therefore we had the period of Yau, Shwen, the Golden Egypt, Golden Greece. Do you understand? There's no need to say that the practitioners should not mix into politics. We don't mix; we don't even want to. If we mix in, we cannot do anything. But we can talk logically and make you understand why politics fail. It's because it is not true politics. True politics will stand, will benefit the nations and the world. Right now we have a few very good leaders. I, myself, also like them. If I could I would support them. Not that I would go and shake their hands and tell them that I support them, but I will, in my way, so that they can stay longer in power.

In an invisible way I might help them, so that at least the world has some light, has some good instruments for God to work through, so that at least our world won't become hell. (Applause) If we cannot help the world in a different way, then we should meditate.

We better ourselves; we moralize our standard. That is also a great help.

In a world that is full of weakness and injustice, if we have so many groups of beautiful people who don't take the lives or animals, who even eat sparingly of a vegetarian diet, who aren't so greedy of anything and who help us when they can, in their own ability, initiates or non-initiates, then we've already done great services to this world. By and by, slowly, others will take our examples. We teach by example, not by words.

Of course, I teach you also by words, because from words you know why I am doing this and why you should do that. Also it is beneficial, but if we only talk and don't do anything, then it's no use. It can even be harmful, because we waste our energy and other people's time listening to our garbage. Is that not so? When a fruit looks like fruit but it's not nutritious, then it is garbage. No?! Right. When the theories are empty words, without support from self-exercising power, and support from the action power, then it is also garbage, empty words, wasting energy and time.

People could have spent all that time listening to something more worthwhile; or could have found someone else better to listen to; or they could have spent all that time sleeping -- it's even more productive; or maybe, by chance, they come across some good books and read some good things; or a Master or a fellow practitioner or something that might benefit them more, than listening to empty nonsense. Therefore, if we talk, we must speak what we know and what we truly are convinced with, then it has force; then it has energy, and it benefits people.

Why Most People's Prayers Won't Come True That's why most people's prayers won't come true, because they put no energy into it. They just talk with their mouths or they think very fleetingly with their weak, feeble energy. Therefore, their thoughts won't come true; their prayers won't come true. They don't even have enough energy and supportive spirit to pray. That's not a true prayer. The true prayer always comes true. Because if there's energy in it, it will attract the object of their desire. If there are no attracting energies, nothing comes.

If you put two pieces of thing together, one a magnet and the other a

piece of wood which you painted to look like a magnet, the attracting power of both pieces are not the same. Only the true magnet attracts iron or metal. The other one would never attract anything. It doesn't matter how long you put it there, and it doesn't matter how much it looks like a piece of magnet. Understand?

Therefore, when you, the practitioners of the Quan Yin Method, pray, it happens, because you have power. Now you even have the power to pray for what you want. You didn't have it before. You didn't know what prayer truly meant. You just said, "Oh! God, give me this. Oh, God, give me that." Do you think God is so cheap? (Laughter) Even a piece of pin will not be attracted to a piece of wood or ordinary iron. How would God be attracted to you, to your "blah, blah" nonsense?! Understand? And you don't even mean what you say, and don't even believe in what you pray.

So prayers begin after you know a Master, because the Master awakens in you, the prayer power, the power to pray, the power to think, the power to use your own energy to make things come true. (Applause) So after initiation, mostly what you pray, if it's good for you, comes true, and what is no good for you the Master will not give. (Laughter and applause) If it is no good for you the Master will not give, not grant it.

Yes. Just like children when they want too much candy, the parents say "No". Right? If they want one or two pieces it's still okay, but if it's too much, exceeding their dinner and lunch, then "no!" Sometimes they want to play with fire, then the parents also say, no! You have not grown up enough to handle fire, to be able to play with fire, to experience that fire is no good. To wait until you know is too late. When you grow up enough, you can handle it; you can have experience with fire. Understand? Even, now you're too small; you know fire is no good, but you don't know how to handle what's no good. When you grow up you'll still know fire is dangerous, but you'll know how to handle it. Therefore you can play with it. Understand? Fire is still the same but you are different.

We Cannot Imitate An Enlightened Master Therefore, some things can be done by one person, while other people cannot do it. Or what the Master can do you cannot do. The Master can give initiation and take people's karma, but you shouldn't imitate.

(Laughter and applause) The Master can do many things that you cannot do. But, you will! You will do it in future. When you grow up in your strength, in your power and in your self-realization, then you can do exactly what the Master does, and you might do even more! If God wants to give you more responsibilities, you can do everything. It's not the outside actions of the Master; it is the inner wisdom, the way the Master knows why she or he does that. We cannot know! Sometimes we know.

Sometimes we don't know. We just think, "Oh, Master just talks, invites people to eat dinner, drinks tea and touches people on the forehead. I can do all this, and more!" (Laughter and applause) Yeah. "Recite the Five Names, I can do that also. And all Her books, I might be able to write also." But, it's different. It is not the appearance of things that counts; it's the invisible power behind it.

Therefore, even today, when we were talking outside with the journalist, you happened to hear somebody say, for example, that in Costa Rica we have a disciple who is a very devoted to our path now, and he loves me very much. He always cries like a baby when I leave or when I come. And

he practices very well, and he has very good experiences. I don't mean the best, but fairly good and he moves fast, but he was initiated before by another so-called Master, before he knew me, and that was long ago. It was probably the same technique and path, but he could not bear it. He had a terrible reaction, so he stopped. Understand? And after that he progressed. After our initiation, meeting me, he progressed very fast.

There is another one from America. He was also initiated by one of the famous gurus in India, who also teaches the sound and light like I do. But he didn't progress, for ten or twelve years. And then he fell into another path and got tricked, all kinds of things happened, and he ended up worse than before. So he lost all confidence and stopped practicing all together.

And probably did some sad, you know regretful things even. But after he met me, he was confident again, started practicing again and moved so fast. And he asked me, "Why? It was practically the same teaching, why was there a different effect?" (Applause) Even though they teach the same so-called sound and light, it's different!

This I also know myself. Some teach this light and sound for money also.

How much per lesson! For lessons you must first pay money, every month so much, until a couple of years pass and then they give you initiation, with no guarantee of light and sound. Maybe one or two get it, but a low sound. I don't mean to criticize anyone; also I won't tell the names of this person. But, what I mean is, it's not the outside actions that we can judge and imitate, but it is the inner power, which we must achieve in order to accomplish anything, especially in spiritual aspects. Do you understand?

It's not by imitating the Master, by walking like this or by wearing like that. We touch here; we touch there, and we wave here, wave there and give candies. (laughter) This is not all that the Master does. There's so much more and behind that, there is love; there is power; there is blessing; there is extreme care and attention from the Most High, from the ocean of love and mercy. (Applause) It is difficult if you don't practice.

If you're not high enough, you cannot know these things.

But, when you receive things, you might feel there is a difference when you get something from the Master. You might not even feel it at all. But by and by, it will also help. For example, one of our practitioners said that his wife got blessed three times by the Master before she saw the light.

First time, no. Second time, no. Third time, "Wow!" she said, "got it! Got it!" Yes, some people are slow. I know one practitioner; he said that he had heard nothing at the time of initiation. He was one of those small leaders of another faith. When he came to us, he took initiation. But because of the previous, maybe, preconceived ideas, he got stuck somewhere. It took one week before he got his first sound. But he worked hard, and has meditated a lot. He finally climbed up, "up there". I appreciate his effort. He's one of the best supporters and most faithful practitioners at the moment. But he worked very hard after his initiation.

Yes. Very hard.

But, that's rare; to get it one week after initiation is rare. He heard nothing. He was so angry because he was a kind of leader, and every one else got it, and he was on the top and he got nothing. He was frustrated and angry with himself. But it was because of his position that he had obstacles. He thought that he was some kind of fantastic intelligence of the world, you know?! And he can talk well. He knows all the scriptures, and when he talks, it's non-stop. He knows many stories and he can talk

non-stop. He thinks he's okay, being vegetarian and all that for long time, except egg maybe. So he thought that he was ready, prepared a hundred percent, a hundred and eight percent. And then he was so disappointed.

Yes, it's true.

Don't Be Cheated By Your Mind When we think that we are very good, or excellent, we might be cheated by the mind. The mind loves glory, loves praise, love fantasy, and thinking that we are good. On the other side, the mind also degrades us.

It might sink into depression and an inferiority complex, and cheat us of our glory also. It goes two ways. Yes. The most cheated system in this world is to make people worship where they should not: to worship wood, to worship stone, to worship all kinds of lifeless objects, thinking that Buddha will know about it. The Buddha might know but we might not know, because we haven't found the connection inside. So even if the Buddha wants to talk to us, we cannot listen. If our telephone is disconnected, how can we hear the other side?! It doesn't matter how much we bow to the telephone over here. (Applause) This is the trap of Maya, that nobody knows! People love to hang on to something, and to glorify themselves: that they are religious; that they know philosophy; that they are practicing something. Therefore, Maya, the king of illusion, sets up these kinds of traps, to let them satisfy themselves and stick there forever: That I am worshipping. I am religious.

I am Buddhist. I am that. I am this. I am all things. I am busy. I am practicing.

You Make God The Way you Want Him To Be There are all kinds of material attachments to religious orders, just to satisfy their mind. But it cheats them out of their precious time, by not letting them think of anything better, or try to find anything better. So they keep telling you to worship the wooden statue and one day you'll realize he is a Buddha; yes, maybe, but a wooden one, a wooden Buddha.

(Laughter) The Buddha always said, "Buddha is inside you." And then Jesus said, "God dwells within you. You are the temple of God." What did they mean by this? You make God the way you want Him to be. You make Buddha the way you want Him to be. Understand? According to your realization, your level, your power, the Buddha is that. (Applause) For example, I teach you the Quan Yin Method, without a method, but we have to call it a method. Otherwise, If I said to people come here and I'll give you nothing, no method, nobody would come. But, after a while you realize that there is truly no method. It's only the Master's power that helps you. Right? Otherwise, people would sell methods outside for one hundred dollars and you would get nothing. Or if other schools, so-called gurus, also gave you the same method, you might get nothing. Right?

They also tell you sit here and concentrate there. They also touch you.

They can touch for two thousand years. Your head is still your head.

(Laughter) It will not become the Buddha's head, because what's yours is yours.

Now, after I give you the Quan Yin Method, for example, then you meditate. You try to search within yourselves to find what kind of power that you have, what kind of capability that you have forgotten, how much intelligence that you have not used, who you are and what kind of position

you have in this universe. You search and search, and you'll find it. And then, you find up to the first level, then you'll find that you are very loving now. You are less stressful than before, and so you think, "Oh God is that.

God helps me. God can help me to heal stress and to heal my sickness."

You get cured from some disease, at the first level. Sometimes, when you touch somebody, that person gets cure too, and you have healing power!

You'll say, "Oh! God has healing power. God is that. God has love. God gives me love. I feel loved now, and I feel I love someone else."

But, that love is still on a weak level. Never mind, you feel better than before. And by eating vegetarian you feel your body is better. You can think better than before, and you love your neighbor better now. So, you begin to declare that your Buddha is love; your Buddha is healing power; your God is healing power and magical power. Understand? He can make a lot of magic and things like that. You know God is there. You know there is a God, and that He has such and such qualities. And for a little while longer, you practice and you get up to the second level. Now, suddenly, whenever somebody asks you a question, you can talk with eloquence.

You can reply to them in a way that they never have heard before, in a way you never dreamed you could reply before. You understand all the sutras and all the Bibles in the world. You understand that all the five religions say the same thing. Yes, in one word, you have eloquence.

Smooth Enmity With The Love From Spiritual Practice You can also sometimes see into the past, into other people's past and future. You know why you are connected with each other like this. You can regulate, invisibly or visibly, some of your karmic ties with other people, so suddenly your relationships smooth out. Suddenly, two enemies may come back loving each other, because, invisibly, in your practice your Master power has smoothed the past enmity out of your life and your relationship. So you begin to declare, "God has intellectual power! God is Buddha! God is enlightenment! God is eloquence! God is that!" So your God has grown a little bit taller. (Laughter) That's how you make God and how you make Buddha. You say, "Oh! God has a kind record so that we can see everything inside."

Then you begin to listen, and you can hear the sound of thunder or the sound of many waters. So it declares in the Bible that God speaks in the voice of thunder, and like the sound of many waters. That's how they declared their God. When they saw the big flame of light, they said, "God comes in a big flame. God is like a big flame." So their God differs. Your God now differs from the God before, or differs from another initiate who has only reached the first level, or differs from another initiate who has reached the third level. His God is different from yours, but it is the same God, whom, pitifully, is being seen by different eyes and different angles.

Just like when the Buddha was alive, he told the story of the four blind people who touched an elephant; who described the elephant. The one who touched his ears said, "Wow! The elephant is like a fan, a big fan."

And the other one who touched his trunk said, "Oh! The elephant is like a big pilar." And the other one who touched his nose said, "Oh! The elephant looks like a water hose." And the one who touched his tail said, "Wow! The elephant is like a broom stick." This is how ordinary people see God. And this is how practitioners and people at different levels see God and make their own God.

Therefore, it is said that God is within you; that Buddha is in your mind.

That is the meaning of it. (Applause) Now, you know that you can make Buddhas and you can make God. So I would advise you to make the best God out of it. Our God must be the supreme, the Most High, to be worthy of our time, energy and attention. Time is money! We might just as well buy the best God. (Laughter) Now you understand why God is not there for you to worship, but demands us to make use of His power it. If we don't make use of this God by our own power, then when we pray and nothing is done, we cannot blame anyone else. From the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level of hell, you have only yourselves to blame.

You've gone the wrong way. You walk the wrong path. You approach things in the wrong direction, with the wrong method.

The Best Way To Worship God The Quan Yin Method is for you to realize that God is you, the way you make Him. God can be as low as a worm, if you are that. If you don't raise yourselves higher than the worm's level then God will forever stay as a worm. If you raise yourselves higher, the higher your God is, the higher God is glorified. So glorify God by your own power of meditation and realization. That's the best prayer. That's the best glorification for God, the most significant prayer and the most significant job that you could ever do for God. (Applause) If we say we worship God, Buddha, Allah or whoever you say, and we remain in ignorance, then we truly despite God; we truly disgrace God and Buddha.

Therefore, Buddha said, "If you believe in Buddha, but do not understand Buddha, you disgraced Buddha." That is the truth. How do you disgrace Buddha? By remaining in ignorance and letting others see that you are an ignorant God, that you have no belief in God anymore, because God is ignorant due to your own ignorant thinking and view point. You think God is like that. "I pray to Him, but He doesn't hear. I am crawling here, but He doesn't see." It is not God who does not see. It is you who does not know that God sees, and who does not directly receive God's blessing, because you build a lot of obstacles around yourself. You, yourself, deny the benefit and the blessing from God, because you think, from a conditioned mind, from many generations, that you're not worthy; that you're wrong; that you are ignorant; that you do all the wrong things against your God's nature.

Therefore, even now, when you pray, this kind of thinking subconsciously prevents you from knowing you are God, knowing the benefit of God. Then you think God is only that. God is only for you to pray to, to complain to and to demand from, but it is not so. Every God is truly different. Depending on how you think and on your level, God is different.

Not that there are so many Gods, but our view points differ, so God differs. Do you understand now why we must understand and realize God in order to say that we truly worship God? (Applause) Therefore, what the Buddha said is not wrong. If you don't understand Buddha, don't just blindly believe in Buddha or you'll disgrace Buddha.

Anyhow, you are on the right path. I think you may have realized it by now, otherwise you wouldn't have come to see me. Even those who failed also came to see me, or wanted to come to see me, at least. They might not have the face to come, but never mind! If they want to practice slowly outside, without control, without somebody to keep reminding them,

nagging them, then they can stay home and slowly crawl. Those who want to follow me faster, must work hard and be fast. I like you to be fast. You can never be too fast for me (applause), because the world is in need of such fast working people. The world is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people. Therefore, the more the better.

Work Fast In Spiritual Practice To Serve The World The faster you know how great your God is, the better. You can spread your love. You can impose your God for other people to see. When they see you, it's like they see God. They might tremble with fear. They might feel exalted with love, or they might just feel different. That is how God blesses people, through you, because you have slowly risen up to God's level. Understand? That's how we bless the world. That's how we worship God. That's how we truly pray.

At that time we don't even pray, but God blesses you and everything and anyone who sees you. Understand? At that time, you are already a Master. Or you have not reached mastership, but you've already possessed, more or less, to some degree, this kind of power, this kind of love, this kind of benediction. So this is how we serve the world. And then we can say God truly is love. (Applause) And people will praise you. Okay, enough with theories (laughter), but my theory is not only a theory. You feel the power. You feel the force. Why? Because I have realized what I say. I did not read it from books. Understand? I realized it within myself.

Therefore, whatever I say benefits you, and you believe it because it has a convincing power. Anyone else who repeats my words, might just be empty words. Yes. So we have to practice and realize ourselves, and then even if we repeat the words of the Master, it has the same power, because it becomes our own. Understand? (Applause) I thank you for inviting me here. Also thank you for your exciting love at the airport, and today and in three to four days to come. I thank you for working hard to achieve the goals of my trip. Because my trip is also your trip, my work is your work. Whoever benefits or gets benefitted from me and from you also, from all of you who cooperated, who helped, who mentally or even physically supported this work. Everyone is a benefactor of mankind. This is the way of Bodhisattva. This is the way of sainthood.

There's no other way, no need for shaving your head, no sticking in the Himalayas, no need for anything, no sleeping on a nail bed. Yes, just be ordinary and have wisdom.

Beautiful you are! I am glad that you have improved, and I am glad your faith is firm. I know you have been through some tests, but that's how we know our level. That's how we know whether our discrimination is sharp or not; whether we know the difference between a true Master and a false Master; whether we know how to recognize goodness in a Master or not, or if we just listen to rumors and all kinds of gossip that is polluting to our mind. If we repeat that, polluting other's minds, it will be like a disease that keeps spreading. So when we speak, it's better to speak of goodness.

If we absolutely cannot avoid it then we have to say something, but only in order to teach people or to tell them to improve. Otherwise, there is no good in talking about negative things, whether is it true or not. The one who spreads it, is the one who is affected most, the first. And the one who

hears it is also affected, if he listens to it or if he believes it. Understand?

Okay, good night! young DAYS The Master is not born perfect, I must remind you. I have done a lot foolish things in my life, youthful foolishness. I was foolish, made a fool of myself. I ran out of school and went see movies when I should have been sitting there in mathematics lessons, et cetera. I did a lot of bad things too. I raced a motorcycle a hundred twenty kilometers per hour, with only Honda. I broke the exhaust pipe. The Honda can go faster but it made a lot of noise. I didn't care about other people's ears, I only cared that I raced better than the next one. (Laughter) I didn't tell you I was born perfect. If I was good in school maybe it was because I was born with a little more IQ. But it didn't mean that I really strived to be good or was consciously being good. So the Master is not a perfect person. Never is, never will be. You must know. But the Master is the one who can Master his or her mistakes. Can learn from them, and vow to make it better, every day. Just like being a genius is continuous hard work to keep it, similarly mastership is the same. Mastership is all about mastering yourself, nothing else. If anyone else follows you, it's just by the way, just because of your aura. Your true sincerity attracts them from inside. That's why you don't need to talk. You don't even need to tell them anything. They believe you. Mastership is like that. Do not believe that I was born perfect, I am at the moment perfect, or I will ever be perfect. No! I'm learning like you. But I have mastered myself. I don't let my mind dictate to me what to do. Because I know the mind. I make friends with it, we make a deal, saying "You do this and I do that, both of us don't bother each other. If you do it well, I'll also reward you. I feed you well, don't I?" I tell it, "I give you anything when you want it." Just that now it doesn't want much, because it knows it cannot get much with me, so it forgets it. Even when it wants to sleep, I say, "No, get up and work." Then it has to do it. So it gets used to it after ten years. It says, "It's no good talking to this girl. She's very stubborn. She just does what she wants, and no good arguing." That's all there is to a Master, continuous striving for perfection, for a better, nobler personality. A better ideal not really personality because when you talk about personality you mean you still want fame and all that. You know you still have ego, wanting to be proud of yourself; it's not true. Just that you think whatever you want to do, whatever you think is noble, is the highly idealist, benefits others, is good, then you must try to do it. Doesn't matter what the cost, just do it and don't talk. That's the only difference. Otherwise, what is the difference? .....

People who have worked hard since a young age or who try to work hard whenever they can, they are more clever, sharp, very fast and very clearsighted; because they have practiced a very long time. So, practice makes masters, because both of the jobs are similar. Most of the circumstances you can judge, if you are used to diversity. I also have had this experience, because since I was young, I loved to work. I loved to be of help. We had servants in the house, but I always ironed my own clothes, washed my own clothes. I even brought water for my parents to take baths and cooked tea for my father. Sometimes I learnt to cook and I

took care and helped the servants voluntarily. We had about three, four servants at that time. No need for me to work, I always liked to work.

Probably that's why I am good at many things, just because I am used to adjustments. For example, if you do something a long time, sometimes you don't need to measure, you just look and you know how much is needed. It's very fast. The same with many other things, the more you use your brain, the more it will become alert and intelligent. Otherwise, you just become more and more stupid and then regress into stone or tree. That's how people regress. So don't ask me how people can become animals or regress to a lower nature of life. They make it that way. They make themselves that way. .....

I was mostly an introvert when I was young. I didn't talk too much the way I do now - only rarely. I also didn't know what to talk about.

Remember I told you how my husband's friends talked to each other about everything for so long and how I always wished I could talk about half that much to my husband? Things would have been more lively that way. But normally I didn't talk. I didn't know what to talk about. I've really changed. I've really changed into a different person. I don't know how, but things have changed.

Even many people who knew me before, from the times when I ran around Indian ashrams, were surprised that I talk so much. When these people read my lectures that you print in the magazines, or when they got some tapes from someone, they were surprised. They said, "Oh, Jesus!

This girl - she talks?" Because when I ran around the Himalayas or different ashrams in India or elsewhere, I rarely talked to people. I didn't even have close friends. I was always very quiet, and very shy toward people, shy toward the public. God has changed me, really. Hes has changed me completely into a different person. I never talked like this before. I never knew how. I really couldn't talk. I never did. I am surprised myself.

So this is how God can change us if we just let it be, just put complete trust in the name of Christ, the name of God, or the name of the Buddha.

Then everything will be arranged the way it should be. We should just become like kids. Don't forget the child inside you. It is always there, and whenever we call, he comes out. He peeps out. That is the God nature.

That is the nature of purity. We shouldn't worry so much. We shouldn't calculate so much - "If we do this, what will we get in return?" A child doesn't do that. A child never worries about tomorrow. .....

Q. Did You know Yourself You would always spiritually lead the way? For example, Jesus was as a young man and, you know, that we saw Him from the early times and so on when He was twelve years old? Did you always feel that calling?

M. I did not have this calling when I was young. But somehow, I tended towards spiritual teaching, you know. books or Bible. Apart from the ritual one from the Buddhist and Catholic, I read more for myself. And I preferred these books since I was six or seven years, since I began to read a little bit. I read these books instead of the children's books or other things. So I don't know what is the sign.

Worldly Sound Vs. Supra-worldly Sound Spoken by Supreme Master March 6, 1986 (Originally in Chinese)

Ching

Hai

Taipei,

Formosa

Let us first talk about the ordinary sound in this world, and then we will talk about the supra-worldly sound - the sound of God. Since ancient times, music has played an important role in our lives. It would be difficult to imagine how frustrating life would be without music in this world. Classical music is more mild and gentle; it makes the listeners feel happier, more peaceful and benign. That's why there used to be many noble and benevolent people in ancient times.

Modern music is more stimulating. People who have been exposed to this kind of music since childhood are very difficult to teach. Such music represents the personality and demeanor of contemporary people. In mental institutions, doctors often let the patients listen to soft music to calm their emotions. When we are bored or exhausted from work, listening to music will slowly pacify our minds.

Everything in the Universe Vibrates Everything in the universe vibrates, and this vibration becomes sound. This is similar to the vibrating waves transmitted by radio stations, which, when picked up by a radio receiver, are converted into sound. All things in the universe, whether stone, plant or human, vibrate at their own specific frequency. It is precisely because of this difference in frequency that it is difficult for animals and humans, humans and humans, and even husband and wife, to communicate with each other.

The vibrations of some people are coarse, and this makes us feel very uncomfortable when we come into contact with them. Conversely, some people are very gentle in vibration, speech, and aura and we feel very comfortable and happy upon seeing them. We feel very happy when we go to a place where the vibrations are close to ours. When a person with a bad aura enters a certain place, he will immediately make people feel very agitated and restless. It is because his vibrations are low and heavy, or we can say that he is very vicious, has heavy karma and lots of devilish hindrances. He is excessively heavy in Yin (negative) energy while we are more inclined to the Yang (positive) energy, and so we become incompatible. As a result, we feel agitated and restless.

Not all places on this planet vibrate at the same frequency. All kinds of metal ores of different densities are distributed around the world. Therefore, there are many places where non-spiritual practitioners find it uncomfortable to dwell.

However, to real spiritual practitioners, every place is a Pure Land, everywhere is the Holy Land. But it is easier said than done. How many people can really attain such a level? This disharmonious atmosphere is discernible even to the average person who does not practice spiritually, with the exception of a few very ignorant people and those who are as insensitive as timber. The more

advanced one is in spiritual practice, the more sensitive one becomes, but when he eventually attains the highest level, every place will be the same to him.

Whomever we are with, we are affected by his vibrations. If his aura is very gentle, we too will become gentler. If they are excited, we will also become excited. We often hear that the Saints shoulder the karma of the people because They can take upon Themselves the bad influences or vibrations generated by others, which is the so-called karma, and give them Their superior vibrations in exchange. Relying on Their power derived from spiritual practice, They can quickly cleanse the karma. The length of time required depends on how much karma They have collected. Before They can cleanse this karma, They will still be affected. They could get ill, be defamed, or even killed.

One such example was Jesus Christ, who was crucified because He took upon Himself the karma of sentient beings. As for Shakyamuni Buddha, we might not have heard any story about Him bearing karma for people, but it was so recorded in the scripture. A man killed ninety-nine persons and was about to kill the Buddha too. He failed to do so; instead, he was delivered by the Buddha.

This man eventually became an arhat (liberated saint). If the Buddha did not shoulder the karma for the man, what happened to the karma that he had incurred by killing ninety-nine persons? He killed so many people and yet he became a Saint! Was it not against the law of karma? It was not, because the Shakyamuni Buddha had immense merits and infinite blessed rewards, which were sufficient to repay all the karma for that man without any problem. That man was not exempted from karmic retribution; Shakyamuni Buddha had assumed his karma.

This is why since ancient times, anyone who aspires to be liberated must first find such great Masters. Being a novice in spiritual practice, it is very difficult to repay so much karma just relying on our own power. Those great Masters have accumulated great blessings through spiritual practice over many lifetimes.

While guiding us on the path, They can also carry the luggage for us because They have sufficient power. Humans have human power, and spiritual practitioners have spiritual power. This power might be indiscernible to us but it is so infinite that no physical power can compare. You have heard that your five generations will be elevated after you are initiated by me. It is this spiritual power that pulls them all up. Therefore, this power derived from spiritual practice is most precious; it cannot be bought at any price or taken away by even the greatest authority.

Sometimes, when I go to lecture at a certain place, I feel very relaxed and can speak fluently. At other times, I may feel oppressed; I feel very tired and cannot speak. The same happens when I give initiation to people. Sometimes, it goes smoothly without any problem. At other times, I feel like I am dying. It is due to the different vibrations of the people who come to the lecture or initiation. Their individual vibrations are the so-called karma. What actually creates these different vibrations? They are created according to the law of karma, and are related to the karma that we have incurred in previous lives.

Originally, we are all enlightened Saints. Jesus Christ also said that we are all the children of God. Then why are some people so rich, some so poor, some so

clever, some so dumb, some so benign, and some so evil? The first reason is that, although we are originally enlightened Saints, we are degrading all the time while in this illusionary world and so forget most of our wisdom. The second reason is that we are being influenced by outside situations.

Tangible and Intangible Worlds This world is different from the higher dimensions. The superior realms will help us progress spiritually, becoming more relaxed and noble. However, the situations in this world can easily make us regress and become more foolish and evil. In the paradise in Heaven, we will have whatever we want without the least suffering, while in this world we must struggle against nature in order to survive.

Even Shakyamuni Buddha had to beg for food or use the things in this world to survive. This is a tangible world with forms, and there are discriminations. There are such things as cold and heat, beauty and ugliness, man and woman. This world is different from the paradise in Heaven, which is an intangible world with no form or discrimination.

Therefore, when we come into this world, we become outwardly inclined sentient beings. When we see food, we have thoughts about eating it; when we see anything, thoughts of like or dislike arise. Since our mind is constantly occupied by things that we like, we forget our great wisdom. On and on, we become more and more alienated from the almighty power of the universe, and become lonely beings.

Originally, all things are ours, but because we think only about a couple of things that we like, unknowingly we confine ourselves within a small boundary. From an entity without any discrimination, (in the paradise in Heaven, all beings have the same golden body, and there is neither man nor woman) we become full of discriminations. As we wholeheartedly love a couple of things or persons, we become more lonely and severed from the almighty power of the universe. Our power grows small and will be completely drained in no time. For instance, a person living in the middle of the Ganges River is surrounded by water and has an inexhaustible water supply. Suppose that person is attracted by something ashore, he will leave the Ganges to go after that thing. As he is too fascinated by the situation, he forgets how to return to his original abode. Then, when he is thirsty, he can only look for water nearby, and of course, that would not be enough.

As a result, we become weaker and weaker as our wisdom runs out. When we do not have enough wisdom, we become greedy. Insecurity makes us want to grab more things, and from this greed, wrath and infatuation emerge. These thoughts form a special magnetic field that engulfs us. Since the situation of each person is different, his magnetic field is also different. Since like attracts like, greedy or easily excited people will naturally attract excitement to their magnetic fields. Similarly, gentler people will attract gentler situations. This is the cause of the so-called karmic hindrances.

We often see people who always make a mess of their work. It is because their magnetic field always attracts destructive power or obstructive energy, foolish energy, or devilish energy. They simply cannot attract the great wisdom to

them. Some people have very strong animal instincts, also because of their magnetic field. Or we can say that their life-after-life habits have not been rectified. When our magnetic field improves, it indicates that we are beginning the ascent. The time required for the rectification is related to our purity at heart. It is mentioned in the scriptures and the Tao Te Ching that we must have the heart of a child in order to return to the Heavenly Kingdom.

It is not easy to change our habits or magnetic field, which absolutely cannot be done by practicing some breath-counting method or yoga exercise. Since the development of habits is controlled by the mind, we must change the mind in order to change our habits. Methods contemplating on the solar plexus, on bones, water, or breathing are simply not enough. Only the Quan Yin Method is the ultimate method.

Sound of God This Sound is the "Sound of God", the sound of our original nature, which existed even before anything in this universe came into being. This Sound is the "sound beyond this world," therefore, it is inaudible to the hearing faculty of ordinary humans. However, all sentient beings can listen to it, except that they will hear different sounds according to their individual levels. Everything in the universe vibrates, and so they have sound - even stones have sound. But it is too subtle to be heard by the human ear; we can only hear it with our wisdom.

Therefore, we say contemplate on the sound rather than listen to the sound. If all sentient beings have this sound and wisdom as well, then why can't they contemplate on this sound? It is because they don't have the key and so do not know where the sound is. Therefore, we must first find a Master who can open the door for us.

Why is this sound so important? It is because all things in the universe are linked together by this sound. All the realms, from high to low, are linked to each other through this sound. Just now, we mentioned that the vibrations of some people are incompatible with others', so they have difficulty accommodating with each other. For the same reason, our vibrations are not accommodating with the animals or certain places, and we find it difficult living with animals or staying in those places. If there are people who can live in those places, it does not mean that they are better than we. Most probably, their vibrations are very low or close to the animals, so they do not feel anything.

Pigs and frogs can live happily in very filthy places, and this amply illustrates why some people can live happily in unbearable places without feeling anything.

Their auras can cope with those places; our vibrations are higher and gentler and cannot accommodate those lower vibrations. Therefore, we cannot live there, but that does not mean they are more capable than we are. So, benign people often have difficulty staying with vicious people.

Should anyone want to change his destiny, he must rely on this highest sound.

Now we only have a very small portion of it and it is not very high in vibration.

Precisely because our vibrations are low, we are living in this low-level world together with the animals. After all, birds of a feather flock together.

However, there is a type of sound that encompasses all sentient beings. This is "God's Sound", the sound of Original Nature. By contemplating on this sound, we can elevate our vibrations and spiritual level. Superficially, we may look the same as we did, but our body will emit light. Everyone loves listening to our lecture and it is easy for us to deliver people, because our vibrations have become gentler, putting people's minds at ease and leading them to liberation.

Their vibrations will be enveloped by ours; we will provide them with good vibrations that dissolve their bad vibrations. When the blood of a patient is not functioning well, the doctor will replace his bad blood with good blood. When the water in the bucket is dirty, we have to empty the filthy water before filling it with clean water. However, before our vibrations have become good enough, we cannot exchange them for other people's bad vibrations. Otherwise, the result would be terrible. We must first practice spiritually if we want to deliver sentient beings.

Just now, we mentioned that all things in the universe have the "Sound," and all things are created by this Sound. In the "Tao Te Ching," it is mentioned as the "Name" or the "Tao." Lao Tzu said: "The way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way; the name that can be named is not the constant Name. The Nameless was the beginning of Heaven and Earth; the named was the mother of the myriad creatures." This Name or Tao refers to this sound or vibration.

Perhaps the ancient Chinese usage was different, but it actually means the same thing. I think you will be able to understand this.

Tune In to More Superior Sounds Everything in the universe is born from this Name or sound; we are also part of it. But because we are human beings, we possess the highest part of it, and we are most likely to possess all of it. Animals are not high enough in level to possess this sound completely. Through practicing on this sound, we can elevate ourselves incessantly, we tune in to more superior sounds until we are in total possession of it. Then, we will be able to coordinate with all sentient beings in the universe. Since all sentient beings are part of this sound, which we have in total possession, to us every place is the Pure Land, every person is a Saint, and all sentient beings have God Nature. Only then do we attain the true realization; otherwise, all we have is hearsay or "thus have I heard;" we cannot distinguish whether they are true or false.

Having personal experience is different from reading the scriptures or about someone else's experience. We read about others' experiences when we read the scriptures. Practicing the Quan Yin Method, we will have our own experiences. We may compare them with those recorded in the scriptures and see whether we are having the same experiences as those of the ancient people.

Sometimes our experiences could be even higher than theirs; it does not mean that we are superior to them, but that their spiritual level might not be very high when they wrote of this experience. So, we may be slightly higher than their level at that time.

We should know how powerful this sound is. All sentient beings have this vibration or sound, and we influence each other. This world is different from the Western Paradise in the sense that here, we have animals, bad people, good

people, nervous people, calm people, happy people, and miserable people. It is a mixture of different atmospheres that makes it very difficult for us to practice with peace of mind in such a confused state. There are always many obstructions or bad influences distressing us. But then if we can persist in practicing with concentration, we will progress very fast.

Many heavenly beings like to incarnate as human beings because this physical body is essential for pursuing spiritual practice. We often think that this body is useless, but then we cannot practice spiritually without it. This body is very precious. Take good care of it. Take enough nutritious food to sustain it, but don't be voracious. Protect the body from excessive cold, heat, exhaustion and overwork. Ascetic practice is not good; it is punishing ourselves, which is the greatest sin. We are Saints of the past, present, and future. We ought to respect ourselves. How can we punish ourselves through ascetic practice? Of course, it is different if the situation is truly unavoidable.

For instance, you may have heard that when I was practicing in the Himalayas, I ate only raw vegetables every day. It was because of the high altitude. The air was thin, the temperature and the air pressure were low, and it was very difficult to cook rice or vegetables. It was much simpler to eat raw vegetables; all I had to do was to wash them in the water of the Ganges, sprinkle a little salt on them, and then eat them. I did not deliberately want to practice asceticism. I once practiced in seclusion in a mountain temple in Formosa, and there I had a summer retreat for three months. Every day, I only ate some coarse rice with sesame seeds and salt, and drank a little water. No one was taking care of me at that time. Should I have gone to the market every day to buy vegetables, what kind of a retreat would that have been? It would have been a "vegetable retreat." (Laughter) It was due to the circumstance. I ate what I could find; definitely, I was not practicing asceticism deliberately. Ascetic practice cannot make one an enlightened Saint; it will only turn you into a bitter person. Our life is bitter enough, so why should we want to practice asceticism?

The "Sound" is the Greatest Power & Supreme Wisdom in the Universe To become an enlightened Saint, we should practice the Quan Yin Method, and contemplate on this original sound with our wisdom. This sound creates all things in the universe, and it is the greatest power and supreme wisdom in the universe. What else can we rely on in our spiritual practice if not this great power and great wisdom? Why should we rely on this dark little abdomen (the solar plexus) or our ephemeral breathing instead? What does it matter if our body moves slightly in meditation? How could we practice if we stop breathing when we die?

If we are practicing spiritually with this great power, it does not matter if our body moves a little, or is even injured. Since our own Master has established connection with this sound, Hes has been liberated and has no relation with the body, and naturally, we can continue to practice. Hes will continue to take care of our life and help us to progress. Therefore, we cannot rely on anything else but this greatest, highest and most original sound. This most primitive sound existed before we came into being, and before anything in the universe came into being. And, even after the three realms are destroyed, it will continue to

exist. Only by relying on this eternal power can we practice spiritually to reach the state of eternal existence. One can only reach the ephemeral level if one practices by relying on the ephemeral breathing.

In the Surangama Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said that all other ways of spiritual practice are only temporary methods and not eternal ones. Only the Quan Yin Method is the eternal, ultimate and most correct method of spiritual practice. We will agree with Him after we have practiced the Quan Yin Method.

In the Bible, it is mentioned that the universe, In the beginning was the Word (Sound), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Everything was made by Him (Sound), and there was nothing made that was not made by Him (Sound). [John 1:1-4] The "Tao Te Ching" also talks about the same. Lao Tzu said: "The way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way; the name that can be named is not the constant Name. The Nameless was the beginning of Heaven and Earth; the named was the mother of the myriad creatures." It was when this "Name that cannot be named" came into being that the universe and all things were born.

The Upanishad, the most famous Hindu scripture, also mentions the same thing.

"In the beginning was the word." This sound existed when creation began. When this sound came into being, everything came into being. This sound is God; this sound is Creation. They all talk about the same thing, because in the first place, Shakyamuni Buddha, Lao Tzu, the Bible, Hinduism, and Islam all raise the same doctrine. After practicing the Quan Yin Method, we can understand the scriptures when we study them. When we have attained the great enlightenment, we will know that all scriptures actually talk about the same thing.

Is God A Being Or A Non-Being Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai In Berkeley University, C.A., U.S.A. Oct. 13, 1989 (Originally In English) Good evening my good and wise friends. May we welcome you to this friendly and holy congregation. It is very soon that we see each other again and I'm very happy that your faces look shiny. Maybe you have fewer problems than last time.

Is your life going well. All right? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Well, I may tell you my life also. But I have maybe fewer problems than you, or maybe more. All the problems of the world come to me, and you have only your own problems.

So every time I see you, any audience, or anyone, I just want to shed tears because of two reasons. One is happiness, and two is sadness. The happiness is due to the light of God within you, or the Buddha Nature within you, that I happen to see the Buddhas now, or to see God around me through you. But I am sad also because I am thinking you do not know this. Maybe you do. Maybe a few of you do, but most people do not know this and this makes me sad. Why is it so? Because if we know this light of God within us, or if we happen to know the Buddha Nature within ourselves, then our lives will be much happier, our body and mind will be stronger and healthier.

This morning when I was meditating, there was a lot of wisdom revealed to me, and I was overjoyed. I was thinking maybe I could share it with you this evening, or whenever I might happen to see you. But then, you know what?

When I sit here, I feel helpless, because these things are so intangible. Yes, so subtle, sometimes abstract. And it's not easy for me to convey them into the human language. And so, I think this is the problem with all the good practitioners, or all the prophets of old, of all times. And that's why we have so many religions, so many sects, so many different scriptures. People believe in one scripture, and do not believe in the others; have faith in one religion, and do not have faith in the other religions. They even go to the extreme as to destroy other faiths, or try to make difficulties for other people in different faiths.

Therefore sometimes, we have religious wars. But tonight, I will try to say something a little bit more concrete, more kind of logical and intellectual, so that you might be able to understand what I mean. And this experience is difficult to convey, so I might just leave it.

We Can See Much More With The Wisdom Eye You see, everyone asks me the question about God or Buddha Nature -- "What is God?" or, "What is Buddha Nature?" So people find it's very difficult to understand. "Is there a personal God?" or, "Is there not a personal God?" and, "How come we can not find the Buddha Nature?", "Is Buddha a being or a nonbeing?" Now, we see in the universe, there are many different beings.

Some beings are visible like humans, animals. Some beings are invisible like what we call angels, ghosts, or Buddhas. On our physical plane, we have already experienced some invisible beings. We do not talk about ghosts even. You know the virus - too small for our eyes to see and we must use the microscope to look at. So these we called "invisible beings". Even to our naked eyes, we can not see.

When the Buddha was alive, He said to His disciples that inside a cup of water there are 84,000 invisible beings. So when we drink the water we must use something to filter it in order not to harm these sentient beings. He didn't use the microscope and He could see this. He used His wisdom eye. Only one. In the Bible it is said: If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light.

That is the single eye, the wisdom eye, the Buddha eye, or the heavenly eye.

And if we open this eye, we can see much more than we see now with the two eyes. So we know that there are many things in our world which are invisible.

And the more invisible, the more powerful even.

For example, we human beings are very powerful. Or the elephant is very powerful, but the elephant can be conquered by human beings which are even much smaller than it. But human beings can be conquered even by viruses. Just one or two bad ones in our body and we are 'kaput', we are finished. This is very logical and we can understand it through today's scientific proof and research.

Now there are many more invisible beings, even more invisible than this. Even if we use a microscope, we could not see. They are just finer, more subtle. They are just a kind of energy, and then because they are too fine, too subtle, we

would not believe that they are beings with intelligence, with feeling. So nowadays, we have proved that even plants have feelings and intelligence. And ants and any kind of animal also have intelligence.

Now, we'll talk about conception. I'll go a little bit further to something very modern and interesting, so that you will not go to sleep with my speech. If I speak about Buddha all the time, everyone will leave and go home. I will talk about something more mundane and concrete like conception. Mostly we think that conception happens accidentally and out of the control of the egg, or we think that the woman's egg is being penetrated and the egg is helpless. And now recently a scientist has proved by his own understanding, wisdom and research, that it isn't accidental, and that the egg does choose what it wants to absorb maybe one, two, three or five. So even these very, very invisible beings, which we don't see with our naked eyes, have feelings, decisions even, and choice.

The Father Of All Beings Furthermore, we go to the Buddha's-land and the Kingdom of God, we think God or Buddha maybe doesn't exist. Some people say, "God is nothing, is only the void. Buddha is a void. Buddha Nature is a void and when we meditate, we will encounter the void." Well, to my experience, it is not the void. It's a being, full of love, wisdom and everything else you need and can ever imagine, or can even not imagine. This being is powerful, is unimaginably powerful out of anything that our worldly brain can understand. But this being is not a being like our being. This being just has a different being, but we just have to accept that this is also a being. We may call that energy also. But if we only call that energy, then we may have a misconception; misunderstanding that it is just a very - no feeling, no compassion, no wisdom, nothing, like electric energy, like magnetic energy. No, no, no, it isn't like that. It contains within, everything in the universe. It contains all the germs that later can germinate. These germs are, what we call the seeds of the universe, are dormant in this being. So from that, everything comes out and later goes back in.

But behind that being there is another power which we call Godhead or the Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. It's the Buddha of all Buddhas, the Father of all beings. But that power doesn't germinate anything, doesn't contain anything but it contains everything, it doesn't produce anything. Producing things is another being, you know, behind that. For example, when I eat this banana - maybe I'll just eat to let you know. So, when I take this banana, it looks like my hand takes it, or my mouth consumes it? But for what? The one who wants to eat bananas is not my mouth. It is something in the brain and in the cells; the feeling of the body cell, the stomach and the brain. It makes me eat, makes the mouth eat the banana. Therefore, it's the same with God, Godhead, and God power. Similar thing.

It is of course difficult to speak about God, but there is definitely that being, so powerful, we could not ever imagine what it is. But we could experience that, some of it, some fraction of it. And even if you just experience a fraction of it, it makes you different altogether, makes you become very grandeur, very wise, very friendly, very unaffected by any ups and downs of the world; makes you able to solve every problem that comes your way. Even when you're lying

unconsciously from a car accident, you are still able to solve that to help yourself. And that happens when we are in contact with this so-called being.

Unimaginable is that being, that almighty, all powerful being. Because we originally come from that being, we are a part of that. And if we are separated from that being, or that power, or that energy, then we are very small indeed, very weak indeed. But if we are reconnected again, then we become powerful and wise and that's the only mystery about God realization, or self-realization.

That is, we realize, we come to know this very, very invisible, but very, very, very powerful being.

Now, that being doesn't look like a human being, it doesn't look like an angel, or it doesn't have a beard so long like that. You just happen to be inside that being and you just enjoy the love, protection, power, and compassion, and you have no words to express this when you come back to Earth. I mean when we come back to the Earth consciousness, not that we go anywhere, or come anywhere.

It all happens within ourselves. And when I had such experiences before, it didn't make me grow two horns (Master and audience laugh), or it didn't make me so excited that I couldn't sleep, or anything like that. It was so peaceful. It was so ordinary, very, very smooth and harmonious. It's like you eating the banana, so very easy. But this kind of experience doesn't happen often to the average person. It needs a lot of self-discipline, sincerity, and longing to become reunited with God, or with that Buddha Nature within ourselves in order to achieve it.

God or Buddha, no doubt can give us, very quickly. But everything we earn by ourselves is more valuable. Also, it isn't fitting to become God or Buddha if we still have our anger, lust, desire, attachment altogether. Then when people look at us, they think, "Oh, what kind of Buddha is that?" And then they have no respect for the Godhead or the Buddha. Therefore, for anyone who is fit to have this experience, that means to become one with God again, or to know this Buddha Nature, or to become Buddha, one must go through a lot of discipline.

The experience of God and Buddha Nature we can have very easily through the proper guidance of a master who already knows this Buddha Nature who already has become one with God. Regain The Complete God Wisdom For Yourself It's easy. Just like the one who can speak English can teach you on the first day already some phrases in English. After you go home from English school, you can speak something already. You may say, "How are you? My name is so and so. What is your name?" etc. A few phrases, yes. Similarly when you go to a master who knows God, or knows the Buddha Nature within him or herself, then that master can share with you a little bit of that God experience. But then you have to practice more and more everyday in order to gain the whole, the complete God wisdom for yourself. Just like after you can speak a few sentences in English, you have to come back again, and you have to be diligent at home studying until you can completely understand, read, and write English. So the experience of God sometimes, even though it's easy to find, it's hard for most of people because we do not find the right guide.

So we think God is something very mysterious that we could never reach hirm; or Buddha is something for Shakyamuni Buddha and not for me, not for us. No, it's not true, Jesus said: We are all children of God. He said that whatever great things, great miracles He did, then we could do even greater. In the Bible it says: Whatever I do today, you can do even better tomorrow. And John the Baptist baptized people with water, but He said: The one who comes after me, even mightier than I am, can baptize with the Holy Ghost. So as our human race advances towards civilization and intelligence, the techniques and the wisdom within ourselves also advance faster, and the things we do can be even advanced also. So if Jesus said that we can do greater miracles, then why don't we try? Buddha also said: I have become the Buddha, but you will become Buddha also. He did not say: "I'm the one and only and never anyone else before or after me."

No doubt to become a Buddha or Christ like, it is not a matter of a joke. It's not easy, but we may try. It's not mysterious, it's not out of reach at all. I have tried it and I have succeeded. So if you try, you might succeed too. If I'm so small and so weak and I could try, then you may try as well. Why did I try these things? I wanted to experience the God inside me, or the Buddha Nature within me. It was because of the suffering of our world that brought me to this decision. So I owe it to you all to share this, the result of my practice.

Otherwise, my life was so smooth and happy. I did not think I needed anything.

When you are so satisfied in material comfort, it is very difficult to think of spiritual fulfillment. We do not think about that. We're happy enough. Therefore, the Buddha said, "When one is in heaven, it's hard to practice, to meditate, to become a Buddha." In heavenly worlds, people live a very happy life and therefore they do not desire further progress. It happens in our daily lives also.

Sometimes we are too happy and comfortable in our own lives. We do not want to advance in our position, or do any more business adventures. We think we're happy enough.

Many Ways To Practice And Become Self-Realized Now there are many ways to practice and to become self-realized. But for the average person, the most important thing is we pray. We pray to God Almighty within us, pray to the Buddha within to help us. And also make a self-effort, "I will keep the discipline". We train our compassion and love to all beings, and begin with cutting down on the killing of animals, etc.

Yesterday I was in a radio program called, "See Beyond", and the lady announcer asked me, "What is the solution for the world's hunger today?" People think, if there is God, why should people have to suffer hunger so much in the world. I said, "In the Bible it prescribes charity. Buddhism also emphasizes charity." Means give to others what they need. But I said, "Nowadays, we don't even need to do that." If you have your money, you can keep it. If you have your property, enjoy it. If everyone in this world did not eat meat at all and we didn't raise cattle, pigs and chickens, then these protein products and all kinds of corn could be distributed freely to all the hungry people. That would be enough

because we over use these proteins, soy beans, corn and all these kinds of stuff - staple foods which are necessary for human beings - in order to feed animals.

And we gain only one kilo of beef steak and waste at least hundreds of kilos of staple food, besides all the medical care.

Yesterday some friends gave me a statistic about a research: half of the national (U.S.A.) antibiotic medicines go to animals; half of the national. Understand that? And it costs a lot of money too. So before we have to give away our property, we can give away the meat. If we do not eat meat, no one will kill, no one will raise cattle. And all the food will stay where it is and they can eat it and become healthy and strong. It's good for every nation, and it's good for our nation as well. We waste a lot of money on arms and on raising animals. All the arable land is wasted nowadays on raising cattle, pigs, and the like, most of it.

So if we use these to cultivate wholesome, healthy food, I think the nation will benefit more and our nation will have more peace and no need for arms defense.

If every nation lives according to the Bible, according to the Buddhist teachings, Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, etc., then the world needs no more peace conferences, wasting so much coffee, champagne and cakes on a round table, and go no where with it. The more we talk about peace, the more war we have. It is because we go about it in a different manner. If everyone practiced meditation and ate a wholesome diet without any killing involved, the world would have long already been in a peaceful state and long already we'd have no hunger phenomena. No need to give away your property, just give away the meat diet. That's enough to save the world and to save your own health and the national health.

As we all know, most of the sickness comes from meat, because of the antibiotics fed to the animals, because of the anxiety which produces toxins in the animal meat, because, because, because, and because. Because we eat all these antibiotics, our body loses its self-resistance to the disease. Our body normally can fight the disease, but because we are fed so much antibiotic meat, our body becomes weakened, and the resistance system becomes out of order.

Therefore, any kind of disease affects us and kills our lives. It is a pity. We should rely on ourselves to help us, to help the nation, not rely on peace conferences. I haven't seen any peace conferences which have done much good to any nation. They sign many papers, but then they transgress them tomorrow.

Maybe the people who sign are very sincere at that time, but there are others behind, in the front, left, and right. And after these people who sign die, or the presidential position changes or the king changes, the policy changes. We can never rely on these things. We must rely on ourselves to save our lives.

Open This Power Within Through The Correct Technique Now, most people think if we pray to Jesus or Buddha, that is 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, we call the Quan Yin Method, we 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 sickness over night. I mean dangerous ones, mostly needing operations, or dying. 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 Buddha Nature or Buddha within us or God within us, will protect us twenty-four hours, and will protect us even after we leave this body.

Someone asked me, "Why don't we use some kind of breath control or breathing technique or something like that to reach God? Can we realize God through this?"

I said, "I have my doubts, because the breathing is going on only when we are conscious; and when we faint, we have a heart-attack or something, the breathing stops. Or when we die, the breathing is no more. So what do we practice then, what do we rely on then, to become conscious, to become awakened. And when we sleep we're not even aware of our breathing. So how do we rely on that to keep us twenty-four hours."

Therefore, I have found that the technique that we practice now, it is all powerful twenty-four hours protecting us, and we are awakened within. Even when we sleep, the God power looks after us. Even when we die, that power doesn't die. That is more secure. It is safer to rely on the eternal power, not to rely on the ephemeral breath. Don't you agree? Yes or No? (Audience: Yes.) Yes. So, what I want to share with you is that very simple technique to keep ourselves in tune with this protective power, almighty power, in order to save our lives, the lives of our nations, and the harmony of the universe. And it is so simple that no one could make any excuse that it's too hard to do it. It's easy.

It's much easier than chewing bread. But to do the meditation which I may share with you if you are interested, which is also free of charge, is even easier than to take a bath. To take a bath is difficult sometimes. When the electricity is gone out we have no hot water, or have no gas and no hot water. Or sometimes the tap goes wrong and rusty, you have no good water, or the water doesn't come out. But to practice meditation on God, to open your wisdom and God power to use in your daily lives is much easier than that. Even me, I am so surprised that it is so easy.

Before I encountered this easy technique, I tried many other techniques, like the technique of the secret doctrine, of the Tibetan Buddhism, and all the Thai, and Burmese, and all these. It was so complicated and so tiring for me. Maybe I am too small. Maybe for you it would not be so tiring. But it was very time consuming and very tiring. And you need a lot of equipment, and instruments in order to carry on this kind of practice, but not with the Quan Yin Method. I've found this is easier than anything else. You can sit on the train, on the bus, or in the park, anywhere, and you can be in tune with that God power, you can feel the protection, and you can see God face to face. You may be in contact with Jesus, with Buddha, with whomever you love most in your heart. They will appear to you. They might teach you something. They might protect you, guide you, hold your hand, so that your lives will never again be lonely.

The World That Is Forever Lasting But that is not even the highest. Even if you see Jesus or Buddha it's not the highest state. The highest state is you become like Jesus, you become like Buddha yourself, and then have all the power to save the world, and to be saved from the misery and rounds of births and deaths. You become all wise, all knowing, and omnipresent. That's the highest stage we can reach. What is it about this highest omnipresent state? Well, I can not tell you exactly. I can just tell you that it's very nice, very wonderful! But, I can not tell more. It's difficult to tell. It's easy to experience.

I can only invite you to come and share with us the wealth that is forever lasting, that never goes out of stock, never rises up and down with the market price, never gets inflation, never gets any tax, no one can steal it away from us, no one can force us to leave it, and no one even knows what we have. That's the secret treasure which Jesus said: Lay you not your treasure upon Earth, where moths can corrupt; but lay your treasure upon heaven.

He means we find the treasure in heaven. He also said that His kingdom was not on Earth, but His kingdom was with His Father. So, He meant that He had found this endless treasure.

So, this treasure we may also find, because He promised that we can also do what He did, and even maybe greater. It may not be that we are greater than Jesus. No, no. He means that, maybe in the future, like in our modern time, techniques, civilization we'll become much greater. So, we have to use more power from the Godhead in order to satisfy the desire, the need of the modern man. Whereby Jesus did not need all this, it was enough for Him to do a few miracles and people ran after Him. Nowadays, it's not enough just to do a few miracles, you need more. You need international appearances like me. (Master and all laugh as Master was wearing a Chinese typical Buddhist monk outfit.)

You need the knowledge of different countries' languages or cultures.

Jesus did not need all this. He didn't have to learn that much. Even though He had to learn, but He only went around in Jerusalem. So He did not need to use anything that much, just a few miracles. Nowadays, we need to use all kinds of transportation, telephones, televisions, video tapes, all these kinds of miracles, you know, long ear, long eye miracles, (Master and all laugh), in order to serve the people in the modern time.

What Reincarnates?

Q: Some people go overboard in understanding reincarnation which sounds like myths. Please explain what does reincarnate after death? Knowing the personal "I", the personality, body, environmental and cultural mind doesn't reincarnate.

So again, what does?

M: Oh! It is the personality that reincarnates. Reincarnation doesn't mean we come back again in the same body, but our thinking, our desire, our attachment to something which could not be solved in the present life will come back again,

packed together in another body, and that is what is called reincarnation. And so that body continues to enjoy, to suffer whatever was left behind, left over from this present life. Maybe in a different body, different shape of body even. Maybe this life we are black and next life we will be white, or yellow, or red. Or this life we are in this human body and next life we are in a different clothing of body like the animal clothing-body.

Because everything we think, speak, desire, and attach to, has energy, it formulates itself into a very concrete type of atmosphere and then that atmosphere evolves again in a different environment and different circumstance in order to fulfil, to dilute all these concrete forms which already exist.

Everything existing must be destroyed, must be changed, must be fulfilled in one way or another. This is what reincarnation means.

For example, we see, we grow the flower, the plant, and the plant produces the flower, then somehow nature one day will destroy the flower because it has been in existence and then after sometime, it has to be dissolved. So if our thinking, our attachments and desires are not able to be fulfilled in this life, they have to be in the next. It's very logical. It's nothing mysterious. There's no myth about reincarnation.

Q: Is reincarnation a choice of the soul or spirit, or is it something that will occur automatically without choice by the control and decision of the higher power?

M: We have choice and we do not have choice. For the average people, they have no choice. For the Buddhas, saints, Christ, they have choice. They consciously choose their parents, date of birth, the place of birth, and the date of death, date of leaving the world; they have choice. They are conscious in the womb of the mother already. They are conscious before they came to the world.

They came by choice, they came to save the world, to help some of their friends, to help those who pray to them for help. They have choice. But other people, they are compelled to reincarnate by their own deeds, actions through the past life.

As I have just explained before, our thinking and habits form themselves into an energy and that will force us to come into a different environment, to fulfil and to eradicate if necessary. This already formed concrete energy has to be diluted.

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap Q: What is karma and what is the association between karma and enlightenment? Is there such a thing as immediate enlightenment within the concept of karma?

M: Karma is what we call cause and effect. Whatever you sow, so shall you reap in the Bible, that is karma. Now, we can sow and we can reap, but then we can wipe off also. Therefore, Jesus, Buddha had to come to earth in order to help us to pay this terrible debt that we could not pay ourselves, which is called karma, which we sowed so many, now we reap so much. So some people like the Father, Son or the Buddha come down with unlimited merits, understand, and they can give anything you need, they can pay the debts for you. Because God

is all merciful, limitless of grace and blessing, whatever you ask, you will get. If you knock, it will be opened.

Now mostly, we don't ask, we don't knock and we just knock our heads against the wall, (audience laughs), so we get not much grace and blessing. And we think God is not merciful. God is. Hes always sends some of Hiers messengers to the world like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc. to save us, to lead us back home.

Despite our karma, in spite of our heavy debt, they can take us home and we can get immediate enlightenment through such persons' grace.

For example, now we are born in a very poor family. Our family, generation to generation, has been poor like that and we can never have any hope to get any richer or to get any better situation in the society. But then along comes a prince or a very big officer, and he has so limitless wealth and he happens to chance on our family and he happens to like us or like our daughter, wants to marry her.

Then, we become different people, we become a different family, our position will change. However much debt we owe to the neighbors, or to the landlord in our region, he will pay with his own money and take us to the palace.

Now God is similar to a very rich, wealthy, billion, billion, billionaire. Whoever calls on Hirm, Hes will cleanse all the sins and make us angels, make us Godlike. Why is it possible? Because there's nothing impossible with God, anyhow. If Hes can create the whole universe, Hes can just take us home if Hes so desires.

But then because we do not know where God is, and between God and us, there exists a very thick curtain of so-called karma, so Hes needs to send someone looking like us in order to go through and shake hands with us and say, "Hey, come."

God is so intangible, so abstract. Even though Hes appeared to us, we would not see. We are used to seeing illusion, we are used to seeing concrete forms. If God appeared, we could not know, we could not recognize. So we need someone who is expert to tell us, "Oh! Yeah, what you saw yesterday, that is God, or let me make you see God in a moment, or in five minutes you will see Hirm. When you see such and such and such, that is God who appeared to you in such a form, or in such energy, in such wisdom." Then we understand.

So, you can get immediate enlightenment for sure. No doubt about that. We can see God immediately because God is within us. In the Bible it is said: Know you not, that you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells within you.

If Hes is within us, then we could immediately see Hirm, no doubt. It's just a question of know-how. In American we say, "know-how", hah?

Meditation Q: What is the first step one must take toward reaching God? M: We must pray that if God exists, please guide me, please help me. And stick to your religion and pray to that religious head that you believe in to help you. If you're Christian, pray to God, pray to Jesus, Santa Maria. If you're Buddhist,

pray to Buddha, to Bodhisattvas, Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Amitabha Buddha, etc., to help you. That's the first step.

The second step is, we must lead a virtuous life as prescribed in the Bible and in the Buddhist scriptures or in any other religious scriptures. I haven't seen any major religion which teaches people to do bad things. So follow your own religious ethic, as the second step.

The third step is, we must find someone, and very importantly, who has known God, who has realized God, to show us something, to share with us the wealth that he or she has got. Just like if we want to speak English, what is the first step? Prepare the money for it, so that the teacher will accept you and then go and find a teacher -- one who can speak English. If you find one who speaks Spanish, then no good. (Master and audience laugh.) It's very easy.

Enlightenment Q: According to what You said, is meditation the only way to see Buddha or to reach enlightenment?

M: Yes. Did you see Buddha meditate? Did you see Jesus meditate? Yes? He meditated and the last time lasted forty days in the desert. Now if someone never meditated before, could he just go suddenly into the desert and meditate for forty days? No, no, no. This is a very experienced practitioner who could do such a thing. So from this, even with so little information, we know Jesus had been meditating all along and that was the last, final time, before He went out and taught the world.

Buddha meditated all the time for six years. But then, the last, final time, it was forty-nine days. Then, He went out to teach the world. So no one reaches nirvana or the Kingdom of God without meditation. Why meditation? To still our mind in order to receive the teachings from heaven or from the Kingdom of God, or from the Buddhas in the higher world. If we always keep praying and asking, "Please give me wisdom. Please give me that. Please give me ...," and whenever Buddha wants to speak, He has no chance any more, because we are busy all the time (audience laughs): we talk, we ask, and we talk and we don't listen. So meditation is a listening time.

Just like when you ask me a question and then you have to be still for a while, quiet, then I have a chance to tell you what I want to say or what you need to know. So meditation is like that - sit still and receive the message. Otherwise, God wants to tell you hundreds of dozens things and you have no time to hear it. You're too busy talking, praying, singing, prostrating, bowing, and counting the rosary. (Audience laughs.) It's all right to do these. I don't mean this is no good. This is very good. But then, we must be still for some time so that God has a chance to communicate. That is called meditation. Too easy, very easy to understand.

The Role Of The Master

Q: Please explain the differences among the enlightenment -- master, Buddha, Bodhisattva. Which of the above fit You the most closely?

M: Fit me? I do not care what you call me. Call me what you want. You see, I'm a 'garbage collector'. (Master and audience laugh.) Yeah, I collect the humans' 'garbage' and clean them, so that the world will be in a better, harmonious atmosphere and people will be in less suffering and more wise. I take their 'garbage' and give them 'jewels', give them wisdom. I take their karma and suffering and give them joy and happiness. So you may call me 'garbage collector'. No need such a big title like Buddha and Bodhisattva - scares me to death. It denotes the glorious position. In fact, I only collect 'garbage'. Collect all the bad, negative atmosphere and you know, all the things scattered here and there which make our world miserable and unbearable. I collect all these and burn them up, clean the world. May I help you? May I ask you also to help me in this 'garbage collecting' program by joining us to meditate on the positive power, on the God power which is almighty? We can clean all the sin, can bestow all the grace. This is my job. You may join also and become the same.

No need for Buddha and Bodhisattva, these sound too glorious and honorable.

(Master laughs.)

In fact, we work very hard. Whoever reaches this level and are commissioned by God are volunteers to help sentient beings. We work very hard and we suffer.

Not much glory here in this world. You might get glorified when you go back to heaven, go back to the Buddha's-land, but here in this world, there is not much for Buddhas.

Q: Will You tell us who will be the right master to learn religions from?

M: It's like this. We do not follow a teacher, we only follow the teaching, so we can never go wrong. In case the teacher goes wrong when the teaching is okay, then we follow the teaching. We have to see if the teaching is correct. For example, you see if my ethics are correct or not correct, if whatever I teach you I follow or not. For example, I teach you not to eat meat. I also eat vegetarian. I also teach you not to steal. I also don't steal. I teach you to give away in charity. I give away myself in charity. I teach you to love people. I do love people and help people unconditionally. I take no money for the teaching I give.

I earn my own money. So you have nothing to lose at all, except to gain.

Now also every moral standard which is described in the Buddhist scriptures and described in the Christian Bible, I convey to you again, so I teach nothing new, nothing immoral, nothing unethical, so you may feel safe to know that your teacher won't teach you anything wrong, outside of the scriptures. I teach you everything from the scriptures. From ancient times, the ethical conduct doesn't change. The commandments from God, from Buddha will not change. I teach you the same, and I do the same. So you know at least I'm not the bad type.

And now the teaching is correct, right?

And the meditation will provide you with wisdom, peace of mind. Doesn't matter which technique, it will also help you somewhat. So there is no exception about our technique. I only tell you that it's the fastest, that's all. But you may not you don't have to believe me. I only inform you and now you have your own

choice. I only tell the truth. If it is fast, I say it is very fast. I'm also a monk, I'm not allowed to tell a lie anyhow. Even average people will not tell a lie, so what would a monk tell lies for. And I have no reason to do that, because I don't need your money, I don't need anything, and I don't even live here. I profit nothing from you. I may even leave tomorrow or you may leave me and never see again - goodbye. So, I profit nothing.

Ah! So from this stand-point you're safe. You follow the teaching only, don't follow me. The teaching will always be with you, and you don't need to follow me in person. In case you want some personal advise during your meditation progress, you may write to me. Nowadays no need to stick with the master all the time. Or you could go to Formosa or wherever I am staying. This body is only an appearance, a house, an office, so that you may see me. If I used the spiritual body only, you could not see me at all. And when I talked, you couldn't hear. So how could I convey the message to you. I have to use the body. That's the use of the body. This body is not much use in other senses.

So no need to fear that when I go away, you'll have no one. You'll always have someone. You may even see me appearing in your house just like this. If you are sincere and high level enough, you will see the Master come to you and you will see the Master all the time whenever you need. No need to cling to a physical body.

Q: She asks You if You have a dream?

M: Yes, I have dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that everyone becomes Buddha. I dream that all killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other, and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed by some crazy atom bomb. It took billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it's so beautiful, so wonderful.

I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love. Yes, that is my dream. (Audience applaud.)

Q: What is the fastest way to reach true enlightenment?

M: Meditate with our method and a virtuous life.

Q: Christ did a few miracles, did not know other languages other than Jewish, but these miracles convinced us. How about nowadays' masters? How do we know that they are holy?

M: You see, the miracles don't secure a holy personality. Many people have miracle power without being holy. This you know: the black magician, the white magician, they all have miracles, but that doesn't mean they are holy. Jesus had to use these miracles because it was in different circumstances. Nowadays we are more intelligent, we are not as barbaric, we are more technological, more advanced, more civilized, and more scientifically minded.

So, there's no need clinging to these miracles. As I have already told you,

Seek you first the Kingdom of God. I do not want to use miracles to bait you because I respect your wisdom, I respect your intelligence. I do not think of you as children that I have to use some colorful toys in order to attract you; I think this is not very respectful.

Because I respect you very much, therefore I use wisdom, I use logic to appeal to your wisdom, to your logic so that you might get higher in your understanding and not just cling to these physical phenomena such as miracles.

You will know that I have a lot of miracles, limitless miracles. When you reach my level, when you are sincerely practicing, then I'll show you, but not now. Not by force, not on demand, understand? If you respect me at all, then do not demand such, because I respect you. I do not use this "hula-hula-hop" to play with you. I do not think you are such a level. And I do not want to attract this kind of level either. If you are not yet grown up in wisdom, then I'll let you wait.

If you already have some wisdom and ideas of how a practitioner should be, why we should practice meditation and virtues, then you come to us, join with us to cleanse the planet, to bless all beings, not to play with miracles.

Miracles don't make a person holy, that is for sure. You will know my miracles in time if you are sincere, if you have a higher ideal. You will know everything about your Master in time. I'm not selling cheap in the supermarket.

Keep God In Mind And Remember Love Q: How do we understand or in better terms reconcile our dark sides: evil, lust, etc., with the holiness and good tidings of the Supreme Entity?

M: Yes, by leading a virtuous life, changing from dark to light. Use the light to dispel darkness. For example, when the sun comes out, darkness is gone. By practicing the present from God, listening to the instructions of God everyday, seeing God's light everyday, we will cleanse out the evil tendencies, and clean out the worst evil tendency even. The more people in the world who practice, the more peaceful the world becomes, the cleaner the atmosphere, not only for us but for all people. That's how we do it with meditation, with enlightenment.

How To Go To The Buddha-Lands Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai at Columbia University, New York, U.S.A. November 4, 1989. (Originally in English) This article was published in China Times, Formosa October 25, 1995 Good afternoon. Happy that you have come. It's Saturday afternoon, and your time is very valuable. I am glad that you have saved some of your busy time and come here. It's sometimes difficult to speak. It's difficult to go back to the normal thinking of the human level and to communicate through language, but I'll try. After half an hour, it will go on automatically. (Master laughs.) Now, please help and join me in prayer so that our seminar, our meeting, will be fruitful, will be of some benefit to all of you and those that you love. Just take a few minutes. Let's pray that the Almighty God will speak through me, and that the Almighty God within you will be awakened and listen. Thank you.

Where Are The Buddha-Lands?

Shakyamuni Buddha, when He was alive, what I mean is that when He was still on the physical plane, in the physical body, He introduced to us so many wonderful lands that we call Buddha-lands. And Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He also told us and introduced to us many so-called heavens, different levels of consciousness. Also He had told us: In the house of my Father, there are many mansions.

Do you remember? What does it mean by many Buddha-lands? What does it mean by In the house of my Father, there are many mansions?

I would like to introduce to you one of the Buddha-lands, and you could also say that it's one of the mansions of God. According to Buddhism, there is one Buddha-land which is very beautiful. Well, there are many different Buddhalands, but today we'll speak about one of them. This Buddha-land is called the Land of the King of Medicine Buddha.

When this Buddha was in a physical body and roamed around the world liberating sentient beings, he had twelve kinds of vows for the benefit of the people. What does it mean making vows? When you are practicing for Bodhisattvahood, meaning when you are practicing to become a saint, you'd like to help people in such and such a way, and so you wish inside your heart that people would benefit from you in certain ways. These are so-called "vows". And through the power of your practice, your virtues, your will power and good will, these vows will become true.

So one of the vows of the King of Medicine Buddha, which we call "Yiao Shi Pho" in Chinese, was that if anyone came to him afflicted with any kind of disease, body and mind, he would first give them relief -- give them food to eat, medicine to take care of their health, and then slowly he would make them realize the highest potential power within themselves, what we call the Buddha nature, or the Kingdom of God. When the disciples of the Buddha went to this Buddha of the Medicine Land, they saw that the land was endowed with so many precious stones, and the earth was made with crystal. Most of the Buddha-lands are similar in character. The Land of the Medicine Buddha and the Land of Amitabha Buddha are similar in character. The earth is made of a kind of crystal or of luxurious stones. Houses are made from seven precious jewels -- rubies, diamonds, gold, etc.... The people who live in this kind of land are ever, ever joyful, never have any difficulties, never heard of any miseries. Even the word misery doesn't exist in that land, how much less they have to experience this kind of suffering.

Whereby in our world, which we call the Earth, there is a kind of mixture between suffering and happiness. Sometimes we suffer, sometimes we enjoy.

Some people are sorrowful, some people are happy. It's different in the Land of the Buddha. Only happiness, only joy, only bliss, only love. No suffering, no misunderstanding, no violence, no blaming, no quarreling, no war.

What is the purpose of the Buddha telling people about all these beautiful lands?

So that they realize that there are other universes, there are other beautiful planets to which we can go, live, and stay permanently. No need to cling to this miserable world. If we think this world is too miserable for us, then we must not stay here. We have a choice. That was the purpose of the Buddha coming into this world, that was the purpose of Jesus when He came into the world, to introduce to the people of our world many other different planets where life is more enjoyable, more suitable to our mentality, or our desire.

The Road To Wisdom Is Endless Now, we think Buddha died and we think Jesus has left the world, has died. But it is not true. Jesus as well as Buddha are still living. They are just living in a different place, and they have also evolved with time, with their job, and with their ever-learning. We can never learn enough. Do not think that after we become Buddha or Christ-like, we stop learning. No, then it becomes like a dead end. The road to wisdom is endless.

So you remember in the Bible, Jesus said something very strange. He said: Whatever miracles, whatever great things I do today, you can do them even better tomorrow.

Now isn't that strange? How can we do better than Jesus? Who knows? Please raise your hand. Anyone have any idea why Jesus said such a strange thing?

Why did He say we can do greater things than He did? Why did He humble Himself in this way? Why greater than Jesus? Isn't He the only son of God? (Audience: We are the same as He.) Then why should we be greater than Him? He should say that you can do the same. Why would He say: You can do better than I even?

What you have said is all correct, everyone is correct in part. Now, I may add something. Just for example, at the time you met your teacher, or what we call the initiation process, you just had a little taste of a heaven, of the power within yourself. So you may praise Jesus or your teacher very much. You say: "Oh! That was a wonderful experience. What did you do to me? That was incredible!"

So Jesus would humbly say: "No! No! That is nothing. You will do even greater."

What he meant maybe was as you develop more, you will know even more than just what you know today. That's one of the possibilities at that time. I think there is another possibility, another meaning in what He said. It's that He, at that time, was not that much developed, not as much as He could have been developed. Maybe if Jesus came back now, He would be greater than He was then. That was also one of the suggestions.

Also maybe, His power, even though still very great, was difficult to give, difficult to offer to the people, because at that time, our human minds were also underdeveloped as well. We were not as civilized, not as intelligent, as we are now. Even the great Jesus couldn't do much. It's just like when you are a very excellent M.D. or engineer, and you go to Africa with all your Ph.D. and knowledge, what can you do in a jungle? You can only apply some herbal medicine, wash patients with soap, (Master and all laugh) and that's all you can do. If the patients get relief, they praise you. And you, say, "No! No! That was

nothing." It's true that it was nothing for what the doctor can do in normal conditions, in a good hospital, where he is surrounded by all kinds of equipment and colleagues who help him in his job.

Also when Jesus came to us, it was 2,000 years ago, and as 2,000 years have gone by, He must have learned much more. So now, if those who are in the future, those who came after Jesus are in a better environment, in a more modernized civilization, of course, they could do greater wonders.

So if we look in the Bible, Jesus didn't have the chance to say much at all. What He said, I am sorry, even though was so great, but He wasn't that great. I don't mean Jesus was not great. It was that He did not have the chance to say much.

Also the people at that time, their understanding, was not that great, not great enough to match Jesus' wisdom. So He had to tell them in parables, kind of stories, had to use some kind of healing power, all these kinds of things, to awaken people. He also told them in very simple straightforward terms -- to keep the commandments, believe in God, pray to God, etc. Only some of His chosen few disciples were selected to be the messengers of His message; the rest He just cured them of their sicknesses, uplifted them a little bit in a mental way, invisible way, comforted them, and reminded them of the commandments or of God. Therefore, those who came after Jesus having the same capacity as He, reaching the same level of enlightenment, could do much more than He did, could speak more in a more logical way, more intelligent way, more scientific way in order to suit the modern society. So it's not very advantageous for us to cling to the image of our old-time Jesus or Buddha. We have to advance, and what we learn today, it must not always be what the people learned in the past.

Now why did the Buddha take so much time and talk about so many Buddhalands? It wasn't "He" who talked even. It was His disciples who were taken to the Land of the Buddha, came back, and wrote the so-called diaries. Of course, the Buddha was in that Buddha-land, and the Buddha was the one who took these disciples around and introduced them. But it was not necessary that he spoke to the earthly people in the human language. Some of my so-called followers, disciples, students or fellow practitioners, whatever you call them, they also have had similar kinds of experiences. They were taken to those beautiful lands of love, peace and glory, those with crystal-paved grounds and golden palaces. When they came back to earth consciousness, they also wrote down their experiences, and their joy in the heavenly kingdom or in these Buddha-lands. So these Buddha-lands do exist, and they are much more beautiful, much more gracious than our earth.

Different Beings In Other Galaxies And On Other Planets In the universe, we can see with our physical eyes that there are many kinds of planets. Our scientists are now trying hard to discover what kinds of planets these are, and if they are peopled or not peopled? Are the people over there similar to ours or not similar? Some of the scientific discoveries have proved that some planets are peopled with beings similar to ours, sometimes they are not similar. Those planets in the universal system are indeed peopled with many

different beings. Some are so different vibration, that our physical eyes could not detect them. Even if we send a spaceship to that planet, and the astronauts with all their equipment, we could not see them. Therefore, when our astronauts went to the moon, they saw nothing, and they took some rocks home; they are very expensive rocks. I think we should buy them and wear them around our neck (Master and all laugh) -- moon stone, because they are more expensive than diamond comparing the cost of the spaceship.

Why is it that our eyes fail to see the invisible beings in other galaxies, other planets? It is because we are made of different densities of matter. Actually, matter is not matter at all. I think science has proved that -- that matter is actually empty of nature, it's only different in density. I think that it's very logical. That's why Buddhism has the theory of emptiness. Emptiness means all things are empty in their own nature, it's only a difference in density.

Now I'll try to make it more concrete. You see, air, we cannot see it, we can use it only. We can breathe and we feel the air is there when the wind blows, otherwise we cannot detect the air. The air is composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Everyone knows that. Water also is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, the same kind of composition -- H2O. But when water vaporizes and becomes air, air is entirely different from water. If we are thirsty, we cannot drink air, (Master and all laugh) we have to drink water, even though they are both composed of the same thing, and have the same percentage of composition. Ice is even more different. Ice is different in density. Water condenses and makes itself become solid, so we have ice. So that helps us to explain the different beings in the universe -- why some are solid, are visible, and others are very intangible, invisible. I think it is the same theory.

We have heard people say: "All beings in the universe are one, are of the same essence." Today I am enlightened in this matter, (Master laughs) thanks to you.

If I hadn't spoken about this, I would have forgotten this wisdom, I wouldn't have remembered. Because today you needed to know this, I had the opportunity to dig this information out, and give it to you. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't have needed this information. It was put safely in the store, and maybe just forgotten.

To become enlightened is also like that. We have to unlock our memory. We have to use it each day, in our daily practice, our daily living. We'll unlock more mysteries, more capacities in our dormant storage of the brain. That's what we call "enlightenment", that's what we call "getting more wisdom"; nothing mysterious about that. Everything we already have in our brain, in our store. It's just that when we don't use it, we forget it. It's just like it's non-existent.

As much as I have told you about the story about the water, the air, and the ice, which are made from the same elements, we are also made of the same essence, the same elements -- that is the light, the vibration, which we call the Word in the Bible. The Word means the vibration. In ancient times, they didn't call it the vibration, they called it the Word. Something with sound, something that makes sound -- that is the Word. Whether it is invisible or visible sound, they had no expression for this; so they call it the Word. Lao Tzu had no expression for this. He called it:

If you press me too much, I will say it is the Tao, I have no word for it.

In Buddhist terminology, they call it the sound-stream, the inner sound. They all amount to the same thing. We hear in the Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. This vibration or this light will become more dense, as it descends to different levels of the universal hierarchy. It becomes the most dense here, so we have this kind of visible body to move around in. But when some practice at a very high level, and develop themselves to the highest wisdom and the highest power, they merge themselves back to the original source. Then sometimes you see their body disappear. It's not that they disappear, they just melt into their original form. Just like when ice is put in contact with sun light or fire, it melts into water and then disappears into the air again.

When we meditate, practice, and we become Buddha, a great master, we will not just disappear so quickly. We also have a control over our body, over our destiny, and we want to stay for the benefit of others. But our body is not always real any more. Therefore, sometimes if such a master gives discourses in some way -- in samadhi, or in some way teaching others, some people just don't see the body of the master at all. Just see an ocean of light, and that light will even swallow all the audience in the lecture. That you may experience sometimes. Maybe even to the extent of half an hour, one, two, three hours, you are just lost in the sea of light and blissfulness. It's because the master has merged into the ocean of light. Sometimes the master chooses to manifest this to some of the disciples, maybe just to convince him or her, or maybe just because that disciple had great affinity with that master in the past. But not everyone can see this phenomenon, and not every master is so high to manifest such kind.

Great Enlightened Saints Appear In Every Cycle Of Our Existence Now, it is difficult to find these masters, because they are too ordinary. They might not even have any robe at all. They just wear ordinary clothes. The more ordinary, maybe the more great. Sometimes we happen to walk on the street, and we might see many Bodhisattvas, saints, but we might not recognize them.

They work in silence. In a Buddhist sutra, we call the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said: In every cycle of our existence, the Bodhisattvas -- meaning the great enlightened saints -- will always appear on this Earth to protect the great teaching, protect the dharma.

It's not possible for us to always recognize this, because they are so great in number, and they work in different fields and different ways. You may see an engineer, maybe a doctor, or maybe a taxi driver, but they are great saints. So take care (Master laughs) to respect other people when you happen to bump into them. The best attitude is to look at all beings as Buddhas, as saints, then you may experience great wonders, great changes will be taking place in your life.

I have mentioned already that it is not necessary to go into the Himalayas or to shave your head to become enlightened. I did so because it was my path, my destiny. Also I wasn't enlightened. Now suppose I am already enlightened and I am already a monk, what would happen if I let my hair grow very long, I wear jeans, and run around? Do you think I'd lose my enlightenment then? (Audience answer: No.) Exactly!

Doesn't matter what you do in the world, doesn't matter how many duties you have to discharge, once you are enlightened, you are enlightened forever. It's just that you need the key to enlightenment, and the faster the better. Of course, we have no time. We are in the modern world. We can't just sit there for years and wait for the sudden awakening. If we do not have any taste beforehand, it is difficult for our scientific age peoples' minds to believe in anything that we cannot prove. Therefore, the so-called masters nowadays openly give people some evidence of the greater level of consciousness, of the Kingdom of God, or of the Buddha's light, in order for people to believe, to get some proof to hang on to, and to develop.

There are only the different levels of enlightenment. Once you are enlightened, you are enlightened. It's just that you choose to go further to be greater, or you choose to stay there. Once you are initiated, you are different beings, you are a different level. Just like once you have graduated from high school and once you have registered at college, you become a college student. There's no going back any more. You cannot be called a kindergarten student any more, or high school student. You choose to learn more, to become a Ph.D., or you choose to stay in that and then you drop out. Nevertheless, you were a college student. You are not a high school graduate.

So once you are enlightened through the grace of a master, through your own effort, you are forever enlightened. You are no longer like you were before. But it's a matter of diligent practice afterward that counts. It's not just one-moment of enlightenment that makes you become a Buddha. It's not that you register once in a college, never learn anything, and then you become an M.D. No, it's not so simple.

As with every other science, we need constant effort and diligent practice. But also we need assurance from a teacher, and a helping hand. Sometimes we slip, sometimes we are ignorant of our progress, and sometimes we do not know the pitfalls in the practicing road, which is a very long and difficult one. So we need a friend, a faithful, unselfish, and wise friend to guide us, to help us on the road.

Walking, we must do alone, but helping, the friend may do -- making the journey more pleasurable, faster, more enlightened. So the teacher is a good friend who walks beside you, helps you when you fall down, cooks for you when you are sick, (Master and all laugh) helps you when you are tired, and encourages you when you lose your enthusiasm. But the teacher cannot enlighten for you. The teacher can put you on the path only, then we can walk.

What Is The Correct Method?

Q: How can we tell whether a method is the correct method? How do you know the method is the highest, is the right one for you to learn?

M: Any method that brings you close to Buddha, your Buddha-nature, brings you back to God, shows you that you have God's power, shows you that you have God's light, Buddha's light, that is a correct method.

Q: I have been a Buddhist for three years, but have had no progress at all.

What's the problem?

M: The problem is that you have only read other peoples' experiences and hasn't had experience yourself. For example, in Buddhism, we have a scripture that describes the Land of Amitabha Buddha with all sorts of beauty. The ground is paved with gold, even the birds can sing the great teachings, there are beautiful palaces, and the people there use lotuses to fly in the air, etc. They have a beautiful pool with nectar. When you drink it, you have so much strength, power, and intelligence, etc. But a person who has never been there before, heard about it.

Then, everyday he just recites this kind of Buddha-land, and he doesn't even have any appetite for it. He might have the appetite, but he has not had the food. My method is to offer you a little bit of the taste of the Buddha-land, so that you know you are on the right path and encouraged to walk further. Then you know you have success. Otherwise, of course, you study for thirty years and you have no success, never mind three years. Three years is too short already.

Some people have waited thirty years, have never seen any Buddha-land, have never had a glimpse of the Buddha's light, have never had a little bit of sound of the Buddha's musical voice. It's very difficult if you don't have a correct teacher, you don't have a correct path. It's never a success at all.

Just like someone takes you to the restaurant. You're so hungry and you want to find a restaurant. At least the person takes you to the right road. If you haven't reached the restaurant yet, you know you are on the right road, and carry on walking further, because you can smell a little bit of the food from its kitchen from far away, and you know that's it, you are on the right path. Otherwise, you walk for many days and many roads, you can never have anything.

Q: I don't believe in any religion at all, and I don't belong to any particular religious group. I only meditate myself. Can I get enlightenment?

M: That shows that you haven't got enlightenment. If you had, you would have known. At least you would feel more secure. Now, we don't need to belong to any religious order or group in order to get enlightenment. We do not even need to believe before we see, but seeing, we must. When we are face to face with God or Buddha, or we have been to the Buddha-land, then we will know. Yes! There is Buddha, now I believe.

It's all right to be an atheist, (Master laughs) but it's not all right to remain like that all our life. We must get some proof as long as we can, as far as we can. If no one else offers us the proof, then no one can blame us for being atheists forever. But if someone stands out and offers us the proof, then we should at least give ourselves a chance to prove the world beyond our existence. Then we can believe there's a Buddha, there's God or there are other saints.

Q: Please explain more about mass suffering, Are they all guilty from before, that's why they are suffering?

M: No one is innocent, I have told you yesterday. I am not condemning anyone at all. It's all learning lessons. Learning is very painful. Once you are awakened, you see things in a different light, and you know it's all lessons.

Look at the mass killing that we do everyday in order to keep this body for one hundred years. How many lives have to be sacrificed -- all the fish, all the shrimps, 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 will be lost, it will be diluted only with a different energy. It will be equalized only by different actions, not lost. For example, vapor air already became ice through water, and now if you want it to disappear, we have to put sun rays, a lamp, light, or heat on it, in order to get it back into the air again.

So if we have been killing, mass massacres, all the time, all these animals suffering, and they also have consciousness, thinking, and hatred energy, all this hatred, fear condenses itself into a powerful energy, and hangs around 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 a vegetarian diet. The least cost to the existence.

Animals have life, plants also have life, but they are the least cost. Just like you earn only a hundred dollars and you want to spend two hundred, then of course you are in debt, you are in trouble. If you try to buy cheap things and satisfy yourself with the minimum cost to live, then you have no worry 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 the milk from the cow, will the cow die? If you take a few nuts from the trees, the trees still have plenty of nuts to grow thousands of nut trees more. They will not be lost. If you cut a flower, or a branch of a vegetable, that 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, less cost.

The Invisible Aspects Q: Did you mean spirit, God is the substance of our body?

M: Yes, yes, the holy spirit is the substance of our body. We come from that.

And when you go very high in wisdom, you will realize that this body is also spirit, from the higher vibration. It has condensed into this kind of form only.

Therefore, if you practice very high or there is a high practicing Master, you don't see the Master. But you have to also develop higher or through the grace of the Master. You don't see the Master at all, only see light here. And the light

is so great that it envelopes the whole audience, the whole hall. You see no one.

You see that there is no matter at all. It's really empty.

That's what we call emptiness. But in the emptiness, you are fulfilled, you are satisfied. It's not the emptiness that leaves you empty and lonely like the ordinary emptiness of this world. The more you empty in the spiritual sense, the more you are fulfilled, the wiser you become. It's all different.

The worldly language is terrible, that's why everyone mistakens Buddhism for nihilism, nothingness, emptiness. (Master laughs.) It's not so. If everything goes back into nihilism, goes back into nothing, then the Buddha would never have emphasized that you keep the precepts, be a good person, be virtuous. What would be the use? You'd become nothing anyhow. You'd become empty. (Master laughs.) No, it's not so.

Q: How can you prove that after the end, another life exists?

M: Well, if you have not been enlightened about this matter already, then you should be enlightened, then you can see. Some people can see these things without having officially been enlightened, due to their sensitive clairvoyant ability. And some people have to have a master in order to be clairvoyant. After enlightenment to some degree, you will come to know all these things.

It's easy to prove, but we must practice. These things are intangible things -belonging to the inner, invisible knowledge. There is knowledge of material nature. There is knowledge of immaterial nature. Now, if you want to prove the invisible knowledge, you have to go to the invisible school, and practice the invisible method. We cannot use the material to prove the immaterial things. But we can prove it in a different way.

Q: What was your method of obtaining enlightenment, and was there a specific moment that you felt it occurred?

M: No. My method is no method. At the time of transmission, you just sit there, and I also sit there. We don't do anything. We don't speak any words. We don't move one inch. But we get the light, and we get enlightenment. We can leave the body, we can visit heaven, or we can at least see the heavenly light or hear the heavenly Word, listen to the instructions of God and become wiser each day.

The method I impart is no method. Thus, I cannot write it down for you. I can only personally, invisibly, and inactively open it for you. I do without doing. If anything involves any doing, any excitement, any movement, it still belongs to the world of form and matter. So our method is a non-substance method, nonform method. But it can be transmitted, it can be had, it can be possessed.

Why is it so? It is because the enlightenment is within yourself, the light is within you, the Buddha-nature is within you, the Kingdom of God is within you. I only point it to you: "Here, look this way and you will see." Sometimes you have eyeglasses in your hand, and you keep looking all over for them. So I say: " It's here, (Master laughs) this way."

So it's no method. You already have it, believe me. No method can lead you to enlightenment, except you have to know your own nature and get in contact with it. That is the only method. Any method that lets you see the Buddhanature at once, see the Heavenly Kingdom at once, that is the Quan Yin Method.

That is the right method. That's the correct method. You call it any name you want, but there's no method.

It's only the power of God which descends into any chosen pure body, and opens your own God-power. It's God who saves God. It's the Buddha who saves the Buddha. It's the Buddha who enlightens the Buddha. It's the Buddha inside you who chooses to be awakened. The Buddha inside me and the Buddha inside you are one.

Because you do not know it yet, the Buddha inside you has to manifest into an outside body, and waken it up. But it is you who wakes up yourself. It's the Buddha-nature inside you who chooses the time. The alarm clock went off, so wake up. It's difficult.

I will not teach you anything. It's you who teaches yourself. It's the Buddha within you who wakes up and realizes who you are, and starts to work with your own capacity, with your own wisdom. Therefore afterward, you will realize that no one is the master. Everyone is equal. Everyone has the same potential. Just you forgot how to use it. The one who remembers, the one who knows will remind you. That's all there is.

If you already have money in your pocket, and I tell you the money is here, I don't give you anything. I only remind you what you have forgotten. Therefore, there's no need for me to use any method. The money is yours. (Master laughs.)

MC: But the Master does open the door, does open the wisdom-mind for us.

Q: Are heaven, Buddha-land, Buddha, only imaginary things in our mind?

Everyone sees a different form of Buddha-land. No such physical existence in reality?

M: Oh, it isn't an imaginary product. Some lands are illusion due to hallucinations. When you are short of oxygen, when you are tired, when you are on drugs or alcohol, or undergoing suffering, you do have hallucinations. These are unreal and you cannot go back to those lands again.

But those Buddhas-lands and real heaven have real invisible substance, and you can go back anytime afterward. Not everyone sees a different land. Many of my disciples see the same land. But because there are so many lands, so of course someone goes there, someone goes here. Just like we have so many countries in this world, some go to America, some go to England. That's of course no doubt.

But England does exist and two or more can go there at the same time.

Q: Are there spirits in this world or just psychological phenomenon unrelated to the level of spirits, made in our mind?

M: There are spirits, yes. What are spirits? They are the encased souls who are not liberated. We are souls who are encased in these bodies at the moment.

After we leave our world, we leave these bodies, but it doesn't mean we are completely liberated. There are other bodies encasing our souls still. Just like a house has many doors.

When I visited the prison (for lecture), there were about thirteen doors, small doors, iron doors. They had to be opened and locked immediately behind me. I went through thirteen doors to visit the prisoners, and I went through thirteen doors to go out again. Now, if the prison officer just opened one or two doors, I'd still be in prison. I would not be liberated. Have to open the last door and then the greater gate outside before I could go back to the free world again.

Similarly, when we leave these physical bodies, it doesn't mean that we are completely free of other bodies. We have other bodies. So the spirits which we see sometimes with different eyes, or other people see with the psychic eyes, these are those encased souls in astral bodies. Sometimes they fly around, sometimes they make trouble, sometimes they don't.

The Real Baptism Q: How does initiation which cancels one's past karma differ from Christian baptism, which removes the guilt of original sin?

M: Is that right? Does it remove? Then how come you keep coming for confession every Sunday? You don't feel removed with baptism. The real baptism came from a Christ-like person, like John the Baptist, like Jesus Christ.

The power of removal, not the action. Just like I sign a check, but I have no money in the bank. (Master laughs.) It's different from my signing a check with the money in my bank account.

Baptism is a beautiful tradition in Christianity, as well as in Buddhism. We call it taking refuge in the Buddha. And when you take refuge, they read out loud: After you take refuge in the Buddha, your karma is all cleansed, you will never be born in hell and as an animal, etc. I have seen many baptized people go to hell. You cannot just do it verbally or by ceremony. There must be invisible Godpower behind it to cleanse you, because sins are invisible.

Does that makes sense to you? Yes, we have to be logical in practice. We can not just be blind, and follow anything people say. We are cheated, we are made fun of, made a fool of. But no doubt after you confess your sins to someone, maybe you'll feel a little relief. But then, you sin again. And also you have not felt any upliftment.

When Jesus baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. When John baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. Therefore, they can see light from heaven. When Jesus was baptized by John, He saw the light come from heaven like a dove.

At the initiation, you will also see such kind of light, at least such kind. So you know that you have been cleansed and you know you have been in contact with

heaven. Otherwise, how do you know? And you'll feel a sudden relief, like a mountain has fallen from your shoulders, like a stone has been removed from your heart. That is the real sign of cleansing and purifying. Otherwise, only talk, and formality. Doesn't remove the original sins just by baptism. If the priest is very high, enlightened, powerful, yes; if not, no.

Q: Why are breathing exercises contrary to Master's method?

M: Because in our body, there are two kinds of currents. One is called the motor current which generates the heat in the body, takes care of the blood circulation and the digestive system. That is supported by the breathing. Now if we control the breath, we make a mess of our orderly system. God has already made our body in a perfect condition. Whatever has to be done is already taken care of.

No need to mess around. All we want to do is to free our soul, not to mess around with the systems of our body. Sometimes it creates danger.

Also, the breath is ephemeral. When you sleep, you are unconscious of breathing. When you faint, when you have an accident, you collapse, you do not know about the breathing. How do you practice then? How do you elevate your soul then?

Our method is the one which makes your soul ever conscious. During sleep, during accident, during collapse time, during disaster, always conscious to take care of your problems, take care of your business, take care of your decisions.

We waken our own soul up. We waken the master of the house up and let him do the job. Then twenty-four hours he does things, without us having to think, and to even to pray for, because the Master has woken up, the Buddha, the holy spirit within us has woken up. The real self, understand? Without having to listen to the brain -- the stupid computer. Therefore, we will do everything in the right spirit. Knowing or not knowing this, we'll always be right, because the master has taken control, not the servant.

If we mess about with our breathing or any so-called body chakra, we interfere with the physical system only and it might bring about some illusion or hallucination, but nothing real. And we will never become any wiser. I have tried, and I have seen many people who are on the top of the so-called breath control. They still have to come to me for wisdom. Someone who practiced breath control with a very famous Chinese master, I won't mention the name, reached the breathless state already. He could survive without breathing. That person was no wiser by any means. He had to come and get initiation. Now, he's different.

Like Hatha yoga, they put all the breath into the stomach, make it become very big and save it there for some time, maybe 2-3 minutes. Breathe it out again. Or they do pranayama. But it's no harm if you take a few deep breaths and do exercises. It's different.

The Difference Between Pure Land And Our World Q: Master, you began your talk today with a discussion on Buddha-lands and the rooms in the mansion of the Father. Please elaborate on this. Why is there a

need for a pure Buddha-land in existence? Is this not the pure land we live in this world, even though it does not manifest itself as pure in your eyes?

M: Yes, our land is very pure indeed. For me, (Master laughs), but not for some.

So you have to find your own pure land. What it means in the Vimalakirti Sutra, about this land is a pure land, is that you can sit here and see the land is pure.

You can sit here and see the Buddha-land right here, right in front of your eyes.

That's what it means. That's what it means by "this land is a pure land."

It's true, but not true to all people. It's true to me, it's true to my disciples, true to some higher level, enlightened people, but not to everyone. Everyone still sees garbage, and sees the mountain and the river.

So what I say about pure land is that, it all exists here and now, but I have to make a distinction. I cannot always tell people: "You look, you live in the pure land now. You no need to move, you no need to exercise, you no need to do any virtues, you no need to meditate. Your land is a pure land." I cannot say that.

It's not correct either.

Also, how do the pure lands of Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, etc. differ from this world, from ours? They differ a lot, too much difference. The lands over there, we know no sorrow, we know no hatred, we know no war. We only know love and mutual respect. This land is full of trouble, full of sorrow, misery. You are happy one minute, and then you are suffering ten minutes. So much difference.

Here you have to labor very long to build a house, and it might collapse with an earthquake, leaving you homeless, no electricity, no water for many days, a lot of inconvenience. We built the bridge in San Francisco. Took many years and a lot of money, billions of dollars and a lot of labor; and in just 50 seconds, it was gone.

In those lands, such thing never happen. We are always secure and live in love, light and grace. There are a lot of differences. You do not need to earn money.

Everything we want comes immediately, in front of our eyes, without even having to move, go to the supermarket or change money. We go from one Buddha-land to another without any passport trouble, without any bureaucratic problem. Now you want to go to America, it's not easy, you want to get out, it's also not easy, because you need money, need passport, need relations in the other land in order to move. In Buddha-land, it's not so. You go anywhere you want. You're free.

Q: When I meditated one day I saw the light, but it nearly electrocuted me and I thought l would die. I don't understand this.

M: You saw the light was of a very high electronic nature. We might use our worldly terminology. Therefore when it touched the body, it became very powerful. That's why we have to be vegetarian and lead a virtuous life, so we don't have this kind of shock. If a very high frequency touches very gross matter, of course it will be in conflict. But if the matter is not that gross, not that coarse, then the two are blended, and you don't feel the shock.

It's dangerous to practice without the guidance of a real master and ethical discipline. All the meat and intoxicants we take will intensify the grossness of our body, the coarseness of our physical being. And the more we are condensed, the less we can blend with the higher frequency. Therefore it gives a shock. We have to develop the body, mind, and speech in order to match it.

You see the astronauts when they go into space, they have to eat different food, wear different clothes in order to suit the air pressure in higher space. They cannot wear like we wear here. Or when we go into the sea, we have to take an oxygen mask. We cannot be casual like in this land. Different atmosphere, we have to be equipped with different instruments. It's good that you have withstood this experience, and have become more enlightened. Congratulations!

Q: It is true that instant enlightenment can be attained, not only through Buddhas of enlightenment, but also through a city marshal, who knocks unexpectedly at your door.

M: It's true if that marshal is a Buddha, he can open the light for you. Then he is also an enlightened Buddha in the form of a marshal. Buddhas have many forms. If you are a marshal and you become completely enlightened, then you are a Buddha. There's no need to change the outer appearance. But any ordinary being cannot just give you instant enlightenment, be it the president or a marshal. It's not the form, the position, or the job that counts. It's the power within that person.

The World Is A Stage For Our Play Spoken By Hsihu October (Originally in Chinese)

The

Supreme Center, 25,

Master

Ching

Hai Formosa 1994

In the very beginning, we were with God; we were one with the essence of the highest Buddha. At that time, there was nothing to do in the universe. It was empty like an ocean of love, so pure and tranquil, without any movement, or anything interesting. Therefore, when God or the Creator suggested that we have some activities and add some excitement to the universe, we all agreed with joy. Thereafter, we shared in part of God's creative work. Each one of us has to do something and has to play a role. We each cast our own character.

That is why there are so many different colors of skin, different temperaments and even different shortcomings. Thus, we created the universe. We created different planets, different nations and different people.

When we came down, we brought some tools or toys along with us, such as our characters and the roles. Since we created them, we also need to destroy them in order to rest and then to create new ones. Suppose you had created a bad character, perhaps a hot tempered or murderous one, even though it was your role, it was not meant to be played forever, because the roles in the play still have limitations. You may play it for a hundred years at most, or you may murder a few people, so as to carry out the drama, thus making the universe have activities, have the virtuous, the evil and transmigration. But you cannot

continue to kill people like this or be so hot tempered. At the end, you still need to eliminate this character.

The character you created is only for you to come down and play with for fun.

After the play is over, this tool or this malevolent character has to be eliminated.

How do you eliminate it? You have to try your best to overcome this character.

It was created for you to play with, but because it is defective you have to destroy it. This has to be done by no one but yourself. You will have to destroy and dissolve this character completely by yourself in order to reclaim your original quality, which has no discrimination of good or bad. Do you understand what I mean? Otherwise, you carry this character with you as you transmigrate through the universe, contaminating yourself and others as well. Unless it is cleansed off, you cannot recover your original self that existed before the creation, and before the drama was set on the stage.

In case you have not eliminated the qualities before you die, then you cannot return to where you came from. Because before we came down here, we did not have these toys, such characters and temperaments. At that time, we were in an ocean of love and purity; we were just as loving, as perfect and as almighty as God. In order to have some fun, to carry out the drama, and to make the universe more interesting and diversified, we played our roles as different characters, like the performers in a drama.

Originally, we were the children of God and we were with God. Later, we wanted to have some fun so we signed a contract with God. We all supported His plan of creation and agreed to follow it. Subsequently, according to the plan, we created Africa, Europe and the Americas to be this way, and Formosa, Cambodia, Thailand... to be that way; each one being unique and beautiful in its own way.

But the trouble is, sometimes we overplayed our roles; we forgot to wash off our stage makeup or to remove our masks, and we continued on with the play. We forgot the will of God and couldn't stop playing. That is why this worldly game is no longer fun and it gets worse as we go along.

Now, those who are tired of playing and wish to rest must eliminate all those characters borrowed from the second realm, for such characters do not exist above the second realm, not even our brain, the computer within us exists.

These tools are not needed up there; without karma, there is no need of temperament, no need to have good or bad. It was originally quite uneventful!

Now, if we want to go home, we must dissolve all these tools and characters; we must destroy all these qualities that we have borrowed, before we can become our original self again. Do you understand what I mean? You continue to play because you have been here for so long that you have forgotten.

If you want to go back now, you must follow the Master and listen to the Master's instructions. You must eliminate all those borrowed and defective tools.

There must be no more greed, anger and obsessions, no more alcohol, no more meat... no more malevolent qualities. If you still cannot let go of these, then you have to stay here.

Why is that? Because these tools and qualities belong down here, and if we are still attached to these, then we have to stay here with our tools. We can go up only after we have let go of them.

It is like if we were to visit the president at the presidential palace, we have to leave our luggage or guns at the gate. If you don't want to leave your weapons, your baggage and other junk with the security guard, then you will not be allowed to go inside to see the president. Similarly if we still indulge in greed, hatred, obsession, fame, gain and other vicious qualities that are unfitting up there, then we will not be allowed to see the King of the universe.

When we came down here to have fun together, some people chose the roles that had the worse qualities, while some others chose those that had higher positions. In fact, only in this world we have the good and the bad, we see others as virtuous or evil, superior or inferior. When we picked our roles before we came down, no one intentionally chose anything. It was like God put out a big pile of different qualities, the good, the bad, the greedy, the angry, the obsessed, the irritable, the benign, etc. for us to pick one to wear, just like costumes. No one complained that his position was not what he wanted, that he wanted to be the king and not the policeman..., etc. At that time, no one had such ideas at all.

When we were up there, all things were equal. We were not impressed by fame or gain, we did not care about being poor or unfortunate, or worse yet, having a poor figure. We and God agreed to create a universe in which there should be a variety of different people, animals, flowers, trees..., etc. Besides, we were all willing to come down here to each play a role, choose a character in the creative plan. But after the role was over, the character was supposed to be eliminated and not left to roam around the universe. For the universe can only be an ocean of love, nothing but simplicity and purity.

At the end, if we were still unable to learn our lessons, or unable to fight, conquer, and destroy the character, then we had to keep it in our bag; just like when you keep leftover money in your pocket. If we come down again another time, we will have to choose another tool or another character before we can come here.

No one was born into this world exactly perfect. From birth until a certain stage at least, we have to be imperfect, which means that we must have a lot of junky qualities. So the last time, if you did not eliminate that character, now this time you have to come down with another lousy character, that becomes two to make things more difficult for you. And if you do not eliminate both characters this time, then next time around, you'll have three. Your qualities will become worse and worse, with more and more shortcomings. If all three are not eliminated, later you'll have four, or five, or six, or seven, or eight... and you'll end up in a mess indeed! (Master and everyone laugh.) Therefore, we say that some people are really bad and have a lot of shortcomings, because life after life, they did not practice and learn their lessons well; instead of eliminating their rotten qualities, they accumulate more bad qualities each time they came down. In addition to that, they even contaminated themselves further by imitating their neighbors.

Therefore, the faster we advance in our self-cultivation the better off we are!

You must persevere and try to eliminate any undesirable qualities that you may have; otherwise, there is no guarantee that it'll be any better the next time!

(Master laughs.) The baggage might be too heavy to carry! When we came down the first time, we jumped down with empty bags. Now we try to go back up, wow! We have so many tools, habits and burdens, and all are unnecessary baggage. We have become used to working with them, that is why we hang onto them so dearly. We have developed a serious attachment to them and that is troublesome.

The negative qualities we have are also a type of obsession; we are immediately liberated if we can let them go. Therefore, it is said, "Let go of the butcher knife, be a Buddha instantly." Aside from the butcher knife, the same applies to anything that binds us in this world. So if you want to go "home", then practice diligently. world QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. What is the source of the world?

M. Hum. (Master laughs.) It takes too long to research, yeah? Why don't you just live today, get enlightenment and then we'll see for ourselves? Because if I tell you, it takes a long time. You know our world, at least geographically speaking, has been in existence for trillions of years. And if you want to make a research about it, I'll never have time for lecture. Is that not so? But the truth about the world in existence lies within ourselves. We have a library inside, and when we get to the second level, we can look at it, and then we know everything. Not only about this world but about many worlds in the universe. .....

Q. Master, how long have human beings been on this earth?

M. Wow! I have to count with my fingers. (Laughter.) Do you know how long?

What for do we know how long? It's enough to work everyday! It's been a long, long, long time. Some have reincarnated. Some have been liberated. Some come back again and again. So if you want to count this, it's difficult. You can say, aeons has past. .....

Q. Greetings Supreme Master Ching Hai. Please give Your view of Earth as a great sentient being whose love assists us in our ascension.

M. Everything is made from God. The Bible says so. Everything springs from the "Word," means the vibration of the universe, and that vibration is God. That is the Quan Yin Method. That's what we teach you to tune in to, the vibration of the universe, of the source of all creation. So, even if we are human, are from God, then also is the great Earth or everything in the universe. It also has Godlike qualities, but probably in a different form and a different density. So, in

that case, the Earth is also a great being as you have mentioned. We live here, we live from the Earth, of course, we have to respect this great Mother. .....

Why Did We Come To This World Q. Master, why did we fall? Why couldn't we have remained pure consciousness for those who may have never wanted to be incarnated in the first place? I understand karma, but are karma debts and credits, a part of the Creator's plan? Why did Hes desire our suffering karma so much?

M. Hes doesn't, we do. That's a part of the deal, so that we learn to know the difference between God and un-God, so we can recognize the light when we come back to the light again. We go into the darkness deliberately, so that we might know the light at its full splendor. For those who did not want ever to leave heaven, they did not come here. There are some who never left heaven, that's for sure, some masters. Some left heaven to come here to teach us. Some have also reincarnated many times and became a master. We had our choice.

We did because we wanted to.

There are many answers to this, but in summary there are two main purposes that we have karma. Number one is that we want to know God, we came here purposely just to know God. At some time, we lived in heaven, all full of light, everyone was a saint, everyone was God. Then we said, "God, what is God?" So God said to you: "You are God. God is you. God is that." "I don't know what is God." Hes said: "You are like this. It's God." But the soul did not fully understand, and asked God: "How can I know God? How can I know myself as God?" God told him, "Then you have to become different from God, from yourself, first. And when you look back, you will know." That's why we came here. The purpose of our coming here is to know ourselves better.

The other one is, since creation had not begun, nothing had appeared in this world or any other world, then God made a plan. Hes wanted creation to spring forth, to come into being, and we joined. We were happy to play every part of the grand design, just for fun. Just to make life more colorful, some knowingly played their part, and for the purpose also that one day they'd become God again. They would know God again.

In order to know God, they had to play many different roles and one role was related to another. Just like in the movies, you have the main character, you have the supporting actors and all that; otherwise, it doesn't work. So, the karma for us right now feels very heavy and very unreasonable. But at that time, for us, it was no big deal. Because we were God, we didn't see suffering, we didn't know problems; we didn't look at obstructions as anything undesirable.

For us, everything was just a play, until we really played, then we felt that suffering. But that's a part of the game, a part of the universal plan. If we don't play our role, we don't exist, nothing is here. I don't sit here. You don't sit there.

You're not blonde; I'm not black. What is there then? Everything is just so plain.

It's okay. That's why all the perfect masters say, "Everything is perfect under the sun." Jesus said, "You are all the children of God." They realize there is

nothing to do; everyone is perfect. But we do not realize it yet, so we suffer. We have to realize the same as they do, and then we know why. Then we look at suffering as not suffering. It's still suffering; it still hurts when someone pinches you, but you understand it's just for something. You don't suffer. You do not sink into the suffering, just float on top of it.

WORLD

Why is this world always changing? It is for us to learn the lesson of always being prepared, of being on the alert. Do you know this? So, the world is neither good nor bad; it only depends on how we use it. Good or bad depends on how we use the situation to learn our lessons well. So, you understand now! You should be learning every moment. Spiritual practice goes on round the clock. .....

The situation in this world is not conducive to our tranquil meditation and calm thinking, but try again and again. In this world, we have an advantage, that because this world is so difficult for us to practice, God's blessing is with us many folds. So we walk one step and the Master Power will walk a hundred steps to help us. .....

The world of magical power is one of illusion. If you have magical power you can create an illusion that lasts for a while. If you have great magical power you can make that illusion last for a long time, play the drama for a very, very long time.

It could be sixty, one hundred or even over several hundred years; sometimes over dozens of thousands of years, millions or billions of years. This is the illusion of our world.

This world is created by a person who has great magical power, and we have been lured into it. Thus now we use this Quan Yin Method as a tool to dig a door out of it. There is only one door, very small, very difficult to walk through.

Following a guide, you can get out without danger. Otherwise, this maze is full of traps, and dangerous, tempting tricks and paraphernalia; so we cannot get out of it. It is like a maze, the more you walk, the more confusing it gets. It's like shifting sand - the more you move, the deeper you sink. This is the situation of our world.

This person who possesses the greatest magical power, just a little bit less than Buddha, is Maya. He has no compassion, that's why he has made this world for himself with which to play. We foolish people got pulled into it, or just passed by and were enticed by him. Now we cannot just walk out.

Originally we did not do anything wrong. Later we did worse and worse. Doing bad things would of course make things worse; doing good things would also make things bad, because we are in the maze ourselves. Whatever merit we get is just in the theater, it totally has no connection with the outer world.

What good things can you do in a maze? You build a big palace, you save certain people or animals - these are all illusions also. You can't just walk out of a maze, no matter what you do it's useless. No matter what you do, you can't derive merit. working TOGETHER If within a group, everyone have different ideas, compromises with each other, and serves with a noble ideal, then it would be very comfortable and pleasant. .....

Actually enlightenment comes by practice and in dealing with other people. .....

When we work together with other people, we would have a sense of participation and then we will be able to feel the happy atmosphere of the group.

If we only stand on one side and watch, then we will easily criticize other people's action. "Why does he laugh like a silly person?" "Why did that person keep crying when he saw Master? Why is it that he/she wanted to embrace Master?" We, ourselves, cannot be active, only able to see the bad areas, unable to be compassionate with his feelings. .....

A group has a group's atmosphere, everyone has his/her atmosphere. When we act together with a group, the ego is easily lost. When everyone is happy, we are also happy. Seeing others happy I also become happy. It does not matter whether we have the same thing or not. When other people are happy in seeing Master, I am also happy for him. In seeing Master, a loving heart is bestowed upon him. We, ourselves, also have the same feeling of being bestowed upon with a loving heart from Master. That is a real practitioner, a real selfless person.

There is no ego, no "me". When we have this ego, we have more suffering. We think the world should be following, chasing us from behind, should be serving us, should know our mood and what is happening today with us. Nonsense! .....

We, just one person, are not that important. Why should others take care of us?

What good have we done for society? Having not served anyone. What sort of earth-shaking good deeds have we done that we are worthy of being taken care of by others, to match our mood, to see what time we are glad, what time we are happy. What nonsense!

Work Fast In Spiritual Practice To Serve The World The faster you know how great your God is, the better. You can spread your love. You can impose your God for other people to see. When they see you, it's

like they see God. They might tremble with fear. They might feel exalted with love, or they might just feel different. That is how God blesses people, through you, because you have slowly risen up to God's level. Understand? That's how we bless the world. That's how we worship God. That's how we truly pray.

At that time we don't even pray, but God blesses you and everything and anyone who sees you. Understand? At that time, you are already a Master. Or you have not reached mastership, but you've already possessed, more or less, to some degree, this kind of power, this kind of love, this kind of benediction. So this is how we serve the world. And then we can say God truly is love.

(Applause) And people will praise you. Okay, enough with theories (laughter), but my theory is not only a theory. You feel the power. You feel the force. Why? Because I have realized what I say. I did not read it from books. Understand? I realized it within myself. Therefore, whatever I say benefits you, and you believe it because it has a convincing power. Anyone else who repeats my words, might just be empty words. Yes. So we have to practice and realize ourselves, and then even if we repeat the words of the Master, it has the same power, because it becomes our own. Understand? (Applause) I thank you for inviting me here. Also thank you for your exciting love at the airport, and today and in three to four days to come. I thank you for working hard to achieve the goals of my trip. Because my trip is also your trip, my work is your work. Whoever benefits or gets benefitted from me and from you also, from all of you who cooperated, who helped, who mentally or even physically supported this work. Everyone is a benefactor of mankind. This is the way of Bodhisattva. This is the way of sainthood. There's no other way, no need for shaving your head, no sticking in the Himalayas, no need for anything, no sleeping on a nail bed. Yes, just be ordinary and have wisdom.

Beautiful you are! I am glad that you have improved, and I am glad your faith is firm. I know you have been through some tests, but that's how we know our level. That's how we know whether our discrimination is sharp or not; whether we know the difference between a true Master and a false Master; whether we know how to recognize goodness in a Master or not, or if we just listen to rumors and all kinds of gossip that is polluting to our mind. If we repeat that, polluting other's minds, it will be like a disease that keeps spreading. So when we speak, it's better to speak of goodness. If we absolutely cannot avoid it then we have to say something, but only in order to teach people or to tell them to improve. Otherwise, there is no good in talking about negative things, whether is it true or not. The one who spreads it, is the one who is affected most, the first.

And the one who hears it is also affected, if he listens to it or if he believes it.

Understand? Okay, good night! work QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. Master, when one wants to express in the work situation but finds that the opportunity gets oppressed, what should be the attitude at work and what should one do? Is ambition in the workplace wrong? I would appreciate Your shedding light on this matter.

M. Ah, we go back to real life, working. (Master laughs) Ambition at work is not wrong; ambition is a must at work. Otherwise, how can you work, how can you progress? How can you please your boss and yourself? How can you make a profit for your company? That's a duty. It's a duty to be ambitious. To be ambitious doesn't mean we have to step on other people's heads to go forward.

Ambitiousness and viciousness or jealousy are different. We can be ambitious, we can improve ourselves all the time without having to suppress other people.

If we do feel oppressed to some degree, then we have to find the reason the other person is oppressing us -- whether we are not competent enough, whether it's a personality problem, or it's the other person who is too envious of us. If we can, then talk to that person. If we know we are in the right, that person is in the wrong and we talk to that person, if she or he becomes better, forgive her or him. If they don't become better, forgive them anyhow; continue with your work. We can't avoid conflict in this life. That's the fact. Even within personal relationships, sometimes husband and wife also envy each other, if one is too successful. That's the problem with the human brain; it's not with the soul, though, not with the enlightened people. .....

Q. I have a dilemma and it's between me, who I am, and my profession. I'm a lawyer; I represent large companies and corporations. The people we sue are oftentimes injured, either physically or even in some cases, someone has died, and my job is to make it so that the company doesn't pay any money. The dilemma that I have is that many times I look back on what is a success professionally, but for myself is troublesome because I feel like on many occasions there are people that deserved to have received some sort of payment and didn't because of my actions. I am quite troubled by that and I was wondering if you could lend me some comfort.

M. I understand. You are not the only one who has this question. Well, either you have to do it the way that the company wants because you are paid for it, or quit and get your own office. A lawyer often has to do things that he knows are not proper, and if he does it too often, then he may forget that it is not proper, and it becomes a habit. Therefore, it is up to you to do it the way you want, or to do it the way the world wants. You choose between your conscience and your payment and fame. Did you watch the movie "The Devil's Advocate"?

Q. Yes, recently.

M. Good, and did you see "The Rain Maker"?

Q. I haven't seen that one.

M. It is similar. Go watch that and then you will have your own answer. There are many other jobs to do. Also, you can teach in law school, or is that also in terms of breeding other lawyers? [Laughter] A lot of people feel the same way as you do because they started out very idealistic as newborn lawyers. They wanted to fight for justice and to defend the weak and needy, but then situations forced them into doing the opposite. Many times, they come home and do not feel very good; they don't feel the money they earned is all clean. I

don't know if there are other choices for lawyers or not. Maybe you can open your own corporation, but there is so much competition.

It is very difficult to be successful in this world and to keep our standard at the same time. It is up to you to choose your way of life; I cannot tell you what to do. As long as you are paid by the company to defend for it, you have done a good job. That is what you are paid for, and you are faithful and loyal to your company. No one can blame you for that.

On the other hand, your conscience will tell you that that poor employee has nothing left. After he dies or has an accident, his life is finished, his family's future is darkened, and your conscience will not rest. That is the problem, and not that you are wrong or the person is right. It has nothing to do with that. As far as your job is concerned, you have done excellently. That is what you have to do because you are paid to do it. You have done well, but it is up to you now to choose between being a successful lawyer and a conscientious human being.

There are other jobs to do, like selling tofu outside [Laughter] or delivering pizza. The problem with us is that once we climb the ladder of success, it is very difficult to stop there or climb down. But it's very easy once you renounce inside your heart, knowing that a clean conscience and peace of mind are worth every piece of gold in this world, and then you can decide.

We don't have to live in Beverly Hills; we don't have to live on Capitol Hill. We can live in a mobile home, which is very cheap. A secondhand mobile home costs about $15,000 or $20,000 or sometimes even five or ten thousand dollars.

You don't have much to clean, and you don't need servants once a month or once a week. That's what I do; I am living in a mobile home right now, and you can laugh at me if you like. I can afford more than that but at the moment, it's not necessary. If I had a bigger house then I would have to depend on a lot of people for cleaning, mowing the lawn, and all that. There are many unnecessary expenses. It is a privilege and prestigious to live in a big house, to have a namebrand car and all that if you can afford it. If you cannot, a secondhand car will do and a mobile home will be fine.

You will feel very happy when you don't have debts to pay, when you don't have anyone that blames you, and you don't blame yourself for any wrongdoing. That is the best "mansion" that you can ever have for yourself - peace of mind and a clear conscience. That is why many Masters tell you to forsake the world in order to gain heaven. Whoever clings to life will lose it. Whoever forsakes life will find eternal life. [Matt 16:25] That is the meaning of it.

We are too bound to material comforts and "musts, do's, and don'ts," and we forget to liberate ourselves from all this; we don't need all that. We don't need to go to Beverly Hills to parties; we can forsake them all. We can leave all the friends that are posh and rich, and make us feel competitive and as if we have to be forever climbing to be like them. After awhile you are tired of parties, big friends, names, and all that, and you just like to stay at home in your own room, even a small room would be fine. You just meditate and you feel so good inside; you do not need any material things to show off, and then any job will do. We don't depend on jobs; we don't depend on fame and prestige to live our lives.

We depend on God; we depend on inner tranquility and a clear conscience. That is why Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall know God. [Matt 5:8] You have to become like a child in order to enter the Kingdom. That's what it is.

We cannot become like a child if we forever have to strive to be like next door.

To go to this and that party because so many names are there, we have to be someone also or else we are no one, and we cannot go there; we feel ashamed.

We should not feel ashamed. We should feel ashamed if we do something against God's will. If we are not a morally equipped person, if we are not conscientiously noble, then we should feel ashamed.

We never should feel ashamed if we lack material means, if we in live a humble house, or have a secondhand car. That is what binds a lot of people, making them stick to a position and work against their own conscience and will. They suffer so much internally, all the gold in the world cannot make up for it. Then they will feel sick and later all the sickness will boil up into cancer and those kinds of things. It's not worth it. I am just telling people what binds them and how to liberate themselves. Money is poison. It poisons many people and damages a lot of good persons with its fame and illusionary prestige.

WORK You work as if you are the only one who knows that you are working, not even God knows. That is perfect work. .....

Work is also a form of training. It helps us to assess our character, our patience, our talents and the extent of our enlightenment. Therefore, you must not be afraid to work. Being afraid to work is also a kind of phobia. The more we work, the more we will be enlightened. .....

When you are working not for reward but only from love, then everything will go very smoothly. .....

When we do something with concentration and spontaneity, then the result come out perfect because it comes out from God, from our real wisdom, from our real nature. Once we have some expectation or some pride in it, or some calculation in it, things go wrong. .....

We have to help also with social work. Whatever we can do to help lessen the suffering, that is the most noble work, which will not only be recognized in this world, but also praised by heaven.

.....

Everything we do is practicing. Every work we do well that is practicing, that is meditation, and that is contributing to God and to the universe. That is also a learning experience, not just meditation. .....

If we serve with total devotion, we are forever in contentment, and feeling fulfilled. We won't think of demanding anything, as we feel we have everything in abundance. Have faith in God and the grand plan of the entire universe. .....

The world is in need of such fast working people. It is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people.

Therefore, the more the better. .....

We should do things without any purpose in mind. It applies to any job.

Unconditional devotion is the best. .....

We can do anything well if we do it naturally and sincerely. Perfection is found in how well the job is done, not the job itself. right ATITUDE It is not that we have to change the world, but our inner tranquillity will sever us from the world and immune us from its influences. .....

If we truly seek the Truth, we won't mind any surroundings, and we can go through anything. .....

Relax so that you will be able to progress in your practice. Just be natural. Do not expect that everything will come out perfectly. However, you must not be lazy. .....

Whether or not we will attain Buddhahood depends on our hearts and on the power of our self-confidence, not on how long we "sit" and meditate. .....

We will benefit in our spiritual practice only when we are patient and try our best, without being anxious or disappointed. .....

Strong faith in the path of practice is both a blessing power and a great merit. .....

To want to practice and long for eternal liberation every day is more important than to attain any spiritual experience. .....

Certainly, we must practice diligently, but we shouldn't be attached to discrimination. We shouldn't be too stubborn in trying to be a certain person, for what is important is our sincerity, not our appearance. .....

We are not to over control our mind or habit, but we also should not spoil it too much - this is the middle way. Let me advise you: don't blame yourself too much, nor should you practice in too ascetic a way. If we practice in an exceedingly ascetic way, our mind cannot stand it! Just like an animal, if you do not give it what it likes to eat, or if you fail to feed it when it is hungry, one day it will be angry and resist you. When you are off alert, it will claw or bite you.

These incidents happen very often. .....

A clean quality will naturally make a place become clean, beautiful and holy.

Therefore, cleanliness is saintliness. a WISH OF THE MASTER Q. Master, can You see the future? If You can, would You tell us when the end of the world will come?

M. I don't want to see the end of the world. I want to see that you help me to preserve this beautiful planet. The future is in our hands, so you make it beautiful or you make it worse; it's up to you. We do not have to, we should not think in this negative way about anything. We should always try our best to do good, to think good, to speak good, then the future will be good. Is it not easy, right? For example, before I came here, I put on a beautiful dress, I put on nice jewellery, because I wanted to appear beautiful before you. I made the decision to be beautiful. I could have also made the decision not to be beautiful and appeared to you in rags, dirty clothes, unkempt hair, and lousy looking. So the future is yours.

The Wisdom Of Life Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai At July 30, 1996 (Originally In English, Unabridged)

Raising

Center,

Cambodia

In heaven, we have only one name -- that's the name of love and wisdom.

(Applause) Thank you. So, don't worry that we are apart from each other, because we are not really apart. We are the same, the same substance; and as long as we go in the same direction, sooner or later we will meet each other again or we will arrive at one point, one destination. So meditate everyday and enjoy the privilege of the sainthood that you have been admitted into. The light and sound are there sometimes to assure you that you are doing okay, you're going in the right direction. Whenever the light is very intense and the sound is very, very clear that means you have entered deep into the higher consciousness; when the sound is faint or the light is dim that means you are just at the border of higher intelligence.

So these are the measurements for you to know yourself, how far you have advanced, not for anyone to really judge you, whether you are a higher Buddha or you're a lower Bodhisattva. There is no nonsense like this. We're all going home. Someone goes slower, someone goes faster, just like here. If you are a lot hungry, then you run fast to the kitchen. If you've just eaten biscuits in the tent, then you go slower; or if your legs are longer, you walk faster. The Asian people with shorter legs like me walk very slow. That's why we have become a snail family! (Master and audience laugh.) Last time we bestowed upon ourselves all the titles: golden snails, silver snails -- all kinds of snails -stainless steel snails (Master and audience laugh), ordinary snails.

Only The Light And Sound Can Help Us Only the light and sound can help us in any kind of situation in this world. So for us, any kind of karma, any kind of bad burden from the past, present or future, there's nothing else in this world that we can rely on. These, the light and the sound, are the only methods, the only equipment that God has bestowed upon us when we descended into this world, so that we can protect ourselves, so that we can remember the Kingdom of God, so that we can dissolve any difficulties and obstructions on our way of finding the Kingdom of God. Any troubles in this world -- be it in your business, in your family circle or in the personal love relationship -- are there actually just to make trouble for you, just to sidetrack you from the journey back to the Kingdom of God. And God knows that beforehand, so we are given this equipment, the light and the sound, so that we can slash them all asunder and then advance further. Without light and sound, we never can make it back home... never, ever. Just like without the airplane, you can not make it here to Cambodia so fast and trouble-free.

So anytime you have any problem, be it with yourself, with any of your love ones or any of the employments or businesses, anything, you just sit down and meditate. The problem will become clearer to you and then you'll know how to solve it, or the problem will just disappear itself in time. Sometimes we panic, really because the world seems to press upon us for certain things, or at a certain time and certain demand. We panic and say, "Oh, my God! I cannot

make it. I have only one more day or half more day and I just don't want to do something else. I want to do this thing right now and other things just come making demands on me. But then after we meditate for a while, the world withdraws its demand on us, or the problem just goes somewhere else and then we panicked for nothing. (Master laughs.) So, just keep cool. C-O-O-L, cool.

(Laughter) Keep cool, baby (Master and audience laugh), and everything will be all right.

Listen to your intuition inside. Sometimes it's difficult. You have to see which is the strongest voice and remain steadfast on that strongest intuition, because sometimes you feel like you should do this, continue to do this job, but some other people come and demand you to do the other job, and the other people come to tell you this is better and it's no use now -- "It's going to be no use.

You'd better run fast to the other direction and do this, that and that. But then you feel inside you should do this, but it makes you feel like in a struggle and torn apart from different directions. Then sit down and meditate and listen to your own Buddha voice, the intuition voice inside, the silent voice that tells you what to do. Or at least stay calm and you can see clearly for yourself which direction is better for you.

I tell you all these from experience. I'm not telling from a book. Books don't teach us this kind of thing, not too many. And it always works, because where else can we run to and what else can we use to deal with the world as it is, huh?

So much overwhelming suffering, so much nonsense, so much pressure upon us, the small creature; and sometimes we really don't know what to do and it makes us feel very, very anxious, very restless. Meditation on the light, on the sound are the only things we can do at that time of necessity. But anyhow, you can pray, too. Praying doesn't mean "Oh, please do this, please do that for me, or, "Please, help! You can say that but at the same time, you must believe that help is already there. If you don't believe that, it's very bad for you.

Faith Is The Best Prayer Only faith can bring the things into actualization, because actually we are God. We are Buddha already. Help is always there. We don't even need help. If we are the Buddha, we know what to do, no? So believe it. If you cannot believe in your own Buddha Nature, then believe in the Master power, the Master's Buddha Nature. Then that will help you, because even if you didn't have a Buddha Nature, supposed you didn't have, supposed you were not the Buddha, then okay, at least someone else, like the Master, would not leave you in trouble. The Master would immediately know, would know before you even called, and would already have tried to find a way to help you. So just believe in it. That's the best prayer for you. Believe that it will be done as best for yourself, whatever happens it will be the best for you and you will see it in the future, very soon, that is the best.

So, anytime any problem and you want to pray for yourself or want to pray for anyone, just believe in it. You can ask Master to help or ask your own Buddha Nature to help, but you must believe that it will be done and it is being done, it has already been done. Then, it's okay. Remember the Bible also says whatever you pray for, believe that it has been granted to you, then it will be done. It's

the way it is. If you keep crying, "Oh, please help me! Why don't you help me?

It has been five minutes...it has been ten minutes. I'll give you another ten minutes. (Master and audience laugh.) That's not the way.

You must believe. Your faith in yourself is the greatest healing power of any illness, of any problems that you might encounter. You must believe this, because you are the only Buddha within yourself. We are all the Buddhas, but the Buddha inside knows what to do already. The soul knows what to do. If you cannot believe, just believe the Master power will help you, because it will. It does help anytime. What's the use of having a master and then the master doesn't do anything for you. Even an ordinary father, mother would try their best to help their children; ordinary teachers would try their best to help the students. How would a spiritual master, having access to all heaven and earth, just leave you alone in darkness and in trouble?

So, there's nothing we cannot solve with faith in ourselves or in the Master power, because actually the Master power is your power. You and I are one. So, if you cannot believe in yourself, okay let it be, because you feel separated from the Master, fine. Then believe in the Master power. If you really think the master is good, why would the master not help you? And the Master power is omnipresent; there's nowhere the master is not. Anywhere you call, it's just the Master right there, twenty-four hours, remember! So, everywhere you stay, everywhere you live, whatever you face, don't panic, just believe. It will be solved if you can't solve it yourself. Try your best. If you cannot, then the Master will help you. That's what the Master's there for. Until you find your own Master power, the one who knows must help.

You Are The Answer You're Looking For Just like the teacher, before you know English he must help you to know English, to see, to learn, to teach you A-B-C, and to repeat this sentence, that sentence, and to read all these articles until you know them yourself. That's what the teacher is there for; but you also must know, learn yourself, and believe in your own ability, because you can do anything you want. You are the Buddha, never forget. Even if you cannot believe it, don't forget it. Don't forget what I've told you, because what I've told you is the truth. Don't believe anything less than this about yourself.

Have confidence, not pride but confidence within yourself because you are that which you are searching for now. There's nothing else but that inside you, what you search for. The one who is searching and the one who is searched are only one. Have you thought about who is searching for whom? Who is the one that is telling you to search that person, for that being? It's you yourself. Only God can know God. Only Buddha can feel longing for the Buddha Nature, longing for your Home. If your home was not in the palace, if you had not been the prince in the palace, you would never miss the palace, you would never long to go back to the palace, understand?

So, if in your heart now you find yourself longing to go back to the Kingdom of God, or for God realization, it is because you're God. You have been God, and now you have forgotten or something else that separated you, that's why you

long for. Don't fear that we are not together because we always are, we always will be. But for the fun of creating a lot of things, we have been separated as it is right now. It's also fine, no? Don't you think so? Yes! Suppose we're all one already, me, you are one, only one face in the whole room here, only one big body like this, wouldn't it be terrible? (Laughter) No fun, huh? Everywhere is my head, everywhere is my arms, everywhere is my feet, nothing else I see here.

(Master and audience laugh.) No men, no women, nothing, and no winking eyes sometimes. (Master laughs.) Then nothing to do, understand?

We should be really thankful for the creation as it is, so that we can enjoy each other, so that we can have something higher to long for, to hope for, to aspire for. Otherwise, "Okay I am sitting here. I am God. I am Buddha, and that's that, you know? "I want nothing, I wish nothing, I see no one, I do nothing for no one. No one loves me, I love no one because I am me, me and you, you are I, I and you. That's that, and also no fun, huh? So creation is all right. It's just that if we suffer so much from our wrong choices, previously, then we must change now.

The five precepts or the Ten Commandments we must keep because that's your salvation. Do not think the body is not important. The body is important.

Without the body, the mind cannot exit there. Without the mind, the soul has no experiences in this world. The mind and gray matter -- the brain -- are different.

The mind is invisible. The brain is the material instrument with which the mind uses to touch, to know the things around it. So, don't confuse the mind with the brain. But the mind is also very, very strong. So you have to feed yourself adequately, bodily, so that your body is strong and keeps long, so that you can practice better and you can benefit the world longer. Don't disregard your body.

Give it enough care, proper hygiene and protect it from weather, hunger, accidents and sickness. You have to think always positive and strong. Anytime you're ill, either you willed yourself to be sick or you probably let someone else affect you by your own will. Then just meditate more, take proper medication, and make yourself feel better.

Don't think that the five precepts are from any strict Buddha or rigid Bodhisattva trying to control your life. No, no, no! The body is not made for alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and all kinds of strong stimulation. That's how we shorten our lives, and that's how our ancestors, or parents shortened their lives and imparted this knowledge to us of the shortened life span. Otherwise we would live longer. So you heard that Jacob and whoever it was in the Bible lived long, long, long years. Oh, they had about eight hundred children or something like that, remember? Also in many of the Chinese legends, they lived until eight hundred years or many thousands of years. Still there are some people who live that long. Actually, we could live very long, longer than in this kind of life, about a hundred years. Like this, too short. That's why sometimes we wonder why life is so short. What can we do in this kind of hundred years span.

We were not meant to live a hundred years. We are meant to live long, long, long, longer than this; but because of ignorance, self indulgence in all kinds of poisons, our genes from our ancestors kept shortening and shortening and imparted to us this kind of weak body. Then when we come here, we're also influenced by society, like okay, take a glass of alcohol or whiskey is cool. It's sociable, it's high-society. Actually, it's no good for us; anything that contains

alcohol is terrible for your body. It shortens your life. It dulls the mind. It confuses the vision.

That's why if you have a risky sickness or an operation, doctors always advise you: Don't drink alcohol two weeks after the operation, don't smoke, don't have this and the other. Then why? Even if after sickness we should not drink alcohol or before or during the sickness we should not drink alcohol or take drugs, then why should we do it ordinarily? It is very harmful. So, if you want to live a healthier life, if you want to live longer, take care of yourself and your family, then stay away from all these toxins. It's not a rigid rule. It's just a natural way to live our life so that we'd be more healthy and clearer in our mind, not drugged all the time, not groggy and sluggish.

The Only Secret Of Longevity Actually our lives should be joyful, active and meaningful. We can learn a lot of things with our time, learning just for the sake of joy, for the sake of learning.

You can start learning how to play the piano, guitar, dancing just for exercise, or learn golf, football, baseball, tennis, anything you like to do. You still can always start because your body will obey your command and the cells will start to produce younger cells. Because you want to live so they say, "Oh! You want to live, fine. We do, why not? The cells just listen to the command of the mind. So make sure your mind is healthy, lively, active and you want to live, then you will live longer. That's the only secret of longevity.

Also you can take some vitamins, if you believe in them, because faith is also in the medicine. If you believe vitamins are good for you, of course your faith is invested in the vitamin pills and when you take, it's good for you. Of course vitamins can help supply some of the missing elements, because sometimes we don't take enough nutrition or we take too much of one kind and not the others.

Actually, if we are active, we're strong, and our mind is healthy, it can convert any kind of food into a healthy diet and make us healthy; but stay away from the poisons -- alcohol, cigarettes, drugs. Drugs, I mean those heroine kind, marijuana, things like that. These are poison for you, and these poisons are expensive. You're stupid! Pay so much money for poison. Whiskey is not cheap!

Anything alcoholic is not cheap, hmm?

Drink fruit juice, drink water, mineral water or tap water if it's clean enough, if it's drinkable. These are good for you. Eat wholesome foods. Eat fruits, vegetables, tofu, vegetable protein. All these are very good and prolong your life. Eat nuts (Master and audience laugh), nuts are good for us nut-cases.

Actually, to the world we are crazy, you know? So if we are already seen as crazy, there is nothing else to worry about. Just be as crazy as you want. All kinds of margarine, all kinds of things that are good for you; olive oil, anything natural is good for you so don't spare your body the nutrition that is needed. But don't over eat, because that also will make you feel very bad and sleepy. Even if the food is good, eat as much as your body needs. If it's too much the body also cannot digest and a lot of it is wasted outside.

Even if I don't have a good example for you about eating, you'd better listen to me. (Laughter) The doctor can be sick but he can also cure you, can heal you.

Even if a doctor has the same sickness, he can still cure you because he is a doctor. He knows how to heal people, so don't come to the doctor and say, "Oh, my God! He looks so...! Last year he had a liver operation, how can he cure my liver problem now? It has nothing to do with it. Maybe his lifestyle is not so good or maybe he was poisoned by some of the environmental toxins, like some time he went to India and got hepatitis, things like that. Very difficult when you go around the world to keep the hygiene condition intact, unless you bring all your kitchen with you, the staff, too; and they cook for you everywhere you go, which is inconvenient. In hotels they don't let you cook, so you have to eat the hotel food; and sometimes the cook, he just tastes it, and donates some of his saliva free of charge into the food. That you don't have to pay for, but then you pay a lot for doctor's bills later. That's all troublesome.

Sometimes I am also ill, because I run around too much. I stay in hotels, I eat restaurant food. I eat anything because sometimes people invite me, and I eat with them so as to make them feel good. If I sit together with all the guests and demand my own food, my spoon, my fork and everything like that, oh God! Then they would feel very uneasy.

So, don't look upon my body and sickness and my hospitalization sometimes, feeling that my advice to you is not worthy. It is very good advice for you, all the precepts and all the things that I've imparted to you are good for you. Just live according to them and your life will be longer, your heath will be more strong, and your economy will be better than before -- you'll save a lot of money for medical bills, for doctors and for suffering. Not only save the money, you save the suffering. You don't have to go to the hospital so much. If possible, you just eat at home, cook yourself, I mean cook for yourself. (Laughter) Cook for your husband and your children.

Now and again, of course you want to enjoy you go out to eat. That's all right, but pray a lot before. Make a lot of Five Names, cleanse it with light and whatever power you can get from anywhere, from ten directions, eat it, and believe that it's clean and wholesome. That's the only choice. Even if you don't believe it, try to. What is the use of not believing in the food? Even if the food is bad, would it help you to believe it is bad; it would not. So might just as well believe positively that it's good, that it has been cleansed by the Buddha power.

Then it is, because nothing that the power of the Buddha cannot do, nothing that God cannot do for you. Hes can make poison become nectar, so if you have to go out and eat, try to believe this. It probably won't help you every time but it helps a lot of times, depending on your karma and your faith.

Sometimes very difficult because you talk to the person next door and he leans to you, talks, and donates some saliva at the same time. At that time, you're busy listening to him and forget to pray (Master and audience laugh), but just pray in advance, and pray after, "Please, whatever I have eaten (Master and audience laugh), I know you take care of it, so it's all right. Try to believe it.

Otherwise what can I do for you? What can I tell you, because your life is like this. Our life is like this. For you, it's easier because every time you travel, you just come to my Center and our Center is as clean as possible already with people taking gloves, and cover all their noses and their mouth, so that the bacteria or whatever don't come into your food.

wisdom QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. Now what is the first real step in order to have a little wisdom and enlightenment?

M. What is the first step? It is the initiation. You are willing to let me open the wisdom-eyes for you, you are willing to let me open the wisdom-ears for you, and you are willing to let me open the God blessing power within you for you, and then every day you use it. Because I have the key. You hear that Peter had the key to heaven? Now he gave it to me. [Master laughs] .....

Q. Earlier You said that if when you open your mind to the Universe, then you can gain the wisdom, knowledge and will be able to understand any book. My question to You is, "What if you were born with not so bright a mind? How can you be able to learn the knowledge from the Universe once you open your mind?" Learning new knowledge would take time and hard work. For me, in the past I had tried to learn to become a professional person. I failed because I am dumb. Can You show me the way?

M. Not being able to learn in school doesn't mean you are dumb. Maybe you lack courage, maybe you lack good teacher, good friends or good circumstances, or maybe you lack patient. Some people learn quicker; some people learn it a little bit slower. But that doesn't mean you are dumb; doesn't mean you are stupid.

Not to know your own great wisdom is the true stupidity. (Applause.) So I invite you to come for the initiation and get to know your greatness, then you will understand many things. It is because everything I say is just a big mouth, talk too much. Anything without experience is just advertising. It doesn't matter how much I tell you the orange juice in my cup is very good and is very nutritious and good for you and a lot of vitamin C, and you drink it, it quenches your thirst.

But if you don't ever come and drink it, it doesn't matter how much I say, it is all big mouth. Do you know what I mean? It's nonsense! Talk too much. So the best thing is just to drink it. Get enlightenment!

WISDOM We all have the same portion of love and power within ourselves, and if we don't use it, it's the greatest waste on earth. Doesn't matter how much we recycle materials, we still waste. The most wasting is that we don't know we have wisdom, we don't know we have God's power, we forget that we are the children of God. .....

Wisdom is one thing. Intelligence and ability are another. Wisdom we keep.

Wisdom can never be taken away from us. Wisdom can never be trained, can never be defiled, can never be lessened or increased.

.....

We are so great, so pervasive, and then we use that great wisdom just to understand a little bit of the worldly knowledge, for example, medical or legal knowledge or anything; and then we cling to that. That whole wisdom we use just to pay attention to this corner of knowledge. Therefore we forgot the whole.

That's it. And we think that we are very great already, we are this doctor and that Ph.D. .....

Place you heart on your wisdom eye. It will be very happy, it will understand many things. .....

Wisdom is something very intangible, invisible; but it can be felt once we want to use it. We cannot see it but we can feel it when we turn on the light. We can use it when we turn on the fan, television or all the apparatus. That's how we know electricity exists. .....

In whatever you do, a good intent is not enough; you must do it with logic and wisdom to avoid making mistakes. .....

There are certain reasons why scriptures were written and precepts were made, and these we should clearly see for ourselves. Do not be superstitious and believe everything people say without truly understanding, because to do so would show that one is without wisdom. .....

So before you misunderstand someone, or are ready to debate about something, you should consider whether you have understood correctly what the other person really meant, or whether what you are about to do is what the Master would want you to do. Constantly, reflect on your inner self in order to get in touch with your inner wisdom. Your wisdom will not misguide you. why WE NEED A LIVING MASTER Love and respect we must have for any great person, for any great soul, any great practitioners like Jesus or Buddha, those great beings who sacrificed so much for mankind and who have reached their ultimate Wisdom. Love and respect we must always have, even if that person has passed away. But then, we don't need to devote all our time just to praise them, to worship them and to ask favours from them. Because any person would know that we are living

beings, and we need a living Master in order to impart us the knowledge that the past teachers have given to their past disciples. So a living Master we must find.

Anyhow, past Masters, even if you love and worship them, can only help you to a certain extent because they have left our magnetic field. They have gone to another world, to another kind of dimension to work in their present work, and they are busy over there. So, a living Master is the one who is assigned to do their past work in the present time. It is just like when Mr. Carter was President some years ago, but now it is Mr. Bush. So it is no good to worship and call Mr. Carter to solve your national problems when he is no longer in office. It is not that we don't like him, or respect his work, or appreciate his job, but he is gone now. We have to leave him so he can do his job and we have to request the person who is presently occupying his position, to fulfil his job for us. That's all. .....

Once you leave this physical world, even if you are a very high Master, you cannot help the physical beings any more, but only through an inner communication, which is very difficult to reach for most human beings, save some exceptional persons who have the inborn nature of telepathy, or who are left with some psychic power, or the inner communication ability, through their own previous lives' practice. We might call this the sixth and seven sense, the highest dimension of understanding. Then, you may even be able to see Jesus without practising or any prior meditation. It has happened, but not very often. .....

In your meditation, if you run into any difficulty or if you have any questions, you should pray to God, and try to quiet your mind, and the answer will come or the help will come. Or pray to Jesus or pray to Buddha, or whichever saint you believe in. Our teachings are universal, we have no discrimination between belief systems. Then, I have to add that, if after you have prayed to all the saints, and to God and it doesn't help, then you can call me to help you. It sounds very selfglorifying, but I tell you because I have to tell you everything, and I have to explain why it is so. It is because I am nearer. A nearer neighbour is better than a far relative. It is very simple and logical. I am nearer because we are in the same magnetic field of the earth. Our energy is intertwined and it is easier to oscillate our energies because we are nearer, we are in the same vibratory frequency. .....

When you have a living Master, you can pray in silence, and ask him for advice if you encounter problems with your meditation. If you feel far away from God, you will need an intermediary. You are still a little weak, just like a child needing the help of his parents to guide his first steps. But later on, you will walk all alone, and know that your goal is to walk alone, and no longer depend on your parents. You will be able to learn directly from the Masters of the past with the Quan Yin Method. That is how we learn about the Truth, not from hearsay, from sermons or doctrines. The Truth is revealed through our own intuition. When we reach higher dimensions, we discover other beings and a more 'civilised'

universe that can only be perceived by concentrating our attention within ourselves, and by reaching a level of deep contemplation. The Quan Yin Method is a way to achieve this state. .....

Past Master cannot teach you. You have to look for a present Master, who answer your questions, help you when you are in doubt, and take you by hand back to the Kingdom of God. We need a person-to-person contact, someone from the past. It doesn't matter how beautiful a woman was in past, you cannot marry her! She cannot give you any children and produce love feeling that you have with a living wife.

can the not the the

.....

A living Master is useful. I have electricity. A dead wire doesn't work, only a living wire can conduct electricity and bring it to you. Any wires, no matter how powerful, if they have been destroyed, cannot carry any more electricity. Any bulb, no matter how beautiful, once it is broken, cannot give you light. But a bulb, even an ugly one, if it is intact, can give you light. That is why, when people pray to a dead Buddha, they will rarely get a response.

Through your thinking of the Master, you become one with the Master, and the Master is you. The Master is your own real Self, but since you do not realise it, you just have to think of the Master because that is yourself. Through the thinking, all the qualities of the Master gradually, by and by, will transmit to you, and you will find yourself through the Master. And later, you will realise, 'Oh Master is me. It was me all the time.' That is why, since ancient times, people worship sages and enlightened Masters, or themselves, not for the sake of the Master. .....

Q. So, what it sounds like to me, is that until you can find the Master within yourself, you'll need to have one outside for a while?

M. But the Master is also an inner guide, not only on the physical level.

Otherwise, the Master wouldn't be able to help the disciple from a thousand miles away, and all over the world. The Master must be at a very elevated level in order to help all the people anytime, day and night, no matter where the person is. .....

Q. In the West, there is often a danger when a seeker falls down and adores the teacher. Do you think this is a problem?

M. Not if the teacher is genuine, because then you only worship yourself, you only worship the greatest spirit which is already one with the Master. .....

Q. So you are saying that if the Master is a genuine Master, he or she then holds a mirror up to the person to help them see themselves deeply?

M. Right, that's it. .....

Q. What about the disciples of previous Masters? If a true living Master leaves this world, do his disciples have to seek another Master, or is there no need for that?

M. No need. But if they want to inquire something about practical things, or physical things, then they could come to another living Master, or to the successor of that Master. Otherwise, inside, there is still the spiritual guidance of the deceased Master. He is still responsible and still has the power to carry on, because the connection is already made. You understand! Only when we don't have a so-called connection with a past Master do we need a new Master. Why we didn't go to a past Master from many hundreds of years ago was because we didn't make a connection with him while he was living, therefore the connection was not made. If you have made a connection with a Master a thousand years ago, it doesn't matter how long it has been, he still takes care of you. But if you didn't make a connection with him before he died, then how can he take care of you? Do you understand? .....

Q. So what would you like to say about yourself in relationship to what you can offer people?

M. I myself couldn't offer much except for my body, speech and mind whenever God wills to use it to offer it to people, to His children who love to be near Him, or to be next to Him. I can only be ready to be used. I cannot offer anything much.(laughter) I am only like you. What can a body offer? .....

Q. Could you perform some miracles so people can increase their faith in your teaching?

M. Miracles, what do you want? I give you some money, yes? And then what do you do with it? What good would that do to you eternally? I advise you to find your own power, your own miraculous power, instead of relying on mine, instead of coming to me only for magical powers, in order to get your own right back, the Kingdom of God, your own wisdom, your own birthright, your own heaven, your own Kingdom. That is the best and the highest ideal of a human life, not miracles. Miracles are very short-lived. If necessary I will show you miracles, but not for show, not to get your applause. Whenever necessary during your practice, you may encounter some obstacles, some bad influence, at that time you will know that I can make miracles. I can, but I do not use them at random just to let you know how great I am. I do not need that. I want you to have a very correct attitude, correct thinking, a correct idea in practice and that is to go

back to the most high, to gain back our highest wisdom, not to hang on to these children's games, to these plastic toys. You will have everything, 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto you.' Do not ask for small things, ask for great things. It befits you more because we human beings are the greatest in the universe. So ask for the greatest only, that is most befitting to your position, to your dignity and to your birthright. .....

Q. Master, you travel all around the world and cannot stay here to teach everyone, so in your absence who will we have to follow?

M. It is like this. We do not follow a teacher, we only follow the teaching. So we can never go wrong, in case the teacher goes wrong. When the teaching is okay, then we follow the teaching. We have to see if the teaching is correct, you see if my ethics are correct or not, if whatever I teach you I follow or not. For example, I teach you not to eat meat and I also eat vegetarian. I teach you not to steal and I also do not steal. I teach you to give away in charity and I myself give away in charity. I teach you to love people and I do love people and help people. I take no money for the teaching I give, I earn my own money, so you have nothing to lose at all. You can only gain.

Now also, every moral standard described in the Buddhist scriptures, and in the Christian Bible, I convey to you again. So, I teach nothing new, nothing immoral, nothing unethical. Do you understand? So you may be safe to know that your teacher won't teach you anything amoral or unethical, anything outside of the scriptures. I teach you everything from the scriptures. From ancient times, the ethical conduct hasn't changed, the commandments from God and from Buddha have not changed. I teach you the same, and I do the same, so you know at least that I am not a bad type! So now the teaching is correct, right? And the meditation will provide you with wisdom and peace of mind. It doesn't matter which technique, it will help you somewhat. So there is no exception about our technique. I only tell you that it is the fastest, that is all.

You don't have to believe me. I only inform you and now you have your own choice. I only tell the truth. If it is fast, I say it is very fast. I am also a nun. I am not allowed to say lies. Even average people don't tell lies, so what would a nun tell lies for! And I have no reason to do this, because I don't need your money. I don't need anything, and I do not even live here. I profit nothing from you. I may even leave tomorrow and you may never see me again. Good-bye!

So I have profited nothing. So from this standpoint you are safe. Yes? So, you follow the teaching, don't follow me. The teaching will always be with you, and you do not need to follow me in person. In case you want some personal advice about your meditation progress, you may write to me or you may telephone to ask me. Nowadays no need to stick with the Master, you can go to Taiwan or wherever I stay. My body is only an appearance, a house, an office so that you may see me. If I were to only use my spiritual body, you couldn't see me at all, you couldn't hear me. So how could I convey the message to you? So I have to use my body, right? So, no need to fear that when I go away, you will have no one. You always have someone. You might even see me appear in your house, just like this, if you are sincere and high level enough. You will see the Master come to you, and you will see the Master all the time when you need. No need to cling to the physical body.

.....

Q. Master, as your disciple, if I have a friend or someone I know that is very sick, and if I ask you to help this person, could you help this person, or can you only help someone who follows your teaching?

M. The Master helps anyone that is dear to you, but according to his karma and what is good for him also. Ask anyhow, but offer the result to the Master's power.

Why Most People's Prayers Won't Come True That's why most people's prayers won't come true, because they put no energy into it. They just talk with their mouths or they think very fleetingly with their weak, feeble energy. Therefore, their thoughts won't come true; their prayers won't come true. They don't even have enough energy and supportive spirit to pray. That's not a true prayer. The true prayer always comes true. Because if there's energy in it, it will attract the object of their desire. If there are no attracting energies, nothing comes. If you put two pieces of thing together, one a magnet and the other a piece of wood which you painted to look like a magnet, the attracting power of both pieces are not the same. Only the true magnet attracts iron or metal. The other one would never attract anything. It doesn't matter how long you put it there, and it doesn't matter how much it looks like a piece of magnet. Understand?

Therefore, when you, the practitioners of the Quan Yin Method, pray, it happens, because you have power. Now you even have the power to pray for what you want. You didn't have it before. You didn't know what prayer truly meant. You just said, "Oh! God, give me this. Oh, God, give me that." Do you think God is so cheap? (Laughter) Even a piece of pin will not be attracted to a piece of wood or ordinary iron. How would God be attracted to you, to your "blah, blah" nonsense?! Understand? And you don't even mean what you say, and don't even believe in what you pray. So prayers begin after you know a Master, because the Master awakens in you, the prayer power, the power to pray, the power to think, the power to use your own energy to make things come true. (Applause) So after initiation, mostly what you pray, if it's good for you, comes true, and what is no good for you the Master will not give. (Laughter and applause) If it is no good for you the Master will not give, not grant it. Yes. Just like children when they want too much candy, the parents say "No". Right? If they want one or two pieces it's still okay, but if it's too much, exceeding their dinner and lunch, then "no!" Sometimes they want to play with fire, then the parents also say, no! You have not grown up enough to handle fire, to be able to play with fire, to experience that fire is no good. To wait until you know is too late. When you grow up enough, you can handle it; you can have experience with fire.

Understand? Even, now you're too small; you know fire is no good, but you don't know how to handle what's no good. When you grow up you'll still know fire is dangerous, but you'll know how to handle it. Therefore you can play with it.

Understand? Fire is still the same but you are different.

We Cannot Imitate An Enlightened Master

Therefore, some things can be done by one person, while other people cannot do it. Or what the Master can do you cannot do. The Master can give initiation and take people's karma, but you shouldn't imitate. (Laughter and applause) The Master can do many things that you cannot do. But, you will! You will do it in future. When you grow up in your strength, in your power and in your selfrealization, then you can do exactly what the Master does, and you might do even more! If God wants to give you more responsibilities, you can do everything. It's not the outside actions of the Master; it is the inner wisdom, the way the Master knows why she or he does that. We cannot know! Sometimes we know. Sometimes we don't know. We just think, "Oh, Master just talks, invites people to eat dinner, drinks tea and touches people on the forehead. I can do all this, and more!" (Laughter and applause) Yeah. "Recite the Five Names, I can do that also. And all Her books, I might be able to write also." But, it's different. It is not the appearance of things that counts; it's the invisible power behind it.

Therefore, even today, when we were talking outside with the journalist, you happened to hear somebody say, for example, that in Costa Rica we have a disciple who is a very devoted to our path now, and he loves me very much. He always cries like a baby when I leave or when I come. And he practices very well, and he has very good experiences. I don't mean the best, but fairly good and he moves fast, but he was initiated before by another so-called Master, before he knew me, and that was long ago. It was probably the same technique and path, but he could not bear it. He had a terrible reaction, so he stopped.

Understand? And after that he progressed. After our initiation, meeting me, he progressed very fast.

There is another one from America. He was also initiated by one of the famous gurus in India, who also teaches the sound and light like I do. But he didn't progress, for ten or twelve years. And then he fell into another path and got tricked, all kinds of things happened, and he ended up worse than before. So he lost all confidence and stopped practicing all together. And probably did some sad, you know regretful things even. But after he met me, he was confident again, started practicing again and moved so fast. And he asked me, "Why? It was practically the same teaching, why was there a different effect?" (Applause) Even though they teach the same so-called sound and light, it's different! This I also know myself. Some teach this light and sound for money also. How much per lesson! For lessons you must first pay money, every month so much, until a couple of years pass and then they give you initiation, with no guarantee of light and sound. Maybe one or two get it, but a low sound. I don't mean to criticize anyone; also I won't tell the names of this person. But, what I mean is, it's not the outside actions that we can judge and imitate, but it is the inner power, which we must achieve in order to accomplish anything, especially in spiritual aspects. Do you understand? It's not by imitating the Master, by walking like this or by wearing like that. We touch here; we touch there, and we wave here, wave there and give candies. (laughter) This is not all that the Master does. There's so much more and behind that, there is love; there is power; there is blessing; there is extreme care and attention from the Most High, from the ocean of love and mercy. (Applause) It is difficult if you don't practice. If you're not high enough, you cannot know these things.

But, when you receive things, you might feel there is a difference when you get something from the Master. You might not even feel it at all. But by and by, it will also help. For example, one of our practitioners said that his wife got blessed three times by the Master before she saw the light. First time, no. Second time, no. Third time, "Wow!" she said, "got it! Got it!" Yes, some people are slow. I know one practitioner; he said that he had heard nothing at the time of initiation. He was one of those small leaders of another faith. When he came to us, he took initiation. But because of the previous, maybe, preconceived ideas, he got stuck somewhere. It took one week before he got his first sound. But he worked hard, and has meditated a lot. He finally climbed up, "up there". I appreciate his effort. He's one of the best supporters and most faithful practitioners at the moment. But he worked very hard after his initiation. Yes. Very hard.

But, that's rare; to get it one week after initiation is rare. He heard nothing. He was so angry because he was a kind of leader, and every one else got it, and he was on the top and he got nothing. He was frustrated and angry with himself.

But it was because of his position that he had obstacles. He thought that he was some kind of fantastic intelligence of the world, you know?! And he can talk well.

He knows all the scriptures, and when he talks, it's non-stop. He knows many stories and he can talk non-stop. He thinks he's okay, being vegetarian and all that for long time, except egg maybe. So he thought that he was ready, prepared a hundred percent, a hundred and eight percent. And then he was so disappointed. Yes, it's true.

Don't Be Cheated By Your Mind When we think that we are very good, or excellent, we might be cheated by the mind. The mind loves glory, loves praise, love fantasy, and thinking that we are good. On the other side, the mind also degrades us. It might sink into depression and an inferiority complex, and cheat us of our glory also. It goes two ways. Yes. The most cheated system in this world is to make people worship where they should not: to worship wood, to worship stone, to worship all kinds of lifeless objects, thinking that Buddha will know about it. The Buddha might know but we might not know, because we haven't found the connection inside.

So even if the Buddha wants to talk to us, we cannot listen. If our telephone is disconnected, how can we hear the other side?! It doesn't matter how much we bow to the telephone over here. (Applause) This is the trap of Maya, that nobody knows! People love to hang on to something, and to glorify themselves: that they are religious; that they know philosophy; that they are practicing something. Therefore, Maya, the king of illusion, sets up these kinds of traps, to let them satisfy themselves and stick there forever: That I am worshipping. I am religious. I am Buddhist. I am that. I am this. I am all things. I am busy. I am practicing.

You Make God The Way you Want Him To Be There are all kinds of material attachments to religious orders, just to satisfy their mind. But it cheats them out of their precious time, by not letting them think of anything better, or try to find anything better. So they keep telling you

to worship the wooden statue and one day you'll realize he is a Buddha; yes, maybe, but a wooden one, a wooden Buddha. (Laughter) The Buddha always said, "Buddha is inside you." And then Jesus said, "God dwells within you. You are the temple of God." What did they mean by this? You make God the way you want Him to be. You make Buddha the way you want Him to be. Understand?

According to your realization, your level, your power, the Buddha is that.

(Applause) For example, I teach you the Quan Yin Method, without a method, but we have to call it a method. Otherwise, If I said to people come here and I'll give you nothing, no method, nobody would come. But, after a while you realize that there is truly no method. It's only the Master's power that helps you. Right?

Otherwise, people would sell methods outside for one hundred dollars and you would get nothing. Or if other schools, so-called gurus, also gave you the same method, you might get nothing. Right? They also tell you sit here and concentrate there. They also touch you. They can touch for two thousand years.

Your head is still your head. (Laughter) It will not become the Buddha's head, because what's yours is yours.

Now, after I give you the Quan Yin Method, for example, then you meditate. You try to search within yourselves to find what kind of power that you have, what kind of capability that you have forgotten, how much intelligence that you have not used, who you are and what kind of position you have in this universe. You search and search, and you'll find it. And then, you find up to the first level, then you'll find that you are very loving now. You are less stressful than before, and so you think, "Oh God is that. God helps me. God can help me to heal stress and to heal my sickness." You get cured from some disease, at the first level.

Sometimes, when you touch somebody, that person gets cure too, and you have healing power! You'll say, "Oh! God has healing power. God is that. God has love. God gives me love. I feel loved now, and I feel I love someone else."

But, that love is still on a weak level. Never mind, you feel better than before.

And by eating vegetarian you feel your body is better. You can think better than before, and you love your neighbor better now. So, you begin to declare that your Buddha is love; your Buddha is healing power; your God is healing power and magical power. Understand? He can make a lot of magic and things like that. You know God is there. You know there is a God, and that He has such and such qualities. And for a little while longer, you practice and you get up to the second level. Now, suddenly, whenever somebody asks you a question, you can talk with eloquence. You can reply to them in a way that they never have heard before, in a way you never dreamed you could reply before. You understand all the sutras and all the Bibles in the world. You understand that all the five religions say the same thing. Yes, in one word, you have eloquence.

Smooth Enmity With The Love From Spiritual Practice You can also sometimes see into the past, into other people's past and future.

You know why you are connected with each other like this. You can regulate, invisibly or visibly, some of your karmic ties with other people, so suddenly your relationships smooth out. Suddenly, two enemies may come back loving each other, because, invisibly, in your practice your Master power has smoothed the

past enmity out of your life and your relationship. So you begin to declare, "God has intellectual power! God is Buddha! God is enlightenment! God is eloquence!

God is that!" So your God has grown a little bit taller. (Laughter) That's how you make God and how you make Buddha. You say, "Oh! God has a kind record so that we can see everything inside."

Then you begin to listen, and you can hear the sound of thunder or the sound of many waters. So it declares in the Bible that God speaks in the voice of thunder, and like the sound of many waters. That's how they declared their God. When they saw the big flame of light, they said, "God comes in a big flame. God is like a big flame." So their God differs. Your God now differs from the God before, or differs from another initiate who has only reached the first level, or differs from another initiate who has reached the third level. His God is different from yours, but it is the same God, whom, pitifully, is being seen by different eyes and different angles. Just like when the Buddha was alive, he told the story of the four blind people who touched an elephant; who described the elephant. The one who touched his ears said, "Wow! The elephant is like a fan, a big fan." And the other one who touched his trunk said, "Oh! The elephant is like a big pilar." And the other one who touched his nose said, "Oh! The elephant looks like a water hose." And the one who touched his tail said, "Wow! The elephant is like a broom stick." This is how ordinary people see God. And this is how practitioners and people at different levels see God and make their own God. Therefore, it is said that God is within you; that Buddha is in your mind. That is the meaning of it. (Applause) Now, you know that you can make Buddhas and you can make God. So I would advise you to make the best God out of it. Our God must be the supreme, the Most High, to be worthy of our time, energy and attention. Time is money! We might just as well buy the best God. (Laughter) Now you understand why God is not there for you to worship, but demands us to make use of His power it. If we don't make use of this God by our own power, then when we pray and nothing is done, we cannot blame anyone else. From the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level of hell, you have only yourselves to blame. You've gone the wrong way. You walk the wrong path. You approach things in the wrong direction, with the wrong method.

The Best Way To Worship God The Quan Yin Method is for you to realize that God is you, the way you make Him. God can be as low as a worm, if you are that. If you don't raise yourselves higher than the worm's level then God will forever stay as a worm. If you raise yourselves higher, the higher your God is, the higher God is glorified. So glorify God by your own power of meditation and realization. That's the best prayer.

That's the best glorification for God, the most significant prayer and the most significant job that you could ever do for God. (Applause) If we say we worship God, Buddha, Allah or whoever you say, and we remain in ignorance, then we truly despite God; we truly disgrace God and Buddha.

Therefore, Buddha said, "If you believe in Buddha, but do not understand Buddha, you disgraced Buddha." That is the truth. How do you disgrace Buddha?

By remaining in ignorance and letting others see that you are an ignorant God, that you have no belief in God anymore, because God is ignorant due to your

own ignorant thinking and view point. You think God is like that. "I pray to Him, but He doesn't hear. I am crawling here, but He doesn't see." It is not God who does not see. It is you who does not know that God sees, and who does not directly receive God's blessing, because you build a lot of obstacles around yourself. You, yourself, deny the benefit and the blessing from God, because you think, from a conditioned mind, from many generations, that you're not worthy; that you're wrong; that you are ignorant; that you do all the wrong things against your God's nature.

Therefore, even now, when you pray, this kind of thinking subconsciously prevents you from knowing you are God, knowing the benefit of God. Then you think God is only that. God is only for you to pray to, to complain to and to demand from, but it is not so. Every God is truly different. Depending on how you think and on your level, God is different. Not that there are so many Gods, but our view points differ, so God differs. Do you understand now why we must understand and realize God in order to say that we truly worship God? (Applause) Therefore, what the Buddha said is not wrong. If you don't understand Buddha, don't just blindly believe in Buddha or you'll disgrace Buddha.

Anyhow, you are on the right path. I think you may have realized it by now, otherwise you wouldn't have come to see me. Even those who failed also came to see me, or wanted to come to see me, at least. They might not have the face to come, but never mind! If they want to practice slowly outside, without control, without somebody to keep reminding them, nagging them, then they can stay home and slowly crawl. Those who want to follow me faster, must work hard and be fast. I like you to be fast. You can never be too fast for me (applause), because the world is in need of such fast working people. The world is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people. Therefore, the more the better.

Work Fast In Spiritual Practice To Serve The World The faster you know how great your God is, the better. You can spread your love. You can impose your God for other people to see. When they see you, it's like they see God. They might tremble with fear. They might feel exalted with love, or they might just feel different. That is how God blesses people, through you, because you have slowly risen up to God's level. Understand? That's how we bless the world. That's how we worship God. That's how we truly pray.

At that time we don't even pray, but God blesses you and everything and anyone who sees you. Understand? At that time, you are already a Master. Or you have not reached mastership, but you've already possessed, more or less, to some degree, this kind of power, this kind of love, this kind of benediction. So this is how we serve the world. And then we can say God truly is love.

(Applause) And people will praise you. Okay, enough with theories (laughter), but my theory is not only a theory. You feel the power. You feel the force. Why? Because I have realized what I say. I did not read it from books. Understand? I realized it within myself. Therefore, whatever I say benefits you, and you believe it because it has a convincing power. Anyone else who repeats my words, might just be empty words. Yes. So we have to practice and realize ourselves, and

then even if we repeat the words of the Master, it has the same power, because it becomes our own. Understand? (Applause) I thank you for inviting me here. Also thank you for your exciting love at the airport, and today and in three to four days to come. I thank you for working hard to achieve the goals of my trip. Because my trip is also your trip, my work is your work. Whoever benefits or gets benefitted from me and from you also, from all of you who cooperated, who helped, who mentally or even physically supported this work. Everyone is a benefactor of mankind. This is the way of Bodhisattva. This is the way of sainthood. There's no other way, no need for shaving your head, no sticking in the Himalayas, no need for anything, no sleeping on a nail bed. Yes, just be ordinary and have wisdom.

Beautiful you are! I am glad that you have improved, and I am glad your faith is firm. I know you have been through some tests, but that's how we know our level. That's how we know whether our discrimination is sharp or not; whether we know the difference between a true Master and a false Master; whether we know how to recognize goodness in a Master or not, or if we just listen to rumors and all kinds of gossip that is polluting to our mind. If we repeat that, polluting other's minds, it will be like a disease that keeps spreading. So when we speak, it's better to speak of goodness. If we absolutely cannot avoid it then we have to say something, but only in order to teach people or to tell them to improve. Otherwise, there is no good in talking about negative things, whether is it true or not. The one who spreads it, is the one who is affected most, the first.

And the one who hears it is also affected, if he listens to it or if he believes it.

Understand? Okay, good night!

Experience

Is

Better

Than

Empty

Talk

Q: Dear Master, please let us know more about energy, the relationship between energy, peace and love. The only thing we know from science is that energy can not be destroyed or created. Energy can be transformed from one kind to another kind. Some say God is energy, God is love. What do you think?

M: I think these are only sayings. Before you experience that, all sayings are empty. I do not like to be a living dictionary but an example of the true knowledge. When you are enlightened, you understand this energy and all the metaphysical questions.

Energy is many kinds, negative and positive. When we are enlightened, we balance both and make use of them for the purposes in life and in the right time, the right situation.

I told you already. If we are enlightened, the world will be at peace. No need to change anything. Of course, that is peaceful energy that we radiate after enlightenment. Q: How to affect our beloved, such as husband or wife, to be a more moral person. Is there a special method to help them?

M: Yes, enlightenment. Enlightenment helps you to be sharper in all feelings, yeah. And you'll be a better wife, be better husband even. Many of our initiates claim that their married life became much better after both of them practiced God's presence, yeah, the light and sound. Before that they just had a kind of

very lukewarm relationship, or cold to ice cube. And after enlightenment they know how to care for each other and then feel more toward each other, um. Q: Dear Master, I had a lot of nightmares in childhood. Now the nightmares are gone, but, I still dream frequently every night. Please tell me are these dreams involved with my karma?

M: Maybe you had a very rough life before, um. You lived in truly nightmarish life . Therefore, the influence still lingers up till now. Well I sounds like advertising manager, but enlightenment is also for everything. If you want to live a fearless life, and dreamless life, then, of course enlightenment is the answer. Q: Master, were Hermes, Zoroaster, the Essences, the Gnostics masters? And who were the first masters? And who is the great white brotherhood?

M: All masters, all true masters are one. They come from one source. And the highest master is the supreme master, the almighty which is in all of you. When we first came here we were masters before. And we came here, we blessed the world. And, we forgot all about our power and our glory. And our energies were also exhausted, because we paid attention to outer phenomenas. So, all the masters who came here are the ones who are awakened in this awareness and know their true glory, and they can travel the road home frequently. And they can lead us back home. So, no need to discriminate between any master. All the religions are founded after the master has gone. Therefore we have Christian after Christ, Buddhist after Buddha, etc., okay?! Q: Enlightenment always seems so lofty. In what ways will I be different after enlightenment ? How will I know?

Is it in black and white?

M: Oh, you'll know it, you'll know it definitely. You'll know it, just like you walk inside the door and when you walk outside the door. It's very definite and very beneficial to your daily life. You will know it, very definitely. Just like an educated person and an uneducated person, there is a great difference. Q: Is it true that to become fully realized one must practice the highest yoga-tantra and the secret mantra? And if Buddha performed these before full realization?

M: I didn't see anything like that in the scriptures. I only saw that He sat under the Bodhi tree for forty days or more. And He saw the stars at the time of realization. So, if you want to have this same realization as Buddha, you can have it, right now, um.

And about tantra and tantrum, I do not know. I did not see anything in the Buddhist scripture referring to the Buddha's practice before He was enlightened.

I only know that He saw the stars and He saw the light. So, if you want that kind, we have it. Okay?! Q: There is a vow to refrain from intoxicants. What about chemicals on fruits and vegetables?

M: Oh, my God! You are fanatic. Wash them with the salty water, yeah, and eat them. Otherwise, you die, hmm? (Laughter & applause.) Q: Since I started the vegetarian diet, my son who's seven years old asks, Is it another no-meat day? I realize my son was born with the great nature of not eating meat. But due to my ill-concept I started his meat eating habit. How can I restore his greatness and reduce my guilt?

M: Um, then take time. You have taken much time and efforts to force your son into meat, and now you have to take the same amount of effort and time to reverse.

How

Dictators

Emerge?

Q: Dear Maser, please explain what kind of karma it is when there were dictators like Hitler, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, who caused the wars that killed millions of people, and made millions of others suffer.

M: That is a collective karma of mankind which, as I told you, are by-products of the inter-relationships between humans and other beings in this world or other worlds. And those kinds of by-products became a kind of very forceful strong energy hanging around our earth's atmosphere. And when it is too condensed, then it has to manifest into some kind of visible, such as a very great dictator who kills millions, etc.

As you have asked, so therefore, these people are not to be blamed also, in a sense. But, ourselves are to be blamed. If each one of us leads a life of virtues, keeps the commandments, and refrain from killing of any kind - including the indirect killing, so keeping the vegetarian diet - and the world would never have bred these kinds of dictators in the first place.

These are there to remind us of the virtuous way, and if we are not awakened yet, then these things will continue to remind us until the whole mankind is awakened.

How

To

Eradicate

Anger?

Q: What is anger? Why does it boil inside us? And how do we release this anger?

M: Sometimes it helps to release it outwardly. Sometimes between husband and wife or men or parents and children there exists some kind of tension. And after you have cleared it together, you clear the air, it's also helpful.

Whatever comes naturally, just let it be. If you cannot control it or you cannot control it completely, just try not to bear hatred in it. Just express what you feel, express it in as best manner as you can okay?! Because sometimes anger, when swallowed too much of the time will breed disease within the body.

So the best is that, first we have the virtues of God, and then other passions like anger, greed, attachment, will subside by and by. Q: You say only human beings can become a Buddha. I want to know if when a disciple passes away and he is on the 4th level, does he need to come back to this world to be a human being and after that to study until he becomes a Buddha?

M: Oh, no, he doesn't have to. He studies from there. The Master will continue to teach the disciple and never leave the disciple until the disciple completely realize himself, hm! (Applause.) Q: You said You denounce immorality. What is meant by sexual misconduct?

Is that wrong?

M: I do not denounce anything. I just propagate correct way of life. And you are free to follow it, okay?! I do not denounce anything. If you feel that is a denouncement, it's not true. Just that you go into the wrong direction. Now you should go back to the right one, if you want to arrive at your destination which is the Kingdom of God.

Too much sexual abuse and indulgence tires your body, exhausts your mental power which should be conserved for the greatest enlightenment, and to help yourself and to help mankind. It's more noble that way. That's all, yeah.

Sexual misconduct means you have too many girl friends, too many boy friends, too many husbands and wives. It exhausts your storehouse of energy, okay?! Q: How do You suggest that a person go about attaining enlightenment when that person lives in extreme and almost constant pain.

M: There are many drugs that help you with pain these days. You do not have to endure that. Medicine, you can take in order to prevent the pain. And then when you are calm and peaceful, then you can meditate. Q: Please let us know if God, the comforter that God sent, the spirit of truth, is only one comforter or a few comforters? If there are a few, please let us know how many?

M: You want to shop, uh, shopping for enlightenment! (Laughter.) One is enough for you, right now, okay?! (Applause.) Because even if there are a few, who knows if they will come to you and when, and whether you are still alive when the other comforters come, understand? Okay? Q: Oh, Master, I have a hard time meditating because my head hurts when I start to meditate. Please tell me how to stop the headaches?

M: Maybe you try too much. You should not have any effort, yeah. But I don't know what kind of method you study, so it's difficult to tell you. But whatever you do, relax, yeah. Just do it just like you are mowing a lawn or eating the breakfast. No need to put strain on your brain for concentration. In our method we do it without effort. We just sit there and the light comes. Therefore, it is better. Q: What does it mean when some people are absent-minded when someone talks to them, and they just don't react, or they instantly forget what you've just said. Is it because they're too mental or they use their mind too much?

M: How do I know? You ask them?! Q: Dear Master, when You die where does your soul go and what happens to your energy and karma?

M: Me or anyone? ( Q: It says when You die.) I'll tell you after I die, okay?!

(Laughter & applause.) It's too early. I mean I am still very young.

Heavy

Karma

Incurred

In

Meat

Eating

Q: If after being initiated and I still make a mistake like eating meat or having an evil thought, does it mean that I'll be disconnected from God or suffer some bad punishment?

M: Evil thought, you might not be able to control it immediately after enlightenment, because it's just like the car brake, you see. When the car runs sixty miles an hour, and if you want to brake it, do it slowly, yeah. So, it'll probably take some time to be able to purify completely yourself.

But the meat you can avoid it, yeah, except when you don't know it and you eat it by mistake, then that's fine. But you have to meditate more on that day to clean that, because that is a very heavy karma. That's what makes people ill, what makes our body suffer, and what makes us go to hell afterward to repay for the suffering of other beings. (Applause.) Q: Dear Master, I sincerely thank You for the lecture today. I wish that You take care of Your health, so that You can continue to give lectures for the rest of the world, and save people who have the sincerity to find the way back to God's home. Thank You again. Please take care of Yourself.

M: Thank you, thank you. God takes care of me. You take care of me. Because you have love for me, you have good thoughts for me, you have loving wishes for me, therefore you take care of me.

I can't take care of myself. I just flow with the water. Wherever there is demand, I just have to fulfill it. I have no time or actually no very fixed schedule to say that I can take care of myself. Never mind, I am okay. I work hard and I am alright. Q: This question is about discipline. I find that I am very devoted to trying new techniques for a period of time. When I do not see results or when I get too busy or too tired, I just give up, I don't stay with the discipline. How can I push through my weakness and continue with daily routine and mastery?

M: Ah, of course if you have a method and it doesn't work very well, and also maybe you do not follow the practice regularly and diligently and sincerely, then, you lose your faith, yeah. So, try to do what is instructed, and then your faith will grow more with the results. Of course if you don't have results, you don't have faith, and the less faith you have, the less results. So, you'll be in the circle.

Awaken The Primitive Force Of The Universe Q: Master, sometimes during meditation with the Convenient Method, I feel a chill from my spine going up to my head, and then there seems to be a feeling of energy encircling in my head. What does this mean? Is this a bad or good sign?

M: It's okay. It's your kundalini at work. Afterward you'll be used to it. It's only a Convenient Method, and still it works all so much, because of the master power blessing you. Other people they practice many years to try to awaken the kundalini, and they can't do it. Q: Did Jacob receive bad karma for tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing? Did Benjamin receive bad karma for tricking his brothers into bringing his father to Egypt?

M: Oh, he talks about Bible? ( Q: Ah, the Old Testament.) Oh, what do we know about these people? Why do we care? They are all gone, yes. (Laughter & applause.) I think we have enough work to do with our own.

Okay. That's it? I am relieved? Ah, fine. Thank you for your attention.

(Applause.)

Why Do We Have to Meditate?

Spoken by Supreme Master February 20, 1992 (Originally in Chinese)

Ching

Hai,

Hong

Kong,

We have wars, floods, starvation, and refugees all over the world. This is all because we do not use our wisdom; instead, we rely on our ego, mind, and arrogant habits. We think that this is the same as that and there is no difference. There is a difference! Even clothes are different sometimes. Different fabrics cause different physical sensations. The cool air from an air-conditioner is different than the cool air outside; we cannot say that they are the same just because they are the same degree in terms of temperature. They are not the same! They are different materials.

For instance, when we climb high up into the mountains where it is colder or even snowing, we do not feel very tired because the air up there is natural. It might be very cold there, but after we inhale the oxygen in the air, heat will be generated and the body will make suitable adjustments. On the other hand, when we are in an air-conditioned room where the ventilation is not good, we feel tired despite the cool air. It is not very good for our body. When we leave an air-conditioned room, we don't seem to be able to quickly adjust physically, and our faces are pale when we get up from sleep. If we live or work in an airconditioned room for a long time, our faces might appear greenish. Yet we will look pinkish even though it may be much colder in the mountains.

Of course, we should develop our freedom, but we have to find out which is the better thing to do. Just because we are free does not mean that we simply do whatever we want. We should use our brains and wisdom when we act; use them since we have them. Do not act blindly and willfully. Whether we buy good or bad things, it takes the same amount of time, and most probably we pay the same amount of money, or perhaps more money for the bad things. Therefore, in whatever we do, we should try to use our brains and wisdom; that will save us a lot of time and energy, and benefit both others and ourselves. This is why we need to pursue spiritual practice; the reason is very logical.

Concentrating Our Life Energy If we use a magnifying glass to focus sunbeams, we can ignite a fire beneath them, at the point where the rays converge. Otherwise, even if there is plenty of sunlight, we cannot make use of it. Similarly, our life force is dispersed throughout our bodies, and even outside. When we pay attention to something, we give it power; we give it our life force. Therefore, by focusing all our attention on one point, we can solve any problem. We can make a fire that will burn all obstacles. It is very logical, nothing mysterious.

Avoid superstition in spiritual cultivation. Try to understand clearly why we practice this Method, and why we have to focus on this point. (Master points to the wisdom eye.) When we think, don't we use this spot and knit our brows? We knit our brows because we want to concentrate; we do it naturally. Accordingly, we know that we should focus on this spot to prevent our energy from leaking out, or being wasted on outside distractions. Doesn't the power grow stronger when we concentrate it in here? And then, isn't it faster for us to make a breakthrough? Yes! For example, with one hand, you can only push open a door, but with both hands, you can break it if you want. This is very logical and simple, nothing mysterious. Spiritual practice is a scientific matter; so have no doubt about it. Probably you will protest and argue with me, "How can our energy be dissipated if we just look at things outside?"

It does dissipate, otherwise, how can hypnotists gain command over people?

They send out their energy to control someone. How can you say that they are not using their power? They are! Some people practice on focusing their thoughts, and make things rise or fall in the air at will. There are even people who can kill others with their thoughts from a long distance away. You can still find them in Tibet or perhaps China. Our focused thought is very powerful. Do

not think that when our attention is diverted to other things, our life energy is not wasted. Yes, it is! It does waste our wisdom.

For instance, to attain perfection in something, we must look at it or think of it attentively. This applies to everything, even to playing music or doing the laundry. When we do the laundry, we have to look at the stains carefully before we decide how to clean, scrub or wipe them off. In the case of an artist, he must be very focused in mind to create a good painting or sculpture. There are times when you see a man or woman whom you like very much, and then can you say that you are not wasting your energy? You are! If you keep watching him, he will sense something and may even be charmed by you after a while. You are using your power to attract him. You cannot deny that you are dissipating your energy!

Therefore, we should concentrate all that power that might have gone to waste, and save as much of it as possible, just like saving money. If we spend money lavishly even when it is not necessary, we will never have enough money. If we spend appropriately, one dollar saved means one dollar earned. As our savings increase, our lives will become better and we will not have to work so hard. After we have saved a big sum of money, we can easily buy anything that is important and necessary. Without money, we cannot even buy trivial things. Therefore, let us save first, and then we can buy whatever we want.

In the same way, as we dissipate energy into the outside world each day, we retrieve it through meditation. Whenever you can save some time, save it; it is better than none. In twenty-four hours, we should set aside two and a half hours, which is one-tenth of our time, to replenish our life force and concentrate our energy, and then we will have enough to spend during the rest of the day.

Just as we have time to spend money, we should also have time to earn it. We work eight hours a day to provide for our spending in twenty-four hours.

Now we only save two and a half hours on meditation to provide for our consumption in twenty-four hours, and I don't think this is illogical. Actually, I think this is too little! Therefore, initiation doesn't mean that all has been accomplished; you still have to go home and continue to work. Receiving initiation is just like registering for work in a factory. The boss has hired you, but that does not mean that you will be paid every month. You have to go there and work every day; you have to be responsible to the boss, and then you will be paid for each day you work. Similarly, we meditate each day to earn our wisdom and power, and then we will observe more incredible events. This is neither magical power nor blessed reward; it is the energy that you have saved up. It emerges and lets you solve many problems that were once impossible. It's very logical!

Previously we were rich, but we spent foolishly, buying anything we saw even when we did not need it. We spent the money buying things that we had no room for. Gradually, they became a troublesome burden. We had too many things, and there was not even room for us to dwell in, so we felt distressed and uncomfortable. Now that we have disposed of all those things, we will not buy things foolishly anymore. Now, we have more room and more money saved.

Later, when we see something very important, very beautiful, and comfortable

that suits our taste, we can buy it with our savings. When we buy it, we know we really like it. We feel comfortable; the money is well spent and the thing is good, so we think it is incredible. "Why have I never been able to buy this?" We might even think that it fell from heaven into our house. Not at all! It is our money. We have saved a lot of money, so we can buy this valuable thing now.

When we were spending foolishly before, we dared not even look at such valuable things, not to mention buying them!

Previously, we wasted too much vitality and energy looking at the outside, thinking that it would bring us consolation and comfort. The truth is, it only brought us frustration. It was like buying too many things foolishly, making our home so crowded that there was no room left for us. We felt suffocated and oppressed. We had many things that we couldn't handle, karmic hindrances that we could not eliminate, or cause and effect that we could not escape. The enormous power that we save up helps handle the previously unmanageable karma, reducing it a little and making us more comfortable, or letting us handle it in other ways. Therefore, our life often becomes more comfortable as we advance in spiritual practice.

However, we really have to practice with our heart, and with true sincerity.

Sincerity can help us concentrate; if we are not sincere, we practice casually, sluggishly, or may not even do it. This is very logical. I have to cite a worldly example to let you understand. For instance, when you are sincerely in love with someone, you fear no hardship. No matter how far his home is, you still go to see him; no matter what his temper is like, you accept him. You can endure anything just to marry him. If you are not sincere about him, you see him as though you don't see; you don't feel anything. You do not miss him or feel like going to see him. Neither do you feel like getting married to him or winning his heart. Since you do not try your best, of course you won't get him, because that is not what you want. Most probably you want someone else or something else.

Perhaps you want to take a vacation or have some fun. You do not miss him.

Naturally, you will not win him. On the other hand, he doesn't care much about you, either. Because you are not sincere, you fail to attract him or touch his heart.

It is the same with our wisdom and incredible power. Only when we really want them will we try our best to get them. Our minds and souls will strive to get them. If we do not want them, we will not get them. Isn't this logical? (Yes) We concentrate on getting something only when we really want it. Otherwise, we don't care whether it comes or not. Therefore, it is most important that we are sincere in our spiritual practice. Don't put on a show for others. It doesn't mean that you conceal the fact that you are meditating; but you must avoid boasting about it.

Why You Should Not Reveal Your Inner Experiences to Others When people ask what you are practicing, you should answer, "I am practicing the Quan Yin Method, and I feel very good about it. I meditate for so many hours each day, and I am a vegetarian." Just don't tell them about your inner experiences. Why? If you tell them, they might not believe you. They might scoff at you. Most people in the world would not believe you! When I talked about

other planets yesterday, people questioned me: "How can you prove that those planets exist? Can it be your imagination?" There have been so many reports in the newspapers and on TV about UFOs and extraterrestrials, yet people do not believe it! Imagine what they will think when we talk about our inner experiences. Since we cannot show them a UFO [Master laughs], how can we make them believe us?

I have the "bad luck" of being chosen to serve as an Enlightened Master, so I have to talk about everything and make a fool of myself. Someone has to make the sacrifice! Since God has already given me this assignment, or "business", I have to do it. Otherwise, when we reveal our inner experiences and spiritual level, very often we make a laughing stock of ourselves, and bring about an opposite effect. We talk because we want others to believe us and pursue spiritual practice; instead, they might laugh at us and attack us. This can impair our faith. When people repeatedly say that this is our imagination, we might by and by come to believe that it is indeed our imagination. As a result, we may want to quit, which can be troublesome! It is not wrong for us to talk about such things, but very often we will have no more inner experiences after we talk, and then we will regress in spiritual practice. Therefore, it is better to keep our inner experiences to ourselves and refrain from talking about seeing any Buddha or light, or hearing any sound. Should people ask, you may tell them, "Well! Among those of us practicing the Quan Yin Method, some of us can see the light and some can hear certain sounds."

Give them a general remark instead of telling them that it is you who hear the sound. You may say, "I too have some of these experiences. Of course, I have some experience, but I cannot tell you about it." That would be enough. We don't have to seal our mouth completely. If we say nothing, then how can people learn about this Quan Yin Method and the benefits that can be derived from its practice? And how will people want to practice together with us? Say what you have to say, but do not discuss your inner experiences and the detailed instructions given at initiation. Without my permission, you must not reveal them because you have not learned them well. It is useless for you to talk about these things.

For instance, if you have just learned the first few words of the English alphabet, and then you go out to teach others, what use can there be in that? That is the reason. I am not forbidding you to do anything. Neither am I creating a mystery.

However, there is something you must not forget: When we do something in this world, if we brag about it, most likely we will not succeed. If this is true for worldly deeds, then it is also right for us to keep our spiritual practice a secret.

This world belongs to Maya (the king of illusion) and its lackeys are everywhere ready to attack and hinder spiritual practitioners. When they hear that we have within us a treasure, comfortable and good feelings and things like nirvana, they will try to obstruct us. They are jealous, and they do not practice spiritually because they don't want to. Knowing that it is very beneficial for us to practice this Method, they will surely attack us. That is the way of this world.

When you have money and position, people will hate you; or when you are successful in teaching people and have plenty of disciples, people will also attack you. There are conflicts and disputes in many religions because the adherents fail to practice well. Therefore, instead of becoming God's children, they become

slaves and tools of Maya. That is why we should heed those more difficult points on our spiritual path; that's all! I am not imposing any strict prohibition or regulation upon you. No, I am not! These are simply secret tricks that we must know to protect ourselves on the spiritual path.

Traveling to Other Planetary Worlds with the Spirit Of course, it is okay to lie down when we meditate, but it is also easier to fall asleep. We fall asleep even when we sit up; imagine what will happen when we lie down. I have the same problem, because I too fall asleep when I lie down.

However, that doesn't mean that sleeping is useless; we need enough sleep.

Our bodies need replenishment, and our souls need to rest. Choose a suitable time to meditate, a time when you are not very tired. Why do we prefer to meditate in the morning and evening? It is better to meditate in the morning when we have had enough sleep. Of course, we are reluctant to get up, but we had better get up because it is the best time for meditation. Of course, that requires courage and sincerity, otherwise it is very difficult to do it!

Sometimes when you are sleeping, you will be pulled up. Usually you are not aware when this happens. Occasionally you are aware, but that only causes troubles. For instance, yesterday a fellow practitioner told me, "Master, very often my soul goes out when I am asleep, and I see myself lying there. I tell myself that it is my physical body; and I become scared and then come back." I told him that since we have been confined to the body all the time, it would be fun to go out for some time. The physical body won't run away when we are not around. It only runs around when we are in it. It is we, and not the body, who run around. Otherwise, when someone is dead, the body remains unchanged, and the eyes and ears are still there, so why doesn't the body run around? It won't scream when you hit it, and it won't respond when you scold it. This indicates that the body cannot function on its own. It can only move about when we are inside. Therefore, when you go out and see that the body is there, it is too great. It won't go away; don't worry. If you are scared, then seek my help.

"Master, please protect me!" It would be great if you let me take you up! This is why I do not let you know when I sometimes take you out while you are sleeping. It is troublesome if you are aware! I can't drag you out. It is just rotten and stinky flesh, yet you cling to it with all your might. You have been inside it all your life and you go out only once in a long while, yet you cling tightly to the body. Who would believe you when you swear, "I really want to be liberated from birth and death," if you can't even let go of this rotten flesh and skin; where can you possibly go?

There are many planets in our universe. Do not have doubts about that. You know when you look up and see the stars! There are the planets, some of which are inhabited and others not. Some are highly civilized, while some are very backward. Our Earth cannot possibly be the only planet in the entire universe; it would be such a big waste! Would the Creator be so stupid as to create only this Earth? There are innumerable planets! Recently, scientists have made some explorations up there, and it seems they have proof that some planets are inhabited but they cannot go inside. The inhabitants of some of the so-called

spiritual planets do not have a body like ours, so we cannot see any humans there. That doesn't mean that they do not exist.

These spiritual planets are superior to our Earth or other earths. When we say "earth", we refer to planets like our Earth, our world. We call these material planets "earths", because everything there is material, visible, tangible and palpable. The other kind I call "spiritual planets" because I don't know how to name these spiritual worlds. In the dimensions of highly developed spiritual beings, they have no physical bodies. We have to elevate our vibrations to match their level exactly before we can feel or see their existence. We cannot see them because we are too coarse.

Let us not talk about the superior worlds but take an example closer to our world. Some people can see the souls of dead persons, but other people cannot, because their vibrations are different than those of our physical body. They still have bodies, only different ones. A tent is like a house, but the material is different. We can easily tear it apart with a knife or even our bare hands.

Wooden houses are made of a different material and are sturdier; and then, houses built of concrete are even stronger.

People in Hong Kong build houses out of glass, which looks more beautiful, light and comfortable. It is very comfortable looking out from inside. If everything in Hong Kong were built of concrete, so tall and coarse, I am afraid no one would be able to stand it. The narrow space would drive people crazy and make them feel confined. Therefore, the buildings in Hong Kong are very close to those in more civilized worlds. In some worlds, houses are built of crystal. The house seems to be there, but there is no feeling of confinement. People can walk through the walls because they do not really exist even though they are there; they are soft and very comfortable. There are no tall, enclosed walls to block the view. The interior is very spacious, thanks to the intangible walls. The buildings with the big glass windows we build are closer to those of the higher civilizations, although these more civilized worlds are not necessarily spiritual worlds. I am not saying that they are the highest worlds; we can say they are worlds belonging to the heavenly realm.

Only people in this realm want to build such houses and love living in them. It is closer to that kind of world, that is all. They subconsciously remember that there are such buildings in the world where they used to live. People in other places do not think of building these kinds of houses; they would not even think of them, much less build them. Only people closer to this kind of civilized world will conceive and build these kinds of houses and love to live in them. However, I am only citing this as an example of common logic. Wherever spiritual practitioners live is fine. Crystal buildings are not at the highest level. Houses are not important. When we have become accomplished in our spiritual practice, we can build our own house. Whatever house we think of will be manifested. Depending on our imagination and talent in building, we can build anything. The house is built even before we ascend to that realm. Our blessed rewards will determine what kind of house we have.

When Shakyamuni Buddha was alive, His cousin was one of his monastic disciples. He didn't practice well but indulged in worldly pleasures instead. Very

often, he would steal back home to see his pretty wife. Shakyamuni Buddha was at His wit's end, as the monk wouldn't listen to His advice. One day, when this monk was asleep or in meditation, he found himself in a very beautiful world where he was greeted by many goddesses and angels. There were sweet music, beautiful scenery, and glorious palaces. He was invited to live in a palace, where the goddesses waited on him, entertaining him with dances and songs, and serving him with the best wine and food from heaven. He asked the goddesses, "Will you please tell me where I am? Whose palace is this? It's so beautiful. And you beautiful ladies, which household do you come from?"

The goddesses told him, "This palace is reserved for the cousin of Shakyamuni Buddha, whose name is such-and-such." They pretended not to know who he was. "If he practices well, he will come up and live here. We are his maids." He noticed with great delight that these maids were hundreds or thousands of times more beautiful than his wife. The wine and food were delicious; the peaches and other fruits were wonderful, many times bigger than those in our world. He asked, "Can I stay here from now on? I am that person, and this house, as well as all of you, belong to me. Well, I am here to stay!"

Their reply was, "No, you can't. You have not become accomplished in your spiritual practice. Only when you have done so can you come and stay here. We will be here waiting for you. Today, we are only showing you what your future abode is like." It was like taking a look at a house to see whether we like it or not before we decide to buy it. "Now that you have seen your dream house, you can come later and we will be waiting for you. It won't be long, just a couple of days." "What? Just a couple of days? Didn't you say that I have to practice down there for a couple of decades?" he asked. They replied, "That is right! Here a couple of days is equal to a couple of decades down there!" [Master laughs] Very much disappointed, he fell abruptly. He could not stay there because he had not practiced enough to remain stable at heart. Besides, his time had not come yet.

He was very upset, because he really missed that place. Suddenly, Shakyamuni kicked him down to hell for a visit. He had just come back from Heaven, and now he was in hell. There he saw many horrible ghosts with long fangs, big noses, dark eyes, terrible hair, and faces that were terrifying beyond imagination. You might have seen them in the movies. There they punished people by sawing them into pieces, roasting them with fire, and punishing them in many terrible ways. Those being tortured were screaming loudly in great pain.

The demons took the cousin to a huge pot filled with boiling oil. He asked, "Why is this pot empty? No one is in there!" The reply he got was that the pot was reserved for Shakyamuni Buddha's cousin whose name was such-and-such!

Should his spiritual practice be lousy, hell was waiting for him! They then showed him many tools used for cutting, sawing, and slicing a person before putting him into the pot to cook. They explained the complicated procedure step by step, about what would be done to his body, which part would be deep-fried, which part sauteed, and how many times he would have to go through it. They read a whole big menu, which made his hair stand on end. He exclaimed, "Oh! No! I don't want to come here! I don't belong here! I belong in heaven." The answer he got was, "You have to practice hard to go to Heaven, but hell is ready to welcome you at any time." The cousin, now extremely terrified, screamed out aloud. Then Shakyamuni Buddha took him home.

Therefore, heaven and hell are all in our hands. The decision is ours to make.

Don't blame anyone for being bad to us, or blame God for not saving us, because God is us, our own self. If we do not want to save ourselves, who will?

There is no one else around! Each person in the universe is an independent soul.

We are aware of our goodness and evil; we know what we need and what we should do. No one will care about us. If we perform good deeds, we will reap good fruits. If we do evil deeds, we will get bad retribution. This is crystal clear; we are our own masters, and we decide our own future.

Never mind if we have erred in the past; we can choose a different future to compensate for the past. After the initiation today, I cleansed your karma from many previous lives. This is being done invisibly, as if pressing a computer button to activate the deletion. However, should we repeat the same mistake, it will be recorded again. To prevent incurring any karma in the future, we ought to keep the precepts and observe a vegetarian diet, so as to avoid undesirable affinities with sentient beings. It is for our own good that we do good deeds.

When we love and care for suffering people, it is as though we are loving and caring for ourselves, through creating good karma. However, despite all the good karma or bad karma that we have incurred, if we do not become attached to them, we can escape the retribution caused by them. Whether the karma is good or bad, we still have to come back. The best way is to have no good or bad karma, then we can go back to the Heavenly Kingdom.

Attain without attaining You have sat here for a very long time without feeling restless. You should have experienced the power of tranquillity. Of course, the power of Buddha or God will not strike you like an electric shock. "Wow! It is coming! The blessings are coming!" (Master mimics electric shock actions) [Everyone laughs] It is very serene. Since it is our own power, it is no stranger to us. It is so comfortable and natural that we are not even aware of it. Are we aware of our own existence? Of course not! We are so used to ourselves! Only when there is a stranger present will we feel a difference in the atmosphere.

Therefore, very often you are not aware of the benefits you derive from meditation. You feel as if there are none. They are so natural and gentle that you have to be very attentive and focused to know what you have attained. As the Heart Sutra states, there is nothing to be attained. However, Confucius' books say that we will "attain". Actually, they are referring to the same thing; there is no conflict between them! There is no conflict between the Heart Sutra and the Great Learning, except that the expressions are different. They are both correct in saying that there is "something to be attained" or "nothing to be attained". This "object to be attained" is not something that we can calculate or show to others, so we cannot talk about "attaining" it.

It is not a sensory feeling like an electric shock or a terrible fright; it is sometimes, though. If we have heavy karma or a bad atmosphere, we will be shocked when God's blessings come to blast out the negative force. Then we will feel the shock, because that is a strange phenomenon. God's power and Maya are total strangers because the latter is an outside force or entity. Our own power will feel alien from it. We will feel the shock as if we have gone through a

battle. Otherwise, if we are not heavy in karma or possessed by outside entities or energies, we will feel very comfortable, as if nothing has happened. It is absolutely tranquil, and can hardly be detected. Anyway, we will notice it when we see the light or hear the sound.

Sometimes, when we hear the sound, we expect something sensational to happen. For example, when you are told at initiation that you may hear the sound of thunder, you will keep expecting the thunder to come. "How come I still have not heard the thunder?" It is perfectly fine if you hear some other sounds! Even the sound of inner thunder is not as shocking as outside thunder.

It is a loud rumbling sound that seems very much like thunder, but it is not the same. It is not to be compared with worldly sounds. Otherwise, you may wonder, "He mentioned the sound of thunder. Is this the one?" Your doubts will disrupt your concentration, and the thunder will also vanish! [Master and everyone laugh.] Just now a fellow initiate said that he didn't hear anything except the sound of "Om..." Is this not one of the sounds? It is! Sometimes you expect too much!

Take it slowly! This is only the first day. Many more wonderful things will occur in the days to come. As you practice more diligently and save more of your energy, many incredible things will happen. You will experience the phenomenon of "being resistant to burning by fire and to killing by the sword" as mentioned in the Universal Door chapter. You will understand what this means. You may be reciting this passage every day, but you are easily burnt by fire, and get killed immediately by a sword. You have never really experienced it. Actually, that is a symbolic phenomenon, which cannot be described in words.

Ancient people wrote it down because they had experienced it themselves. Here we keep reciting this passage from the Quan Yin Bodhisattva Universal Door chapter: "Being resistant to burning by fire and to killing by the sword", but it doesn't really happen! Since it is not our experience, how can we keep on reciting it? It is useless, anyway. That was only other people's experience. For instance, someone is eating cookies and he says, "These cookies are very sweet and crispy. They are really delicious!" Wouldn't it be ridiculous for us to repeat his words? He has eaten them, so he knows, and he writes it down to express his feelings. Since we have not eaten them, we know nothing about it. What can we express? What use is there in reciting other people's experiences? Therefore, recitation is futile.

It will be beneficial for you to recite the Universal Door chapter now, because you understand the meaning therein. First, it describes seeing the Quan Yin Bodhisattva and other wonderful visions, and mentions the merits of the Quan Yin Bodhisattva. Then it goes on to describe experiencing the sounds of Brahma, tidal waves, and supraworldly and other fantastic sounds. The first part describes meditation on the light, while the second part describes meditation on the sound; it is a clear and detailed report of inner experiences. However, people later have just recited the words without knowing what they mean!

For instance, this fellow sister just now spoke of seeing my manifestation form.

She saw me in her dreams throughout last night, and she wanted to come very early this morning. Just now while meditating during the initiation, she again

saw my radiant manifestation form, which looked very much like the physical Master outside but was more beautiful and wore prettier clothes. [Applause] Before I came here, she saw my photograph and thought that she had seen me before, but in different clothes. She had seen me in red, but then I wore yellow at the lecture, so she felt that there was something wrong. Now, I am wearing these clothes today, and she remembers! These were the clothes she saw. I have many different clothes in various colors, some very shocking, to suit the tastes of different people. They sometimes see me in different forms within.

The clothes are not important, but I wear them to let people recognize me. Very often, they see me from within even before they meet me. If I don't wear certain clothes, they cannot recognize or communicate with me, and they forget the affinity they have with me from their last life. When they see me in these clothes, they remember subconsciously and they practice more quickly and more steadily. There are many such stories, but one is enough; here we don't have time to hear so many. Suppose we do not see the light, but we can sit here feeling very comfortable and tranquil, as though in samadhi, then it is also a very good experience. Day by day, we develop our love, intelligence, and wisdom, and our life becomes more stable, as we feel supported, very confident and safe; this is also an experience and benefit derived from spiritual practice.

We do not pursue spiritual practice just to see the light. The light only serves to assure us that we are on the spiritual path, and properly connected, so that we can have peace of mind. If we have not seen the light, yet we have peace of mind, and we know that we are safe and have a place to go, then it is a very good experience.

There is no need to compare ourselves with others. Therefore, I advise you not to reveal your inner experiences to others, not even fellow initiates, unless I say it is okay.

Why The

Budhi Wall

Dharma For

Sat Nine

Facing Years

Q: I don't know if it's my business to understand, but I would like to find out about Buddha's message when he came from India and sat facing the wall for nine years.

M: Oh! The patriarch, the Budhi Dharma? Facing the wall for nine years?

Because He had nothing else to do. (Laughter.) If it weren't for you, I would probably sit and face the ceiling for nineteen years. (Laughter.)

You see. If they have things to do, they would do them whole-heartedly. If they have nothing to do, they just do what they want to do. Yeah, that's it. And if He loved the wall so much, why not? (Laughter & applause.)

You see actually, of course I make a joke about it. But you see, to elaborate it further, you should understand that an enlightened person is very contented within him or herself, and does not desire to do anything when it's not necessary.

For example, if I don't come to you or if I don't lecture or if nobody requires me to come out to see them or talk to them, I am always in my room. Yeah. Of course sometimes I like to take a walk in the garden or in the forest whenever it's there. If not, I stay in my room. I do nothing, I am just happy. Yeah, I may read books, or not read books. I might meditate, or not meditate. I may sleep, or I may feel awake. I may eat something or not eat something. I'm fine within the walls. You see!

That's the problem with the prisoners. Because they are not enlightened, therefore they feel walls separate them. If they were enlightened they would sit pretty well in there and they'd never probably want to leave prison at all. Yes, it is because we are very contented within ourselves. You see.

That's why the patriarch, He sat there and felt good. At that time, probably there was no lecture hall for Him, and not many people understood Him. So, He just sat there and enjoyed Himself. He could have done other things, but it wasn't necessary at that time.

There was a story about a Zen master and his disciple. I am afraid to lose your time. Is it okay to tell? (Audience: Yes.) Okay. One Zen disciple, yeah, very enlightened perhaps, came to see his master after some time, and then his master asked him, Ah, well, well, what did you do all these months? Yeah, you had a summer vacation, now what did you do? He said, Oh, in my backyard, there is a big piece of land. I cultivated it and planted some vegetables, and they tasted so good, they looked good. Yeah, and I feel very good about it. So, the master praised him and said, Oh, well, well, you did not waste your time, huh! You know how to use your time, it's very good, yes.

And so the disciple asked the master: Then what did you do during this time that I was not here? What did you do? And the master said, Oh, in the daytime I ate and read books, in the nighttime I slept, hm. So, the disciple also nodded his head and said, Oh, well, well, master, you also know how to use your time, you didn't waste your time, you are very useful!

You understand? Yes, it's very comfortable, huh! It takes an enlightened mind to understand an enlightened mind. So, that's what it is, with the enlightened people. If they have work to do, they do it. If they don't they don't miss anything.

So, whenever we are on tour, we are sometimes in a kind of very famous place.

You know? Like when we were in Mexico, we were next to the pyramid, yeah and of course people would like to go there. It was about one hour from our place actually, and my room was in the middle of the city, with all the noises and all the narrowness, everything. But still I didn't long to go to the pyramid. So, we never did go.

Even though I stayed there six days, and lectured only one day. But I saw people every day of course. But I had no longing to go to see pyramid, or anything else. I stayed always every day, every minute of the day in my room.

And so, I told you again and again, enlightenment is the only way for the cure of everything in this world. Otherwise, if anyone else, you put them in the room like that, yeah, and don't let them go to see pyramid, something, they will be unhappy. But we are not. I and my disciples, the immediate crew, you know, nobody wanted to go to the pyramid. I asked them, If you want to go, you are free to go. Don't have to wait for me or ask my permission. But nobody wanted to go. They are just happy to serve.

They sleep when they have time. And when they wake up, they go and prepare for the lecture-equipment and all that. No one longs to go sightseeing, nothing.

It's because we are very contented within ourselves.

Therefore, the first patriarch, Bodhi Dharma, the Budhist who came to China and faced the wall nine years, it was the same situation, um.

Why

Ego

Exists?

Q: During meditation do we need to keep ourselves awake so that we know that we are meditating? If I fall into a state of not fully being awake or I fall asleep, is there any good in my meditation at all?

M: Yes, it's a good sleep. (Laughter.) Q: I have been on a vegetarian diet for three months, but I can't cross my legs because there is a problem with my legs.

So, am I qualified for initiation? And can you comment on posture in meditating?

M: Then don't cross your leg for God's sake. Do what you want with your legs. I don't want your legs. I just want your enlightenment, okay. Q: After initiation and if Master is not with us, if I have any problems with my meditation, what should I do?

M: The Master is always with you, hm. Master is not the body. We are wisdom.

We are connected with the whole universe. And the master who is worth his name is omnipresent. So, whenever you are in trouble, the Master knows. And the Master is always helping you to progress. Whether you see the Master or not, it depends on your power of samadhi. Otherwise, Master is twenty-four hours awake and taking care of you. So don't worry, okay? Q: Master, You are very beautiful and have much to offer. I am glad to be here. My question has to do with the ego. What are we to do with it, if anything, and why does it exist?

M: I see. The ego doesn't exist actually. The ego comes from the information that we collect during our time, and during our inter-relationships with others or with all things around us, yes.

For example, when you were born, you had no ego. But when you grow up and then you know yourself to be beautiful or handsome, yes, then, the ego begins to grow yeah. And everybody praises you. Wa! you're beautiful! And then, You have a Ph.D.! You grow more in pride, and that is the ego, yeah.

But, don't worry about it. It's just a good accessory sometimes. And you can throw it away anytime you don't need. But, you have to have enlightenment first in order to know when to wear it, and when to put it down. Okay?

Initiation To

Reach

Is

The The

Only Fifth

Way World

Q: What kind of light and sound can I hear when I reach the fifth level? I mean what symbol will let me know if I come to the fifth level of meditation?

M: That I tell you at the time of initiation. Because I cannot just tell you like that at random. I don't know what kind of meditation you do. If you want to elaborate further, maybe it's better, um. The fifth level is meant for the initiated people only, not for other disciples. They couldn't even reach the first. Q: Dear Master, I'm married, but I sometimes have dreams of being with other beautiful girls. How do I prevent these dreams? Am I creating heavy karma? Please tell me.

M: It's alright! Just enjoy your dreams okay?! (Laughter.) Just don't do it in the reality. Otherwise, your wife will not let you enjoy it. And keep it a secret. What can we do with dreams? Right? Forgive yourself. It's okay! Q: When does the soul enter the body? Is it before our birth or after our birth? How can it happen if we are born as a twin?

M: No, because you like to stick together, I guess, huh! You have affinity with each other, um. And you want to go out at the same time to have companion.

No problem about twins, yeah. We are twins ourselves. We have both feminine and masculine aspects inside. And we, if we reunite that, we're happy, um.

Forget about the physical aspect.

Experience

Is

Better

Than

Empty

Talk

Q: Dear Master, please let us know more about energy, the relationship between energy, peace and love. The only thing we know from science is that energy can not be destroyed or created. Energy can be transformed from one kind to another kind. Some say God is energy, God is love. What do you think?

M: I think these are only sayings. Before you experience that, all sayings are empty. I do not like to be a living dictionary but an example of the true knowledge. When you are enlightened, you understand this energy and all the metaphysical questions.

Energy is many kinds, negative and positive. When we are enlightened, we balance both and make use of them for the purposes in life and in the right time, the right situation.

I told you already. If we are enlightened, the world will be at peace. No need to change anything. Of course, that is peaceful energy that we radiate after enlightenment. Q: How to affect our beloved, such as husband or wife, to be a more moral person. Is there a special method to help them?

M: Yes, enlightenment. Enlightenment helps you to be sharper in all feelings, yeah. And you'll be a better wife, be better husband even. Many of our initiates claim that their married life became much better after both of them practiced God's presence, yeah, the light and sound. Before that they just had a kind of very lukewarm relationship, or cold to ice cube. And after enlightenment they know how to care for each other and then feel more toward each other, um. Q: Dear Master, I had a lot of nightmares in childhood. Now the nightmares are

gone, but, I still dream frequently every night. Please tell me are these dreams involved with my karma?

M: Maybe you had a very rough life before, um. You lived in truly nightmarish life . Therefore, the influence still lingers up till now. Well I sounds like advertising manager, but enlightenment is also for everything. If you want to live a fearless life, and dreamless life, then, of course enlightenment is the answer. Q: Master, were Hermes, Zoroaster, the Essences, the Gnostics masters? And who were the first masters? And who is the great white brotherhood?

M: All masters, all true masters are one. They come from one source. And the highest master is the supreme master, the almighty which is in all of you. When we first came here we were masters before. And we came here, we blessed the world. And, we forgot all about our power and our glory. And our energies were also exhausted, because we paid attention to outer phenomenas. So, all the masters who came here are the ones who are awakened in this awareness and know their true glory, and they can travel the road home frequently. And they can lead us back home. So, no need to discriminate between any master. All the religions are founded after the master has gone. Therefore we have Christian after Christ, Buddhist after Buddha, etc., okay?! Q: Enlightenment always seems so lofty. In what ways will I be different after enlightenment ? How will I know?

Is it in black and white?

M: Oh, you'll know it, you'll know it definitely. You'll know it, just like you walk inside the door and when you walk outside the door. It's very definite and very beneficial to your daily life. You will know it, very definitely. Just like an educated person and an uneducated person, there is a great difference. Q: Is it true that to become fully realized one must practice the highest yoga-tantra and the secret mantra? And if Buddha performed these before full realization?

M: I didn't see anything like that in the scriptures. I only saw that He sat under the Bodhi tree for forty days or more. And He saw the stars at the time of realization. So, if you want to have this same realization as Buddha, you can have it, right now, um.

And about tantra and tantrum, I do not know. I did not see anything in the Buddhist scripture referring to the Buddha's practice before He was enlightened.

I only know that He saw the stars and He saw the light. So, if you want that kind, we have it. Okay?! Q: There is a vow to refrain from intoxicants. What about chemicals on fruits and vegetables?

M: Oh, my God! You are fanatic. Wash them with the salty water, yeah, and eat them. Otherwise, you die, hmm? (Laughter & applause.) Q: Since I started the vegetarian diet, my son who's seven years old asks, Is it another no-meat day? I realize my son was born with the great nature of not eating meat. But due to my ill-concept I started his meat eating habit. How can I restore his greatness and reduce my guilt?

M: Um, then take time. You have taken much time and efforts to force your son into meat, and now you have to take the same amount of effort and time to reverse.

How

Dictators

Emerge?

Q: Dear Maser, please explain what kind of karma it is when there were dictators like Hitler, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, who caused the wars that killed millions of people, and made millions of others suffer.

M: That is a collective karma of mankind which, as I told you, are by-products of the inter-relationships between humans and other beings in this world or other worlds. And those kinds of by-products became a kind of very forceful strong energy hanging around our earth's atmosphere. And when it is too condensed, then it has to manifest into some kind of visible, such as a very great dictator who kills millions, etc.

As you have asked, so therefore, these people are not to be blamed also, in a sense. But, ourselves are to be blamed. If each one of us leads a life of virtues, keeps the commandments, and refrain from killing of any kind - including the indirect killing, so keeping the vegetarian diet - and the world would never have bred these kinds of dictators in the first place.

These are there to remind us of the virtuous way, and if we are not awakened yet, then these things will continue to remind us until the whole mankind is awakened.

How

To

Eradicate

Anger?

Q: What is anger? Why does it boil inside us? And how do we release this anger?

M: Sometimes it helps to release it outwardly. Sometimes between husband and wife or men or parents and children there exists some kind of tension. And after you have cleared it together, you clear the air, it's also helpful.

Whatever comes naturally, just let it be. If you cannot control it or you cannot control it completely, just try not to bear hatred in it. Just express what you feel, express it in as best manner as you can okay?! Because sometimes anger, when swallowed too much of the time will breed disease within the body.

So the best is that, first we have the virtues of God, and then other passions like anger, greed, attachment, will subside by and by. Q: You say only human beings can become a Buddha. I want to know if when a disciple passes away and he is on the 4th level, does he need to come back to this world to be a human being and after that to study until he becomes a Buddha?

M: Oh, no, he doesn't have to. He studies from there. The Master will continue to teach the disciple and never leave the disciple until the disciple completely realize himself, hm! (Applause.) Q: You said You denounce immorality. What is meant by sexual misconduct?

Is that wrong?

M: I do not denounce anything. I just propagate correct way of life. And you are free to follow it, okay?! I do not denounce anything. If you feel that is a denouncement, it's not true. Just that you go into the wrong direction. Now you should go back to the right one, if you want to arrive at your destination which is the Kingdom of God. Too much sexual abuse and indulgence tires your body, exhausts your mental power which should be conserved for the greatest enlightenment, and to help yourself and to help mankind. It's more noble that way. That's all, yeah.

Sexual misconduct means you have too many girl friends, too many boy friends, too many husbands and wives. It exhausts your storehouse of energy, okay?! Q: How do You suggest that a person go about attaining enlightenment when that person lives in extreme and almost constant pain.

M: There are many drugs that help you with pain these days. You do not have to endure that. Medicine, you can take in order to prevent the pain. And then when you are calm and peaceful, then you can meditate. Q: Please let us know if God, the comforter that God sent, the spirit of truth, is only one comforter or a few comforters? If there are a few, please let us know how many?

M: You want to shop, uh, shopping for enlightenment! (Laughter.) One is enough for you, right now, okay?! (Applause.) Because even if there are a few, who knows if they will come to you and when, and whether you are still alive when the other comforters come, understand? Okay? Q: Oh, Master, I have a hard time meditating because my head hurts when I start to meditate. Please tell me how to stop the headaches?

M: Maybe you try too much. You should not have any effort, yeah. But I don't know what kind of method you study, so it's difficult to tell you. But whatever you do, relax, yeah. Just do it just like you are mowing a lawn or eating the breakfast. No need to put strain on your brain for concentration. In our method we do it without effort. We just sit there and the light comes. Therefore, it is better. Q: What does it mean when some people are absent-minded when someone talks to them, and they just don't react, or they instantly forget what you've just said. Is it because they're too mental or they use their mind too much?

M: How do I know? You ask them?! Q: Dear Master, when You die where does your soul go and what happens to your energy and karma?

M: Me or anyone? ( Q: It says when You die.) I'll tell you after I die, okay?!

(Laughter & applause.) It's too early. I mean I am still very young.

Heavy

Karma

Incurred

In

Meat

Eating

Q: If after being initiated and I still make a mistake like eating meat or having an evil thought, does it mean that I'll be disconnected from God or suffer some bad punishment?

M: Evil thought, you might not be able to control it immediately after enlightenment, because it's just like the car brake, you see. When the car runs sixty miles an hour, and if you want to brake it, do it slowly, yeah. So, it'll probably take some time to be able to purify completely yourself.

But the meat you can avoid it, yeah, except when you don't know it and you eat it by mistake, then that's fine. But you have to meditate more on that day to clean that, because that is a very heavy karma. That's what makes people ill, what makes our body suffer, and what makes us go to hell afterward to repay for the suffering of other beings. (Applause.) Q: Dear Master, I sincerely thank You for the lecture today. I wish that You take care of Your health, so that You can continue to give lectures for the rest of the world, and save people who have the sincerity to find the way back to God's home. Thank You again. Please take care of Yourself.

M: Thank you, thank you. God takes care of me. You take care of me. Because you have love for me, you have good thoughts for me, you have loving wishes for me, therefore you take care of me.

I can't take care of myself. I just flow with the water. Wherever there is demand, I just have to fulfill it. I have no time or actually no very fixed schedule to say that I can take care of myself. Never mind, I am okay. I work hard and I am alright. Q: This question is about discipline. I find that I am very devoted to trying new techniques for a period of time. When I do not see results or when I get too busy or too tired, I just give up, I don't stay with the discipline. How can I push through my weakness and continue with daily routine and mastery?

M: Ah, of course if you have a method and it doesn't work very well, and also maybe you do not follow the practice regularly and diligently and sincerely, then, you lose your faith, yeah. So, try to do what is instructed, and then your faith will grow more with the results. Of course if you don't have results, you don't have faith, and the less faith you have, the less results. So, you'll be in the circle.

Awaken The Primitive Force Of The Universe Q: Master, sometimes during meditation with the Convenient Method, I feel a chill from my spine going up to my head, and then there seems to be a feeling of energy encircling in my head. What does this mean? Is this a bad or good sign?

M: It's okay. It's your kundalini at work. Afterward you'll be used to it. It's only a Convenient Method, and still it works all so much, because of the master power blessing you. Other people they practice many years to try to awaken the kundalini, and they can't do it. Q: Did Jacob receive bad karma for tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing? Did Benjamin receive bad karma for tricking his brothers into bringing his father to Egypt?

M: Oh, he talks about Bible? ( Q: Ah, the Old Testament.) Oh, what do we know about these people? Why do we care? They are all gone, yes. (Laughter & applause.) I think we have enough work to do with our own.

Okay. That's it? I am relieved? Ah, fine. Thank you for your attention.

(Applause.) who WE ARE We are all movie stars and the world is a great stage. We play roles life after life, sometimes as a husband, a wife, a minister or a queen and sometimes we play less desirable roles. And we play them unknowingly and ask ourselves why we have to play these roles, why such and such is on the throne and I am only a secretary. Those who are awakened know that the world is only a stage for us to learn, to fulfill our desires and needs, and to get closer to perfection. .....

Life eternal is what we are, wisdom is what we possess, love is what our nature is, and this cannot be destroyed, with any bomb at all. It cannot be limited by space and time.

Where Are The Buddha-Lands?

Shakyamuni Buddha, when He was alive, what I mean is that when He was still on the physical plane, in the physical body, He introduced to us so many wonderful lands that we call Buddha-lands. And Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He also told us and introduced to us many so-called heavens, different levels of consciousness. Also He had told us: In the house of my Father, there are many mansions. Do you remember? What does it mean by many Buddha-lands? What does it mean by In the house of my Father, there are many mansions?

I would like to introduce to you one of the Buddha-lands, and you could also say that it's one of the mansions of God. According to Buddhism, there is one Buddha-land which is very beautiful. Well, there are many different Buddhalands, but today we'll speak about one of them. This Buddha-land is called the Land of the King of Medicine Buddha.

When this Buddha was in a physical body and roamed around the world liberating sentient beings, he had twelve kinds of vows for the benefit of the people. What does it mean making vows? When you are practicing for Bodhisattvahood, meaning when you are practicing to become a saint, you'd like to help people in such and such a way, and so you wish inside your heart that people would benefit from you in certain ways. These are so-called "vows". And through the power of your practice, your virtues, your will power and good will, these vows will become true.

So one of the vows of the King of Medicine Buddha, which we call "Yiao Shi Pho" in Chinese, was that if anyone came to him afflicted with any kind of disease, body and mind, he would first give them relief -- give them food to eat, medicine to take care of their health, and then slowly he would make them realize the highest potential power within themselves, what we call the Buddha nature, or the Kingdom of God. When the disciples of the Buddha went to this Buddha of the Medicine Land, they saw that the land was endowed with so many precious stones, and the earth was made with crystal. Most of the Buddha-lands are similar in character. The Land of the Medicine Buddha and the Land of Amitabha Buddha are similar in character. The earth is made of a kind of crystal or of luxurious stones. Houses are made from seven precious jewels -- rubies, diamonds, gold, etc.... The people who live in this kind of land are ever, ever joyful, never have any difficulties, never heard of any miseries. Even the word misery doesn't exist in that land, how much less they have to experience this kind of suffering.

Whereby in our world, which we call the Earth, there is a kind of mixture between suffering and happiness. Sometimes we suffer, sometimes we enjoy.

Some people are sorrowful, some people are happy. It's different in the Land of the Buddha. Only happiness, only joy, only bliss, only love. No suffering, no misunderstanding, no violence, no blaming, no quarreling, no war.

What is the purpose of the Buddha telling people about all these beautiful lands?

So that they realize that there are other universes, there are other beautiful planets to which we can go, live, and stay permanently. No need to cling to this

miserable world. If we think this world is too miserable for us, then we must not stay here. We have a choice. That was the purpose of the Buddha coming into this world, that was the purpose of Jesus when He came into the world, to introduce to the people of our world many other different planets where life is more enjoyable, more suitable to our mentality, or our desire.

The Road To Wisdom Is Endless Now, we think Buddha died and we think Jesus has left the world, has died. But it is not true. Jesus as well as Buddha are still living. They are just living in a different place, and they have also evolved with time, with their job, and with their ever-learning. We can never learn enough. Do not think that after we become Buddha or Christ-like, we stop learning. No, then it becomes like a dead end. The road to wisdom is endless.

So you remember in the Bible, Jesus said something very strange. He said: Whatever miracles, whatever great things I do today, you can do them even better tomorrow. Now isn't that strange? How can we do better than Jesus? Who knows? Please raise your hand. Anyone have any idea why Jesus said such a strange thing? Why did He say we can do greater things than He did? Why did He humble Himself in this way? Why greater than Jesus? Isn't He the only son of God? (Audience: We are the same as He.) Then why should we be greater than Him? He should say that you can do the same. Why would He say: You can do better than I even?

What you have said is all correct, everyone is correct in part. Now, I may add something. Just for example, at the time you met your teacher, or what we call the initiation process, you just had a little taste of a heaven, of the power within yourself. So you may praise Jesus or your teacher very much. You say: "Oh! That was a wonderful experience. What did you do to me? That was incredible!"

So Jesus would humbly say: "No! No! That is nothing. You will do even greater."

What he meant maybe was as you develop more, you will know even more than just what you know today. That's one of the possibilities at that time. I think there is another possibility, another meaning in what He said. It's that He, at that time, was not that much developed, not as much as He could have been developed. Maybe if Jesus came back now, He would be greater than He was then. That was also one of the suggestions.

Also maybe, His power, even though still very great, was difficult to give, difficult to offer to the people, because at that time, our human minds were also underdeveloped as well. We were not as civilized, not as intelligent, as we are now. Even the great Jesus couldn't do much. It's just like when you are a very excellent M.D. or engineer, and you go to Africa with all your Ph.D. and knowledge, what can you do in a jungle? You can only apply some herbal medicine, wash patients with soap, (Master and all laugh) and that's all you can do. If the patients get relief, they praise you. And you, say, "No! No! That was nothing." It's true that it was nothing for what the doctor can do in normal conditions, in a good hospital, where he is surrounded by all kinds of equipment and colleagues who help him in his job.

Also when Jesus came to us, it was 2,000 years ago, and as 2,000 years have gone by, He must have learned much more. So now, if those who are in the future, those who came after Jesus are in a better environment, in a more modernized civilization, of course, they could do greater wonders.

So if we look in the Bible, Jesus didn't have the chance to say much at all. What He said, I am sorry, even though was so great, but He wasn't that great. I don't mean Jesus was not great. It was that He did not have the chance to say much.

Also the people at that time, their understanding, was not that great, not great enough to match Jesus' wisdom. So He had to tell them in parables, kind of stories, had to use some kind of healing power, all these kinds of things, to awaken people. He also told them in very simple straightforward terms -- to keep the commandments, believe in God, pray to God, etc. Only some of His chosen few disciples were selected to be the messengers of His message; the rest He just cured them of their sicknesses, uplifted them a little bit in a mental way, invisible way, comforted them, and reminded them of the commandments or of God. Therefore, those who came after Jesus having the same capacity as He, reaching the same level of enlightenment, could do much more than He did, could speak more in a more logical way, more intelligent way, more scientific way in order to suit the modern society. So it's not very advantageous for us to cling to the image of our old-time Jesus or Buddha. We have to advance, and what we learn today, it must not always be what the people learned in the past.

Now why did the Buddha take so much time and talk about so many Buddhalands? It wasn't "He" who talked even. It was His disciples who were taken to the Land of the Buddha, came back, and wrote the so-called diaries. Of course, the Buddha was in that Buddha-land, and the Buddha was the one who took these disciples around and introduced them. But it was not necessary that he spoke to the earthly people in the human language. Some of my so-called followers, disciples, students or fellow practitioners, whatever you call them, they also have had similar kinds of experiences. They were taken to those beautiful lands of love, peace and glory, those with crystal-paved grounds and golden palaces. When they came back to earth consciousness, they also wrote down their experiences, and their joy in the heavenly kingdom or in these Buddha-lands. So these Buddha-lands do exist, and they are much more beautiful, much more gracious than our earth.

Different Beings In Other Galaxies And On Other Planets In the universe, we can see with our physical eyes that there are many kinds of planets. Our scientists are now trying hard to discover what kinds of planets these are, and if they are peopled or not peopled? Are the people over there similar to ours or not similar? Some of the scientific discoveries have proved that some planets are peopled with beings similar to ours, sometimes they are not similar. Those planets in the universal system are indeed peopled with many different beings. Some are so different vibration, that our physical eyes could not detect them. Even if we send a spaceship to that planet, and the astronauts with all their equipment, we could not see them. Therefore, when our astronauts went to the moon, they saw nothing, and they took some rocks home; they are

very expensive rocks. I think we should buy them and wear them around our neck (Master and all laugh) -- moon stone, because they are more expensive than diamond comparing the cost of the spaceship.

Why is it that our eyes fail to see the invisible beings in other galaxies, other planets? It is because we are made of different densities of matter. Actually, matter is not matter at all. I think science has proved that -- that matter is actually empty of nature, it's only different in density. I think that it's very logical. That's why Buddhism has the theory of emptiness. Emptiness means all things are empty in their own nature, it's only a difference in density.

Now I'll try to make it more concrete. You see, air, we cannot see it, we can use it only. We can breathe and we feel the air is there when the wind blows, otherwise we cannot detect the air. The air is composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Everyone knows that. Water also is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, the same kind of composition -- H2O. But when water vaporizes and becomes air, air is entirely different from water. If we are thirsty, we cannot drink air, (Master and all laugh) we have to drink water, even though they are both composed of the same thing, and have the same percentage of composition. Ice is even more different. Ice is different in density. Water condenses and makes itself become solid, so we have ice. So that helps us to explain the different beings in the universe -- why some are solid, are visible, and others are very intangible, invisible. I think it is the same theory.

We have heard people say: "All beings in the universe are one, are of the same essence." Today I am enlightened in this matter, (Master laughs) thanks to you.

If I hadn't spoken about this, I would have forgotten this wisdom, I wouldn't have remembered. Because today you needed to know this, I had the opportunity to dig this information out, and give it to you. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't have needed this information. It was put safely in the store, and maybe just forgotten.

To become enlightened is also like that. We have to unlock our memory. We have to use it each day, in our daily practice, our daily living. We'll unlock more mysteries, more capacities in our dormant storage of the brain. That's what we call "enlightenment", that's what we call "getting more wisdom"; nothing mysterious about that. Everything we already have in our brain, in our store. It's just that when we don't use it, we forget it. It's just like it's non-existent.

As much as I have told you about the story about the water, the air, and the ice, which are made from the same elements, we are also made of the same essence, the same elements -- that is the light, the vibration, which we call the Word in the Bible. The Word means the vibration. In ancient times, they didn't call it the vibration, they called it the Word. Something with sound, something that makes sound -- that is the Word. Whether it is invisible or visible sound, they had no expression for this; so they call it the Word. Lao Tzu had no expression for this. He called it: If you press me too much, I will say it is the Tao, I have no word for it. In Buddhist terminology, they call it the sound-stream, the inner sound. They all

amount to the same thing. We hear in the Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. This vibration or this light will become more dense, as it descends to different levels of the universal hierarchy. It becomes the most dense here, so we have this kind of visible body to move around in. But when some practice at a very high level, and develop themselves to the highest wisdom and the highest power, they merge themselves back to the original source. Then sometimes you see their body disappear. It's not that they disappear, they just melt into their original form. Just like when ice is put in contact with sun light or fire, it melts into water and then disappears into the air again.

When we meditate, practice, and we become Buddha, a great master, we will not just disappear so quickly. We also have a control over our body, over our destiny, and we want to stay for the benefit of others. But our body is not always real any more. Therefore, sometimes if such a master gives discourses in some way -- in samadhi, or in some way teaching others, some people just don't see the body of the master at all. Just see an ocean of light, and that light will even swallow all the audience in the lecture. That you may experience sometimes. Maybe even to the extent of half an hour, one, two, three hours, you are just lost in the sea of light and blissfulness. It's because the master has merged into the ocean of light. Sometimes the master chooses to manifest this to some of the disciples, maybe just to convince him or her, or maybe just because that disciple had great affinity with that master in the past. But not everyone can see this phenomenon, and not every master is so high to manifest such kind.

Great Enlightened Saints Appear In Every Cycle Of Our Existence Now, it is difficult to find these masters, because they are too ordinary. They might not even have any robe at all. They just wear ordinary clothes. The more ordinary, maybe the more great. Sometimes we happen to walk on the street, and we might see many Bodhisattvas, saints, but we might not recognize them.

They work in silence. In a Buddhist sutra, we call the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said: In every cycle of our existence, the Bodhisattvas -- meaning the great enlightened saints -- will always appear on this Earth to protect the great teaching, protect the dharma.

It's not possible for us to always recognize this, because they are so great in number, and they work in different fields and different ways. You may see an engineer, maybe a doctor, or maybe a taxi driver, but they are great saints. So take care (Master laughs) to respect other people when you happen to bump into them. The best attitude is to look at all beings as Buddhas, as saints, then you may experience great wonders, great changes will be taking place in your life.

I have mentioned already that it is not necessary to go into the Himalayas or to shave your head to become enlightened. I did so because it was my path, my destiny. Also I wasn't enlightened. Now suppose I am already enlightened and I

am already a monk, what would happen if I let my hair grow very long, I wear jeans, and run around? Do you think I'd lose my enlightenment then? (Audience answer: No.) Exactly!

Doesn't matter what you do in the world, doesn't matter how many duties you have to discharge, once you are enlightened, you are enlightened forever. It's just that you need the key to enlightenment, and the faster the better. Of course, we have no time. We are in the modern world. We can't just sit there for years and wait for the sudden awakening. If we do not have any taste beforehand, it is difficult for our scientific age peoples' minds to believe in anything that we cannot prove. Therefore, the so-called masters nowadays openly give people some evidence of the greater level of consciousness, of the Kingdom of God, or of the Buddha's light, in order for people to believe, to get some proof to hang on to, and to develop.

There are only the different levels of enlightenment. Once you are enlightened, you are enlightened. It's just that you choose to go further to be greater, or you choose to stay there. Once you are initiated, you are different beings, you are a different level. Just like once you have graduated from high school and once you have registered at college, you become a college student. There's no going back any more. You cannot be called a kindergarten student any more, or high school student. You choose to learn more, to become a Ph.D., or you choose to stay in that and then you drop out. Nevertheless, you were a college student. You are not a high school graduate.

So once you are enlightened through the grace of a master, through your own effort, you are forever enlightened. You are no longer like you were before. But it's a matter of diligent practice afterward that counts. It's not just one-moment of enlightenment that makes you become a Buddha. It's not that you register once in a college, never learn anything, and then you become an M.D. No, it's not so simple.

As with every other science, we need constant effort and diligent practice. But also we need assurance from a teacher, and a helping hand. Sometimes we slip, sometimes we are ignorant of our progress, and sometimes we do not know the pitfalls in the practicing road, which is a very long and difficult one. So we need a friend, a faithful, unselfish, and wise friend to guide us, to help us on the road.

Walking, we must do alone, but helping, the friend may do -- making the journey more pleasurable, faster, more enlightened. So the teacher is a good friend who walks beside you, helps you when you fall down, cooks for you when you are sick, (Master and all laugh) helps you when you are tired, and encourages you when you lose your enthusiasm. But the teacher cannot enlighten for you. The teacher can put you on the path only, then we can walk.

What Is The Correct Method?

Q: How can we tell whether a method is the correct method? How do you know the method is the highest, is the right one for you to learn?

M: Any method that brings you close to Buddha, your Buddha-nature, brings you back to God, shows you that you have God's power, shows you that you have God's light, Buddha's light, that is a correct method.

Q: I have been a Buddhist for three years, but have had no progress at all.

What's the problem?

M: The problem is that you have only read other peoples' experiences and hasn't had experience yourself. For example, in Buddhism, we have a scripture that describes the Land of Amitabha Buddha with all sorts of beauty. The ground is paved with gold, even the birds can sing the great teachings, there are beautiful palaces, and the people there use lotuses to fly in the air, etc. They have a beautiful pool with nectar. When you drink it, you have so much strength, power, and intelligence, etc. But a person who has never been there before, heard about it.

Then, everyday he just recites this kind of Buddha-land, and he doesn't even have any appetite for it. He might have the appetite, but he has not had the food. My method is to offer you a little bit of the taste of the Buddha-land, so that you know you are on the right path and encouraged to walk further. Then you know you have success. Otherwise, of course, you study for thirty years and you have no success, never mind three years. Three years is too short already.

Some people have waited thirty years, have never seen any Buddha-land, have never had a glimpse of the Buddha's light, have never had a little bit of sound of the Buddha's musical voice. It's very difficult if you don't have a correct teacher, you don't have a correct path. It's never a success at all.

Just like someone takes you to the restaurant. You're so hungry and you want to find a restaurant. At least the person takes you to the right road. If you haven't reached the restaurant yet, you know you are on the right road, and carry on walking further, because you can smell a little bit of the food from its kitchen from far away, and you know that's it, you are on the right path. Otherwise, you walk for many days and many roads, you can never have anything.

Q: I don't believe in any religion at all, and I don't belong to any particular religious group. I only meditate myself. Can I get enlightenment?

M: That shows that you haven't got enlightenment. If you had, you would have known. At least you would feel more secure. Now, we don't need to belong to any religious order or group in order to get enlightenment. We do not even need to believe before we see, but seeing, we must. When we are face to face with God or Buddha, or we have been to the Buddha-land, then we will know. Yes! There is Buddha, now I believe.

It's all right to be an atheist, (Master laughs) but it's not all right to remain like that all our life. We must get some proof as long as we can, as far as we can. If no one else offers us the proof, then no one can blame us for being atheists forever. But if someone stands out and offers us the proof, then we should at least give ourselves a chance to prove the world beyond our existence. Then we can believe there's a Buddha, there's God or there are other saints.

Q: Please explain more about mass suffering, Are they all guilty from before, that's why they are suffering?

M: No one is innocent, I have told you yesterday. I am not condemning anyone at all. It's all learning lessons. Learning is very painful. Once you are awakened, you see things in a different light, and you know it's all lessons.

Look at the mass killing that we do everyday in order to keep this body for one hundred years. How many lives have to be sacrificed -- all the fish, all the shrimps, 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 will be lost, it will be diluted only with a different energy. It will be equalized only by different actions, not lost. For example, vapor air already became ice through water, and now if you want it to disappear, we have to put sun rays, a lamp, light, or heat on it, in order to get it back into the air again.

So if we have been killing, mass massacres, all the time, all these animals suffering, and they also have consciousness, thinking, and hatred energy, all this hatred, fear condenses itself into a powerful energy, and hangs around 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 a vegetarian diet. The least cost to the existence.

Animals have life, plants also have life, but they are the least cost. Just like you earn only a hundred dollars and you want to spend two hundred, then of course you are in debt, you are in trouble. If you try to buy cheap things and satisfy yourself with the minimum cost to live, then you have no worry 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 the milk from the cow, will the cow die? If you take a few nuts from the trees, the trees still have plenty of nuts to grow thousands of nut trees more. They will not be lost. If you cut a flower, or a branch of a vegetable, that 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, less cost.

The Invisible Aspects Q: Did you mean spirit, God is the substance of our body?

M: Yes, yes, the holy spirit is the substance of our body. We come from that.

And when you go very high in wisdom, you will realize that this body is also spirit, from the higher vibration. It has condensed into this kind of form only.

Therefore, if you practice very high or there is a high practicing Master, you don't see the Master. But you have to also develop higher or through the grace of the Master. You don't see the Master at all, only see light here. And the light

is so great that it envelopes the whole audience, the whole hall. You see no one.

You see that there is no matter at all. It's really empty.

That's what we call emptiness. But in the emptiness, you are fulfilled, you are satisfied. It's not the emptiness that leaves you empty and lonely like the ordinary emptiness of this world. The more you empty in the spiritual sense, the more you are fulfilled, the wiser you become. It's all different.

The worldly language is terrible, that's why everyone mistakens Buddhism for nihilism, nothingness, emptiness. (Master laughs.) It's not so. If everything goes back into nihilism, goes back into nothing, then the Buddha would never have emphasized that you keep the precepts, be a good person, be virtuous. What would be the use? You'd become nothing anyhow. You'd become empty. (Master laughs.) No, it's not so.

Q: How can you prove that after the end, another life exists?

M: Well, if you have not been enlightened about this matter already, then you should be enlightened, then you can see. Some people can see these things without having officially been enlightened, due to their sensitive clairvoyant ability. And some people have to have a master in order to be clairvoyant. After enlightenment to some degree, you will come to know all these things.

It's easy to prove, but we must practice. These things are intangible things -belonging to the inner, invisible knowledge. There is knowledge of material nature. There is knowledge of immaterial nature. Now, if you want to prove the invisible knowledge, you have to go to the invisible school, and practice the invisible method. We cannot use the material to prove the immaterial things. But we can prove it in a different way.

Q: What was your method of obtaining enlightenment, and was there a specific moment that you felt it occurred?

M: No. My method is no method. At the time of transmission, you just sit there, and I also sit there. We don't do anything. We don't speak any words. We don't move one inch. But we get the light, and we get enlightenment. We can leave the body, we can visit heaven, or we can at least see the heavenly light or hear the heavenly Word, listen to the instructions of God and become wiser each day.

The method I impart is no method. Thus, I cannot write it down for you. I can only personally, invisibly, and inactively open it for you. I do without doing. If anything involves any doing, any excitement, any movement, it still belongs to the world of form and matter. So our method is a non-substance method, nonform method. But it can be transmitted, it can be had, it can be possessed.

Why is it so? It is because the enlightenment is within yourself, the light is within you, the Buddha-nature is within you, the Kingdom of God is within you. I only point it to you: "Here, look this way and you will see." Sometimes you have eyeglasses in your hand, and you keep looking all over for them. So I say: " It's here, (Master laughs) this way."

So it's no method. You already have it, believe me. No method can lead you to enlightenment, except you have to know your own nature and get in contact with it. That is the only method. Any method that lets you see the Buddhanature at once, see the Heavenly Kingdom at once, that is the Quan Yin Method.

That is the right method. That's the correct method. You call it any name you want, but there's no method.

It's only the power of God which descends into any chosen pure body, and opens your own God-power. It's God who saves God. It's the Buddha who saves the Buddha. It's the Buddha who enlightens the Buddha. It's the Buddha inside you who chooses to be awakened. The Buddha inside me and the Buddha inside you are one.

Because you do not know it yet, the Buddha inside you has to manifest into an outside body, and waken it up. But it is you who wakes up yourself. It's the Buddha-nature inside you who chooses the time. The alarm clock went off, so wake up. It's difficult.

I will not teach you anything. It's you who teaches yourself. It's the Buddha within you who wakes up and realizes who you are, and starts to work with your own capacity, with your own wisdom. Therefore afterward, you will realize that no one is the master. Everyone is equal. Everyone has the same potential. Just you forgot how to use it. The one who remembers, the one who knows will remind you. That's all there is.

If you already have money in your pocket, and I tell you the money is here, I don't give you anything. I only remind you what you have forgotten. Therefore, there's no need for me to use any method. The money is yours. (Master laughs.)

MC: But the Master does open the door, does open the wisdom-mind for us.

Q: Are heaven, Buddha-land, Buddha, only imaginary things in our mind?

Everyone sees a different form of Buddha-land. No such physical existence in reality?

M: Oh, it isn't an imaginary product. Some lands are illusion due to hallucinations. When you are short of oxygen, when you are tired, when you are on drugs or alcohol, or undergoing suffering, you do have hallucinations. These are unreal and you cannot go back to those lands again.

But those Buddhas-lands and real heaven have real invisible substance, and you can go back anytime afterward. Not everyone sees a different land. Many of my disciples see the same land. But because there are so many lands, so of course someone goes there, someone goes here. Just like we have so many countries in this world, some go to America, some go to England. That's of course no doubt.

But England does exist and two or more can go there at the same time.

Q: Are there spirits in this world or just psychological phenomenon unrelated to the level of spirits, made in our mind?

M: There are spirits, yes. What are spirits? They are the encased souls who are not liberated. We are souls who are encased in these bodies at the moment.

After we leave our world, we leave these bodies, but it doesn't mean we are completely liberated. There are other bodies encasing our souls still. Just like a house has many doors.

When I visited the prison (for lecture), there were about thirteen doors, small doors, iron doors. They had to be opened and locked immediately behind me. I went through thirteen doors to visit the prisoners, and I went through thirteen doors to go out again. Now, if the prison officer just opened one or two doors, I'd still be in prison. I would not be liberated. Have to open the last door and then the greater gate outside before I could go back to the free world again.

Similarly, when we leave these physical bodies, it doesn't mean that we are completely free of other bodies. We have other bodies. So the spirits which we see sometimes with different eyes, or other people see with the psychic eyes, these are those encased souls in astral bodies. Sometimes they fly around, sometimes they make trouble, sometimes they don't.

The Real Baptism Q: How does initiation which cancels one's past karma differ from Christian baptism, which removes the guilt of original sin?

M: Is that right? Does it remove? Then how come you keep coming for confession every Sunday? You don't feel removed with baptism. The real baptism came from a Christ-like person, like John the Baptist, like Jesus Christ.

The power of removal, not the action. Just like I sign a check, but I have no money in the bank. (Master laughs.) It's different from my signing a check with the money in my bank account.

Baptism is a beautiful tradition in Christianity, as well as in Buddhism. We call it taking refuge in the Buddha. And when you take refuge, they read out loud: After you take refuge in the Buddha, your karma is all cleansed, you will never be born in hell and as an animal, etc. I have seen many baptized people go to hell. You cannot just do it verbally or by ceremony. There must be invisible Godpower behind it to cleanse you, because sins are invisible.

Does that makes sense to you? Yes, we have to be logical in practice. We can not just be blind, and follow anything people say. We are cheated, we are made fun of, made a fool of. But no doubt after you confess your sins to someone, maybe you'll feel a little relief. But then, you sin again. And also you have not felt any upliftment.

When Jesus baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. When John baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. Therefore, they can see light from heaven. When Jesus was baptized by John, He saw the light come from heaven like a dove.

At the initiation, you will also see such kind of light, at least such kind. So you know that you have been cleansed and you know you have been in contact with

heaven. Otherwise, how do you know? And you'll feel a sudden relief, like a mountain has fallen from your shoulders, like a stone has been removed from your heart. That is the real sign of cleansing and purifying. Otherwise, only talk, and formality. Doesn't remove the original sins just by baptism. If the priest is very high, enlightened, powerful, yes; if not, no.

Q: Why are breathing exercises contrary to Master's method?

M: Because in our body, there are two kinds of currents. One is called the motor current which generates the heat in the body, takes care of the blood circulation and the digestive system. That is supported by the breathing. Now if we control the breath, we make a mess of our orderly system. God has already made our body in a perfect condition. Whatever has to be done is already taken care of.

No need to mess around. All we want to do is to free our soul, not to mess around with the systems of our body. Sometimes it creates danger.

Also, the breath is ephemeral. When you sleep, you are unconscious of breathing. When you faint, when you have an accident, you collapse, you do not know about the breathing. How do you practice then? How do you elevate your soul then?

Our method is the one which makes your soul ever conscious. During sleep, during accident, during collapse time, during disaster, always conscious to take care of your problems, take care of your business, take care of your decisions.

We waken our own soul up. We waken the master of the house up and let him do the job. Then twenty-four hours he does things, without us having to think, and to even to pray for, because the Master has woken up, the Buddha, the holy spirit within us has woken up. The real self, understand? Without having to listen to the brain -- the stupid computer. Therefore, we will do everything in the right spirit. Knowing or not knowing this, we'll always be right, because the master has taken control, not the servant.

If we mess about with our breathing or any so-called body chakra, we interfere with the physical system only and it might bring about some illusion or hallucination, but nothing real. And we will never become any wiser. I have tried, and I have seen many people who are on the top of the so-called breath control. They still have to come to me for wisdom. Someone who practiced breath control with a very famous Chinese master, I won't mention the name, reached the breathless state already. He could survive without breathing. That person was no wiser by any means. He had to come and get initiation. Now, he's different.

Like Hatha yoga, they put all the breath into the stomach, make it become very big and save it there for some time, maybe 2-3 minutes. Breathe it out again. Or they do pranayama. But it's no harm if you take a few deep breaths and do exercises. It's different.

The Difference Between Pure Land And Our World Q: Master, you began your talk today with a discussion on Buddha-lands and the rooms in the mansion of the Father. Please elaborate on this. Why is there a

need for a pure Buddha-land in existence? Is this not the pure land we live in this world, even though it does not manifest itself as pure in your eyes?

M: Yes, our land is very pure indeed. For me, (Master laughs), but not for some.

So you have to find your own pure land. What it means in the Vimalakirti Sutra, about this land is a pure land, is that you can sit here and see the land is pure.

You can sit here and see the Buddha-land right here, right in front of your eyes.

That's what it means. That's what it means by "this land is a pure land."

It's true, but not true to all people. It's true to me, it's true to my disciples, true to some higher level, enlightened people, but not to everyone. Everyone still sees garbage, and sees the mountain and the river.

So what I say about pure land is that, it all exists here and now, but I have to make a distinction. I cannot always tell people: "You look, you live in the pure land now. You no need to move, you no need to exercise, you no need to do any virtues, you no need to meditate. Your land is a pure land." I cannot say that.

It's not correct either.

Also, how do the pure lands of Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, etc. differ from this world, from ours? They differ a lot, too much difference. The lands over there, we know no sorrow, we know no hatred, we know no war. We only know love and mutual respect. This land is full of trouble, full of sorrow, misery. You are happy one minute, and then you are suffering ten minutes. So much difference.

Here you have to labor very long to build a house, and it might collapse with an earthquake, leaving you homeless, no electricity, no water for many days, a lot of inconvenience. We built the bridge in San Francisco. Took many years and a lot of money, billions of dollars and a lot of labor; and in just 50 seconds, it was gone.

In those lands, such thing never happen. We are always secure and live in love, light and grace. There are a lot of differences. You do not need to earn money.

Everything we want comes immediately, in front of our eyes, without even having to move, go to the supermarket or change money. We go from one Buddha-land to another without any passport trouble, without any bureaucratic problem. Now you want to go to America, it's not easy, you want to get out, it's also not easy, because you need money, need passport, need relations in the other land in order to move. In Buddha-land, it's not so. You go anywhere you want. You're free.

Q: When I meditated one day I saw the light, but it nearly electrocuted me and I thought l would die. I don't understand this.

M: You saw the light was of a very high electronic nature. We might use our worldly terminology. Therefore when it touched the body, it became very powerful. That's why we have to be vegetarian and lead a virtuous life, so we don't have this kind of shock. If a very high frequency touches very gross matter, of course it will be in conflict. But if the matter is not that gross, not that coarse, then the two are blended, and you don't feel the shock.

It's dangerous to practice without the guidance of a real master and ethical discipline. All the meat and intoxicants we take will intensify the grossness of our body, the coarseness of our physical being. And the more we are condensed, the less we can blend with the higher frequency. Therefore it gives a shock. We have to develop the body, mind, and speech in order to match it.

You see the astronauts when they go into space, they have to eat different food, wear different clothes in order to suit the air pressure in higher space. They cannot wear like we wear here. Or when we go into the sea, we have to take an oxygen mask. We cannot be casual like in this land. Different atmosphere, we have to be equipped with different instruments. It's good that you have withstood this experience, and have become more enlightened. Congratulations!

Q: It is true that instant enlightenment can be attained, not only through Buddhas of enlightenment, but also through a city marshal, who knocks unexpectedly at your door.

M: It's true if that marshal is a Buddha, he can open the light for you. Then he is also an enlightened Buddha in the form of a marshal. Buddhas have many forms. If you are a marshal and you become completely enlightened, then you are a Buddha. There's no need to change the outer appearance. But any ordinary being cannot just give you instant enlightenment, be it the president or a marshal. It's not the form, the position, or the job that counts. It's the power within that person.

When You Teach,You Should Be A Responsible Teacher Spoken by the Supreme Master Ching Hai during the International Seven-Day Retreat In Taipei, Formosa May 27, 1994.

(Originally in Chinese) The Convenient Method Casually Imparted To Children And Adults

Should

Not

Be

The Convenient Method should not be taught randomly to young children. There are many children in school and sometimes, their teachers just casually teach them to sit and meditate. Sometimes, no one is around the children, so if they (the children) see some visions of different levels during meditation, they may be shocked, or they may not understand. The way you teach is different from the way I teach, and your power is only second-hand.

The children may not really be frightened, but then again, you don't know anything about their karma. Being new to the meditation, they may have bad experiences. Children are like us. Their souls, their karmas and their reactions are identical to ours. So, you should not teach them meditation when they are too young. Therefore, only children of six years old and above are allowed to learn a little, and when they are older than twelve, they are allowed to learn more. If their parent is not an initiate, they can only be initiated when they have reached sixteen years of age. Only those above sixteen or eighteen years old are allowed to be initiated. Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".) I teach whom I should teach. It's not necessary to teach young children at random.

You should not casually become a teacher just because you love to teach. You don't know how to teach and will not know about the children when they go home because you are not there to supervise them. It is different if they were taught by the Master. I will be responsible for them if I teach them; I will go with them wherever they go. (Applause.)

Children do not understand much. Their souls are identical to adults', but they do not know how to react. Sometimes, they do not know how to react to their inner experiences. For instance, when you are meditating, some of you are heavier in karma, so you have inferior experiences. Sometimes, during meditation, you may see something which makes you uneasy, and you write to ask the Master or pray to the inner Master for help; and the Master will come to help! But the children do not know what to do.

Do you think that children can have very good experiences when they just begin to learn to meditate? They are similar to you. The good children will, naturally, perceive superior and beautiful worlds; while the relatively not-so-good children, whose karmas are heavy, will see the dark worlds and, sometimes, experience something unpleasant. What if they get possessed? Will you be responsible for them? You just teach anyone randomly. I did not tell you to teach the Convenient Method to the children. I say this for the last time: "You can't just do what you like to do, as being a teacher." It is easy to teach children, and they will do anything they are taught. However, this should not be the way.

Some time ago, I had replied in a letter - perhaps, in the news magazine - that the Convenient Method should not casually be taught to children. It is all right if he is your child, because, if something happens to him or if there is something that he does not understand, then you can ask me; you can stay with him and take care of him. But if you are teaching other people's children, they may leave the following year. Or they may go to another school the following year and you don't know what will happen to him later. So you can't do this. I do understand that you all love teaching people; you love to be a teacher. However, when you are a teacher, you have to take the responsibility. You should not be a teacher just for the sake of the 'teacher' status only. Our Convenient Method is not an external method; it involves communication with the inner power. Therefore, you must not be careless in guiding people when you have no power. Do you understand?

We all know very well. For instance, if I were teaching you an ordinary method like the so-called masters are teaching - "... Sakyamuni Buddha .... bla bla bla ..." - simply reciting the scriptures, would you be still following me? Why do you follow me? (Everybody answers, "Because You are different.") Right! Not the same. We communicate from within. I am teaching you from within - not the superficial teachings. I am not, randomly, reciting some scriptures to you, anybody can do that! Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".) You cannot do the same thing as I do just because you observe me doing it; you should not. I don't even teach children the Convenient Method. I, myself, very rarely do so... unless it is for some very special situation. First, because he does not know what to do when he goes home. Second, after he goes home, he will teach his parents. (Everybody laugh.) Then, his parents will teach their friends, and their friends will teach their children. Then, their friends' children will go and teach their friends' children. That friend's children will then teach their friends'

friends' children. The power disappears! Everybody gets possessed and gets into a mess. Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".)

Don't do things just because you want to do them. You should not do things so casually. You may have good intentions, but if you don't understand the reason, the consequence may be harmful to other people. Do you understand?

(Everybody answers, "Yes".) Therefore, many people - who have learned randomly - get possessed. This will not happen if they learn from us. Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".) Because the people outside are disorganized.

They just learn at random. They cross their legs like this, place their hands like that, put their head this way, and then "meditate". What kind of meditation is that? There is nothing, no power at all that supports them, no elevation whatsoever of their internal level, and they have no inner experience. They are not cleansed of any of their karma. It is useless for them to sit for a thousand years! You all know it very clearly.

Only An Enlightened Master Has The Power Of Imparting The Method And Protection Originally, even the Convenient Method is an esoteric method. Why is it an esoteric method? Because it must be imparted by a master for one to get in touch with the inner power. Outsiders do not know why this person is meditating differently from that person, or why the teachings of this master are different from that master's. This is the esoteric method ... not that we have anything esoteric. Even if I were to write and publish a book openly teaching the outside people how to meditate, and they learn the Method through reading the book, it still would not be effective. Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".) The two of them - Master and disciple - must communicate with each other and consent mutually - I agree to teach and you agree to learn. This is the esoteric method, only the two of us - Master and disciple - know. It is not simply teaching people to sit like this. This would be selling it cheaply.

I have never said that you can teach the Convenient Method to children, have I? (Everybody answers, "No".) Then, why is that teacher doing it so casually? Not doing what he should do, and doing what he should not do... I am referring to the Convenient Method. Do you understand? You can teach people the other things: to perform charities, to keep the five precepts, to be vegetarian, not to smoke nor drink alcohol, etc. These are good things which can be taught to others. You can teach others the external morals, things beneficial to the stability of our world, but not matters concerning the inner power. This is a profound matter! This is not buying and selling, not simply repeating a sentence!

This is concerning the Convenient Method which you should not even teach ordinary people at random. Do you understand?

We should see whether that person is kind-hearted or longing for the Truth before we teach him. Do you understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".) A vicious person will be possessed if you teach him this method because he has too much karma inside. For instance, that person is extremely vicious, and he does not

repent nor become a good person; after you teach him this Convenient Method, he will have an internal struggle. This method is the best, the most beautiful, the most virtuous and the most compassionate; it belongs to the Yang (positive) force. He is deep in the Yin (negative) force. Mixing these Yang and Yin forces together, that person will struggle internally. Do you understand? He will be possessed and have conflict within himself, a change will occur in him.

Therefore, you should not just teach anyone at random. If our method could be for anyone, then I would have already made it wherever I went. And I would have no need to teach you to become vegetarian, keep the five precepts, perform charities, be a good person, meditate every day, and always study Master's teachings. There are certain rules in teaching anything, and because we are teaching the incredible power of the universe, of course, there are rules, too.

You must be careful because you don't know how to use it. For instance, the atomic bomb is not meant to be a plaything for children. Can we let an ordinary person use it? Even a general or a scientist - whose work is not related to it - is not allowed to use it. Do you understand?

You must be careful in handling matters concerning the internal states of consciousness. With regard to external knowledge, one can learn to be a physician, a doctor, a professor, a musician or anything one wants; but you should not use the same criterion for something that concerns the internal states of consciousness. It is fine if you have the Master power inside; but you should just let it be if you do not have it! If you do not have it yet, then do not act rashly. Understand? (Everybody answers, "Yes".)

When you go out to represent me to perform the initiation, remember that it is always the Master who is performing the initiation, not you. However, we still have to select the right person to be sent out. It is not really selecting, but training him for a while, and teaching him how to do it. He cannot just teach anyone at random. This applies, also, to the outer aspect which also requires some training. He must be able to talk fluently and know how to answer people's questions.

Handle

Worldly

Matters

With

Your

Own

Wisdom

However, there are certain things that you can handle by yourself. For instance, recently, you all know that Master is concerned about helping the refugees. In this case, you can do anything that you feel is best to try to achieve this objective. It is not necessary for everyone of you to wait for my instructions, to ask Master this and that. Do you understand this? There are thousands, tens of thousands and millions of you. If everyone of you has to ask me what to do, then when can you all finish asking me? You all have the inner Master in you, ask it. Meditate well, and then ask it. Try your best to help with those administrative works. Do you understand? For instance, if you know the President, then, talk to him directly. Why do you still have to ask me? (Laughter and applause.) when ANGRY Hsihu Center, Formosa Dec. 25, 1995.

Always keep a peace mind.

Whenever someone angers you or you feel anger towards someone, don't put all this anger on that person. Just remember the Holy Names and try to center yourself as much as you can. If you forget, okay, when you remember, try to be centered again and forget that person.

As soon as you become centered within yourself, love will flow. Then you will forget. You will think it is a small matter and it's easy to love thy neighbor or love thy enemy. Otherwise, if we keep rushing toward that person with all our anger, then we forget our real Self. We project all our energy to that person and then we, the practitioner, having a very good energy, just give it all to them even though with hatred. You've lost everything. You have emptied your pockets. You have thrown it at him just like when I throw candies to you. Do I still have any candies left in my pocket? No. You have seen my mini-car with the big basket and you have seen me with a lot of big boxes sometimes, but all I do is throw it at everyone that comes near so that in the end I have nothing left. Whether I throw it with anger or with love, I still throw it at them. Of course when I throw, I throw with love. But similarly, if we throw anger at someone, that is still our capital as well. All our attention, all our energy is thrown at that person and the whole day's meditation or maybe the whole month's is spent; empty pockets. Then you have to start from A, B, C again. "Oh Master, please, I can not see anything, all black." Or maybe you can not hear anything, you become spiritually deaf and blind.

So actually, we cannot afford to be angry. Anytime, try to control, anytime, try to get back our center. Then spend it as you like. Don't be forced to spend by the power of anger, the power of grief or anything like that.

We can always save ourselves if we are centered all the time -- self centered, not selfish self-centered, stay always stable in the face of typhoons, hurricanes, etc.

It is very difficult to get along with our family members, neighbors and friends sometimes; but it is even more difficult if we don't try to get along. We will lose some of our power, our loving kindness and our enlightenment anytime we hate our neighbours.

Anytime we think negatively about someone we lose some of our Self, we lose some of the light, we lose some of the heavenly happiness that normally belongs to us. So if we can see clearly all this, we actually cannot afford to hate anyone.

What Reincarnates?

Q: Some people go overboard in understanding reincarnation which sounds like myths. Please explain what does reincarnate after death? Knowing the personal "I", the personality, body, environmental and cultural mind doesn't reincarnate.

So again, what does?

M: Oh! It is the personality that reincarnates. Reincarnation doesn't mean we come back again in the same body, but our thinking, our desire, our attachment to something which could not be solved in the present life will come back again, packed together in another body, and that is what is called reincarnation. And so that body continues to enjoy, to suffer whatever was left behind, left over from this present life. Maybe in a different body, different shape of body even. Maybe this life we are black and next life we will be white, or yellow, or red. Or this life we are in this human body and next life we are in a different clothing of body like the animal clothing-body.

Because everything we think, speak, desire, and attach to, has energy, it formulates itself into a very concrete type of atmosphere and then that atmosphere evolves again in a different environment and different circumstance in order to fulfil, to dilute all these concrete forms which already exist.

Everything existing must be destroyed, must be changed, must be fulfilled in one way or another. This is what reincarnation means.

For example, we see, we grow the flower, the plant, and the plant produces the flower, then somehow nature one day will destroy the flower because it has been in existence and then after sometime, it has to be dissolved. So if our thinking, our attachments and desires are not able to be fulfilled in this life, they have to be in the next. It's very logical. It's nothing mysterious. There's no myth about reincarnation.

Q: Is reincarnation a choice of the soul or spirit, or is it something that will occur automatically without choice by the control and decision of the higher power?

M: We have choice and we do not have choice. For the average people, they have no choice. For the Buddhas, saints, Christ, they have choice. They consciously choose their parents, date of birth, the place of birth, and the date of death, date of leaving the world; they have choice. They are conscious in the womb of the mother already. They are conscious before they came to the world.

They came by choice, they came to save the world, to help some of their friends, to help those who pray to them for help. They have choice. But other people, they are compelled to reincarnate by their own deeds, actions through the past life.

As I have just explained before, our thinking and habits form themselves into an energy and that will force us to come into a different environment, to fulfil and to eradicate if necessary. This already formed concrete energy has to be diluted.

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap Q: What is karma and what is the association between karma and enlightenment? Is there such a thing as immediate enlightenment within the concept of karma?

M: Karma is what we call cause and effect. Whatever you sow, so shall you reap in the Bible, that is karma. Now, we can sow and we can reap, but then we can wipe off also. Therefore, Jesus, Buddha had to come to earth in order to help us to pay this terrible debt that we could not pay ourselves, which is called karma,

which we sowed so many, now we reap so much. So some people like the Father, Son or the Buddha come down with unlimited merits, understand, and they can give anything you need, they can pay the debts for you. Because God is all merciful, limitless of grace and blessing, whatever you ask, you will get. If you knock, it will be opened.

Now mostly, we don't ask, we don't knock and we just knock our heads against the wall, (audience laughs), so we get not much grace and blessing. And we think God is not merciful. God is. Hes always sends some of Hiers messengers to the world like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc. to save us, to lead us back home.

Despite our karma, in spite of our heavy debt, they can take us home and we can get immediate enlightenment through such persons' grace.

For example, now we are born in a very poor family. Our family, generation to generation, has been poor like that and we can never have any hope to get any richer or to get any better situation in the society. But then along comes a prince or a very big officer, and he has so limitless wealth and he happens to chance on our family and he happens to like us or like our daughter, wants to marry her.

Then, we become different people, we become a different family, our position will change. However much debt we owe to the neighbors, or to the landlord in our region, he will pay with his own money and take us to the palace.

Now God is similar to a very rich, wealthy, billion, billion, billionaire. Whoever calls on Hirm, Hes will cleanse all the sins and make us angels, make us Godlike. Why is it possible? Because there's nothing impossible with God, anyhow. If Hes can create the whole universe, Hes can just take us home if Hes so desires.

But then because we do not know where God is, and between God and us, there exists a very thick curtain of so-called karma, so Hes needs to send someone looking like us in order to go through and shake hands with us and say, "Hey, come."

God is so intangible, so abstract. Even though Hes appeared to us, we would not see. We are used to seeing illusion, we are used to seeing concrete forms. If God appeared, we could not know, we could not recognize. So we need someone who is expert to tell us, "Oh! Yeah, what you saw yesterday, that is God, or let me make you see God in a moment, or in five minutes you will see Hirm. When you see such and such and such, that is God who appeared to you in such a form, or in such energy, in such wisdom." Then we understand.

So, you can get immediate enlightenment for sure. No doubt about that. We can see God immediately because God is within us. In the Bible it is said: Know you not, that you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells within you. If Hes is within us, then we could immediately see Hirm, no doubt. It's just a question of know-how. In American we say, "know-how", hah?

Meditation Q: What is the first step one must take toward reaching God?

M: We must pray that if God exists, please guide me, please help me. And stick to your religion and pray to that religious head that you believe in to help you. If you're Christian, pray to God, pray to Jesus, Santa Maria. If you're Buddhist, pray to Buddha, to Bodhisattvas, Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Amitabha Buddha, etc., to help you. That's the first step.

The second step is, we must lead a virtuous life as prescribed in the Bible and in the Buddhist scriptures or in any other religious scriptures. I haven't seen any major religion which teaches people to do bad things. So follow your own religious ethic, as the second step.

The third step is, we must find someone, and very importantly, who has known God, who has realized God, to show us something, to share with us the wealth that he or she has got. Just like if we want to speak English, what is the first step? Prepare the money for it, so that the teacher will accept you and then go and find a teacher -- one who can speak English. If you find one who speaks Spanish, then no good. (Master and audience laugh.) It's very easy.

Enlightenment Q: According to what You said, is meditation the only way to see Buddha or to reach enlightenment?

M: Yes. Did you see Buddha meditate? Did you see Jesus meditate? Yes? He meditated and the last time lasted forty days in the desert. Now if someone never meditated before, could he just go suddenly into the desert and meditate for forty days? No, no, no. This is a very experienced practitioner who could do such a thing. So from this, even with so little information, we know Jesus had been meditating all along and that was the last, final time, before He went out and taught the world.

Buddha meditated all the time for six years. But then, the last, final time, it was forty-nine days. Then, He went out to teach the world. So no one reaches nirvana or the Kingdom of God without meditation. Why meditation? To still our mind in order to receive the teachings from heaven or from the Kingdom of God, or from the Buddhas in the higher world. If we always keep praying and asking, "Please give me wisdom. Please give me that. Please give me ...," and whenever Buddha wants to speak, He has no chance any more, because we are busy all the time (audience laughs): we talk, we ask, and we talk and we don't listen. So meditation is a listening time.

Just like when you ask me a question and then you have to be still for a while, quiet, then I have a chance to tell you what I want to say or what you need to know. So meditation is like that - sit still and receive the message. Otherwise, God wants to tell you hundreds of dozens things and you have no time to hear it. You're too busy talking, praying, singing, prostrating, bowing, and counting the rosary. (Audience laughs.) It's all right to do these. I don't mean this is no good. This is very good. But then, we must be still for some time so that God has a chance to communicate. That is called meditation. Too easy, very easy to understand.

The Role Of The Master Q: Please explain the differences among the enlightenment -- master, Buddha, Bodhisattva. Which of the above fit You the most closely?

M: Fit me? I do not care what you call me. Call me what you want. You see, I'm a 'garbage collector'. (Master and audience laugh.) Yeah, I collect the humans' 'garbage' and clean them, so that the world will be in a better, harmonious atmosphere and people will be in less suffering and more wise. I take their 'garbage' and give them 'jewels', give them wisdom. I take their karma and suffering and give them joy and happiness. So you may call me 'garbage collector'. No need such a big title like Buddha and Bodhisattva - scares me to death. It denotes the glorious position. In fact, I only collect 'garbage'. Collect all the bad, negative atmosphere and you know, all the things scattered here and there which make our world miserable and unbearable. I collect all these and burn them up, clean the world. May I help you? May I ask you also to help me in this 'garbage collecting' program by joining us to meditate on the positive power, on the God power which is almighty? We can clean all the sin, can bestow all the grace. This is my job. You may join also and become the same.

No need for Buddha and Bodhisattva, these sound too glorious and honorable.

(Master laughs.)

In fact, we work very hard. Whoever reaches this level and are commissioned by God are volunteers to help sentient beings. We work very hard and we suffer.

Not much glory here in this world. You might get glorified when you go back to heaven, go back to the Buddha's-land, but here in this world, there is not much for Buddhas.

Q: Will You tell us who will be the right master to learn religions from?

M: It's like this. We do not follow a teacher, we only follow the teaching, so we can never go wrong. In case the teacher goes wrong when the teaching is okay, then we follow the teaching. We have to see if the teaching is correct. For example, you see if my ethics are correct or not correct, if whatever I teach you I follow or not. For example, I teach you not to eat meat. I also eat vegetarian. I also teach you not to steal. I also don't steal. I teach you to give away in charity. I give away myself in charity. I teach you to love people. I do love people and help people unconditionally. I take no money for the teaching I give.

I earn my own money. So you have nothing to lose at all, except to gain.

Now also every moral standard which is described in the Buddhist scriptures and described in the Christian Bible, I convey to you again, so I teach nothing new, nothing immoral, nothing unethical, so you may feel safe to know that your teacher won't teach you anything wrong, outside of the scriptures. I teach you everything from the scriptures. From ancient times, the ethical conduct doesn't change. The commandments from God, from Buddha will not change. I teach you the same, and I do the same. So you know at least I'm not the bad type.

And now the teaching is correct, right?

And the meditation will provide you with wisdom, peace of mind. Doesn't matter which technique, it will also help you somewhat. So there is no exception about

our technique. I only tell you that it's the fastest, that's all. But you may not you don't have to believe me. I only inform you and now you have your own choice. I only tell the truth. If it is fast, I say it is very fast. I'm also a monk, I'm not allowed to tell a lie anyhow. Even average people will not tell a lie, so what would a monk tell lies for. And I have no reason to do that, because I don't need your money, I don't need anything, and I don't even live here. I profit nothing from you. I may even leave tomorrow or you may leave me and never see again - goodbye. So, I profit nothing.

Ah! So from this stand-point you're safe. You follow the teaching only, don't follow me. The teaching will always be with you, and you don't need to follow me in person. In case you want some personal advise during your meditation progress, you may write to me. Nowadays no need to stick with the master all the time. Or you could go to Formosa or wherever I am staying. This body is only an appearance, a house, an office, so that you may see me. If I used the spiritual body only, you could not see me at all. And when I talked, you couldn't hear. So how could I convey the message to you. I have to use the body. That's the use of the body. This body is not much use in other senses.

So no need to fear that when I go away, you'll have no one. You'll always have someone. You may even see me appearing in your house just like this. If you are sincere and high level enough, you will see the Master come to you and you will see the Master all the time whenever you need. No need to cling to a physical body.

Q: She asks You if You have a dream?

M: Yes, I have dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that everyone becomes Buddha. I dream that all killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other, and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed by some crazy atom bomb. It took billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it's so beautiful, so wonderful.

I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love. Yes, that is my dream. (Audience applaud.)

Q: What is the fastest way to reach true enlightenment?

M: Meditate with our method and a virtuous life.

Q: Christ did a few miracles, did not know other languages other than Jewish, but these miracles convinced us. How about nowadays' masters? How do we know that they are holy?

M: You see, the miracles don't secure a holy personality. Many people have miracle power without being holy. This you know: the black magician, the white magician, they all have miracles, but that doesn't mean they are holy. Jesus had to use these miracles because it was in different circumstances. Nowadays we are more intelligent, we are not as barbaric, we are more technological, more advanced, more civilized, and more scientifically minded.

So, there's no need clinging to these miracles. As I have already told you, Seek you first the Kingdom of God. I do not want to use miracles to bait you because I respect your wisdom, I respect your intelligence. I do not think of you as children that I have to use some colorful toys in order to attract you; I think this is not very respectful. Because I respect you very much, therefore I use wisdom, I use logic to appeal to your wisdom, to your logic so that you might get higher in your understanding and not just cling to these physical phenomena such as miracles.

You will know that I have a lot of miracles, limitless miracles. When you reach my level, when you are sincerely practicing, then I'll show you, but not now. Not by force, not on demand, understand? If you respect me at all, then do not demand such, because I respect you. I do not use this "hula-hula-hop" to play with you. I do not think you are such a level. And I do not want to attract this kind of level either. If you are not yet grown up in wisdom, then I'll let you wait.

If you already have some wisdom and ideas of how a practitioner should be, why we should practice meditation and virtues, then you come to us, join with us to cleanse the planet, to bless all beings, not to play with miracles.

Miracles don't make a person holy, that is for sure. You will know my miracles in time if you are sincere, if you have a higher ideal. You will know everything about your Master in time. I'm not selling cheap in the supermarket.

Keep God In Mind And Remember Love Q: How do we understand or in better terms reconcile our dark sides: evil, lust, etc., with the holiness and good tidings of the Supreme Entity?

M: Yes, by leading a virtuous life, changing from dark to light. Use the light to dispel darkness. For example, when the sun comes out, darkness is gone. By practicing the present from God, listening to the instructions of God everyday, seeing God's light everyday, we will cleanse out the evil tendencies, and clean out the worst evil tendency even. The more people in the world who practice, the more peaceful the world becomes, the cleaner the atmosphere, not only for us but for all people. That's how we do it with meditation, with enlightenment.

How To Go To The Buddha-Lands Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai at Columbia University, New York, U.S.A. November 4, 1989. (Originally in English) This article was published in China Times, Formosa October 25, 1995 Good afternoon. Happy that you have come. It's Saturday afternoon, and your time is very valuable. I am glad that you have saved some of your busy time and come here. It's sometimes difficult to speak. It's difficult to go back to the normal thinking of the human level and to communicate through language, but I'll try. After half an hour, it will go on automatically. (Master laughs.) Now, please help and join me in prayer so that our seminar, our meeting, will be fruitful, will be of some benefit to all of you and those that you love. Just take a

few minutes. Let's pray that the Almighty God will speak through me, and that the Almighty God within you will be awakened and listen. Thank you.

Where Are The Buddha-Lands?

Shakyamuni Buddha, when He was alive, what I mean is that when He was still on the physical plane, in the physical body, He introduced to us so many wonderful lands that we call Buddha-lands. And Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He also told us and introduced to us many so-called heavens, different levels of consciousness. Also He had told us: In the house of my Father, there are many mansions. Do you remember? What does it mean by many Buddha-lands? What does it mean by In the house of my Father, there are many mansions?

I would like to introduce to you one of the Buddha-lands, and you could also say that it's one of the mansions of God. According to Buddhism, there is one Buddha-land which is very beautiful. Well, there are many different Buddhalands, but today we'll speak about one of them. This Buddha-land is called the Land of the King of Medicine Buddha.

When this Buddha was in a physical body and roamed around the world liberating sentient beings, he had twelve kinds of vows for the benefit of the people. What does it mean making vows? When you are practicing for Bodhisattvahood, meaning when you are practicing to become a saint, you'd like to help people in such and such a way, and so you wish inside your heart that people would benefit from you in certain ways. These are so-called "vows". And through the power of your practice, your virtues, your will power and good will, these vows will become true.

So one of the vows of the King of Medicine Buddha, which we call "Yiao Shi Pho" in Chinese, was that if anyone came to him afflicted with any kind of disease, body and mind, he would first give them relief -- give them food to eat, medicine to take care of their health, and then slowly he would make them realize the highest potential power within themselves, what we call the Buddha nature, or the Kingdom of God. When the disciples of the Buddha went to this Buddha of the Medicine Land, they saw that the land was endowed with so many precious stones, and the earth was made with crystal. Most of the Buddha-lands are similar in character. The Land of the Medicine Buddha and the Land of Amitabha Buddha are similar in character. The earth is made of a kind of crystal or of luxurious stones. Houses are made from seven precious jewels -- rubies, diamonds, gold, etc.... The people who live in this kind of land are ever, ever joyful, never have any difficulties, never heard of any miseries. Even the word misery doesn't exist in that land, how much less they have to experience this kind of suffering.

Whereby in our world, which we call the Earth, there is a kind of mixture between suffering and happiness. Sometimes we suffer, sometimes we enjoy.

Some people are sorrowful, some people are happy. It's different in the Land of

the Buddha. Only happiness, only joy, only bliss, only love. No suffering, no misunderstanding, no violence, no blaming, no quarreling, no war.

What is the purpose of the Buddha telling people about all these beautiful lands?

So that they realize that there are other universes, there are other beautiful planets to which we can go, live, and stay permanently. No need to cling to this miserable world. If we think this world is too miserable for us, then we must not stay here. We have a choice. That was the purpose of the Buddha coming into this world, that was the purpose of Jesus when He came into the world, to introduce to the people of our world many other different planets where life is more enjoyable, more suitable to our mentality, or our desire.

The Road To Wisdom Is Endless Now, we think Buddha died and we think Jesus has left the world, has died. But it is not true. Jesus as well as Buddha are still living. They are just living in a different place, and they have also evolved with time, with their job, and with their ever-learning. We can never learn enough. Do not think that after we become Buddha or Christ-like, we stop learning. No, then it becomes like a dead end. The road to wisdom is endless.

So you remember in the Bible, Jesus said something very strange. He said: Whatever miracles, whatever great things I do today, you can do them even better tomorrow. Now isn't that strange? How can we do better than Jesus? Who knows? Please raise your hand. Anyone have any idea why Jesus said such a strange thing? Why did He say we can do greater things than He did? Why did He humble Himself in this way? Why greater than Jesus? Isn't He the only son of God? (Audience: We are the same as He.) Then why should we be greater than Him? He should say that you can do the same. Why would He say: You can do better than I even?

What you have said is all correct, everyone is correct in part. Now, I may add something. Just for example, at the time you met your teacher, or what we call the initiation process, you just had a little taste of a heaven, of the power within yourself. So you may praise Jesus or your teacher very much. You say: "Oh! That was a wonderful experience. What did you do to me? That was incredible!"

So Jesus would humbly say: "No! No! That is nothing. You will do even greater."

What he meant maybe was as you develop more, you will know even more than just what you know today. That's one of the possibilities at that time. I think there is another possibility, another meaning in what He said. It's that He, at that time, was not that much developed, not as much as He could have been developed. Maybe if Jesus came back now, He would be greater than He was then. That was also one of the suggestions.

Also maybe, His power, even though still very great, was difficult to give, difficult to offer to the people, because at that time, our human minds were also underdeveloped as well. We were not as civilized, not as intelligent, as we are now. Even the great Jesus couldn't do much. It's just like when you are a very excellent M.D. or engineer, and you go to Africa with all your Ph.D. and knowledge, what can you do in a jungle? You can only apply some herbal

medicine, wash patients with soap, (Master and all laugh) and that's all you can do. If the patients get relief, they praise you. And you, say, "No! No! That was nothing." It's true that it was nothing for what the doctor can do in normal conditions, in a good hospital, where he is surrounded by all kinds of equipment and colleagues who help him in his job.

Also when Jesus came to us, it was 2,000 years ago, and as 2,000 years have gone by, He must have learned much more. So now, if those who are in the future, those who came after Jesus are in a better environment, in a more modernized civilization, of course, they could do greater wonders.

So if we look in the Bible, Jesus didn't have the chance to say much at all. What He said, I am sorry, even though was so great, but He wasn't that great. I don't mean Jesus was not great. It was that He did not have the chance to say much.

Also the people at that time, their understanding, was not that great, not great enough to match Jesus' wisdom. So He had to tell them in parables, kind of stories, had to use some kind of healing power, all these kinds of things, to awaken people. He also told them in very simple straightforward terms -- to keep the commandments, believe in God, pray to God, etc. Only some of His chosen few disciples were selected to be the messengers of His message; the rest He just cured them of their sicknesses, uplifted them a little bit in a mental way, invisible way, comforted them, and reminded them of the commandments or of God. Therefore, those who came after Jesus having the same capacity as He, reaching the same level of enlightenment, could do much more than He did, could speak more in a more logical way, more intelligent way, more scientific way in order to suit the modern society. So it's not very advantageous for us to cling to the image of our old-time Jesus or Buddha. We have to advance, and what we learn today, it must not always be what the people learned in the past.

Now why did the Buddha take so much time and talk about so many Buddhalands? It wasn't "He" who talked even. It was His disciples who were taken to the Land of the Buddha, came back, and wrote the so-called diaries. Of course, the Buddha was in that Buddha-land, and the Buddha was the one who took these disciples around and introduced them. But it was not necessary that he spoke to the earthly people in the human language. Some of my so-called followers, disciples, students or fellow practitioners, whatever you call them, they also have had similar kinds of experiences. They were taken to those beautiful lands of love, peace and glory, those with crystal-paved grounds and golden palaces. When they came back to earth consciousness, they also wrote down their experiences, and their joy in the heavenly kingdom or in these Buddha-lands. So these Buddha-lands do exist, and they are much more beautiful, much more gracious than our earth.

Different Beings In Other Galaxies And On Other Planets In the universe, we can see with our physical eyes that there are many kinds of planets. Our scientists are now trying hard to discover what kinds of planets these are, and if they are peopled or not peopled? Are the people over there similar to ours or not similar? Some of the scientific discoveries have proved that

some planets are peopled with beings similar to ours, sometimes they are not similar. Those planets in the universal system are indeed peopled with many different beings. Some are so different vibration, that our physical eyes could not detect them. Even if we send a spaceship to that planet, and the astronauts with all their equipment, we could not see them. Therefore, when our astronauts went to the moon, they saw nothing, and they took some rocks home; they are very expensive rocks. I think we should buy them and wear them around our neck (Master and all laugh) -- moon stone, because they are more expensive than diamond comparing the cost of the spaceship.

Why is it that our eyes fail to see the invisible beings in other galaxies, other planets? It is because we are made of different densities of matter. Actually, matter is not matter at all. I think science has proved that -- that matter is actually empty of nature, it's only different in density. I think that it's very logical. That's why Buddhism has the theory of emptiness. Emptiness means all things are empty in their own nature, it's only a difference in density.

Now I'll try to make it more concrete. You see, air, we cannot see it, we can use it only. We can breathe and we feel the air is there when the wind blows, otherwise we cannot detect the air. The air is composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Everyone knows that. Water also is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, the same kind of composition -- H2O. But when water vaporizes and becomes air, air is entirely different from water. If we are thirsty, we cannot drink air, (Master and all laugh) we have to drink water, even though they are both composed of the same thing, and have the same percentage of composition. Ice is even more different. Ice is different in density. Water condenses and makes itself become solid, so we have ice. So that helps us to explain the different beings in the universe -- why some are solid, are visible, and others are very intangible, invisible. I think it is the same theory.

We have heard people say: "All beings in the universe are one, are of the same essence." Today I am enlightened in this matter, (Master laughs) thanks to you.

If I hadn't spoken about this, I would have forgotten this wisdom, I wouldn't have remembered. Because today you needed to know this, I had the opportunity to dig this information out, and give it to you. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't have needed this information. It was put safely in the store, and maybe just forgotten.

To become enlightened is also like that. We have to unlock our memory. We have to use it each day, in our daily practice, our daily living. We'll unlock more mysteries, more capacities in our dormant storage of the brain. That's what we call "enlightenment", that's what we call "getting more wisdom"; nothing mysterious about that. Everything we already have in our brain, in our store. It's just that when we don't use it, we forget it. It's just like it's non-existent.

As much as I have told you about the story about the water, the air, and the ice, which are made from the same elements, we are also made of the same essence, the same elements -- that is the light, the vibration, which we call the Word in the Bible. The Word means the vibration. In ancient times, they didn't call it the vibration, they called it the Word. Something with sound, something that makes sound -- that is the Word. Whether it is invisible or visible sound,

they had no expression for this; so they call it the Word. Lao Tzu had no expression for this. He called it: If you press me too much, I will say it is the Tao, I have no word for it. In Buddhist terminology, they call it the sound-stream, the inner sound. They all amount to the same thing. We hear in the Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. This vibration or this light will become more dense, as it descends to different levels of the universal hierarchy. It becomes the most dense here, so we have this kind of visible body to move around in. But when some practice at a very high level, and develop themselves to the highest wisdom and the highest power, they merge themselves back to the original source. Then sometimes you see their body disappear. It's not that they disappear, they just melt into their original form. Just like when ice is put in contact with sun light or fire, it melts into water and then disappears into the air again.

When we meditate, practice, and we become Buddha, a great master, we will not just disappear so quickly. We also have a control over our body, over our destiny, and we want to stay for the benefit of others. But our body is not always real any more. Therefore, sometimes if such a master gives discourses in some way -- in samadhi, or in some way teaching others, some people just don't see the body of the master at all. Just see an ocean of light, and that light will even swallow all the audience in the lecture. That you may experience sometimes. Maybe even to the extent of half an hour, one, two, three hours, you are just lost in the sea of light and blissfulness. It's because the master has merged into the ocean of light. Sometimes the master chooses to manifest this to some of the disciples, maybe just to convince him or her, or maybe just because that disciple had great affinity with that master in the past. But not everyone can see this phenomenon, and not every master is so high to manifest such kind.

Great Enlightened Saints Appear In Every Cycle Of Our Existence Now, it is difficult to find these masters, because they are too ordinary. They might not even have any robe at all. They just wear ordinary clothes. The more ordinary, maybe the more great. Sometimes we happen to walk on the street, and we might see many Bodhisattvas, saints, but we might not recognize them.

They work in silence. In a Buddhist sutra, we call the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said: In every cycle of our existence, the Bodhisattvas -- meaning the great enlightened saints -- will always appear on this Earth to protect the great teaching, protect the dharma.

It's not possible for us to always recognize this, because they are so great in number, and they work in different fields and different ways. You may see an engineer, maybe a doctor, or maybe a taxi driver, but they are great saints. So take care (Master laughs) to respect other people when you happen to bump into them. The best attitude is to look at all beings as Buddhas, as saints, then

you may experience great wonders, great changes will be taking place in your life.

I have mentioned already that it is not necessary to go into the Himalayas or to shave your head to become enlightened. I did so because it was my path, my destiny. Also I wasn't enlightened. Now suppose I am already enlightened and I am already a monk, what would happen if I let my hair grow very long, I wear jeans, and run around? Do you think I'd lose my enlightenment then? (Audience answer: No.) Exactly!

Doesn't matter what you do in the world, doesn't matter how many duties you have to discharge, once you are enlightened, you are enlightened forever. It's just that you need the key to enlightenment, and the faster the better. Of course, we have no time. We are in the modern world. We can't just sit there for years and wait for the sudden awakening. If we do not have any taste beforehand, it is difficult for our scientific age peoples' minds to believe in anything that we cannot prove. Therefore, the so-called masters nowadays openly give people some evidence of the greater level of consciousness, of the Kingdom of God, or of the Buddha's light, in order for people to believe, to get some proof to hang on to, and to develop.

There are only the different levels of enlightenment. Once you are enlightened, you are enlightened. It's just that you choose to go further to be greater, or you choose to stay there. Once you are initiated, you are different beings, you are a different level. Just like once you have graduated from high school and once you have registered at college, you become a college student. There's no going back any more. You cannot be called a kindergarten student any more, or high school student. You choose to learn more, to become a Ph.D., or you choose to stay in that and then you drop out. Nevertheless, you were a college student. You are not a high school graduate.

So once you are enlightened through the grace of a master, through your own effort, you are forever enlightened. You are no longer like you were before. But it's a matter of diligent practice afterward that counts. It's not just one-moment of enlightenment that makes you become a Buddha. It's not that you register once in a college, never learn anything, and then you become an M.D. No, it's not so simple.

As with every other science, we need constant effort and diligent practice. But also we need assurance from a teacher, and a helping hand. Sometimes we slip, sometimes we are ignorant of our progress, and sometimes we do not know the pitfalls in the practicing road, which is a very long and difficult one. So we need a friend, a faithful, unselfish, and wise friend to guide us, to help us on the road.

Walking, we must do alone, but helping, the friend may do -- making the journey more pleasurable, faster, more enlightened. So the teacher is a good friend who walks beside you, helps you when you fall down, cooks for you when you are sick, (Master and all laugh) helps you when you are tired, and encourages you when you lose your enthusiasm. But the teacher cannot enlighten for you. The teacher can put you on the path only, then we can walk.

What Is The Correct Method?

Q: How can we tell whether a method is the correct method? How do you know the method is the highest, is the right one for you to learn?

M: Any method that brings you close to Buddha, your Buddha-nature, brings you back to God, shows you that you have God's power, shows you that you have God's light, Buddha's light, that is a correct method.

Q: I have been a Buddhist for three years, but have had no progress at all.

What's the problem?

M: The problem is that you have only read other peoples' experiences and hasn't had experience yourself. For example, in Buddhism, we have a scripture that describes the Land of Amitabha Buddha with all sorts of beauty. The ground is paved with gold, even the birds can sing the great teachings, there are beautiful palaces, and the people there use lotuses to fly in the air, etc. They have a beautiful pool with nectar. When you drink it, you have so much strength, power, and intelligence, etc. But a person who has never been there before, heard about it.

Then, everyday he just recites this kind of Buddha-land, and he doesn't even have any appetite for it. He might have the appetite, but he has not had the food. My method is to offer you a little bit of the taste of the Buddha-land, so that you know you are on the right path and encouraged to walk further. Then you know you have success. Otherwise, of course, you study for thirty years and you have no success, never mind three years. Three years is too short already.

Some people have waited thirty years, have never seen any Buddha-land, have never had a glimpse of the Buddha's light, have never had a little bit of sound of the Buddha's musical voice. It's very difficult if you don't have a correct teacher, you don't have a correct path. It's never a success at all.

Just like someone takes you to the restaurant. You're so hungry and you want to find a restaurant. At least the person takes you to the right road. If you haven't reached the restaurant yet, you know you are on the right road, and carry on walking further, because you can smell a little bit of the food from its kitchen from far away, and you know that's it, you are on the right path. Otherwise, you walk for many days and many roads, you can never have anything.

Q: I don't believe in any religion at all, and I don't belong to any particular religious group. I only meditate myself. Can I get enlightenment?

M: That shows that you haven't got enlightenment. If you had, you would have known. At least you would feel more secure. Now, we don't need to belong to any religious order or group in order to get enlightenment. We do not even need to believe before we see, but seeing, we must. When we are face to face with God or Buddha, or we have been to the Buddha-land, then we will know. Yes! There is Buddha, now I believe.

It's all right to be an atheist, (Master laughs) but it's not all right to remain like that all our life. We must get some proof as long as we can, as far as we can. If no one else offers us the proof, then no one can blame us for being atheists forever. But if someone stands out and offers us the proof, then we should at

least give ourselves a chance to prove the world beyond our existence. Then we can believe there's a Buddha, there's God or there are other saints.

Q: Please explain more about mass suffering, Are they all guilty from before, that's why they are suffering?

M: No one is innocent, I have told you yesterday. I am not condemning anyone at all. It's all learning lessons. Learning is very painful. Once you are awakened, you see things in a different light, and you know it's all lessons.

Look at the mass killing that we do everyday in order to keep this body for one hundred years. How many lives have to be sacrificed -- all the fish, all the shrimps, 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 will be lost, it will be diluted only with a different energy. It will be equalized only by different actions, not lost. For example, vapor air already became ice through water, and now if you want it to disappear, we have to put sun rays, a lamp, light, or heat on it, in order to get it back into the air again.

So if we have been killing, mass massacres, all the time, all these animals suffering, and they also have consciousness, thinking, and hatred energy, all this hatred, fear condenses itself into a powerful energy, and hangs around 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 a vegetarian diet. The least cost to the existence.

Animals have life, plants also have life, but they are the least cost. Just like you earn only a hundred dollars and you want to spend two hundred, then of course you are in debt, you are in trouble. If you try to buy cheap things and satisfy yourself with the minimum cost to live, then you have no worry 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 the milk from the cow, will the cow die? If you take a few nuts from the trees, the trees still have plenty of nuts to grow thousands of nut trees more. They will not be lost. If you cut a flower, or a branch of a vegetable, that 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, less cost.

The Invisible Aspects Q: Did you mean spirit, God is the substance of our body?

M: Yes, yes, the holy spirit is the substance of our body. We come from that.

And when you go very high in wisdom, you will realize that this body is also spirit, from the higher vibration. It has condensed into this kind of form only.

Therefore, if you practice very high or there is a high practicing Master, you don't see the Master. But you have to also develop higher or through the grace of the Master. You don't see the Master at all, only see light here. And the light is so great that it envelopes the whole audience, the whole hall. You see no one.

You see that there is no matter at all. It's really empty.

That's what we call emptiness. But in the emptiness, you are fulfilled, you are satisfied. It's not the emptiness that leaves you empty and lonely like the ordinary emptiness of this world. The more you empty in the spiritual sense, the more you are fulfilled, the wiser you become. It's all different.

The worldly language is terrible, that's why everyone mistakens Buddhism for nihilism, nothingness, emptiness. (Master laughs.) It's not so. If everything goes back into nihilism, goes back into nothing, then the Buddha would never have emphasized that you keep the precepts, be a good person, be virtuous. What would be the use? You'd become nothing anyhow. You'd become empty. (Master laughs.) No, it's not so.

Q: How can you prove that after the end, another life exists?

M: Well, if you have not been enlightened about this matter already, then you should be enlightened, then you can see. Some people can see these things without having officially been enlightened, due to their sensitive clairvoyant ability. And some people have to have a master in order to be clairvoyant. After enlightenment to some degree, you will come to know all these things.

It's easy to prove, but we must practice. These things are intangible things -belonging to the inner, invisible knowledge. There is knowledge of material nature. There is knowledge of immaterial nature. Now, if you want to prove the invisible knowledge, you have to go to the invisible school, and practice the invisible method. We cannot use the material to prove the immaterial things. But we can prove it in a different way.

Q: What was your method of obtaining enlightenment, and was there a specific moment that you felt it occurred?

M: No. My method is no method. At the time of transmission, you just sit there, and I also sit there. We don't do anything. We don't speak any words. We don't move one inch. But we get the light, and we get enlightenment. We can leave the body, we can visit heaven, or we can at least see the heavenly light or hear the heavenly Word, listen to the instructions of God and become wiser each day.

The method I impart is no method. Thus, I cannot write it down for you. I can only personally, invisibly, and inactively open it for you. I do without doing. If anything involves any doing, any excitement, any movement, it still belongs to the world of form and matter. So our method is a non-substance method, nonform method. But it can be transmitted, it can be had, it can be possessed.

Why is it so? It is because the enlightenment is within yourself, the light is within you, the Buddha-nature is within you, the Kingdom of God is within you. I only point it to you: "Here, look this way and you will see." Sometimes you have

eyeglasses in your hand, and you keep looking all over for them. So I say: " It's here, (Master laughs) this way."

So it's no method. You already have it, believe me. No method can lead you to enlightenment, except you have to know your own nature and get in contact with it. That is the only method. Any method that lets you see the Buddhanature at once, see the Heavenly Kingdom at once, that is the Quan Yin Method.

That is the right method. That's the correct method. You call it any name you want, but there's no method.

It's only the power of God which descends into any chosen pure body, and opens your own God-power. It's God who saves God. It's the Buddha who saves the Buddha. It's the Buddha who enlightens the Buddha. It's the Buddha inside you who chooses to be awakened. The Buddha inside me and the Buddha inside you are one.

Because you do not know it yet, the Buddha inside you has to manifest into an outside body, and waken it up. But it is you who wakes up yourself. It's the Buddha-nature inside you who chooses the time. The alarm clock went off, so wake up. It's difficult.

I will not teach you anything. It's you who teaches yourself. It's the Buddha within you who wakes up and realizes who you are, and starts to work with your own capacity, with your own wisdom. Therefore afterward, you will realize that no one is the master. Everyone is equal. Everyone has the same potential. Just you forgot how to use it. The one who remembers, the one who knows will remind you. That's all there is.

If you already have money in your pocket, and I tell you the money is here, I don't give you anything. I only remind you what you have forgotten. Therefore, there's no need for me to use any method. The money is yours. (Master laughs.)

MC: But the Master does open the door, does open the wisdom-mind for us.

Q: Are heaven, Buddha-land, Buddha, only imaginary things in our mind?

Everyone sees a different form of Buddha-land. No such physical existence in reality?

M: Oh, it isn't an imaginary product. Some lands are illusion due to hallucinations. When you are short of oxygen, when you are tired, when you are on drugs or alcohol, or undergoing suffering, you do have hallucinations. These are unreal and you cannot go back to those lands again.

But those Buddhas-lands and real heaven have real invisible substance, and you can go back anytime afterward. Not everyone sees a different land. Many of my disciples see the same land. But because there are so many lands, so of course someone goes there, someone goes here. Just like we have so many countries in this world, some go to America, some go to England. That's of course no doubt.

But England does exist and two or more can go there at the same time.

Q: Are there spirits in this world or just psychological phenomenon unrelated to the level of spirits, made in our mind?

M: There are spirits, yes. What are spirits? They are the encased souls who are not liberated. We are souls who are encased in these bodies at the moment.

After we leave our world, we leave these bodies, but it doesn't mean we are completely liberated. There are other bodies encasing our souls still. Just like a house has many doors.

When I visited the prison (for lecture), there were about thirteen doors, small doors, iron doors. They had to be opened and locked immediately behind me. I went through thirteen doors to visit the prisoners, and I went through thirteen doors to go out again. Now, if the prison officer just opened one or two doors, I'd still be in prison. I would not be liberated. Have to open the last door and then the greater gate outside before I could go back to the free world again.

Similarly, when we leave these physical bodies, it doesn't mean that we are completely free of other bodies. We have other bodies. So the spirits which we see sometimes with different eyes, or other people see with the psychic eyes, these are those encased souls in astral bodies. Sometimes they fly around, sometimes they make trouble, sometimes they don't.

The Real Baptism Q: How does initiation which cancels one's past karma differ from Christian baptism, which removes the guilt of original sin?

M: Is that right? Does it remove? Then how come you keep coming for confession every Sunday? You don't feel removed with baptism. The real baptism came from a Christ-like person, like John the Baptist, like Jesus Christ.

The power of removal, not the action. Just like I sign a check, but I have no money in the bank. (Master laughs.) It's different from my signing a check with the money in my bank account.

Baptism is a beautiful tradition in Christianity, as well as in Buddhism. We call it taking refuge in the Buddha. And when you take refuge, they read out loud: After you take refuge in the Buddha, your karma is all cleansed, you will never be born in hell and as an animal, etc. I have seen many baptized people go to hell. You cannot just do it verbally or by ceremony. There must be invisible Godpower behind it to cleanse you, because sins are invisible.

Does that makes sense to you? Yes, we have to be logical in practice. We can not just be blind, and follow anything people say. We are cheated, we are made fun of, made a fool of. But no doubt after you confess your sins to someone, maybe you'll feel a little relief. But then, you sin again. And also you have not felt any upliftment.

When Jesus baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. When John baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. Therefore, they can see light from heaven. When Jesus was baptized by John, He saw the light come from heaven like a dove.

At the initiation, you will also see such kind of light, at least such kind. So you know that you have been cleansed and you know you have been in contact with heaven. Otherwise, how do you know? And you'll feel a sudden relief, like a mountain has fallen from your shoulders, like a stone has been removed from your heart. That is the real sign of cleansing and purifying. Otherwise, only talk, and formality. Doesn't remove the original sins just by baptism. If the priest is very high, enlightened, powerful, yes; if not, no.

Q: Why are breathing exercises contrary to Master's method?

M: Because in our body, there are two kinds of currents. One is called the motor current which generates the heat in the body, takes care of the blood circulation and the digestive system. That is supported by the breathing. Now if we control the breath, we make a mess of our orderly system. God has already made our body in a perfect condition. Whatever has to be done is already taken care of.

No need to mess around. All we want to do is to free our soul, not to mess around with the systems of our body. Sometimes it creates danger.

Also, the breath is ephemeral. When you sleep, you are unconscious of breathing. When you faint, when you have an accident, you collapse, you do not know about the breathing. How do you practice then? How do you elevate your soul then?

Our method is the one which makes your soul ever conscious. During sleep, during accident, during collapse time, during disaster, always conscious to take care of your problems, take care of your business, take care of your decisions.

We waken our own soul up. We waken the master of the house up and let him do the job. Then twenty-four hours he does things, without us having to think, and to even to pray for, because the Master has woken up, the Buddha, the holy spirit within us has woken up. The real self, understand? Without having to listen to the brain -- the stupid computer. Therefore, we will do everything in the right spirit. Knowing or not knowing this, we'll always be right, because the master has taken control, not the servant.

If we mess about with our breathing or any so-called body chakra, we interfere with the physical system only and it might bring about some illusion or hallucination, but nothing real. And we will never become any wiser. I have tried, and I have seen many people who are on the top of the so-called breath control. They still have to come to me for wisdom. Someone who practiced breath control with a very famous Chinese master, I won't mention the name, reached the breathless state already. He could survive without breathing. That person was no wiser by any means. He had to come and get initiation. Now, he's different.

Like Hatha yoga, they put all the breath into the stomach, make it become very big and save it there for some time, maybe 2-3 minutes. Breathe it out again. Or they do pranayama. But it's no harm if you take a few deep breaths and do exercises. It's different.

The Difference Between Pure Land And Our World

Q: Master, you began your talk today with a discussion on Buddha-lands and the rooms in the mansion of the Father. Please elaborate on this. Why is there a need for a pure Buddha-land in existence? Is this not the pure land we live in this world, even though it does not manifest itself as pure in your eyes?

M: Yes, our land is very pure indeed. For me, (Master laughs), but not for some.

So you have to find your own pure land. What it means in the Vimalakirti Sutra, about this land is a pure land, is that you can sit here and see the land is pure.

You can sit here and see the Buddha-land right here, right in front of your eyes.

That's what it means. That's what it means by "this land is a pure land."

It's true, but not true to all people. It's true to me, it's true to my disciples, true to some higher level, enlightened people, but not to everyone. Everyone still sees garbage, and sees the mountain and the river.

So what I say about pure land is that, it all exists here and now, but I have to make a distinction. I cannot always tell people: "You look, you live in the pure land now. You no need to move, you no need to exercise, you no need to do any virtues, you no need to meditate. Your land is a pure land." I cannot say that.

It's not correct either.

Also, how do the pure lands of Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, etc. differ from this world, from ours? They differ a lot, too much difference. The lands over there, we know no sorrow, we know no hatred, we know no war. We only know love and mutual respect. This land is full of trouble, full of sorrow, misery. You are happy one minute, and then you are suffering ten minutes. So much difference.

Here you have to labor very long to build a house, and it might collapse with an earthquake, leaving you homeless, no electricity, no water for many days, a lot of inconvenience. We built the bridge in San Francisco. Took many years and a lot of money, billions of dollars and a lot of labor; and in just 50 seconds, it was gone.

In those lands, such thing never happen. We are always secure and live in love, light and grace. There are a lot of differences. You do not need to earn money.

Everything we want comes immediately, in front of our eyes, without even having to move, go to the supermarket or change money. We go from one Buddha-land to another without any passport trouble, without any bureaucratic problem. Now you want to go to America, it's not easy, you want to get out, it's also not easy, because you need money, need passport, need relations in the other land in order to move. In Buddha-land, it's not so. You go anywhere you want. You're free.

Q: When I meditated one day I saw the light, but it nearly electrocuted me and I thought l would die. I don't understand this.

M: You saw the light was of a very high electronic nature. We might use our worldly terminology. Therefore when it touched the body, it became very powerful. That's why we have to be vegetarian and lead a virtuous life, so we don't have this kind of shock. If a very high frequency touches very gross

matter, of course it will be in conflict. But if the matter is not that gross, not that coarse, then the two are blended, and you don't feel the shock.

It's dangerous to practice without the guidance of a real master and ethical discipline. All the meat and intoxicants we take will intensify the grossness of our body, the coarseness of our physical being. And the more we are condensed, the less we can blend with the higher frequency. Therefore it gives a shock. We have to develop the body, mind, and speech in order to match it.

You see the astronauts when they go into space, they have to eat different food, wear different clothes in order to suit the air pressure in higher space. They cannot wear like we wear here. Or when we go into the sea, we have to take an oxygen mask. We cannot be casual like in this land. Different atmosphere, we have to be equipped with different instruments. It's good that you have withstood this experience, and have become more enlightened. Congratulations!

Q: It is true that instant enlightenment can be attained, not only through Buddhas of enlightenment, but also through a city marshal, who knocks unexpectedly at your door.

M: It's true if that marshal is a Buddha, he can open the light for you. Then he is also an enlightened Buddha in the form of a marshal. Buddhas have many forms. If you are a marshal and you become completely enlightened, then you are a Buddha. There's no need to change the outer appearance. But any ordinary being cannot just give you instant enlightenment, be it the president or a marshal. It's not the form, the position, or the job that counts. It's the power within that person. what CAUSES WAR? United Nations, March 6,1991

My friends, let us have a few minutes to pray for your noble work, that you will fulfill your mission, and to pray for the peace that we all work for; and then, we will start. Please pray in your own way with your eyes closed; contact your God inside.

Thank you. I am very honored to be here, the best place in the world, and to see the most selected and intelligent people of all nations.

Welcome to the United Nations. I have told our president here that the United Nations is probably the best thing since "sliced bread", and she said that she had never heard anyone use that phrase before. I said I also don't use it except in the right place because I am afraid people would not understand, and also because there are not many things that are better than "sliced bread". But the United Nations truly is. I have read some of the work that you have done for the world, and I pray that God will

bless you with full health, power and intelligence in order that you may carry out your work.

I do not feel like this is my first time here or the first time I have spoken to you.

I feel very close and friendly, so please feel that way too, in case you don't.

Before I came here, while I was in the car, I just closed my eyes for a few minutes, and then I saw the entrance. Yes! Because I asked the lady who drove, "Do you know where the entrance is?" She said, "Yes, yes. We should be there soon. It is in such and such a place." I thought it was her first time. I was thinking she might go to a wrong entrance. I just slept for a little while, and then I saw "visitor's entrance". Probably I have been here before or we have been in United Nations' conferences in many other lives. Who knows? I saw the entrance while in the car before I actually came here, so it might not be the first time that we are together.

Someone in the United Nations had invited me to come here to address the assembly and it was, oh, a long time ago. It must have been eight months ago, and at that time I wasn't thinking of coming here at all. When I was asked, I said, "Well, maybe. Let's see." Because then I was thinking, "Well, the people who work in the United Nations probably have different interests from mine. I am just a spiritual person, and the people in the United Nations are probably working in so-called politics." That's what I was thinking, in my "unenlightened" manner, you know? Please forgive me. Then I thought, the ones who work in politics would not be interested in what I have to say. But then later, I thought I could not think that way. Politics is not the sole issue of the United Nations. They have worked on humanitarian issues, as well as on peace and on many other kinds of relief for the world. They also practice meditation; this I heard afterwards. Then came the war of the Middle East, many issues about the Au Lac refugees and the policies of Au Lac. Some of the Au Lac refugees who didn't want to be repatriated committed suicide and things like that. So, I thought it would be a good time for me to come here, to understand more about your work and also to have a nice talk together.

It should not be that we let the United Nations shoulder every burden and responsibility, and put blame on them. Everyone should work together with the United Nations, because we are also citizens of the world. No one should just stand outside and watch the United Nations work, and then blame them or criticize them. We should come in and work together. That's what I think, therefore I've come here today. Whether I can help or not, that is another question; that is God's will, but my goodwill is with you.

Therefore, I've studied your books, your pamphlets and whatever I could get, so that I could be in the United Nations, be one of its members, an invisible member, a volunteer. You cannot fire me because I am a volunteer. (Master laughs) I will be here forever. I am the permanent member. You cannot sack a volunteer, you know? You cannot fire a member who volunteers to work forever.

So here I am, you have a new member anyway. Welcome or not? [Master laughs] (Someone in the audience answered, "Yes.") Thank you.

Someone has suggested that we talk about war and peace, since it is the current theme of the world. I would like to be brief about war and be long on peace. You

see, everyone of us knows about war, but we do not truly know what is the cause of it, and how we should eliminate it. It sounds like a novel, a fairy tale, but we can do it. We can eliminate it. Because after a while, people will be tired of war, whether they are the winners or the losers. Even those historic warriors, like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Arjuna of India, they all finally got tired too.

So why wouldn't we, the modem warriors, not be tired and want to learn how to avoid these things? But if you want to avoid it, it's not only our will be done; it's God's will. We must act according to what God wants, and in order to know what God wants, we have to be prepared; prepared in our speech, in our body and mind, to listen to what God says and not to what we say. We always pray for peace, and we don't know what God is trying to say to us about it, how to get peace. Therefore, we do not understand how to go about even though inside everyone knows, everyone likes to stop wars and to preserve peace in the world.

The United Nations is the first agency to worry a lot about war, and to put most of its efforts into regaining peace. It has always been doing this since its founding day. I doubt if the world would be as it is today without the United Nations. We still have war, some famines or refugee problems, but without the United Nations, I think it would be worse. You understand what I mean? You couldn't do your perfect work without the cooperation of many nations. So it is not entirely the fault of the United Nations if we still have wars, other political issues and unsolved issues at the moment, because some members of the world just refuse to cooperate. I know it's very difficult for an organization like the United Nations to move the whole world when some of them just stay there stamping their feet like children and just don't listen,just do their own thing and want their own way. For that, I am very sorry. The work of the United Nations is very, very tough, very difficult and delicate, and needs a lot of patience, diplomacy and strength. May God bless you with all these any time you need them.

Before Alexander the Great died, he instructed his subordinates that they should put him in the coffin with both hands stretched out empty, to teach the later generations not to go into war, not to accumulate any possessions because when we die, we have nothing. But it is said that some members, some citizens of our world or some nations didn't fully understand this lesson. Let us hope they will.

Most of the people who make wars are the ones who are too well protected, who speak from their own chambers, from their own sofas, and who don't go out into the battlefields to fight in danger. Therefore they bring forth this kind of disaster to other people, including their own citizens, because they do not truly sense what danger in battle is and what suffering means when one is wounded or tormented by the casualties of war.

Page 2 When Napoleon Bonaparte of France was standing in the battlefield between France and Austria, he was so shocked and so hurt because of the casualties. There were about fifteen thousands of soldiers who died from both sides. He wrote a very desperate letter to the King of Austria at that time, saying: Please let us make peace. Let us stop the war. He wrote to the King

that: You have not been in the battle like I have, so you don't know what it is to stand here along with fifteen thousand corpses around you and to see the daily suffering of the soldiers. And that's not all. How about those who stay behind?

Yes, I think most of you have watched the film "Born on the Fourth of July", and you know what it is like. There are the after effects also, not only the immediate effects.

I don't know which radio station it was that interviewed me a few days ago in Texas. He asked me, "Is the war good or not? Should we, as spiritual people, resort to war, like they do now in the Middle East?" I said that we should stop the cause, not the consequence; it's too late. If we don't want oranges, we should never plant an orange seed in the ground, or at least we should never water it; we should take it or pluck it out of the ground when it is little. But some people like to nourish war for whatever reason you might know. You know probably better than I do. Some of the people that I know - said to me, "Well, we have to take care of the people of this country, therefore we have to make wars in order to have the benefit thereof for our country." That's very good, very patriotic from this view point, but in the long run and from a spiritual standpoint, it is a loss, because later on the karma will come. Karma is the consequence of what we sow. Like it says in the Bible: As you sow, so shall you reap. When the cause is not good, the consequence cannot be good. If we try to make money, have fame or nourish a group of people or a nation from the benefits of war, then later that cause will also feed back on us, and we will become the victims.

We cannot sow an orange seed and get an apple; that is the physical law of this world. As long as we are in the physical world, we must obey the physical law.

No one can avoid that, even if he is a Buddha or a Jesus Christ, let alone we who are the ordinary beings!

Therefore, the people who make wars have not studied the Bhagavad Gita - the Buddhist doctrine of the law of karma. And they might not have even glanced at the Bible which says: As you sow, so shall you reap.

A long time ago when the Buddha was alive, He told a very interesting story of how war started. Since ancient times - since people began to appear on this earth - the cause of war, the seed of war had already been sown. So now what we are having everyday is just a consequence of that, a continued consequence or an unavoidable chain reaction.

The story goes like this. In the beginning of time, after this world of ours had been destroyed, there was nothing here. Everyone had gone to different worlds according to the desires and the tendencies they had when they were still in this world. Some were sent to probably a more miserable condition, some would sleep for a long time, and some went to so-called heaven. Most of the people who were virtuous went to a place called Yin planet. "Quan Yin" has nothing to do with our method, okay? It is just a place called Quan Yin. Now, people stayed there in glory for long, long, unimaginable periods of time. After that, this planet came into being. At first it was just nebulous and uninhabitable. After a long, long period of time - you must imagine it was billions and billions of ages - and then this world come into being.

Slowly, the first group of people, those who stayed in this so-called Quan Yin planet appeared in this world. At that time this world had no leader, no beings, nothing. One of the beings from that higher planet saw that this world was empty, the throne was ready, so he came down. That was the first being, whom we called Brahma. Well, according to the story. Don't say I said so; it's what Buddha said. Okay?

Then suddenly he saw that he was so alone; that wasn't good, so he said, "I wish some more beings would come to me." Then they came, all those beautiful people from the Quang Yin planet. They called it Quan (light) Yin (sound) because on that planet people were nourished by light and sound only. They were not in need of solid food like we are now.

So, slowly many of them came to this world and settled down, but when they came here they lived in light and glory. They could fly anywhere they wanted and be anywhere instantly. There was no need for vehicles or any physical transportation, no need for any language. They could still understand each other perfectly. They could still be very free in their own way, in their glory, and they lived in glory for long, long ages, trillions of years. Then slowly, this world became more solidified, more beautiful, more visible and more glorious. Some of these beings walked around the sea or flew around the seashore, and saw some kind of foam from the sea. This foam looked so beautiful, so shiny and smelt so nice. Many very strange fragrances emanated form this kind of foam which floated on the sea. Some of them were curious, so they just landed and tasted some of it.

First they looked. It was so beautiful and it smelt so irresistible, so they tasted it. It was so nice. They never ate anything before and they didn't think they would need it. They never thought there was such a thing, so nice and tasty, so they ate more and more and more. Eventually, everyone knew about this beautiful foam on the sea, which tasted good, smelt nice and looked beautiful, so they all came and ate. The more they ate, the more they became heavy.

Their appearance changed. Their power changed and slowly they could not fly very long distances anymore. Slowly their light, their aura became shorter, and more dull in color. But they didn't notice that much. Anyway, it was too late to change. The foam was too good. The more they ate, the more they wanted it, so they could not stop eating. After everybody ate, the foam was gone because they ate too much.

Then something else appeared on earth, a kind of weed that grew all over the place. Anyone could take it and eat it. It was kind of crawling weed. People liked it also. Because there was no more foam, they tried the weed, and the weed was also tasty, nice, beautiful and fragrant. So they ate, and everybody ate. The more they ate this weed, the coarser their bodies and spirits became. They could hardly fly anymore. Their physical bodies began to change for the worse, not for the better. They were beautiful and glorious before. Now they looked more coarse, and some sounds began to emanate from their mouths. There was no need to speak before but now they had to make some sound in order for the neighbors to understand them. It was just some babbling, but it was sound.

They could not stop eating now. They had become like addicts. Oh! It was so beautiful, so good, so they kept on eating.

After that something else came. The beautiful weed was not there any more, and they went searching around for something else to eat. The earth offered something, like rice or wheat. The earth began to offer these kinds of things, and people ate them. But these things grew outside, in the fields. From where they lived, they had to walk some distance and take them home. These thing did not grow over the place like before. So, they took them home and them, and everyone had enough everyday. But slowly pee began to be lazy and said, "Why should I go everyday to field and get what I need? I can take enough for two or three days, then I don't need to go everyday. "So they took three days. Their neighbors saw this and did the same thing and other neighbors also did the same thing. Some people who were more greedy and took for ten days, others took twenty days.

Page 3 Slowly the wheat supply disappeared because everybody took much more than they needed. After a while, the trouble started because the ones who had a lot feared that the ones who didn't have would come to steal, and things like that So now, a council was formed by the people to settle these disputes and to make the laws. That was why the government of the world was formed - because of eating nothing more noble. Then they divided the earth in different pieces; this part was for Mr. So and So, and that part was for Mrs. So and So, and no one was to violate to division.

The more they ate these things, the coarser they became and their bodies began to change. Some changed into a woman's shape, some changed into a man's shape - what we call men and women nowadays. Before that, there wasn't any shape; everyone was exactly the same, living in glory and love together. There was no physical attraction between each other. But after they ate too much of all these things, there was fighting, stealing and disputing, and things began to change so tragically. People began to look at each other with wonder and attraction.

Those who ate less would still be more beautiful, and those who ate more became more ugly. The ugly chased after the beauty. The beauty would be the woman. Yes, probably because we ate less. [Master laughs] Therefore, until now women are still being called the beauty. So then, the so-called man began to chase after the woman because they were more beautiful. Everyone loves beauty because of that - because we were born beautiful; we were from the beauty. That's why up until now, everyone loves beauty, and all the women put on all that beautiful make-up just because they remember deep down in their memory that they had been beautiful, or their real Self is beautiful. So, whatever their appearances on earth are, they are not satisfied. The men too, no matter however beautiful his wife is, he still likes to look at another beauty, because he remembers in the old days everyone was beautiful, more beautiful than his wife even. So, he cannot be satisfied with looking at one beauty. That's the cause of unfaithfulness. It's not that he is really bad, it's just that instinctive nature inside us.

Even greed, the hoarding of money and possessions and the love of beauty came from the noble root that we have been in a more glorious world, where all things were in plenty. We had everything that we needed without even asking, and we were all beautiful and glorious. That's why we still love all those shining jewels, make-up, beautiful men, beautiful women and like to have a luxurious life. It is because we had them before, and we miss them now. Therefore, we try to get them back as much as we can, as much as our ability here will allow us.

Therefore, all those so-called bad habits and instincts in men stem from a very noble root. If we knew it, we would feel more sorry rather than blaming ourselves or accusing others for chasing after beauty money.

So, once we understand this through spiritual practice, we will leave all these things. We will have them, but we will not crave them. Whatever we have, we are satisfied and use them. We will not be slaves to these things, and we will not crave or try all means to get them, or even maybe start a war because of these things.

Now, after these events, people began chasing each other, and physical attraction began to happen. They started to have couples. Other people who looked at this wondered why it had never happened like this before. They wondered why one being did such things to the other being. These people became ashamed of being attracted to each other physically and doing things physically. They were ashamed, so they had to go out of the city of the inhabitants and build their own huts or caves. Consequently, houses began spring up and separate dormitories began to appear.

That's how it happened and that's how we started our history, according to Buddha, Okay? If you want to blame, blame the Buddha. Don't blame me. I don't know if this story is true or not. I wasn't there. [Master laughs] I don't know if I was there or not. It was a long time ago, and I've forgotten now. I might have been there, but it has too long now, billions or trillions of years ago.

Who would remember all these things? Who wants to remember, right? We have enough to do now, with the Middle East war, the Au Lac refugees and what-not.

After that, because people started building houses, hoarding things for themselves and dividing the land, everything began to get worse. Some people who were diligent planted a lot of things and had good crops, and other people who were lazy just came to steal. That's how wars began, and they continue until now because there are those who have a lot and there are those who have too little. Those who have a lot don't want to share with those who have too little. Those who have a lot work diligently and look down upon those who don't have much because of their laziness or, maybe, misfortune.

So, the Buddha concluded that the cause of war is the lack of sharing between people; it is the greed within us. Those who take too much leave none for the others. Nowadays in our modern times, the scientists have done a lot of research and they think that the cause of war may be starvation. Many countries are starving and many countries have too much, and things like that. But, not really, we don't really have to much. We are just using it incorrectly and waste it.

They also did other research. For example, someone in Toronto, who has a vegetarian restaurant and a vegetarian magazine, told me that according to the research, if in North America each person would eat a vegetarian meal once week, then we would have enough food to feed sixteen million people a year. I was startled and said, "How could be?" But it worked out that way. It is not because of the food, it's the many things concerned with food. In order to produce this food the land has to be cultivated, but now it'. wasted for the feeding of the cow's. All the water, medicine transportation etc, used for the cows, pigs and other animals everything concerned with meat diet had reportedly wasted a lot of human resources, and that is the cause of starvation in many countries. It takes a lot of food protein, medicine. transportation and water to feed a cow and these things come from underdeveloped countries, too.

This protein and food could have been distributed in a different way in order to feed the whole world instead of feeding a cow, and then we eat the cow second-hand stuff anyhow.

So nowadays many people believe that a vegetarian diet can save the world and minimize a lot of war, and I think I do not oppose this idea. Maybe in the very near future we should try, at least to see how it works, and then we can comment. But I believe it will work provided each of us supports this idea and tries to cooperate. It is understood that not everyone will cooperate. Since the beginning of time, not all of us cooperate, because we all want to be the boss.

Somehow, in our own way, in our own environment, we always like to be the boss. Why is it? It's not bad either. This also stems from the noble root that we have been in power, we have been angels, we have been saints. We have been in heaven, where everything is under our command. And now, we have lost our way and stepped down to this physical world and have lost most of our power, so we crave for power. But the thing is, we crave and find power in the wrong way. As a result it harms us more than offers us any power. That's all.

Page 3 Slowly the wheat supply disappeared because everybody took much more than they needed. After a while, the trouble started because the ones who had a lot feared that the ones who didn't have would come to steal, and things like that So now, a council was formed by the people to settle these disputes and to make the laws. That was why the government of the world was formed - because of eating nothing more noble. Then they divided the earth in different pieces; this part was for Mr. So and So, and that part was for Mrs. So and So, and no one was to violate to division.

The more they ate these things, the coarser they became and their bodies began to change. Some changed into a woman's shape, some changed into a man's shape - what we call men and women nowadays. Before that, there wasn't any shape; everyone was exactly the same, living in glory and love together. There was no physical attraction between each other. But after they ate too much of all these things, there was fighting, stealing and disputing, and things began to change so tragically. People began to look at each other with wonder and attraction.

Those who ate less would still be more beautiful, and those who ate more became more ugly. The ugly chased after the beauty. The beauty would be the woman. Yes, probably because we ate less. [Master laughs] Therefore, until now women are still being called the beauty. So then, the so-called man began to chase after the woman because they were more beautiful. Everyone loves beauty because of that - because we were born beautiful; we were from the beauty. That's why up until now, everyone loves beauty, and all the women put on all that beautiful make-up just because they remember deep down in their memory that they had been beautiful, or their real Self is beautiful. So, whatever their appearances on earth are, they are not satisfied. The men too, no matter however beautiful his wife is, he still likes to look at another beauty, because he remembers in the old days everyone was beautiful, more beautiful than his wife even. So, he cannot be satisfied with looking at one beauty. That's the cause of unfaithfulness. It's not that he is really bad, it's just that instinctive nature inside us.

Even greed, the hoarding of money and possessions and the love of beauty came from the noble root that we have been in a more glorious world, where all things were in plenty. We had everything that we needed without even asking, and we were all beautiful and glorious. That's why we still love all those shining jewels, make-up, beautiful men, beautiful women and like to have a luxurious life. It is because we had them before, and we miss them now. Therefore, we try to get them back as much as we can, as much as our ability here will allow us.

Therefore, all those so-called bad habits and instincts in men stem from a very noble root. If we knew it, we would feel more sorry rather than blaming ourselves or accusing others for chasing after beauty money.

So, once we understand this through spiritual practice, we will leave all these things. We will have them, but we will not crave them. Whatever we have, we are satisfied and use them. We will not be slaves to these things, and we will not crave or try all means to get them, or even maybe start a war because of these things.

Now, after these events, people began chasing each other, and physical attraction began to happen. They started to have couples. Other people who looked at this wondered why it had never happened like this before. They wondered why one being did such things to the other being. These people became ashamed of being attracted to each other physically and doing things physically. They were ashamed, so they had to go out of the city of the inhabitants and build their own huts or caves. Consequently, houses began spring up and separate dormitories began to appear.

That's how it happened and that's how we started our history, according to Buddha, Okay? If you want to blame, blame the Buddha. Don't blame me. I don't know if this story is true or not. I wasn't there. [Master laughs] I don't know if I was there or not. It was a long time ago, and I've forgotten now. I might have been there, but it has too long now, billions or trillions of years ago.

Who would remember all these things? Who wants to remember, right? We have enough to do now, with the Middle East war, the Au Lac refugees and what-not.

After that, because people started building houses, hoarding things for themselves and dividing the land, everything began to get worse. Some people who were diligent planted a lot of things and had good crops, and other people who were lazy just came to steal. That's how wars began, and they continue until now because there are those who have a lot and there are those who have too little. Those who have a lot don't want to share with those who have too little. Those who have a lot work diligently and look down upon those who don't have much because of their laziness or, maybe, misfortune.

So, the Buddha concluded that the cause of war is the lack of sharing between people; it is the greed within us. Those who take too much leave none for the others. Nowadays in our modern times, the scientists have done a lot of research and they think that the cause of war may be starvation. Many countries are starving and many countries have too much, and things like that. But, not really, we don't really have to much. We are just using it incorrectly and waste it.

They also did other research. For example, someone in Toronto, who has a vegetarian restaurant and a vegetarian magazine, told me that according to the research, if in North America each person would eat a vegetarian meal once week, then we would have enough food to feed sixteen million people a year. I was startled and said, "How could be?" But it worked out that way. It is not because of the food, it's the many things concerned with food. In order to produce this food the land has to be cultivated, but now it'. wasted for the feeding of the cow's. All the water, medicine transportation etc, used for the cows, pigs and other animals everything concerned with meat diet had reportedly wasted a lot of human resources, and that is the cause of starvation in many countries. It takes a lot of food protein, medicine. transportation and water to feed a cow and these things come from underdeveloped countries, too.

This protein and food could have been distributed in a different way in order to feed the whole world instead of feeding a cow, and then we eat the cow second-hand stuff anyhow.

So nowadays many people believe that a vegetarian diet can save the world and minimize a lot of war, and I think I do not oppose this idea. Maybe in the very near future we should try, at least to see how it works, and then we can comment. But I believe it will work provided each of us supports this idea and tries to cooperate. It is understood that not everyone will cooperate. Since the beginning of time, not all of us cooperate, because we all want to be the boss.

Somehow, in our own way, in our own environment, we always like to be the boss. Why is it? It's not bad either. This also stems from the noble root that we have been in power, we have been angels, we have been saints. We have been in heaven, where everything is under our command. And now, we have lost our way and stepped down to this physical world and have lost most of our power, so we crave for power. But the thing is, we crave and find power in the wrong way. As a result it harms us more than offers us any power. That's all.

Page 4 The way to get back our power is to purify ourselves, to get in touch with God. I have done it myself and I can say

that I have succeeded, to some extent. These are not empty words, that I am telling you, they come from my experience. Should you like to try it, it is highly recommended. You may try to find your own way, do it yourself or you may try to find someone who you think is intelligent enough and experienced enough, to guide you to get in touch with your own real power. Once we have that real power, we have everything else. Even if we don't have everything else, we are satisfied. That's what it is. It is not that we have the whole world in our hands, but we are satisfied with whatever we have, and we will not crave for our neighbors' things. We will not be too attached to the things of this world, but we will have plenty. Truly it is like that.

The Bible says: Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto you. That I have found be the truth. It is the whole truth. And in the Buddhist sutras,for example in the Surangama Sutra, it also says that: Once you get in touch with this inner Buddha Nature through practicing the Quan Yin Method, the worldly things will go on smoothly too. We can also have other things. And this I have also found to be the truth. Therefore, even bible says similar things. You can find many other example in the Indian scriptures, Jewish scriptures and other scriptures. That's why we hear that the rich people are blessed by God. It might be true in some sense, but the richness of this world has not always been the symbol of the blessing of God. It just denotes our virtuous way of life the last period of our existence, before this existence, and that's all. The blessing of God come directly, without virtues even, once we are connected with this God power.

Now to sum it up, I have to tell you what God is. According to Christian Bible, God is the "Word". In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word, was God. That is what we call the "Yin", the vibration, the Tao, the Buddha Nature in Buddhist terminology, or Sound Current in the Hindu terminology. Once we get touch with that so-called "Word", we are in touch with God because the Word is God. God is not a figure with a long beard or with a stick, standing there telling you what to do. God is a power, a loving current that we can use to mold our life and to make things come into being by this creative substance. Therefore for the ones who are in touch with God, everything they wish for will come true; and for the ones who are not in touch with God, it doesn't matter how long they pray, things hardly come into their lives because they are not in touch with what they want to talk to. If we want to talk to our friend and the telephone is disconnected, or we are too far away from the telephone, or if we don't pick it up, then how can we talk to them, to the police or whoever? Therefore we must first make the connection and then wish. Well, does this seem too far fetched now or not?

I am on tour now all over the United States, and before I left for the United Nations' Conference, my disciples told me a story about how their wish came true. For example, even when the airplane was already on the runway, and one of our disciples was left behind, he prayed, and the airplane came back to get him. Yes! I said I could not believe it, but they said, "Yes, yes, it's true. We are here!" We always make jokes like that. I said I didn't believe it, but I knew it was true. So then I said to them, "Okay! Since you can pray so efficiently, then you should pray for others. You should not always pray for yourself. This is selfish." They said to me, "Whom should we pray for now?" I said, "For example, for the peace in the Middle Fast or for the Au Lac refugees who want to be

integrated as citizens into other countries." They answered, "Yes, we don't mind praying, but they're too far away; their karma is too heavy. We don't know if we can pray for them or not."

That's what they said and it struck me that it's really true, because the Au Lac refugees are not in touch with God yet. My so-called disciples - I would call them friends, but if say "friends" you wouldn't understand, so I say "disciples"- are in touch with God, so whatever they want comes true.

Therefore, it's not that we don't want to pray for ourselves or for other people, but we have to know where to talk, to whom to talk, and where to get that power to realize our prayers. Because all the power is within us, all things are already inside, we must know where to get them and to use them, but most of us don't. I have realized that it is truly Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all other thing shall be added unto you. The Kingdom of God doesn't come by observation. The Kingdom of God is at hand, within you. That's what's said in the Bible.

How is it that it's within us and we don't know it? Because we don't know where it is. We don't know where "within" is. Is it in the heart, in the lung, in the vein or in the liver? We don't know where it is.

So if someone knows, then we can be shown. I have been taught where the Kingdom of God is, and I make use of that everyday for my own and for other people's benefit. I keep telling people that it is so easy to get in touch with your own power, to fulfill all your wishes, to be in heaven on earth and to forget everything else. The war will cease itself. It has worked within our group. No one after initiation feels like fighting any more, arguing about nonsense, or desiring more things than what they necessarily need. It really works with thousands and thousands of people. It always works, so I know it is the truth.

But, most people are not ready for this message. They cannot believe that they have this kind of power. I am always amazed why people look down upon themselves so much. Aren't we all children of God and made after His image? Do we not all have Buddha Nature inside? Or even are we not all children of Allah?

And if we are His children, we have the same power, at least similar, more or less the same, so why should we look down upon ourselves? We are God's princes and princesses, and does that mean something or not? It may seem like an empty saying, but it's true. It is just like that.

If you are the daughter or son of a king, you must know your power, you must know your position; but most people don't know. Everybody just knows, "Ah! We are the children of God. God made us after His image. We are the likeness of Him." Yes, but that's it. Then, we go out and struggle for every penny and pray for everything, and it never comes, because we never pray to the right source.

We don't go to where our wishes can be fulfilled. It is so easy, easier than eating bread. Because it is so easy, people tend to look over it. This is very sad, but I shall be patient. I shall be patient.

So, actually we talked about war and ended with peace. If everyone of us wants to have peace within ourselves, we must practice the Kingdom of God. We must

get in touch with this God power, which is very easy to do. We can do it instantly because God is within us. He is not very far away. The Kingdom of God is within us. Why should we go to distant church or temple to get it? And why should we take a long time to get it?

That's why we call our method "instant enlightening" or "immediate enlightenment". "Instant" is just what my disciples call it, but I don't like the word "instant." Actually, my original words were "immediate enlightenment and eternal liberation". Once we are enlightened, we are forever enlightened and liberated. Liberated from what? From the cycle of birth and death, being reborn and reborn again, suffering and suffering again. For example, your work in the United Nations is the best job, the noblest work one can find because here you serve the whole world, not only one company or two companies, one family or two families but the whole world. Your work is the best. I advise everyone to stay and not to leave the United Nations for as long as you can. But even then you have your suffering, frustration and headaches. Do you see? Things are not as perfect as we want.

There is a better life, a more perfect life inside. Once we are perfect inside, our outside life will be perfect too. We can use our inside wisdom and power to make our work more efficient, faster and more beneficial to the world. So actually if we want to be in any important position or be successful in any field, we must get the proper power to work for us, not our minds. There are two levels of power. The first level, the lower level, is the mind, the automatic reaction and action. Yes, that is the mind. The other higher level power is all grace, love and miracles. By miracles I don't mean changing the weather or..., but we can do that too.

For example, my disciple just prayed and the airplane had to run backwards to get him, the only one left behind. Formally they didn't want to have anything to do with him, because they said that his ticket did not have the price on it, or something like that. There was something wrong, but we paid for the ticket.

Something bureaucratically wrong, that's all. And the airplane had to come back.

This is also called a miracle. But, we don't do it on purpose. We just pray, and the one who is in touch with God can pray for anything, provided we pray with our own power. Do you understand? If we pray for someone else and that someone else is not in tune with God, then it's difficult for the prayer to be answered. It is not that we don't want to help them. Otherwise Jesus would have prayed for at least the Jews; or the Buddha, would have prayed for at least the whole of India. Do you understand what I mean? Even though we are enlightened, we can not change the world. We can only reason and bring them into changing themselves.

Therefore, we have to begin with ourselves. We cannot sit and wait for miracles.

No one can change the world, not even thousands of Buddha or millions of Jesus. They would have done it if they could. Miracles do not happen in this way, where karma is concerned. We have to clean ourselves. We have to bathe ourselves. Take our medicine in order to cure ourselves. The best doctor can only give us medicine but cannot take it for us. Therefore, it is a very sad and difficult thing to pray for other people when they are not in tune with the prayer fulfilling source.

The best way is to get in touch with God and then pray. We don't even have to pray, things will happen. This I know for sure. This I have experienced. And many, many thousands of my disciples have also experienced this. All of them know it is true. I would like to present it to you today should you feel interested, and should you believe that there is a solution to war. By changing ourselves, by having peace within ourselves, we'll have peace in the world. Each one must do it. Even if we could not influence the whole world we light some torches; at least peace would be more and war would be less. This in itself would be a great achievement.

Our world is better now compared to the old times because many masters have stepped down to earth and taught us many great laws of civilization. We have improved. That's why our world has become more civilized, more bright, more comfortable compared to thousands of years ago. That's due to many, many great enlightened masters who have elevated our understanding. Even though they taught just a group of people, but the teachings that they left behind, the vibration and the seeds continue to grow and benefit the whole world on a large scale and have lifted up the whole consciousness of mankind to a higher level.

Therefore, our world is getting better and better everyday. Due to some great masters and some of their disciples our world has become better and better.

You may join them. I am not saying that you must come and study with me. It is not so. Study with whomever you like, who you feel is the most enlightened, who will be the most beneficial to you, and who shows the way the most clearly to you; but do something. Get in touch with your own wisdom and power, and use it to work for you. It is better than just using a brain-computer, fumbling with it everyday and feeling headaches, frustration and difficulties. Nothing is so difficult if we use our great wisdom to do the work and not the small intelligence of the habitual computer-brain. Thank you very much.

We've Gone Too Far Away From God If We Worship Graven Images Of Hirm We've gone halfway through the second commandment, which is, Thou shalt not make any graven image; thou shalt not bow down to it. Why was God especially concerned about these things? Because human beings have intelligence, wisdom and the ability to do things. So if we worship a piece of wood or a stone which doesn't move and has no consciousness, aren't we being very dumb? Then why do some people still do it and think that they're fine?

The father of our nation, Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, was wise. No wonder people all revere him as a national father. He broke a wooden statue and asked people why they said that it was the Buddha, didn't he? (A: Yes!) I think that he was great. A person who has wisdom possesses strong charisma. No wonder he succeeded and is venerated by people until today. We can't envy him, because he deserved it!

I heard that he saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva when he went to Putuo Mountain. This indicates that he had faith and was pure. He was a Catholic. If he had been attached to the Catholic idols, he would have seen only Jesus Christ. Since he saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva, it meant that he had no discrimination and was really pure. Hence, the Bodhisattva didn't discriminate against him, "It's all right that

you worship Jesus Christ. I'm just appearing to you to let you have a look." This indicates that he was very pure and was a very good person.

Of course, he had taken part in battles and possibly killed some people, but that was inevitable. I've told you that you should apply the precepts according to the situation! If you're a soldier and you have to kill the enemy to defend your country or due to your national law, then you don't commit a crime. Even if you kill a hundred people, you don't commit crimes or break the precepts. However, if you only injure a person due to personal animosity, you incur heavy karma.

It's because of your intent to kill. But soldiers are different; they're compelled to do it, so they don't break the precepts.

Therefore, you can't judge yourself by how many times or how badly you've broken the precepts, how many people you've killed, or what your morality is like, but by the situation and your intention. We can't only look at actions.

Sometimes, it's very difficult for ordinary people to judge others. We have to be very careful distinguishing between good and bad. Otherwise, we always misjudge. When we see that a person kills, we say, "Oh! He's bad!" When we see a person donating money to build a temple or a hospital, we say, "Oh! He's good!" It's not necessarily true! We don't know where his money came from and what the intention is of his donation. He may want to become famous or get other things by donating the money. In that case, he won't gain any merit by his action.

If we worship an image, it means that our level is too low to be repaired, that we have no wisdom and no ability to make a judgment, and that we don't know that the image is only made of a piece of wood. If we worship this piece of wood, it would be same as worshiping any piece of wood. Then it'd save the time and effort of carving and painting as well as the money. To worship an image means that we can't tell good from bad, don't know where our wisdom is, and don't understand what's recorded in the scriptures, that "The Buddha is in our hearts" or "God is within us." We just ignore the scriptures, ignore the teachings of all the masters, and ignore the words of God and the saint. We've gone too far and been too ill! Even if we have a little bit of wisdom left, when we bow down to an image, our wisdom is gone.

There is an Indian story. A woman acknowledged a master. Once she saw her master appear to her inside, and she was very happy. However, when she mixed with other people, she forgot about it. Hearing people making pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, she followed them. One day, she was ill and wasn't healed after she prayed to her master. Perhaps her master deliberately let her become ill in order to erase her bad karma. But she blamed her master for not helping her. So she worshipped images! There are many gods in India. If you go there, you can see all kinds of big gods, small gods, medium gods, fat gods and thin gods. So she just bowed down to them. Before that, she could see her master appear to her for a while. But after she bowed down to the images, her master disappeared.

When she came home, she thought, "How strange! How could this happen? The master was there a moment ago. But as soon as I bowed down, he disappeared." She felt sad and kept thinking about it for several days. She didn't

want to eat, but meditated, demanding her master to appear to her and explain why he had suddenly left her. (She blamed her master again.) Since she was quite sincere, her master was moved, appeared to her, and told her, "When you worshipped the wooden statues, you degraded me to be even lower than they were! So I didn't have a place to stand. Since it was too low for me to stand, I had to run away."

Why are we called "human beings?" Because we're different than animals. We can distinguish between good and bad, high and low, moral and contemptible.

We have the ability to make our own choices. Animals are different. They'll become whatever they are trained to become. Even tigers can be tamed to behave like cats by people in the circus. Lions and elephants can also be trained to do whatever they're told to do and dare not resist. In this respect, animals are rather stupid, and they can easily lose their independence.

Human beings aren't like that. Sometimes even when people are imprisoned, they'll try to escape. When they're oppressed, they'll try to resist. When they're wronged, they'll try to clear themselves. This is because human beings have wisdom. If our great wisdom has been deceived and becomes confused so that we worship the statues of ghosts and deities, of course we'll become the most miserable and drift too far away from God! It's stated very clearly in the Buddhist scriptures, The Buddha is in one's heart, and You can't perceive the Tathagata (Buddha) through tangible light and sound. Rather than worshipping tangible forms, it's more meritorious to go home and worship our parents. This is the truth.

If you like to worship, go home and worship your parents. They're living Gods and they have God's nature within them. If you break wooden statues to have a look, you won't find anything inside them. Even if your parents are ignorant and haven't recognized their God nature, at least they have God's nature within them. It's just that they don't know about it. However, there's nothing inside wooden statues! If you truly want to worship wooden things, just worship trees.

At least there's a little bit of God's power inside living trees. Without God's power, nothing can go on living. So if we worship dead wood, a material form of a very low level, of course our wisdom and level will be degraded to an inconceivably low degree.

Therefore, God particularly reminds us to be especially cautious! Hes keeps telling us not to create images and worship them. This is because Hes is very compassionate and wants us to preserve the tiny bit of wisdom remaining in us.

If we keep on worshipping images, we'll be finished! Our tiny bit of wisdom can be developed or be destroyed. When we're with spiritual people and wise friends, our wisdom will glow more brightly and develop more. But when we're with ignorant people and follow them to worship images, we'll be contaminated and pulled down by them and our level will be degraded further. The Lord wanted Hiers people to avoid this undesirable situation, so Hes told them not to do such things; because if they did, the tiny bit of wisdom that they had would disappear.

Suppose you have a little money left. If you save it, you can use it to buy bread.

However, if you're cheated by people and use the money to buy stones, you'll

lose the money and then starve to death. Besides, you'll have to carry the stones and become more exhausted. You're tired already, and yet you have to carry the stones. How can people be so stupid and be cheated to such an extent? How can stones be edible?

Therefore, your parents advise you not to buy stones and save your money, because they know that this is all you have. If you save it, you can sustain yourself for a while and think of a way later. Perhaps when you have regained your strength, you can find a job. But if you use it to buy stones, you'll be finished. You're weak and hungry already, but you'll have to carry the stones; then how can you survive? You'll die immediately! Similarly, when we worship images, we're incurable! Unless someone quickly pulls us up and imparts to us the superior wisdom, then we'll be cured; otherwise, we keep sinking down.

Yesterday, I let you watch a documentary film, which was about a group of people in India, how they make pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, how sincere they are when they bathe in the Ganges, and how sincere they are when they worship gods. However, you can see that the population in India hasn't decreased, but it's increasing, instead. And they're getting poorer. This is because they apply their sincerity in the wrong place!

Therefore, before, when I saw them doing such things, I got furious. I kept scolding as I came down the Himalayas. (Laughter) I wasn't satisfied to scold by myself. So I told some monks about it and let them scold with me. (Master laughs.) I was angry with those gods! I pointed at their noses and scolded them fiercely. Of course they didn't hear me; I was only venting my wrath. They were made of wood, so how could they hear me? I knew that very well, but it's just that I was really mad.

I saw that millions of people were being deceived, and had wasted a lot of effort, vitality and money, as well as risked their lives to climb up to the summit just to make a bow. They didn't know whether they would be able to make it home alive, because the road was very dangerous. Some people were very poor. They could only borrow or earn just enough money for the trip and they would have no money after they returned home. In order to gain merit and to worship the wooden statues, they had to come a long way. Sometimes, they had to walk on foot and their soles cracked and bled. Some of them were too poor to have shoes, so they had to walk barefoot on the icy road. I cried when I saw that!

Innumerable people were deceived. Even though they were sincere, it was useless.

If we have no spiritual friends, our wisdom will become smaller and smaller and gradually disappear. Then, we will transform into animals, plants, stones or minerals. The less wisdom we have, the lower our status will be; while the more wisdom we have, the higher our status will be. It's similar in society. If you're more knowledgeable and more intelligent, your work is more effortless, your social status is higher, your job is better, and you can make more money. But if you have no knowledge, aren't intelligent, and have no ability, you have to do low level work. The lower level your work is, the more toilsome it is and the less the money you'll make.

A similar situation happens in the universe. If we have more wisdom, we'll become superior sentient beings; conversely, if we have less wisdom, we'll become inferior beings. Therefore, due to differences in wisdom, there are all kinds of sentient beings in the world, including insects, frogs, animals, cows, human beings, immortals, enlightened beings and God. We should aim to go upward instead of downward, because we'll suffer more on lower levels. It's not that we're afraid of anything, but that if we have a choice, why choose to suffer?

If you choose to suffer for the benefit of others, like what I've told you earlier today, I agree with you. However, if you choose to suffer not only alone, but also involving your offspring of five or six generations, I'd beg you not to do it!

I've chosen this hard path and I'm willing to stay here, because of other people's needs, and because I want to make them happy and encourage them to pursue spiritual practice and rise to higher levels. Therefore, I willingly take on this hardship. If I had chosen the hardship because I liked it, it would be different, understand? (Applause.) Our world is very painful already. So if you can choose happiness, just do it. Don't say, "Since Master has chosen hardship, we should do the same." Then you're being too stupid! If we can make many people happy by our individual suffering, it's worthwhile. However, if we deliberately look for suffering, we're idiots just like committing suicide, which isn't good!

Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain Now let's talk about the third commandment, which is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Who is God? How can we respect God if we don't even know Hiers name? If we don't know Hiers name, we can't revere Hirm as God, the Supreme Master, Anuttara Samyak Sambodya or Buddha power! We must not make use of Heirs name to swear, to vow or to curse others. Even when we use it to swear to God, it's no good. You shouldn't say, "I didn't do this.

If I'm lying to you, I'll be struck by lightning..." or things like that. We must not force others to take oaths, nor must we swear in the name of God. Some people are even worse. They use God's name to wage wars. They use God's name to kill people, to invade another country, or to abuse other people's children or women. These are examples of making bad use of God's name.

When God sends a person to Earth to represent Hirm, such as Jesus Christ or Shakyamuni Buddha, when He's in the world or after He's gone, we must respect His name, too; that is, we must respect God's name or a Master's name. We must not slander or joke about Their names nor must we say Their names casually without respect.

Why does God want us to respect Hirm or Hiers representatives? It's because, the more we respect them, the greater blessings we'll gain. Otherwise, we may never see masters and the sun for many lifetimes; we may fall in a dark place where there's no sunlight, no parents' name and no masters. That's why God tells us to respect Hiers name or Hiers representatives' names, that is, the masters' names. Only then will we have light and our inner Master will have a chance to develop. When there's a cause, there's a consequence. Like attracts like. If we don't respect God, we'll have bad consequences. God reminds us about this only out of Hiers compassion.

It's not that God needs our respect. Many people have been worshipping Hirm or not worshipping Hirm throughout the ages, but Hes has never changed a bit.

Hes is forever neither unborn nor destroyed and neither defiled nor cleansed.

Hes only gives but never takes. Hes doesn't need anything, because everything in the universe is created by Hirm.

The Seventh Day Is The Day For Group Meditation The next commandment is, On the seventh day, thou shalt not do any work.

Respect the Sabbath Day! In the Bible, it's stated that God created the universe in six days and hence rested on the seventh day. I'm doubtful about why God needed a rest. Hes doesn't need it at all! You also think that I don't have to rest.

So, every Sunday and holiday, you always come here for a vacation and tire me to death. In that case, God is more fortunate than I am, (Master laughs) because Hes can take a rest on the seventh day.

Hes even asked us to rest with Hirm. Why? Because Hes worried that we work so hard throughout the whole week that we don't have time to remember our Selves and God. God is our inner Kingdom and our inner Buddha nature. What Hes meant was that we should get together for group meditation on the seventh day! It's stated clearly in the Bible that people must not do labor or physical work and can only get together to worship God. It implies that we should practice spiritually to look for our highest status and the greatest wisdom within.

This tradition has been passed down to today. Every Sunday, people group together in church to recite the scriptures written in the past. However, they just come to a church, read the Bible, and then go home. Besides, they have some refreshments. They eat biscuits that aren't blessed. In the past, biscuits symbolized the blessed food from the masters, for biscuits were convenient to store, cheap and light. Since there were too many people, they made biscuits very thin. People ate them not for the taste but for the blessing power contained in them.

Our popcorn here is also not very tasty but looks rather cheap. You can buy popcorn easily with money, yet you like to get it here, because ours is different!

You'd be even happier if I personally gave it to each one of you. This is what it meant. It's possible that when someone outside sees me handing popcorn to each one of you, he'd think that you came here only for popcorn. Then he may build an ashram and hand out popcorn every day, without knowing the real meaning. The person who gives popcorn must have power so that the popcorn will be blessed; otherwise, doing it is meaningless.

We spiritual practitioners naturally emit loving power that attracts people to us.

After they leave us, they feel that they've lost a very important thing, as if their vitality had been taken away. When I left Costa Rica, people cried like babies.

They said, "Oh! It seems like my flesh is being cut off, or a part of me is being cut off and taken away." That's why we like to stay together with spiritual practitioners, not because of their attire or that they're Buddhist monks with their hair shaved, but because the intangible vibration emitted from them makes us feel very comfortable. This is just like if we have water to drink when we're

thirsty, have food to eat when we're hungry, or have effective medication when we're ill. We feel very comfortable, but we can't describe it.

Similarly, the blessed biscuits are good only when they're given by a powerful person; otherwise, they're nothing if they're bought from outside. However, the biscuits are useful. They can remind people of God. Then when they go home, they may ask, "Who is God?" They may long to see Hirm. Later, they may hear someone giving a lecture and saying, "I can help you to find God." Then they'll go to that person quickly out of curiosity. In that case, the biscuits are useful; otherwise, they're virtually useless. It's not that we should group together and recite all day long, "I long to see God. I love God." No! Although God is within us, Hes can't help us if we don't find Hirm.

Respecting Our Parents Is Respecting God The next commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother. Perhaps, in Moses' time, children were not filial, so this commandment was necessary. If everyone was filial, no one would know what "being not filial" is. If people are all beautiful, we wouldn't know what "ugly" is. If all the people in a country are rich, no one would talk about poverty. For instance, this is a Buddhist country, so there are monks here. However, people in some other countries have never seen monks, so they don't know what monks are and won't talk about monks at all. Similarly, people then were not well disciplined. The Bible describes the chaotic situation at that time. After Moses was away for only forty days, the people gave up the Lord and worshipped a golden calf. They were low in spirit and lacked morality, so they changed their master in only forty days.

Of course, we're becoming more civilized and more advanced. We used to live in caves and eat raw food and live animals. We had no fire, no houses, no airplanes nor any civilized tools. Now we're more civilized, because throughout the ages, extraterrestrial beings have been coming to impart modern knowledge to us and make us become more intelligent and our children more clever.

For instance, you're now following me to practice spiritually and the children that you bear are also different! Those who were vegetarians since they were in their mother's womb look plump and rosy. Have you ever seen their arms? They have at least three to four folds of flesh. I wonder where they get the nutrition from.

They only drink milk! These kids will definitely grow up to become more intelligent than we are. And those who've been initiated in their mother's belly may become even more extraordinary when they grow up! And their children, of course, may be even more outstanding, being morally stable, emotionally steady, mentally happy, and more developed in wisdom. So our offspring will become better and better.

Look at the time of Moses. It was really chaotic. People's wisdom was very low.

God had given them a lot, manifested Hiers magical power many times, and protected them in every way. Yet, after the master was away for only forty days, they abandoned God and worshipped a golden calf, instead. Can you imagine that? In modern times, some people are also like those who worshipped the golden calf, but they're relatively few in number. Few people who follow me will regress. This means that you're more stable and you have more wisdom. It's

possibly because I have more merit so that God sends me the best disciples.

Don't take my word for it before you check your own hearts. (Master and audience laugh.)

Why must we respect our parents? Because God's love takes care of us through the law of cause and effect and through the love and physical forms of our parents. Respecting our parents is respecting God. In fact, it's not the physical forms of our parents who look after us; but it's God's love that does so. We should understand this point clearly! Life after life, the Supreme Mother through our physical mother and the Supreme Father through our physical father have been taking care of us, teaching us the basic virtues, compassion and love.

Because our parents love us, we know what love is when we grow up. This is a fact!

If we're raised in a stable and loving family, we'll become more loving, and feel more secure when we grow up. Sometimes, we see that some children do evil deeds, become scoundrels, or are accused of being criminals and imprisoned.

Don't blame them too quickly! It may be because they lacked loving care and education when they were young. It may be because their parents died very early or were too busy to look after them. Or it may be because their parents were not loved by their own parents before so that they couldn't treat their children with love.

As the sequence repeats itself, people will have less and less love and will make more and more trouble. When they go out into society, they may be treated unfairly or oppressed and lose their sense of security. Later, when they're bullied or misunderstood, due to their inferiority complexes, they'll resist, revolt, and resist society more and more. The more they resist society, the more they'll lose themselves and their love, and the more their hatred will grow. Eventually, they'll end up miserable in jail.

For the above reasons, we should be filial to our parents. If our parents don't treat us well, we ought to think that it's our retribution and unfavorable destiny.

Perhaps we owed our parents something in our previous lives and didn't repay it.

Perhaps we were bad parents in our previous lives so that we have to have bad parents in this lifetime to learn our lesson. So we have to endure it and be filial.

This'll be good for us as well as for our parents.

In Costa Rica, there was a fellow initiate who was a little more than twenty years old. Two or three days after she was initiated, she came to me crying! I asked her why she was crying. She said that she couldn't get along well with her family, especially her father. Her mother had passed away and her father didn't treat her well. He was cold, stern and hard to communicate with. He always oppressed and dominated her. So she couldn't bear it.

I asked her, "Have you ever thought that you might be just as cold and stern to your father and that you've shelved your love for him? Have you ever thought that your father also needs your love. It's not only that you need his." She was stunned and then said, "What should I do? It's possible that I've never expressed my feelings to him." I told her, "When you go home today, buy a most beautiful red rose. Then kneel down in front of your father and offer the

flower to him, hug him, and tell him, 'Although I've never shown my love to you because I forgot, I was young and not sensible, nevertheless, I love you very much.'" So she did what I told her. As a result, the two hugged and cried together. Since then, they have become very good to each other.

So one of them has to open his/her heart first. Parents work outside. They're often exhausted physically and mentally. They have many worries and many debts. In addition to heavy family responsibilities, they can hardly laugh when they're home. However, children may not understand the hardships of their parents. They may keep demanding and expecting a lot but don't realize that their parents also need some support and love. On one side, parents may be stern: "We're your parents!" They may be strict because they worry that their children won't respect them; and in addition to their heavy work pressure, they can't laugh out loud. On the other side, the children think, "Our parents are very strict. They don't love us and don't give us this and that." Then the children may get upset or harbor enmity. This will deepen the misunderstanding between both sides and broaden the generation gap. In fact, both sides are anxious and eager to hug each other. They love each other very much, but they can't express it.

You can just try to express your feelings; you don't have to feel embarrassed.

They're your family members. If you really can't communicate with them, try this method, that is, hug each other first and talk later. When you tell them truly out of sincerity, your words will be touching. You'll gradually communicate with each other and understand that the other side also has feelings and love, and then you'll reconcile with them. Family members always love each other. But sometimes they're too proud to be the first to speak out. So both sides lock themselves up and wait for the other to knock. However, no one ever knocks first. (Master laughs.) And then both sides become anxious.

Sometimes this happens to husbands and wives, too. They want very much to reconcile, but both are waiting and no one takes the initiative. As days go by, the atmosphere remains tense and stern. Although they've forgiven each other inside, they can't put aside their pride but worry about losing face and what the other party may think of them. "Will he/she ridicule me for giving in?" In fact, that won't happen. It doesn't matter even if your husband laughs at you; he's your partner! It's also fine if your wife laughs at you! In fact, she won't. She's only waiting for you to apologize to her. Now you understand!

Why do we have to respect our parents? Because they work hard for us. The precious bodies that we are able to have were given by our parents; not by the physical entities of our parents, but by the grace of God's love acting through them. Therefore, we should respect them in order to respect God. Everything is created by God. Hes gives us birth through the bodies of our parents, but not that our parents do that themselves. However, since our parents have God's love within, that is, since they have God inside them, when they love us, they have God's loving power. They're very noble, gracious and superior beings. So how can we not respect them?

The Subtle Meaning Of "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

Now the next commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. It means to refrain from killing. I've expounded on this millions of times. However, don't always think that it's good enough if we don't kill; sometimes when we try to save a life, we're killing. Have you heard me tell the story about two nuns trying to save a centipede? I don't have many examples to cite on this; I only remember that story.

One day when I went to take a bath and brush my teeth, I saw a centipede in my cup. The cup was covered with a piece of cloth. When I lifted off the cloth, I saw a centipede in it. I was frightened, of course. The centipede was also frightened. (Laughter) So I screamed, "Ah!" (Master laughs.) That was a natural reaction. Since the centipede couldn't go "Ah," it jumped. So both of us were scared. Hearing this, two attendants outside quickly ran in and asked, "What's the matter, Master?" I said, "I'm all right. There's a centipede." (Master and audience laugh.) Then they said, "Okay. Master, you may go out and let us handle it." I said, "Okay. Be careful! Handle it if you wish!" There was a basin outside. So I brushed my teeth there.

A long time after I had brushed my teeth, I still didn't see them come out.

(Laughter) So I asked, "Are you done with it?" They replied, "Not yet!" I said, "How can two of you not be able to handle only one centipede?" (Master and audience laugh.) I went inside to have a look. Well! I heard a noise, "Tze, Tze, Tze, Tze." I asked, "What are you doing?" They said that they were trying to drive it away to with the shower head, but the centipede wouldn't move! I said, "Of course, it won't. It's surrounded by water." (Laughter.) If I spray you like that with the shower head, wouldn't you drown? The centipede was very small and was surrounded by water. It could hardly breathe. How could it possibly run away? It didn't know where to run!

Well! The centipede almost drowned. I saw it going "Hu, Hu, Hu." It was calling for help. So I said, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Let me handle it myself." They were really great and compassionate for "not killing it," but trying to drive it away with water, flushing and surrounding it with water... Even if we were the centipede, we would have drown. The centipede was very small. When they kept doing that, the centipede couldn't withstand it! So I said, "Forget it! Leave the centipede alone!" So that was how they were trying to save a life.

Therefore, it's not good enough to just refrain from killing. We have to be cautious. When we walk, we have to be careful and watch out for insects. The sink where we wash our faces and brush our teeth should be covered up or be drained to prevent insects from drowning inside. The oil lamps in temples are also professional killers. They're supposed to be offerings to the Buddha, but they're filled with corpses of insects. Since the oil lamps are uncovered, insects are killed instantly as soon as they fall in.

When I lived in a temple before, each morning when I wiped the altar table, I always saw the lamps filled with dead sentient beings. I supposed that the Buddha wouldn't be pleased with it! In ancient times, since there were no other kinds of lights available, people had to use oil lamps. But now we have electric lights, yet people still stubbornly insist on using oil lamps. In ancient times, people used oil lamps and fragrant oil to make offerings to the Buddha.

Why did people light oil lamps to make offerings to the Buddha? Because oil lamps could illuminate the road for Him. In addition, they were to lit up the face of the Buddha to let people see. They were also used to light up the hallways in the temples, just like our road lamps here. However, in ancient times, people covered up oil lamps. Shakyamuni Buddha also instructed that when oil lamps were lit or put out, they should be covered up to prevent insects from being injured or burnt. Nowadays, people use big pots of oil as oil lamps. In the temples in Tibet, hundreds of oil lamps are lit all day and all night. First of all, they waste oil. Secondly, they kill lots of sentient beings. When we pursue spiritual practice, we're supposed to refrain from killing and deliver sentient beings' lives, but we actually harm them, instead.

Therefore, we must be careful. Refraining from killing includes a broader sense.

Not only killing with a knife is killing. Of course, we should avoid killing if possible. We don't intent to kill by lighting oil lamps. However, we can avoid it, by not using oil lamps. The Buddha didn't say that we must make offerings to Him with oil lamps. In case some places have no oil, how can people make offerings? Whatever we offer, the most important thing is our intention. Besides, the lamp actually refers to the lamp within us! Of course the scriptures point out that all temples should light lamps or fires all the time so that people can see the paths and go to meditate. It's the same in our ashram! When you come at midnight, or during a seven-day retreat we get up at three or four o'clock. If there were no lamps in temples or ashrams, how could you see where you are going? You might step on other people's heads, or some male practitioners may go to sit in the females' place and some females may go to sit in the males' place, causing embarrassment. So this is the reason for having lights. It's not that the Buddha needs any lights!

For instance, when I sit here, you always shine bright lights on me to let people see me, but it's not that I need the lights. So all kinds of lights are fine as long as you can see me. However, as to the wooden Buddhas, no one comes to see them at night. Visitors only come in the daytime. So no lights are needed at all in the night. Besides, all the temples have electric lights now and it's easy to turn them on to allow people to practice their morning and evening services.

What I mean is that we should avoid killing if possible. There are many other things, but I can't go through all of them. As to any insects or bugs, we should avoid killing them if possible. Similarly, we should avoid cutting grass and trees if possible. If there is no other way, we can cut them, of course, to build houses or for hygiene. We can do it when necessary. However, it's different if we destroy them with a vicious heart for no reason.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Not Steal, Not Lie Another commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That is, to refrain from having more than one husband or wife. I've explained the reason. If you have too many husbands, you won't have any next time. Suppose you have seven husbands. Then in the next seven lifetimes, no one will marry you, because you once had too many! For example, you make ten thousand NT a week. If you spend it all in one day, of course you have no money left for the rest of the week.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. This everyone understands, and I've talked about it many times. There are many kinds of stealing, and stealing money is only one kind. It's okay to steal if you're starving, but don't do it if you have money. Stealing also includes casually receiving offerings from people. As well, you must not hint at people to offer! Sometimes when we talk for too long, we're also stealing, that is, stealing people's time. When people are impatient with you, you still keep on babbling. That's also stealing.

If we sell something for ten dollars when it's actually worth only two dollars (if we say that it's very good when it's actually not and only worth two dollars, but we sell it for ten dollars) and cheat others to buy more, this is wrong and is stealing, too. Stealing doesn't only mean to go out and steal. When we go to work and see that the boss isn't there, so we slip away and go home early, it's also stealing. If we take home something from the factory that the boss didn't give us, it's stealing, too. When we live in a group, there are many things there for the public, not only for us. It's stealing if we take something that isn't given to us.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You understand this one already, and I've also talked about it many times. It's explained at the time of initiation, too. There are many kinds of lying.

The worst kind is that, our spiritual level is low, but we cheat others that we've attained a higher level by saying some mysterious things. We coax people into believing that our level is higher than theirs by talking about mystical things. We hide our real level and make people think that we know many things that they don't know. To cheat people in this way is the biggest lie. For another instance, after a Master passes away, some people like to become masters and then cheat people that they're the successors. By doing that, they incur the worst karma.

Sometimes we make a mistake. And when people ask us about it, we don't admit it but let Master or our boss punish the whole group. This is also lying and is bad, too! If we admit our mistake, it'd be fine. Don't involve other people in it.

Sometimes, I have to punish those people. It's okay if they make a small mistake. But they don't admit it and the issue becomes worse and involves the whole group. They wouldn't be punished because of the small mistake, but since it involved the whole group and made a lot of noise, I have to punish them. They didn't admit it, but forced me to bother the whole group and question people one by one, and still didn't confess, of course I'd have to punish them. I'd punish them for lying, but not for the trivial matter.

Don't Covet Other People's Belongings Another commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... Of course we shouldn't covet other people's belongings. We wouldn't accept them even if people gave them to us, not to mention coveting other people's things.

I've told you that if we accept other people's offerings that we don't deserve, we're only taking their karma. However, we don't know whether we deserve it or not, so we had better not accept any, unless people really force us to accept it.

If we have no alternative, we should just accept it and then give it to someone else or give them something in return.

I think that the Chinese understand this rule very well. During the Chinese New Year, people give gifts to each other. After gifts are passed on too many times, the gift that you gave earlier may come back to you. Is that not so? This is also fine! At least we won't owe others anything. The Americans have a tradition, that is, when two people go out for coffee, each one will pay his own bill. This is also good! They don't have to display false courtesy, and then fuss about who drinks more and who drinks less, (Master and audience laugh), or they may feel embarrassed.

There is a very funny Au Lacese story. Two people went out to eat a kind of food called jackfruit. It's a kind of fruit that has spines outside and looks very ugly.

It's this fat and this big with many seeds and sweet knobby flesh inside. These two people reached an agreement, "We don't know who will eat more and who will eat less, of course. So we'll count the seeds, and then we'll know how much each person should pay." After they both agreed, they went out to share a big jackfruit together.

One of them was very honest, but the other swallowed all the seeds. (Master and audience laugh.) Seeing that, the first person didn't say anything. After finishing eating, the first person suddenly screamed, "Oh! My stomach hurts very much! My stomach really hurts!" He rolled on the floor and kept on screaming. The second person wasn't done eating yet. While eating, he asked, "What's wrong with you?" The first person said, "I accidentally swallowed a seed.

Now it's growing. Oh! It's getting bigger and bigger. Oh! It has grown up to here now! (Master points to Her chest.) Oh! It's up to here now! (Master points to Her throat.) Oh! Quickly think of a way to save me! Why is it growing so fast?" The other person was frightened to death. He asked, "You swallowed only one seed and it has grown this big. (Laughter.) What will happen to me since I've swallowed five seeds?" (Master and audience laugh. Applause) So don't swallow any fruit seeds! (Master and audience laugh.)

We Cannot Imitate An Enlightened Master Therefore, some things can be done by one person, while other people cannot do it. Or what the Master can do you cannot do. The Master can give initiation and take people's karma, but you shouldn't imitate. (Laughter and applause) The Master can do many things that you cannot do. But, you will! You will do it in future. When you grow up in your strength, in your power and in your selfrealization, then you can do exactly what the Master does, and you might do even more! If God wants to give you more responsibilities, you can do everything. It's not the outside actions of the Master; it is the inner wisdom, the way the Master knows why she or he does that. We cannot know! Sometimes we know. Sometimes we don't know. We just think, "Oh, Master just talks, invites people to eat dinner, drinks tea and touches people on the forehead. I can do all this, and more!" (Laughter and applause) Yeah. "Recite the Five Names, I can do that also. And all Her books, I might be able to write also." But, it's different. It is not the appearance of things that counts; it's the invisible power behind it.

Therefore, even today, when we were talking outside with the journalist, you happened to hear somebody say, for example, that in Costa Rica we have a disciple who is a very devoted to our path now, and he loves me very much. He

always cries like a baby when I leave or when I come. And he practices very well, and he has very good experiences. I don't mean the best, but fairly good and he moves fast, but he was initiated before by another so-called Master, before he knew me, and that was long ago. It was probably the same technique and path, but he could not bear it. He had a terrible reaction, so he stopped.

Understand? And after that he progressed. After our initiation, meeting me, he progressed very fast.

There is another one from America. He was also initiated by one of the famous gurus in India, who also teaches the sound and light like I do. But he didn't progress, for ten or twelve years. And then he fell into another path and got tricked, all kinds of things happened, and he ended up worse than before. So he lost all confidence and stopped practicing all together. And probably did some sad, you know regretful things even. But after he met me, he was confident again, started practicing again and moved so fast. And he asked me, "Why? It was practically the same teaching, why was there a different effect?" (Applause) Even though they teach the same so-called sound and light, it's different! This I also know myself. Some teach this light and sound for money also. How much per lesson! For lessons you must first pay money, every month so much, until a couple of years pass and then they give you initiation, with no guarantee of light and sound. Maybe one or two get it, but a low sound. I don't mean to criticize anyone; also I won't tell the names of this person. But, what I mean is, it's not the outside actions that we can judge and imitate, but it is the inner power, which we must achieve in order to accomplish anything, especially in spiritual aspects. Do you understand? It's not by imitating the Master, by walking like this or by wearing like that. We touch here; we touch there, and we wave here, wave there and give candies. (laughter) This is not all that the Master does. There's so much more and behind that, there is love; there is power; there is blessing; there is extreme care and attention from the Most High, from the ocean of love and mercy. (Applause) It is difficult if you don't practice. If you're not high enough, you cannot know these things.

But, when you receive things, you might feel there is a difference when you get something from the Master. You might not even feel it at all. But by and by, it will also help. For example, one of our practitioners said that his wife got blessed three times by the Master before she saw the light. First time, no. Second time, no. Third time, "Wow!" she said, "got it! Got it!" Yes, some people are slow. I know one practitioner; he said that he had heard nothing at the time of initiation. He was one of those small leaders of another faith. When he came to us, he took initiation. But because of the previous, maybe, preconceived ideas, he got stuck somewhere. It took one week before he got his first sound. But he worked hard, and has meditated a lot. He finally climbed up, "up there". I appreciate his effort. He's one of the best supporters and most faithful practitioners at the moment. But he worked very hard after his initiation. Yes. Very hard.

But, that's rare; to get it one week after initiation is rare. He heard nothing. He was so angry because he was a kind of leader, and every one else got it, and he was on the top and he got nothing. He was frustrated and angry with himself.

But it was because of his position that he had obstacles. He thought that he was some kind of fantastic intelligence of the world, you know?! And he can talk well.

He knows all the scriptures, and when he talks, it's non-stop. He knows many stories and he can talk non-stop. He thinks he's okay, being vegetarian and all that for long time, except egg maybe. So he thought that he was ready, prepared a hundred percent, a hundred and eight percent. And then he was so disappointed. Yes, it's true.

Don't Be Cheated By Your Mind When we think that we are very good, or excellent, we might be cheated by the mind. The mind loves glory, loves praise, love fantasy, and thinking that we are good. On the other side, the mind also degrades us. It might sink into depression and an inferiority complex, and cheat us of our glory also. It goes two ways. Yes. The most cheated system in this world is to make people worship where they should not: to worship wood, to worship stone, to worship all kinds of lifeless objects, thinking that Buddha will know about it. The Buddha might know but we might not know, because we haven't found the connection inside.

So even if the Buddha wants to talk to us, we cannot listen. If our telephone is disconnected, how can we hear the other side?! It doesn't matter how much we bow to the telephone over here. (Applause) This is the trap of Maya, that nobody knows! People love to hang on to something, and to glorify themselves: that they are religious; that they know philosophy; that they are practicing something. Therefore, Maya, the king of illusion, sets up these kinds of traps, to let them satisfy themselves and stick there forever: That I am worshipping. I am religious. I am Buddhist. I am that. I am this. I am all things. I am busy. I am practicing.

You Make God The Way you Want Him To Be There are all kinds of material attachments to religious orders, just to satisfy their mind. But it cheats them out of their precious time, by not letting them think of anything better, or try to find anything better. So they keep telling you to worship the wooden statue and one day you'll realize he is a Buddha; yes, maybe, but a wooden one, a wooden Buddha. (Laughter) The Buddha always said, "Buddha is inside you." And then Jesus said, "God dwells within you. You are the temple of God." What did they mean by this? You make God the way you want Him to be. You make Buddha the way you want Him to be. Understand?

According to your realization, your level, your power, the Buddha is that.

(Applause) For example, I teach you the Quan Yin Method, without a method, but we have to call it a method. Otherwise, If I said to people come here and I'll give you nothing, no method, nobody would come. But, after a while you realize that there is truly no method. It's only the Master's power that helps you. Right?

Otherwise, people would sell methods outside for one hundred dollars and you would get nothing. Or if other schools, so-called gurus, also gave you the same method, you might get nothing. Right? They also tell you sit here and concentrate there. They also touch you. They can touch for two thousand years.

Your head is still your head. (Laughter) It will not become the Buddha's head, because what's yours is yours.

Now, after I give you the Quan Yin Method, for example, then you meditate. You try to search within yourselves to find what kind of power that you have, what kind of capability that you have forgotten, how much intelligence that you have not used, who you are and what kind of position you have in this universe. You search and search, and you'll find it. And then, you find up to the first level, then you'll find that you are very loving now. You are less stressful than before, and so you think, "Oh God is that. God helps me. God can help me to heal stress and to heal my sickness." You get cured from some disease, at the first level.

Sometimes, when you touch somebody, that person gets cure too, and you have healing power! You'll say, "Oh! God has healing power. God is that. God has love. God gives me love. I feel loved now, and I feel I love someone else."

But, that love is still on a weak level. Never mind, you feel better than before.

And by eating vegetarian you feel your body is better. You can think better than before, and you love your neighbor better now. So, you begin to declare that your Buddha is love; your Buddha is healing power; your God is healing power and magical power. Understand? He can make a lot of magic and things like that. You know God is there. You know there is a God, and that He has such and such qualities. And for a little while longer, you practice and you get up to the second level. Now, suddenly, whenever somebody asks you a question, you can talk with eloquence. You can reply to them in a way that they never have heard before, in a way you never dreamed you could reply before. You understand all the sutras and all the Bibles in the world. You understand that all the five religions say the same thing. Yes, in one word, you have eloquence.

Smooth Enmity With The Love From Spiritual Practice You can also sometimes see into the past, into other people's past and future.

You know why you are connected with each other like this. You can regulate, invisibly or visibly, some of your karmic ties with other people, so suddenly your relationships smooth out. Suddenly, two enemies may come back loving each other, because, invisibly, in your practice your Master power has smoothed the past enmity out of your life and your relationship. So you begin to declare, "God has intellectual power! God is Buddha! God is enlightenment! God is eloquence!

God is that!" So your God has grown a little bit taller. (Laughter) That's how you make God and how you make Buddha. You say, "Oh! God has a kind record so that we can see everything inside."

Then you begin to listen, and you can hear the sound of thunder or the sound of many waters. So it declares in the Bible that God speaks in the voice of thunder, and like the sound of many waters. That's how they declared their God. When they saw the big flame of light, they said, "God comes in a big flame. God is like a big flame." So their God differs. Your God now differs from the God before, or differs from another initiate who has only reached the first level, or differs from another initiate who has reached the third level. His God is different from yours, but it is the same God, whom, pitifully, is being seen by different eyes and different angles. Just like when the Buddha was alive, he told the story of the four blind people who touched an elephant; who described the elephant. The one who touched his ears said, "Wow! The elephant is like a fan, a big fan." And the other one who touched his trunk said, "Oh! The elephant is like a big pilar." And the other one who touched his nose said, "Oh! The elephant looks like a water hose." And the one who touched his tail said, "Wow! The elephant is like a

broom stick." This is how ordinary people see God. And this is how practitioners and people at different levels see God and make their own God. Therefore, it is said that God is within you; that Buddha is in your mind. That is the meaning of it. (Applause) Now, you know that you can make Buddhas and you can make God. So I would advise you to make the best God out of it. Our God must be the supreme, the Most High, to be worthy of our time, energy and attention. Time is money! We might just as well buy the best God. (Laughter) Now you understand why God is not there for you to worship, but demands us to make use of His power it. If we don't make use of this God by our own power, then when we pray and nothing is done, we cannot blame anyone else. From the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level of hell, you have only yourselves to blame. You've gone the wrong way. You walk the wrong path. You approach things in the wrong direction, with the wrong method.

The Best Way To Worship God The Quan Yin Method is for you to realize that God is you, the way you make Him. God can be as low as a worm, if you are that. If you don't raise yourselves higher than the worm's level then God will forever stay as a worm. If you raise yourselves higher, the higher your God is, the higher God is glorified. So glorify God by your own power of meditation and realization. That's the best prayer.

That's the best glorification for God, the most significant prayer and the most significant job that you could ever do for God. (Applause) If we say we worship God, Buddha, Allah or whoever you say, and we remain in ignorance, then we truly despite God; we truly disgrace God and Buddha.

Therefore, Buddha said, "If you believe in Buddha, but do not understand Buddha, you disgraced Buddha." That is the truth. How do you disgrace Buddha?

By remaining in ignorance and letting others see that you are an ignorant God, that you have no belief in God anymore, because God is ignorant due to your own ignorant thinking and view point. You think God is like that. "I pray to Him, but He doesn't hear. I am crawling here, but He doesn't see." It is not God who does not see. It is you who does not know that God sees, and who does not directly receive God's blessing, because you build a lot of obstacles around yourself. You, yourself, deny the benefit and the blessing from God, because you think, from a conditioned mind, from many generations, that you're not worthy; that you're wrong; that you are ignorant; that you do all the wrong things against your God's nature.

Therefore, even now, when you pray, this kind of thinking subconsciously prevents you from knowing you are God, knowing the benefit of God. Then you think God is only that. God is only for you to pray to, to complain to and to demand from, but it is not so. Every God is truly different. Depending on how you think and on your level, God is different. Not that there are so many Gods, but our view points differ, so God differs. Do you understand now why we must understand and realize God in order to say that we truly worship God? (Applause) Therefore, what the Buddha said is not wrong. If you don't understand Buddha, don't just blindly believe in Buddha or you'll disgrace Buddha.

Anyhow, you are on the right path. I think you may have realized it by now, otherwise you wouldn't have come to see me. Even those who failed also came to see me, or wanted to come to see me, at least. They might not have the face to come, but never mind! If they want to practice slowly outside, without control, without somebody to keep reminding them, nagging them, then they can stay home and slowly crawl. Those who want to follow me faster, must work hard and be fast. I like you to be fast. You can never be too fast for me (applause), because the world is in need of such fast working people. The world is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people. Therefore, the more the better.

Work Fast In Spiritual Practice To Serve The World The faster you know how great your God is, the better. You can spread your love. You can impose your God for other people to see. When they see you, it's like they see God. They might tremble with fear. They might feel exalted with love, or they might just feel different. That is how God blesses people, through you, because you have slowly risen up to God's level. Understand? That's how we bless the world. That's how we worship God. That's how we truly pray.

At that time we don't even pray, but God blesses you and everything and anyone who sees you. Understand? At that time, you are already a Master. Or you have not reached mastership, but you've already possessed, more or less, to some degree, this kind of power, this kind of love, this kind of benediction. So this is how we serve the world. And then we can say God truly is love.

(Applause) And people will praise you. Okay, enough with theories (laughter), but my theory is not only a theory. You feel the power. You feel the force. Why? Because I have realized what I say. I did not read it from books. Understand? I realized it within myself. Therefore, whatever I say benefits you, and you believe it because it has a convincing power. Anyone else who repeats my words, might just be empty words. Yes. So we have to practice and realize ourselves, and then even if we repeat the words of the Master, it has the same power, because it becomes our own. Understand? (Applause) I thank you for inviting me here. Also thank you for your exciting love at the airport, and today and in three to four days to come. I thank you for working hard to achieve the goals of my trip. Because my trip is also your trip, my work is your work. Whoever benefits or gets benefitted from me and from you also, from all of you who cooperated, who helped, who mentally or even physically supported this work. Everyone is a benefactor of mankind. This is the way of Bodhisattva. This is the way of sainthood. There's no other way, no need for shaving your head, no sticking in the Himalayas, no need for anything, no sleeping on a nail bed. Yes, just be ordinary and have wisdom.

Beautiful you are! I am glad that you have improved, and I am glad your faith is firm. I know you have been through some tests, but that's how we know our level. That's how we know whether our discrimination is sharp or not; whether we know the difference between a true Master and a false Master; whether we know how to recognize goodness in a Master or not, or if we just listen to rumors and all kinds of gossip that is polluting to our mind. If we repeat that, polluting other's minds, it will be like a disease that keeps spreading. So when

we speak, it's better to speak of goodness. If we absolutely cannot avoid it then we have to say something, but only in order to teach people or to tell them to improve. Otherwise, there is no good in talking about negative things, whether is it true or not. The one who spreads it, is the one who is affected most, the first.

And the one who hears it is also affected, if he listens to it or if he believes it.

Understand? Okay, good night!

We Can See Much More With The Wisdom Eye You see, everyone asks me the question about God or Buddha Nature -- "What is God?" or, "What is Buddha Nature?" So people find it's very difficult to understand. "Is there a personal God?" or, "Is there not a personal God?" and, "How come we can not find the Buddha Nature?", "Is Buddha a being or a nonbeing?" Now, we see in the universe, there are many different beings.

Some beings are visible like humans, animals. Some beings are invisible like what we call angels, ghosts, or Buddhas. On our physical plane, we have already experienced some invisible beings. We do not talk about ghosts even. You know the virus - too small for our eyes to see and we must use the microscope to look at. So these we called "invisible beings". Even to our naked eyes, we can not see.

When the Buddha was alive, He said to His disciples that inside a cup of water there are 84,000 invisible beings. So when we drink the water we must use something to filter it in order not to harm these sentient beings. He didn't use the microscope and He could see this. He used His wisdom eye. Only one. In the Bible it is said: If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. That is the single eye, the wisdom eye, the Buddha eye, or the heavenly eye. And if we open this eye, we can see much more than we see now with the two eyes. So we know that there are many things in our world which are invisible. And the more invisible, the more powerful even.

For example, we human beings are very powerful. Or the elephant is very powerful, but the elephant can be conquered by human beings which are even much smaller than it. But human beings can be conquered even by viruses. Just one or two bad ones in our body and we are 'kaput', we are finished. This is very logical and we can understand it through today's scientific proof and research.

Now there are many more invisible beings, even more invisible than this. Even if we use a microscope, we could not see. They are just finer, more subtle. They are just a kind of energy, and then because they are too fine, too subtle, we would not believe that they are beings with intelligence, with feeling. So nowadays, we have proved that even plants have feelings and intelligence. And ants and any kind of animal also have intelligence.

Now, we'll talk about conception. I'll go a little bit further to something very modern and interesting, so that you will not go to sleep with my speech. If I speak about Buddha all the time, everyone will leave and go home. I will talk about something more mundane and concrete like conception. Mostly we think that conception happens accidentally and out of the control of the egg, or we

think that the woman's egg is being penetrated and the egg is helpless. And now recently a scientist has proved by his own understanding, wisdom and research, that it isn't accidental, and that the egg does choose what it wants to absorb maybe one, two, three or five. So even these very, very invisible beings, which we don't see with our naked eyes, have feelings, decisions even, and choice.

The Father Of All Beings Furthermore, we go to the Buddha's-land and the Kingdom of God, we think God or Buddha maybe doesn't exist. Some people say, "God is nothing, is only the void. Buddha is a void. Buddha Nature is a void and when we meditate, we will encounter the void." Well, to my experience, it is not the void. It's a being, full of love, wisdom and everything else you need and can ever imagine, or can even not imagine. This being is powerful, is unimaginably powerful out of anything that our worldly brain can understand. But this being is not a being like our being. This being just has a different being, but we just have to accept that this is also a being. We may call that energy also. But if we only call that energy, then we may have a misconception; misunderstanding that it is just a very - no feeling, no compassion, no wisdom, nothing, like electric energy, like magnetic energy. No, no, no, it isn't like that. It contains within, everything in the universe. It contains all the germs that later can germinate. These germs are, what we call the seeds of the universe, are dormant in this being. So from that, everything comes out and later goes back in.

But behind that being there is another power which we call Godhead or the Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. It's the Buddha of all Buddhas, the Father of all beings. But that power doesn't germinate anything, doesn't contain anything but it contains everything, it doesn't produce anything. Producing things is another being, you know, behind that. For example, when I eat this banana - maybe I'll just eat to let you know. So, when I take this banana, it looks like my hand takes it, or my mouth consumes it? But for what? The one who wants to eat bananas is not my mouth. It is something in the brain and in the cells; the feeling of the body cell, the stomach and the brain. It makes me eat, makes the mouth eat the banana. Therefore, it's the same with God, Godhead, and God power. Similar thing.

It is of course difficult to speak about God, but there is definitely that being, so powerful, we could not ever imagine what it is. But we could experience that, some of it, some fraction of it. And even if you just experience a fraction of it, it makes you different altogether, makes you become very grandeur, very wise, very friendly, very unaffected by any ups and downs of the world; makes you able to solve every problem that comes your way. Even when you're lying unconsciously from a car accident, you are still able to solve that to help yourself. And that happens when we are in contact with this so-called being.

Unimaginable is that being, that almighty, all powerful being. Because we originally come from that being, we are a part of that. And if we are separated from that being, or that power, or that energy, then we are very small indeed, very weak indeed. But if we are reconnected again, then we become powerful and wise and that's the only mystery about God realization, or self-realization.

That is, we realize, we come to know this very, very invisible, but very, very, very powerful being.

Now, that being doesn't look like a human being, it doesn't look like an angel, or it doesn't have a beard so long like that. You just happen to be inside that being and you just enjoy the love, protection, power, and compassion, and you have no words to express this when you come back to Earth. I mean when we come back to the Earth consciousness, not that we go anywhere, or come anywhere.

It all happens within ourselves. And when I had such experiences before, it didn't make me grow two horns (Master and audience laugh), or it didn't make me so excited that I couldn't sleep, or anything like that. It was so peaceful. It was so ordinary, very, very smooth and harmonious. It's like you eating the banana, so very easy. But this kind of experience doesn't happen often to the average person. It needs a lot of self-discipline, sincerity, and longing to become reunited with God, or with that Buddha Nature within ourselves in order to achieve it.

God or Buddha, no doubt can give us, very quickly. But everything we earn by ourselves is more valuable. Also, it isn't fitting to become God or Buddha if we still have our anger, lust, desire, attachment altogether. Then when people look at us, they think, "Oh, what kind of Buddha is that?" And then they have no respect for the Godhead or the Buddha. Therefore, for anyone who is fit to have this experience, that means to become one with God again, or to know this Buddha Nature, or to become Buddha, one must go through a lot of discipline.

The experience of God and Buddha Nature we can have very easily through the proper guidance of a master who already knows this Buddha Nature who already has become one with God. Regain The Complete God Wisdom For Yourself It's easy. Just like the one who can speak English can teach you on the first day already some phrases in English. After you go home from English school, you can speak something already. You may say, "How are you? My name is so and so. What is your name?" etc. A few phrases, yes. Similarly when you go to a master who knows God, or knows the Buddha Nature within him or herself, then that master can share with you a little bit of that God experience. But then you have to practice more and more everyday in order to gain the whole, the complete God wisdom for yourself. Just like after you can speak a few sentences in English, you have to come back again, and you have to be diligent at home studying until you can completely understand, read, and write English. So the experience of God sometimes, even though it's easy to find, it's hard for most of people because we do not find the right guide.

So we think God is something very mysterious that we could never reach hirm; or Buddha is something for Shakyamuni Buddha and not for me, not for us. No, it's not true, Jesus said: We are all children of God. He said that whatever great things, great miracles He did, then we could do even greater. In the Bible it says: Whatever I do today, you can do even better tomorrow. And John the Baptist baptized people with water, but He said: The one who comes after me, even mightier than I am, can baptize with the Holy Ghost. So as our human race advances towards civilization and intelligence, the techniques and the wisdom within ourselves also advance faster, and the things we do can be even advanced also. So if Jesus said that we

can do greater miracles, then why don't we try? Buddha also said: I have become the Buddha, but you will become Buddha also. He did not say: "I'm the one and only and never anyone else before or after me."

No doubt to become a Buddha or Christ like, it is not a matter of a joke. It's not easy, but we may try. It's not mysterious, it's not out of reach at all. I have tried it and I have succeeded. So if you try, you might succeed too. If I'm so small and so weak and I could try, then you may try as well. Why did I try these things? I wanted to experience the God inside me, or the Buddha Nature within me. It was because of the suffering of our world that brought me to this decision. So I owe it to you all to share this, the result of my practice.

Otherwise, my life was so smooth and happy. I did not think I needed anything.

When you are so satisfied in material comfort, it is very difficult to think of spiritual fulfillment. We do not think about that. We're happy enough. Therefore, the Buddha said, "When one is in heaven, it's hard to practice, to meditate, to become a Buddha." In heavenly worlds, people live a very happy life and therefore they do not desire further progress. It happens in our daily lives also.

Sometimes we are too happy and comfortable in our own lives. We do not want to advance in our position, or do any more business adventures. We think we're happy enough.

Many Ways To Practice And Become Self-Realized Now there are many ways to practice and to become self-realized. But for the average person, the most important thing is we pray. We pray to God Almighty within us, pray to the Buddha within to help us. And also make a self-effort, "I will keep the discipline". We train our compassion and love to all beings, and begin with cutting down on the killing of animals, etc.

Yesterday I was in a radio program called, "See Beyond", and the lady announcer asked me, "What is the solution for the world's hunger today?" People think, if there is God, why should people have to suffer hunger so much in the world. I said, "In the Bible it prescribes charity. Buddhism also emphasizes charity." Means give to others what they need. But I said, "Nowadays, we don't even need to do that." If you have your money, you can keep it. If you have your property, enjoy it. If everyone in this world did not eat meat at all and we didn't raise cattle, pigs and chickens, then these protein products and all kinds of corn could be distributed freely to all the hungry people. That would be enough because we over use these proteins, soy beans, corn and all these kinds of stuff - staple foods which are necessary for human beings - in order to feed animals.

And we gain only one kilo of beef steak and waste at least hundreds of kilos of staple food, besides all the medical care.

Yesterday some friends gave me a statistic about a research: half of the national (U.S.A.) antibiotic medicines go to animals; half of the national. Understand that? And it costs a lot of money too. So before we have to give away our property, we can give away the meat. If we do not eat meat, no one will kill, no one will raise cattle. And all the food will stay where it is and they can eat it and become healthy and strong. It's good for every nation, and it's good for our nation as well. We waste a lot of money on arms and on raising animals. All the

arable land is wasted nowadays on raising cattle, pigs, and the like, most of it.

So if we use these to cultivate wholesome, healthy food, I think the nation will benefit more and our nation will have more peace and no need for arms defense.

If every nation lives according to the Bible, according to the Buddhist teachings, Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, etc., then the world needs no more peace conferences, wasting so much coffee, champagne and cakes on a round table, and go no where with it. The more we talk about peace, the more war we have. It is because we go about it in a different manner. If everyone practiced meditation and ate a wholesome diet without any killing involved, the world would have long already been in a peaceful state and long already we'd have no hunger phenomena. No need to give away your property, just give away the meat diet. That's enough to save the world and to save your own health and the national health.

As we all know, most of the sickness comes from meat, because of the antibiotics fed to the animals, because of the anxiety which produces toxins in the animal meat, because, because, because, and because. Because we eat all these antibiotics, our body loses its self-resistance to the disease. Our body normally can fight the disease, but because we are fed so much antibiotic meat, our body becomes weakened, and the resistance system becomes out of order.

Therefore, any kind of disease affects us and kills our lives. It is a pity. We should rely on ourselves to help us, to help the nation, not rely on peace conferences. I haven't seen any peace conferences which have done much good to any nation. They sign many papers, but then they transgress them tomorrow.

Maybe the people who sign are very sincere at that time, but there are others behind, in the front, left, and right. And after these people who sign die, or the presidential position changes or the king changes, the policy changes. We can never rely on these things. We must rely on ourselves to save our lives.

Open This Power Within Through The Correct Technique Now, most people think if we pray to Jesus or Buddha, that is 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, we call the Quan Yin Method, we 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 sickness over night. I mean dangerous ones, mostly needing operations, or dying. 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 Buddha Nature or Buddha within us or God within us, will protect us twenty-four hours, and will protect us even after we leave this body.

Someone asked me, "Why don't we use some kind of breath control or breathing technique or something like that to reach God? Can we realize God through this?"

I said, "I have my doubts, because the breathing is going on only when we are conscious; and when we faint, we have a heart-attack or something, the breathing stops. Or when we die, the breathing is no more. So what do we practice then, what do we rely on then, to become conscious, to become awakened. And when we sleep we're not even aware of our breathing. So how do we rely on that to keep us twenty-four hours."

Therefore, I have found that the technique that we practice now, it is all powerful twenty-four hours protecting us, and we are awakened within. Even when we sleep, the God power looks after us. Even when we die, that power doesn't die. That is more secure. It is safer to rely on the eternal power, not to rely on the ephemeral breath. Don't you agree? Yes or No? (Audience: Yes.) Yes. So, what I want to share with you is that very simple technique to keep ourselves in tune with this protective power, almighty power, in order to save our lives, the lives of our nations, and the harmony of the universe. And it is so simple that no one could make any excuse that it's too hard to do it. It's easy.

It's much easier than chewing bread. But to do the meditation which I may share with you if you are interested, which is also free of charge, is even easier than to take a bath. To take a bath is difficult sometimes. When the electricity is gone out we have no hot water, or have no gas and no hot water. Or sometimes the tap goes wrong and rusty, you have no good water, or the water doesn't come out. But to practice meditation on God, to open your wisdom and God power to use in your daily lives is much easier than that. Even me, I am so surprised that it is so easy.

Before I encountered this easy technique, I tried many other techniques, like the technique of the secret doctrine, of the Tibetan Buddhism, and all the Thai, and Burmese, and all these. It was so complicated and so tiring for me. Maybe I am too small. Maybe for you it would not be so tiring. But it was very time consuming and very tiring. And you need a lot of equipment, and instruments in order to carry on this kind of practice, but not with the Quan Yin Method. I've found this is easier than anything else. You can sit on the train, on the bus, or in the park, anywhere, and you can be in tune with that God power, you can feel the protection, and you can see God face to face. You may be in contact with Jesus, with Buddha, with whomever you love most in your heart. They will appear to you. They might teach you something. They might protect you, guide you, hold your hand, so that your lives will never again be lonely.

The World That Is Forever Lasting But that is not even the highest. Even if you see Jesus or Buddha it's not the highest state. The highest state is you become like Jesus, you become like Buddha yourself, and then have all the power to save the world, and to be saved from the misery and rounds of births and deaths. You become all wise, all knowing, and omnipresent. That's the highest stage we can reach. What is it about this highest omnipresent state? Well, I can not tell you exactly. I can just tell you that it's very nice, very wonderful! But, I can not tell more. It's difficult to tell. It's easy to experience.

I can only invite you to come and share with us the wealth that is forever lasting, that never goes out of stock, never rises up and down with the market price, never gets inflation, never gets any tax, no one can steal it away from us, no one can force us to leave it, and no one even knows what we have. That's the secret treasure which Jesus said: Lay you not your treasure upon Earth, where moths can corrupt; but lay your treasure upon heaven. He means we find the treasure in heaven. He also said that His kingdom was not on Earth, but His kingdom was with His Father. So, He meant that He had found this endless treasure.

So, this treasure we may also find, because He promised that we can also do what He did, and even maybe greater. It may not be that we are greater than Jesus. No, no. He means that, maybe in the future, like in our modern time, techniques, civilization we'll become much greater. So, we have to use more power from the Godhead in order to satisfy the desire, the need of the modern man. Whereby Jesus did not need all this, it was enough for Him to do a few miracles and people ran after Him. Nowadays, it's not enough just to do a few miracles, you need more. You need international appearances like me. (Master and all laugh as Master was wearing a Chinese typical Buddhist monk outfit.)

You need the knowledge of different countries' languages or cultures.

Jesus did not need all this. He didn't have to learn that much. Even though He had to learn, but He only went around in Jerusalem. So He did not need to use anything that much, just a few miracles. Nowadays, we need to use all kinds of transportation, telephones, televisions, video tapes, all these kinds of miracles, you know, long ear, long eye miracles, (Master and all laugh), in order to serve the people in the modern time.

What Reincarnates?

Q: Some people go overboard in understanding reincarnation which sounds like myths. Please explain what does reincarnate after death? Knowing the personal "I", the personality, body, environmental and cultural mind doesn't reincarnate.

So again, what does?

M: Oh! It is the personality that reincarnates. Reincarnation doesn't mean we come back again in the same body, but our thinking, our desire, our attachment to something which could not be solved in the present life will come back again, packed together in another body, and that is what is called reincarnation. And so that body continues to enjoy, to suffer whatever was left behind, left over from this present life. Maybe in a different body, different shape of body even. Maybe this life we are black and next life we will be white, or yellow, or red. Or this life we are in this human body and next life we are in a different clothing of body like the animal clothing-body.

Because everything we think, speak, desire, and attach to, has energy, it formulates itself into a very concrete type of atmosphere and then that atmosphere evolves again in a different environment and different circumstance in order to fulfil, to dilute all these concrete forms which already exist.

Everything existing must be destroyed, must be changed, must be fulfilled in one way or another. This is what reincarnation means.

For example, we see, we grow the flower, the plant, and the plant produces the flower, then somehow nature one day will destroy the flower because it has been in existence and then after sometime, it has to be dissolved. So if our thinking, our attachments and desires are not able to be fulfilled in this life, they have to be in the next. It's very logical. It's nothing mysterious. There's no myth about reincarnation.

Q: Is reincarnation a choice of the soul or spirit, or is it something that will occur automatically without choice by the control and decision of the higher power?

M: We have choice and we do not have choice. For the average people, they have no choice. For the Buddhas, saints, Christ, they have choice. They consciously choose their parents, date of birth, the place of birth, and the date of death, date of leaving the world; they have choice. They are conscious in the womb of the mother already. They are conscious before they came to the world.

They came by choice, they came to save the world, to help some of their friends, to help those who pray to them for help. They have choice. But other people, they are compelled to reincarnate by their own deeds, actions through the past life.

As I have just explained before, our thinking and habits form themselves into an energy and that will force us to come into a different environment, to fulfil and to eradicate if necessary. This already formed concrete energy has to be diluted.

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap Q: What is karma and what is the association between karma and enlightenment? Is there such a thing as immediate enlightenment within the concept of karma?

M: Karma is what we call cause and effect. Whatever you sow, so shall you reap in the Bible, that is karma. Now, we can sow and we can reap, but then we can wipe off also. Therefore, Jesus, Buddha had to come to earth in order to help us to pay this terrible debt that we could not pay ourselves, which is called karma, which we sowed so many, now we reap so much. So some people like the Father, Son or the Buddha come down with unlimited merits, understand, and they can give anything you need, they can pay the debts for you. Because God is all merciful, limitless of grace and blessing, whatever you ask, you will get. If you knock, it will be opened.

Now mostly, we don't ask, we don't knock and we just knock our heads against the wall, (audience laughs), so we get not much grace and blessing. And we think God is not merciful. God is. Hes always sends some of Hiers messengers to the world like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc. to save us, to lead us back home.

Despite our karma, in spite of our heavy debt, they can take us home and we can get immediate enlightenment through such persons' grace.

For example, now we are born in a very poor family. Our family, generation to generation, has been poor like that and we can never have any hope to get any richer or to get any better situation in the society. But then along comes a prince or a very big officer, and he has so limitless wealth and he happens to chance on our family and he happens to like us or like our daughter, wants to marry her.

Then, we become different people, we become a different family, our position will change. However much debt we owe to the neighbors, or to the landlord in our region, he will pay with his own money and take us to the palace.

Now God is similar to a very rich, wealthy, billion, billion, billionaire. Whoever calls on Hirm, Hes will cleanse all the sins and make us angels, make us Godlike. Why is it possible? Because there's nothing impossible with God, anyhow. If Hes can create the whole universe, Hes can just take us home if Hes so desires.

But then because we do not know where God is, and between God and us, there exists a very thick curtain of so-called karma, so Hes needs to send someone looking like us in order to go through and shake hands with us and say, "Hey, come."

God is so intangible, so abstract. Even though Hes appeared to us, we would not see. We are used to seeing illusion, we are used to seeing concrete forms. If God appeared, we could not know, we could not recognize. So we need someone who is expert to tell us, "Oh! Yeah, what you saw yesterday, that is God, or let me make you see God in a moment, or in five minutes you will see Hirm. When you see such and such and such, that is God who appeared to you in such a form, or in such energy, in such wisdom." Then we understand.

So, you can get immediate enlightenment for sure. No doubt about that. We can see God immediately because God is within us. In the Bible it is said: Know you not, that you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells within you. If Hes is within us, then we could immediately see Hirm, no doubt. It's just a question of know-how. In American we say, "know-how", hah?

Meditation Q: What is the first step one must take toward reaching God? M: We must pray that if God exists, please guide me, please help me. And stick to your religion and pray to that religious head that you believe in to help you. If you're Christian, pray to God, pray to Jesus, Santa Maria. If you're Buddhist, pray to Buddha, to Bodhisattvas, Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Amitabha Buddha, etc., to help you. That's the first step.

The second step is, we must lead a virtuous life as prescribed in the Bible and in the Buddhist scriptures or in any other religious scriptures. I haven't seen any major religion which teaches people to do bad things. So follow your own religious ethic, as the second step.

The third step is, we must find someone, and very importantly, who has known God, who has realized God, to show us something, to share with us the wealth that he or she has got. Just like if we want to speak English, what is the first

step? Prepare the money for it, so that the teacher will accept you and then go and find a teacher -- one who can speak English. If you find one who speaks Spanish, then no good. (Master and audience laugh.) It's very easy.

Enlightenment Q: According to what You said, is meditation the only way to see Buddha or to reach enlightenment?

M: Yes. Did you see Buddha meditate? Did you see Jesus meditate? Yes? He meditated and the last time lasted forty days in the desert. Now if someone never meditated before, could he just go suddenly into the desert and meditate for forty days? No, no, no. This is a very experienced practitioner who could do such a thing. So from this, even with so little information, we know Jesus had been meditating all along and that was the last, final time, before He went out and taught the world.

Buddha meditated all the time for six years. But then, the last, final time, it was forty-nine days. Then, He went out to teach the world. So no one reaches nirvana or the Kingdom of God without meditation. Why meditation? To still our mind in order to receive the teachings from heaven or from the Kingdom of God, or from the Buddhas in the higher world. If we always keep praying and asking, "Please give me wisdom. Please give me that. Please give me ...," and whenever Buddha wants to speak, He has no chance any more, because we are busy all the time (audience laughs): we talk, we ask, and we talk and we don't listen. So meditation is a listening time.

Just like when you ask me a question and then you have to be still for a while, quiet, then I have a chance to tell you what I want to say or what you need to know. So meditation is like that - sit still and receive the message. Otherwise, God wants to tell you hundreds of dozens things and you have no time to hear it. You're too busy talking, praying, singing, prostrating, bowing, and counting the rosary. (Audience laughs.) It's all right to do these. I don't mean this is no good. This is very good. But then, we must be still for some time so that God has a chance to communicate. That is called meditation. Too easy, very easy to understand.

The Role Of The Master Q: Please explain the differences among the enlightenment -- master, Buddha, Bodhisattva. Which of the above fit You the most closely?

M: Fit me? I do not care what you call me. Call me what you want. You see, I'm a 'garbage collector'. (Master and audience laugh.) Yeah, I collect the humans' 'garbage' and clean them, so that the world will be in a better, harmonious atmosphere and people will be in less suffering and more wise. I take their 'garbage' and give them 'jewels', give them wisdom. I take their karma and suffering and give them joy and happiness. So you may call me 'garbage collector'. No need such a big title like Buddha and Bodhisattva - scares me to death. It denotes the glorious position. In fact, I only collect 'garbage'. Collect all the bad, negative atmosphere and you know, all the things scattered here and

there which make our world miserable and unbearable. I collect all these and burn them up, clean the world. May I help you? May I ask you also to help me in this 'garbage collecting' program by joining us to meditate on the positive power, on the God power which is almighty? We can clean all the sin, can bestow all the grace. This is my job. You may join also and become the same.

No need for Buddha and Bodhisattva, these sound too glorious and honorable.

(Master laughs.)

In fact, we work very hard. Whoever reaches this level and are commissioned by God are volunteers to help sentient beings. We work very hard and we suffer.

Not much glory here in this world. You might get glorified when you go back to heaven, go back to the Buddha's-land, but here in this world, there is not much for Buddhas.

Q: Will You tell us who will be the right master to learn religions from?

M: It's like this. We do not follow a teacher, we only follow the teaching, so we can never go wrong. In case the teacher goes wrong when the teaching is okay, then we follow the teaching. We have to see if the teaching is correct. For example, you see if my ethics are correct or not correct, if whatever I teach you I follow or not. For example, I teach you not to eat meat. I also eat vegetarian. I also teach you not to steal. I also don't steal. I teach you to give away in charity. I give away myself in charity. I teach you to love people. I do love people and help people unconditionally. I take no money for the teaching I give.

I earn my own money. So you have nothing to lose at all, except to gain.

Now also every moral standard which is described in the Buddhist scriptures and described in the Christian Bible, I convey to you again, so I teach nothing new, nothing immoral, nothing unethical, so you may feel safe to know that your teacher won't teach you anything wrong, outside of the scriptures. I teach you everything from the scriptures. From ancient times, the ethical conduct doesn't change. The commandments from God, from Buddha will not change. I teach you the same, and I do the same. So you know at least I'm not the bad type.

And now the teaching is correct, right?

And the meditation will provide you with wisdom, peace of mind. Doesn't matter which technique, it will also help you somewhat. So there is no exception about our technique. I only tell you that it's the fastest, that's all. But you may not you don't have to believe me. I only inform you and now you have your own choice. I only tell the truth. If it is fast, I say it is very fast. I'm also a monk, I'm not allowed to tell a lie anyhow. Even average people will not tell a lie, so what would a monk tell lies for. And I have no reason to do that, because I don't need your money, I don't need anything, and I don't even live here. I profit nothing from you. I may even leave tomorrow or you may leave me and never see again - goodbye. So, I profit nothing.

Ah! So from this stand-point you're safe. You follow the teaching only, don't follow me. The teaching will always be with you, and you don't need to follow me in person. In case you want some personal advise during your meditation progress, you may write to me. Nowadays no need to stick with the master all the time. Or you could go to Formosa or wherever I am staying. This body is

only an appearance, a house, an office, so that you may see me. If I used the spiritual body only, you could not see me at all. And when I talked, you couldn't hear. So how could I convey the message to you. I have to use the body. That's the use of the body. This body is not much use in other senses.

So no need to fear that when I go away, you'll have no one. You'll always have someone. You may even see me appearing in your house just like this. If you are sincere and high level enough, you will see the Master come to you and you will see the Master all the time whenever you need. No need to cling to a physical body.

Q: She asks You if You have a dream?

M: Yes, I have dream. I dream that all the world will become peaceful. I dream that everyone becomes Buddha. I dream that all killing will stop. I dream that all the children will walk in peace and harmony. I dream that all the nations shake hands with each other, protect each other, and help each other. I dream that our beautiful planet will not be destroyed by some crazy atom bomb. It took billion, trillions of years to produce this planet and it's so beautiful, so wonderful.

I dream that it will continue, but in peace, beauty and love. Yes, that is my dream. (Audience applaud.)

Q: What is the fastest way to reach true enlightenment?

M: Meditate with our method and a virtuous life.

Q: Christ did a few miracles, did not know other languages other than Jewish, but these miracles convinced us. How about nowadays' masters? How do we know that they are holy?

M: You see, the miracles don't secure a holy personality. Many people have miracle power without being holy. This you know: the black magician, the white magician, they all have miracles, but that doesn't mean they are holy. Jesus had to use these miracles because it was in different circumstances. Nowadays we are more intelligent, we are not as barbaric, we are more technological, more advanced, more civilized, and more scientifically minded.

So, there's no need clinging to these miracles. As I have already told you, Seek you first the Kingdom of God. I do not want to use miracles to bait you because I respect your wisdom, I respect your intelligence. I do not think of you as children that I have to use some colorful toys in order to attract you; I think this is not very respectful. Because I respect you very much, therefore I use wisdom, I use logic to appeal to your wisdom, to your logic so that you might get higher in your understanding and not just cling to these physical phenomena such as miracles.

You will know that I have a lot of miracles, limitless miracles. When you reach my level, when you are sincerely practicing, then I'll show you, but not now. Not by force, not on demand, understand? If you respect me at all, then do not demand such, because I respect you. I do not use this "hula-hula-hop" to play

with you. I do not think you are such a level. And I do not want to attract this kind of level either. If you are not yet grown up in wisdom, then I'll let you wait.

If you already have some wisdom and ideas of how a practitioner should be, why we should practice meditation and virtues, then you come to us, join with us to cleanse the planet, to bless all beings, not to play with miracles.

Miracles don't make a person holy, that is for sure. You will know my miracles in time if you are sincere, if you have a higher ideal. You will know everything about your Master in time. I'm not selling cheap in the supermarket.

Keep God In Mind And Remember Love Q: How do we understand or in better terms reconcile our dark sides: evil, lust, etc., with the holiness and good tidings of the Supreme Entity?

M: Yes, by leading a virtuous life, changing from dark to light. Use the light to dispel darkness. For example, when the sun comes out, darkness is gone. By practicing the present from God, listening to the instructions of God everyday, seeing God's light everyday, we will cleanse out the evil tendencies, and clean out the worst evil tendency even. The more people in the world who practice, the more peaceful the world becomes, the cleaner the atmosphere, not only for us but for all people. That's how we do it with meditation, with enlightenment.

How To Go To The Buddha-Lands Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai at Columbia University, New York, U.S.A. November 4, 1989. (Originally in English) This article was published in China Times, Formosa October 25, 1995 Good afternoon. Happy that you have come. It's Saturday afternoon, and your time is very valuable. I am glad that you have saved some of your busy time and come here. It's sometimes difficult to speak. It's difficult to go back to the normal thinking of the human level and to communicate through language, but I'll try. After half an hour, it will go on automatically. (Master laughs.) Now, please help and join me in prayer so that our seminar, our meeting, will be fruitful, will be of some benefit to all of you and those that you love. Just take a few minutes. Let's pray that the Almighty God will speak through me, and that the Almighty God within you will be awakened and listen. Thank you.

Where Are The Buddha-Lands?

Shakyamuni Buddha, when He was alive, what I mean is that when He was still on the physical plane, in the physical body, He introduced to us so many wonderful lands that we call Buddha-lands. And Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He also told us and introduced to us many so-called heavens, different levels of consciousness. Also He had told us: In the house of my Father, there are many mansions. Do you remember? What does it mean by many Buddha-lands? What does it mean by In the house of my Father, there are many mansions?

I would like to introduce to you one of the Buddha-lands, and you could also say that it's one of the mansions of God. According to Buddhism, there is one Buddha-land which is very beautiful. Well, there are many different Buddhalands, but today we'll speak about one of them. This Buddha-land is called the Land of the King of Medicine Buddha.

When this Buddha was in a physical body and roamed around the world liberating sentient beings, he had twelve kinds of vows for the benefit of the people. What does it mean making vows? When you are practicing for Bodhisattvahood, meaning when you are practicing to become a saint, you'd like to help people in such and such a way, and so you wish inside your heart that people would benefit from you in certain ways. These are so-called "vows". And through the power of your practice, your virtues, your will power and good will, these vows will become true.

So one of the vows of the King of Medicine Buddha, which we call "Yiao Shi Pho" in Chinese, was that if anyone came to him afflicted with any kind of disease, body and mind, he would first give them relief -- give them food to eat, medicine to take care of their health, and then slowly he would make them realize the highest potential power within themselves, what we call the Buddha nature, or the Kingdom of God. When the disciples of the Buddha went to this Buddha of the Medicine Land, they saw that the land was endowed with so many precious stones, and the earth was made with crystal. Most of the Buddha-lands are similar in character. The Land of the Medicine Buddha and the Land of Amitabha Buddha are similar in character. The earth is made of a kind of crystal or of luxurious stones. Houses are made from seven precious jewels -- rubies, diamonds, gold, etc.... The people who live in this kind of land are ever, ever joyful, never have any difficulties, never heard of any miseries. Even the word misery doesn't exist in that land, how much less they have to experience this kind of suffering.

Whereby in our world, which we call the Earth, there is a kind of mixture between suffering and happiness. Sometimes we suffer, sometimes we enjoy.

Some people are sorrowful, some people are happy. It's different in the Land of the Buddha. Only happiness, only joy, only bliss, only love. No suffering, no misunderstanding, no violence, no blaming, no quarreling, no war.

What is the purpose of the Buddha telling people about all these beautiful lands?

So that they realize that there are other universes, there are other beautiful planets to which we can go, live, and stay permanently. No need to cling to this miserable world. If we think this world is too miserable for us, then we must not stay here. We have a choice. That was the purpose of the Buddha coming into this world, that was the purpose of Jesus when He came into the world, to introduce to the people of our world many other different planets where life is more enjoyable, more suitable to our mentality, or our desire.

The Road To Wisdom Is Endless Now, we think Buddha died and we think Jesus has left the world, has died. But it is not true. Jesus as well as Buddha are still living. They are just living in a

different place, and they have also evolved with time, with their job, and with their ever-learning. We can never learn enough. Do not think that after we become Buddha or Christ-like, we stop learning. No, then it becomes like a dead end. The road to wisdom is endless.

So you remember in the Bible, Jesus said something very strange. He said: Whatever miracles, whatever great things I do today, you can do them even better tomorrow. Now isn't that strange? How can we do better than Jesus? Who knows? Please raise your hand. Anyone have any idea why Jesus said such a strange thing? Why did He say we can do greater things than He did? Why did He humble Himself in this way? Why greater than Jesus? Isn't He the only son of God? (Audience: We are the same as He.) Then why should we be greater than Him? He should say that you can do the same. Why would He say: You can do better than I even?

What you have said is all correct, everyone is correct in part. Now, I may add something. Just for example, at the time you met your teacher, or what we call the initiation process, you just had a little taste of a heaven, of the power within yourself. So you may praise Jesus or your teacher very much. You say: "Oh! That was a wonderful experience. What did you do to me? That was incredible!"

So Jesus would humbly say: "No! No! That is nothing. You will do even greater."

What he meant maybe was as you develop more, you will know even more than just what you know today. That's one of the possibilities at that time. I think there is another possibility, another meaning in what He said. It's that He, at that time, was not that much developed, not as much as He could have been developed. Maybe if Jesus came back now, He would be greater than He was then. That was also one of the suggestions.

Also maybe, His power, even though still very great, was difficult to give, difficult to offer to the people, because at that time, our human minds were also underdeveloped as well. We were not as civilized, not as intelligent, as we are now. Even the great Jesus couldn't do much. It's just like when you are a very excellent M.D. or engineer, and you go to Africa with all your Ph.D. and knowledge, what can you do in a jungle? You can only apply some herbal medicine, wash patients with soap, (Master and all laugh) and that's all you can do. If the patients get relief, they praise you. And you, say, "No! No! That was nothing." It's true that it was nothing for what the doctor can do in normal conditions, in a good hospital, where he is surrounded by all kinds of equipment and colleagues who help him in his job.

Also when Jesus came to us, it was 2,000 years ago, and as 2,000 years have gone by, He must have learned much more. So now, if those who are in the future, those who came after Jesus are in a better environment, in a more modernized civilization, of course, they could do greater wonders.

So if we look in the Bible, Jesus didn't have the chance to say much at all. What He said, I am sorry, even though was so great, but He wasn't that great. I don't mean Jesus was not great. It was that He did not have the chance to say much.

Also the people at that time, their understanding, was not that great, not great enough to match Jesus' wisdom. So He had to tell them in parables, kind of

stories, had to use some kind of healing power, all these kinds of things, to awaken people. He also told them in very simple straightforward terms -- to keep the commandments, believe in God, pray to God, etc. Only some of His chosen few disciples were selected to be the messengers of His message; the rest He just cured them of their sicknesses, uplifted them a little bit in a mental way, invisible way, comforted them, and reminded them of the commandments or of God. Therefore, those who came after Jesus having the same capacity as He, reaching the same level of enlightenment, could do much more than He did, could speak more in a more logical way, more intelligent way, more scientific way in order to suit the modern society. So it's not very advantageous for us to cling to the image of our old-time Jesus or Buddha. We have to advance, and what we learn today, it must not always be what the people learned in the past.

Now why did the Buddha take so much time and talk about so many Buddhalands? It wasn't "He" who talked even. It was His disciples who were taken to the Land of the Buddha, came back, and wrote the so-called diaries. Of course, the Buddha was in that Buddha-land, and the Buddha was the one who took these disciples around and introduced them. But it was not necessary that he spoke to the earthly people in the human language. Some of my so-called followers, disciples, students or fellow practitioners, whatever you call them, they also have had similar kinds of experiences. They were taken to those beautiful lands of love, peace and glory, those with crystal-paved grounds and golden palaces. When they came back to earth consciousness, they also wrote down their experiences, and their joy in the heavenly kingdom or in these Buddha-lands. So these Buddha-lands do exist, and they are much more beautiful, much more gracious than our earth.

Different Beings In Other Galaxies And On Other Planets In the universe, we can see with our physical eyes that there are many kinds of planets. Our scientists are now trying hard to discover what kinds of planets these are, and if they are peopled or not peopled? Are the people over there similar to ours or not similar? Some of the scientific discoveries have proved that some planets are peopled with beings similar to ours, sometimes they are not similar. Those planets in the universal system are indeed peopled with many different beings. Some are so different vibration, that our physical eyes could not detect them. Even if we send a spaceship to that planet, and the astronauts with all their equipment, we could not see them. Therefore, when our astronauts went to the moon, they saw nothing, and they took some rocks home; they are very expensive rocks. I think we should buy them and wear them around our neck (Master and all laugh) -- moon stone, because they are more expensive than diamond comparing the cost of the spaceship.

Why is it that our eyes fail to see the invisible beings in other galaxies, other planets? It is because we are made of different densities of matter. Actually, matter is not matter at all. I think science has proved that -- that matter is actually empty of nature, it's only different in density. I think that it's very logical. That's why Buddhism has the theory of emptiness. Emptiness means all things are empty in their own nature, it's only a difference in density.

Now I'll try to make it more concrete. You see, air, we cannot see it, we can use it only. We can breathe and we feel the air is there when the wind blows, otherwise we cannot detect the air. The air is composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Everyone knows that. Water also is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, the same kind of composition -- H2O. But when water vaporizes and becomes air, air is entirely different from water. If we are thirsty, we cannot drink air, (Master and all laugh) we have to drink water, even though they are both composed of the same thing, and have the same percentage of composition. Ice is even more different. Ice is different in density. Water condenses and makes itself become solid, so we have ice. So that helps us to explain the different beings in the universe -- why some are solid, are visible, and others are very intangible, invisible. I think it is the same theory.

We have heard people say: "All beings in the universe are one, are of the same essence." Today I am enlightened in this matter, (Master laughs) thanks to you.

If I hadn't spoken about this, I would have forgotten this wisdom, I wouldn't have remembered. Because today you needed to know this, I had the opportunity to dig this information out, and give it to you. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't have needed this information. It was put safely in the store, and maybe just forgotten.

To become enlightened is also like that. We have to unlock our memory. We have to use it each day, in our daily practice, our daily living. We'll unlock more mysteries, more capacities in our dormant storage of the brain. That's what we call "enlightenment", that's what we call "getting more wisdom"; nothing mysterious about that. Everything we already have in our brain, in our store. It's just that when we don't use it, we forget it. It's just like it's non-existent.

As much as I have told you about the story about the water, the air, and the ice, which are made from the same elements, we are also made of the same essence, the same elements -- that is the light, the vibration, which we call the Word in the Bible. The Word means the vibration. In ancient times, they didn't call it the vibration, they called it the Word. Something with sound, something that makes sound -- that is the Word. Whether it is invisible or visible sound, they had no expression for this; so they call it the Word. Lao Tzu had no expression for this. He called it: If you press me too much, I will say it is the Tao, I have no word for it. In Buddhist terminology, they call it the sound-stream, the inner sound. They all amount to the same thing. We hear in the Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. This vibration or this light will become more dense, as it descends to different levels of the universal hierarchy. It becomes the most dense here, so we have this kind of visible body to move around in. But when some practice at a very high level, and develop themselves to the highest wisdom and the highest power, they merge themselves back to the original source. Then sometimes you see their body disappear. It's not that they disappear, they just melt into their original form. Just like when ice is put in contact with sun light or fire, it melts into water and then disappears into the air again.

When we meditate, practice, and we become Buddha, a great master, we will not just disappear so quickly. We also have a control over our body, over our destiny, and we want to stay for the benefit of others. But our body is not always real any more. Therefore, sometimes if such a master gives discourses in some way -- in samadhi, or in some way teaching others, some people just don't see the body of the master at all. Just see an ocean of light, and that light will even swallow all the audience in the lecture. That you may experience sometimes. Maybe even to the extent of half an hour, one, two, three hours, you are just lost in the sea of light and blissfulness. It's because the master has merged into the ocean of light. Sometimes the master chooses to manifest this to some of the disciples, maybe just to convince him or her, or maybe just because that disciple had great affinity with that master in the past. But not everyone can see this phenomenon, and not every master is so high to manifest such kind.

Great Enlightened Saints Appear In Every Cycle Of Our Existence Now, it is difficult to find these masters, because they are too ordinary. They might not even have any robe at all. They just wear ordinary clothes. The more ordinary, maybe the more great. Sometimes we happen to walk on the street, and we might see many Bodhisattvas, saints, but we might not recognize them.

They work in silence. In a Buddhist sutra, we call the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said: In every cycle of our existence, the Bodhisattvas -- meaning the great enlightened saints -- will always appear on this Earth to protect the great teaching, protect the dharma.

It's not possible for us to always recognize this, because they are so great in number, and they work in different fields and different ways. You may see an engineer, maybe a doctor, or maybe a taxi driver, but they are great saints. So take care (Master laughs) to respect other people when you happen to bump into them. The best attitude is to look at all beings as Buddhas, as saints, then you may experience great wonders, great changes will be taking place in your life.

I have mentioned already that it is not necessary to go into the Himalayas or to shave your head to become enlightened. I did so because it was my path, my destiny. Also I wasn't enlightened. Now suppose I am already enlightened and I am already a monk, what would happen if I let my hair grow very long, I wear jeans, and run around? Do you think I'd lose my enlightenment then? (Audience answer: No.) Exactly!

Doesn't matter what you do in the world, doesn't matter how many duties you have to discharge, once you are enlightened, you are enlightened forever. It's just that you need the key to enlightenment, and the faster the better. Of course, we have no time. We are in the modern world. We can't just sit there for years and wait for the sudden awakening. If we do not have any taste beforehand, it is difficult for our scientific age peoples' minds to believe in anything that we cannot prove. Therefore, the so-called masters nowadays openly give people some evidence of the greater level of consciousness, of the

Kingdom of God, or of the Buddha's light, in order for people to believe, to get some proof to hang on to, and to develop.

There are only the different levels of enlightenment. Once you are enlightened, you are enlightened. It's just that you choose to go further to be greater, or you choose to stay there. Once you are initiated, you are different beings, you are a different level. Just like once you have graduated from high school and once you have registered at college, you become a college student. There's no going back any more. You cannot be called a kindergarten student any more, or high school student. You choose to learn more, to become a Ph.D., or you choose to stay in that and then you drop out. Nevertheless, you were a college student. You are not a high school graduate.

So once you are enlightened through the grace of a master, through your own effort, you are forever enlightened. You are no longer like you were before. But it's a matter of diligent practice afterward that counts. It's not just one-moment of enlightenment that makes you become a Buddha. It's not that you register once in a college, never learn anything, and then you become an M.D. No, it's not so simple.

As with every other science, we need constant effort and diligent practice. But also we need assurance from a teacher, and a helping hand. Sometimes we slip, sometimes we are ignorant of our progress, and sometimes we do not know the pitfalls in the practicing road, which is a very long and difficult one. So we need a friend, a faithful, unselfish, and wise friend to guide us, to help us on the road.

Walking, we must do alone, but helping, the friend may do -- making the journey more pleasurable, faster, more enlightened. So the teacher is a good friend who walks beside you, helps you when you fall down, cooks for you when you are sick, (Master and all laugh) helps you when you are tired, and encourages you when you lose your enthusiasm. But the teacher cannot enlighten for you. The teacher can put you on the path only, then we can walk.

What Is The Correct Method?

Q: How can we tell whether a method is the correct method? How do you know the method is the highest, is the right one for you to learn?

M: Any method that brings you close to Buddha, your Buddha-nature, brings you back to God, shows you that you have God's power, shows you that you have God's light, Buddha's light, that is a correct method.

Q: I have been a Buddhist for three years, but have had no progress at all.

What's the problem?

M: The problem is that you have only read other peoples' experiences and hasn't had experience yourself. For example, in Buddhism, we have a scripture that describes the Land of Amitabha Buddha with all sorts of beauty. The ground is paved with gold, even the birds can sing the great teachings, there are beautiful palaces, and the people there use lotuses to fly in the air, etc. They have a beautiful pool with nectar. When you drink it, you have so much strength,

power, and intelligence, etc. But a person who has never been there before, heard about it.

Then, everyday he just recites this kind of Buddha-land, and he doesn't even have any appetite for it. He might have the appetite, but he has not had the food. My method is to offer you a little bit of the taste of the Buddha-land, so that you know you are on the right path and encouraged to walk further. Then you know you have success. Otherwise, of course, you study for thirty years and you have no success, never mind three years. Three years is too short already.

Some people have waited thirty years, have never seen any Buddha-land, have never had a glimpse of the Buddha's light, have never had a little bit of sound of the Buddha's musical voice. It's very difficult if you don't have a correct teacher, you don't have a correct path. It's never a success at all.

Just like someone takes you to the restaurant. You're so hungry and you want to find a restaurant. At least the person takes you to the right road. If you haven't reached the restaurant yet, you know you are on the right road, and carry on walking further, because you can smell a little bit of the food from its kitchen from far away, and you know that's it, you are on the right path. Otherwise, you walk for many days and many roads, you can never have anything.

Q: I don't believe in any religion at all, and I don't belong to any particular religious group. I only meditate myself. Can I get enlightenment?

M: That shows that you haven't got enlightenment. If you had, you would have known. At least you would feel more secure. Now, we don't need to belong to any religious order or group in order to get enlightenment. We do not even need to believe before we see, but seeing, we must. When we are face to face with God or Buddha, or we have been to the Buddha-land, then we will know. Yes! There is Buddha, now I believe.

It's all right to be an atheist, (Master laughs) but it's not all right to remain like that all our life. We must get some proof as long as we can, as far as we can. If no one else offers us the proof, then no one can blame us for being atheists forever. But if someone stands out and offers us the proof, then we should at least give ourselves a chance to prove the world beyond our existence. Then we can believe there's a Buddha, there's God or there are other saints.

Q: Please explain more about mass suffering, Are they all guilty from before, that's why they are suffering?

M: No one is innocent, I have told you yesterday. I am not condemning anyone at all. It's all learning lessons. Learning is very painful. Once you are awakened, you see things in a different light, and you know it's all lessons.

Look at the mass killing that we do everyday in order to keep this body for one hundred years. How many lives have to be sacrificed -- all the fish, all the shrimps, 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 will be lost, it will be diluted only with a different energy. It will be equalized only by different actions, not lost. For example, vapor air already became ice through water, and now if you want it to disappear, we have to put sun rays, a lamp, light, or heat on it, in order to get it back into the air again.

So if we have been killing, mass massacres, all the time, all these animals suffering, and they also have consciousness, thinking, and hatred energy, all this hatred, fear condenses itself into a powerful energy, and hangs around 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 a vegetarian diet. The least cost to the existence.

Animals have life, plants also have life, but they are the least cost. Just like you earn only a hundred dollars and you want to spend two hundred, then of course you are in debt, you are in trouble. If you try to buy cheap things and satisfy yourself with the minimum cost to live, then you have no worry 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 the milk from the cow, will the cow die? If you take a few nuts from the trees, the trees still have plenty of nuts to grow thousands of nut trees more. They will not be lost. If you cut a flower, or a branch of a vegetable, that 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, less cost.

The Invisible Aspects Q: Did you mean spirit, God is the substance of our body?

M: Yes, yes, the holy spirit is the substance of our body. We come from that.

And when you go very high in wisdom, you will realize that this body is also spirit, from the higher vibration. It has condensed into this kind of form only.

Therefore, if you practice very high or there is a high practicing Master, you don't see the Master. But you have to also develop higher or through the grace of the Master. You don't see the Master at all, only see light here. And the light is so great that it envelopes the whole audience, the whole hall. You see no one.

You see that there is no matter at all. It's really empty.

That's what we call emptiness. But in the emptiness, you are fulfilled, you are satisfied. It's not the emptiness that leaves you empty and lonely like the ordinary emptiness of this world. The more you empty in the spiritual sense, the more you are fulfilled, the wiser you become. It's all different.

The worldly language is terrible, that's why everyone mistakens Buddhism for nihilism, nothingness, emptiness. (Master laughs.) It's not so. If everything goes back into nihilism, goes back into nothing, then the Buddha would never have emphasized that you keep the precepts, be a good person, be virtuous. What would be the use? You'd become nothing anyhow. You'd become empty. (Master laughs.) No, it's not so.

Q: How can you prove that after the end, another life exists?

M: Well, if you have not been enlightened about this matter already, then you should be enlightened, then you can see. Some people can see these things without having officially been enlightened, due to their sensitive clairvoyant ability. And some people have to have a master in order to be clairvoyant. After enlightenment to some degree, you will come to know all these things.

It's easy to prove, but we must practice. These things are intangible things -belonging to the inner, invisible knowledge. There is knowledge of material nature. There is knowledge of immaterial nature. Now, if you want to prove the invisible knowledge, you have to go to the invisible school, and practice the invisible method. We cannot use the material to prove the immaterial things. But we can prove it in a different way.

Q: What was your method of obtaining enlightenment, and was there a specific moment that you felt it occurred?

M: No. My method is no method. At the time of transmission, you just sit there, and I also sit there. We don't do anything. We don't speak any words. We don't move one inch. But we get the light, and we get enlightenment. We can leave the body, we can visit heaven, or we can at least see the heavenly light or hear the heavenly Word, listen to the instructions of God and become wiser each day.

The method I impart is no method. Thus, I cannot write it down for you. I can only personally, invisibly, and inactively open it for you. I do without doing. If anything involves any doing, any excitement, any movement, it still belongs to the world of form and matter. So our method is a non-substance method, nonform method. But it can be transmitted, it can be had, it can be possessed.

Why is it so? It is because the enlightenment is within yourself, the light is within you, the Buddha-nature is within you, the Kingdom of God is within you. I only point it to you: "Here, look this way and you will see." Sometimes you have eyeglasses in your hand, and you keep looking all over for them. So I say: " It's here, (Master laughs) this way."

So it's no method. You already have it, believe me. No method can lead you to enlightenment, except you have to know your own nature and get in contact with it. That is the only method. Any method that lets you see the Buddhanature at once, see the Heavenly Kingdom at once, that is the Quan Yin Method.

That is the right method. That's the correct method. You call it any name you want, but there's no method.

It's only the power of God which descends into any chosen pure body, and opens your own God-power. It's God who saves God. It's the Buddha who saves the Buddha. It's the Buddha who enlightens the Buddha. It's the Buddha inside you who chooses to be awakened. The Buddha inside me and the Buddha inside you are one.

Because you do not know it yet, the Buddha inside you has to manifest into an outside body, and waken it up. But it is you who wakes up yourself. It's the

Buddha-nature inside you who chooses the time. The alarm clock went off, so wake up. It's difficult.

I will not teach you anything. It's you who teaches yourself. It's the Buddha within you who wakes up and realizes who you are, and starts to work with your own capacity, with your own wisdom. Therefore afterward, you will realize that no one is the master. Everyone is equal. Everyone has the same potential. Just you forgot how to use it. The one who remembers, the one who knows will remind you. That's all there is.

If you already have money in your pocket, and I tell you the money is here, I don't give you anything. I only remind you what you have forgotten. Therefore, there's no need for me to use any method. The money is yours. (Master laughs.)

MC: But the Master does open the door, does open the wisdom-mind for us.

Q: Are heaven, Buddha-land, Buddha, only imaginary things in our mind?

Everyone sees a different form of Buddha-land. No such physical existence in reality?

M: Oh, it isn't an imaginary product. Some lands are illusion due to hallucinations. When you are short of oxygen, when you are tired, when you are on drugs or alcohol, or undergoing suffering, you do have hallucinations. These are unreal and you cannot go back to those lands again.

But those Buddhas-lands and real heaven have real invisible substance, and you can go back anytime afterward. Not everyone sees a different land. Many of my disciples see the same land. But because there are so many lands, so of course someone goes there, someone goes here. Just like we have so many countries in this world, some go to America, some go to England. That's of course no doubt.

But England does exist and two or more can go there at the same time.

Q: Are there spirits in this world or just psychological phenomenon unrelated to the level of spirits, made in our mind?

M: There are spirits, yes. What are spirits? They are the encased souls who are not liberated. We are souls who are encased in these bodies at the moment.

After we leave our world, we leave these bodies, but it doesn't mean we are completely liberated. There are other bodies encasing our souls still. Just like a house has many doors.

When I visited the prison (for lecture), there were about thirteen doors, small doors, iron doors. They had to be opened and locked immediately behind me. I went through thirteen doors to visit the prisoners, and I went through thirteen doors to go out again. Now, if the prison officer just opened one or two doors, I'd still be in prison. I would not be liberated. Have to open the last door and then the greater gate outside before I could go back to the free world again.

Similarly, when we leave these physical bodies, it doesn't mean that we are completely free of other bodies. We have other bodies. So the spirits which we see sometimes with different eyes, or other people see with the psychic eyes,

these are those encased souls in astral bodies. Sometimes they fly around, sometimes they make trouble, sometimes they don't.

The Real Baptism Q: How does initiation which cancels one's past karma differ from Christian baptism, which removes the guilt of original sin?

M: Is that right? Does it remove? Then how come you keep coming for confession every Sunday? You don't feel removed with baptism. The real baptism came from a Christ-like person, like John the Baptist, like Jesus Christ.

The power of removal, not the action. Just like I sign a check, but I have no money in the bank. (Master laughs.) It's different from my signing a check with the money in my bank account.

Baptism is a beautiful tradition in Christianity, as well as in Buddhism. We call it taking refuge in the Buddha. And when you take refuge, they read out loud: After you take refuge in the Buddha, your karma is all cleansed, you will never be born in hell and as an animal, etc. I have seen many baptized people go to hell. You cannot just do it verbally or by ceremony. There must be invisible Godpower behind it to cleanse you, because sins are invisible.

Does that makes sense to you? Yes, we have to be logical in practice. We can not just be blind, and follow anything people say. We are cheated, we are made fun of, made a fool of. But no doubt after you confess your sins to someone, maybe you'll feel a little relief. But then, you sin again. And also you have not felt any upliftment.

When Jesus baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. When John baptized people, He really cleansed people's sins. Therefore, they can see light from heaven. When Jesus was baptized by John, He saw the light come from heaven like a dove.

At the initiation, you will also see such kind of light, at least such kind. So you know that you have been cleansed and you know you have been in contact with heaven. Otherwise, how do you know? And you'll feel a sudden relief, like a mountain has fallen from your shoulders, like a stone has been removed from your heart. That is the real sign of cleansing and purifying. Otherwise, only talk, and formality. Doesn't remove the original sins just by baptism. If the priest is very high, enlightened, powerful, yes; if not, no.

Q: Why are breathing exercises contrary to Master's method?

M: Because in our body, there are two kinds of currents. One is called the motor current which generates the heat in the body, takes care of the blood circulation and the digestive system. That is supported by the breathing. Now if we control the breath, we make a mess of our orderly system. God has already made our body in a perfect condition. Whatever has to be done is already taken care of.

No need to mess around. All we want to do is to free our soul, not to mess around with the systems of our body. Sometimes it creates danger.

Also, the breath is ephemeral. When you sleep, you are unconscious of breathing. When you faint, when you have an accident, you collapse, you do not know about the breathing. How do you practice then? How do you elevate your soul then?

Our method is the one which makes your soul ever conscious. During sleep, during accident, during collapse time, during disaster, always conscious to take care of your problems, take care of your business, take care of your decisions.

We waken our own soul up. We waken the master of the house up and let him do the job. Then twenty-four hours he does things, without us having to think, and to even to pray for, because the Master has woken up, the Buddha, the holy spirit within us has woken up. The real self, understand? Without having to listen to the brain -- the stupid computer. Therefore, we will do everything in the right spirit. Knowing or not knowing this, we'll always be right, because the master has taken control, not the servant.

If we mess about with our breathing or any so-called body chakra, we interfere with the physical system only and it might bring about some illusion or hallucination, but nothing real. And we will never become any wiser. I have tried, and I have seen many people who are on the top of the so-called breath control. They still have to come to me for wisdom. Someone who practiced breath control with a very famous Chinese master, I won't mention the name, reached the breathless state already. He could survive without breathing. That person was no wiser by any means. He had to come and get initiation. Now, he's different.

Like Hatha yoga, they put all the breath into the stomach, make it become very big and save it there for some time, maybe 2-3 minutes. Breathe it out again. Or they do pranayama. But it's no harm if you take a few deep breaths and do exercises. It's different.

The Difference Between Pure Land And Our World Q: Master, you began your talk today with a discussion on Buddha-lands and the rooms in the mansion of the Father. Please elaborate on this. Why is there a need for a pure Buddha-land in existence? Is this not the pure land we live in this world, even though it does not manifest itself as pure in your eyes?

M: Yes, our land is very pure indeed. For me, (Master laughs), but not for some.

So you have to find your own pure land. What it means in the Vimalakirti Sutra, about this land is a pure land, is that you can sit here and see the land is pure.

You can sit here and see the Buddha-land right here, right in front of your eyes.

That's what it means. That's what it means by "this land is a pure land."

It's true, but not true to all people. It's true to me, it's true to my disciples, true to some higher level, enlightened people, but not to everyone. Everyone still sees garbage, and sees the mountain and the river.

So what I say about pure land is that, it all exists here and now, but I have to make a distinction. I cannot always tell people: "You look, you live in the pure land now. You no need to move, you no need to exercise, you no need to do any

virtues, you no need to meditate. Your land is a pure land." I cannot say that.

It's not correct either.

Also, how do the pure lands of Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, etc. differ from this world, from ours? They differ a lot, too much difference. The lands over there, we know no sorrow, we know no hatred, we know no war. We only know love and mutual respect. This land is full of trouble, full of sorrow, misery. You are happy one minute, and then you are suffering ten minutes. So much difference.

Here you have to labor very long to build a house, and it might collapse with an earthquake, leaving you homeless, no electricity, no water for many days, a lot of inconvenience. We built the bridge in San Francisco. Took many years and a lot of money, billions of dollars and a lot of labor; and in just 50 seconds, it was gone.

In those lands, such thing never happen. We are always secure and live in love, light and grace. There are a lot of differences. You do not need to earn money.

Everything we want comes immediately, in front of our eyes, without even having to move, go to the supermarket or change money. We go from one Buddha-land to another without any passport trouble, without any bureaucratic problem. Now you want to go to America, it's not easy, you want to get out, it's also not easy, because you need money, need passport, need relations in the other land in order to move. In Buddha-land, it's not so. You go anywhere you want. You're free.

Q: When I meditated one day I saw the light, but it nearly electrocuted me and I thought l would die. I don't understand this.

M: You saw the light was of a very high electronic nature. We might use our worldly terminology. Therefore when it touched the body, it became very powerful. That's why we have to be vegetarian and lead a virtuous life, so we don't have this kind of shock. If a very high frequency touches very gross matter, of course it will be in conflict. But if the matter is not that gross, not that coarse, then the two are blended, and you don't feel the shock.

It's dangerous to practice without the guidance of a real master and ethical discipline. All the meat and intoxicants we take will intensify the grossness of our body, the coarseness of our physical being. And the more we are condensed, the less we can blend with the higher frequency. Therefore it gives a shock. We have to develop the body, mind, and speech in order to match it.

You see the astronauts when they go into space, they have to eat different food, wear different clothes in order to suit the air pressure in higher space. They cannot wear like we wear here. Or when we go into the sea, we have to take an oxygen mask. We cannot be casual like in this land. Different atmosphere, we have to be equipped with different instruments. It's good that you have withstood this experience, and have become more enlightened. Congratulations!

Q: It is true that instant enlightenment can be attained, not only through Buddhas of enlightenment, but also through a city marshal, who knocks unexpectedly at your door.

M: It's true if that marshal is a Buddha, he can open the light for you. Then he is also an enlightened Buddha in the form of a marshal. Buddhas have many forms. If you are a marshal and you become completely enlightened, then you are a Buddha. There's no need to change the outer appearance. But any ordinary being cannot just give you instant enlightenment, be it the president or a marshal. It's not the form, the position, or the job that counts. It's the power within that person.

We Can Create Heaven Q: Is the creation of evil the play of the spirit?

M: No, I told you already. It's our own creation. So, similarly, we can create heaven if we want to. Every time, we extend loving kindness, tolerance and understanding to others, we create heaven.

Q: Does the ego need to open to this evil or integrate it?

M: The ego does nothing. The ego is evil itself. The ego is the feeling of individual pride, of self-arrogance. Therefore, we should not even bother about that. We should know our greatness instead of being proud of our little knowledge and accomplishments. Whenever we are proud of our little accomplishments or knowledge in this life, that is when the ego comes to take place of our spirit. This is no good for us. We should do without any sense of pride or asking for reward.

Q: For enlightenment, is service in love to humanity as important as meditation?

Or is service more important or less 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'll be more efficient in our work, and more service to others. Without meditation, sometimes we have the very best intention, 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.

Q: Is it possible to lead a life completely free from doubt and fear forever and if so, what does one need to do or not to do?

M: Fear and anxiety come only from darkness, from ignorance, from the fear of the unknown. Once we get to know the stable side of nature, the real side of our life, our fear and anxiety disappear. We only fear because we thought after this life, we 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 have no fear at all. So, I invite you to get to know yourself through the means of initiation.

Q: God is a concept, an idea, but it refers to that which is transcended and beyond words which are always qualifications of limitations. Infinite, universal and eternal life is only in the present. Eternity is an aspect of here. Now, thought and time block it from our experience of life. So, I think that we can only

experience in the present. So, this life moment is the most important. What do you think?

M: Sure, but you do not experience it. You only repeat what other people say.

Eternity is in the present time, it's true. For example: Now, I close my eyes or I don't close my eyes, I see reality, and I stay in the dual world at the same time.

Therefore, I can say to myself and to you that eternity is here, now, present!

But, as long as you don't see it, you only see the duality, you only see the material world. Therefore, here, now, past, present or future, it's just the same to you. The reality is different from this world, different from what we know since we were born into the material existence. So, if we don't see, we cannot claim the reality is right here and now. What we see around us now is not reality. Reality is something beyond this life, beyond what you see here, beyond the material bodies that we know. If we see it at the same time as we see this body, as real as seeing this body and this surroundings, then we can claim we see reality here and now, all the time.

Q: What will happen after death?

M: I know you sincerely want to know what happens after this life. So, I will try to explain to you even though I'm not completely dead yet. I'm half-dead.

(Master laughs.) With the world tour and busyness, I'm always half-dead.

Anyhow, what happens after death depends on you. For example, if we are very virtuous, correct, loving and kind while we are living in this world as a human being, then after so-called death, we are taken to a deserved mansion, which is called heaven; but this is not eternal. Because our merit is not eternal, the heaven corresponding with it is not eternal. To have eternal heaven we have to find the eternal source of merits, which is the greatest kingdom within us. Which is, itself, eternal merit.

Now, if in this life we are doing the opposite things, which are contradictory to the commandments of God and below the standard of humanity, then we probably have to regress to a lower level of consciousness, of existence in order to re-experience what we lack, what we must supply to our knowledge. After some time, we will be lifted up again to a human standard.

If we are better still, above human standard, then we will be asked and we will be lifted to heaven. The initiates are the ones who will enter the eternal kingdom and will not reincarnate again onto this Earth or to any other Earthly world.

Q: Dear Master, how can I get rid of bad thoughts?

M: To get rid of bad thoughts you have to replace it with good thoughts. It's very simple. You don't want to wear black, then throw it and wear white.

Q: Master please talk more about the Buddha nature within us?

M: The Buddha nature (our true inner self) is the so-called supreme master's power which moves the whole universe, which makes all things alive and beautiful, which makes us wise and loving, and which leaves our body lifeless after it decides to withdraw from it, or not to use that instrument anymore. If we

know this Buddha nature, there is nothing that we do not know and there is nothing that we would desire.

That doesn't mean we become a wooden stick, a wooden statue. We have all things that human beings have. We have emotion, we have feelings, and we have the taste of enjoyment of beauty, of Truth and of virtue. But, the emotions that we have now are under control. We use them whenever necessary and we withdraw them whenever we want. That is the difference between the ones who know their Buddha nature and the ones who don't.

The ones who know their Buddha nature are always in happiness. Doesn't matter in what circumstances. He may be very poor, he may be very rich, he may be in a top political position, or he may be just collecting garbage; but he will be always absolutely free of anxiety and fear, always contented in whatever situation he finds himself in. That's the difference.

Q: How long must one meditate to reach enlightenment?

M: Enlightenment comes immediately. As soon as you sit down with the master and sincerely want it, it comes immediately. Before immediately event.

Sometimes I have not finished the instructions, and people have already got enlightenment. Some people are in a hurry, they have no time to wait.

(Laughter) But the meditation takes place daily; because we always want to be in the enlightened state, we always want to renew our acknowledgement of enlightenment, and also we want to strengthen it to expand until infinity.

Otherwise, even if you meditate for one hundred years, you won't get any enlightenment. Meditation doesn't bring enlightenment, the master power does; because during initiation, or during so-called meditation in our method, you do not meditate. Meditation means effort, but in our way, it's effortless. You may sit there, sometimes even sleep, and enlightenment comes even then; or you will be enlightened during sleep. The master power will wake your soul while your mind is asleep, your body is at rest -- your soul will be awakened into the world of light and wisdom. Therefore, meditation is not a means to enlightenment; but for lack of vocabulary in this world, we have to call it meditation.

Actually, you just sit there, receive the grace of God, and acknowledge your own supreme power. There's no meditation, actually, that is involved; because anything that is earned, is a result of some kind of action, is still the worldly production, within the material framework. Therefore, our meditation is a nonmeditation meditation -- effortless meditation. (Applause) Q: Dear Master, I meditate thirty minutes a day but I cannot concentrate after ten minutes. Is it because of the heavy karmas that I have? Thank You. M: No, it's just a habit. Most of us are so used to looking outside and paying attention to outer things. So, when we try to withdraw our attention inward, it's difficult. It's used to running out again. Continue, and then you'll improve.

Q: How can one who feels little love becomes more loving?

M: Get more enlightenment, and then we will be more loving. That's the purpose of enlightenment. Enlightenment makes us more loving, more tolerant, more understanding. That's the best outcome.

We Are Stepping Into The Golden Age Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. (Originally in English) This Article Was Published In The Central Daily News, Formosa. Apr 1996 Sometimes we are touched. It is not because of the Master, I don't think. People make a big deal out of any Master, call them even the supreme Master; but I think, it is you that makes things happen with your sincerity, your openness of your deepest intelligence and love within yourself -- that you'll experience sometime or another on different occasions, this kind of blissful experience. We sometimes experience this, less or more in some degree, through deepest prayer and/or sometimes when we are in very deep sorrow or experience some untold suffering -- we feel that the blessing from God is very near.

Meditation or contemplation is just another kind of opening our sincerity and longing to be a kind of receiver for the abundant blessing and love which is always present throughout the universe. Perhaps sometimes coincidently or through the arrangement of the highest intelligence, we feel more blessing in some places or in encountering someone special. Maybe because that someone is also in the same frequency with us, in the same sincerity, longing and openness to God like we are. At that moment, the two united forces experience the blissful feeling or the so-called awakening.

Many of our people in this world think they are okay. They don't need to change their lives, don't need to do anything, don't even need enlightenment. Therefore, they don't search for it. Even if the teacher or a good friend, unconditional out of love and devotion, comes to them -- to their door, they still reject him.

That's what makes our world the way it is, still now. We have not learned the unified power. Many of us have not learned yet to use the greatest blessing that is in abundance everywhere in the universe, just have to stretch out our hand and fetch it, and everything in our life will become smoother -- all our desires.

We Are Not Okay Many of us always blame God, or blame circumstances or situations that are unfavorable to us. Many things we ask are not given. We blame the society, sometimes the governments or our parents, even our schools, anything we can lay our hands on. But if we stop to think deeply or fairly a little bit, we should think: What do we contribute to the society, our nation, the world at large to make it become a better place; instead of waiting for it to be better by itself, which is sometimes impossible.

God doesn't create us here so that we just lay in our rose bed everyday, waiting for bread and butter. We are here to learn -- to learn to grow as well as to learn to use our limitless power of love and creativity in order to make a better world

wherever we happen to be incarnated. If we do not learn to do this, then we have to return again; and that is what people call reincarnation. The unfulfilled desires or the unfulfilled mission, which is dormant within us, will be always awake inside, reminding us time again and again that we have not yet finished our job.

Many people think that we are okay, we are doing right; but we aren't, we are not truly okay. One fifth of the population of this world is hungry. Another large portion of the population, our brothers and sisters, are undernourished. That is according to scientific research, it's not from me. You can read that in the newspapers or demand for the proof. Many portions of our beautiful planet are still suffering under war, conflict, violence and many other disasters -- manmade or by nature. It's because we are not okay.

Even sometimes, we can't do our hair alone, just to talk about small things; we don't know how to clean the house properly; sometimes we can't even help some people in need the way they want it. We make more mess out of our good intentions. Even if we want to help, we can't. That's why many projects are failing, many good leaders have become kind of almost useless, despite their very, very best intentions to help the world and their people. Why? Because we are not okay. We are not okay the way we should be okay, not the way we think we are okay.

If everything, many things in our life go wrong, if many of our desires go unfulfilled, if our next-door neighbor suffers, or if we suffer in any way, that's because we are not okay. It is time that we faced up to our own shortcomings, our own accumulated, undesirable habits in order to reshape our beauty, our Godly nature; so that we can do what we want to do in perfection, or at least, near perfection. At least, don't make a mess out of our good intentions whenever we want to help or we want to better ourselves, our family or our environment.

Enlightenment Is The Way Of Life Enlightenment is not an advertisement from our disciples for you or anyone to come and just to research, or maybe curiously see what's going on. It is a way of life, it is a survival fact. It is a necessary ornament in our life here and after.

If we have any religious beliefs we know there is life after death. If we don't have any religious beliefs, we should know that there is life after death, because there is a lot of medical research on death, near-death or after-death experiences. This kind of information is available to us nowadays, in abundance.

Many books about enlightenment and about bettering our inherent powers, etc., are available in the markets. These are good for us; yet in a sense, not always that good. The Americans, the ones who read a lot and love to read, are very intelligent. They hunger for knowledge so they read a lot. I read a lot, too -before, between and I still continue to read. It is because sometimes I have to know what's going on, what's the trend in the society in order to respond to it or to explain -- to kind of solve some of the doubts which result from these books or intellectual food.

Why I said this, is that sometimes all this information is not always good for us.

Because we love to read, we eat everything from the intellectual supermarket, and sometimes we have indigestion or we stuff our brain with all kinds of intellectual information without truly having personal experience. So, we think we know. "Oh! Yes! I know, Yogananda -- the light. I know what it is, Sanmat -light and sound. I know Master Ching Hai. She teaches the same. So I don't have to come and listen to Her." It's not that we come to listen. We must come so that we have the true experience, if we already did not have; if we had some portion of the enlightened experience, but we do not know how to go further with it, how to nourish it, or how to live with it or to integrate this enlightened wisdom into our daily productivity in order to serve the world.

Make Our World Into Heaven We must make our world into heaven, not run to heaven; because everywhere is heaven. God created only heaven, until we messed about with our computer brain -- kaput one; I mean damaged, or not very in order. Enlightenment is the way to put ourselves back in order. It's not a kind of far-fetched heavenly mythology the way we think, but it is just daily experiences of our great resource of love and wisdom, which God bestowed upon us before we arrived in this physical dimension. If we think that heaven is somewhere high above the clouds, then we are in trouble; because we have to wait at least sixty or a hundred years in order to go there. With suffering and all kinds of misery in this world, we don't have to do that.

Life is meant to be joyful for the children of the most high. If you are the children of the king or the president, now you go to school, how do you feel? You have guards, you have a special Rolls Royce, you have all kinds of privileges -even all the school look upon you with reverence, love, admiration, envy and many things. You feel you know your status.

In the Bible, it is stated that we are the children of God, and He's king of all kings. Now, we live in this kind of life and we worry about pennies, everything frightens us -- even just a bullet, that big. One thousandth of your weight could frighten you into losing your sense of dignity and even begging for your life.

We'd do anything just to be alive, just to keep this physical body functioning.

This is not a life of dignity. This is not the life of children of God, if we truly understand what God means. God is the owner of the whole universe and we are the children. Can you believe it?

Just talking about it and never knowing it, is not the way of enlightenment; and we think we are okay! As long as there is one person suffering in this world, as long as there is still war and famine going on in our neighborhood, we are not okay; because we share the responsibilities of this house that we live in. It is a big family, extended; because we can't live together in one room, and we don't have to. We need variety. We need different talents in order to make the world colorful and interesting. That's what God wants us to do.

We have so much talent, each one should contribute something. Even with all our talents we can't contribute as much as we want or we can not be as useful as we'd like to be; because we are not yet okay. We lack something. We lack the true wisdom, the true love which lays sleeping within each of us.

Use God's Love And Power For The Best There shouldn't be any master; there shouldn't be any teachers; there should be only spiritual friends, spiritual brothers and sisters; because we inherited the same portion of great wisdom from God. There is no difference between any master and any of the audience who sits here, and no difference between him and any child or any older citizen; because we all have the same portion of love and power within ourselves. If we don't use it, it's the greatest waste on earth.

It doesn't matter how much we recycle materials, we still waste. The greatest waste is that we don't know we have wisdom, we don't know we have God's power, we forgot that we are the children of God. It's okay, you say you know it already, you read the Bible, everyone knows they are the children of God. But, what makes the difference whether you know that or you don't know that? Because you are just the same as yesterday, you don't truly know. You only intellectually heard about it and that makes the difference.

If anything I said today makes sense to you, it is because I recognize this wisdom within myself and I know you have that within yourselves. It's just you don't want to use it. You reject it, you deny it, or you feel too inferior about yourself. We didn't do anything that wrong. If you did or if we did, it was because we did not know. Now it's time to know what is the righteous thing to do, so we can change very quickly. How much time do we spend everyday in order to take care of this body? We know it won't last long, but still it's necessary to take care of it. Now, if we don't take care of our real body, then we are in even more trouble.

Most of the suffering in this world is due to ignorance of the greatness of our position. No other reason! Because we're ignorant of it, we identify ourselves with the habits that we learned from maybe TV as a youngster, or maybe from neighbors, from books. We do many things that our conscience within us tells us that: this is not correct; but we still do it because many people do it. Then we run into many problems. Sometimes, we know we shouldn't take drugs, for example, but we feel empty within ourselves, we feel frustrated. Sometimes we have talents, we don't know how to use them, or where to use them. Society sometimes rejects us for some prejudices -- race problems or our appearance doesn't please them. So, we fill this void with all kinds of cheap substitutes which, in the long run, ruin us mentally, physically and spiritually. It is because we do not know that we are great, or how to make use of our greatness.

I'm not here to collect your money, tell you what to do, or make you into any condition that is difficult for you. I just want to help you find your great wisdom, your greatest ability again, in order for you to better your life. Because when you better your life, I better my life, too; and my children, my friends' children, my sisters' and brothers' children, we have a better and better environment to live in because we are all connected with each other.

Suppose you don't keep America clean and safe. Could I sit here and talk to you? So, we owe each other everything. Suppose the farmers don't grow any crops. Even if we have money, can we fill our body with nutrition? No! So, we owe each other everything. I can not say that I come to teach you anything.

Please don't have this notion despite all this supreme what... nevermind, because we are all supreme. We came from the supreme source before we descended into this physical body and we'll go back to the supreme source when our time comes. There is no denying our supreme status. If you don't want to acknowledge it because you are humble, or because you feel you are not up to it, it's up to you; but I don't want to deny my status because I know. There's nothing arrogant about it. It's just admitting you are -- without any pride, without any fuss, without false humility, because false humility is also false; it's not true.

We should be true, beautiful and virtuous in spirit, speech and actions. That is a perfect human being. Even if we don't want to follow this method of immediate enlightenment, we can try other things; at least to think, so that we can focus back again within ourselves, to remember who we are, and to truly understand the sentence that we are the children of God, or for Buddhist, we all have Buddha nature within ourselves. That means we are equal to the Buddha, instead of worshipping the Buddha.

We should worship in the right way -- to recognize ourselves so that the Buddha (enlightened Master) has less work to do. If we truly want to worship a Buddha or any saint, we should become one; so that they have less burden, less worry and one more companion to uplift mankind.

That's why some people don't like it when I say, "Don't worship the Buddha. Be one!" and I can show you how to be one. I can make a Buddha. Not by sculpturing or carving, but by pointing into your own Buddha qualities; and you have to recognize them day by day until you're fully convinced. There is a way to recognize them; face yourself until you're fully convinced that you are Buddha. That is the time when you are equal to all the Buddhas (enlightened beings) in the ten directions and three periods of time -- past, present and future.

Changing Ourselves And Change The World We are stepping into the Golden Age, so we have to change. We have to leave behind all these old useless conceptions of how a saint should be; or we should leave behind the dark thinking, the negative expectations of the world and ourselves. Do something!

We start from ourselves, we clean our house. If our house looks filthy, we clean it first. If there's anything we don't like about ourselves, change it! Replace it with more positive, more virtuous qualities. For example, before, when we saw any homeless person we didn't bother about him. He could stand there on the highway for hours under the sun, wanting to work for food. You'd say, "Oh! No! I can not take a stranger into my house. That's dangerous!"

Yes, but we could give him food. We don't need to ask anything from him. Then sometimes we pass by a homeless person, we feel nothing. We don't want to help because of our slow reaction habits, so we don't help him. When we get home, we feel something is wrong. "I should have helped." But then we cover it up quickly, "No!" and watch television or do other things.

We don't want to listen to our conscience, that's why the world will never get better. If it is the case, whatever we think makes the world better, at least a more comfortable place for ourselves and neighbors, we can share. Begin with sharing, then we will feel a subtle change in ourselves -- more love will pour into our consciousness. We will be aware of something, that is the beginning.

That's why the five precepts are just a suggestion that we should change some of the corners of our life which we do not like. It's not that we should feel so guilty or blame ourselves, should we fail some of it; but it is a goal so that we go forward. For example, we try to be more loving instead of violent or angry; be more giving instead of trying to take; we should be more faithful to our partner instead of having another mistress, or it could be mister. (Master and audience laugh.)

You always blame the man, I don't know why. There are women also, who want to play Madam butterfly (laughter), flying from one flower to the next. There are two kinds of flowers -- male and female flowers. You know that! These brighten our world more and create a more calm atmosphere around us so that makes us better. That is all good, also a kind of meditation. We meditate anytime anyhow in our life. We just meditate mostly on the wrong things. So now, we just use that meditation power, switch to the right thing, that's all. When we think too much about how to make money at the expense of other, that is also meditation; we meditate on money. (Master and audience laugh.) We use all our concentration power, or our mighty thinking power in order to get that piece of paper, and on that piece of paper is printed "In God we trust." (Master and audience laugh.) Isn't that paradoxical?

Our God is money sometimes! (Master laughs.) You see, "In God we trust" means we have to know God. If we don't know God, how could we trust. It's very easy to say, "In God we trust," but how? Who is Hirm? What does Hes look like? What did Hes do for me? What will Hes do for me that I have to trust Hirm?

So, we must know that is what enlightenment offers. We have to be enlightened in order to know what God is, who Hes is, and what does Hes do to help us everyday in all details of our activities. That is the thing we know after enlightenment. We know more and more.

If we did know God before, in some of the blessed incidents; then we know Hirm more and more everyday through a meditative attitude, through a very scientific way of maintaining our enlightened awareness. If we are enlightened once or twice, we still feel not yet there. If someone is hungry for a long time now, and you give him just a little bit of water and bread, will he be satisfied? Of course not.

Only God Dwells Within Us

So, immediate enlightenment means you have a taste of enlightenment and then we tell you how to nourish it, keep it everyday, and expand it until you truly know the whole spectrum of enlightenment -- know your real self. That's when you know God, because only God dwells within us.

Does the Bible say there are two persons dwelling within our temple? Did Jesus say that? Did Buddha say there are two Buddhas inside -- one is Buddha and one is a mundane person? Did He say that? No! No Bible, no scripture says there are two persons in this house, in this body. So, who is that inside? Only God! If we cast aside, we overlook our habits, our accumulated knowledge of mundane nature, then there is nothing there except God. The habits, the knowledge, the PhD person, is not the real self; we were not born with it, and we will not die with it. So, this 'only real one' is God, our true self; but most of us have forgotten. (Applause) You keep asking me, "How can we have immediate enlightenment when we meet you?" You are already enlightened before you met me; just you don't know it and you forgot, because you identified yourself with Mrs. so-and-so who works eight hours a day, who has three children, who gets angry sometimes, and who is loving sometimes. All this is not you. You just accumulated it, you just reacted to the environment and the necessity of the time; but it's not you. We were not born with all these.

Therefore, we are truly God-like but we are also part of God. Actually, we are God. You may not believe it now, but think about it when you go home. We are breathing in God, we are living in God, we are born from God, and we'll go back to God. Where can we go, where could we have come from except from God? Do you think we came from the carpet, from the ceiling or even from the drop of blood your father sent to you before you were born? Is it the food you eat that makes you become you, then should we call ourselves B-burger (laughter), Ccabbage or vegetable grocery shop, instead of a person or a human being with an intelligence? Even if you feed the cow or the dogs all the food which you eat, they will not be as intelligent as you. If you give a drop of blood from your father to the dog or to any other thing, will it become a human being? No! So, what is it that make us the way we are? It is God-power and it's all over the universe. It's in the air. It's everywhere that we walk, everywhere that we stay.

It just happens to be housed in this instrument, in some of the instruments, and it houses itself just like an electric power. It houses itself in a bulb of light, in a refrigerator or in some motor generator. The electric power is all over. It's the same power everywhere. It houses itself in some instruments only; therefore, the God-power is housed within us.

We are one of the instruments that happen to contain the God power for a while.

Catch it, just like a current of water flowing from a waterfall or from a mountain very high. Someone happens to dig a hole or a swimming pool, get the water into it, and the water comes in and out again, connecting it with the river. The water in the pool is the water from the river.

In Hong Kong, we dug a swimming pool, actually we didn't dig it. Where I stay, is a mountain. You'll be surprised to know Hong Kong has mountains, very quiet, next to hundred-story buildings. You just walk five minutes out and you see the whole Hong Kong; and you turn in five minutes, and there is a retreat mountain with all fruit trees -- green, beautiful and quiet. That's where I stay in Hong Kong.

Now, we have a kind of mountain, so there are many levels, terraces. You see level after level. So, between the two different levels we surrounded it with rocks and cement, and made it natural looking. We led the water from the stream nearby into the pool. And under the lower layer, I grow vegetables -- big ones; that is when I have time. I don't always do that. The water from the swimming pool when I swim will go onto the vegetables, so I don't have to work too hard.

The water just goes in and out all the time, and it is always fresh; because we clean it now and again, to take out all the moss, the green stuff that covers our pool. We put a lot of big pebbles, shining and beautiful like ornamental pebbles.

They're cheap, one dollar for ten kilos; but beautiful. They were put in the water, and sometimes become covered with green, so we wash them.

The fish come in also. They are very expensive fish. They sell it for about twenty-two hundred US dollars for one fish; but that big. It can grow that big (laughter), but not much different. He is a kind of very stupid pea fish. So, the fish surprised me one day. He is supposed to be a stupid fish -- very slow and does nothing; but because they are a rare species now, many people want to catch them and buy and sell them. We don't. We don't make money out of that, we protect them. No one can come in our territory and take, because our territory is filled with this fish. I could be a millionaire in no time (laughter), opening a fish market.

Now, this fish is very special. On top is dark brown, underneath has bright orange spots -- under his stomach, hands and all that; and he can swim in the water as well as go on the dry land. He can survive on both, that's why people like him. I thought he was a very stupid fish; but one day he surprised me, because they can talk with each other lovingly, just like a loving couple. One was kind of angry and turned around, and he just kept following. Just stopped in front and looked him in the eyes, and did like this. (Laughter and applause.) Like when you want to make up with your lover when she is angry. That one! Just like that! Can you believe it? I was so touched, and thought, "My God, I'm sorry.

I apologize for thinking that you are stupid (Master and audience laugh), as you make a better lover than we." So, after a while, the female agreed. Then they both swam with each other and had no more of this argument.

One day he surprised me more, because he's a very slow action fish, stupid-like.

Like this, very slow in the water. When I came to the pool, I saw one of them. I was surprised, and said "Hey! You there, come up!" Just a joke, you know. Then he came up. Then he zoom like this to me where my hand was, he touched, and he went down back again. I said, "Hey! Can you understand me? Then come back again." He did (as requested) three times in a row just to show me that he is not stupid. (Laughter)

Now, I spend all day repenting to God and apologizing to this creature. Fancy being a supreme Master and didn't know the fish is intelligent. (Master and audience laugh.) So, I feel very bad. But it was good, there were other witnesses with me; not that I made up a story at all. (Master talked to Her attendant) You remember the fish, it came from the pool three times. Yes! Yes! He was there and he tried to go and fetch the movie camera. But when he (fish) saw the black eye of camera looking at him, he said, "Uh, uh! I don't want to be on TV." (Master and audience laugh.) He didn't want to be famous! Probably he was scared, and I thought: That's right! That's right! I told him, "Don't photograph him in this way, because people will catch them more, make commercial out of it, and they will be in danger." They are already an endangered species.

He is very intelligent, you see. He knows when to come up, when not. Three times he came in a row in one minute. I said, "Come up!" and he came right away. Then he went back down and I said, "Come up again," and he came. Just right where I am, not to sideways. Just zoom like this, straight!

Love For All Beings From Being Vegetarian So, after you see all these things, it's good not to eat fish or meat. Actually, if we can love a dog, why not love a cow or pig; because they are the same.

(Applause) This is one of the reasons why we should be vegetarian, love for all beings, extending love. Enlarge our love, enlarge ourselves, to the whole universe. We shouldn't even cut the flowers or eat vegetables, but still we have to do what is minimum, what's less suffering. The flower when we cut it, it can sprout again and make more flowers. Vegetable when we cut a branch, it can sprout a few more branches. So, it's not that bad.

Even though all beings have feelings, plants have the least feelings, because ninety percent of the constitution of vegetables is water. That's why they have less consciousness than animals or human beings. We human beings are a combination of many things, and that gives a good environment for intelligence to activate. For example, even though you are very intelligent, you need a good computer in order to program some intelligent things, some distinguished program.

Similarly, God-power needs this body which is a composition of different elements, in order to manifest inside into the outer world. That's why we have more feeling, more intelligence, because God-power can make use of many of the tiny instruments within ourselves in order to spread out the blessing, the message and the intelligence. In the plant, God-power cannot do that, because there are not enough instruments. That's all. Just like the bulb here. If the electric bulb is a 100-watt, then its electricity can be brighter than in a 20-watt.

If we damage the 100-watt bulb, it is more expensive, more of a waste than a 20-watt bulb. This is why we try to economize. This is why we should eat the least conscious thing possible, like vegetables. Is that logical to you? Is that okay? (Audience: Yes.) I don't try to push you into guilt or things like that, but we discuss the possibilities of why and how. That's why to kill a human being is the most

terrible crime, to kill animal is second to it, and a plant is not much. They can grow again, even from the root. But the animal, even if you cut only half of its head, won't grow again. Therefore, we have to believe things when they're logical; not because it's the guilt-inflicting theory or because we have to do that because some of the teachers say so or some of the religions say so.

I do not feel that we are unintelligent beings, that we could swallow anything, especially the Americans. They are no-nonsense folks. They don't just eat anything. So, we have to tell them whatever is logical. Even if people do not accept it today, they can think about it later. Sometimes I believe also, that during the course of my speaking, sometimes it's too fast -- you sometimes listen to one sentence and you miss the next, and also it's difficult. So, if you want to listen again, you can get the tape. All the tapes we sell are without profit. It's like a good quality empty tapes, because we don't believe in selling God for profit.

We make profit otherwise, by mundane talent like dress designing, lamp producing, painting pictures. All these things we are allowed to make. It's our mundane talent, so we get the mundane profit; but not to sell God for profit. We don't even collect money, get a member's fee; or anything to do with God's teachings; because it's all free for every of Hiers children. It was free for me. It will be free for everyone, as long as I can afford it. If I cannot afford, then I stop. Very simple!

Now, can you see why we are God? God-power is omnipresent, is all-pervading everywhere; and we are just one of the beholders. Just like my swimming pool - the water came from the nearby stream, led in by a pipe; and we have a hole underneath or on top so that it will flow out again into the river without stopping a portion of the water. The water in the pool, even though it's surrounded by stones and cement, is still water from the river and is connected in some other way.

If our swimming pool is blocked from connecting with the spring for some reason, then we have to unblock it. Maybe the pipe is blocked, the pipe is damaged, or the hole is blocked; so we have to unblock it. Enlightenment is the unblocking of our obscurity to our own nature, to the God connections within ourselves, and to the whole power of the universe. (Applause) Questions & Answers Q: What are Your views on transmigration?

M: As I have mentioned earlier, transmigration is another word for reincarnation.

It is a very Eastern terminology. You don't hear it that often in the Bible, because the Bible is also not always complete, as all of you know. It has 'transmigrated' (Master laughs) for 2,000 years or sometime, so something may be missing there. The true Bible is locked up somewhere and we are never allowed to see it. But some of the newly-dug from the ancient sites -- the Bible in some part has come out, and some of it would mention reincarnation.

For example, I just remember one part like someone asked Jesus whether He was the reincarnation or continuation of the last prophet like Elijah or such and such and such. They mentioned about two, three previous prophets before Him who had already ascended. So, Jesus did not answer yes or no. If the question, the conception about reincarnation was wrong -- that a prophet even reincarnated to help the people, then He would have said, "No, no, never. No reincarnation." But He didn't answer. Probably He answered yes, but He was a very soft-spoken person. (Master laughs.)

You see, afterward there was no correction on that question. And as I understood: That about over 2,000 years ago, at the time of Buddha and Jesus, etc., when you are silent on some topic, that means you agree. If people ask you, sometimes three times, and you are silent, or if you have an invitation from a disciple, and you are silent, that means you accept it. So, in that case, we can have a glimpse of some segments of the Bible about reincarnation. Otherwise, it's difficult to prove that.

As you have read in many books about Jesus, that He has been in India and Tibet, and studied with Buddhist teachers and so on, so for Him the theory of reincarnation must have been very familiar. So, we would be surprised if He didn't teach that to His disciples. Maybe the Bible, some portions of it, are lost.

Sometimes translation not accurate, and everything like that; because at the time of Jesus, was very chaotic ?the situation.

He had to sometimes hide for His life, and the disciples practiced in fear. So, not all the things Jesus taught would have been recorded. Also, He taught only three-and-a-half years before He was terminated. How can He have taught everything in such a fearful and limited circumstances, as well as a handful of disciples? It was very difficult.

Transmigration is nothing very difficult to understand. For example, we live day to day. Yesterday you wanted to do something and you could not or you didn't finished it. So today, you wake up, you try to finish it or try to find a way to do it again. Anything we have not finished in our life, and at the time of leaving this mundane world, we still desire, we want to do it, and we feel very sorry that we have not finished it, then surely this desire is the powerful force that will give us another chance to do it again. So, we will be again and again given the physical instrument to do, to exercise our God-power in this world, to manifest our wisdom into this world until one day we finish our desire, and we are done with all our jobs. Then, we'll go back home.

That is the situation of the people who desire enlightenment. They feel they have nothing more that they want to do in this world. Maybe their mission is finished. It has just naturally push them into the position or into the state of mind of wanting to go home. They don't know where home is and what that is, but they want to return to the source. That is when people want enlightenment.

Therefore, people say, "When the student is ready, the Master will appear." You can't force enlightenment upon people. Therefore, Jesus couldn't force. Buddha couldn't force it. Not all the people in India were enlightened at the time the Master was alive. Not all the Jewish people were enlightened at the time Jesus

was there. So transmigration stops when we feel that we want to go home -nothing in this world interests us anymore.

As long as we still feel interested in something, and we couldn't finish all this in one lifetime, that means we still want to stay in this world. It's just a compelling force that we can not help. Therefore, enlightened and unenlightened persons are all alike. But the enlightened person lives a better life, smoother, more wisdom. He can do many things with less effort.

Many people ask me, "How can You be a master -- You go around the world, lecture, and take care of disciples in different countries, and still paint, compose music, sing songs, make songs, and all that?"

I say, "Why, it's easy. It didn't take much time to paint. A few hours to compose music -- I composed twelve songs in four days. No big deal! Write poems and anything. When you're truly inspired and have time, you just do it very fast.

Right? To design clothes, this didn't take me ten minutes, no problem.

But before I was a little bit enlightened, everything was difficult. I didn't even have an idea to paint. When I painted in my high school class or somewhere, I can't remember, I like to paint a horse and it looks like a turkey. (Master and audience laugh.) So, my teacher said don't bother wasting the paint, I'll just give you the mark (laughter), something like that.

Q: Is our subconscious mind a link to infi- nite intelligence?

M: The subconscious mind is a kind of bridge. It's not the real self yet. It's a bridge to the infinite intelligence. That is correct.

Q: How do we face problems and suffering in front of us?

M: Whatever we can eliminate, try to eliminate. If we cannot, then pray to God to help us overcome or for that person to overcome the suffering. Get enlightenment, above all. It's easier to digest all this suffering and easier to think of the way to help, when we are enlightened.

Q: Do you believe that God guides us all the way since we were born?

M: Yes, but do we heed Hirm? Do we ever hear Hirm? If we do, many of us wouldn't have run into difficulty; and our world wouldn't have been the way it has been or the way it is now. So, we have to open first our power of understanding. We have to reconnect ourselves with God in order to hear Hirm, to know what Hes wants us to do, to know the correct way.

That's why we offer the connection with God again. That's called enlightenment, finding the Kingdom of God, or whatever you want to name it. We can't just list the whole list of terminologies -- enlightenment, get back to your Buddhanature, become Buddha, go back to the Kingdom of God, know yourself, know God, God-realization, self-realization, etc., so we say enlightenment and immediate.

Q: Jesus said He is the only way. If He was open-minded, He would have said, "Well, I am the way Buddha is, so too, Krishna."

Audience answers: I just think that Jesus or that "I" they were talking about was omnipresent and omnipotent. (Master: Yes, yes.) Therefore, it boils down to His love and wisdom. So, Jesus said that "I", meaning "love and wisdom, omnipresence, the God-power" is the way. (Applause) M: It's just like, for example, Krishna, said: Love Me alone, and "Me" is capitalized. Follow Me alone. Surrender all unto Me, then your life will become better and etc. Buddha said the same thing. Follow the Buddha, and don't follow anyone else. He means the real self, the omnipresent, the almighty power which at that time probably manifested mostly in that "electric pole" (means in Buddha Himself). (Master laughs.)

Just like the electric power is brightest in this light at this moment, and all the other lights are a little bit dim. It means, you have to have faith in that electricity, but not necessarily in light. Because the light was very bright, electricity was most at that time. You go near the light, so you can read, you can see all the things, and recognize yourself in the mirror if you want to make- up, for example. It doesn't mean you have to believe in this light, but in the electricity that houses that light.

So, every living master that houses the power of God, God can use any, anytime because God is not so limited. Hes is not so poor to have only one son. Please!

Hes has so many ways and means to bring Hiers children into Hirmself. Don't you think? (Audience: Yes.) (Applause) I wish to send you all the love I can just to help you to open up. But if we do not yet have good affinity, then you can wait. Meanwhile, study the Bible, believe in God, believe in Jesus. It's good for you. Study the Bible doesn't mean you know the words only, but put that into action. For example, the Ten Commandments, we should try to abide by them. That is the good way of a Christian.

Before I got enlightenment, I slept with the Bible every night. I looked at it every time I was in trouble. Without the Bible, I couldn't sleep. Sometimes, I alternated. In the morning, I would read the Buddhist scriptures that comforted me and sometimes lifted me up into some kind of very blissful state. It helped also. If you truly revere the Bible, you deeply believe in it, and study it very sincerely, it helps you immensely.

We are just talking another alternative way should you be interested. If not, please just believe in the Bible and try to keep the Commandments. Put all the loving things that God teaches you into action. That's all.

More Signs That Foetus 'Decides' Birth Date Bangkok Post, Saturday March 30, 1996 Scientists said Thursday they had added to the evidence that a foetus decides when it is ready to be born.

The latest research, on rhesus monkeys, suggests that the fortus monitors its own developing systems and sends out a signal that sets off labour in the mother.

Scientists are looking into this mechanism to help understand premature labour, which can lead to the death or disability of the baby, and also to develop better care for women who go past their expected due date.

"The possibility that, in normal human pregnancy, it is the foetal brain that controls the duration of pregnancy is an exciting one," said Dr Peter Nathanielsz of Cornell.

The research was done at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and Mt Sinai Medical School.

A group of brain cells that controls the foetal lamb's adrenal gland, setting of a chain reaction of hormones that eventually stimulates the mother's cervix to dilate and the uterus to contract -- labour.

Monkeys have slightly different hormonal circuits than the sheep, but the scientists successfully induced early delivery of baby monkeys 80 percent of the way through the pregnancy by delivering the corresponding infusion of hormones.

Live monkeys were delivered seven days later. In the control group that received a placebo the mothers did not deliver for 20 more days.

More work must be done to learn how the human system works, but Nathanielsz said the studies were exciting.

"It would be of great survival value if the foetal brain can act as a "computer" taking messages from several vital developing systems, such as lungs, kidneys and other parts of the brain, to compute the level of maturation and act accordingly."

Orphaned Piglet Leads A Dog's Life Bangkok Post, Wednesday April 3, 1996 Stuffed the orphaned piglet scrambles for a place alongside his adopted brothers and sisters and mother Amber, a dingo-cattle dog cross, in Perth, Australia.

Stuffed, who suckles Amber along with the pups, was rescued from a slaughter house by Western Australian farmer Geoffrey Blight.

French Doctors Identify First Mad Cow Disease Case Thailand Sunday Post, Apr 3, 1996 French doctors have identified a case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Desease comparable to those which sparked the recent "mad cow" crisis in Britain, a senior health official said on Friday,

Jean-Francois Girard, the government's chief medical officer, said the case indicated that a new strain of the brain-wasting illness CJD reported by doctors in Britain is not limited to that country, but warned it was far too early to talk about an epidemic.

"This adds to the English cases, and confirms that this is a European problem," Girard told a press conference. "We cannot say there won't be other cases, but we cannot start talking about an epidemic either."

The case involved a 27-year-old man in Lyon, central France, who died in January. His symptoms were identical to those of 10 British cases which doctors said indicated a new strain of CJD that may be linked to "mad cow" disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy(BSE).

The Lyon case was revealed in the French press last week, but at that time scientists said they could not link it to the British cases until they had carried out more tests.

Girard said Friday that the similarities with the British cases were confirmed after pathological tests. He said their data had been compared with that of the British doctors who found the 10 cases which sparked the crisis.

The British study behind the scare centres on 10 cases of CJD detected over the past two years. Eight of the victims have died, while the surviving two are 18 and 31, and have had the disease for six months and 23 months respectively.

The average age of those affected was 29, compared to 65 for traditional CJD, and the life expectancy was between eight and 23 months, compared to a much shorter four months for the classic strain.

Are The Continent's Cattle Sick?

Time, Reported by Michael Schoenthal/Bonn

April Brunton/London,

8, Bruce Crumley/Paris

and

1996 Rhea

The British have been widely accused of closing the barn door after the mad cow has bolted, but there were dark hints last week that some other E.U. countries may have been less than forthright about their own exposure to the frightening disease that is killing cattle--and possibly being passed to humans. British farmers and Conservative politicians suggested that the Continent has more cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy than it paid for destroyed animals and even that some European farmers have been swapping ear tags from their own infected animals for British ones.

The main argument for such claims is that since 3.35 million British cattle were exported to the rest of Europe Between 1986 and 1995, and thousands of tons of possibly contaminated feed were also sold, it seems odd that Britain has suffered more than 160,000 BSE cases while the toll is so tiny in other countries: 206 reported cases in Switzerland, 31 in Portugal and just 16 in France.

Last week Tory M.P. Paul Marland asked agriculture miniser Douglas Hogg to send investigators to the Continent "to study what's known there as 'staggers' and manganese deficiency, which is actually BSE under another name." Hogg said he suspected there were more Continental BSE cases "than have been disclosed."

The brain of a possibly BSE-infected cow from Brittany is examined in a French laboratory While Marland feared E.U. partners might "do down our industry for the betterment of their own, "little hard evidence backed such claims. French agficulture minister Philippe Vasseur insisted that each animal in France "has its own identity card--we know where they are, where they have been and what parents they were born to."

In Bonn, Hans-Joachim Batza, an animal-protection expert in the Agriculture Ministry, said suggestions of a cover-up were "wrong, brazen and unfair." Batza pointed out that in Germany, as in France, Holland and most other E.U. countries, farmers are compensated at current market value when they report suspect cows. By contrast, British farmers had in the past received less than market value for destroyed stock--sometimes only 50- meaning that they rather than their E.U. neighbors had rason to hide sick animals.

German beef eaters, however, may have been less reassured last week after watching a TU documentary on the case of Margrit Herbst. In September 1994, Herbst, a veterinarian at a big slaughterhouse in northern Germany, estimated that about one in a thousand of the cows she saw was possibly infected with BSE. She based this on 21 cases fo cows she suspected of having the disease.

Herbst said her superiors ignored her report. She was sacked for speaking publicly without authorization and was sued for defamation by the slaughterhouse. In January a court in Kiel threw out the action against her and agreed that some animals "reached consumers without the further necessary tests."

E.U. agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler distilled the problem into two sentences: "There is no evidence that there is a link between BSE and 'human brain disease'. There is also no evidence that there is no link." That analysis was no help to the Continent's consumers, who are now protected from mad British cows, but perhaps are looking at their own herds with suspicion. -By Rod Usher.

Cat Risks Life To Save Kittens Time, April 8, 1996 NEW YORK: In a motherly show of courage, a cat raced into a burning building to rescue her five kittens, one by one.

And then with her eyes blistered shut and her paws burned, she made a head count of her young ones, touching each one with her nose to make sure they were all safe.

The heroics of the cat nicknamed Scarlet have truned the once-homeless feline and her brood into the most coveted kitties in an animal shelter. While they recovered from their wounds on Sunday, more than 700 people had called seeking to adopt them.

The High Health Cost Of Eating Meat Bangkok Post, Monday

By Jane E.Brody NYT News Service

April

8,

1996

According to a study by a group of US doctos, the yearly US health care costs of eating meat are comparable to the estimated $50 billion (1.25 trillion baht) spent each year to treat illnesses related to smoking.

A spokesman for the American Medical Association, however, said he had "very serious reservations" about the methods used to come to those conclusions.

The authors of the analysis, Dr Neal D. Barnard, Dr Lil Howard, are all members of the Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine, an organization in Washington that promotes vegetarianism. They linked regular consumption of red meat and poultry, in particular, to significant increases in the risks of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, gallbladder disease, overweight and resulting osteoarthritis, food poisoning and cancers of the colon, lung, ovary and prostate.

The analysis was published in the November 1995 issue of Preventive Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Health Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to research on preventive health measures. The researchers estimated the health costs of the nation's current omnivorous diet at $28.6 billion to $61.4 billion (715 billion to 1.53 trillion baht) a year.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Randall White and Suzanne Havala said "the money we spend to treat these conditions, often called diseases of affluence or overnourishment, could help meet the basic health care needs of those currently uninsured." In fact, the authors of the journal report concluded, "the combined medical costs attributable to smoking and meat consumption exceed the predicted costs of providing health coverage for all currently uninsured Americans."

National nutrition and health experts are urging Americans ot reduce their dependence on meat. The "Eating Pyramid" issued several years ago by the Federal Department of Agriculture suggests two to three serving daily of a highprotein food like meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts. It defines a serving as only two to three ounces (about 55 to 85 grammes) of cooked meat, fish or poultry. Even the meat industry has become more tempered in its dining advice, suggesting that Americans choose lean, will-trimmed meats and four-ounce portions.

Dr White, who said he had been a vegetarian for 17 years, and Ms Havala, who is a consultant to the Baltimore-based Vegetarian Resource Group, which

promotes vegetarianism, maintain that "the cost of the American way of eating has become unsustainable.

While the diseases of affluence and overnourishment cied in the journal report occur among vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike, "they occur at lower rates among those who eat fewer animal products," the editorial writers noted.

The researchers did not offer physiological explanations for these findings beyong pointing out that "when meat is incluede in the diet, plant products are necessarily reduced." They added, "The health effects of an omnivorous diet may result from the presence of meat, the displacement of plant foods, or both."

Diets containing meat are usually higher in fat, particularly artery -damaging saturated fat, and higher in calories. Plant foods are less calorically dense and they are rich sources of viamins, minerals, fiber and other platn substances that have been shown to lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

The researchers said that there were no large studies available to enable them to analyses separately the value of including fish in an otherwise vegetarian diet.

Seafood consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of heart and other blood vessel diseases.

In preparing their analysis, the authors examined studies of large groups of people in the United States whose living habits were comparable except for their meat consumption patterns.

In general, about half the people were vegetarians, most of whom consumed eggs and dairy products but not red meat, fish and poultry. However, in their smoking, exercise and alcohol consumption habits, all of which can strongly influence health, they were not notably different from the meat eaters studied.

Yet in every study examined, meat eaters had higher rates of costly and sometimes fatal health problems.

Dr Roy M. Schwarz, group vice president for professional standards of the American Medical Association, said the study did not specify whether factors kike age, sex and genetic history of the people covered in the studies had been taken into account. All such factors could affect health.

"I just have a very difficult time believing that they have controlled for all these diffeient factors," Dr Schwarz said.

But Dr Barnard, the researcher, said the estimated health costs were conservative because the meat eaters in the various studies were not heavy consummers of flash foods and because the researchers had examined only seven health risks for which there were strong data.

Vegetarians tend to have cholesterol levels that are 9 percent to 32 percent lower than those of meat eaters, and vegetarians' levels of artery -damaging LDL cholesterol are 7 percent to 37 percent lower. Just six weeks on a

vegetarian diet can reduce an omnivore's total cholesterol level by 3 percent to 11 percent and lower LDL cholesterol by 4 percent to 17 percent. Other studies have shown that for every 1 percent drop in total cholesterol, there is a 2 percent decline in the chances of suffering a heart attack.

The researchers cited studies of various population showing that men and women who consumed beef, pork or lamb daily had about a three-fold higher incidence of colon cancer when compared with people who consumed meat products less than once a month. Even lung cancer rates are significantly lower among vegetarians, whether or not they smoke, according to the analysis.

But perhaps the most costly meat-related illness, the report said, is diabetes, with an estimated $14 billion to $17.1 billion (350 billion to 428 billion baht) a year in excess medical costs "attributable to meat consumptition."

We Are God University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada Turn Inward And Listen To The Heavenly Teachings I am very honored to be in this great country. This country of prosperity, of peace, of loving kindness and humanitarianism; because your country has what many countries do not have - the warmth and the human love between each other, as well as very elevated spiritual standards. I was very touched to know that in your country there is no death sentence. That shows that in this land "love" rules above all things. Let's hope that other countries will learn from your example, to let God rule justice and not to take revenge.

I had the opportunity to speak to some of the people who live in this land - the immigrants - for example, the Au Lac refugees who have been welcomed into your country with love and nondiscrimination. They're all very happy in this country. I am sure this will add more merits and blessings to this great nation that you happen to reside in. Only a very spiritually elevated country can possess such qualities of loving kindness, of non-racism, nondiscrimination. If every nation was like this, at least our world would become a small paradise.

Unfortunately, there are many other things that prevent people from understanding the basic truth - that is love is the greatest law in the universe; and therefore, many people do not enjoy life the way they should.

The more we cling to life in a forceful way, the less we can enjoy the flavor of it.

Therefore, the enlightened persons are happier and more contented. Even then, from this very stable state of mind, they can do many wonders because they are quiet enough to understand where their wisdom lies, where their greatness is, in order to make use of it.

When we are very busy, are in a panic, or in a hurry, most often we forget what we want to do. Or we do things in an incomplete way. Therefore, the tranquil mind of an enlightened person can see things more clearly. That's the only logic of this science.

Be still and know that I am God. Who is that "I am"? That is the "one" that resides within us. That is the true "self". Therefore, we are God. This realization doesn't come through hearing people saying that or through believing alone, but through self realization. Just as in any other science there must be a special technique.

Everything we learn and master in life is all done through self experimentation.

Similarly, enlightenment can be achieved through some perseverance, self experience. Therefore, it will be lasting. That's the reason why we have heard a lot of saints and sages of all times saying that, we are God. God is within us. If God is within us, that means we and God are one. If we and God are one, we are God. But even then, we have heard this so often, we have read so many bibles and so many statements from such great men, like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, etcetera; but we do not truly believe that we are this, and we cannot find the God that is supposed to dwell within ourselves. It is because we lack self experience; we have not known it by our own discovery, but only by hearing.

In the old times, when science had not reached the heights of today, we had many problems. Even the rain troubled us, the snow bothered us. Anything, any small things, big things, obstructed our daily activities. For example, now we have umbrellas, we have raincoats, so we can walk in the rain. We can even enjoy the rain and work in the rain. Better still we have cars, we have buses. We have all the things that protect us from the different weather changes in nature.

Therefore we are very comfortable.

In the ancient times, if we were to hold a meeting like today, many of you who live at a very, very long distance away would not be here. Not because of the distance only, but because of rain, because of weather, and all that. So in the ancient times people hid themselves in caves, in mountains, under the trees, to protect themselves from natural disadvantages.

Many people still do today, in some of the undeveloped countries. So that must not be. Enlightenment is like that. It's just like we add more comforts into our life, and be happy in whatever condition. Suppose we don't have a raincoat, we don't have an umbrella, we don't have a car; if it rains today, we are stopped from doing all of our activities, from all the things that we love to do, and want to accomplish.

To Change The World, ChangeYourselves Similarly, life is fantastic if we have enlightenment. There is nothing "terror" or "trouble". Only because we lack protection that it seems to be so; because, take the example, the rain. If it doesn't rain, we don't have water and all the trees, the flowers cannot grow. All the crops that we need for survival would never be there. Therefore, rain is not terrible in itself. But it is if we don't have an umbrella, and we walk miles in the cold. We will shiver, we will catch cold, we will be ill, and we may lose our life even though it is such a very harmless and useful natural phenomenon. Even a very natural, beautiful phenomenon becomes harmful to us, if we lack equipment to protect ourselves. Therefore, many people want to change the world. To change the way we live our lives. But the sages of enlightened spirits say: "No! Change yourselves," because if we

change ourselves, we change the world around us. Even if the world still stays the way it is, we are not affected. If each person changes in this way, there would be no need for any wars and there would be no disasters. If everyone had an umbrella, a raincoat, what is the need to change the season, to stop the rain, or to make magical power to control the rainy season, like many people would like to learn and possess this magical power? It can stop the rain, can make it last longer, can push it to another direction. And it takes a long time to learn this magical skill. But why bother? We just wear the raincoat - it's cheap, it's simple, and everyone can use it.

Once the Buddha wanted to cross the river by boat, and the boatman did not want to take him because he had no money. At that time he was, of course, a renunciative monk still, who possessed no property, so the Buddha had no choice but to walk over the river. These days, quite a few yogis in India, Tibet and elsewhere still can do that.

Many people ask me about magical power because people are curious about things that they can't explain, and also about things that they scientifically think "are impossible". So I told them, "Yes! These things do exist, but nevertheless, they are not to be used at random, and also not to be done for show." Even Jesus, He possessed a lot of magical power, but He didn't always use it. He was very reluctant. Therefore, He raised only one dead person to life. He cured only two or three blind persons, and did not run around all the time and raise all the dead back to life. That will bring the natural law into a chaotic situation. That is a thing an enlightened saint would not do.

Each one has to learn to yearn within his heart to know himself, to know God; and then the Kingdom of God will come, the Master will come to help that person. If we use magical power, or any other supernatural ways to convince people, we unknowingly lead people astray; because, we limit God's power within these magical skills, which could be learned by some experts. Also, by doing that, we interfere with the flow of nature. And of course, we bring some disasters upon ourselves. What we seek are the eternal things, like wisdom, love and the greatness of the universal power, not the small corner of these low level gains.

Greatest Miraculous Power Do Without Doing When we possess the great wisdom, we also possess numerous miraculous powers. But at that time, we have so much, too much, that we might not even know how much we have, and things just come out from us automatically without us intentionally doing anything. That's why the saints do things without doing, without even thinking, without even wanting to do it. It's just like a very, very rich person, he has no idea how much he has. He can never count. He can never see all of his treasure.

Therefore, the enlightened persons are always happy. At least most of the time they are happy. And even when he encounters unhappiness, which is brought to him by his very close contact with someone he loved, maybe, then he is affected. Because of the love for that person, he may share the sufferings or unhappiness of that person. But even then, he is very, very calm inside. He

knows that the unhappiness is only of an ephemeral nature. He is not, kind of dragged and sunken into this unhappiness, like most of the people are.

Therefore, if we even want just to be happy in this life, we should get enlightenment.

Of course, I should tell you that you have to seek God for God's sake alone, not because of the happiness in this life. But I do think that these things come together. If you are enlightened, you are happy. And the more happy, the more you believe in enlightenment, and the more you will appreciate God's nature anyhow. What is the use of expecting an everlasting happiness in heaven, while we grovel here in darkness and in misery every minute of our life?

An enlightened person enjoys both worlds; enjoys heaven at the same time as enjoying the world. Why? Because he knows that whatever is manifested in this world, is also the will of heaven. It's also a copy of the real manifestation in the higher Kingdom of God. Because he is very relaxed, has no fear, no anxiety, so whatever he enjoys, he enjoys it to the utmost.

Many people think that after enlightenment, maybe you don't know how to love your wife, your husband or children anymore. It is the opposite. Only when you are very happy, and know your true worth, can you truly love another person.

Because you see her reflection is within you and your reflection is within her.

You will respect that person and love all the good qualities that God has endowed that person, because you have realized what God has given in yourself.

Then you know God gives all beings the same amount of qualities.

But we choose sometimes to go in the opposite direction. Therefore, we suffer; and then we blame God. We say how come God has such almighty power and cannot turn this world into heaven. The power doesn't lie in God's hands, it lies in your hands. I know all these through experiences, not through books, not through any bible. I know these also through the experiences in the life of my disciples. That is also the reason why we see each other today.

Sharing The Bliss Of Enlightenment It is due to the kindness of my disciples. They want to share with you what they have discovered. So they have gone through a lot of trouble, expense and time to organize this day's congregation. We do not do this with a very burning ambition to convince you into our path. But we do it with a very happy attitude of just a happy person. Therefore, we don't care to wear very special renunciative dresses to impress you. We do not try to make a very holy appearance of ourselves to convert you. We do not try to give anything to you, or any other kind of magical power to let you come into our circle. But we do it as a duty of one brother to another. We just do it for the sake of doing it.

Actually, we're happy whether you are convinced, or not. We will be contented whether you come, or you go. Because nothing is that deadly serious to us anymore. We do it or not do it, it is the same thing to us.

I could be sitting pretty on the top of a mountain in Formosa and enjoying my samadhi power, or I could be sitting here knowing more of the people of the Earth planet. It is the same to me. Therefore, if you feel that you're ready for

this happiness, which is the true happiness because it comes from the root, because you know the whole thing from heaven to earth and hell. You know everything. And then you choose what you would like to enjoy. Therefore, your happiness will be true and lasting. Otherwise, most of the so called enjoyments in this world we are not free to choose.

Sometimes we are dragged along to a party and we try to enjoy it. Sometimes we are forced to get married because of some political or business reasons, and try to make the best out of it. Sometimes we drag along with a big family and try to feed them. Working from morning to night, we think that we are great because we are taking care of the family. But it's not always a choice. Therefore, we do not feel happy in many things we do; because, somehow, we feel that we are not the one who controls all this. We are not the host, we're just like a guest. We are blown with the wind, and we go along with whatever the situation is. We lose many interests and joys in life through not knowing why we are doing all this and that. But after enlightenment, it's different. Whatever we enjoy, we truly enjoy. We understand the values of life, as well as the values above this life.

There are two lives in any planet. One is of the material existence, the other is of an everlasting nature. If we know only one and we lack the other, just like most people in the world -- they enjoy only the material existence of so called life but they do not know the real picture of this projection; they know only the shadows. So they only enjoy the material life, and fear losing it. But the truly enlightened person knows both - the everlasting and also the copy of it; and he can enjoy both at the same time, he can choose to enjoy one or the other. But I think that while we are already here, we might just as well enjoy. There is nothing in this world that we should not enjoy, really. Except those things that are harmful to the lives of other beings.

Therefore, we just suggest a vegetarian diet, so the fish can always swim in the sea as much as they please and the cows can graze in the pasture until nature causes them to go back to where they belong. We can enjoy them, and they can enjoy us.

Some of the enlightened persons, I don't know how, to which degree, but they choose to live in the inside, on the other side of life, the spiritual side of life. And therefore, give the impression to the people that all the enlightened persons have to be like that - have to go into the Himalayas, have to go into the cave, have to forsake all the beautiful things about this life in order to be an enlightened being.

But that must not be so because we will be too aloof from this world and many people will find it difficult to associate with us. If they find it too difficult to associate with us, how can they help themselves? How can they know what we know? Of course, it may be more pleasant for a saint or an enlightened person to stay away from the hustle, bustle of the world and to be carefree in his or her own way. But on the other hand, there are many other brothers and sisters who need our assistance.

the way TO SAVE THE EARTH FROM DOOMSDAY

Japan Airport on September 8, 1994.

Be A Saviour To The World I feel much more relaxed in Japan this time. You have been initiated for a longer time now! You have also practiced and meditated diligently, purifying yourself.

This is very helpful to the atmosphere of Japan. We are helping the world in this way, so I say you are the saviours of the world. In this world, many of our brothers and sisters have forgotten their original duties, forgotten their Buddha nature, the quality of God. Instead, they have done many harmful things to the world, to the universe. If everyone were doing so, and doing nothing to counter balance, our world would be in great calamity. Many mishaps have already happened, but more disastrous ones are yet to come. Until now, these calamities are affecting mostly one country or part of a country. Should everybody keep on disregarding spiritual practice as before and doing bad deeds instead, neglecting other people's life and feelings, and ignoring human rights, greater disasters will happen, even affecting the whole globe. Without using miracle powers, we can see into the future. We can know it without using miracle powers, because it is logical, it is cause and effect.

Many of the so-called clairvoyants and prophets anticipated that many grave disasters would simultaneously happen in the world. In different countries and different ages, different people have had the same vision. Those people could really see into the future, they were not remarking casually. There have been such persons in many countries in all ages. They were not rare. However, perhaps we are practicing well. Our practitioners are in many countries, setting up big group meditation centers. Grouping together, our power is very strong.

So, I think the world can still be saved. If we sincerely pray for something together, or practice together, we can generate an enormous atmosphere of peace, and it will have a great effect. It is not limited to that specific place. For example, there is no river in your land, but there are rivers in other places. The water in the rivers and seas would be evaporated to become steam, and then become rain. Subsequently, your land will also be affected. Another example: you may have run into trouble today on the road or in a certain place, you may have had a car accident or another accident. Then, you met two very compassionate people who cared and helped you, making you feel loved, safe and very comfortable. Later, you left when everything was alright, or after spending a week in the hospital and that loving feeling was still affecting you.

Whomever you saw thereafter, or in a conference with many people, you would be very loving and patient to them and then, those who you treated compassionately would continue spreading the love outward, also treating others with love. And then, those whom they had lovingly treated would again spread this love to more people. The transmission would go on and on, just like a drop of oil, spreading outward continuously.

The Pure Land Exists If The Mind Is Serene

Similarly, if a person has sufficient time to practice, he would be serene within and then, his serene attitude and atmosphere would further influence the people he sees, the neighbors and people around him. Upon seeing him, the people would be affected by his aura and become peaceful. They would think, "Oh! This is right! We ought to be peaceful and loving!" As the influence spreads out, many people would be affected. Therefore, our spiritual practice is truly beneficial. This is simply logical, nothing esoteric or beyond comprehension.

Many undesirable things happen in the world because the people are not happy and lacking love. For instance, we often read some remarks in the psychological books or in the newspapers: Most of the more troublesome and violently inclined persons are those mistreated or neglected in childhood. Without receiving any love, they grew up in a bad mood and developed a negative personality. This is the cause for most of them. Now, our meditation centers are providing places where people can rest and calm down. Sensing the tranquility, they know this place is safe. No one would annoy them, abuse them, so they become more peaceful and calm at heart. Subsequently, they are no longer afraid or nervous, or feeling dangerous. Besides, we can also teach them to communicate with their almighty power within themselves. Gradually, they realize their real greatness, and improve. They would definitely feel increasingly serene and peaceful. That was exactly what happened to you!

So, you see! Spiritual practice is very logical! You can understand by logical reasoning. These places of spiritual practice are necessary for people to introspect and seek their peaceful corner within. This is why your lives are getting better as you practice. You are feeling increasingly more intelligent, realizing more, you are more relaxed, it's easier to forgive others, and you are more compassionate. Previously, you didn't know the way to nurture yourself, so you felt uncomfortable, weak in both body and mind.

Miraculous Effect Of Quan Yin: Rejuvenation In Heaven above, they heal with light instead of with medicine. I think, perhaps we will also heal illness with similar light in the future. There are also some illnesses which can be affected by sound, say like music. This method we are practicing include the light and the sound. Many agonies and pressure minimize naturally, and eventually disappear. We are originally highly intelligent beings.

However, in this world, we are excessively oppressed, and have no time to rest.

Even when we find time to rest, we don't know the proper way. Outings and activities simply tire us even more after spending much money. We just feel even more uncomfortable. Now, we have the time to practice, and the power of light and sound that heals all illnesses, and we also have wisdom. In serenity, we can find our original wisdom, so it is simply natural that we are becoming better and better.

Ordinary people, after being loaded with heavy work, go for a rest by the seaside or in the mountains for a while, if they can afford it. Then they feel refreshed and are ready to carry on with their work. However, it is much better that we have a brief rest each day than taking a week off after a long time. Our two and a half hours' meditation is our everyday rest. Besides resting, we are also saving our life! The light and the sound purifies our mentality and bodily

cells, etc. Therefore, the more we practice, the younger and more comfortable we feel. Most illnesses disappear.

I have read in a magazine lately that they are using a special sound to heal cancer. Have you read that? They have started experimenting on it, and it seems to be effective. Having read this news, I felt that our "contemplating on the Sound" is really the best. Many fellow initiates, having practiced the Quan Yin Method, have gotten rid of their cancer unknowingly! However, this is only a natural bonus effect. We do not practice for healing. In another sense, we are also practicing for healing! Our illness of ignorance is the worst, from which many other illnesses are born.

Ignorance Creates all Kinds of Illnesses For instance, being ignorant, we would enjoy all kinds of pleasures, eating meat, consuming alcohol or even drugs. We think these will bring us pleasure, while in reality, we are ruined both physically and mentally. This is a result of our ignorance, understand? We ignorantly take drugs and poisons, and become ill.

We suffer from disordered liver, lungs and heart, cancer and everything, all because of our illness of ignorance. Originally, God sent us here to bless the world, so the world would evolve, become more beautiful, as if in Heaven. The outcome is, after we have entered this "tool" (the human body) we abuse it instead of using it to implement God's will. We destroyed this tool given by God, so we are feeling very uncomfortable.

Master is teaching you to do the right thing, to find the proper way of using your "tool", and to remember your mission. Otherwise, each of us would come to this world and then get lost in material enjoyment, fond of this, fond of that, fond of this tool. Instead of using this tool to beautify the world, we are indulged in the tool, intoxicated. Of course the world is hopeless in this way. There must be someone like us reminding people of their original mission, to remember and understand that they must not be indulged and get lost in this world, destroying the world, together with themselves. Therefore, spiritual practice is our obligation.

When an ordinary person is very ill, he will be sent to the hospital, not only for the medication, but also for a rest. His body will then generate a resisting energy to cure the disease. Usually, after taking medicine we feel heavier and sleepy.

The purpose is to let us rest more so our body would yield resisting power. We are cured naturally, and medicine is not the only effective substance. Therefore, even though we are not sick, we rest every day, taking the Heavenly prescription--the internal light and sound, in a dosage of several hundred liters each day, [Master laughs] of course we feel better! We have rest and we have the medication, naturally we are healthy and sound, physically and mentally.

Therefore, the more we practice, the more we feel that it is hard to quit. We simply enjoy it more and more, like a kid unable to quit drinking milk.

Most people have some problem or another, either physically or mentally. We might be a little too late starting now, but it is better than never. If we have our own kids, hurry and give them this "medicine", so they have no need to take that much when they grow up. Look at the hospitals in the world, they are full of

patients eating a lot of meat and drinking alcohol. They are not poor people, right? They are rich people, experts in food and wine, ending up in the hospitals.

Also, they recover very slowly, even when their illness is a minor one. On the contrary, those vegetarians who lead a simple life like us can recover from illness very soon, if not immediately. Besides, there won't be any side effects after taking medicine, no adverse reaction. If we practiced only very recently, our systems may not have adjusted or improved so fast. We cannot change fast enough at the initial stage of our practice, should the illness be too heavy.

Therefore, we are occasionally sick. If we were not practicing, the situation would be even worse.

The Light And Sound Are Vital Spiritual Food For Our Soul This light and sound is the medicine and food for our body's body and soul. It changes and renews our body's cells. Therefore, you may observe that good practitioners look younger, at least younger than before. If you see them again after a long time, their skin is more shiny and tender, as if reliving their youth. If our life is not a hustling and nervous one, the change would be even more apparent. It is good enough for us to practice for two and a half hours each day!

We can live on. At least the pressure would not be too heavy, to the extent of half alive and half dead. [Master laughs] Not that I need you to practice, but that you truly need to practice. I will also try my best travelling about, reminding people of the benefits of spiritual practice. With respect to the resolution to practice diligently or not, it is your own right and obligation to decide. Truly, I cannot urge you, drag you, pull you, or do anything. All I can say is: the more you practice, the more you will enjoy it, feeling the benefits, feeling very comfortable, feeling physical changes, feeling not the same any more. Really, when I come back to see you after a few years. Wow! You are so healthy! Very different from the first time we met. (Laughter and applause.) You applaud because you understand, is that right?

Our physical body is affected by the spiritual body and our mentality. If our spiritual body and mentality are satisfied with taking the spiritual food, our physical body would also change to become prettier. If we are mentally heavy, unhappy, our physical body would also look tired and frustrated. Then, we are restless and distressed.

Here is a very logical example: don't you look very pretty when you are happy or in love? Or, when your family is warm, comfortable and peaceful, you look cheerful, pretty and bright. When we are worrying about our job, obstructed in business, if our lover runs away, etc. or we lose in gambling, our faces will always show it. Sometimes, people would say, "I am so mad I could die, I am annoyed to death, I am missing my lover...!" Understand? He is not dead yet, but he looks very much so! These are only the worldly distress, not to mention our spiritual body if we fail to let it rest and nourish it each day. The light and sound is our spiritual food. Without nourishment, our spiritual body would wither and become frustrated, upset, and then inevitably affect our physical body.

The Crisis On Earth

The several years between 1994 to 1996 or 1997 is the most sensitive period of our Earth. Many incidents have happened. In the last few centuries, we have done so much harm to our planet. Sometimes, the actions looked like we were helping the world, or making the world progress, but the price is too high! We human beings are too ignorant. Just for earning money quickly in our business, we disregarded the future consequence. So, now we better slow down and consider our situation, and that of our next generation and the background of the world. We have destroyed too much! For instance, we may cut down trees, but we should plant two trees with every one we cut! We can retrieve used materials for recycling, then it is all right! We may also change our meat diet to a vegetarian one, because meat-eating has used up most of the resources on Earth.

Each year, many forests are destroyed just for raising livestock. To raise the animals and provide beef for our consumption, forests and jungles equivalent to the area of England is being felled each year. Raising cattle consumes a lot of water, forage, time, and land and the land cannot be used again. After the trees are felled and the earth is trampled by the animals, you have to wait fifty years to plant things again. Also, with the trees gone, the exposed rich soils are washed away by the heavy rain. Erosion is out of control, and the land becomes barren and dry. There will be a chain reaction of one affecting the other, and the destruction is not limited, but in many aspects. Pure water sources are used for animals to drink and take a bath, leaving only the filthy water for us, and in insufficient quantity too.

We have abused technology and damaged the protection layer of the Earth's atmosphere. This has also affected our planet, Earth is getting hotter. It is hot and there is no rain, and no shading trees. Without rain, trees cannot grow, without trees, there is less rain. Therefore, the climate is becoming hotter and changing unpredictably. All these end up affecting our body, affecting our children, our business, our mentality and other aspects, and eventually affecting the moral state of our Earth. Without sufficient food, prices would soar, many people could not afford it. Business would be bad which would result in bankruptcy. Broke people would go robbing, or become homeless, and do evil deeds. They would even harm themselves and their families.

The Disaster Extends To Our Descendants You would be the first victim if there were nothing to eat. Very soon, the whole world would be in hunger. The consequence has already affected the children, affected them morally. Therefore, the United Nations and many countries are getting together, resolving to kill the children, the infants. Yes! To have abortion.

As the number of people is increasing, and food is insufficient, they want to kill people now. To say it bluntly, they are killing people for food. However, this is really happening. They kill infants, they kill children. It is because they sense the danger; food is getting less and the population is on the rise. They do not change their way of living - to be vegetarian, refrain from cutting trees any more, and to plant them instead; stop raising livestock, but plant crops instead.

On the contrary, they are slaughtering children. Therefore, you can see that the influence is like an iron chain, continuously affecting another and another. You can't say, "Eating meat is my business," it affects the whole world, affects the next generation, and your innocent children. You can see this is terrible, the

damage is so enormous. Now, do you still ask why Master wants you to be vegetarian?

We have to solve this problem from the root. We water the plants at the roots, not on the leaves. Yes, the more we eat meat, the more we have to produce meat. Raising animals requires vast land area and plenty of water for the grass to grow. The more trees we cut, the less water we get; and then the water is used for the animals and people are left without. Without water, we cannot plant crops, so we have less fresh produce. When the supply drops, they'll be more expensive. When the population is soaring and food production is decreasing, wars are inevitable. There will be more violence like robbery and killing--just for eating, just for food. Finally, they think of murdering--murdering the children to save their own skin.

Previously, nobody ever even thought of abortion, but now they try to legalize and publicize it. I feel that the United Nations and many other countries ought to think in a more logical manner, and find a more effective and correct method, instead of just killing children. If the situation persists, it is not enough no matter how many lives you kill. Many people have prophesied in the future there are some countries that need to eat human flesh to survive. They have reached the stage of eating the meat of dead people. However, there is a way to change the future, but not if they continue in this way.

Act Now To Change The Future We can change, change our world. We can save our world, instead of killing others for our own survival. We should rebuild our way of life - live a moral life, be a vegetarian, cultivate ourselves mentally and physically and there will be immediate results. Our world will be changed at once! If everybody is planting trees instead of cutting them down, then we would be saved very soon. Within ten years, the world would never be the same, without any problem. Truly there is hope, but only with the cooperation of everyone.

For example, you disciples listen to what I say and you will further influence other people you know. However, if that land does not belong to us, we cannot demand the landowner to plant trees! He ought to realize the gains and losses.

This news should be propagated to the whole world for everyone to know. They have to believe, and they have to think in a more logical way. Everybody has to be united to save the world. Otherwise, there is no point worrying about Doomsday. We are killing each other already before Doomsday arrives. Since the beginning of Creation, we have never heard that wars are for killing children! It means that our moral standard has been degraded to its lowest point.

Nowadays, if you have killed a person, the judge, the police would arrest you and put you in jail. You have to compensate for the lost life with your own life.

However, they are now trying to legalize the massacre, and no one seems to think this is immoral. This is really incredible! I hope the United Nations and the participating countries will keep their minds clearly awake. Otherwise, it is really terrible to put the future of our next generation and the whole world in their hands, and let them decide for us! Do you understand? If they are not enlightened, and incapable of logical thinking, you could imagine how serious the

situation is! When there is a cause, there is an effect. God is not going to stand on one side watching them decide the life and death of the people, the children of God. God definitely would not allow it.

We often accuse others, "He kills, he is a murderer!" Everybody would scold him, hate him. We are also disgusted by wars, killing. However, murder has now become a natural course, and the murdered victims are babies, infants. This is truly horrible! It is different if it has to be done due to compelling situations.

However, they are now doing it openly, without any urgent reason; just because the food rations are insufficient.

The babies have to be killed simply to ensure the adults' food ration. I hope abortion is not legalized. Try our best to think of a way, and don't let this happen.

We can write to them, in about the same content of my speech today. Each of us may accordingly write to the United Nations, to the President of the United States, and the relevant nations. Request them to find another solution, instead of employing this undesirable method! Perhaps they will listen to our advice, perhaps not. I hope they will listen. Otherwise, even if we kill all the children to save the adults from starving, the retribution of the karma incurred would be even worse. It is strange! I don't know what the people of the world are thinking. They cannot solve even such a simple problem. I am sure most of the politicians know about the statistics from the books researching the gains and losses of a meat diet versus a vegetarian diet. They have more opportunities to read these books. They are wealthy, and they have people to inform them, submitting the material to them. They should know better than us.

They are obliged to manage the country and work for the people, they should know about these facts. It is so simple, just encourage the people to be vegetarians, and they themselves should also change to a vegetarian diet. The world will soon be saved this way, not to mention going to heaven through spiritual practice, and the incurred merits!

Everyone Is Responsible For Saving The Earth If a vegetarian diet can save the world, then everyone just sacrifices a little. The political and religious figures have great influence and authority over the people.

They are free to use any means. They have television, radio and everything.

They can talk about anything at any time. They should talk about good things, propagating a vegetarian diet, and environmental protection. This is the right thing to do for ourselves and our next generation. Is that right? It is very convenient for the major political and religious groups to do so.

We have received many warnings lately. There are natural disasters and earthquakes everywhere. Furthermore, we are terrorized by killing among humankind. Humans are powerful. They could be the Buddha or they could be a demon. As a Buddha, they could save the whole world. As a demon, they could destroy the whole world. Until now, we have been afflicted with many problems.

Some mentally unbalanced people have created wars, or invented some bombs, much of which destroy the wealth of the world and people's lives. Sometimes we think a bomb is nothing, to destroy a city is nothing, etc. So much money and effort is required to build a city. If the city is destroyed, the economy of the nation is affected, and pressured. Rebuilding the city entails great pressure. It is

a tremendous burden to the economy of the nation. So, there are natural disasters, earthquakes, typhoons, bombs, and strange diseases. Don't say the whole world is destroyed. It is extremely disastrous if only one third or a part of the globe is affected. The situation will deteriorate with a chain reaction.

Therefore, I hope the people of the world will wake up quickly. I wish you would spread the message to everybody, telling them to save this Earth together.

Otherwise, what should we do? Heaven only accommodates the virtuous people.

If the Earth does not exist anymore, where do all the not-so-good people go?

Therefore, we must spend some effort for the less desirable people.

This planet Earth is very precious. Should God wish to punish it, destroy it, there is nothing we can do but to comply with His will. However, if it still can be saved, then we should save it. It's because this world is a very good school, where many souls can come to learn and grow. the WAY TO GLORIFY GOD

Hsihu Center, Formosa March 3, 1996.

Emperor Xuan of Zhou Dynasty employed an animal tamer whose name was Liang Yang. He was very good at taming animals; even some very fierce beasts like tigers, lions, wolves, some huge animals, the pelican that specializes in catching fish, and other fierce animals like snakes, all become timid and obedient in his hands. When Liang Yang fed them, all the animals would behave themselves, no animals would harm him; they didn't want to harm him. The animals loved Liang Yang who kept them, and they cooperated very well and very peacefully with him. They reproduced very fast, and on time, so they grew quickly in number.

Liang Yang had some special tricks in keeping animals; even very benign and very fierce beasts could live together without biting or hurting each other.

Emperor Xuan of Zhou Dynasty really liked the man. He feared that Liang Yang's secret method would not be continued after he died, so he told someone to follow him and learn his method. So a chancellor was sent by the king. When he asked Liang Yang about the method of keeping the animals, Liang Yang knelt and said to him, "My job is a very lowly job. How could I bother your excellency?" Mou Chu-Yang told him that he was under the king's order to learn, so Liang Yang slowly explained to him.

The Secret Way To Tame The Animals Liang Yang said, "I tell you because I am afraid the king may suspect that I am hiding something from him. Actually, my job is so lowly, so ordinary that there is nothing worth talking about. To keep a tiger or any animal, we must know that, it will be happy if we follow its will; otherwise, it will be angry. Animals are similar to other beings; because they have blood and energy, they have a temper. When we comply with them, they behave; otherwise, they are angry.

There is always a cause if they are angry. We have to find out the reason: Why

are they mad? Why are they contented? If we are in harmony with them, they will not act against our will; they will cooperate. If animals suddenly become very fierce, it is because we have done something against their nature, habits or feelings of safety, so they are angry. For instance, I keep a tiger, but I dare not feed it a live animal. If I do so, it has to chase, catch and tear that animal into pieces before it can eat. Then its vicious nature will emerge again. Therefore, I never feed it with live animals; I dare not even feed him a whole animal body, not even a dead one. If I do, the tiger has to tear up the animal body with its claws and teeth, which will remind it of its animal instinct; the vicious quality will emerge again. Therefore, I dare not feed it in this way." Liang Yang would first cut the dead animal's body into pieces until it looked like chocolates, before feeding the tiger.

It is the same with us human beings. If we really cannot keep the vegetarian diet and go home to eat chicken, we should eat it after it is properly cut.

However, it is better not to eat it. The food that we buy outside is always cut into many pieces, sometimes with added seasonings, bitter or spicy, and beautifully coloured until it looks like a biscuit. Therefore, most people do not have any guilty feelings when they eat it, nor will they feel nauseated. If they have to kill the animals themselves, watching it flap its wings, screaming in pain, they would feel very uncomfortable eating it.

It is because we human beings are higher in consciousness than the animals; we can distinguish good from bad, and we don't have to fight fiercely with other beings for our existence. We are very different from animals; we can think, we are more intelligent, and capable of making our life more beautiful, pleasant and comfortable. Animals have no choice due to their situation. In the kingdom of wild animals, if you don't eat it, it will eat you; you will starve if you don't eat.

Unlike humans, animals cannot go to work, find a job to do, or choose to eat bean curd.

The truth is, God creates us vegetarians at birth. Look at the carnivores; they have sharp teeth and short intestines to excrete the flesh. We humans have very long intestines. If we are vegetarians, there won't be any toxic gases created by the meat in our intestines, which becomes rotten and has a bad odour.

The digestive systems of carnivores and herbivores are different. From this fact, we can see that we should be vegetarians in the first place. The digestive system of herbivorous animals are longer, and their teeth are flat. The carnivorous animals are given sharp teeth at birth by God. You can understand from this reasoning, and don't have to blindly believe my words.

Comply With The Will Of The Animals Some zoos feed animals with living creatures, so they are never tamed; their vicious habit is enhanced. The zoos feed them live chickens, and I am against it.

It is not only from a human point of view, but that the animals will become increasingly fierce, and even hurt people on some occasions.

Wehave often heard that the animals in the zoo would sometimes snatch children, or eat them when they accidentally fall inside. They may even hurt the

adults. When the visitors are careless and get too close, they will be attacked, resulting in broken limbs or lacerations. Occasionally, the animals would even attack the people who feed them, because their feeding method is not correct.

They should all come to China to learn this method before they take care of the animals. Shall we tell them about this? When you observe people taking care of animals, show this to them. This might save their lives or maintain the benign nature of animals, and safe guard the public too. This is not bad! These ancient scriptures are very useful.

So, how did Liang Yang feed the tiger? Tigers are supposed to be the most fierce. He said, "Feed it when it is meal time. Observe its habits to find out when it is hungry and when it is full. Follow its nature to feed it at the right time, and with the right amount. The reason is, though tigers are a different species from humans, they love the people who take care of them, if they comply with their will, and know their needy moments."

"If a tiger bites or hurts someone who keeps it, it is because the person doesn't know what it needs, and acts against its will. So the tiger would hurt the person.

Therefore, I dare not act against its need and make it angry, but I also will not follow entirely its vicious nature by feeding it with live creatures. I refrain from stimulating its underlying animal instinct, or from making it too happy or excited. If it is too happy, it will eventually get mad one day when it loses that happiness. It will continue to seek that happy moment; failing to succeed it will feel bored, frustrated and angry. When it is angry, it is even more unlikely that it will be happy. When it is too happy or too angry, too extreme or unbalanced, it definitely will hurt someone. Therefore, I dare not rouse its instinct."

Animals Are Also Originally Benign In Nature He observed the middle way, exactly like us - the spiritual practitioners.

Actually, most animals won't get mad. You may have read in the newspapers a story of a crocodile that saved a child. It held the child in its mouth and took him ashore to his father. Sometimes the crocodiles will save people. I read in the newspaper that some bears, when they saw a cat or other animal in hunger, shared its food with them. Recently, some Christian priests found several children, over ten years old, who had been brought up by a wolf pack. They had been missing since they were small. The wolves raised them, so they crawled on all four limbs like wolves, only not as fast. Some hair had grown over their body too. The wolves didn't hurt the children who lived all the while with them.

There were also children raised by a crocodile for over ten years, who were later brought back to human society. However, they still missed the wilderness where they were used to more freedom. Having lived with the animals for over ten years, they had gotten used to it! They thought that the crocodiles were their parents.

After they returned to the human world, they felt strange, frustrated and unhappy. They learnt to speak some human language, wear human clothes, act in the human ways, walk with two feet, and eat like humans. Nonetheless, they still loved to crawl on the floor, take off their clothes, and run around freely.

Some of the children escaped later! Some died in misery. After a few years, they couldn't live anymore. If these stories were true (proven by photos in the newspapers), not fabricated by the newspapers to boost sales, it indicates that even animals are benign in nature.

In fact, all living beings are originally benign in nature. Only when they have been provoked will they be afraid and attack us. You must have heard that, when you run into a snake, all you have to do is to remain motionless, then the snake will not bite you. It will bite if you run; it attacks because it is frightened.

Even savage beasts, when they are not hungry, would not attack people. Most animals are afraid of people, instead of the people being afraid of them. They attack people only when they have no choice. These are the research finding conducted by people - not my opinion. I didn't do any research, so I don't know.

When you see animal, better not get too close. Don't say that: Master said that they are gentle in nature! (Laughter) They are, but you have wisdom, so run when you see them. Don't try anything; don't recite the holy names and try to deliver them to liberation, please! (Laughter) We can't even deliver human beings, not to mention animals; don't dream about it! Liang Yang really knew the theory of 'the middle way' and natural harmony, so he could tame the animals.

He continued to say, "I have no intention of suppressing their inner needs or desires, so I do not provoke them. I am never agitated, and I often pat them to make them feel happy and contented. Therefore, all the animals and beasts take me as their friend and one of their kind. I do everything according to their will, so they wander about in the compound contented and happy; they won't miss the mountains and hills. Sleeping in front of my courtyard, they won't think about the deep caves and jungles. This is a very natural theory."

Live Our Life In A Middle Way We also have some animal characteristics in us. As we have blood and energy, we often have temper. If we continue to surrender to our mind, we cannot change our habits, and we can never have peace and happiness. We should know what is enough, when to stop, and do not spoil our mind. When we are meditating, the mind may tell us to go and drink coffee. Having finished with the coffee, you ask it if you can meditate now. It will say, "Not yet! Now you should go to see the girls...." Then, we have no end to it! This mind simply loves to play, like a monkey. That is why we say: the heart is restless like a monkey, and the thought capricious like a horse. We are not to over control our mind or habit, but we also should not spoil it too much - this is the middle way. Let me advise you: don't blame yourself too much, nor should you practice in too ascetic a way. If we practice in an exceedingly ascetic way, our mind cannot stand it! Just like an animal, if you do not give it what it likes to eat, or if you fail to feed it when it is hungry, one day it will be angry and resist you. When you are off alert, it will claw or bite you. These incidents happen very often.

We have also to take good care of our body. Eat when you are hungry, and sleep when you are tired. Of course, you still have to meditate "by the way".

(Laughter) What are you laughing at? I just tell you the truth. Every day, you

have given the best eight hours to your boss, not to mention the two or three hours spent in travelling, which add up to at least ten hours. Having to put on make-up and clothes, and take a bath before you go to work, you need another one and a half hours, so it is eleven to twelve hours. And, you have to take meals - then it is thirteen hours; after adding in the eight hours of sleeping, how much you have left for God? If it is not meditating "by the way," what is it? And you still complain that two and a half hours' meditation is too much, and you can't stand it. Then you might as well transmigrate life after life, and come back again next life. You struggle for over ten hours each day just for a little monthly salary. You sell yourself for just a few thousand dollars! When you die later, you cannot take them along. You know very well that you have to leave one day, and all that you have must be left behind - not even a single penny can be taken along, yet you carry on selling your life for it.

Your tiny bit of meditation is for earning your future blessings, and for the soul elevation of your five, six, seven, or eight generations. Nevertheless, you complain. So, what is it if it is not "by the way?"

We have only twenty-four hours in each day; you have taken twelve hours, and then spent four more hours watching television, chatting on the telephone, reading newspapers, seeing friends, drinking coffee, and shopping with your wife...and there are birthdays, death days, festival days, wedding days, chaotic days and many other days. How much time is left? According to my calculations, you hardly have an hour left. Then you still take the opportunity to doze, instead of genuinely offering God the two-and-a-half hours. Hes can understand anyway, never mind!

Meditate Diligently We do our best and meditate as much as we can. I won't force you in this aspect; I can only advise you. The more diligent you meditate, the clearer and more tranquil your mind will be. Only then can you handle your important or trivial matters. It is not for my benefit that I ask you to meditate.

When your atmosphere improves, the country and the world also become better.

Do you think it is good if every person has a killing atmosphere? When you are pure and have kept the precepts clearly, your conscience is stable. When a person is stable in conscience, naturally a peaceful atmosphere will be generated. He fears no one, he won't be nervous, he has nothing to hide, and his conscience is absolutely at ease. You will feel comfortable seeing him.

Certainly, this atmosphere affects the surroundings. If more people have this good atmosphere, the world will have peace. There is no need to talk about big things like heaven or hell, retribution or Buddhas; the power of influence of our own atmosphere is great enough.

When you see a fierce person, you are naturally and immediately terrified.

Before he tries to kill you, your legs are already shaking! The tiger doesn't have to kill you; you are terrified just by seeing it! When you see a monk, you will feel that he is benevolent and trustworthy; you feel safe to entrust all your secrets to him. When you see a witch, you immediately recognize him even if he doesn't harm you. You are frightened to death just by seeing him, because he has very

strong thoughts, very vicious thoughts. What we will perceive is that this kind of people can do all kinds of vicious things. Sometimes, when we see police officers on the street, the feeling is different from when we see other people; we will slow down the car, (laughter) and automatically become nervous.

Each person will emit a different type of awe-inspiring atmosphere or aura, depending on their individual mission. You all say that you are scared of me, but I am such a benign and beautiful person! (Master and all laughed.) Why are you afraid? It is not fear, but respect. Some people tremble when they see me, but I haven't done anything! I am such a nice person. Perhaps my vibration is stronger, I don't know. You know, because you can feel it.

People who will be frightened are those who have done something wrong, failed to keep the precepts clearly, or didn't meditate enough. Good practitioners will be happy to see Master, and have no fear. If you are afraid of me, you are exposing your inner situation to others! Therefore, you better be more diligent in your practice and meditation, mind more about your inner morality, then you will feel that I am your friend when you see me.

Why should you be afraid? I never feared anyone, why should I? I have met many important personages, but I was not afraid of them - they were afraid of me. (Laughter and applause) Why should we be afraid if we have done nothing bad? When our conscience is clear, which can be opened to show everyone, then we fear no one, not even death, because we know ourselves perfectly.

We only fear that we don't know ourselves; we do not fear if other people know whether we are good or not. Knowing we are good is the best. However, even better is that even we ourselves are not aware of it. Just like the flower, it doesn't speak, but it is pretty; like the sun, it doesn't speak, but it radiates power of life. When we reach this level in our cultivation, we have no more ego!

Then, we fear no one - not because we are very good, but because we do not know whether we are good or not.

So let it be! Sleep when we are tired, and eat when hungry. The same also applies to our spiritual practice. Don't go to extremes and torture our body and mind; God didn't create us to be tortured. Besides, we are Hiers children. Think about it clearly. If you are not God's child, then it is your own business. I know I am. (Laughter) I don't know if you came from another source. However, I'd have great suspicion about your obscure origin. If God didn't create us, who else did? Think about it!

Who but God could have created all beings? Do you think that there are two Gods? One mother married to two husbands? It's impossible!

So, we are all from God. All of creation are from God, including the trees and animals. This is beyond argument. No philosophy can argue this truth. Who else except God, the Lord of all of creation, could have created us? Therefore, we are very precious.

Since we are all God's children, we have more reasons not to torture our brothers and sisters, including the animals. They are our younger brothers and

sisters with weaker and younger souls. They have not yet developed themselves to the level of humans. We observe a vegetarian diet out of compassion. We cannot bear to see them suffer. Though we do not slaughter them ourselves, we can imagine their pain. Our concept must be correct. Vegetarianism cannot bring us enlightenment. If it was possible, the cows would have become enlightened beings long ago! So would the rats and rabbits too!

We will have to wait. We should not become vegetarians because we want God to forgive us, nor should we torture our body to gain God's recognition. Hes looks down upon these people, I tell you the truth. I have asked Hierm before, and Hes said it is not the way.

Asceticism Is Not Logical Some people practice in very irrational ways. They have holes all over their body due to nail punctures or sleeping on a nail bed. Sometimes, they hang upside down on a tree; or, they will eat the nauseating excreted matters to torture themselves, just to show God how much they love Hierm. How on earth would God eat those things? If I were God, would I like to get close to people who drink urine and eat filth? Would you like it if you were God? If God is the noblest being, Hes will prefer to have noble children. Hiers children should be very high-classed, at least like you. We ought to glorify God with our good examples, and make offerings to Hierm with our pure and beautiful acts, speech and thoughts, within and without. Only then we deserve to be Hiers children. How is it possible that God's children eat feces like animals, hang themselves high, murder themselves, or chop and cut their own flesh? Would God ask you to do this? If God told us to do this, I will refuse Hierm, and put an announcement in the newspapers: "I don't want You!"(Master and everyone laugh.)

Is God so senseless? Could there be such a senseless God? (Answer: No) We humans also should not be so senseless. Even our parents cannot bear to see us injured or harmed, not to mention God. How can Hes be so senseless?

Practicing with the wrong method, even if we torture ourselves for hundreds or millions of years, is still futile. It is because the idea is wrong. We don't know why we practice in this way. We don't know that God is the power of love. God wishes us to be glorious. We are Hiers children. Hes can't wait to help us. How is it possible that Hes would torture or harm us, and let us suffer from injury, pain and bleeding?

If our concept is incorrect, our spiritual practice can take us to the position of the King of Maya at the highest. Since our concept is one of illusion, naturally we will become the King of Maya. We can never attain the supreme position, sitting next to God, or become a Buddha. When the concept is one of illusion, one will become a devil; not one with two long teeth and screaming loudly but the concept of the negative power.

I can see it clearly now. Before I didn't, I used to think that those people are also great. I cannot sleep on a nail bed; I feel more comfortable sleeping on a

softer bed. (Laughter) In winter, I cannot sleep if I am not warm. Otherwise, how can I work? It is also all right for us to sleep on a nail bed. We can do it with some training!

We human have great latent power, and we can train ourselves to do anything we want. That is why many people can walk on a steel wire, or hang on a tree the whole day long without feeling anything. They can even put dozens of hot stoves around them under the hot summer sun, in order to offer themselves to God by the Ganges River. We can live like animals if we wish, but this is regressive. God wants us to progress. Only animals eat those filthy things.

God created plenty of food for us. Did the Bible say: I created the feces and urine as your food? (Answer: No) Hes said: "I created many beautiful plants and fruits to please your eyes and nourish your body. These are food for you." Didn't Hes state clearly that these are our food? (Answer: Yes) Right on the first page of the Old Testament!

The old testament Bible also didn't tell people to eat meat. The Catholics should be clear about this point. God didn't state: I created the animals as your food.

Hes said: "I created the trees, fruits, vegetables, and these shall be your food."

Hes also said: "And for each type of creature on earth, I have created different kinds of food for them."

The food for human are the plants, flowers, herbs and vegetables. Hes said, "We should teach the animals, take care of them, and educate their souls to grow."

Hes never said that we could kill the animals to eat; the animals are not listed in our menu! (Laughter) Pursue Spiritual Practice Logically Whatever Master teaches is not only logical, but also conforms with any of the eastern or western scriptures. We should observe carefully to avoid falling into superstition. Only then we know how to answer others when asked why you follow Master. You don't follow me because I am the Buddha. It was you who called me Buddha. In Sanskrit, Buddha means an old person, an elderly grandpa. I am so young and beautiful, yet you call me grandpa. This is an insult to me! (Master and everyone laugh.) It is not a glorious position; I have no desire for this reputation.

Don't believe Me just because I am a special person. You believe people's words only when they are logical. You don't blindly believe just because I say it, but because my words are logical and beyond dispute. If this is what you are doing, then you are very foolish!

This path is the only correct one - there is no other way. It is beyond dispute, so you are convinced. This is very logical. Whoever says it makes no difference. We listen to someone not because he is a great person or a Master, not because he is adored by the whole world, or that he is the president; it is impossible.

Our body is so precious, and our soul so rare. We are God's children, so we must not sell ourselves cheaply and randomly to other people. Do not let their

garbage becomes our own. Our mind is not a garbage station where anything is accepted. We accept only good things and reject the bad. If my words are illogical, you have the right to doubt me. You may tell me, though I doubt that I have said anything wrong. I am very humble, I just speak the truth. the WAY TO A PERFECT FAMILY

Hsihu Center, Formosa. Oct. 8, 1995.

It is not by talking that we love a person. Most people shout very loudly their love -- "love, love, love!" It sounds disgusting. If you truly love a person, people would sense it without seeing you, without hearing from you. If you do not have the duty of being a Master or any great mission that requires you to leave home, you should treat your family well, take care of your relatives and friends, and influence them by love. True love is not shown by word of mouth -- not by talking. If you truly love your husband you should learn how to cook well for him and put on makeup to show your beauty to him.

Dress Up Only For Your Husband Being a wife previously, I did not dress up when I went to work during the day.

It was truly like that. For whom do you dress up for during the day time? Even if the whole world adoringly stares at you, what benefit would you get? If your husband does not even want to look at you, can you bear it? During the day time it is necessary to protect and nourish your skin by putting on skin cream, etcetera. In the evening when your husband comes back, then you may light up the candles, wear beautiful clothes, and put on makeup for him. It should be like this that you love your husband; it is not by talking.

You do not know how to cook, your body smells awful but you just do not care, and you dress like the head of a gang of beggars everyday; but still you expect your husband to love you. How can he? He is merely a human too. He has his own shortcomings. He has his preferences, but nothing in you can delight him.

Still you force him to love you, but even God cannot force him!

I know this kind of situation would be uncomfortable for the husband. He wants to love his wife but he cannot. There is nothing that can make him love her.

Therefore, when we love a person, we should be aware of what he loves the most, and then offer him what he is fond of. Only in this way can you say you love him. It's not by speaking repeatedly day and night, without taking care of yourself and your family.

The house is not cleaned for two or three months. The face is not washed for two months. You dress untidily. Even though you dress up beautifully when you are away from home; but after you come back home, you look like a beggar for your husband. This is because you do not understand the essentials.

If you give much thought to your marriage, it must be happy ones. You don't have to be as pretty as Hsishi (an ancient Viet beauty). Every girl is pretty in some aspects. If you think you are not beautiful, you can learn how a movie star walks, how a beauty sits, and learn how she takes care of herself. Nowadays, you can learn these things by reading books or making a phone call to consult a specialist. You can learn. There is no reason why a wife or husband cannot do house work.

I think it's not a question concerning practice, but you often come over or write letters to ask about family problems which trouble you the most. I understand that if you do not have peace with your family, you would have no way to calm down, you would not be able to enter samadhi when you meditate. Marriage is also connected with practice. That's why it's said, "Buddha's way cannot be isolated from the mundane way." I cannot just say because they are mundane things, I will not answer your questions. However, you did not apply what I have told you. All of you said, "I understand! I understand! I have listened to many boxes of video tapes." (Audience laughs.) But you always ask the same questions.

Master's Wise Ways Should Be Applied The problem is not that Master does not answer you, rather you do not practice what I say. If medicine is prescribed, but you do not take it, then your disease will not be cured. Master has talked and told both husbands and wives; but there are some trivial things you have not yet learned, such as you should brush your teeth for 3 - 5 minutes. If you do not know how to brush, ask your dentist. You may brush twice or three times! Brush, then brush again or twice more. Your teeth should be clean by then. Nowadays there are many kinds of mouthwashes, perfumes, soaps, etcetera, which can remove body odor.

You should dress beautifully to look nice. The clothes do not necessarily have to be expensive ones; otherwise, you would not be able to change them everyday.

You may make them yourself or buy cheaper ones, colorful ones. If you are lively, whatever clothes you wear would make you look beautiful. It's not necessary that they have to be expensive ones.

Most of the clothes I wear are made here -- very cheap. I just buy a piece of cloth, it can be made immediately into a dress. Sometimes I go to buy clothes on sale on the roadside. That colorful skirt I wore two weeks ago was bought in Taipei. It's worth less than a few dozen NT dollars only. The way it's made is also simple. You all said Master was beautiful, but in fact it did not cost much.

Different Ways For Different Occasions Don't buy dress that are too expensive; otherwise, you cannot change frequently. Be wiser. They are sold cheaply in some places, but they are beautiful. It's good as long as it suits you. If you knew how to match your clothes, you would look better. This wouldn't cost you much. No need to complain that your husband didn't give you much money, so you cannot make yourself beautiful. Only a stupid person would donate money to dress shops. We

should donate to ourselves, instead of the bosses of dress shops. (Audience laughs.)

It's the same for men. When you practice, sure you should wear simple clothes - comfortable and loose, which make you feel comfortable when you sit.

However, when you go back home or go out with your wife, you should dress fashionably, tidy yourself up, and make yourself look good. Accompanied by a handsome, nice looking man, the wife would be proud. Do you think she would like to go out with a beggar? (Audience laughs.) You want your wife to look beautiful and nice, then how about yourself? You wear worn out sports trousers when you sit in the Ashram, and when you take your wife out, you still wear clothes like this.

Practice has its principles. Going out to do worldly things also has its principles.

The two cannot be mixed up. Then you complain to me: "Practice makes me become like this." You guys really humiliate your Master. You don't know when to advance and when to retreat. You don't know the proper way. You don't know what to do according to the situation. You don't know how to handle an altered situation. That means you do not have wisdom. Master's disciples should not be like this. Don't shame my name. If you are like this, don't tell others that you are the disciple of the "Ching Hai Wu Shang Shih Supreme Master Ching Hai Zhu." (Master and audience laugh. Audience applauds.)

Be Dedicated To Maintain You Marriage It's not very difficult to obtain something, but it's difficult to keep it. You have to know what to do. You have to pay the price for everything. Is it not so? If you want to have a Benz, you have to pay back the loan for a period of time. The Benz also drinks gasoline like a fish and you need to pay a lot of insurance. You also have to pay a lot of money for the maintenance of the car. If you want to keep a Benz, you have to pay the price. Or you may buy a Yulong or some other model of car.

You became careless after you got married. You did not look after yourself. Then your husband ran away from you and you came crying to me. What's the use of crying to me? You should go to the beauty parlor and cry, then they will help you and tidy you up. (All laughed.) They would cut and perm your hair, stretch your skin, cut your eyelids, prop up your nose, and rebuild your ears. These things may help. But what's the use of crying to me? Even if I can summon the wind and rain, I cannot call your husband back. Sometimes when I see you, I also want to find another wife for your husband. (Master and audience laugh.)

You yourself are in a mess, but you still force your husband to love you. How can it be possible?

Nowadays both the wife and the husband have to look after themselves. The body has to be clean -- bathe frequently, brush your teeth and rinse your mouth carefully. Go to see your dentist or other doctors regularly. See what needs to be fixed and fix it. You have to be neatly dressed. If you dress untidily with clothes that are worn out, your husband would not even want to look at your face. How could he love you? Those girls outside, they are not married.

Therefore they put a lot of attention on applying powder, spraying perfume,

taking baths, brushing teeth, visiting beauty parlors, etcetera. You have to look after yourself, then your husband will love you. This is the person you were before and this is also the reason why your husband loved you, isn't it?

It is a psychological problem of we human beings. It's the same for both men and women. Having one is not enough because one person only has one quality and is only good in one aspect. For example, if she can cook, then she is not good at cleaning the house. She may know both -- how to cook and clean the house, but she may not know how to do other things. Maybe she doesn't know how to put on makeup. Even occasionally going out with her would make you lose face and want to hide her somewhere. When she goes to talk with others, they would hold their noses because she smells awful. Sometimes when the body smells awful or is dressed untidily, everything is terrible. In addition, if you cannot even cook, then "Good bye!" (Audience laughs.)

We cannot force others to love us, if we are not worth it. If you failed to be a good husband or wife, you have to think for yourself: "Why have I failed? How can I improve? Can I succeed next time? Why couldn't I do well in this aspect?"

If you really cannot, then quit. If you can, then improve yourself; learn diligently until you succeed. It's as simple as that! Why does your husband love another woman? We don't have to hate her. We should go and learn from her whatever advantages she may have. If you know that woman, go and learn what made your husband fond of her, and do the same after going back home; or you may do better than she does. Then your husband would of course not want to leave you. It is because the husbands or wives love us that they married us. Where has that love gone? It is impossible that the love has disappeared completely. It is we who did not take care of the marriage, or we did not pay much attention to it, or did not love the husband or wife, or were too lazy to improve ourselves.

Later we realize that it was our fault; but then it is too late.

It's the same in doing worldly things. If we want to succeed, we have to work hard. Understand? Worldly things have to be done in a worldly way rather than in a spiritual way; otherwise, it is taking useless advantage of the spiritual power.

When I was in Africa, I got to know a prince and several princesses. They told me that all the members of the royal family have to learn witchcraft and a lot of magic. They would then be able to know who is bad, who is good, etcetera. They can also make you love them using their magic, which would make you follow him without your awareness. Is there any benefit in using magical power?

Long time ago, when disciples just started to come, I did not have time to teach them. One female disciple's husband left her, so she came to me and cried loudly. She requested me to teach her magic, to make her husband come back and love her. I told her, "I don't have such magic. Even if I had, I would not impart it to you. I do not like black magic but I know a lot of white magic. Do you want to learn?" She said, "Yes." I said, "You should speak a bit softer, put on makeup more beautifully. Occasionally you should wear new clothes, but not necessarily expensive ones. You should sometimes change your moods; do not always be sweet, graceful or stubborn everyday. You should occasionally change according to the situation."

This is because men like different kinds and different characteristics of women.

It's the same with us, the woman. You cannot like only one characteristic everyday the same -- dull (audience laughs), without a change. It seems good but not truly good. Sometimes it is not bad to be a little bad. Have a change!

Variety Keeps Love Fresh Most men like variety. If you already know this and you also want to keep your husband then keep changing yourself. Otherwise take a few woman home as wives for your husband. What do you prefer? If you prefer having peace in the family and keeping your husband at home, take a few wives for him because he likes variety and different characteristics for different days. It would be the best if you could play various characters to meet his needs. It's the same for the husband. Then the family would have peace and there would be no need to come to me and cry loudly.

You all have magical power. Keep your body clean and sweet smelling all the time. Rinse your mouth and brush your teeth before you talk. Don't do this: after eating garlic and onion, you go to him and tell him, "I love you!" (Master and audience laugh.) At that time, no matter how romantic it may be or how many candles you light, it won't help. Those trivial matters may scare him. I was scared previously.

If someone smells awful, I cannot bear it. I would want to vomit and cannot talk with him about anything. My attention would be diverted, and I would always think: "Why didn't he clean his mouth?" I would keep thinking like this and my mind would not be able to concentrate on him, but only think how to escape from this atmosphere: "When will he stop talking?" or "How can I let him know it?", etcetera. All the inspiration would be lost. So don't blame him for not loving you. How can he love you? He does not even have enough time to try to run away from you! If you were him, you would not like it as well!

But it also depends. Maybe your husband likes that kind of smell, then keep it!

(Audience laughs.) You have to clarify this with him! For those people who are at high levels, they will not like that kind of awful smell. Therefore we have to raise our level, look after ourselves without blaming others. In case someone doesn't like us or your husband or wife runs away from you, we have to ask ourselves: "Why?" Truly and frankly ask ourselves what mistakes we have made and whether we have achieved what the other party has expected us to achieve.

Then we would know the reasons. No need to come and ask Master and request for magic. That's no use! Even if I taught you that kind of magic -- like seizing your lover's heart, controlling his mind, making him stay beside you, would you prefer this? Would you love that dull-looking wife or husband who is obsessed with you? He would not truly love you, but would be only bound and lost in you.

His mind would become confused. He would start to like what he did not like before. It's also a kind of mental disorder. Would you like this abnormal wife or husband? (Audience answer: "No, we would not like this.")

Therefore I tell you that magic is useless. We should only convince others with our own qualities, virtues and inner beauty. Externally we respect ourselves, which would be pleasing to the eyes of others; your voice would melt the hearts

of whomever listens to it; or our behavior, action and the manner with which we treat others will touch them. This kind of love will last longer instead of resorting to magic so easily.

I know that family problems trouble you the most, don't they? (Audience: Yes!) Sometimes it makes us feel bad. I know it. For example, you are very loyal people. Especially after initiation, you want to abide by Master's instructions and sincerely want to take care of your family -- loving your wife or husband. But sometimes you cannot bear it; you feel bad, struggle, and feel guilty. I know these are the most troublesome things that bother you. But some wives just stagnate and refuse to improve. She does not look after herself, does not care whether her husband loves her or not, does not care whether she is attractive or not, whether she is lively. She does not express to her husband that she respects and cares about her husband's opinions. She doesn't even care whether her husband loves her or not. Both the husband and the wife are stuck there.

The husband, as well as the wife, are like this. Both blame each other and drag each other down. One rots, the other rots more. No one cares about the other.

Then it becomes worse and worse until no one wants to look at each other, and finally throws the precepts back to Master and says: "I feel really bad. I'm sorry, but I have to find another one anyhow." Sometimes it's useless to find another one. Changing to another doesn't mean things will become better. Later it will be the same. You marry another lady and she will rot as well as the previous one, exactly the same.

Only When You Can Do Small Things Well Then You Can Attempt To Do Great Things After marriage few people still try to preserve the marriage -- respect each other like a guest, or pay attention to one's behavior and manners, as well as the internal virtues and attractiveness. Most people who annoy each other, stick there and become worse and worse. Life can not be beautiful like this. If you want to be monks, you may come here and rot together, no problem. But if you want to live in society, you have to try to protect your family -- offer each other a joyful atmosphere and make life happy. When you are at home, you should look after yourself and look after your husband or wife. Sometimes the husband should remind her, ask her: "Why haven't you combed your hair lately?" Ask her: "How long since you last took a bath?" Say it humorously. Remind each other and respect each other.

If we lose our spirit, the marriage will be lost for sure. Both parties cannot attract each other. If we ourselves do not want to live, how can the other party love us? We do not have inner spirit; we do not want to strive; we are not happy inside and do not care about anything. If you do not care about yourself, who else will care about you? Your husband is also a human being, not a piece of wood. All human beings love truth, virtue and beauty. If something is beautiful, for sure he will like to look at it. But if the one at home is so ugly, of course he will look somewhere else. I would do so as well. (Audience laughs.) Then you blame each other. That's no good!

We have to examine ourselves first. If you do not know how to cook, cook according to the recipe! Life is busy for some, that's true. But some are not that

busy. The husband goes to earn money, and you stay at home. You may use some of the time each year to learn something. You may tell yourself that within these three months I must learn how to cook. Even though you know nothing about it, you would know after you learn it! I'm sure it would work. I guarantee it! There are many places that teach people how to cook vegetarian meals. Even though you cook meat dishes, you still have to learn. Those who do not want to follow Master's teachings and who are not fellow practitioners would still have to learn if they wanted to cook meat dishes for their husbands. Since you were never taught to cook when you were young, how can you know this automatically?

After learning how to cook, you may continue to learn how to make clothes, how to dance, etcetera. It's not enough just to cross your legs in practice everyday, you should also accompany your husband for leisure activities. What happens after you become a Buddha? -- Aren't there still things to do? Life still goes on.

Is that not so?

Therefore life must have some variety and vitality. Otherwise you may also build a cave, lock yourself inside, and die! (Master laughs.) If you want to die, die definitely. If you want to live, live with spirit, interestingly and meaningfully; because we also have to set an example for others. Otherwise, everyone would think that after learning with "Ching Hai Wu Shang Shih The Supreme Master Ching Hai Zhu" (audience laughs), one becomes good at nothing and even looks worse than before -- dressing like the head of a gang of beggars.

After eating what you cooked, he even considers escaping abroad to study (audience laughs). Or you cannot speak even a sentence properly. "I-do-notwant-to-talk." But you still have to talk! Do you think I like to come to talk every Sunday? But if I have work to do, I do it well. I have to read and research.

Sometimes what I read is not used. It doesn't matter. Sometimes I make use of a book or a story, and it provides leads or extended meanings for other stories.

With reference to history and examples, you can understand immediately what I am talking about.

Even though this world is by no means permanent, God has granted us this life and this body. That means Hes wants us to do something with it. Hes gave us a husband or a wife, so Hes want us to take care of him or her, cooperate with each other, live and learn together, respect each other, learn to be courteous in life. So we have to do it well. If you cannot even handle a husband or a wife, what else can you do -- run for presidency? (Audience laughs.) Too many people run for it. You don't have to try. You will not be able to squeeze in. You don't have much chance. Practitioners like you only know how to cross their legs. It looks awful sitting in the president's office with crossed legs. When state affairs are waiting for you to deal with, you say: "I haven't finished two and a half hours meditation yet. (Master and audience laugh.) I have told you that it's okay to run for the presidency or office, but you have to do it well. If you cannot deal with trivial matters, you will not be able to handle great works.

Q: Why can't God prevent wars?

M: Why should Hes interfere with our game? Wars are caused by us human beings. As long as we don't realize that others and all creatures are ourselves, we will still have wars. Until we are bored, we are hurt, or others are hurt, we will not get enlightened. Eventually, we will long, from inside, to search for the Truth. We will understand that wars are useless. We should have peace. We should love others as we love ourselves.

This is our lesson, so God lets us learn this lesson. Hes does not prevent wars.

Hes could terminate wars, but that will not do us any good because then we would not learn our lesson. We should prevent wars by ourselves. We should get together and end all wars. Only then will we truly understand what true eternal peace is.

Pearls of Wisdom ~ Supreme Master Ching Hai In this age of much trouble and disaster, we also have great hope, because God has ordained many saints to come to our world.

Spoken by Supreme Master Pusan, Korea, May 15, 1993 (Originally in English)

Ching

Hai

The world is a big house and we have many rooms. Because we are very busy with our daily lives, we do not have much chance to see each other, but if everyone in this world realized that we are all brothers and sisters, then there would not be any discrimination and war.

Walking The Spiritual Path Requires Effort If after examining such and we know our level, then we must learn, we must practice more, we must open our hearts to all kinds of noble influences, all kinds of noble company. We must take advantage of these chances. If we still believe that to improve our purity, to improve our wisdom is the highest purpose of humanity, then we must make an effort. But if we do not believe in this, if we think being human beings means only to grow up, to eat, to work, to earn money, and to die, then okay, then we don't need to make an effort.

Then we just live like that and carry on day after day, day in, day out: working, eating, sleeping, making love, producing children, earning money, and then dying. No need to meditate, no need to be vegetarian, no need to read ethical books, no need to do any of these mentioned items. And don't tell anyone, don't

make excuses that it's too tiring, it's too much, it's too this, too that and the other.

Don't we make effort in all undertakings? Effort is necessary in all kinds of transactions. Effort is needed in studying, needed to work, needed in maintaining marriages, needed in maintaining our bodies, needed in maintaining even our hair! A few strands of hair take two hours in the beauty salon. Don't you tell me that you don't need an effort for meditation and you don't need to go see a master because you're too tired, too long, too this and that and the other.

How about your hair?

Ask yourself how many hours you spend on your ephemeral body -- all the eight, ten hours working just because of this body. All the study -- many years - just because of this body. You study for ten, twenty years because you want to have a good job, maintain your body and your family's bodies. What else? And you work for thirty more years after studying, also just because of the body or maybe for the bodies of your family members or the bodies of your beloved citizens. So now, how can we say we don't need any effort?

We refuse the effort for the soul -- it's not logical! And the soul is the most important thing. Without the soul the body is no use! Go to the cemetery and find so many bodies there. When people die they also make them up, make their lips beautiful here, and make coiffeur and beautiful clothes. But what is the use of that body then?

Now, effort is needed or not? It's needed just even for your lips. If you want to have rosy lips you have to go to the beauty shop and choose the beautiful color that you need. It sometimes takes two or three hours and you bear it because you like to be beautiful. And this is an ephemeral thing. It's here today maybe gone tomorrow. And if for the soul, for something eternal, we take two, three hours a day, or come to see the teacher and we say it's too much.

Suffering Or Liberation Is A Matter of Choice Then we ask ourselves: "Why did God make the world like this? Why you -- we the people -- suffer so much? Why do I suffer so much?" It is very clear. We choose it! We choose suffering, we choose ignorance, we choose not to move, we choose not to improve, we choose not to change, we choose not to be pushed, not to be civilized. That's all our fault. The world suffers because it wants to suffer. Because we make effort -- too many hours spent for the ephemeral things and too little hours spent for the eternal wisdom. That's why we are not wise, that's why we do things with topsy-turvy wisdom, that's why we cannot get away from the circle of birth and death.

If everyone made a little effort to learn in wisdom, to learn to recognize our greatest intelligence inside and then use it in everyday life, the world would not be so suffering like this and everyone would become wise. Everyone would know what is the right thing to do, how to have consideration for other people; all people would cooperate in wisdom and no one would suffer at all.

If everyone waits for the neighbor: "Oh why doesn't she go to meditate? She didn't find a master, why should I? Why should I go to study with a master? Why should I meditate and be vegetarian, no one else does it?" Everyone then waits for each other and that's it.

Now, everyone else is supposed to be ignorant, you are supposed to be the better ones. You already know how to meditate, you know to be vegetarian, you strive towards Light and wisdom. You're supposed to be the better half of humankind, and you also stay there and sleep away your time! How can you expect others to follow your example?

Am I too harsh with you? If I am, please forgive. If you forgive me, God will forgive you -- good karma. But if no one tells you, you will not tell each other.

Manage Our Time Wisely Everyone likes to skip school. No children are willing to go to school. All the parents have to push, teachers have to be stern. Otherwise, if you just allow the children what they like, then they will never do the right thing because they don't know. Left alone, children will go play in the park all day, watch television, or do this kind of video machine -- ping, pong, pong.

No doubt, the teacher is not always strict and also takes the children to the park and plays with them; and the mother, father also play with them sometimes. But there are times for playing and times for learning. Time for your family, time for your friends, time to work, earn money, and take care of your bodily needs. But time for spiritual aspiration must be included. Of course, we cannot do that twenty-four hours or every day, but when the occasion arises we must take the opportunity.

We already do too little for our spiritual progress. You see, for any job, for any study, for any bodily comfort we put in the full time -- eight hours per day, ten hours per day and sometimes extra work in the night. Sometimes, you have to take supplementary schooling at night -- extra, apart from your ordinary schooling -- and just to have a master's degree in English or Chemistry. And that's one or two subjects for just a very short time, just a very, very ephemeral thing. Learning to be in eternity, learning to be a saintly person, to be God-like, and we put only one or two hours a day, see the teacher only occasionally, and we already make excuses. So what kind of logic do you think that is?

To be a disciple or to be a practitioner suffices not to be vegetarian and suffices not to be initiated. Vegetarian -- a cow is a vegetarian since inside the stomach.

And initiation -- even cows came for the initiation when I gave it. They come for initiation anytime. Whenever I'm here the cows come to see me. They come all that way, very far from the other field up to here, and stand or sit in front of the meditation hall, waiting for initiation. Yes, they did! People said they didn't ever come until I came. They also filled in the initiation form! They filled it in their way! They cannot write so they swallowed them.

You know the story. When I was here the first time and the pickup truck was full of vegetables and some initiation forms behind, they didn't eat the vegetables

they just swallowed the initiation forms and some of my lecture notes. They stole them and our initiates chased after them wanting to take them back. They were so nervous that they just swallowed them. (Master laughs) We could not take them back so they think they are also initiated. Any time I come they also come for group meditation. (Master laughs) They have darshan, they look at me. When they came here and our disciple tried to drive them away, they didn't go, they just looked at him as if to say: "You and I are equal -fellow initiates -- why do you drive me out?" Something like that.

Do not feel that you are initiated and you are vegetarian and that's enough. If you think that is enough, it's just like you think that to enroll in the university is enough and no need to go to the university or see the professor every day, every week or every two or three days. Or like the cows, just swallow the initiation form, be vegetarian, and that's enough. But they are even better, they come to see me any time I am here -- very faithful disciples (Master laughs) and vegetarian all the time. Never fail. This, I never need to worry.

They would never pretend to make a mistake by eating cake with eggs, or drinking something with a little bit alcohol in it only. And they do their meditation every day, with or without Master. After they eat -- full -- then they will sit there and meditate on their food on the grass. That's their meditation.

The same like us, just after working and eating we sit there and meditate on television, or meditate on our worldly desires and problems. So what is the problem? No problem. Everyone meditates on their own beloved object. Like this I really should retire. No need to come anymore. No need to bother you. Both of us happy. Mm? Do you think a master is only there to fulfill your needs when you want it, and you don't need to have any obligation? That's also okay as far as the master is concerned, but you don't progress. You waste your human time, the precious time to develop our wisdom -- no, to recognize our wisdom. Wisdom cannot be developed, wisdom is already perfect and there, we just need to recognize and use it.

But if we do not give time to recognize and use it, then we waste it. God has given us the human body and entrusted us with wisdom in order that we serve ourselves and this world while we are here. If we do not do this, then we fail in our duty towards God and towards ourselves. That's all.

Perhaps no one, including any master, has the right to blame us. It's just that probably we have to come back to learn again, or probably we have to learn in a hard way or through suffering. Or probably we have to wait a while, many lives, to see another master again, because we have refused the golden opportunity when it is easily available. That is not very convenient for us, that's all.

Violence in the World

Spoken by Supreme at the Quan Yin Restaurant, November 14, 1993 (Originally in English)

Master Houston,

Ching Texas,

Hai U.S.A.

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.

Visions Spoken by Supreme Bangkok, Thailand, December 30, 1999

Master

Ching

Hai

Q: Does the blessed Virgin exist? I come from Ireland, which is supposed to be quite a religious country. She is supposed to have appeared in Ireland and Lourdes. A lot of people believe in her existence and power. I was just wondering what is Your opinion?

M: When people see an apparition, because they are in a Catholic country or a Christian country, they presume that it is the Virgin Mary. Nevertheless, She can also exist, and why not? The Virgin Mary does not actually have to be a person.

It is a power of the Universe, or maybe an angel that can also assume the appearance of the Virgin Mary to bless people. Maybe the kids or the people who saw that vision were pure at heart, and were praying with sincerity, so the angel, the spiritual inner Master, or whoever, took pity on them and appeared to comfort them, to bring them happiness, or to bless them. It is just like when you meditate sometimes you see Jesus, Buddha, and all that.

That happens, but the thing is that it is rare. You can see how rare it is in the religious world when just one or two see the Virgin Mary here and there. We see that a lot here in our group, but because the children, or whoever saw the vision over there, they thought that the Virgin Mary appeared there, but it is not true.

We can see the Virgin Mary anywhere - even in our own home. Some of our meditation practitioners see Her or Jesus or Buddha, but that doesn't mean They appeared there. It is because you went into a different dimension and saw them at that time. But of course, the children could not explain that because they did

not even know how to explain it or whoever saw that did not have much spiritual experience. They were just blessed with the vision once or twice.

Because you come to my school and I explain it to you, when you see that, you know what it is. You can even bring that vision back again because you know how. So, you see how rare it is? A person of Christian faith saw Mary in Lourdes, and everyone in the whole world flocks over there because it is so rare for Christian people to see Her or for Her to appear in Ireland or anywhere. So far, I have heard that She has appeared in only three or four places in the whole world. Do you know how many millions of Christian faithful there are on this planet? And only a few, three or four, have seen Her. That's how rare it is. And here we take it for granted that we see Jesus - no big deal. This is a proof also because it is so rare.

The Vibration Makes A Difference That's what we are trying to do, bring you to a better environment. You still will have your body, it's just finer. Every being has the body, it's just the vibration is faster or slower. If it's faster then we don't see it much or it's invisible. The faster, the more invisible; the slower the vibration, the more visible. Our finer body has been condensed into this block of material that is visible to all the naked eyes by slowing down the vibration of the energy. You can see when you're young, you sometimes use like a yo-yo or something. You spin something. When it spins very fast, you don't even see it, the thing, right? Or the electric fan there. It's moving very fast now so it's like almost transparent whereas it has four wings. When it stops you can see the four wings and through the four wings you can not see anything. But now because it's moving so fast you can see right through the four wings. And this is not even that fast compare to so many things in the universe.

Everything that your naked eyes don't see doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That's why sometimes during concentration time you step beyond the border of visibility and then you see the other world, other people surrounding you.

Buddha is also around here, no where else He can go. All the beings also surrounding us; or if you left your physical body and went around with the astral body, also people don't see you but you can see other people. You can hear them, but they cannot hear you, they cannot see you. Just like after a person is dead, if he came back to see his relatives and friends, no one hears him, no one sees him, and he becomes very frustrated. So sometimes he has to try very hard to materialize for some time, maybe seconds or a few minutes and then people say, "Oh! I saw ghost! (Laughter) Actually they were in a finer body.

We also were in a finer world, then we tried to come down here. We had to slow down, slow our vibration so that the matter would be solid so we could have this. Actually, it's energy only. There is nothing really material about us, about our body even. Just that it was materialized by a slowing down process. So revere your body to use it for a noble and good purpose. Take care of it as long as it should last for your purpose of realizing yourself and helping our brothers and sisters to go back to where they belong so that they have eternal happiness and don't have to suffer in the dark here, where they should not even though they have chosen to do it. But when it's time, they should go home. We should

be around and help them -- pull them out of the darkness, and bring them back, go together with us home.

Good night. Thank you.(Applause) Every time I speak differently. Sometimes I say the material body, don't care. That is for the people who indulged themselves too much in sleeping, eating, sexual indulgence and forget their real purpose. You can have all these as well, but beware, be moderate. The spiritual purpose is always the foremost. Take care with other things, slow down with other things. Go back Home, it should be the main goal of our life.

Good night. (A: Good night.) See you again. (Applause) on MIRACLES Q. Can you display any miraculous power such as levitation, flying, telepathy, appearing in many places at once? Are these things not important?

M. No, they are not important These miraculous powers are not important. Birds can fly, birds are flying and they are nothing important, airplanes can fly, and they are not masters, insects are flying all over, and they are not masters. There is no need to imitate birds or insects to prove that you are a real master. Even if I would do so , people might think I am a bird and shoot me down, so I won't do it. [Master laugh] I am not stupid. People. have guns. Can you imagine in this society a man flying in the sky? You are asking for trouble, huh? [Laughter] Don't you think so? Yes. [Applause] Yes, thank you.

And as for appearing in many places at once, yes, I can do it, but it's not with this body, it's with the transformation body. I have told you. And to see my transformation body you have to use different eyes, or be in some very special blessed conditions. But I would not do it just to prove myself. Jesus said, "Don't try your God." If I always have to prove myself, then I think I am not worth your trust. Whoever keeps trying to prove how great she or be is, then he or she is not really great Understand? You must use logic and wisdom to talk, to induce people to find their own logic and wisdom. If they have enough wisdom they'll believe you.

If you use this kind of magic tricks and children's games, playing tricks on some people, I think this is not worth a thought, hum? Sorry! You can go and find some magician and they'll do it, they fly in the air, levitation, all these kinds of children's stuff. My disciples, if they do it, I will beat them.[Master laughs] I'll scold them and say, "You are getting into a demon." This is a small thing, this is not worthy.

When you practice you might get into a kind of levitation, just one or two times, or for a minute. That just means you have some demons in you, nothing to be proud of and to be talked about. You should not even talk about this, and let people know that you are kind of possessed. A true master would not do this kind of trick, I'm sorry. And this is a kind of misinformation from the West. .....

Q. Christ did a few miracles, did not know other languages other than Jewish, but these miracles convinced us. How about nowadays' masters? How do we know that they are holy?

M. You see, the miracles don't secure a holy personality. Many people have miracle power without being holy. This you know: the black magician, the white magician, they all have miracles, but that doesn't mean they are holy. Jesus had to use these miracles because it was in different circumstances. Nowadays we are more intelligent, we are not as barbaric, we are more technological, more advanced, more civilised, and more scientifically minded.

So, there's no need clinging to these miracles. As I have already told you, Seek you first the Kingdom of God, I do not want to use miracles to bait you because I respect your wisdom, I respect your intelligence. I do not think of you as children that I have to use some colourful toys in order to attract you; I think this is not very respectful. Because I respect you very much, therefore I use wisdom, I use logic to appeal to your wisdom, to your logic so that you might get higher in your understanding and not just cling to these physical phenomena such as miracles.

You will know that I have a lot of miracles, limitless miracles. When you reach my level, when you are sincerely practising, then I'll show you, but not now. Not by force, not on demand, understand? If you respect me at all, then do not demand such, because I respect you. I do not use this "hula-hula-hop" to play with you. I do not think you are such a level. And I do not want to attract this kind of level either, If you are not yet grown up in wisdom, then I'll let you wait.

If you already have some wisdom and ideas of how a practitioner should be, why we should practice meditation and virtues, then you come to us, join with us to cleanse the planet, to bless all beings, not to play with miracles.

Miracles don't make a person holy, that is for sure. You will know my miracles in time if you are sincere, if you have a higher ideal. You will know everything about your Master in time. I'm not selling cheap in the supermarket. .....

Q. Could you perform some miracles so people can increase their faith in your teaching?

M. Miracles, what do you want? I give you some money, yes? And then what do you do with it? What good would that do to you eternally? I advise you to find your own power, your own miraculous power, instead of relying on mine, instead of coming to me only for magical powers, in order to get your own right back, the Kingdom of God, your own wisdom, your own birthright, your own heaven, your own Kingdom. That is the best and the highest ideal of a human life, not miracles. Miracles are very short-lived. If necessary I will show you miracles, but not for show, not to get your applause. Whenever necessary during your practice, you may encounter some obstacles, some bad influence, at that time you will know that I can make miracles. I can, but I do not use them at random just to let you know how great I am. I do not need that. I want you to have a very correct attitude, correct thinking, a correct idea in practice and that is to go

back to the most high, to gain back our highest wisdom, not to hang on to these children's games, to these plastic toys. You will have everything, 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto you.' Do not ask for small things, ask for great things. It befits you more because we human beings are the greatest in the universe. So ask for the greatest only, that is most befitting to your position, to your dignity and to your birthright. .....

Q. Master, as your disciple, if I have a friend or someone I know that is very sick, and if I ask you to help this person, could you help this person, or can you only help someone who follows your teaching?

M. The Master helps anyone that is dear to you, but according to his karma and what is good for him also. Ask anyhow, but offer the result to the Master's power.

VIRTUE Whenever you always do virtuous and righteous things, righteousness and virtue will always come to your life. So that is the true protection. .....

Whatever you believe is good, stick to it and don't let other people make you waver; because the good example in this world is rare. So make yourself a good example. .....

If you truly believe in your goodness, in what you are doing, you will influence other people. So one person makes a lot of difference. But if you don't believe, they will influence you. .....

But why should we worry, why should we be afraid of the whole world if we are right? We are only afraid of one person if we are wrong. But if we are right, even the whole universe, we are not afraid. Is that not so? Otherwise, what is the use of talking big, and being Bodhisattvas, and this saint and that sage, what is the use?

SEX Many people ask me about woman and man relationships, and sexual pleasure, and all that. They ask whether it is sinful. I say: 'It is not.' But you should know that there are many more pleasures than that. Sexual pleasure is only a copy of

the true pleasure when you are in union with yourself, when both forces within you, the feminine and the masculine aspects within yourself, are united. The union between man and woman is just a duplicate of that one.

So, God sends us into this world not without any instruments to remind us of the Kingdom of God. It is just that we have forgotten that these are reminders only.

We just love the copy and forget the original. And that's what makes our life miserable. And even then, we could not enjoy the copy completely. Therefore, many of the man and woman relationships are rocky, and the sexual relationship between you is not that holy, not that mutually respecting, but it is sometimes abusing, and just a frustration release, a kind of instrument. Therefore, if we truly want to enjoy this life, we should enjoy the true life, which is a hundred thousand times better than the life that we know on earth. By knowing that life, we can also enjoy this life. .....

When you look at a naked Indian holy man, you feel elevated; you feel no shame, no desire, no lust, nothing. Nothing steals into your mind about lower levels of thinking about that man, and you just have veneration. If you don't have even veneration, at least you have nothing, not even curiosity. But the scenes in the movies are differently motivated. They mean to provoke people, and that is why it is kind of selling the body cheaply. That is not supposed to be so, because the body is the temple of God. That's the only thing that is the matter. That is what is not correct about the movies. I don't mind looking at people without clothes; I have looked at them before. .....

Many practitioners, maybe not knowing a Master, or not being initiated, or not having a proper understanding, or not yet having a proper practice, misunderstand that to be a practitioner we must put down everything and be cold to all relationships. It is not true, it isn't true. This is why in the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu says 'Ordinary mind is the Tao'. When you achieve the Tao or enlightenment, the more you are enlightened, the more you are relaxed and the more you become very loving. You might not demand physical relationships with another person, but you just act in a normal way and do your duty. Anyhow, it is difficult to understand this, but you will in time. God is not so narrow-minded as to forbid us to love our husband or wife the way we used to. God is not so cruel as to separate a loving couple in order to attain Him. We must enlarge our heart to love God and also to include other beings, including our own family members.

If we could love other beings that are distant to us and strangers to us, why can't we love our family members, our immediate beloved ones? rust be natural, loving more than ever before, then we keep our family harmony intact.

Otherwise, if our partner is unhappy, it is difficult to be happy our self.

In general, men and women when they are married, it is not only for physical contact alone, but it is for warmth and care, and in the name of meditation you must not abandon your partner with any excuse at all. Because that is your duty to show your love and care to another human being, and you have committed to that duty so you must do it. Loving another person is an honour, it is progress, it

is not a degrading process. Understand! You have to love each other just like a Master loves you, even with or without physical contact. understanding ABOUT SEX Many people ask me about woman and man relationships, and sexual pleasure, and all that. They ask whether it is sinful. I say: 'It is not.' But you should know that there are many more pleasures than that. Sexual pleasure is only a copy of the true pleasure when you are in union with yourself, when both forces within you, the feminine and the masculine aspects within yourself, are united. The union between man and woman is just a duplicate of that one.

So, God sends us into this world not without any instruments to remind us of the Kingdom of God. It is just that we have forgotten that these are reminders only.

We just love the copy and forget the original. And that's what makes our life miserable. And even then, we could not enjoy the copy completely. Therefore, many of the man and woman relationships are rocky, and the sexual relationship between you is not that holy, not that mutually respecting, but it is sometimes abusing, and just a frustration release, a kind of instrument. Therefore, if we truly want to enjoy this life, we should enjoy the true life, which is a hundred thousand times better than the life that we know on earth. By knowing that life, we can also enjoy this life. .....

When you look at a naked Indian holy man, you feel elevated; you feel no shame, no desire, no lust, nothing. Nothing steals into your mind about lower levels of thinking about that man, and you just have veneration. If you don't have even veneration, at least you have nothing, not even curiosity. But the scenes in the movies are differently motivated. They mean to provoke people, and that is why it is kind of selling the body cheaply. That is not supposed to be so, because the body is the temple of God. That's the only thing that is the matter. That is what is not correct about the movies. I don't mind looking at people without clothes; I have looked at them before. .....

Many practitioners, maybe not knowing a Master, or not being initiated, or not having a proper understanding, or not yet having a proper practice, misunderstand that to be a practitioner we must put down everything and be cold to all relationships. It is not true, it isn't true. This is why in the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu says 'Ordinary mind is the Tao'. When you achieve the Tao or enlightenment, the more you are enlightened, the more you are relaxed and the more you become very loving. You might not demand physical relationships with another person, but you just act in a normal way and do your duty. Anyhow, it is difficult to understand this, but you will in time. God is not so narrow-minded as to forbid us to love our husband or wife the way we used to. God is not so cruel as to separate a loving couple in order to attain Him. We must enlarge our heart to love God and also to include other beings, including our own family members.

If we could love other beings that are distant to us and strangers to us, why

can't we love our family members, our immediate beloved ones? rust be natural, loving more than ever before, then we keep our family harmony intact.

Otherwise, if our partner is unhappy, it is difficult to be happy our self.

In general, men and women when they are married, it is not only for physical contact alone, but it is for warmth and care, and in the name of meditation you must not abandon your partner with any excuse at all. Because that is your duty to show your love and care to another human being, and you have committed to that duty so you must do it. Loving another person is an honour, it is progress, it is not a degrading process. Understand! You have to love each other just like a Master loves you, even with or without physical contact. .....

Q. Many Eastern religions have the tendency to view the flesh or the body almost as something to be discarded as garbage. I feel that when I came into this body, I signed a contract to care for it as best as I could, to make it function to live within the realm of this world. One has the powers of the mind, the God powers, but doesn't this require a sort of balanced view, trying to live well on both realms, as long as you live on both realms?

M. Yes, it should be so. It would be more balanced. What the religious texts mean is that we shouldn't overindulge in our fleshly sensations and desires, and forget the spirit. Sometimes it is said to an individual at that moment only, or to a group of individuals only, to people that need to hear that statement. Then it became a general guideline and it lost its meaning. When it was said at that moment, it was very strong and correct. But it is later recorded and given to other groups, and it is no longer correct. So, do what you feel like, but do not overindulge in any fleshly desires. How can you forget the flesh? You cannot starve the body and meditate. You must keep it, it means that you shouldn't always take care of the flesh and have no time for the spirit. Some people do that, therefore this statement is for them. Jesus also said to forsake the flesh for the spirit, but He ate and took care of His body as much as He needed. .....

Q. How do I escape from my flesh, my love and desire for the opposite sex!

M. Don't get away from it, otherwise we will have no more children. Just stay cool and have one at a time. (laughter) Have one partner only, okay? If you have a soul mate that you find is good for you, and a three-dimensional love, physical, emotional and mental, it is fine. And then, the so-called fleshly desire will lose some of its strong hold on you after you regulate it with a stable relationship or within marriage. So don't worry, it is just the beginning. .....

Q. Must one work or deal with sexual energy in order to gain enlightenment?

M. No, no, just relax. (laughter) All the energy and the struggle you spend to fight with your sexual urge, is better spent in meditation. Why should you

torture your body so much! It is a natural phenomenon, and it will lessen its intensity with time. If you are married, everything, even passion will become very much lessened. The more you meditate, the more heavenly enjoyment you will find. Sex, I will tell you, is just a substitute for heavenly bliss. And because most of us lack the real pleasure, we ding to the lower substitute. But once we know the real thing, the other loses its charm. Just like when we grow up, all the toys, the plastic model cars have no more great meaning to us. It is because we have a Mercedes Bent, we have a Rolls Royce, a Cadillac, or any other car. We know it goes faster and is more useful. So don't worry about sexual problems, just get enlightenment.

After enlightenment don't fear that you will lose everything. You just enjoy things more intensively, but you know when and how, and do not abuse your power of enjoyment like you did before enlightenment. You might have sex now and again, if you wish and enjoy it. But enlightenment is your main aim in life, and it will never leave you after initiation. It keeps pushing you, you can't just not go forward, you can't just be ignorant again. And even if you have a little exercise now and again with your wife, so what? God doesn't care that much! (laughter) You fear too much of everything. Even a little sex scares you. Nothing is so scary! .....

Q. Do you have homosexual disciples?

M. Yes. Do I have to report to you their private business? You see, homosexuality is just a misconception about their awareness. They misunderstand their body's function. And when they become enlightened, this will be less and less, because they will identify themselves less with the body, but more with the spirit. Therefore there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, when the children are very young, they play with plastic models and they cling to their teddy bears, but when they grow up, they will leave them. So do not worry about your misidentification with your body or with your birth appearance. It's alright, just get enlightenment, and everything will fix itself in due course. .....

Q. You said You denounce immorality. What is meant by sexual misconduct? Is that wrong?

M. I do not denounce anything. I just propagate correct way of life. And you are free to follow it, okay?! I do not denounce anything. If you feel that is a denouncement, it's not true. Just that you go into the wrong direction. Now you should go back to the right one, if you want to arrive at your destination which is the Kingdom of God. Too much sexual abuse and indulgence tires your body, exhausts your mental power which should be conserved for the greatest enlightenment, and to help yourself and to help mankind. It's more noble that way. That's all, yeah. Sexual misconduct means you have too many girl friends, too many boy friends, too many husbands and wives. It exhausts your storehouse of energy, okay?!

.....

Q. Master, what's fornication?

M. Why do you ask me? You already know what it is. If you are in it then please just correct it, get married, that's all. [Laughter] Nothing to worry about. But I may tell you, if it is love, then it's of no sin. Understand? If you are married, but hate each other every minute, then what is marriage good for? If the love is pure, God will accept it. It depends on if you have love or not, okay! I see love as a marriage bond, not the certificate. I see your heart's commitment as the marriage vow, not the magistrate's signature. Correct? .....

Q. Master, can You please advise me as to how I should control my monstrous sexual appetite? I need God grace.

M. This...? I don't have experience. You know what? There are many remedies.

But most people when they ate too much meat and drink the wine and all that, it will excite more of their passion. We already have enough so-called animal passion within us, so we do many things like the animals do. This we can not control.

Because we inherit the animal quality while we live in this kingdom, part of it, because of this body. So now, if we want to control that, we must minimize the intake of intoxicants and exciting food, things like that. There are foods for sexual empowerment. The people look for that. Some people like that. So the old kings, they always eat special kinds of foods, because they have so many wives.

There are many foods to control the sexual drive. The first stage is vegetarian diet, pure vegetarian diet - no eggs, no fish, etc., and no liquor, alcohol, no intoxicating things.

Many things we, the ordinary people, pay high prices for, mostly are poison. And I am always wondering why people spend a lot of their money to poison themselves. But anyhow that's their private choice and free will.

So if you ask me how to minimize your sexual energy, there are many things to do. You switch to vegetarian diet, eat a kind of simple, not too much oily and excitement spice and things like that. And then drink plenty of cool water. No champagne, champagne is the worse thing, reserved only for wedding days. You know uh! I don't know. I heard about that. I don't know. They said like that.

But the most simple is to be busy, doing something meaningful, helping other people; and then you forget your own problem. I don't know how you have time to think about this drive even. You know, if you stay up all night long, reading like me, I think your sex drive will drive itself away (laughter and applause), because sex drives are scared, scared of the work.

Do something. There is so much suffering in this world, do some volunteer work in your spare time. Feel the suffering of your fellow beings. Merge yourself in the

sacrifice and the joy, the pure joy of serving all of them. Bring happiness, bring noble happiness to other people. That will bring noble happiness to you, too.

You have read so much bad, maybe porno information. Now don't read it any more. Switch to holy books. Read the Bible, read the Buddhist sutras, read the Koran, read whatever information you have on holy life, okay? Hinduism books, anything you want, yoga exercise, holy saints' teachings, so much to read. understanding BAD TIMES

Change or not change, they are all in the universal consciousness. So we just eat them all and digest them, or we make chapatis out of them. "Therefore, be forever unchanged and balanced in the face of changes, upheavals, sorrow, or happiness." .....

Don't be so frustrated, just live every moment with all your heart. Whatever you have to do, do it with total devotion. Have faith in God and the grand plan of the entire universe. .....

We live through many changes, upheavals, all the time. But even changes are just small things in the universe, in the whole cosmic consciousness of God or of our Real Self. Just like here, the light, the fan, the umbrella, me, you, everyone, are all sitting in this room. Whoever comes here, whatever it is, is all in this room. .....

Sometimes, we experience suffering, illness and trouble, we think all these are karma. However, we should realize that they are blessings in disguise too. .....

Even if you lose all things, so what? You came to the world with nothing, you have not lost anything. You have gained so much since you have come to this world. You brought nothing into the world but you have gain all things, you have grown up a big person, you gain from the world, you take many things from the world. So even if we lose everything, it belongs to the world anyhow, it originally did not belong to us. .....

The world is full of suffering, it is not God's making. It is not the law of karma that makes trouble, as we have learned to know. It is not the law of cause and retribution that makes us reap what we sow. It is our own ignorance of the real world that brings us all kinds of unhappiness. We keep chasing the shadow and wanting it to be straight, to be more full, to be more beautiful, to be more

proportionate, but it is only a shadow! If we get to know the real person, we care not what the shadow looks like. Similarly, if we know the real world, how beautiful, how eternal, how free it is of every disaster and suffering, we care not whether this ephemeral drama is going on, because we know this is a distorted picture being projected of the real and beautiful world. Therefore, whatever it looks like, it doesn't concern us that much. L.A. USA in English Apr. 3 1993. .....

We live in this world for many, many, many, many thousands of lifetimes, and we collect a lot of enemies. Sometimes we make mistakes and we disturb other people, we make other people suffer, or we kill other people. So, this life it comes back. If this time we don't protect ourselves with the power of God, then everything can harm us because millions of billions of troubles are waiting for us. .....

Suffering is not created by circumstances; poverty does not make us feel pained. It is because we do not know that we are God that we are affected. .....

We make ourselves suffer because we identify ourselves with our mistakes, our successes, our failures, our this, that and the other, and the circumstances that affect us. .....

Maybe in the last life we have not learn well the compassionate lesson. Maybe we have not been sympathetic to our fellow beings. So, this life we have to suffer a little in order to know what the suffering means. Okay? It's very seldom that we have compassion without suffering. If without personal suffering we already feel great sympathy to other fellow beings, then we're fortunate. And then, our life would be spared a lot of suffering. .....

Success or failure in this world is not the important objective. Sometimes failure is success and success is just failure. We need the wisdom eye to judge. .....

Sometimes in some circumstances we are able to control ourselves, but with some great effort, and some other times we don't want to control ourselves or we can't control ourselves. In either way you just do what is good for you at that moment. Okay? Don't worry much about the emotion. It is only the waves on the surface of the ocean. It is not the ocean's fault. It is the wind. It is the rotation of the earth that makes the waves. So the ocean cannot blame itself all the time, and says that he makes waves, he makes troubles for the boats and he makes trouble for the people, etc. He cannot help himself. The ocean cannot help herself or himself. Is it him ocean or she ocean?

.....

God only arranges situations that will benefit us. Sometimes, we blame God for doing something wrong, but the fact is it's we who are ignorant of the truth. We do not know the correctness of God. We see only the outside and not the inside. .....

Why is it that life is not very good for most of the people in this world? It is because they do not have any ideas or their ideas are not right. Some want to be a boss, but they don't know how to be one so their business is not good. It is all because they do not know how to make decisions. Some people do not like to decide for themselves. They don't trust themselves. All through their lives they depend on other people. Neither of these cases is good. Do you understand? We have to find a solution. If the situation is like this, we shall change it whenever we can think of a way. If we have tried our best and still cannot change it, then we shall see. We still need to put in our best effort. Otherwise, this world will become worse and worse. understanding DISASTERS 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 it's not God who does all these things. It is we who have made all these troubles. For example, a few nations always test the atom bomb and hydrogen bomb, 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 substance. So by disturbing the invisible substances, they also disturb the stability of the universe, and interfere with the natural evolution of nature. .....

Wars and natural disaster are not always caused by geographical complications, but generated from the atmosphere of the world. When human beings treat each other unjustly and with hostility, an irritating and vicious warlike ambience is generated, and from this many disasters and wars are created.

Of recent, more disasters have been happening on earth. This is a reminder from God that we should go back to our original qualities of truth, virtue and beauty, instead of being intoxicated in negativity. We humans have two kinds of power, one is positive, the other negative. The positive one gives us and others comfort and bliss. This is the quality we should always maintain and develop further. If we were to be stuck in the negative sphere, the world would become more and more chaotic.

.....

Each year, many forests are destroyed just for raising livestock. To raise the animals and provide beef for our consumption, forests and jungles equivalent to the area of England is being felled each year. Raising cattle consumes a lot of water, forage, time, and land and the land cannot be used again. After the trees are felled and the earth is trampled by the animals, you have to wait fifty years to plant things again. Also, with the trees gone, the exposed rich soils are washed away by the heavy rain. Erosion is out of control, and the land becomes barren and dry. There will be a chain reaction of one affecting the other, and the destruction is not limited, but in many aspects. Pure water sources are used for animals to drink and take a bath, leaving only the filthy water for us, and in insufficient quantity too.

We have abused technology and damaged the protection layer of the Earth's atmosphere. This has also affected our planet, Earth is getting hotter. It is hot and there is no rain, and no shading trees. Without rain, trees cannot grow, without trees, there is less rain. Therefore, the climate is becoming hotter and changing unpredictably. All these end up affecting our body, affecting our children, our business, our mentality and other aspects, and eventually affecting the moral state of our Earth. Without sufficient food, prices would soar, many people could not afford it. Business would be bad which would result in bankruptcy. Broke people would go robbing, or become homeless, and do evil deeds. They would even harm themselves and their families.

You would be the first victim if there were nothing to eat. Very soon, the whole world would be in hunger. The consequence has already affected the children, affected them morally. Therefore, the United Nations and many countries are getting together, resolving to kill the children, the infants. Yes! To have abortion.

As the number of people is increasing, and food is insufficient, they want to kill people now. To say it bluntly, they are killing people for food. However, this is really happening. They kill infants, they kill children. It is because they sense the danger; food is getting less and the population is on the rise. They do not change their way of living - to be vegetarian, refrain from cutting trees any more, and to plant them instead; stop raising livestock, but plant crops instead.

On the contrary, they are slaughtering children. Therefore, you can see that the influence is like an iron chain, continuously affecting another and another. You can't say, "Eating meat is my business," it affects the whole world, affects the next generation, and your innocent children. You can see this is terrible, the damage is so enormous. Now, do you still ask why Master wants you to be vegetarian?

We have to solve this problem from the root. We water the plants at the roots, not on the leaves. Yes, the more we eat meat, the more we have to produce meat. Raising animals requires vast land area and plenty of water for the grass to grow. The more trees we cut, the less water we get; and then the water is used for the animals and people are left without. Without water, we cannot plant crops, so we have less fresh produce. When the supply drops, they'll be more expensive. When the population is soaring and food production is decreasing, wars are inevitable. There will be more violence like robbery and killing--just for eating, just for food. Finally, they think of murdering - murdering the children to save their own skin.

Previously, nobody ever even thought of abortion, but now they try to legalize and publicize it. I feel that the United Nations and many other countries ought to think in a more logical manner, and find a more effective and correct method, instead of just killing children. If the situation persists, it is not enough no matter how many lives you kill. Many people have prophesied in the future there are some countries that need to eat human flesh to survive. They have reached the stage of eating the meat of dead people. However, there is a way to change the future, but not if they continue in this way. .....

Sometimes disaster is also good for us, good for humanity. Yes, like they learn to work together, protect each other, love each other, and share the hard times together. And people's hearts become more tender. And hatred dissolves between misunderstood neighbors and all that. And so people in disaster will begin to reflect the ephemeral nature of life. And then they will begin to understand that material security is not everything reliable that we need. Look at millions of homes, just six minutes finished, five minutes.

Therefore we try to minimize their pain, with our care, with our material comfort and spiritual support. Otherwise, what are we here for? What are we in this world for? If we always blame God for everything and say it's their karma, it's their bad retribution, then what are we here for? .....

God truly gave only comfort. If at this moment Hes gives us some sorrow, it is to remind us of the ephemeral nature, to remind us that we have to get back into the safety of the fortress, of the Kingdom of God. Anytime we forget God again, Hes will remind us. Hes will remind us in a gentle way first, and then after, if we do not listen to this gentle advice, then Hes may push a little harder until Hes pushes very hard. So if we are not pushed so hard by God, then please don't wait until Hes pushes us so hard; and if Hes already has pushed us so hard, then please quickly go back into the Kingdom of God, and enjoy all the comforts Hes offers inside. .....

Q. What's the purpose of epidemic diseases such as malaria, AIDS, etc. Are humans interfering with the natural process by trying to find cures for these diseases?

M. You find some of this and other disease will breed itself out. Only when man realizes that he should surrender to God, to the Almighty power which is within ourselves. Only when man realizes that in him there is a great healing power of all diseases and he should rely on that power alone, then all the diseases will cease. All these are warnings, warnings to tell that we should return to God. Someone asked me recently, 'Why is God so powerful and yet He creates so many miseries?' God didn't create misery, it is our own human heads that have created all these. God does not make guns. God never made atom bombs. It is

we who make these with our own hands. So if we stop that, there will be no more misery. It is we who do not share our property with our poor neighbours.

It is we who are not diligent enough to spread the Truth, to spread the message of love, of charity, of endurance, of patience, of compassion, for others to listen. .....

God only makes beauty. God made the flowers for us to look at. He made the sun to warm us, to shine on our world. He made the rain to fertilise our harvest.

God never makes destructive things. It is only our own doing, our own negative atmosphere that brings all these disasters.

Once we understand why we suffer, we can change it. It is only when we do not understand that we continue. Similarly, when a doctor diagnoses a condition and knows where the sickness is, he can cure it; but the most important thing is that the patient himself should know how to live his life in order to stay healthy for a long time. In order to stay healthy in body, we should know some hygienic rules.

We should know what food to eat and what exercises to do, so that we can prevent most diseases. In order to stay healthy in spirit, we should know what the Law of God, the Law of Nature is. We should know this so that we can stay healthy in wisdom and become 'God-like,' because God made man in His own image. .....

We have many prejudices, many so-called preconceived ideas about life, about enlightenment, about religion, about how we should lead our lives, about how religious people should be, about how an enlightened Master should lead his or her life, about how he or she should dress, eat and even speak. I also had many preconceived ideas before, and after enlightenment as well. Before, of course more, but after a little bit of enlightenment it was less, and it will become less and less each day. God made me become more humble each day, until I had no more of my own ideas left, except God's idea. I have to do absolutely what He wants. Just like you, I had to learn by mistakes. .....

The more we know the less we understand. Because we accumulate too much mundane knowledge, we do not understand the True wisdom. So this is our crowded existence. We are too proud with our Ph.D. or whatever knowledge we gain in this mundane world and we forget that we are so much greater than that. Actually, when we are too proud, it means that we look down upon ourselves, because we are greater than that. Of course, knowledge of this world doesn't obstruct the spiritual wisdom, but if we cling to it then we are in trouble. .....

As we grow higher into spiritual maturity, we become calmer and more placid in our thinking, in our life viewpoints. So people keep coming to us and asking questions. I have tried my best all the time to satisfy them. But still, it is difficult for some people to understand the answers, despite both our best intentions. It

is because we are using our limited understanding faculty to try to grasp something which is beyond that. I also had many of the questions myself before, therefore I understand very well whomever comes to us and asks questions. It seems that they never have enough answers. That is how our mind is. We always feel inquisitive, because our mind is always inquisitive. It collects a lot of information daily, whether bad or good, because the mind doesn't have the power to discriminate. And most of our misery, dissatisfaction and prejudices, and many discriminations between ourselves and the subjects in life come from this inquisitive mind, which takes in all kinds of information and possesses it and makes it become its own.

So we should be careful of what we read and what we hear because if we do not select with discrimination, every other people's ideas and philosophy, sometimes which are not correct, will sink into our minds and become our own. And we will think it is us who thinks this way, who accepts this. And later, when some more information comes which is more correct and helpful to us, we will reject it or we will doubt it, because previously we had already recorded some theory which seems contradictory to the later one. So whatever we take in, we should first or at least later examine if these theories, teaching or ideals have any use to our daily lives or spiritual progress. Otherwise, we will have so much problem struggling between ideas, between groups and different thinking systems. .....

If we think that we are already good or excellent, we might be cheated by the mind. The mind loves glory, loves praise, loves fantasy, thinking that we are good. On the other side, the mind also degrades us. It might sink us into a depression and inferiority complex, and cheat us of our glory also. .....

Sometimes, we think that we are the doer in this world, and therefore we take all the burdens upon our shoulders. That is why we sometimes get exhausted, and then we get nothing done. If we get enlightenment, we know if we use it. If we know how to use the greatest power which is already provided within us, from which we came, and also to which we will return and in which we live our lives, then we will have less confusion, less and less each day, until no more confusion is left in our hearts, except to do the will of the Almighty. Jesus Christ also mentioned that I do, yes, but not I, it is the Father in me who does it. And in Hinduism it always mentions not I but Thou.

Before enlightenment, of course I had criticism in my mind. I also had dislikes and likes of how other people should live their lives. I had my opinions about many things in this world, even though they didn't concern me, and didn't harm me, and had absolutely nothing to do with me at all. I would even venture to criticise them or to try to make things right. And that is how we have been busy with our lives. After becoming so tired with criticising the world and trying to make people right, I have come to realise that I am the only one who should improve, and everything else will be all right. God makes us learn by our mistakes, by lessons and by other people's examples. That is why I think the old Chinese proverb says that when we walk with two other people, or three people,

one of them, at least one of them, will become our teacher, or is worthy to be our teacher. This is the truth that I have learned up to now. Because other people's mistakes also strike some memories within us. They remind us of something that we might have done in the past, and that we should never forget. We should learn from them to improve ourselves, and we should never criticise other people. .....

But I tell you, forgive yourself. Forgive yourself anytime. Whatever you do, just make an offering to God and let it be. Whatever the outcome, because we are not the body anyhow. We are not the action. We are not the doer of anything in this world. Even if we are, suppose we are the doer, we still have to forgive ourselves. We have to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes, or when we cannot help our habits like anger, or sometimes greed, or sometimes lustful thoughts. These things also arise from circumstances. It is not truly the Self, it is not truly the soul that desires all these things. So if we are angry with ourselves, we should be angry only with our habits, our accumulated habits. Or we should blame the situation also, not to blame the Supreme Wisdom, the real Self, because the real Self never errs, never makes any mistakes. understanding WARS 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. .....

We have always looked for peace in this world. Many nations and the United Nations, et cetera, 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, the next country will break out in war. .....

People make war with each other because they identify too much with their bodies with the immediate needs of their bodies, with 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 therefore 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, et cetera. It all has to do with the body.

Even though we say it is differences in ideals, it all amounts to bodily demands.

So if we become enlightened, these wars will stop by themselves. We will realize truly the brotherhood of humankind. .....

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 can not 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. .....

I hope that one day the world will be without frontiers, so that neighbors can come and go to neighboring countries, have a cup of tea, drink a cup of coffee, talk together, and go back home on the same day or in the same week, without any problems about documents, without any trouble, without any interference from policemen, and all kinds of terrible bureaucracy. There should never be any refugees at all, let alone people refusing them. Every person should have the right to travel where he or she wants, and to make a living where it is suitable and favorable to his or her condition. Until that day, our world will remain in suffering, conflict and war. We should not bother to ask ourselves why. The reason is very obvious. It's because we are possessive. We think this is mine, this is ours, this belongs to us. We have forgotten to whom all these things belong. We have forgotten that God is the only King. And we do not act according to the rules of this almighty King. We never think in this life. Everyone just takes care of him or herself. Even if people have too much to eat, and too

much to drink, they don't give it to their neighbors in need. Therefore, war is inevitable.

UNIVERSE Actually, in the universe there is no one entity that exists. There is a mass of energy and a loving field, but sometimes it is divided into different sections. It is just like the electric current that is in the bulbs, in the wire, in the microphone in different shapes. It is in the refrigerator, a different shape again, and in the electric fan, but the inside current is the exact same thing. universe QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. I can not believe that intelligence exists on this planet alone. Do you?

M. Yes, true. It doesn't. It does exist in all planets . More or less degree different to the location; it depends on the location. There are some other planets more intelligent than us. There are some other planets less intelligent than us. .....

Q. The beings that live on other planets or those that come in UFO's, do they share the same fate as human beings, the same vulnerability to suffering, the same need to reach enlightenment?

M. Yes, some, to some degree. But less so, less than our earthly earthians because they are more advanced. They are more close to the Father, they have more light, more wisdom. .....

Q. How long will it take to travel to the universe?

M. Oh, this is very quick. At the the of transmission you might get it, but for some persons it takes a little bit longer. It depends on how virtuous you were in past lives, and how much you believe in the Master power.

Utilize Your Talent To Fulfill The Mission Of This Life Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai At Group Los Angeles, CA (USA) March 13, 1996 (Originally In English)

Meditation,

It applies to everyone. Sometimes we come down here and God gives us a lot of " Equipment " , including good looks, robust health, super intelligence, many talents in order for us to protect ourselves in this world, and to have the work done in a more comfortable way; because Hes knows it's very difficult to work, very difficult to play a perfect role on this stage of the universe.

So, we are allowed to take with us whatever God thinks is fit, or you think you need, for the work of this world. But then, these instruments, like talents, good looks, intelligence, super strength, etcetera, also have side-effects. They will give you vain feelings; and will give you the power to conquer people and draw their attention, love, admiration, respect, for yourself. But, this is the point. You should draw people only so that you can help them to liberation and higher consciousness, not for your own benefit. Not so that you satisfy your own desire of having more women around you, more men to worship you just because you feel good like that.

That is a problem, too. Every instrument has two sides. If you use it well, it will serve you well. Many people come down here to do some work; but then, not many return, because it's very difficult to return once we come down. That's why there is a need for an enlightened teacher to come down to accompany you, telling you, " You must not do that, must not do this, if you want to go back home. You must refrain from many of the traps in this world, then you can go back quickly, etcetera, etcetera. " But then, when we come to this world equipped with all the talents, intelligence, good looks, health, luck, money, everything, we're too comfortable. We do not remember where the blessings come from. We think it's due to our own personality, our talent, our good looks, our intelligence, our luck, that we have all what we have. It's not true. In exchange for this, we have to do work. We must help people. We must use our instrument, our apparatus for the universal purpose. Otherwise, we will fall more than we can ever imagine, after using up the universal blessings.

That's why many kings, queens, and all that, they fell miserably. They go to very low levels of consciousness. Once they are in power, they have everything, everyone bows to them -- to their every wish. Then, it's very difficult for them to come out of this luxurious trap and try to serve humankind with their power and position. When the king is endowed with all this wealth, power, ability and many helpers, the purpose is that he can use these to benefit his country as well as the world. But, he can also use these to benefit himself. As a king, he has everything.

That's why we have free will, but it's dangerous. We don't know how to use it.

It's very easy for a king to always demand things for himself and to try to take care of himself instead of taking care of his subjects, because everyone loves themselves the most, to be honest: " Today, I have a headache, tomorrow I have a toothache; or today I want this, tomorrow I want that. I'm always occupied with what 'I' want. Then, because I am too occupied with what 'I' want, 'I' inevitably forget what everyone else wants. I don't have enough time. " And, most of the people who take care of themselves already have a lot of trouble and are occupied most of their time. Look at most people in the world.

They're working about ten hours a day, to do what? Do you think all of them have a high, noble ideal? They do that for the benefit of mankind? That's secondary. That is the side-effect. All the schools are teaching people: " You have to graduate with good points, so that you can have a good job, a house, a

beautiful wife and beautiful children; then your children and your wife can have this, that and the other. " That's the motive that most schools brainwash into the students' minds. So, they grow up with it, and then they do everything just to fulfill that purpose. It's honestly so.

There's not much to be done, not much really that we offer to the world. I don't say everyone is like that. Just the majority, and the majority is a frightening figure. So whatever we say, it comes just to survival. Whatever we do, it comes just to food and comfort. Whatever job you take, it boils down to that.

Remember, check yourself. It's not that you have to do everything, go anywhere, and do anything, but think about it. Make a more noble time, pure life, so that you know you're truly noble. That's all.

You really came from a noble heritage, from heaven. That should be your selfsatisfaction, no one else's. You don't need praise and blame because only we know what we are worth. No one can really read our minds. Some people can, but to a certain extent only, and when we are in their vicinity only. When we are alone in our dark night, no one knows. No clairvoyant bothers to look into everyone else's mind on this Earth and burden himself with all the garbage, with the people's turbulent thinking inside. So, we are a secret entity, and we'd like to keep it that way. Meanwhile, we have a big show for the world.

You saw the film called " The Mask " ? That's what we are. Most people are like that. We put on a " Mask " ; and in a different situation, a different mask. Then, I think there will be the time when we must sit or lie down and inwardly check our own dark corners; see what is there. That's the best way we can improve ourselves. Otherwise, no matter how long I speak, no matter how many examples I make for you, no matter how much I explain, no matter how many actions I bring up so that you can learn, you won't; because, the first thing is to be honest to yourself.

You know what you want, you know what you do everyday, not everyone else knows. We have to see whether we live a life worthy of it, with all this food and drink that we cost the world everyday. If you say, " I work, I earn my money, " it's true too. But, when? Since when did you work? And, the work you do, is that really enough to cover everything? How about the twenty years before, when you cost a lot of paper and pens doodling in school, not doing homework; cheating on the exams; or throwing paper at teachers and putting your hands behind your back and sitting there like a solemn student, a good one? For example like that.

The twenty years before, we did nothing for the world. We just existed. We made demands on our parents, teachers, friends, relatives and anyone. Then, maybe the forty or twenty years of the last period of our life, we cannot do much. Sixty years, you're finished. Or sixty-five, depends, huh? We have a lot of free time before and after the working period. In this free time, we don't do much for the world, and during the working time, we don't do much either. To earn our living, that's the only motive for working.

Of course, there are some people who do work for the world -- research and things like that. Their idea is just to serve the world really, and they don't profit too much out of it. Sometimes, they do -- the commercialized scientists. We have them everywhere. If they don't commercialize their inventions, then other people would come in and commercialize them for them; then have a lot of money out of it. The motive everywhere is money, to become rich and famous.

That's why not many scientists can offer their inventions to the world.

For example, if you are very famous, or you invent something which is really beneficial to humankind but by your invention you will harm many other businessmen -- like Tesla Nicholas, the things he invented some people use them today, but when he was alive, he was rejected, almost prosecuted. So he had to live in hiding; tried to do his best in his own capacity and on minimal finances. That's why his ideas have not been realized fully. If they were realized fully, many companies would have declared bankruptcy. So they found a way to do away with him, in a different way.

Sometimes we blame God for making our life miserable here: " No conveniences and electricity bills are too high, " things like that; " And why doesn't God send some genius and help us. " When Hes send some we abuse their power, make them miserable, or damage their property, talents, things like that. So very difficult.

Jesus came down, people killed Him. Buddha came down, many people slandered Him. It was difficult for Him to work too. So we don't blame God anymore; we must do something in our power to help speed up humankind's evolution, including our own. Otherwise, what else can I tell you?#1"> Utilizing Our Properly To Serve The World

Opened

Wisdom

But then this, there are so many things I don't know how to ask you for your help. Like the refugee problem, really. If I ask you to come to Hong Kong and meditate, to do meditation, to protest, then you do right away. There is nothing I ask that you don't do. That I know. I appreciate that, but you have to learn also, to have your own initiative, to decide what is good, for that moment. You see, it might not be good tomorrow again. So you have to be decisive and use your wisdom that is already opened. Otherwise you already opened your wisdom but you always listen to your habit.

Like, "oh, last year I didn't do that," or "my mother never did that," or, you know, "I never see anybody do that." And then you don't do it. You know what I mean? That's why we learn so slowly. You have no daring initiative. Even though your wisdom tells you to do this, you say "Oh my mother will scold me. My mother will tell you not do that" or "I've never seen anybody do this before, I can not do it!" This is your habit, thinking. And that's why we have to meditate more and analyze more; using the mind, instead of letting the mind use you.

You have to tell your mind, "That is different now."

You have to reprogram your thinking and reorganize your reaction. Otherwise, you have wisdom, you have blessing from Master, you have power to act for

success, but you always step back and worry. Because of your habit, you think you cannot do that. Some of our disciples are still like that. For example, last time Hong Kong... everybody wrote a humanitarian letter, to send to Hong Kong Government, but the Hong Kong didn't write. Said “Oh no! No, we can not offend Hong Kong Government.? Things like that. They are brainwashed by some of the false information that some of the political people want to spread around to get the support from the people, so that they can get together and abuse the handful of the Au Lac refugees, because just want to get rid of them. And so even the disciples, they also go with the strong. You know, and suppress the weak.

Because actually, if we take care of the Au Lac refugees issues we go against 74 nations and other dozens sympathetic nations. We go nearly against the whole world. And the rest are only like communist countries which do not count already, or under developed countries, have no idea what's happening, or isolated tribes and all that. So it does not counting anymore. So actually when we do this, we go against the whole world, nearly the whole world. Therefore, nobody wants to do it. That's for sure. But why should we worry, why should we be afraid of the whole world if we are right? We are only afraid of one person even if we are wrong. But if we are right, even the whole universe, we are not afraid. Is that not so? (Yes!) Otherwise, what is the use of talking big, and being Bodhisattvas, and this saint and that sage, what is the use?

Extraterrestrials Suffering On Earth I have read one story about the aliens, extraterrestrials, the good ones, who have been mistakenly captured by some of the powerful nations; sometimes in America. And then they froze them. They did not kill them, just took their blood out and froze them. Because they wanted to extract some information for technical advancement, and these people don't speak. These aliens don't speak.

So they froze them,... so like that, in this case you are not dead and you're not alive. You know, you hang around in the frozen atmosphere and you can't let your soul go out of the body because you are not yet dead, officially, or your time has not come. So they just hang around in this frozen feeling. And they know full well that the injection will make them suffer but they still undergo, quietly, in order to keep the secret of the universe.

Because they believe that the human kind of this earth are not yet sufficiently sophisticated, not yet sufficiently virtuous enough, to handle this technical information. Giving it to them, they might do harm to themselves and to the universe. So they have to keep quiet. So the earth people punish them, freeze them alive. So they can not move, but they cannot die. So this kind of situation, fine, okay, this is the part of the ignorant earth people,... and then a part of the aliens is even worse. They do nothing about it. They just beg the earth people release their brothers and sisters and the information is very difficult to come through, first, second, they say they can not break the vow of non interference of this world.

Master Lectures The Extraterrestrials

"I catch hold of any of you, I'll "beat" you, and scold you and make you kneel all day long until you go rescue your brothers." I am here, helpless because I don't have UFO, I don't have machine gun which can freeze people for one or two minutes, I can have nothing of this technique. Therefore I can not rescue your brothers.

And here you send a message saying that if we know, we may be able to rescue your brothers and sisters. Everything you could do it, because I say you have everything! You have UFO, you have gun, not shooting people dead but to freeze people in space for one or two minutes, then you can take your brothers out.

Instead you let them suffer there and then you even send messages to say maybe if I know, or She knows, or everyone else knows about this message maybe one day we can help your brother and sister.

We have enough work to do in this world and you help nothing, and you want us even to help your brothers and sisters. I'd willingly help them, because I feel so much suffering when I read that. You know, when I read the extraterrestrial people suffer, I suffer too. But, I say why don't you do something, you know?

This is not interference. If you come here, invade our earth or shoot other people or do something, then they would say interference, and then you swear you didn't interfere. That I understand, fine. But your brothers and sisters who suffer so much, for years and you do nothing about it. And you say you fear of the law of karma and non interference and all that. And your brothers and sisters suffering there, and then you talk big and you do this and that and protecting the earth and all that kind of...

I said it is bad enough that the world people, because of ignorance, they don't know it, therefore they harm your brothers and sisters. But you are the ones who know, you should do better, you shouldn't let your brother and sister suffer in the hands of the ignorant! Suppose the tiger takes hold of my brother. Okay, I don't kill the tiger because of my vow of non violence, fine, but I can make the tiger faint for two minutes and take my brother out... I can not sit there and reason to the tiger, look here the five precepts, look the vegetarian diet the Master Ching Hai tells everybody have keep etc... How can you reason with a tiger, you understand? The world people are very, very ignorant, therefore they do that kind of thing. Now, you already know they are ignorant and you reason with them, until when, and let your brothers and sisters suffer. I cannot believe it!

Compassion Is Different From Weakness In the beginning, I thought maybe they would come and help us also, but when I see this kind of stupidity I say you should go home and learn something more before you come here and try to help us. I think you should help yourself first, know what is interference and what is the flexibility of spirit in order to work in different situations and different circumstances, right? Not interfering doesn't mean you can not help your brothers and sisters out. If they help them they don't have to touch anybody. They just do it technically or using intelligence.

They can do it, they know everything, they know where their brothers and sisters are, I don't. What is the use of letting me know this? Okay, I come and to

talk to President Clinton about it, or what? What happens if he doesn't listen to me, right?

And the President Clinton, for example only, can not even interfere with the armies rule. They have their own set of rules, they have their secret work. Even many presidents don't know what they are doing. Nobody is supposed to know.

And not every president has the perfect security clearance, that allows them to come inside military base. Ordinary people can not come in, only the perfectly screened, that oh he's good, he had no background with C.I.A., no F.B.A., no K.G.B. or whatever is that, or nothing - no drugs, no alcohol, no blah, blah, blah, blah, blah or maybe vegetarian and meditation two and a half hour, I don't know. Completely clean, then can go inside the... not all the presidents have this clearance. They have different levels of clearance, you see.

So you see, this is weakness, this is not compassion, it is not honor that you keep your promise, but stupidity and weakness in this case. You cannot kneel there and beg the tiger to have compassion with your brothers and sisters, just do something about it! Don't have to harm the tiger, but if you can rescue your brother without harming the tiger, it's so much better. But even if you have to sacrifice one or two tigers to help your human brothers then do it, for God's sake. Even if you have karma for yourself, so what, for example like that.

Suppose that's what Protect Human Rights they believe. If we think that, okay, never mind, if the tiger eats my brothers and they will go to the Buddha's land, then it's fine with me, you know? But don't go around, boast around that because we are non violent people we can not do anything to the tiger. So, can you please do it? Asking somebody else to do things that you do not want to do when you are in a much better position and have more equipped ability to do it, this is stupidity and weakness.

Why do I talk about this? What was it before? Oh yes, the Hong Kong disciples.

And so, I was so sad. I didn't say anything. I just asked a few representing ones.

I didn't ask all of them yet. But I thought they worked together all the time, they should know what the trend is. And sometimes when I talk to other people also, they also have the tendency to think that the government is right. How can it be right when it uses violence against unarmed and harmless people? It is not according to human amnesty and human rights, it is against international law to even detain people in such kind of prison - like conditions.

But the people in prison, they have even their own bed. They don't have that terrible condition, not cramped and crowded; one bed small like this and two persons, and all square. Everything, eat there, sleep there, anything else is there, children and... all together in a small bed. And then upstairs there is another one or two beds and upstairs is a metal sheet of roofing and not trees and nothing around. The prisoners, they have a better condition; they have library, they have workshop, they can earn money in the prison. Yeah, they have volleyball, football courts and tennis ball courts and television sets and everything! Except those that are very badly dangerous, then they put them in a cell and cuff them. Otherwise, most of the prisoners are free. At least in the

prison they are free. Not like the Au Lac refugees, they have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and nothing to play with and cannot work even. So this is even already against human law.

But we don't blame that because we expect that every country does its best. We can not expect to the highest standard, but at least do the best. Okay, so maybe that's the only thing Hong Kong can do, or other countries can do, use their best. Oh fine, we accept that, but to use violence on the people for no reason, that people never react, even police say they don't react. This is not twentieth century standard. This is not human standard. This is lower to animal standard already. That even kicking and beating children and women while they are still bleeding and fainting with the gas. It was not tear gas only, it was mace. It was sprayed right into the face of the people. Many children now are still blind.

Women and children still cannot see. Now, over one month after the attack, many people still cannot see clearly. Their vision is damaged.......

Dangerous To Mankind Do you think it's okay? It doesn't matter if the Au Lac refugees suffer, I'm not talking about the suffering. It's obvious already. Even children can see it. I'm talking about human standard. Hong Kong human standard, it's so low! That they should feel sorry for themselves. That they should feel alarmed. That they should be shocked... at their own conscience! So minimum! You understand what I mean, now? It's not the suffering that we're talking about anymore. It is the low, low level of humanitarian... of humanity, that the Hong Kong people carry with them. That they can just stand by and watch women and children suffering and still agree with it. You understand what I mean now? It's alarmingly shocking and dangerous to human kind at large. Because if they treat the refugees like that, they can treat anyone like that, anytime, in similar circumstances, or when they have a chance to do. Understand now? And we can be infested with this kind of spirit if we just stand by, agree, or watch it, or just do nothing about it, or don't awaken ourselves, or don't warn ourselves of being infested. This is terrible!

Everlasting Loving Compassion I tell you the truth. Even if the Au Lac people die, even if they kill all the refugees, it is not the refugees who are the ones being harmed. It is the Hong Kong people,who harm their conscience. Their standard of virtues has sunk so low, that's how, what for do we live as a human being if we don't have this human standard? You understand what I mean? The suffering of the refugees, or their death, is not that important, is not as important as a human standard of conscience and compassion and loving compassion. You understand now?

Because life is short. Live or die, it is not that important. The important, is the everlasting loving compassion. And if we've lost that, nothing we can do. So it's not only that I'm fighting for Au Lac refugees' life. Because to me life and death is not that much matter. Also I fight for the human compassion standard, to raise it up, to awaken everybody: wake up, you cannot do that, you cannot lower yourself, lower and lower. Keeping like this you'll go to hell, you'll make Hong Kong become hell, you'll make the world become hell.? You understand?

So this is the greatest mistake of human kind: to think that to treat somebody

else inhumanly, that it's right. They think that it's the refugees who are being harmed; it's them who are being harmed! Because life, you can have it again.

But this human conscience and compassion, when you've lost it, difficult to get it back. You know? And then you can infect the neighbor with it, infest the children with it, and make every of your friends, your neighbors, learn about it...even infest our disciples. Let them stop there, freeze there, and don't move, don't do nothing for the refugees. Until I came along. Until when all of us came and then meditated, then the Hong Kong disciples turned around, they understood better.

But they, some of them understood before that, because I had told them, you know, it's not the Au Lac refugees' problem anymore. Of course, it is their problem, but that is only a catalyst, ah, is that right? Yeah, a symptom of the main problem of the human conscience. You see, we have to be afraid of losing our conscience. It's not only the Au Lacese' problem. They can die, and they may have another life again. But our loving conscience... difficult to find.

Because if we lower ourselves to animal standard, we will be born as animal.

Then we've lost our human life. And those we kill come back again as humans, maybe better. You understand what I mean? So it's not the ones who are killed that are the victims. The one who kills is the victim of himself. But most people don't know that. So I want to let you know. I want to make people know this. I worry about the Au Lac refugees' suffering and life, that's for sure. I do. But I even more worry about the human standard... our life, the atmosphere of our life. If it has become like this, and it becomes more like this, then it become hell here. You know? Nobody loves anybody, and "when you come to touch my house, I kill you." You know what I mean? "This is my garden, my house.

Nobody is allowed to come in, nobody touch my food, nobody come near me, or I'll kill you". Everybody will do like that. Yeah? That's what they do to the refugees, because the refugees come to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is their land: "If you come, I'll kill you. I have the right to do anything to you, because you come to my property." Understand? That's the only thing it is.

So low! So worthless a reason to kill, or to inflict suffering. Worthless! This is only a kind of ... this boils down to territory rights, territory competition. So then we become like dogs and cats and mice and any kind of animals, because animals they protect their territory. Even birds. Did you see any birds in your garden? Each one has one corner of the garden. If the other one comes in, he will poke him to death. At least, poke him to bleeding. I saw that when I had a garden. So when I fed the birds I had to stand guard as a police, because a big bird would come and pick on the small birds, and the small birds dared not come to eat. I said, "It's my food, okay? My food, my garden, alright? All of you have the right to eat, but not to fight." But they didn't listen to me, of course. They pretended not to understand German. So I had to stand there, like a guard, you know, like guardian police. And then I'd shoo all the big ones out first, let all the small ones eat. And then, when the small ones were all satisfied and flew away, and then I'd come inside and let the big ones be kings of the day. That always happens. Even my garden, my food, and they lord over it, and don't let anyone else come to eat.

All Land Belongs to God This is the same thing. Hong kong, Formosa, United States, England: all are God's land. Before we came the land was already there. Before Queen Elizabeth

or King Henry, or whatever, the land was already there. Who made the land for the English people? Who made the land for Hong Kong people? Nobody, only God made it. God gave it to us, everything! And they say, "This is mine, this is mine, everything is mine. You cannot touch it, you cannot come near and I'll shoot you." You see, that's what it is. It boils down to animal instinct. And then, people are proud of it. Can you see how low we have become, hmm? We're just like animals. Like the birds in my garden, like the dogs in my yard, like the cats.

The dogs have their territory, competition, you know, they mark it by their urine, yeah. (Laughter) And human beings mark it with their... other thing, probably human toilet, yeah. You know, they make a territory, they mark it.

Dogs mark it with urine, but man marks it with something else. Quite similar.

Actually, just marking a frontier.

Okay, you mark your frontier is alright. But when somebody else needs it, you lend him for a while. Because it's all God's, it's not yours. Everybody says, "In God we trust." Even they print it on the money. But it's not in God they trust, it's in the money that they print it on that they trust. Things like that. And everybody says, we are Christian. We love our neighbors. We take care of our brothers and sisters because all beings are born equal in God's name.? They say things like that, but they don't do anything that is according to their understanding. So now you see, huh? If you are my disciples, so-called disciples, no, fellow practitioners, brothers and sisters, and you don't do the things I do you are afraid offend the worldly power and you're not afraid to offend God's power - then you are in trouble. Then no one else in this world that people can rely on to carry out justice, to fulfill the righteousness, so that everyone can enjoy a peaceful and normal life. You understand what I mean? It's very dangerous when somebody infests someone else with their low level of thinking and consciousness. So beware, take care that you're not infected. Even as good as our Hong Kong disciples, some of them also wavered, you see, and are afraid, and think with the big body of the world and Hong Kong, instead of thinking in the righteous way, and siding with the weak and the poor.

An Enlightened Living Master Is Better Than Scriptures God says: Blessed are the poor and the weak, because the Kingdom of God is theirs. We read many things, we know all the Bibles, we know all the Baghavad Gita, the Buddha and Dharma Sutras, and bla, bla, bla, but we don't do anything accordingly; then it's useless, huh? That's why sometimes we need a teacher, a living one, not a dead one. Dead ones, we have too many already. They left so many books, but the books don't help you anything. You read it, and you forget it. You can memorize it, but then you don't do anything with it. You don't understand the deep meaning of it. Until a teacher, the living teacher, comes and shakes you out of your slumber, and points to you the direction, and the things that you should ponder, and things you should do, you see? It needs a force of a power, of a living being, to point things out for us. Can you see?

There's no more question about why we need a living Master and not a dead one, huh? No more. Because all of you already old enough. Some of you have grey hair already. And still you cannot think that straight, huh?

If I did not point it out to you... I don't mean I'm so great, but probably I'm clear. I'm a little bit clearer than you, sometimes. So when I say it to you, you understand right away. If I don't say it, even though you read the same thing as

I read, but, you don't understand it. You might even understand it, but you don't realize it, and then you cannot make use of it, understand? Even if I keep talking to you time after time and the same things again and again, still I have to repeat again and again, until you fully understand and digest it, and make it become your own property. See, then you're strong and then you can do things like I do, and you don't need me anymore. But why, why do I have to repeat all the time? Because you still listen to your habit, and forget to use your righteous wisdom, that's all. You have it, but you don't use it, then how can... what is the use, huh? Right? The wisdom I transmitted to you is the same as mine. It's no different. But why you don't do the things like I do? Because you don't use it the same way I do. You don't use it enough you're not strong enough to use all this.

It Is Still A Acknowledge And Rectify Our Faults

Great

Virtue

To

Just like a young boy is not old enough to know how to use the inheritance of his father. Even though his father gives to him as much as he gives to the older brothers, but he looks at the money and then he plays games with it, or he throws around and makes games with other children. He looks at diamond, and he thinks it's kind of a toy, you understand? And his beautiful father's furniture, maybe he brings it out and you know, makes a toy out of it. Things like that, you know what I mean? So it's as much as you can use your wisdom, then you have it. If you don't, it's just like every other people outside. They have it, but they don't have it. See, they don't use it, okay? Okay, we have to go down now.

Anybody have a personal contact with the White House? No? Okay, I don't suppose so. Yeah? [Somebody mentioned writing to congressmen.] Yeah, fine.

That's good, okay. Writing is different. You can write, but sometimes personal relations are even stronger, yeah? We can write. I write to many different Presidents but nobody bothers to answer me. Well, some of them do, but it's not that, not much fruitful, when it comes to action. They can be polite to you, they like you, they love you, but they don't take active measures about what you want them to do. They, even our disciples, like Hong Kong, I ask them to write only letters to express our disgust about their inhuman treatment, and they don't want to write it. You know what I mean? Even our disciples; so how can I blame outside people, huh? But of course afterwards they changed. They know, and they changed their minds, but because I told them. Because they are my disciples, they understand quickly. Even if they make mistakes, immediately they understand, that's fine. That's the best thing about you. You make mistakes, but at least, when somebody says something right, you know right away. You change. But other people: they make mistakes, but when you talk to them they don't know about it, they don't care about it, and they don't change.

That's the only difference between you and the non-disciples. Nothing more big deal. Okay? (Master laughs.)

You make same mistakes but at least you have a Master, a teacher, a good friend like me, tell you. And then you realize immediately. But outside people, they don't have a teacher, they don't have a friend, they don't have a good Master maybe, to tell them what to do. So they make mistakes. Or sometimes, because their wisdom is not open, tell them, they don't understand. They don't want to hear, and they don't think they make mistakes. Just like today when we were in the park,there was a man who was drunk, and made a lot of noise and fuss, see? And our disciple tried to talk to him about wisdom and five precepts

and not drinking alcohol and things like that. Do you think it was useful?

(Everyone answered: No use.) Yeah, he heard nothing, he continued to shout.

You know what I mean? Yeah? So it's good that you don't drink alcohol, and...

You know now, huh? When you saw it today, he came to teach you a lesson, that the Master Ching Hai is correct when She tells you not to drink alcohol.

Take Care Of The World With Our Hearts Our world can become as beautiful as Nirvana. It is that the world's people don't work towards it; otherwise, it can be as beautiful as any Nirvana can be. All the money that is wasted in arms, in wars, in killing each other, in capturing each other and in chasing each other around the world, we can use to pave all the streets in the whole planet and plant all the beautiful trees, all the exotic flowers, and the most nutritious fruits and food, even just to look at. Yeah, I don't need to eat! If we have too much, we can look at them, and let them fall down and decompose and become fertilizer again on their own. We can smell their fragrance and we can look at our planet and we make it become a beautiful paradise.

Our roads don't need to be paved in crystal and gold, like the worlds of Amitaba Buddha. We will be content with cement or with black tar. It's clean and it's good enough for us. We can walk, with no mud, but even mud is beautiful too, if it is clean; if there's no garbage lying around; if there's no radio active batteries running all over the place; if there's no plastic and rubbers infiltrating the whole area; if there's no gasoline car pollution pumping in our nose. We can use the money, resources and energy to invest in science to find the way to run our cars better than we do now; to find the way to give people more security and to share it equally, not like insome or systems so-called communism in which they pull everybody down to a poor standard, rather to raise the poor to a rich level.

That should be the way, not the other way around. I am not a politician, but I'm just talking logic. I don't like politics, but sometimes you cannot separate politics from the so-called religious or moral teachings, because in the old times only the wise ruled the nations.

Ideal Leaders Are Good Instruments Of God Therefore we had the period of Yau, Shwen, the Golden Egypt, Golden Greece.

Do you understand? There's no need to say that the practitioners should not mix into politics. We don't mix; we don't even want to. If we mix in, we cannot do anything. But we can talk logically and make you understand why politics fail.

It's because it is not true politics. True politics will stand, will benefit the nations and the world. Right now we have a few very good leaders. I, myself, also like them. If I could I would support them. Not that I would go and shake their hands and tell them that I support them, but I will, in my way, so that they can stay longer in power. In an invisible way I might help them, so that at least the world has some light, has some good instruments for God to work through, so that at least our world won't become hell. (Applause) If we cannot help the world in a different way, then we should meditate. We better ourselves; we moralize our standard. That is also a great help. In a world that is full of weakness and injustice, if we have so many groups of beautiful

people who don't take the lives or animals, who even eat sparingly of a vegetarian diet, who aren't so greedy of anything and who help us when they can, in their own ability, initiates or non-initiates, then we've already done great services to this world. By and by, slowly, others will take our examples. We teach by example, not by words.

Of course, I teach you also by words, because from words you know why I am doing this and why you should do that. Also it is beneficial, but if we only talk and don't do anything, then it's no use. It can even be harmful, because we waste our energy and other people's time listening to our garbage. Is that not so? When a fruit looks like fruit but it's not nutritious, then it is garbage. No?!

Right. When the theories are empty words, without support from self-exercising power, and support from the action power, then it is also garbage, empty words, wasting energy and time.

People could have spent all that time listening to something more worthwhile; or could have found someone else better to listen to; or they could have spent all that time sleeping -- it's even more productive; or maybe, by chance, they come across some good books and read some good things; or a Master or a fellow practitioner or something that might benefit them more, than listening to empty nonsense. Therefore, if we talk, we must speak what we know and what we truly are convinced with, then it has force; then it has energy, and it benefits people.

Why Most People's Prayers Won't Come True That's why most people's prayers won't come true, because they put no energy into it. They just talk with their mouths or they think very fleetingly with their weak, feeble energy. Therefore, their thoughts won't come true; their prayers won't come true. They don't even have enough energy and supportive spirit to pray. That's not a true prayer. The true prayer always comes true. Because if there's energy in it, it will attract the object of their desire. If there are no attracting energies, nothing comes. If you put two pieces of thing together, one a magnet and the other a piece of wood which you painted to look like a magnet, the attracting power of both pieces are not the same. Only the true magnet attracts iron or metal. The other one would never attract anything. It doesn't matter how long you put it there, and it doesn't matter how much it looks like a piece of magnet. Understand?

Therefore, when you, the practitioners of the Quan Yin Method, pray, it happens, because you have power. Now you even have the power to pray for what you want. You didn't have it before. You didn't know what prayer truly meant. You just said, "Oh! God, give me this. Oh, God, give me that." Do you think God is so cheap? (Laughter) Even a piece of pin will not be attracted to a piece of wood or ordinary iron. How would God be attracted to you, to your "blah, blah" nonsense?! Understand? And you don't even mean what you say, and don't even believe in what you pray. So prayers begin after you know a Master, because the Master awakens in you, the prayer power, the power to pray, the power to think, the power to use your own energy to make things come true. (Applause) So after initiation, mostly what you pray, if it's good for you, comes true, and what is no good for you the Master will not give. (Laughter and applause) If it is

no good for you the Master will not give, not grant it. Yes. Just like children when they want too much candy, the parents say "No". Right? If they want one or two pieces it's still okay, but if it's too much, exceeding their dinner and lunch, then "no!" Sometimes they want to play with fire, then the parents also say, no! You have not grown up enough to handle fire, to be able to play with fire, to experience that fire is no good. To wait until you know is too late. When you grow up enough, you can handle it; you can have experience with fire.

Understand? Even, now you're too small; you know fire is no good, but you don't know how to handle what's no good. When you grow up you'll still know fire is dangerous, but you'll know how to handle it. Therefore you can play with it.

Understand? Fire is still the same but you are different.

We Cannot Imitate An Enlightened Master Therefore, some things can be done by one person, while other people cannot do it. Or what the Master can do you cannot do. The Master can give initiation and take people's karma, but you shouldn't imitate. (Laughter and applause) The Master can do many things that you cannot do. But, you will! You will do it in future. When you grow up in your strength, in your power and in your selfrealization, then you can do exactly what the Master does, and you might do even more! If God wants to give you more responsibilities, you can do everything. It's not the outside actions of the Master; it is the inner wisdom, the way the Master knows why she or he does that. We cannot know! Sometimes we know. Sometimes we don't know. We just think, "Oh, Master just talks, invites people to eat dinner, drinks tea and touches people on the forehead. I can do all this, and more!" (Laughter and applause) Yeah. "Recite the Five Names, I can do that also. And all Her books, I might be able to write also." But, it's different. It is not the appearance of things that counts; it's the invisible power behind it.

Therefore, even today, when we were talking outside with the journalist, you happened to hear somebody say, for example, that in Costa Rica we have a disciple who is a very devoted to our path now, and he loves me very much. He always cries like a baby when I leave or when I come. And he practices very well, and he has very good experiences. I don't mean the best, but fairly good and he moves fast, but he was initiated before by another so-called Master, before he knew me, and that was long ago. It was probably the same technique and path, but he could not bear it. He had a terrible reaction, so he stopped.

Understand? And after that he progressed. After our initiation, meeting me, he progressed very fast.

There is another one from America. He was also initiated by one of the famous gurus in India, who also teaches the sound and light like I do. But he didn't progress, for ten or twelve years. And then he fell into another path and got tricked, all kinds of things happened, and he ended up worse than before. So he lost all confidence and stopped practicing all together. And probably did some sad, you know regretful things even. But after he met me, he was confident again, started practicing again and moved so fast. And he asked me, "Why? It was practically the same teaching, why was there a different effect?" (Applause) Even though they teach the same so-called sound and light, it's different! This I also know myself. Some teach this light and sound for money also. How much

per lesson! For lessons you must first pay money, every month so much, until a couple of years pass and then they give you initiation, with no guarantee of light and sound. Maybe one or two get it, but a low sound. I don't mean to criticize anyone; also I won't tell the names of this person. But, what I mean is, it's not the outside actions that we can judge and imitate, but it is the inner power, which we must achieve in order to accomplish anything, especially in spiritual aspects. Do you understand? It's not by imitating the Master, by walking like this or by wearing like that. We touch here; we touch there, and we wave here, wave there and give candies. (laughter) This is not all that the Master does. There's so much more and behind that, there is love; there is power; there is blessing; there is extreme care and attention from the Most High, from the ocean of love and mercy. (Applause) It is difficult if you don't practice. If you're not high enough, you cannot know these things.

But, when you receive things, you might feel there is a difference when you get something from the Master. You might not even feel it at all. But by and by, it will also help. For example, one of our practitioners said that his wife got blessed three times by the Master before she saw the light. First time, no. Second time, no. Third time, "Wow!" she said, "got it! Got it!" Yes, some people are slow. I know one practitioner; he said that he had heard nothing at the time of initiation. He was one of those small leaders of another faith. When he came to us, he took initiation. But because of the previous, maybe, preconceived ideas, he got stuck somewhere. It took one week before he got his first sound. But he worked hard, and has meditated a lot. He finally climbed up, "up there". I appreciate his effort. He's one of the best supporters and most faithful practitioners at the moment. But he worked very hard after his initiation. Yes. Very hard.

But, that's rare; to get it one week after initiation is rare. He heard nothing. He was so angry because he was a kind of leader, and every one else got it, and he was on the top and he got nothing. He was frustrated and angry with himself.

But it was because of his position that he had obstacles. He thought that he was some kind of fantastic intelligence of the world, you know?! And he can talk well.

He knows all the scriptures, and when he talks, it's non-stop. He knows many stories and he can talk non-stop. He thinks he's okay, being vegetarian and all that for long time, except egg maybe. So he thought that he was ready, prepared a hundred percent, a hundred and eight percent. And then he was so disappointed. Yes, it's true.

Don't Be Cheated By Your Mind When we think that we are very good, or excellent, we might be cheated by the mind. The mind loves glory, loves praise, love fantasy, and thinking that we are good. On the other side, the mind also degrades us. It might sink into depression and an inferiority complex, and cheat us of our glory also. It goes two ways. Yes. The most cheated system in this world is to make people worship where they should not: to worship wood, to worship stone, to worship all kinds of lifeless objects, thinking that Buddha will know about it. The Buddha might know but we might not know, because we haven't found the connection inside.

So even if the Buddha wants to talk to us, we cannot listen. If our telephone is disconnected, how can we hear the other side?! It doesn't matter how much we bow to the telephone over here. (Applause)

This is the trap of Maya, that nobody knows! People love to hang on to something, and to glorify themselves: that they are religious; that they know philosophy; that they are practicing something. Therefore, Maya, the king of illusion, sets up these kinds of traps, to let them satisfy themselves and stick there forever: That I am worshipping. I am religious. I am Buddhist. I am that. I am this. I am all things. I am busy. I am practicing.

You Make God The Way you Want Him To Be There are all kinds of material attachments to religious orders, just to satisfy their mind. But it cheats them out of their precious time, by not letting them think of anything better, or try to find anything better. So they keep telling you to worship the wooden statue and one day you'll realize he is a Buddha; yes, maybe, but a wooden one, a wooden Buddha. (Laughter) The Buddha always said, "Buddha is inside you." And then Jesus said, "God dwells within you. You are the temple of God." What did they mean by this? You make God the way you want Him to be. You make Buddha the way you want Him to be. Understand?

According to your realization, your level, your power, the Buddha is that.

(Applause) For example, I teach you the Quan Yin Method, without a method, but we have to call it a method. Otherwise, If I said to people come here and I'll give you nothing, no method, nobody would come. But, after a while you realize that there is truly no method. It's only the Master's power that helps you. Right?

Otherwise, people would sell methods outside for one hundred dollars and you would get nothing. Or if other schools, so-called gurus, also gave you the same method, you might get nothing. Right? They also tell you sit here and concentrate there. They also touch you. They can touch for two thousand years.

Your head is still your head. (Laughter) It will not become the Buddha's head, because what's yours is yours.

Now, after I give you the Quan Yin Method, for example, then you meditate. You try to search within yourselves to find what kind of power that you have, what kind of capability that you have forgotten, how much intelligence that you have not used, who you are and what kind of position you have in this universe. You search and search, and you'll find it. And then, you find up to the first level, then you'll find that you are very loving now. You are less stressful than before, and so you think, "Oh God is that. God helps me. God can help me to heal stress and to heal my sickness." You get cured from some disease, at the first level.

Sometimes, when you touch somebody, that person gets cure too, and you have healing power! You'll say, "Oh! God has healing power. God is that. God has love. God gives me love. I feel loved now, and I feel I love someone else."

But, that love is still on a weak level. Never mind, you feel better than before.

And by eating vegetarian you feel your body is better. You can think better than before, and you love your neighbor better now. So, you begin to declare that your Buddha is love; your Buddha is healing power; your God is healing power and magical power. Understand? He can make a lot of magic and things like that. You know God is there. You know there is a God, and that He has such and such qualities. And for a little while longer, you practice and you get up to the second level. Now, suddenly, whenever somebody asks you a question, you can

talk with eloquence. You can reply to them in a way that they never have heard before, in a way you never dreamed you could reply before. You understand all the sutras and all the Bibles in the world. You understand that all the five religions say the same thing. Yes, in one word, you have eloquence.

Smooth Enmity With The Love From Spiritual Practice You can also sometimes see into the past, into other people's past and future.

You know why you are connected with each other like this. You can regulate, invisibly or visibly, some of your karmic ties with other people, so suddenly your relationships smooth out. Suddenly, two enemies may come back loving each other, because, invisibly, in your practice your Master power has smoothed the past enmity out of your life and your relationship. So you begin to declare, "God has intellectual power! God is Buddha! God is enlightenment! God is eloquence!

God is that!" So your God has grown a little bit taller. (Laughter) That's how you make God and how you make Buddha. You say, "Oh! God has a kind record so that we can see everything inside."

Then you begin to listen, and you can hear the sound of thunder or the sound of many waters. So it declares in the Bible that God speaks in the voice of thunder, and like the sound of many waters. That's how they declared their God. When they saw the big flame of light, they said, "God comes in a big flame. God is like a big flame." So their God differs. Your God now differs from the God before, or differs from another initiate who has only reached the first level, or differs from another initiate who has reached the third level. His God is different from yours, but it is the same God, whom, pitifully, is being seen by different eyes and different angles. Just like when the Buddha was alive, he told the story of the four blind people who touched an elephant; who described the elephant. The one who touched his ears said, "Wow! The elephant is like a fan, a big fan." And the other one who touched his trunk said, "Oh! The elephant is like a big pilar." And the other one who touched his nose said, "Oh! The elephant looks like a water hose." And the one who touched his tail said, "Wow! The elephant is like a broom stick." This is how ordinary people see God. And this is how practitioners and people at different levels see God and make their own God. Therefore, it is said that God is within you; that Buddha is in your mind. That is the meaning of it. (Applause) Now, you know that you can make Buddhas and you can make God. So I would advise you to make the best God out of it. Our God must be the supreme, the Most High, to be worthy of our time, energy and attention. Time is money! We might just as well buy the best God. (Laughter) Now you understand why God is not there for you to worship, but demands us to make use of His power it. If we don't make use of this God by our own power, then when we pray and nothing is done, we cannot blame anyone else. From the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level of hell, you have only yourselves to blame. You've gone the wrong way. You walk the wrong path. You approach things in the wrong direction, with the wrong method.

The Best Way To Worship God The Quan Yin Method is for you to realize that God is you, the way you make Him. God can be as low as a worm, if you are that. If you don't raise yourselves

higher than the worm's level then God will forever stay as a worm. If you raise yourselves higher, the higher your God is, the higher God is glorified. So glorify God by your own power of meditation and realization. That's the best prayer.

That's the best glorification for God, the most significant prayer and the most significant job that you could ever do for God. (Applause) If we say we worship God, Buddha, Allah or whoever you say, and we remain in ignorance, then we truly despite God; we truly disgrace God and Buddha.

Therefore, Buddha said, "If you believe in Buddha, but do not understand Buddha, you disgraced Buddha." That is the truth. How do you disgrace Buddha?

By remaining in ignorance and letting others see that you are an ignorant God, that you have no belief in God anymore, because God is ignorant due to your own ignorant thinking and view point. You think God is like that. "I pray to Him, but He doesn't hear. I am crawling here, but He doesn't see." It is not God who does not see. It is you who does not know that God sees, and who does not directly receive God's blessing, because you build a lot of obstacles around yourself. You, yourself, deny the benefit and the blessing from God, because you think, from a conditioned mind, from many generations, that you're not worthy; that you're wrong; that you are ignorant; that you do all the wrong things against your God's nature.

Therefore, even now, when you pray, this kind of thinking subconsciously prevents you from knowing you are God, knowing the benefit of God. Then you think God is only that. God is only for you to pray to, to complain to and to demand from, but it is not so. Every God is truly different. Depending on how you think and on your level, God is different. Not that there are so many Gods, but our view points differ, so God differs. Do you understand now why we must understand and realize God in order to say that we truly worship God? (Applause) Therefore, what the Buddha said is not wrong. If you don't understand Buddha, don't just blindly believe in Buddha or you'll disgrace Buddha.

Anyhow, you are on the right path. I think you may have realized it by now, otherwise you wouldn't have come to see me. Even those who failed also came to see me, or wanted to come to see me, at least. They might not have the face to come, but never mind! If they want to practice slowly outside, without control, without somebody to keep reminding them, nagging them, then they can stay home and slowly crawl. Those who want to follow me faster, must work hard and be fast. I like you to be fast. You can never be too fast for me (applause), because the world is in need of such fast working people. The world is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people. Therefore, the more the better.

Work Fast In Spiritual Practice To Serve The World The faster you know how great your God is, the better. You can spread your love. You can impose your God for other people to see. When they see you, it's like they see God. They might tremble with fear. They might feel exalted with love, or they might just feel different. That is how God blesses people, through you, because you have slowly risen up to God's level. Understand? That's how we bless the world. That's how we worship God. That's how we truly pray.

At that time we don't even pray, but God blesses you and everything and anyone who sees you. Understand? At that time, you are already a Master. Or you have not reached mastership, but you've already possessed, more or less, to some degree, this kind of power, this kind of love, this kind of benediction. So this is how we serve the world. And then we can say God truly is love.

(Applause) And people will praise you. Okay, enough with theories (laughter), but my theory is not only a theory. You feel the power. You feel the force. Why? Because I have realized what I say. I did not read it from books. Understand? I realized it within myself. Therefore, whatever I say benefits you, and you believe it because it has a convincing power. Anyone else who repeats my words, might just be empty words. Yes. So we have to practice and realize ourselves, and then even if we repeat the words of the Master, it has the same power, because it becomes our own. Understand? (Applause) I thank you for inviting me here. Also thank you for your exciting love at the airport, and today and in three to four days to come. I thank you for working hard to achieve the goals of my trip. Because my trip is also your trip, my work is your work. Whoever benefits or gets benefitted from me and from you also, from all of you who cooperated, who helped, who mentally or even physically supported this work. Everyone is a benefactor of mankind. This is the way of Bodhisattva. This is the way of sainthood. There's no other way, no need for shaving your head, no sticking in the Himalayas, no need for anything, no sleeping on a nail bed. Yes, just be ordinary and have wisdom.

Beautiful you are! I am glad that you have improved, and I am glad your faith is firm. I know you have been through some tests, but that's how we know our level. That's how we know whether our discrimination is sharp or not; whether we know the difference between a true Master and a false Master; whether we know how to recognize goodness in a Master or not, or if we just listen to rumors and all kinds of gossip that is polluting to our mind. If we repeat that, polluting other's minds, it will be like a disease that keeps spreading. So when we speak, it's better to speak of goodness. If we absolutely cannot avoid it then we have to say something, but only in order to teach people or to tell them to improve. Otherwise, there is no good in talking about negative things, whether is it true or not. The one who spreads it, is the one who is affected most, the first.

And the one who hears it is also affected, if he listens to it or if he believes it.

Understand? Okay, good night!

Spoken By Supreme Master 3.27.1996 (Originally In Chinese)

Ching

Hai

in

Combodia

Teaching A Child To Be A Grown-Up I do not play chess or play the electro-mechanical toys with her everyday. No, no. Our way of playing is different. I can work and play at the same time with her. For instance, while I am reading the newspapers, I would say, "Now I am reading the newspapers, you read your books over there. Let's read together."

This way, she is already happy. Like two adults reading the newspapers. Perhaps I would ask her, "Can you understand this book? Read whatever you understand and practice your English." We both would think of a way to play.

It is not just playing with dolls or stuffed bears from morning until night that children consider playing, or that taking here do not have the time, we think of many ways of playing: for instance, cooking with her, teaching her to wash the vegetables. When I do not have the time, I let the attendant look after her, to be her baby-sitter. While washing clothes, she brings her along and tell her to do some washing. Now, she is washing one of her socks everyday. (Laughter) She told me, "Today I have work to do, washing socks and then help sweep the floor a little." In this way, the child is very happy.

Find ways for them to play. Playing is not just going out to buy many expensive toys all the time. On the contrary, if you bring them along more often while working, their IQ will improve; they will become smarter, livelier and more careful. Also, they will understand the parents' work more. Later, you will be able to communicate with them easily. Whatever you say they will understand your problem. Later, when you tell them how hard you had worked the day before, and so on, they will understand and will empathize with you. If you lock a child up and let her play while you work by yourself, then sometimes the parents are not able to communicate with her because she does not know what the parents had been doing.

You can try to find ways to play with small children. It is very simple! Sometimes helping me take my socks off, carry a pair of shoes -- carry it up, carry it down.

This is one of the ways to play with children. Of course, I can do it myself or ask the attendant to do it. I can also just leave them there and soon someone will straightened them up. But I want to involve the child, so I tell her, "Help me carry this up. Help me carry that down! Later, we have non-alcoholic beer together." For example like that, and this would be very interesting for her.

Then, we each grab a bag of rice biscuits. She likes rice biscuits very much.

Well, I would say, one bag each, open it and then go choose whatever drink you like. It becomes a game. How else could I have time to play with her? We can also play during breakfast. We race each other to see who finishes breakfast first, etc. That is fun. She likes it.

Sharing With Children Young children do not demand much. As long as we pay attention to them, share with them, they are happy already. They do not ask for dolls everyday. Because no one plays with them, then they play with dolls. This is just a very small part.

In this way, she is already very happy -- to be able to spend time with me is enough, no matter what we do. As a result, she practices the spirit of serving people. She feels very proud helping me carry a book, carry my shoes up and down, helping me to carry an umbrella, or whatever. I can do these things myself, but she feels a sense of accomphishment, like an adult.

When we both have a bag of rice biscuit, sitting on the floor, each of us opens up a drink, which I let her choose. I open the refrigerator and say, "Take whatever drink you like." She feels that she has already grown up! I don't force her and say you should drink this or that. No, no. She knows that she cannot drink milk everyday. She'd get tired of it. Thus, I tell her to choose a can and I

would also choose one. Then, we drink to each other's health and would eat and have a chat like two adults entertaining each other. I do not know your definition of playing. I feel that we both could play all day long. Many things can be played. She is very happy.

As children grow older, the more you share with them the happier they are. Not that you buy many toys for them that they are happy. If you play with them, then they are happy! Of course, they like toys, too, but toys cannot replace the parents' love. If you play with them everyday, talk with them more, explain to them more, they will become very smart and be one with the parents. When they grow up they will be like friends, because they have been with the parents.

Whatever you do, they know. You just mention it, they understand. No need to wait until they grow up because by then it would be very difficult to explain if you were not used to communicating, only throwing toys at them.

Inventing New Methods Of Play Though I do not have the time, but because of the child, I have to take up the responsibility. Her parents died. She only has me left. Thus, I try to think of ways to play with her. Playing should not have to be toys or going to the park. I can play with her everyday, whenever I have the time. I can tickle her. She loves it very much. I can throw her onto the bed. Wow! She loves it! Sometimes we play 'skating'. I pull her by the hands and skate and skate. This is called skating. But playing this way is very tiring. It needs strong muscles. We play this occasionally, so she was not tired of it. I skate once or twice and wanted to 'slip' away (laughter). (Skate and slip away sound similiar in Chinese) She weighs twenty-something kilos, and I am only, at most, twice her weight. We can play with anything. Using a pen to draw, teach her to color many things. With just a pen, we can play a lot of things. Like drawing things for her to guess, she loves it.

As long as the parents accompany the child, he/she enjoy it no matter what you play. Small children like us to pay attention to them and share with them. No matter what you play, they will enjoy it. Small children are very curious about the world, since they do not know it. Thus, whatever method of play -- I didn't have toys to play with when I was young. I created my own way -- drawing, playing chess, jumping around, or play with chopsticks. Many things can be played. Why the need of toys? Also, no need for a lot of space. Great, now you understand!

Saintly Humility

By Resident Disciple Wendy, Hsihu, Formosa Not long ago, many people came down with a flu. Master then kindly instructed those who had the flu to wear a mask over their mouth and nose for several more days after they had fully recovered.

Master said that the people who were infected had not taken good care of and protected themselves properly, while those who were ill did not take enough precaution. It was an inconsiderate, selfish quality. Do not think that this is a

small matter. Its effects are far beyond our imagination. Master cited an example to explain it to us.

There was a fellow practitioner who was lost in a love affair and had not come to group meditation for a long time. Because his girl didn't like it. It was not easy for him to recover from his situation and come to attend a retreat, and with the determination to practice earnestly. However, because he caught a flu, he was unable to take care of himself when he returned home. That gave his exgirlfriend an excuse and a chance to look after and influence him. Since his girlfriend was not a vegetarian, it was naturally difficult for his food to be pure vegetarian. Then, what would become of the aspiration to practice that this fellow practitioner so difficultly raised? Therefore, we have to be very careful even in small matters.

Master also talked about the time when She had a flu while She was abroad a long time ago. She wore a mask so that other people would not be infected, especially the children, who had a lower bodily resistance to infection.

In order to be even more close to Master and to see Her holy countenance even more clearly, the fellow initiates present requested that Master not wear a mask.

They were willing to be infected, and thought that it would be a supreme blessing. However, Master refused to do so, to protect everyone. (A brother resident disciple immediately verified this.)

Master mentioned the incident only because of this occasion to cite an example, and several years later, which shows that all Her actions come from the most sincere affection and humility. By telling us this story, Master wanted us to know that She practices what She teaches us.

I recalled the first time Master came to our center in Phnom Penh. As She came to the stairs leading to the upper floor, She very naturally, and without any hesitation, took off Her shoes, and proceeded to go up the stairs. All the fellow initiates present were stunned and immediately asked Master to put Her shoes back on. It was because the polished stone staircase was not clean enough, and one should only take the shoes off walking on the smooth ceramic tiled floor there. After hearing that, Master replied calmly, "It's alright!" and went upstairs in Her socked feet. Everyone was greatly impressed by the humility of such a great Master.

Master had said that all the great people pay attention to small matters, and it becomes their habit. What Master spontaneously did in daily life is the best example of that.

The Ten Commandments Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai, Hsihu, Formosa, June 24, 1990 (Originally In Chinese) Moses led his people out of Egypt to the desert and then came to settle down at the foot of Mount Sinai. One day, the Lord spoke to them through Moses. The Lord said, I've taken you out of Egypt to this place. I've been protecting you and

given you plenty of good food, because you're my favorite people! I'd like you to become my special friends. Would you obey my words?

They answered together, "We would!" Then the Lord said, The day after tomorrow, I'll come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. So the people started to cleanse themselves and wash their clothes, because the Lord was going to see them.

Keep The Commandments In Order To Become Special Friends Of The Lord Indeed, when that day came, the people all heard thunder and saw lightning and a thick cloud upon Mount Sinai. They all trembled, because they knew that the Lord was coming! Would you tremble when you saw God? No? Of course you wouldn't, because you haven't seen Hirm. (Laughter) However, they deemed, as what's recorded in the Bible, that the thunder that they heard and the lightning that they saw were in the sky. In fact, that wasn't true! They were from inside.

We all have had these kinds of experiences. When Moses and Aaron, two friends of the Lord, climbed up Mount Sinai, the Lord bestowed on them the "Ten Commandments" and instructed them to tell the people that only when they kept these commandments could they become special friends of the Lord.

The Lord also said, I'm the Lord. You should worship me and respect me only.

You must not make any graven images or bow down to them. Each time you mention the name of the Lord, you must do it with veneration. Also, you should rest on Sunday. (This means meditation). Originally, the sixth day was the Sabbath Day. Since Jesus Christ resurrected on Sunday, the Sabbath Day was shifted to Sunday. However, the Jews still observe Saturday as their special Sabbath Day. On this day, people aren't supposed to work, but only do things for God, such as chanting scriptures, reciting God's name, meditating, or getting together at church to remember God's name. It simply means to stop doing any worldly work!

An example of this is that you come here today and we study the scriptures of God and do God's work together; and we meditate and remember God's great name in order to serve Hirm. This is correct and is to Hiers liking. So you see, the wind stopped as soon as you came here today. (Master and audience laugh.

Applause.) After you meditated for a while, even the rainstorm stopped. There was supposed to be a heavy rainstorm! This shows that God is pleased! (Master and audience laugh.)

The commandments include being filial and respectful to parents, not harming other sentient beings, being loyal to one's spouse, and refraining from having relationships with other men or women. They also include refraining from stealing, telling lies, and coveting things that belong to others.

This is just like what I've told you, that you shouldn't covet things from other people. We shouldn't take anything that doesn't belong to us or that people don't personally give to us, even if it's only a blade of grass, because it's not worth ruining our reputation and gentleman's manners, not to mention breaking the precepts. It's very bad already that our self-esteem has been damaged! Do we have to wait for people to put us in jail?

Being human beings, our self-esteem is very important. There's no need to wait for others to tell you whether you've broken the precepts or to judge whether you were right or wrong. No matter what other people say, we know what we've done. This means that God knows or that our inner Master or God inside knows that we've done bad deeds. This is bad already! Therefore, we actually keep the precepts only for ourselves.

What I've just read to you are the "Ten Commandments" set out by the Lord.

The Lord explained to Moses about how to apply these commandments in various worldly situations and wanted Moses to explain them to the people.

When the situation was different, the commandments were to be applied accordingly. The commandments were meant to protect people, not the other way round.

For instance, a person almost starves to death and is very weak. He and his wife and children are dying of hunger or his parents are dying of hunger. If he goes out and steals some bread or rice to feed his family, he doesn't break the commandments. I'm speaking frankly, if this person stole from me, I wouldn't accuse him; instead, I'd give him more. By doing that, he wouldn't break the commandments. In that kind of situation, we can't say that he stole.

On the other hand, if we have enough to live on or people have offered us enough to live on, yet we desire to be more comfortable, more beautiful and more glorious, in this case, even if we steal only a blade of grass, it's stealing, because it's unnecessary! Therefore, we should make a judgment only after we've clearly understood the commandments and considered the intention and situation.

In another instance, I've told you not to accept other people's offerings and not to casually accept gifts from others. However, if you're ill and have no money because other people have not repaid you, in that case, if I give you some money, but you still refuse to accept it, you're being really stupid! (Laughter) At that time, it's not that you're coveting it, but that you truly need it. If you don't need it, even if you accept only a dime, you'll incur heavy sin! However, if you really need it, it's no problem no matter how much you accept.

Therefore, we shouldn't cling to the commandments. We should see whether it's suitable to apply any of the commandments to a situation. Of course, we ought to strictly keep the commandments in the event that we may harm others by doing otherwise. Sometimes when others try to harm us, we should do our best to protect our lives. In case we're killed, we shouldn't harbor any hatred against them, nor should we kill them for our own lives. It might not be bad for them to kill us, because they might help us to get liberated from the life and death cycle sooner. (Master laughs) In that case, we ought to be grateful to them!

Therefore, when Jesus Christ, Shakyamuni Buddha and all the other Masters of all the ages were harmed by others, They wouldn't resist like the worldly people usually do. Although the worldly people may be good in some respects, when they aren't treated well, they still have the notion of killing or taking revenge. As spiritual practitioners, we leave everything to God no matter whether it's good or bad. So we have nothing to fear.

Then, Moses began to explain the commandments to the people. Hence, those people promised to keep and respect the Lord's commandments. Then Moses went up to Mount Sinai, because the Lord told him that Hes would write the Ten Commandments on a big stone tablet. He climbed up to get it.

However, Moses might have stayed in samadhi for too long this time. He didn't go up there only to get the commandments. He might have studied the commandments while sleeping. He might have meditated, become tired, and after some rest, continued to meditate. He might have wanted to have a retreat.

Before he received the commandments written by the Lord, he might have wanted to purify himself and strictly kept the commandments first in order to have more wisdom to understand them. So he might have meditated there for too long.

Knowing that he had been away for forty days, people who were waiting for him down the mountain became impatient. They began to get angry, sway, and their faith became weakened. They murmured to each other, "Well! I wonder what happened to Moses and why he hasn't come back!" They told Aaron, "We want another God and a different master. Moses led us from Egypt to this place. So he's our only master. However, now since he's gone now, we need another one.

Let's have one quickly, okay?" (Master laughs and says, "They even placed a fast delivery order for a master!)

Aaron was rather dumb. He agreed with the people and asked all of them to give their gold and gems to him. Then he molded the gold into a calf. He proclaimed, "This is your new master." He then made an altar to put the calf on to let people bow down to it. Then the people were pleased. With the passage of time, they forgot what had happened before and said, "Oh! It was this golden calf, this master, who led us out of Egypt to here and liberated us from slavery." They kept worshipping it. Then they reveled in dancing and singing, while worshipping the god of the golden calf.

Seeing that in such a short time period, people broke what they had just promised to Hirm and worshipped another god, the golden calf, the Lord became angry. It's written here that the Lord was in wrath. I don't know whether God would be angry or not. However, if Hes was angry then, I wouldn't blame Hirm.

When Moses came down from the mountain and saw the people dancing, singing, and worshipping the golden calf, he also became angry. At that time, Moses' anger was very intense. He cast the tablet carved with the commandments of the Lord down the mountain and it was broken into pieces.

He then burnt the golden calf and ground it into powder.

Moses scolded the people, "How could you do such a terrible thing? You're senseless and stupid!" He kept scolding them, not simply like that. He might have scolded them a lot, but only a couple of sentences are written here. After the reprimand, since Moses always loved his people deeply inside, he prayed to the Lord to forgive those ignorant people, not be angry with them, and give them another chance to repent and become good again.

The Lord was also very patient. So Hes wrote down the commandments for them again. This time when Moses took the Ten Commandments back to the people,

they behaved well, didn't sing or dance, hadn't mold another golden calf as their master, and didn't worship other gods. They became very humble, and listened attentively and patiently to Moses when he expounded on the decree of the Lord, the Ten Commandments. From then on, a covenant was made between the Lord and the Israelites, and everyone was pleased.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Besides Me To comply with your request, I'll explain more about the commandments. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. When people follow Buddhism, they need to keep a similar precept. The master will demand the disciples to vow, "From now on, I follow the Buddha, the noble teachings and the practicing assembly. I won't follow any immortals, celestial beings, gods, ghosts or any other beings." That means the same thing! Following the Buddha is the highest level, that is, the level of supreme enlightenment or the level of God. The noble teachings come from the Buddha, as only the noble teachings spoken by a Buddha are the true teachings. So they are also the supreme teachings. The practicing assembly is also developed by the master. People in the practicing assembly are the children of the Buddha or the children of God. Therefore, they're the supreme sentient beings.

Of course, it wouldn't be good for us if we go in the direction of an inferior level.

For instance, if we want to make a friend, we should find the best person; or if we're going to elect a king or a president, we should go for the best, the most virtuous and the wisest person. If a bad president is elected -- we wanted the best president but we voted for an inferior person -- it's of course no good for us! Similarly, if we want to worship, we ought to worship the supreme and the highest God. It's not right if we worship demons and deities such as local gods, water deities, mountain deities, a sun god or any other gods, because their powers are all limited.

Only the Supreme God has the supreme and boundless power. No matter whether you venerate Hirm as the Supreme God, the True Lord or the Buddha power, Hes is the highest. You should understand inside that Hes is the supreme power of the universe. So you shouldn't bow down to local deities or local gods, or it would be no good for you. Therefore, the Lord said, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. Hes wasn't being autocratic, but only speaking the truth.

For instance, since we have a president in our country, we may just as well respect him. Why should we pay respect to a false president or a presidential candidate as our president? Even if such a person claims, "I'm the president. I would like to be the president," but he hasn't been elected. If we pay respect to him as our president just because he says that he would like to be one, is that appropriate? If we entrust our feelings and our political opinions to him and ask him to manage the national affairs, for sure it's not appropriate! We already have a president who was elected by the people. We know that he's the best and superior. So we may just as well support him. Therefore, when our president tells us, "I'm the president, the chief official of the country. Don't listen to any other president. Listen to me only." Is it appropriate for him to say so? (A: Yes) Similarly, God also told us to worship Hirm only.

In fact, God is the inner Master, the highest power. Hes had been taking care of those Israelites' ancestors for many lifetimes until the time of Moses. This was because their ancestors practiced the Quan Yin Method, which had incredible power! Even after many generations, God still continued to take care of their offspring. Since Hes had been taking care of them so meticulously, Hes had the right to say, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. When the Israelites as well as us happen to meet God, the inner Master, who takes good care of us, of course we should worship Hirm only and not seek elsewhere. When the Lord told Hiers people, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me, it was not for Hiers own benefit! Hes knew that it was good for the people who worshipped Hirm. The more the people worshipped Hirm, the better they would be. It was not due to Hiers arrogance, but Hes told the truth for the benefit of the people.

Similarly, those who have children take care of their children in every possible way every day. The children get whatever they want, including an allowance for school. Their parents also take care of their physical health, cook nutritious food for them, and prepare sufficient clothing for them. If the children then take the people next door as their parents, there must be something wrong! Those people have nothing to do with the children and they didn't even give the children a dime or a set of clothes. They don't love and care for the children. So the children can't just take whomever they like as their parents simply because of a similar outward appearance. Only their real parents are their parents!

Therefore, if our parents tell us, "You should only take us as your parents, not anyone else," they aren't being arrogant. They are saying this for the good of their children. If we always go to our neighbors, today this neighbor and tomorrow that neighbor, to take them as our parents, what will happen to our physical health? What will happen to our identity? Then even our real parents can't take care of us, because we aren't around. So this won't be good for us.

God loves Hiers people just like parents love their children. So, Hes tells them to recognize Hirm, and believe in Hirm, and only then will everything be fine. This is Hiers intention.

Sometimes, a master tells us to believe in him, and pray to him in any situation, but not pray to any other gods. This is for our own good and he knows that he can give us everything. If we go to someone else, we won't get anything but will waste our time and miss the opportunity for the master to take care of us.

That's why he tells us, "It's enough for you to believe in me only. Don't believe in anyone else." He isn't being jealous. Why should he be? The whole universe belongs to him. He can get anything that he wants. So why does he have to compete with other people and be jealous? Whether we believe in him or not, he won't lose anything, because we're his in the first place, just like we're our parents' children. Our parents don't need to compete with others for this, because it is the fact! However, if some children don't recognize their parents, they may have hard lives, which is no good for them. They may not get the legacy, and their parents may not be able to look after them. If they're never around, how can their parents take care of them? They don't know the children's whereabouts. So it's bad for the children, but not for the parents. (Applause)

When we follow a master, we know that he'll take care of all our major and minor things within and without. Therefore, when he tells us to believe in him, it's easily understandable. The more we believe in him, the more opportunities he'll have to take care of us. He tells us so only for our own benefit. If we're ignorant, we'll think that we belong to ourselves and have nothing to do with him. However, he knows clearly that he has affinity with us. We're just like insensible children.

Sometimes when parents are strict with their children, their children will get upset and run away, thinking that their parents don't care about them and don't love them. This isn't true! Parents are strict only for the good of their children.

They know that their children are related to them. They know that they want to take care of their children out of love. They wish their children to be brought up well. However, children may not understand this. So they may run around, blame their parents, and do strange things that make their parents worry and make it hard for the parents to look after them.

The same thing applies to God (or a master) and Hiers disciples. God clearly knows that we're Hiers children and Hes ought to look after us. Hes will do anything that we want Hirm to do. But it's us who don't understand this. We think that we have sovereignty and we take care of ourselves. So we make a mess. The more we do, the more trouble we make. We're just like a child who tries to take care of himself when he hasn't grown up yet and has no wisdom, intelligence and ability. The more he messes around, the more upset he'll feel and the further away he is from his family. This will only make his life more dangerous and difficult, and make his parents worry more about him. Therefore, we should recognize God and believe in Hirm, because Hes is our supreme wisdom! Hes is no stranger; Hes is our most beloved kin. If we reject Hirm, go out to worship wooden Buddhas, mountains, deities or ghosts, we'll only become more upset. This is all because we have forsaken Hirm, rejected Hirm, and won't let Hirm take care of us.

I teach you meditation to find your own nature. I want you to recognize your own God and wisdom, and let Hirm appear to you so that Hes has opportunities to guide you and make your lives more bright and comfortable. That's why I tell you not to worship the outer deities, ghosts or Buddha statues. All statues are useless! The Buddha is in our hearts and God is within us. If we don't look for Hirm inside, where else can we find Hirm? All methods of seeking outside are wrong. (Applause) So I don't have to tell you a lot to get you to understand.

Here the Lord said, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. Hes was right!

Worship "Me," the inner wisdom, not any idols. What Hes said was correct! Hes didn't try to intimidate people. Hes is indeed the supreme, the greatest and the highest. Hes doesn't need anyone to worship or admire Hirm. If we recognize Hirm and believe in Hirm, it's only our good fortune. Hes teaches us only because of our suffering and our sincere prayers. So Hes says, "All right! If you want to feel good, want comfort, and to be wise, intelligent and relaxed, believe in Me and worship Me only. Then you'll be fine."

God didn't force anyone. Hes only spoke the truth. Apart from the truth, what can you tell your child? You can't, only out of politeness, tell your child, "All

right! It's fine whether you recognize us as your parents or not. You can go next door and take the people there as your parents." Can you tell your child that? If he does what you tell him, he'll go astray, live a difficult life, wander around, and have no money and no food, and no one will take him as their child. People usually don't take care of other people's children. Although he may get food and clothes in an orphanage, he won't have a comfortable life, family feelings and the pampering love of real parents. Humans not only need food and clothes, but also the love of the parents. If children are brought up by their neighbors and have no relationship with their parents, they'll look dull when they grow up.

Due to love for their child, parents should clearly tell him, "You're my child. If you leave home, you'll have a hard time. If you want to have a comfortable and nice life, just trust us and let us take care of you!" Do parents have to be polite or feel embarrassed to say that? When we tell the truth without being arrogant, we shouldn't feel embarrassed.

Sometimes when you hear what I say, you think that I ought to feel embarrassed, but I don't. I would feel afraid and embarrassed if I were deceiving you. Could I deceive so many of you? No way! Some of you are teachers, doctors and business people with high IQs. I couldn't deceive you for long. So I just tell you the truth. Since I tell you the truth, it's all right whether you believe me or not. I won't feel embarrassed. If we want to be good to a person, we should always tell the truth. Only when someone has a bad intention for others, then he will speak cautiously.

We've Gone Too Far Away From God If We Worship Graven Images Of Hirm We've gone halfway through the second commandment, which is, Thou shalt not make any graven image; thou shalt not bow down to it. Why was God especially concerned about these things? Because human beings have intelligence, wisdom and the ability to do things. So if we worship a piece of wood or a stone which doesn't move and has no consciousness, aren't we being very dumb? Then why do some people still do it and think that they're fine?

The father of our nation, Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, was wise. No wonder people all revere him as a national father. He broke a wooden statue and asked people why they said that it was the Buddha, didn't he? (A: Yes!) I think that he was great. A person who has wisdom possesses strong charisma. No wonder he succeeded and is venerated by people until today. We can't envy him, because he deserved it!

I heard that he saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva when he went to Putuo Mountain. This indicates that he had faith and was pure. He was a Catholic. If he had been attached to the Catholic idols, he would have seen only Jesus Christ. Since he saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva, it meant that he had no discrimination and was really pure. Hence, the Bodhisattva didn't discriminate against him, "It's all right that you worship Jesus Christ. I'm just appearing to you to let you have a look." This indicates that he was very pure and was a very good person.

Of course, he had taken part in battles and possibly killed some people, but that was inevitable. I've told you that you should apply the precepts according to the

situation! If you're a soldier and you have to kill the enemy to defend your country or due to your national law, then you don't commit a crime. Even if you kill a hundred people, you don't commit crimes or break the precepts. However, if you only injure a person due to personal animosity, you incur heavy karma.

It's because of your intent to kill. But soldiers are different; they're compelled to do it, so they don't break the precepts.

Therefore, you can't judge yourself by how many times or how badly you've broken the precepts, how many people you've killed, or what your morality is like, but by the situation and your intention. We can't only look at actions.

Sometimes, it's very difficult for ordinary people to judge others. We have to be very careful distinguishing between good and bad. Otherwise, we always misjudge. When we see that a person kills, we say, "Oh! He's bad!" When we see a person donating money to build a temple or a hospital, we say, "Oh! He's good!" It's not necessarily true! We don't know where his money came from and what the intention is of his donation. He may want to become famous or get other things by donating the money. In that case, he won't gain any merit by his action.

If we worship an image, it means that our level is too low to be repaired, that we have no wisdom and no ability to make a judgment, and that we don't know that the image is only made of a piece of wood. If we worship this piece of wood, it would be same as worshiping any piece of wood. Then it'd save the time and effort of carving and painting as well as the money. To worship an image means that we can't tell good from bad, don't know where our wisdom is, and don't understand what's recorded in the scriptures, that "The Buddha is in our hearts" or "God is within us." We just ignore the scriptures, ignore the teachings of all the masters, and ignore the words of God and the saint. We've gone too far and been too ill! Even if we have a little bit of wisdom left, when we bow down to an image, our wisdom is gone.

There is an Indian story. A woman acknowledged a master. Once she saw her master appear to her inside, and she was very happy. However, when she mixed with other people, she forgot about it. Hearing people making pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, she followed them. One day, she was ill and wasn't healed after she prayed to her master. Perhaps her master deliberately let her become ill in order to erase her bad karma. But she blamed her master for not helping her. So she worshipped images! There are many gods in India. If you go there, you can see all kinds of big gods, small gods, medium gods, fat gods and thin gods. So she just bowed down to them. Before that, she could see her master appear to her for a while. But after she bowed down to the images, her master disappeared.

When she came home, she thought, "How strange! How could this happen? The master was there a moment ago. But as soon as I bowed down, he disappeared." She felt sad and kept thinking about it for several days. She didn't want to eat, but meditated, demanding her master to appear to her and explain why he had suddenly left her. (She blamed her master again.) Since she was quite sincere, her master was moved, appeared to her, and told her, "When you worshipped the wooden statues, you degraded me to be even lower than they were! So I didn't have a place to stand. Since it was too low for me to stand, I had to run away."

Why are we called "human beings?" Because we're different than animals. We can distinguish between good and bad, high and low, moral and contemptible.

We have the ability to make our own choices. Animals are different. They'll become whatever they are trained to become. Even tigers can be tamed to behave like cats by people in the circus. Lions and elephants can also be trained to do whatever they're told to do and dare not resist. In this respect, animals are rather stupid, and they can easily lose their independence.

Human beings aren't like that. Sometimes even when people are imprisoned, they'll try to escape. When they're oppressed, they'll try to resist. When they're wronged, they'll try to clear themselves. This is because human beings have wisdom. If our great wisdom has been deceived and becomes confused so that we worship the statues of ghosts and deities, of course we'll become the most miserable and drift too far away from God! It's stated very clearly in the Buddhist scriptures, The Buddha is in one's heart, and You can't perceive the Tathagata (Buddha) through tangible light and sound. Rather than worshipping tangible forms, it's more meritorious to go home and worship our parents. This is the truth.

If you like to worship, go home and worship your parents. They're living Gods and they have God's nature within them. If you break wooden statues to have a look, you won't find anything inside them. Even if your parents are ignorant and haven't recognized their God nature, at least they have God's nature within them. It's just that they don't know about it. However, there's nothing inside wooden statues! If you truly want to worship wooden things, just worship trees.

At least there's a little bit of God's power inside living trees. Without God's power, nothing can go on living. So if we worship dead wood, a material form of a very low level, of course our wisdom and level will be degraded to an inconceivably low degree.

Therefore, God particularly reminds us to be especially cautious! Hes keeps telling us not to create images and worship them. This is because Hes is very compassionate and wants us to preserve the tiny bit of wisdom remaining in us.

If we keep on worshipping images, we'll be finished! Our tiny bit of wisdom can be developed or be destroyed. When we're with spiritual people and wise friends, our wisdom will glow more brightly and develop more. But when we're with ignorant people and follow them to worship images, we'll be contaminated and pulled down by them and our level will be degraded further. The Lord wanted Hiers people to avoid this undesirable situation, so Hes told them not to do such things; because if they did, the tiny bit of wisdom that they had would disappear.

Suppose you have a little money left. If you save it, you can use it to buy bread.

However, if you're cheated by people and use the money to buy stones, you'll lose the money and then starve to death. Besides, you'll have to carry the stones and become more exhausted. You're tired already, and yet you have to carry the stones. How can people be so stupid and be cheated to such an extent? How can stones be edible?

Therefore, your parents advise you not to buy stones and save your money, because they know that this is all you have. If you save it, you can sustain

yourself for a while and think of a way later. Perhaps when you have regained your strength, you can find a job. But if you use it to buy stones, you'll be finished. You're weak and hungry already, but you'll have to carry the stones; then how can you survive? You'll die immediately! Similarly, when we worship images, we're incurable! Unless someone quickly pulls us up and imparts to us the superior wisdom, then we'll be cured; otherwise, we keep sinking down.

Yesterday, I let you watch a documentary film, which was about a group of people in India, how they make pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, how sincere they are when they bathe in the Ganges, and how sincere they are when they worship gods. However, you can see that the population in India hasn't decreased, but it's increasing, instead. And they're getting poorer. This is because they apply their sincerity in the wrong place!

Therefore, before, when I saw them doing such things, I got furious. I kept scolding as I came down the Himalayas. (Laughter) I wasn't satisfied to scold by myself. So I told some monks about it and let them scold with me. (Master laughs.) I was angry with those gods! I pointed at their noses and scolded them fiercely. Of course they didn't hear me; I was only venting my wrath. They were made of wood, so how could they hear me? I knew that very well, but it's just that I was really mad.

I saw that millions of people were being deceived, and had wasted a lot of effort, vitality and money, as well as risked their lives to climb up to the summit just to make a bow. They didn't know whether they would be able to make it home alive, because the road was very dangerous. Some people were very poor. They could only borrow or earn just enough money for the trip and they would have no money after they returned home. In order to gain merit and to worship the wooden statues, they had to come a long way. Sometimes, they had to walk on foot and their soles cracked and bled. Some of them were too poor to have shoes, so they had to walk barefoot on the icy road. I cried when I saw that!

Innumerable people were deceived. Even though they were sincere, it was useless.

If we have no spiritual friends, our wisdom will become smaller and smaller and gradually disappear. Then, we will transform into animals, plants, stones or minerals. The less wisdom we have, the lower our status will be; while the more wisdom we have, the higher our status will be. It's similar in society. If you're more knowledgeable and more intelligent, your work is more effortless, your social status is higher, your job is better, and you can make more money. But if you have no knowledge, aren't intelligent, and have no ability, you have to do low level work. The lower level your work is, the more toilsome it is and the less the money you'll make.

A similar situation happens in the universe. If we have more wisdom, we'll become superior sentient beings; conversely, if we have less wisdom, we'll become inferior beings. Therefore, due to differences in wisdom, there are all kinds of sentient beings in the world, including insects, frogs, animals, cows, human beings, immortals, enlightened beings and God. We should aim to go upward instead of downward, because we'll suffer more on lower levels. It's not that we're afraid of anything, but that if we have a choice, why choose to suffer?

If you choose to suffer for the benefit of others, like what I've told you earlier today, I agree with you. However, if you choose to suffer not only alone, but also involving your offspring of five or six generations, I'd beg you not to do it!

I've chosen this hard path and I'm willing to stay here, because of other people's needs, and because I want to make them happy and encourage them to pursue spiritual practice and rise to higher levels. Therefore, I willingly take on this hardship. If I had chosen the hardship because I liked it, it would be different, understand? (Applause.) Our world is very painful already. So if you can choose happiness, just do it. Don't say, "Since Master has chosen hardship, we should do the same." Then you're being too stupid! If we can make many people happy by our individual suffering, it's worthwhile. However, if we deliberately look for suffering, we're idiots just like committing suicide, which isn't good!

Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain Now let's talk about the third commandment, which is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Who is God? How can we respect God if we don't even know Hiers name? If we don't know Hiers name, we can't revere Hirm as God, the Supreme Master, Anuttara Samyak Sambodya or Buddha power! We must not make use of Heirs name to swear, to vow or to curse others. Even when we use it to swear to God, it's no good. You shouldn't say, "I didn't do this.

If I'm lying to you, I'll be struck by lightning..." or things like that. We must not force others to take oaths, nor must we swear in the name of God. Some people are even worse. They use God's name to wage wars. They use God's name to kill people, to invade another country, or to abuse other people's children or women. These are examples of making bad use of God's name.

When God sends a person to Earth to represent Hirm, such as Jesus Christ or Shakyamuni Buddha, when He's in the world or after He's gone, we must respect His name, too; that is, we must respect God's name or a Master's name. We must not slander or joke about Their names nor must we say Their names casually without respect.

Why does God want us to respect Hirm or Hiers representatives? It's because, the more we respect them, the greater blessings we'll gain. Otherwise, we may never see masters and the sun for many lifetimes; we may fall in a dark place where there's no sunlight, no parents' name and no masters. That's why God tells us to respect Hiers name or Hiers representatives' names, that is, the masters' names. Only then will we have light and our inner Master will have a chance to develop. When there's a cause, there's a consequence. Like attracts like. If we don't respect God, we'll have bad consequences. God reminds us about this only out of Hiers compassion.

It's not that God needs our respect. Many people have been worshipping Hirm or not worshipping Hirm throughout the ages, but Hes has never changed a bit.

Hes is forever neither unborn nor destroyed and neither defiled nor cleansed.

Hes only gives but never takes. Hes doesn't need anything, because everything in the universe is created by Hirm.

The Seventh Day Is The Day For Group Meditation

The next commandment is, On the seventh day, thou shalt not do any work.

Respect the Sabbath Day! In the Bible, it's stated that God created the universe in six days and hence rested on the seventh day. I'm doubtful about why God needed a rest. Hes doesn't need it at all! You also think that I don't have to rest.

So, every Sunday and holiday, you always come here for a vacation and tire me to death. In that case, God is more fortunate than I am, (Master laughs) because Hes can take a rest on the seventh day.

Hes even asked us to rest with Hirm. Why? Because Hes worried that we work so hard throughout the whole week that we don't have time to remember our Selves and God. God is our inner Kingdom and our inner Buddha nature. What Hes meant was that we should get together for group meditation on the seventh day! It's stated clearly in the Bible that people must not do labor or physical work and can only get together to worship God. It implies that we should practice spiritually to look for our highest status and the greatest wisdom within.

This tradition has been passed down to today. Every Sunday, people group together in church to recite the scriptures written in the past. However, they just come to a church, read the Bible, and then go home. Besides, they have some refreshments. They eat biscuits that aren't blessed. In the past, biscuits symbolized the blessed food from the masters, for biscuits were convenient to store, cheap and light. Since there were too many people, they made biscuits very thin. People ate them not for the taste but for the blessing power contained in them.

Our popcorn here is also not very tasty but looks rather cheap. You can buy popcorn easily with money, yet you like to get it here, because ours is different!

You'd be even happier if I personally gave it to each one of you. This is what it meant. It's possible that when someone outside sees me handing popcorn to each one of you, he'd think that you came here only for popcorn. Then he may build an ashram and hand out popcorn every day, without knowing the real meaning. The person who gives popcorn must have power so that the popcorn will be blessed; otherwise, doing it is meaningless.

We spiritual practitioners naturally emit loving power that attracts people to us.

After they leave us, they feel that they've lost a very important thing, as if their vitality had been taken away. When I left Costa Rica, people cried like babies.

They said, "Oh! It seems like my flesh is being cut off, or a part of me is being cut off and taken away." That's why we like to stay together with spiritual practitioners, not because of their attire or that they're Buddhist monks with their hair shaved, but because the intangible vibration emitted from them makes us feel very comfortable. This is just like if we have water to drink when we're thirsty, have food to eat when we're hungry, or have effective medication when we're ill. We feel very comfortable, but we can't describe it.

Similarly, the blessed biscuits are good only when they're given by a powerful person; otherwise, they're nothing if they're bought from outside. However, the biscuits are useful. They can remind people of God. Then when they go home, they may ask, "Who is God?" They may long to see Hirm. Later, they may hear someone giving a lecture and saying, "I can help you to find God." Then they'll go to that person quickly out of curiosity. In that case, the biscuits are useful;

otherwise, they're virtually useless. It's not that we should group together and recite all day long, "I long to see God. I love God." No! Although God is within us, Hes can't help us if we don't find Hirm.

Respecting Our Parents Is Respecting God The next commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother. Perhaps, in Moses' time, children were not filial, so this commandment was necessary. If everyone was filial, no one would know what "being not filial" is. If people are all beautiful, we wouldn't know what "ugly" is. If all the people in a country are rich, no one would talk about poverty. For instance, this is a Buddhist country, so there are monks here. However, people in some other countries have never seen monks, so they don't know what monks are and won't talk about monks at all. Similarly, people then were not well disciplined. The Bible describes the chaotic situation at that time. After Moses was away for only forty days, the people gave up the Lord and worshipped a golden calf. They were low in spirit and lacked morality, so they changed their master in only forty days.

Of course, we're becoming more civilized and more advanced. We used to live in caves and eat raw food and live animals. We had no fire, no houses, no airplanes nor any civilized tools. Now we're more civilized, because throughout the ages, extraterrestrial beings have been coming to impart modern knowledge to us and make us become more intelligent and our children more clever.

For instance, you're now following me to practice spiritually and the children that you bear are also different! Those who were vegetarians since they were in their mother's womb look plump and rosy. Have you ever seen their arms? They have at least three to four folds of flesh. I wonder where they get the nutrition from.

They only drink milk! These kids will definitely grow up to become more intelligent than we are. And those who've been initiated in their mother's belly may become even more extraordinary when they grow up! And their children, of course, may be even more outstanding, being morally stable, emotionally steady, mentally happy, and more developed in wisdom. So our offspring will become better and better.

Look at the time of Moses. It was really chaotic. People's wisdom was very low.

God had given them a lot, manifested Hiers magical power many times, and protected them in every way. Yet, after the master was away for only forty days, they abandoned God and worshipped a golden calf, instead. Can you imagine that? In modern times, some people are also like those who worshipped the golden calf, but they're relatively few in number. Few people who follow me will regress. This means that you're more stable and you have more wisdom. It's possibly because I have more merit so that God sends me the best disciples.

Don't take my word for it before you check your own hearts. (Master and audience laugh.)

Why must we respect our parents? Because God's love takes care of us through the law of cause and effect and through the love and physical forms of our parents. Respecting our parents is respecting God. In fact, it's not the physical forms of our parents who look after us; but it's God's love that does so. We should understand this point clearly! Life after life, the Supreme Mother through

our physical mother and the Supreme Father through our physical father have been taking care of us, teaching us the basic virtues, compassion and love.

Because our parents love us, we know what love is when we grow up. This is a fact!

If we're raised in a stable and loving family, we'll become more loving, and feel more secure when we grow up. Sometimes, we see that some children do evil deeds, become scoundrels, or are accused of being criminals and imprisoned.

Don't blame them too quickly! It may be because they lacked loving care and education when they were young. It may be because their parents died very early or were too busy to look after them. Or it may be because their parents were not loved by their own parents before so that they couldn't treat their children with love.

As the sequence repeats itself, people will have less and less love and will make more and more trouble. When they go out into society, they may be treated unfairly or oppressed and lose their sense of security. Later, when they're bullied or misunderstood, due to their inferiority complexes, they'll resist, revolt, and resist society more and more. The more they resist society, the more they'll lose themselves and their love, and the more their hatred will grow. Eventually, they'll end up miserable in jail.

For the above reasons, we should be filial to our parents. If our parents don't treat us well, we ought to think that it's our retribution and unfavorable destiny.

Perhaps we owed our parents something in our previous lives and didn't repay it.

Perhaps we were bad parents in our previous lives so that we have to have bad parents in this lifetime to learn our lesson. So we have to endure it and be filial.

This'll be good for us as well as for our parents.

In Costa Rica, there was a fellow initiate who was a little more than twenty years old. Two or three days after she was initiated, she came to me crying! I asked her why she was crying. She said that she couldn't get along well with her family, especially her father. Her mother had passed away and her father didn't treat her well. He was cold, stern and hard to communicate with. He always oppressed and dominated her. So she couldn't bear it.

I asked her, "Have you ever thought that you might be just as cold and stern to your father and that you've shelved your love for him? Have you ever thought that your father also needs your love. It's not only that you need his." She was stunned and then said, "What should I do? It's possible that I've never expressed my feelings to him." I told her, "When you go home today, buy a most beautiful red rose. Then kneel down in front of your father and offer the flower to him, hug him, and tell him, 'Although I've never shown my love to you because I forgot, I was young and not sensible, nevertheless, I love you very much.'" So she did what I told her. As a result, the two hugged and cried together. Since then, they have become very good to each other.

So one of them has to open his/her heart first. Parents work outside. They're often exhausted physically and mentally. They have many worries and many debts. In addition to heavy family responsibilities, they can hardly laugh when they're home. However, children may not understand the hardships of their

parents. They may keep demanding and expecting a lot but don't realize that their parents also need some support and love. On one side, parents may be stern: "We're your parents!" They may be strict because they worry that their children won't respect them; and in addition to their heavy work pressure, they can't laugh out loud. On the other side, the children think, "Our parents are very strict. They don't love us and don't give us this and that." Then the children may get upset or harbor enmity. This will deepen the misunderstanding between both sides and broaden the generation gap. In fact, both sides are anxious and eager to hug each other. They love each other very much, but they can't express it.

You can just try to express your feelings; you don't have to feel embarrassed.

They're your family members. If you really can't communicate with them, try this method, that is, hug each other first and talk later. When you tell them truly out of sincerity, your words will be touching. You'll gradually communicate with each other and understand that the other side also has feelings and love, and then you'll reconcile with them. Family members always love each other. But sometimes they're too proud to be the first to speak out. So both sides lock themselves up and wait for the other to knock. However, no one ever knocks first. (Master laughs.) And then both sides become anxious.

Sometimes this happens to husbands and wives, too. They want very much to reconcile, but both are waiting and no one takes the initiative. As days go by, the atmosphere remains tense and stern. Although they've forgiven each other inside, they can't put aside their pride but worry about losing face and what the other party may think of them. "Will he/she ridicule me for giving in?" In fact, that won't happen. It doesn't matter even if your husband laughs at you; he's your partner! It's also fine if your wife laughs at you! In fact, she won't. She's only waiting for you to apologize to her. Now you understand!

Why do we have to respect our parents? Because they work hard for us. The precious bodies that we are able to have were given by our parents; not by the physical entities of our parents, but by the grace of God's love acting through them. Therefore, we should respect them in order to respect God. Everything is created by God. Hes gives us birth through the bodies of our parents, but not that our parents do that themselves. However, since our parents have God's love within, that is, since they have God inside them, when they love us, they have God's loving power. They're very noble, gracious and superior beings. So how can we not respect them?

The Subtle Meaning Of "Thou Shalt Not Kill" Now the next commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. It means to refrain from killing. I've expounded on this millions of times. However, don't always think that it's good enough if we don't kill; sometimes when we try to save a life, we're killing. Have you heard me tell the story about two nuns trying to save a centipede? I don't have many examples to cite on this; I only remember that story.

One day when I went to take a bath and brush my teeth, I saw a centipede in my cup. The cup was covered with a piece of cloth. When I lifted off the cloth, I saw a centipede in it. I was frightened, of course. The centipede was also

frightened. (Laughter) So I screamed, "Ah!" (Master laughs.) That was a natural reaction. Since the centipede couldn't go "Ah," it jumped. So both of us were scared. Hearing this, two attendants outside quickly ran in and asked, "What's the matter, Master?" I said, "I'm all right. There's a centipede." (Master and audience laugh.) Then they said, "Okay. Master, you may go out and let us handle it." I said, "Okay. Be careful! Handle it if you wish!" There was a basin outside. So I brushed my teeth there.

A long time after I had brushed my teeth, I still didn't see them come out.

(Laughter) So I asked, "Are you done with it?" They replied, "Not yet!" I said, "How can two of you not be able to handle only one centipede?" (Master and audience laugh.) I went inside to have a look. Well! I heard a noise, "Tze, Tze, Tze, Tze." I asked, "What are you doing?" They said that they were trying to drive it away to with the shower head, but the centipede wouldn't move! I said, "Of course, it won't. It's surrounded by water." (Laughter.) If I spray you like that with the shower head, wouldn't you drown? The centipede was very small and was surrounded by water. It could hardly breathe. How could it possibly run away? It didn't know where to run!

Well! The centipede almost drowned. I saw it going "Hu, Hu, Hu." It was calling for help. So I said, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Let me handle it myself." They were really great and compassionate for "not killing it," but trying to drive it away with water, flushing and surrounding it with water... Even if we were the centipede, we would have drown. The centipede was very small. When they kept doing that, the centipede couldn't withstand it! So I said, "Forget it! Leave the centipede alone!" So that was how they were trying to save a life.

Therefore, it's not good enough to just refrain from killing. We have to be cautious. When we walk, we have to be careful and watch out for insects. The sink where we wash our faces and brush our teeth should be covered up or be drained to prevent insects from drowning inside. The oil lamps in temples are also professional killers. They're supposed to be offerings to the Buddha, but they're filled with corpses of insects. Since the oil lamps are uncovered, insects are killed instantly as soon as they fall in.

When I lived in a temple before, each morning when I wiped the altar table, I always saw the lamps filled with dead sentient beings. I supposed that the Buddha wouldn't be pleased with it! In ancient times, since there were no other kinds of lights available, people had to use oil lamps. But now we have electric lights, yet people still stubbornly insist on using oil lamps. In ancient times, people used oil lamps and fragrant oil to make offerings to the Buddha.

Why did people light oil lamps to make offerings to the Buddha? Because oil lamps could illuminate the road for Him. In addition, they were to lit up the face of the Buddha to let people see. They were also used to light up the hallways in the temples, just like our road lamps here. However, in ancient times, people covered up oil lamps. Shakyamuni Buddha also instructed that when oil lamps were lit or put out, they should be covered up to prevent insects from being injured or burnt. Nowadays, people use big pots of oil as oil lamps. In the temples in Tibet, hundreds of oil lamps are lit all day and all night. First of all, they waste oil. Secondly, they kill lots of sentient beings. When we pursue

spiritual practice, we're supposed to refrain from killing and deliver sentient beings' lives, but we actually harm them, instead.

Therefore, we must be careful. Refraining from killing includes a broader sense.

Not only killing with a knife is killing. Of course, we should avoid killing if possible. We don't intent to kill by lighting oil lamps. However, we can avoid it, by not using oil lamps. The Buddha didn't say that we must make offerings to Him with oil lamps. In case some places have no oil, how can people make offerings? Whatever we offer, the most important thing is our intention. Besides, the lamp actually refers to the lamp within us! Of course the scriptures point out that all temples should light lamps or fires all the time so that people can see the paths and go to meditate. It's the same in our ashram! When you come at midnight, or during a seven-day retreat we get up at three or four o'clock. If there were no lamps in temples or ashrams, how could you see where you are going? You might step on other people's heads, or some male practitioners may go to sit in the females' place and some females may go to sit in the males' place, causing embarrassment. So this is the reason for having lights. It's not that the Buddha needs any lights!

For instance, when I sit here, you always shine bright lights on me to let people see me, but it's not that I need the lights. So all kinds of lights are fine as long as you can see me. However, as to the wooden Buddhas, no one comes to see them at night. Visitors only come in the daytime. So no lights are needed at all in the night. Besides, all the temples have electric lights now and it's easy to turn them on to allow people to practice their morning and evening services.

What I mean is that we should avoid killing if possible. There are many other things, but I can't go through all of them. As to any insects or bugs, we should avoid killing them if possible. Similarly, we should avoid cutting grass and trees if possible. If there is no other way, we can cut them, of course, to build houses or for hygiene. We can do it when necessary. However, it's different if we destroy them with a vicious heart for no reason.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Not Steal, Not Lie Another commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That is, to refrain from having more than one husband or wife. I've explained the reason. If you have too many husbands, you won't have any next time. Suppose you have seven husbands. Then in the next seven lifetimes, no one will marry you, because you once had too many! For example, you make ten thousand NT a week. If you spend it all in one day, of course you have no money left for the rest of the week.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. This everyone understands, and I've talked about it many times. There are many kinds of stealing, and stealing money is only one kind. It's okay to steal if you're starving, but don't do it if you have money. Stealing also includes casually receiving offerings from people. As well, you must not hint at people to offer! Sometimes when we talk for too long, we're also stealing, that is, stealing people's time. When people are impatient with you, you still keep on babbling. That's also stealing.

If we sell something for ten dollars when it's actually worth only two dollars (if we say that it's very good when it's actually not and only worth two dollars, but we sell it for ten dollars) and cheat others to buy more, this is wrong and is stealing, too. Stealing doesn't only mean to go out and steal. When we go to work and see that the boss isn't there, so we slip away and go home early, it's also stealing. If we take home something from the factory that the boss didn't give us, it's stealing, too. When we live in a group, there are many things there for the public, not only for us. It's stealing if we take something that isn't given to us.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You understand this one already, and I've also talked about it many times. It's explained at the time of initiation, too. There are many kinds of lying.

The worst kind is that, our spiritual level is low, but we cheat others that we've attained a higher level by saying some mysterious things. We coax people into believing that our level is higher than theirs by talking about mystical things. We hide our real level and make people think that we know many things that they don't know. To cheat people in this way is the biggest lie. For another instance, after a Master passes away, some people like to become masters and then cheat people that they're the successors. By doing that, they incur the worst karma.

Sometimes we make a mistake. And when people ask us about it, we don't admit it but let Master or our boss punish the whole group. This is also lying and is bad, too! If we admit our mistake, it'd be fine. Don't involve other people in it.

Sometimes, I have to punish those people. It's okay if they make a small mistake. But they don't admit it and the issue becomes worse and involves the whole group. They wouldn't be punished because of the small mistake, but since it involved the whole group and made a lot of noise, I have to punish them. They didn't admit it, but forced me to bother the whole group and question people one by one, and still didn't confess, of course I'd have to punish them. I'd punish them for lying, but not for the trivial matter.

Don't Covet Other People's Belongings Another commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... Of course we shouldn't covet other people's belongings. We wouldn't accept them even if people gave them to us, not to mention coveting other people's things.

I've told you that if we accept other people's offerings that we don't deserve, we're only taking their karma. However, we don't know whether we deserve it or not, so we had better not accept any, unless people really force us to accept it.

If we have no alternative, we should just accept it and then give it to someone else or give them something in return.

I think that the Chinese understand this rule very well. During the Chinese New Year, people give gifts to each other. After gifts are passed on too many times, the gift that you gave earlier may come back to you. Is that not so? This is also fine! At least we won't owe others anything. The Americans have a tradition, that is, when two people go out for coffee, each one will pay his own bill. This is also good! They don't have to display false courtesy, and then fuss about who drinks more and who drinks less, (Master and audience laugh), or they may feel embarrassed.

There is a very funny Au Lacese story. Two people went out to eat a kind of food called jackfruit. It's a kind of fruit that has spines outside and looks very ugly.

It's this fat and this big with many seeds and sweet knobby flesh inside. These two people reached an agreement, "We don't know who will eat more and who will eat less, of course. So we'll count the seeds, and then we'll know how much each person should pay." After they both agreed, they went out to share a big jackfruit together.

One of them was very honest, but the other swallowed all the seeds. (Master and audience laugh.) Seeing that, the first person didn't say anything. After finishing eating, the first person suddenly screamed, "Oh! My stomach hurts very much! My stomach really hurts!" He rolled on the floor and kept on screaming. The second person wasn't done eating yet. While eating, he asked, "What's wrong with you?" The first person said, "I accidentally swallowed a seed.

Now it's growing. Oh! It's getting bigger and bigger. Oh! It has grown up to here now! (Master points to Her chest.) Oh! It's up to here now! (Master points to Her throat.) Oh! Quickly think of a way to save me! Why is it growing so fast?" The other person was frightened to death. He asked, "You swallowed only one seed and it has grown this big. (Laughter.) What will happen to me since I've swallowed five seeds?" (Master and audience laugh. Applause) So don't swallow any fruit seeds! (Master and audience laugh.) thomas ONE WOLF'S VISION Spoken by Thomas One Wolf, a Natie American elder from the Saquamish (the tribe of the famous Chief Seattle in Washington State), at the World Vision Conference Those of the Great People (Tewa, Hopi, Lakota, Navajo, Cree and all other tribes) and of my tribe, the two-legged, we have come here together. Thomas and Sherri One Wolf did not create this, you did.

If even one of you had walked by this microphone and told me there was Hope, that would have been enough to listen.

I carry a message. I seek no recognition. I will take no credit nor any blame.

There are many reminders of what as we fade and grow smaller, it is my prayer that the family of the One will come together.

The old ones gave me a reason to walk on. As my own Chief Seattle said "I mourn not." I don't see a speech when I look at his world. I see it as a vision, as a fulfillment. I have witnessed his vision.

Fourteen years ago, I was given one. I didn't know what it meant. All I knew is what I had seen. I waited all these years. My father and I were at a Congress of Native American people, and he said that it was time.

There is only one thing I conclude from this vision. I pray you see the Hope in this vision and maybe apply some serious want to know. Many will he troubled by it, I pray that you see the Hope.

In Grandfather's (God's) greatest Plan. Hes doesn't trust us with Hiers Plan. Hes won't let us see the other side because we would go there.

People who came here were the people of progress. To these days the Wisdom Keepers kept all that, holding on to it. Then came the dark clouds - greed, power, wealth. These were the sorrowful days of accomphshment. Greed, power and wealth were the same horses ridden by the progress man. I feared it would be the Indians that would be terrninated, but the old ones assured me it would return on themselves.

The children are the heirs of the armor. We leave to our children a garden of poison and armor. I carry a vision, it isn't a warning but a Hope; a dream of Hope is easily extinguished. I could read volumes of devastation done by man.

The vision that has come is that of Hope and the good shall know these results.

Great Spirit used this vessel to reveal a vision. In the distance, I see fires burning. I see great sun rays, great thunder and dark places. There is a child in the mist. She comes as a spark of Hope. The day of the Spirit Man has come. No fear, no joy, just a place of peaceful acceptance, a child with Hope.

In 1999, you the messengers will carry the message for Hope of one pure breath to the third door. In the year 2000 we will open the final door.

There is another great inevitability. Earth is changing - Great waves, fires, rain, flood waters, tornadoes, et cetera. Is anyone listening? Over-population, pollution.

There is Hope, small but Hope. The great fires, storms of death will occur. The child is the final Hope for change.

Choose Good, Do Good, Walk Your Talk.

Seek man's power and wealth and you will lose it. Money and power shall be used for good; if not, Hope dies.

Cancer is too far to heal in the house of power; they will consume each other.

The day of the Spirit Man has come. The time of choice is here. Good or darkness for everyone.

I apologize to the young under 30 years old to have taken a part in destroying your planet and your future.

Go and tell the world that Good has come, sing the song of Hope. It's your choice. What can we do? It'll be known to you in good time. Joy, peace and Hope live on the road of Good. Some come to create, some come to help, all must come. Choosing Good and walking your talk will bring you peace.

If you use your gift for self gain, you'll know no peace, no joy and sleepless nights. A wave is coming to all the shores of Mother Earth.

My people told me many stories about the beginning of life. Which one is the right one? My grandfather told me All of them." In the words of Chief Seattle, 'We may be brothers after all and we shall see."

We have got to become the good united tribe of the two-legged. If we don't, we will know the storms I have seen.

My judgment ends with how many legs you have.

I love you, everyone of you with all that I am and all I will ever be I am incapable of doing anything but loving you. It is so, it is as it should be.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Besides Me To comply with your request, I'll explain more about the commandments. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. When people follow Buddhism, they need to keep a similar precept. The master will demand the disciples to vow, "From now on, I follow the Buddha, the noble teachings and the practicing assembly. I won't follow any immortals, celestial beings, gods, ghosts or any other beings." That means the same thing! Following the Buddha is the highest level, that is, the level of supreme enlightenment or the level of God. The noble teachings come from the Buddha, as only the noble teachings spoken by a Buddha are the true teachings. So they are also the supreme teachings. The practicing assembly is also developed by the master. People in the practicing assembly are the children of the Buddha or the children of God. Therefore, they're the supreme sentient beings.

Of course, it wouldn't be good for us if we go in the direction of an inferior level.

For instance, if we want to make a friend, we should find the best person; or if we're going to elect a king or a president, we should go for the best, the most virtuous and the wisest person. If a bad president is elected -- we wanted the best president but we voted for an inferior person -- it's of course no good for us! Similarly, if we want to worship, we ought to worship the supreme and the highest God. It's not right if we worship demons and deities such as local gods, water deities, mountain deities, a sun god or any other gods, because their powers are all limited.

Only the Supreme God has the supreme and boundless power. No matter whether you venerate Hirm as the Supreme God, the True Lord or the Buddha power, Hes is the highest. You should understand inside that Hes is the supreme power of the universe. So you shouldn't bow down to local deities or local gods, or it would be no good for you. Therefore, the Lord said, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. Hes wasn't being autocratic, but only speaking the truth.

For instance, since we have a president in our country, we may just as well respect him. Why should we pay respect to a false president or a presidential candidate as our president? Even if such a person claims, "I'm the president. I would like to be the president," but he hasn't been elected. If we pay respect to him as our president just because he says that he would like to be one, is that

appropriate? If we entrust our feelings and our political opinions to him and ask him to manage the national affairs, for sure it's not appropriate! We already have a president who was elected by the people. We know that he's the best and superior. So we may just as well support him. Therefore, when our president tells us, "I'm the president, the chief official of the country. Don't listen to any other president. Listen to me only." Is it appropriate for him to say so? (A: Yes) Similarly, God also told us to worship Hirm only.

In fact, God is the inner Master, the highest power. Hes had been taking care of those Israelites' ancestors for many lifetimes until the time of Moses. This was because their ancestors practiced the Quan Yin Method, which had incredible power! Even after many generations, God still continued to take care of their offspring. Since Hes had been taking care of them so meticulously, Hes had the right to say, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. When the Israelites as well as us happen to meet God, the inner Master, who takes good care of us, of course we should worship Hirm only and not seek elsewhere. When the Lord told Hiers people, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me, it was not for Hiers own benefit! Hes knew that it was good for the people who worshipped Hirm. The more the people worshipped Hirm, the better they would be. It was not due to Hiers arrogance, but Hes told the truth for the benefit of the people.

Similarly, those who have children take care of their children in every possible way every day. The children get whatever they want, including an allowance for school. Their parents also take care of their physical health, cook nutritious food for them, and prepare sufficient clothing for them. If the children then take the people next door as their parents, there must be something wrong! Those people have nothing to do with the children and they didn't even give the children a dime or a set of clothes. They don't love and care for the children. So the children can't just take whomever they like as their parents simply because of a similar outward appearance. Only their real parents are their parents!

Therefore, if our parents tell us, "You should only take us as your parents, not anyone else," they aren't being arrogant. They are saying this for the good of their children. If we always go to our neighbors, today this neighbor and tomorrow that neighbor, to take them as our parents, what will happen to our physical health? What will happen to our identity? Then even our real parents can't take care of us, because we aren't around. So this won't be good for us.

God loves Hiers people just like parents love their children. So, Hes tells them to recognize Hirm, and believe in Hirm, and only then will everything be fine. This is Hiers intention.

Sometimes, a master tells us to believe in him, and pray to him in any situation, but not pray to any other gods. This is for our own good and he knows that he can give us everything. If we go to someone else, we won't get anything but will waste our time and miss the opportunity for the master to take care of us.

That's why he tells us, "It's enough for you to believe in me only. Don't believe in anyone else." He isn't being jealous. Why should he be? The whole universe belongs to him. He can get anything that he wants. So why does he have to compete with other people and be jealous? Whether we believe in him or not, he won't lose anything, because we're his in the first place, just like we're our

parents' children. Our parents don't need to compete with others for this, because it is the fact! However, if some children don't recognize their parents, they may have hard lives, which is no good for them. They may not get the legacy, and their parents may not be able to look after them. If they're never around, how can their parents take care of them? They don't know the children's whereabouts. So it's bad for the children, but not for the parents. (Applause) When we follow a master, we know that he'll take care of all our major and minor things within and without. Therefore, when he tells us to believe in him, it's easily understandable. The more we believe in him, the more opportunities he'll have to take care of us. He tells us so only for our own benefit. If we're ignorant, we'll think that we belong to ourselves and have nothing to do with him. However, he knows clearly that he has affinity with us. We're just like insensible children.

Sometimes when parents are strict with their children, their children will get upset and run away, thinking that their parents don't care about them and don't love them. This isn't true! Parents are strict only for the good of their children.

They know that their children are related to them. They know that they want to take care of their children out of love. They wish their children to be brought up well. However, children may not understand this. So they may run around, blame their parents, and do strange things that make their parents worry and make it hard for the parents to look after them.

The same thing applies to God (or a master) and Hiers disciples. God clearly knows that we're Hiers children and Hes ought to look after us. Hes will do anything that we want Hirm to do. But it's us who don't understand this. We think that we have sovereignty and we take care of ourselves. So we make a mess. The more we do, the more trouble we make. We're just like a child who tries to take care of himself when he hasn't grown up yet and has no wisdom, intelligence and ability. The more he messes around, the more upset he'll feel and the further away he is from his family. This will only make his life more dangerous and difficult, and make his parents worry more about him. Therefore, we should recognize God and believe in Hirm, because Hes is our supreme wisdom! Hes is no stranger; Hes is our most beloved kin. If we reject Hirm, go out to worship wooden Buddhas, mountains, deities or ghosts, we'll only become more upset. This is all because we have forsaken Hirm, rejected Hirm, and won't let Hirm take care of us.

I teach you meditation to find your own nature. I want you to recognize your own God and wisdom, and let Hirm appear to you so that Hes has opportunities to guide you and make your lives more bright and comfortable. That's why I tell you not to worship the outer deities, ghosts or Buddha statues. All statues are useless! The Buddha is in our hearts and God is within us. If we don't look for Hirm inside, where else can we find Hirm? All methods of seeking outside are wrong. (Applause) So I don't have to tell you a lot to get you to understand.

Here the Lord said, Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. Hes was right!

Worship "Me," the inner wisdom, not any idols. What Hes said was correct! Hes didn't try to intimidate people. Hes is indeed the supreme, the greatest and the highest. Hes doesn't need anyone to worship or admire Hirm. If we recognize

Hirm and believe in Hirm, it's only our good fortune. Hes teaches us only because of our suffering and our sincere prayers. So Hes says, "All right! If you want to feel good, want comfort, and to be wise, intelligent and relaxed, believe in Me and worship Me only. Then you'll be fine."

God didn't force anyone. Hes only spoke the truth. Apart from the truth, what can you tell your child? You can't, only out of politeness, tell your child, "All right! It's fine whether you recognize us as your parents or not. You can go next door and take the people there as your parents." Can you tell your child that? If he does what you tell him, he'll go astray, live a difficult life, wander around, and have no money and no food, and no one will take him as their child. People usually don't take care of other people's children. Although he may get food and clothes in an orphanage, he won't have a comfortable life, family feelings and the pampering love of real parents. Humans not only need food and clothes, but also the love of the parents. If children are brought up by their neighbors and have no relationship with their parents, they'll look dull when they grow up.

Due to love for their child, parents should clearly tell him, "You're my child. If you leave home, you'll have a hard time. If you want to have a comfortable and nice life, just trust us and let us take care of you!" Do parents have to be polite or feel embarrassed to say that? When we tell the truth without being arrogant, we shouldn't feel embarrassed.

Sometimes when you hear what I say, you think that I ought to feel embarrassed, but I don't. I would feel afraid and embarrassed if I were deceiving you. Could I deceive so many of you? No way! Some of you are teachers, doctors and business people with high IQs. I couldn't deceive you for long. So I just tell you the truth. Since I tell you the truth, it's all right whether you believe me or not. I won't feel embarrassed. If we want to be good to a person, we should always tell the truth. Only when someone has a bad intention for others, then he will speak cautiously.

We've Gone Too Far Away From God If We Worship Graven Images Of Hirm We've gone halfway through the second commandment, which is, Thou shalt not make any graven image; thou shalt not bow down to it. Why was God especially concerned about these things? Because human beings have intelligence, wisdom and the ability to do things. So if we worship a piece of wood or a stone which doesn't move and has no consciousness, aren't we being very dumb? Then why do some people still do it and think that they're fine?

The father of our nation, Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, was wise. No wonder people all revere him as a national father. He broke a wooden statue and asked people why they said that it was the Buddha, didn't he? (A: Yes!) I think that he was great. A person who has wisdom possesses strong charisma. No wonder he succeeded and is venerated by people until today. We can't envy him, because he deserved it!

I heard that he saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva when he went to Putuo Mountain. This indicates that he had faith and was pure. He was a Catholic. If he had been attached to the Catholic idols, he would have seen only Jesus Christ. Since he

saw Quan Yin Bodhisattva, it meant that he had no discrimination and was really pure. Hence, the Bodhisattva didn't discriminate against him, "It's all right that you worship Jesus Christ. I'm just appearing to you to let you have a look." This indicates that he was very pure and was a very good person.

Of course, he had taken part in battles and possibly killed some people, but that was inevitable. I've told you that you should apply the precepts according to the situation! If you're a soldier and you have to kill the enemy to defend your country or due to your national law, then you don't commit a crime. Even if you kill a hundred people, you don't commit crimes or break the precepts. However, if you only injure a person due to personal animosity, you incur heavy karma.

It's because of your intent to kill. But soldiers are different; they're compelled to do it, so they don't break the precepts.

Therefore, you can't judge yourself by how many times or how badly you've broken the precepts, how many people you've killed, or what your morality is like, but by the situation and your intention. We can't only look at actions.

Sometimes, it's very difficult for ordinary people to judge others. We have to be very careful distinguishing between good and bad. Otherwise, we always misjudge. When we see that a person kills, we say, "Oh! He's bad!" When we see a person donating money to build a temple or a hospital, we say, "Oh! He's good!" It's not necessarily true! We don't know where his money came from and what the intention is of his donation. He may want to become famous or get other things by donating the money. In that case, he won't gain any merit by his action.

If we worship an image, it means that our level is too low to be repaired, that we have no wisdom and no ability to make a judgment, and that we don't know that the image is only made of a piece of wood. If we worship this piece of wood, it would be same as worshiping any piece of wood. Then it'd save the time and effort of carving and painting as well as the money. To worship an image means that we can't tell good from bad, don't know where our wisdom is, and don't understand what's recorded in the scriptures, that "The Buddha is in our hearts" or "God is within us." We just ignore the scriptures, ignore the teachings of all the masters, and ignore the words of God and the saint. We've gone too far and been too ill! Even if we have a little bit of wisdom left, when we bow down to an image, our wisdom is gone.

There is an Indian story. A woman acknowledged a master. Once she saw her master appear to her inside, and she was very happy. However, when she mixed with other people, she forgot about it. Hearing people making pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, she followed them. One day, she was ill and wasn't healed after she prayed to her master. Perhaps her master deliberately let her become ill in order to erase her bad karma. But she blamed her master for not helping her. So she worshipped images! There are many gods in India. If you go there, you can see all kinds of big gods, small gods, medium gods, fat gods and thin gods. So she just bowed down to them. Before that, she could see her master appear to her for a while. But after she bowed down to the images, her master disappeared.

When she came home, she thought, "How strange! How could this happen? The master was there a moment ago. But as soon as I bowed down, he disappeared." She felt sad and kept thinking about it for several days. She didn't want to eat, but meditated, demanding her master to appear to her and explain why he had suddenly left her. (She blamed her master again.) Since she was quite sincere, her master was moved, appeared to her, and told her, "When you worshipped the wooden statues, you degraded me to be even lower than they were! So I didn't have a place to stand. Since it was too low for me to stand, I had to run away."

Why are we called "human beings?" Because we're different than animals. We can distinguish between good and bad, high and low, moral and contemptible.

We have the ability to make our own choices. Animals are different. They'll become whatever they are trained to become. Even tigers can be tamed to behave like cats by people in the circus. Lions and elephants can also be trained to do whatever they're told to do and dare not resist. In this respect, animals are rather stupid, and they can easily lose their independence.

Human beings aren't like that. Sometimes even when people are imprisoned, they'll try to escape. When they're oppressed, they'll try to resist. When they're wronged, they'll try to clear themselves. This is because human beings have wisdom. If our great wisdom has been deceived and becomes confused so that we worship the statues of ghosts and deities, of course we'll become the most miserable and drift too far away from God! It's stated very clearly in the Buddhist scriptures, The Buddha is in one's heart, and You can't perceive the Tathagata (Buddha) through tangible light and sound. Rather than worshipping tangible forms, it's more meritorious to go home and worship our parents. This is the truth.

If you like to worship, go home and worship your parents. They're living Gods and they have God's nature within them. If you break wooden statues to have a look, you won't find anything inside them. Even if your parents are ignorant and haven't recognized their God nature, at least they have God's nature within them. It's just that they don't know about it. However, there's nothing inside wooden statues! If you truly want to worship wooden things, just worship trees.

At least there's a little bit of God's power inside living trees. Without God's power, nothing can go on living. So if we worship dead wood, a material form of a very low level, of course our wisdom and level will be degraded to an inconceivably low degree.

Therefore, God particularly reminds us to be especially cautious! Hes keeps telling us not to create images and worship them. This is because Hes is very compassionate and wants us to preserve the tiny bit of wisdom remaining in us.

If we keep on worshipping images, we'll be finished! Our tiny bit of wisdom can be developed or be destroyed. When we're with spiritual people and wise friends, our wisdom will glow more brightly and develop more. But when we're with ignorant people and follow them to worship images, we'll be contaminated and pulled down by them and our level will be degraded further. The Lord wanted Hiers people to avoid this undesirable situation, so Hes told them not to do such things; because if they did, the tiny bit of wisdom that they had would disappear.

Suppose you have a little money left. If you save it, you can use it to buy bread.

However, if you're cheated by people and use the money to buy stones, you'll lose the money and then starve to death. Besides, you'll have to carry the stones and become more exhausted. You're tired already, and yet you have to carry the stones. How can people be so stupid and be cheated to such an extent? How can stones be edible?

Therefore, your parents advise you not to buy stones and save your money, because they know that this is all you have. If you save it, you can sustain yourself for a while and think of a way later. Perhaps when you have regained your strength, you can find a job. But if you use it to buy stones, you'll be finished. You're weak and hungry already, but you'll have to carry the stones; then how can you survive? You'll die immediately! Similarly, when we worship images, we're incurable! Unless someone quickly pulls us up and imparts to us the superior wisdom, then we'll be cured; otherwise, we keep sinking down.

Yesterday, I let you watch a documentary film, which was about a group of people in India, how they make pilgrimages to mountains and rivers, how sincere they are when they bathe in the Ganges, and how sincere they are when they worship gods. However, you can see that the population in India hasn't decreased, but it's increasing, instead. And they're getting poorer. This is because they apply their sincerity in the wrong place!

Therefore, before, when I saw them doing such things, I got furious. I kept scolding as I came down the Himalayas. (Laughter) I wasn't satisfied to scold by myself. So I told some monks about it and let them scold with me. (Master laughs.) I was angry with those gods! I pointed at their noses and scolded them fiercely. Of course they didn't hear me; I was only venting my wrath. They were made of wood, so how could they hear me? I knew that very well, but it's just that I was really mad.

I saw that millions of people were being deceived, and had wasted a lot of effort, vitality and money, as well as risked their lives to climb up to the summit just to make a bow. They didn't know whether they would be able to make it home alive, because the road was very dangerous. Some people were very poor. They could only borrow or earn just enough money for the trip and they would have no money after they returned home. In order to gain merit and to worship the wooden statues, they had to come a long way. Sometimes, they had to walk on foot and their soles cracked and bled. Some of them were too poor to have shoes, so they had to walk barefoot on the icy road. I cried when I saw that!

Innumerable people were deceived. Even though they were sincere, it was useless.

If we have no spiritual friends, our wisdom will become smaller and smaller and gradually disappear. Then, we will transform into animals, plants, stones or minerals. The less wisdom we have, the lower our status will be; while the more wisdom we have, the higher our status will be. It's similar in society. If you're more knowledgeable and more intelligent, your work is more effortless, your social status is higher, your job is better, and you can make more money. But if you have no knowledge, aren't intelligent, and have no ability, you have to do

low level work. The lower level your work is, the more toilsome it is and the less the money you'll make.

A similar situation happens in the universe. If we have more wisdom, we'll become superior sentient beings; conversely, if we have less wisdom, we'll become inferior beings. Therefore, due to differences in wisdom, there are all kinds of sentient beings in the world, including insects, frogs, animals, cows, human beings, immortals, enlightened beings and God. We should aim to go upward instead of downward, because we'll suffer more on lower levels. It's not that we're afraid of anything, but that if we have a choice, why choose to suffer?

If you choose to suffer for the benefit of others, like what I've told you earlier today, I agree with you. However, if you choose to suffer not only alone, but also involving your offspring of five or six generations, I'd beg you not to do it!

I've chosen this hard path and I'm willing to stay here, because of other people's needs, and because I want to make them happy and encourage them to pursue spiritual practice and rise to higher levels. Therefore, I willingly take on this hardship. If I had chosen the hardship because I liked it, it would be different, understand? (Applause.) Our world is very painful already. So if you can choose happiness, just do it. Don't say, "Since Master has chosen hardship, we should do the same." Then you're being too stupid! If we can make many people happy by our individual suffering, it's worthwhile. However, if we deliberately look for suffering, we're idiots just like committing suicide, which isn't good!

Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain Now let's talk about the third commandment, which is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Who is God? How can we respect God if we don't even know Hiers name? If we don't know Hiers name, we can't revere Hirm as God, the Supreme Master, Anuttara Samyak Sambodya or Buddha power! We must not make use of Heirs name to swear, to vow or to curse others. Even when we use it to swear to God, it's no good. You shouldn't say, "I didn't do this.

If I'm lying to you, I'll be struck by lightning..." or things like that. We must not force others to take oaths, nor must we swear in the name of God. Some people are even worse. They use God's name to wage wars. They use God's name to kill people, to invade another country, or to abuse other people's children or women. These are examples of making bad use of God's name.

When God sends a person to Earth to represent Hirm, such as Jesus Christ or Shakyamuni Buddha, when He's in the world or after He's gone, we must respect His name, too; that is, we must respect God's name or a Master's name. We must not slander or joke about Their names nor must we say Their names casually without respect.

Why does God want us to respect Hirm or Hiers representatives? It's because, the more we respect them, the greater blessings we'll gain. Otherwise, we may never see masters and the sun for many lifetimes; we may fall in a dark place where there's no sunlight, no parents' name and no masters. That's why God tells us to respect Hiers name or Hiers representatives' names, that is, the masters' names. Only then will we have light and our inner Master will have a chance to develop. When there's a cause, there's a consequence. Like attracts

like. If we don't respect God, we'll have bad consequences. God reminds us about this only out of Hiers compassion.

It's not that God needs our respect. Many people have been worshipping Hirm or not worshipping Hirm throughout the ages, but Hes has never changed a bit.

Hes is forever neither unborn nor destroyed and neither defiled nor cleansed.

Hes only gives but never takes. Hes doesn't need anything, because everything in the universe is created by Hirm.

The Seventh Day Is The Day For Group Meditation The next commandment is, On the seventh day, thou shalt not do any work.

Respect the Sabbath Day! In the Bible, it's stated that God created the universe in six days and hence rested on the seventh day. I'm doubtful about why God needed a rest. Hes doesn't need it at all! You also think that I don't have to rest.

So, every Sunday and holiday, you always come here for a vacation and tire me to death. In that case, God is more fortunate than I am, (Master laughs) because Hes can take a rest on the seventh day.

Hes even asked us to rest with Hirm. Why? Because Hes worried that we work so hard throughout the whole week that we don't have time to remember our Selves and God. God is our inner Kingdom and our inner Buddha nature. What Hes meant was that we should get together for group meditation on the seventh day! It's stated clearly in the Bible that people must not do labor or physical work and can only get together to worship God. It implies that we should practice spiritually to look for our highest status and the greatest wisdom within.

This tradition has been passed down to today. Every Sunday, people group together in church to recite the scriptures written in the past. However, they just come to a church, read the Bible, and then go home. Besides, they have some refreshments. They eat biscuits that aren't blessed. In the past, biscuits symbolized the blessed food from the masters, for biscuits were convenient to store, cheap and light. Since there were too many people, they made biscuits very thin. People ate them not for the taste but for the blessing power contained in them.

Our popcorn here is also not very tasty but looks rather cheap. You can buy popcorn easily with money, yet you like to get it here, because ours is different!

You'd be even happier if I personally gave it to each one of you. This is what it meant. It's possible that when someone outside sees me handing popcorn to each one of you, he'd think that you came here only for popcorn. Then he may build an ashram and hand out popcorn every day, without knowing the real meaning. The person who gives popcorn must have power so that the popcorn will be blessed; otherwise, doing it is meaningless.

We spiritual practitioners naturally emit loving power that attracts people to us.

After they leave us, they feel that they've lost a very important thing, as if their vitality had been taken away. When I left Costa Rica, people cried like babies.

They said, "Oh! It seems like my flesh is being cut off, or a part of me is being cut off and taken away." That's why we like to stay together with spiritual practitioners, not because of their attire or that they're Buddhist monks with

their hair shaved, but because the intangible vibration emitted from them makes us feel very comfortable. This is just like if we have water to drink when we're thirsty, have food to eat when we're hungry, or have effective medication when we're ill. We feel very comfortable, but we can't describe it.

Similarly, the blessed biscuits are good only when they're given by a powerful person; otherwise, they're nothing if they're bought from outside. However, the biscuits are useful. They can remind people of God. Then when they go home, they may ask, "Who is God?" They may long to see Hirm. Later, they may hear someone giving a lecture and saying, "I can help you to find God." Then they'll go to that person quickly out of curiosity. In that case, the biscuits are useful; otherwise, they're virtually useless. It's not that we should group together and recite all day long, "I long to see God. I love God." No! Although God is within us, Hes can't help us if we don't find Hirm.

Respecting Our Parents Is Respecting God The next commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother. Perhaps, in Moses' time, children were not filial, so this commandment was necessary. If everyone was filial, no one would know what "being not filial" is. If people are all beautiful, we wouldn't know what "ugly" is. If all the people in a country are rich, no one would talk about poverty. For instance, this is a Buddhist country, so there are monks here. However, people in some other countries have never seen monks, so they don't know what monks are and won't talk about monks at all. Similarly, people then were not well disciplined. The Bible describes the chaotic situation at that time. After Moses was away for only forty days, the people gave up the Lord and worshipped a golden calf. They were low in spirit and lacked morality, so they changed their master in only forty days.

Of course, we're becoming more civilized and more advanced. We used to live in caves and eat raw food and live animals. We had no fire, no houses, no airplanes nor any civilized tools. Now we're more civilized, because throughout the ages, extraterrestrial beings have been coming to impart modern knowledge to us and make us become more intelligent and our children more clever.

For instance, you're now following me to practice spiritually and the children that you bear are also different! Those who were vegetarians since they were in their mother's womb look plump and rosy. Have you ever seen their arms? They have at least three to four folds of flesh. I wonder where they get the nutrition from.

They only drink milk! These kids will definitely grow up to become more intelligent than we are. And those who've been initiated in their mother's belly may become even more extraordinary when they grow up! And their children, of course, may be even more outstanding, being morally stable, emotionally steady, mentally happy, and more developed in wisdom. So our offspring will become better and better.

Look at the time of Moses. It was really chaotic. People's wisdom was very low.

God had given them a lot, manifested Hiers magical power many times, and protected them in every way. Yet, after the master was away for only forty days, they abandoned God and worshipped a golden calf, instead. Can you imagine that? In modern times, some people are also like those who worshipped the

golden calf, but they're relatively few in number. Few people who follow me will regress. This means that you're more stable and you have more wisdom. It's possibly because I have more merit so that God sends me the best disciples.

Don't take my word for it before you check your own hearts. (Master and audience laugh.)

Why must we respect our parents? Because God's love takes care of us through the law of cause and effect and through the love and physical forms of our parents. Respecting our parents is respecting God. In fact, it's not the physical forms of our parents who look after us; but it's God's love that does so. We should understand this point clearly! Life after life, the Supreme Mother through our physical mother and the Supreme Father through our physical father have been taking care of us, teaching us the basic virtues, compassion and love.

Because our parents love us, we know what love is when we grow up. This is a fact!

If we're raised in a stable and loving family, we'll become more loving, and feel more secure when we grow up. Sometimes, we see that some children do evil deeds, become scoundrels, or are accused of being criminals and imprisoned.

Don't blame them too quickly! It may be because they lacked loving care and education when they were young. It may be because their parents died very early or were too busy to look after them. Or it may be because their parents were not loved by their own parents before so that they couldn't treat their children with love.

As the sequence repeats itself, people will have less and less love and will make more and more trouble. When they go out into society, they may be treated unfairly or oppressed and lose their sense of security. Later, when they're bullied or misunderstood, due to their inferiority complexes, they'll resist, revolt, and resist society more and more. The more they resist society, the more they'll lose themselves and their love, and the more their hatred will grow. Eventually, they'll end up miserable in jail.

For the above reasons, we should be filial to our parents. If our parents don't treat us well, we ought to think that it's our retribution and unfavorable destiny.

Perhaps we owed our parents something in our previous lives and didn't repay it.

Perhaps we were bad parents in our previous lives so that we have to have bad parents in this lifetime to learn our lesson. So we have to endure it and be filial.

This'll be good for us as well as for our parents.

In Costa Rica, there was a fellow initiate who was a little more than twenty years old. Two or three days after she was initiated, she came to me crying! I asked her why she was crying. She said that she couldn't get along well with her family, especially her father. Her mother had passed away and her father didn't treat her well. He was cold, stern and hard to communicate with. He always oppressed and dominated her. So she couldn't bear it.

I asked her, "Have you ever thought that you might be just as cold and stern to your father and that you've shelved your love for him? Have you ever thought that your father also needs your love. It's not only that you need his." She was stunned and then said, "What should I do? It's possible that I've never

expressed my feelings to him." I told her, "When you go home today, buy a most beautiful red rose. Then kneel down in front of your father and offer the flower to him, hug him, and tell him, 'Although I've never shown my love to you because I forgot, I was young and not sensible, nevertheless, I love you very much.'" So she did what I told her. As a result, the two hugged and cried together. Since then, they have become very good to each other.

So one of them has to open his/her heart first. Parents work outside. They're often exhausted physically and mentally. They have many worries and many debts. In addition to heavy family responsibilities, they can hardly laugh when they're home. However, children may not understand the hardships of their parents. They may keep demanding and expecting a lot but don't realize that their parents also need some support and love. On one side, parents may be stern: "We're your parents!" They may be strict because they worry that their children won't respect them; and in addition to their heavy work pressure, they can't laugh out loud. On the other side, the children think, "Our parents are very strict. They don't love us and don't give us this and that." Then the children may get upset or harbor enmity. This will deepen the misunderstanding between both sides and broaden the generation gap. In fact, both sides are anxious and eager to hug each other. They love each other very much, but they can't express it.

You can just try to express your feelings; you don't have to feel embarrassed.

They're your family members. If you really can't communicate with them, try this method, that is, hug each other first and talk later. When you tell them truly out of sincerity, your words will be touching. You'll gradually communicate with each other and understand that the other side also has feelings and love, and then you'll reconcile with them. Family members always love each other. But sometimes they're too proud to be the first to speak out. So both sides lock themselves up and wait for the other to knock. However, no one ever knocks first. (Master laughs.) And then both sides become anxious.

Sometimes this happens to husbands and wives, too. They want very much to reconcile, but both are waiting and no one takes the initiative. As days go by, the atmosphere remains tense and stern. Although they've forgiven each other inside, they can't put aside their pride but worry about losing face and what the other party may think of them. "Will he/she ridicule me for giving in?" In fact, that won't happen. It doesn't matter even if your husband laughs at you; he's your partner! It's also fine if your wife laughs at you! In fact, she won't. She's only waiting for you to apologize to her. Now you understand!

Why do we have to respect our parents? Because they work hard for us. The precious bodies that we are able to have were given by our parents; not by the physical entities of our parents, but by the grace of God's love acting through them. Therefore, we should respect them in order to respect God. Everything is created by God. Hes gives us birth through the bodies of our parents, but not that our parents do that themselves. However, since our parents have God's love within, that is, since they have God inside them, when they love us, they have God's loving power. They're very noble, gracious and superior beings. So how can we not respect them?

The Subtle Meaning Of "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

Now the next commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. It means to refrain from killing. I've expounded on this millions of times. However, don't always think that it's good enough if we don't kill; sometimes when we try to save a life, we're killing. Have you heard me tell the story about two nuns trying to save a centipede? I don't have many examples to cite on this; I only remember that story.

One day when I went to take a bath and brush my teeth, I saw a centipede in my cup. The cup was covered with a piece of cloth. When I lifted off the cloth, I saw a centipede in it. I was frightened, of course. The centipede was also frightened. (Laughter) So I screamed, "Ah!" (Master laughs.) That was a natural reaction. Since the centipede couldn't go "Ah," it jumped. So both of us were scared. Hearing this, two attendants outside quickly ran in and asked, "What's the matter, Master?" I said, "I'm all right. There's a centipede." (Master and audience laugh.) Then they said, "Okay. Master, you may go out and let us handle it." I said, "Okay. Be careful! Handle it if you wish!" There was a basin outside. So I brushed my teeth there.

A long time after I had brushed my teeth, I still didn't see them come out.

(Laughter) So I asked, "Are you done with it?" They replied, "Not yet!" I said, "How can two of you not be able to handle only one centipede?" (Master and audience laugh.) I went inside to have a look. Well! I heard a noise, "Tze, Tze, Tze, Tze." I asked, "What are you doing?" They said that they were trying to drive it away to with the shower head, but the centipede wouldn't move! I said, "Of course, it won't. It's surrounded by water." (Laughter.) If I spray you like that with the shower head, wouldn't you drown? The centipede was very small and was surrounded by water. It could hardly breathe. How could it possibly run away? It didn't know where to run!

Well! The centipede almost drowned. I saw it going "Hu, Hu, Hu." It was calling for help. So I said, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Let me handle it myself." They were really great and compassionate for "not killing it," but trying to drive it away with water, flushing and surrounding it with water... Even if we were the centipede, we would have drown. The centipede was very small. When they kept doing that, the centipede couldn't withstand it! So I said, "Forget it! Leave the centipede alone!" So that was how they were trying to save a life.

Therefore, it's not good enough to just refrain from killing. We have to be cautious. When we walk, we have to be careful and watch out for insects. The sink where we wash our faces and brush our teeth should be covered up or be drained to prevent insects from drowning inside. The oil lamps in temples are also professional killers. They're supposed to be offerings to the Buddha, but they're filled with corpses of insects. Since the oil lamps are uncovered, insects are killed instantly as soon as they fall in.

When I lived in a temple before, each morning when I wiped the altar table, I always saw the lamps filled with dead sentient beings. I supposed that the Buddha wouldn't be pleased with it! In ancient times, since there were no other kinds of lights available, people had to use oil lamps. But now we have electric lights, yet people still stubbornly insist on using oil lamps. In ancient times, people used oil lamps and fragrant oil to make offerings to the Buddha.

Why did people light oil lamps to make offerings to the Buddha? Because oil lamps could illuminate the road for Him. In addition, they were to lit up the face of the Buddha to let people see. They were also used to light up the hallways in the temples, just like our road lamps here. However, in ancient times, people covered up oil lamps. Shakyamuni Buddha also instructed that when oil lamps were lit or put out, they should be covered up to prevent insects from being injured or burnt. Nowadays, people use big pots of oil as oil lamps. In the temples in Tibet, hundreds of oil lamps are lit all day and all night. First of all, they waste oil. Secondly, they kill lots of sentient beings. When we pursue spiritual practice, we're supposed to refrain from killing and deliver sentient beings' lives, but we actually harm them, instead.

Therefore, we must be careful. Refraining from killing includes a broader sense.

Not only killing with a knife is killing. Of course, we should avoid killing if possible. We don't intent to kill by lighting oil lamps. However, we can avoid it, by not using oil lamps. The Buddha didn't say that we must make offerings to Him with oil lamps. In case some places have no oil, how can people make offerings? Whatever we offer, the most important thing is our intention. Besides, the lamp actually refers to the lamp within us! Of course the scriptures point out that all temples should light lamps or fires all the time so that people can see the paths and go to meditate. It's the same in our ashram! When you come at midnight, or during a seven-day retreat we get up at three or four o'clock. If there were no lamps in temples or ashrams, how could you see where you are going? You might step on other people's heads, or some male practitioners may go to sit in the females' place and some females may go to sit in the males' place, causing embarrassment. So this is the reason for having lights. It's not that the Buddha needs any lights!

For instance, when I sit here, you always shine bright lights on me to let people see me, but it's not that I need the lights. So all kinds of lights are fine as long as you can see me. However, as to the wooden Buddhas, no one comes to see them at night. Visitors only come in the daytime. So no lights are needed at all in the night. Besides, all the temples have electric lights now and it's easy to turn them on to allow people to practice their morning and evening services.

What I mean is that we should avoid killing if possible. There are many other things, but I can't go through all of them. As to any insects or bugs, we should avoid killing them if possible. Similarly, we should avoid cutting grass and trees if possible. If there is no other way, we can cut them, of course, to build houses or for hygiene. We can do it when necessary. However, it's different if we destroy them with a vicious heart for no reason.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Not Steal, Not Lie Another commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That is, to refrain from having more than one husband or wife. I've explained the reason. If you have too many husbands, you won't have any next time. Suppose you have seven husbands. Then in the next seven lifetimes, no one will marry you, because you once had too many! For example, you make ten thousand NT a week. If you spend it all in one day, of course you have no money left for the rest of the week.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. This everyone understands, and I've talked about it many times. There are many kinds of stealing, and stealing money is only one kind. It's okay to steal if you're starving, but don't do it if you have money. Stealing also includes casually receiving offerings from people. As well, you must not hint at people to offer! Sometimes when we talk for too long, we're also stealing, that is, stealing people's time. When people are impatient with you, you still keep on babbling. That's also stealing.

If we sell something for ten dollars when it's actually worth only two dollars (if we say that it's very good when it's actually not and only worth two dollars, but we sell it for ten dollars) and cheat others to buy more, this is wrong and is stealing, too. Stealing doesn't only mean to go out and steal. When we go to work and see that the boss isn't there, so we slip away and go home early, it's also stealing. If we take home something from the factory that the boss didn't give us, it's stealing, too. When we live in a group, there are many things there for the public, not only for us. It's stealing if we take something that isn't given to us.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You understand this one already, and I've also talked about it many times. It's explained at the time of initiation, too. There are many kinds of lying.

The worst kind is that, our spiritual level is low, but we cheat others that we've attained a higher level by saying some mysterious things. We coax people into believing that our level is higher than theirs by talking about mystical things. We hide our real level and make people think that we know many things that they don't know. To cheat people in this way is the biggest lie. For another instance, after a Master passes away, some people like to become masters and then cheat people that they're the successors. By doing that, they incur the worst karma.

Sometimes we make a mistake. And when people ask us about it, we don't admit it but let Master or our boss punish the whole group. This is also lying and is bad, too! If we admit our mistake, it'd be fine. Don't involve other people in it.

Sometimes, I have to punish those people. It's okay if they make a small mistake. But they don't admit it and the issue becomes worse and involves the whole group. They wouldn't be punished because of the small mistake, but since it involved the whole group and made a lot of noise, I have to punish them. They didn't admit it, but forced me to bother the whole group and question people one by one, and still didn't confess, of course I'd have to punish them. I'd punish them for lying, but not for the trivial matter.

Don't Covet Other People's Belongings Another commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... Of course we shouldn't covet other people's belongings. We wouldn't accept them even if people gave them to us, not to mention coveting other people's things.

I've told you that if we accept other people's offerings that we don't deserve, we're only taking their karma. However, we don't know whether we deserve it or not, so we had better not accept any, unless people really force us to accept it.

If we have no alternative, we should just accept it and then give it to someone else or give them something in return.

I think that the Chinese understand this rule very well. During the Chinese New Year, people give gifts to each other. After gifts are passed on too many times, the gift that you gave earlier may come back to you. Is that not so? This is also fine! At least we won't owe others anything. The Americans have a tradition, that is, when two people go out for coffee, each one will pay his own bill. This is also good! They don't have to display false courtesy, and then fuss about who drinks more and who drinks less, (Master and audience laugh), or they may feel embarrassed.

There is a very funny Au Lacese story. Two people went out to eat a kind of food called jackfruit. It's a kind of fruit that has spines outside and looks very ugly.

It's this fat and this big with many seeds and sweet knobby flesh inside. These two people reached an agreement, "We don't know who will eat more and who will eat less, of course. So we'll count the seeds, and then we'll know how much each person should pay." After they both agreed, they went out to share a big jackfruit together.

One of them was very honest, but the other swallowed all the seeds. (Master and audience laugh.) Seeing that, the first person didn't say anything. After finishing eating, the first person suddenly screamed, "Oh! My stomach hurts very much! My stomach really hurts!" He rolled on the floor and kept on screaming. The second person wasn't done eating yet. While eating, he asked, "What's wrong with you?" The first person said, "I accidentally swallowed a seed.

Now it's growing. Oh! It's getting bigger and bigger. Oh! It has grown up to here now! (Master points to Her chest.) Oh! It's up to here now! (Master points to Her throat.) Oh! Quickly think of a way to save me! Why is it growing so fast?" The other person was frightened to death. He asked, "You swallowed only one seed and it has grown this big. (Laughter.) What will happen to me since I've swallowed five seeds?" (Master and audience laugh. Applause) So don't swallow any fruit seeds! (Master and audience laugh.)

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Not Steal, Not Lie Another commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That is, to refrain from having more than one husband or wife. I've explained the reason. If you have too many husbands, you won't have any next time. Suppose you have seven husbands. Then in the next seven lifetimes, no one will marry you, because you once had too many! For example, you make ten thousand NT a week. If you spend it all in one day, of course you have no money left for the rest of the week.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. This everyone understands, and I've talked about it many times. There are many kinds of stealing, and stealing money is only one kind. It's okay to steal if you're starving, but don't do it if you have money. Stealing also includes casually receiving offerings from people. As well, you must not hint at people to offer! Sometimes when we talk for too long, we're also stealing, that is, stealing people's time. When people are impatient with you, you still keep on babbling. That's also stealing.

If we sell something for ten dollars when it's actually worth only two dollars (if we say that it's very good when it's actually not and only worth two dollars, but

we sell it for ten dollars) and cheat others to buy more, this is wrong and is stealing, too. Stealing doesn't only mean to go out and steal. When we go to work and see that the boss isn't there, so we slip away and go home early, it's also stealing. If we take home something from the factory that the boss didn't give us, it's stealing, too. When we live in a group, there are many things there for the public, not only for us. It's stealing if we take something that isn't given to us.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You understand this one already, and I've also talked about it many times. It's explained at the time of initiation, too. There are many kinds of lying.

The worst kind is that, our spiritual level is low, but we cheat others that we've attained a higher level by saying some mysterious things. We coax people into believing that our level is higher than theirs by talking about mystical things. We hide our real level and make people think that we know many things that they don't know. To cheat people in this way is the biggest lie. For another instance, after a Master passes away, some people like to become masters and then cheat people that they're the successors. By doing that, they incur the worst karma.

Sometimes we make a mistake. And when people ask us about it, we don't admit it but let Master or our boss punish the whole group. This is also lying and is bad, too! If we admit our mistake, it'd be fine. Don't involve other people in it.

Sometimes, I have to punish those people. It's okay if they make a small mistake. But they don't admit it and the issue becomes worse and involves the whole group. They wouldn't be punished because of the small mistake, but since it involved the whole group and made a lot of noise, I have to punish them. They didn't admit it, but forced me to bother the whole group and question people one by one, and still didn't confess, of course I'd have to punish them. I'd punish them for lying, but not for the trivial matter.

Don't Covet Other People's Belongings Another commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... Of course we shouldn't covet other people's belongings. We wouldn't accept them even if people gave them to us, not to mention coveting other people's things.

I've told you that if we accept other people's offerings that we don't deserve, we're only taking their karma. However, we don't know whether we deserve it or not, so we had better not accept any, unless people really force us to accept it.

If we have no alternative, we should just accept it and then give it to someone else or give them something in return.

I think that the Chinese understand this rule very well. During the Chinese New Year, people give gifts to each other. After gifts are passed on too many times, the gift that you gave earlier may come back to you. Is that not so? This is also fine! At least we won't owe others anything. The Americans have a tradition, that is, when two people go out for coffee, each one will pay his own bill. This is also good! They don't have to display false courtesy, and then fuss about who drinks more and who drinks less, (Master and audience laugh), or they may feel embarrassed.

There is a very funny Au Lacese story. Two people went out to eat a kind of food called jackfruit. It's a kind of fruit that has spines outside and looks very ugly.

It's this fat and this big with many seeds and sweet knobby flesh inside. These two people reached an agreement, "We don't know who will eat more and who will eat less, of course. So we'll count the seeds, and then we'll know how much each person should pay." After they both agreed, they went out to share a big jackfruit together.

One of them was very honest, but the other swallowed all the seeds. (Master and audience laugh.) Seeing that, the first person didn't say anything. After finishing eating, the first person suddenly screamed, "Oh! My stomach hurts very much! My stomach really hurts!" He rolled on the floor and kept on screaming. The second person wasn't done eating yet. While eating, he asked, "What's wrong with you?" The first person said, "I accidentally swallowed a seed.

Now it's growing. Oh! It's getting bigger and bigger. Oh! It has grown up to here now! (Master points to Her chest.) Oh! It's up to here now! (Master points to Her throat.) Oh! Quickly think of a way to save me! Why is it growing so fast?" The other person was frightened to death. He asked, "You swallowed only one seed and it has grown this big. (Laughter.) What will happen to me since I've swallowed five seeds?" (Master and audience laugh. Applause) So don't swallow any fruit seeds! (Master and audience laugh.)

Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain Now let's talk about the third commandment, which is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Who is God? How can we respect God if we don't even know Hiers name? If we don't know Hiers name, we can't revere Hirm as God, the Supreme Master, Anuttara Samyak Sambodya or Buddha power! We must not make use of Heirs name to swear, to vow or to curse others. Even when we use it to swear to God, it's no good. You shouldn't say, "I didn't do this.

If I'm lying to you, I'll be struck by lightning..." or things like that. We must not force others to take oaths, nor must we swear in the name of God. Some people are even worse. They use God's name to wage wars. They use God's name to kill people, to invade another country, or to abuse other people's children or women. These are examples of making bad use of God's name.

When God sends a person to Earth to represent Hirm, such as Jesus Christ or Shakyamuni Buddha, when He's in the world or after He's gone, we must respect His name, too; that is, we must respect God's name or a Master's name. We must not slander or joke about Their names nor must we say Their names casually without respect.

Why does God want us to respect Hirm or Hiers representatives? It's because, the more we respect them, the greater blessings we'll gain. Otherwise, we may never see masters and the sun for many lifetimes; we may fall in a dark place where there's no sunlight, no parents' name and no masters. That's why God tells us to respect Hiers name or Hiers representatives' names, that is, the masters' names. Only then will we have light and our inner Master will have a chance to develop. When there's a cause, there's a consequence. Like attracts like. If we don't respect God, we'll have bad consequences. God reminds us about this only out of Hiers compassion.

It's not that God needs our respect. Many people have been worshipping Hirm or not worshipping Hirm throughout the ages, but Hes has never changed a bit.

Hes is forever neither unborn nor destroyed and neither defiled nor cleansed.

Hes only gives but never takes. Hes doesn't need anything, because everything in the universe is created by Hirm.

The Seventh Day Is The Day For Group Meditation The next commandment is, On the seventh day, thou shalt not do any work.

Respect the Sabbath Day! In the Bible, it's stated that God created the universe in six days and hence rested on the seventh day. I'm doubtful about why God needed a rest. Hes doesn't need it at all! You also think that I don't have to rest.

So, every Sunday and holiday, you always come here for a vacation and tire me to death. In that case, God is more fortunate than I am, (Master laughs) because Hes can take a rest on the seventh day.

Hes even asked us to rest with Hirm. Why? Because Hes worried that we work so hard throughout the whole week that we don't have time to remember our Selves and God. God is our inner Kingdom and our inner Buddha nature. What Hes meant was that we should get together for group meditation on the seventh day! It's stated clearly in the Bible that people must not do labor or physical work and can only get together to worship God. It implies that we should practice spiritually to look for our highest status and the greatest wisdom within.

This tradition has been passed down to today. Every Sunday, people group together in church to recite the scriptures written in the past. However, they just come to a church, read the Bible, and then go home. Besides, they have some refreshments. They eat biscuits that aren't blessed. In the past, biscuits symbolized the blessed food from the masters, for biscuits were convenient to store, cheap and light. Since there were too many people, they made biscuits very thin. People ate them not for the taste but for the blessing power contained in them.

Our popcorn here is also not very tasty but looks rather cheap. You can buy popcorn easily with money, yet you like to get it here, because ours is different!

You'd be even happier if I personally gave it to each one of you. This is what it meant. It's possible that when someone outside sees me handing popcorn to each one of you, he'd think that you came here only for popcorn. Then he may build an ashram and hand out popcorn every day, without knowing the real meaning. The person who gives popcorn must have power so that the popcorn will be blessed; otherwise, doing it is meaningless.

We spiritual practitioners naturally emit loving power that attracts people to us.

After they leave us, they feel that they've lost a very important thing, as if their vitality had been taken away. When I left Costa Rica, people cried like babies.

They said, "Oh! It seems like my flesh is being cut off, or a part of me is being cut off and taken away." That's why we like to stay together with spiritual practitioners, not because of their attire or that they're Buddhist monks with their hair shaved, but because the intangible vibration emitted from them makes us feel very comfortable. This is just like if we have water to drink when we're

thirsty, have food to eat when we're hungry, or have effective medication when we're ill. We feel very comfortable, but we can't describe it.

Similarly, the blessed biscuits are good only when they're given by a powerful person; otherwise, they're nothing if they're bought from outside. However, the biscuits are useful. They can remind people of God. Then when they go home, they may ask, "Who is God?" They may long to see Hirm. Later, they may hear someone giving a lecture and saying, "I can help you to find God." Then they'll go to that person quickly out of curiosity. In that case, the biscuits are useful; otherwise, they're virtually useless. It's not that we should group together and recite all day long, "I long to see God. I love God." No! Although God is within us, Hes can't help us if we don't find Hirm.

Respecting Our Parents Is Respecting God The next commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother. Perhaps, in Moses' time, children were not filial, so this commandment was necessary. If everyone was filial, no one would know what "being not filial" is. If people are all beautiful, we wouldn't know what "ugly" is. If all the people in a country are rich, no one would talk about poverty. For instance, this is a Buddhist country, so there are monks here. However, people in some other countries have never seen monks, so they don't know what monks are and won't talk about monks at all. Similarly, people then were not well disciplined. The Bible describes the chaotic situation at that time. After Moses was away for only forty days, the people gave up the Lord and worshipped a golden calf. They were low in spirit and lacked morality, so they changed their master in only forty days.

Of course, we're becoming more civilized and more advanced. We used to live in caves and eat raw food and live animals. We had no fire, no houses, no airplanes nor any civilized tools. Now we're more civilized, because throughout the ages, extraterrestrial beings have been coming to impart modern knowledge to us and make us become more intelligent and our children more clever.

For instance, you're now following me to practice spiritually and the children that you bear are also different! Those who were vegetarians since they were in their mother's womb look plump and rosy. Have you ever seen their arms? They have at least three to four folds of flesh. I wonder where they get the nutrition from.

They only drink milk! These kids will definitely grow up to become more intelligent than we are. And those who've been initiated in their mother's belly may become even more extraordinary when they grow up! And their children, of course, may be even more outstanding, being morally stable, emotionally steady, mentally happy, and more developed in wisdom. So our offspring will become better and better.

Look at the time of Moses. It was really chaotic. People's wisdom was very low.

God had given them a lot, manifested Hiers magical power many times, and protected them in every way. Yet, after the master was away for only forty days, they abandoned God and worshipped a golden calf, instead. Can you imagine that? In modern times, some people are also like those who worshipped the golden calf, but they're relatively few in number. Few people who follow me will regress. This means that you're more stable and you have more wisdom. It's

possibly because I have more merit so that God sends me the best disciples.

Don't take my word for it before you check your own hearts. (Master and audience laugh.)

Why must we respect our parents? Because God's love takes care of us through the law of cause and effect and through the love and physical forms of our parents. Respecting our parents is respecting God. In fact, it's not the physical forms of our parents who look after us; but it's God's love that does so. We should understand this point clearly! Life after life, the Supreme Mother through our physical mother and the Supreme Father through our physical father have been taking care of us, teaching us the basic virtues, compassion and love.

Because our parents love us, we know what love is when we grow up. This is a fact!

If we're raised in a stable and loving family, we'll become more loving, and feel more secure when we grow up. Sometimes, we see that some children do evil deeds, become scoundrels, or are accused of being criminals and imprisoned.

Don't blame them too quickly! It may be because they lacked loving care and education when they were young. It may be because their parents died very early or were too busy to look after them. Or it may be because their parents were not loved by their own parents before so that they couldn't treat their children with love.

As the sequence repeats itself, people will have less and less love and will make more and more trouble. When they go out into society, they may be treated unfairly or oppressed and lose their sense of security. Later, when they're bullied or misunderstood, due to their inferiority complexes, they'll resist, revolt, and resist society more and more. The more they resist society, the more they'll lose themselves and their love, and the more their hatred will grow. Eventually, they'll end up miserable in jail.

For the above reasons, we should be filial to our parents. If our parents don't treat us well, we ought to think that it's our retribution and unfavorable destiny.

Perhaps we owed our parents something in our previous lives and didn't repay it.

Perhaps we were bad parents in our previous lives so that we have to have bad parents in this lifetime to learn our lesson. So we have to endure it and be filial.

This'll be good for us as well as for our parents.

In Costa Rica, there was a fellow initiate who was a little more than twenty years old. Two or three days after she was initiated, she came to me crying! I asked her why she was crying. She said that she couldn't get along well with her family, especially her father. Her mother had passed away and her father didn't treat her well. He was cold, stern and hard to communicate with. He always oppressed and dominated her. So she couldn't bear it.

I asked her, "Have you ever thought that you might be just as cold and stern to your father and that you've shelved your love for him? Have you ever thought that your father also needs your love. It's not only that you need his." She was stunned and then said, "What should I do? It's possible that I've never expressed my feelings to him." I told her, "When you go home today, buy a most beautiful red rose. Then kneel down in front of your father and offer the

flower to him, hug him, and tell him, 'Although I've never shown my love to you because I forgot, I was young and not sensible, nevertheless, I love you very much.'" So she did what I told her. As a result, the two hugged and cried together. Since then, they have become very good to each other.

So one of them has to open his/her heart first. Parents work outside. They're often exhausted physically and mentally. They have many worries and many debts. In addition to heavy family responsibilities, they can hardly laugh when they're home. However, children may not understand the hardships of their parents. They may keep demanding and expecting a lot but don't realize that their parents also need some support and love. On one side, parents may be stern: "We're your parents!" They may be strict because they worry that their children won't respect them; and in addition to their heavy work pressure, they can't laugh out loud. On the other side, the children think, "Our parents are very strict. They don't love us and don't give us this and that." Then the children may get upset or harbor enmity. This will deepen the misunderstanding between both sides and broaden the generation gap. In fact, both sides are anxious and eager to hug each other. They love each other very much, but they can't express it.

You can just try to express your feelings; you don't have to feel embarrassed.

They're your family members. If you really can't communicate with them, try this method, that is, hug each other first and talk later. When you tell them truly out of sincerity, your words will be touching. You'll gradually communicate with each other and understand that the other side also has feelings and love, and then you'll reconcile with them. Family members always love each other. But sometimes they're too proud to be the first to speak out. So both sides lock themselves up and wait for the other to knock. However, no one ever knocks first. (Master laughs.) And then both sides become anxious.

Sometimes this happens to husbands and wives, too. They want very much to reconcile, but both are waiting and no one takes the initiative. As days go by, the atmosphere remains tense and stern. Although they've forgiven each other inside, they can't put aside their pride but worry about losing face and what the other party may think of them. "Will he/she ridicule me for giving in?" In fact, that won't happen. It doesn't matter even if your husband laughs at you; he's your partner! It's also fine if your wife laughs at you! In fact, she won't. She's only waiting for you to apologize to her. Now you understand!

Why do we have to respect our parents? Because they work hard for us. The precious bodies that we are able to have were given by our parents; not by the physical entities of our parents, but by the grace of God's love acting through them. Therefore, we should respect them in order to respect God. Everything is created by God. Hes gives us birth through the bodies of our parents, but not that our parents do that themselves. However, since our parents have God's love within, that is, since they have God inside them, when they love us, they have God's loving power. They're very noble, gracious and superior beings. So how can we not respect them?

The Subtle Meaning Of "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

Now the next commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. It means to refrain from killing. I've expounded on this millions of times. However, don't always think that it's good enough if we don't kill; sometimes when we try to save a life, we're killing. Have you heard me tell the story about two nuns trying to save a centipede? I don't have many examples to cite on this; I only remember that story.

One day when I went to take a bath and brush my teeth, I saw a centipede in my cup. The cup was covered with a piece of cloth. When I lifted off the cloth, I saw a centipede in it. I was frightened, of course. The centipede was also frightened. (Laughter) So I screamed, "Ah!" (Master laughs.) That was a natural reaction. Since the centipede couldn't go "Ah," it jumped. So both of us were scared. Hearing this, two attendants outside quickly ran in and asked, "What's the matter, Master?" I said, "I'm all right. There's a centipede." (Master and audience laugh.) Then they said, "Okay. Master, you may go out and let us handle it." I said, "Okay. Be careful! Handle it if you wish!" There was a basin outside. So I brushed my teeth there.

A long time after I had brushed my teeth, I still didn't see them come out.

(Laughter) So I asked, "Are you done with it?" They replied, "Not yet!" I said, "How can two of you not be able to handle only one centipede?" (Master and audience laugh.) I went inside to have a look. Well! I heard a noise, "Tze, Tze, Tze, Tze." I asked, "What are you doing?" They said that they were trying to drive it away to with the shower head, but the centipede wouldn't move! I said, "Of course, it won't. It's surrounded by water." (Laughter.) If I spray you like that with the shower head, wouldn't you drown? The centipede was very small and was surrounded by water. It could hardly breathe. How could it possibly run away? It didn't know where to run!

Well! The centipede almost drowned. I saw it going "Hu, Hu, Hu." It was calling for help. So I said, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Let me handle it myself." They were really great and compassionate for "not killing it," but trying to drive it away with water, flushing and surrounding it with water... Even if we were the centipede, we would have drown. The centipede was very small. When they kept doing that, the centipede couldn't withstand it! So I said, "Forget it! Leave the centipede alone!" So that was how they were trying to save a life.

Therefore, it's not good enough to just refrain from killing. We have to be cautious. When we walk, we have to be careful and watch out for insects. The sink where we wash our faces and brush our teeth should be covered up or be drained to prevent insects from drowning inside. The oil lamps in temples are also professional killers. They're supposed to be offerings to the Buddha, but they're filled with corpses of insects. Since the oil lamps are uncovered, insects are killed instantly as soon as they fall in.

When I lived in a temple before, each morning when I wiped the altar table, I always saw the lamps filled with dead sentient beings. I supposed that the Buddha wouldn't be pleased with it! In ancient times, since there were no other kinds of lights available, people had to use oil lamps. But now we have electric lights, yet people still stubbornly insist on using oil lamps. In ancient times, people used oil lamps and fragrant oil to make offerings to the Buddha.

Why did people light oil lamps to make offerings to the Buddha? Because oil lamps could illuminate the road for Him. In addition, they were to lit up the face of the Buddha to let people see. They were also used to light up the hallways in the temples, just like our road lamps here. However, in ancient times, people covered up oil lamps. Shakyamuni Buddha also instructed that when oil lamps were lit or put out, they should be covered up to prevent insects from being injured or burnt. Nowadays, people use big pots of oil as oil lamps. In the temples in Tibet, hundreds of oil lamps are lit all day and all night. First of all, they waste oil. Secondly, they kill lots of sentient beings. When we pursue spiritual practice, we're supposed to refrain from killing and deliver sentient beings' lives, but we actually harm them, instead.

Therefore, we must be careful. Refraining from killing includes a broader sense.

Not only killing with a knife is killing. Of course, we should avoid killing if possible. We don't intent to kill by lighting oil lamps. However, we can avoid it, by not using oil lamps. The Buddha didn't say that we must make offerings to Him with oil lamps. In case some places have no oil, how can people make offerings? Whatever we offer, the most important thing is our intention. Besides, the lamp actually refers to the lamp within us! Of course the scriptures point out that all temples should light lamps or fires all the time so that people can see the paths and go to meditate. It's the same in our ashram! When you come at midnight, or during a seven-day retreat we get up at three or four o'clock. If there were no lamps in temples or ashrams, how could you see where you are going? You might step on other people's heads, or some male practitioners may go to sit in the females' place and some females may go to sit in the males' place, causing embarrassment. So this is the reason for having lights. It's not that the Buddha needs any lights!

For instance, when I sit here, you always shine bright lights on me to let people see me, but it's not that I need the lights. So all kinds of lights are fine as long as you can see me. However, as to the wooden Buddhas, no one comes to see them at night. Visitors only come in the daytime. So no lights are needed at all in the night. Besides, all the temples have electric lights now and it's easy to turn them on to allow people to practice their morning and evening services.

What I mean is that we should avoid killing if possible. There are many other things, but I can't go through all of them. As to any insects or bugs, we should avoid killing them if possible. Similarly, we should avoid cutting grass and trees if possible. If there is no other way, we can cut them, of course, to build houses or for hygiene. We can do it when necessary. However, it's different if we destroy them with a vicious heart for no reason.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Not Steal, Not Lie Another commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That is, to refrain from having more than one husband or wife. I've explained the reason. If you have too many husbands, you won't have any next time. Suppose you have seven husbands. Then in the next seven lifetimes, no one will marry you, because you once had too many! For example, you make ten thousand NT a week. If you spend it all in one day, of course you have no money left for the rest of the week.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. This everyone understands, and I've talked about it many times. There are many kinds of stealing, and stealing money is only one kind. It's okay to steal if you're starving, but don't do it if you have money. Stealing also includes casually receiving offerings from people. As well, you must not hint at people to offer! Sometimes when we talk for too long, we're also stealing, that is, stealing people's time. When people are impatient with you, you still keep on babbling. That's also stealing.

If we sell something for ten dollars when it's actually worth only two dollars (if we say that it's very good when it's actually not and only worth two dollars, but we sell it for ten dollars) and cheat others to buy more, this is wrong and is stealing, too. Stealing doesn't only mean to go out and steal. When we go to work and see that the boss isn't there, so we slip away and go home early, it's also stealing. If we take home something from the factory that the boss didn't give us, it's stealing, too. When we live in a group, there are many things there for the public, not only for us. It's stealing if we take something that isn't given to us.

The next commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. You understand this one already, and I've also talked about it many times. It's explained at the time of initiation, too. There are many kinds of lying.

The worst kind is that, our spiritual level is low, but we cheat others that we've attained a higher level by saying some mysterious things. We coax people into believing that our level is higher than theirs by talking about mystical things. We hide our real level and make people think that we know many things that they don't know. To cheat people in this way is the biggest lie. For another instance, after a Master passes away, some people like to become masters and then cheat people that they're the successors. By doing that, they incur the worst karma.

Sometimes we make a mistake. And when people ask us about it, we don't admit it but let Master or our boss punish the whole group. This is also lying and is bad, too! If we admit our mistake, it'd be fine. Don't involve other people in it.

Sometimes, I have to punish those people. It's okay if they make a small mistake. But they don't admit it and the issue becomes worse and involves the whole group. They wouldn't be punished because of the small mistake, but since it involved the whole group and made a lot of noise, I have to punish them. They didn't admit it, but forced me to bother the whole group and question people one by one, and still didn't confess, of course I'd have to punish them. I'd punish them for lying, but not for the trivial matter.

Don't Covet Other People's Belongings Another commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... Of course we shouldn't covet other people's belongings. We wouldn't accept them even if people gave them to us, not to mention coveting other people's things.

I've told you that if we accept other people's offerings that we don't deserve, we're only taking their karma. However, we don't know whether we deserve it or not, so we had better not accept any, unless people really force us to accept it.

If we have no alternative, we should just accept it and then give it to someone else or give them something in return.

I think that the Chinese understand this rule very well. During the Chinese New Year, people give gifts to each other. After gifts are passed on too many times, the gift that you gave earlier may come back to you. Is that not so? This is also fine! At least we won't owe others anything. The Americans have a tradition, that is, when two people go out for coffee, each one will pay his own bill. This is also good! They don't have to display false courtesy, and then fuss about who drinks more and who drinks less, (Master and audience laugh), or they may feel embarrassed.

There is a very funny Au Lacese story. Two people went out to eat a kind of food called jackfruit. It's a kind of fruit that has spines outside and looks very ugly.

It's this fat and this big with many seeds and sweet knobby flesh inside. These two people reached an agreement, "We don't know who will eat more and who will eat less, of course. So we'll count the seeds, and then we'll know how much each person should pay." After they both agreed, they went out to share a big jackfruit together.

One of them was very honest, but the other swallowed all the seeds. (Master and audience laugh.) Seeing that, the first person didn't say anything. After finishing eating, the first person suddenly screamed, "Oh! My stomach hurts very much! My stomach really hurts!" He rolled on the floor and kept on screaming. The second person wasn't done eating yet. While eating, he asked, "What's wrong with you?" The first person said, "I accidentally swallowed a seed.

Now it's growing. Oh! It's getting bigger and bigger. Oh! It has grown up to here now! (Master points to Her chest.) Oh! It's up to here now! (Master points to Her throat.) Oh! Quickly think of a way to save me! Why is it growing so fast?" The other person was frightened to death. He asked, "You swallowed only one seed and it has grown this big. (Laughter.) What will happen to me since I've swallowed five seeds?" (Master and audience laugh. Applause) So don't swallow any fruit seeds! (Master and audience laugh.) thought, SPEECH AND ACTION. Please remember to do the Quan Yin according to the proper proportions. The Quan Yin is the one to clean. 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 is no bad speech and there are 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 passion 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. .....

We must act according to what God wants, and in order to know what God wants, we have to be prepared; prepared in our speech, in our body and mind, to listen to what God says and not to what we say. .....

Actions, speeches and thoughts are different forms of the same element.

Therefore, our thoughts are equivalent to our actions. This is why we must watch carefully our actions, speech and thoughts. .....

And whenever the situation needs our love, to show it, we have to show our love, and we have to show some actions, speech and thoughts always in loving kindness. That's the best for our spiritual growth and best for our fellow beings. .....

Actually our thinking is very important; we should take care that our thinking is always good. thought, SPEECH AND ACTION. Please remember to do the Quan Yin according to the proper proportions. The Quan Yin is the one to clean. 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 is no bad speech and there are 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 passion 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. .....

We must act according to what God wants, and in order to know what God wants, we have to be prepared; prepared in our speech, in our body and mind, to listen to what God says and not to what we say. .....

Actions, speeches and thoughts are different forms of the same element.

Therefore, our thoughts are equivalent to our actions. This is why we must watch carefully our actions, speech and thoughts. .....

And whenever the situation needs our love, to show it, we have to show our love, and we have to show some actions, speech and thoughts always in loving kindness. That's the best for our spiritual growth and best for our fellow beings. .....

Actually our thinking is very important; we should take care that our thinking is always good.

.....

So that is the reason we should always generate goodness in our thoughts, in our deeds. In thoughts, deeds, and what else? Speech, yes, to derive the goodness that we have sown. That is why in the Bible it is stated, "As you sow, so shall you reap," and in the Buddhist scriptures, it is stated that if you do good deeds, you'll get good results; if you do bad, then you'll reap the results thereof.

Most scriptures mention the same things. In order to reach heaven, it is logical, now we know that we have to tune into goodness, to the positive part of the world. And the more we step into goodness, the nearer the goodness, the more we merge into this heavenly quality and the more we are near to heaven. The negative force may exist in our neighborhood, but it will not affect us. For example, we have lights in our house, neon lamps, and outside our house may be darkness, but when we step into our house and stay there, we can read, we can work, we can play, we can see our loved ones and all the surroundings. The darkness outside will not affect our light inside the house. So that is a very simple and a kind of basic explanation about good and evil, heaven and hell. .....

Why is it easier to become what we call negative power, or we call devil in western terminology? It's because we are lazy to check our thinking. .....

We have to be careful of how we act in everyday life, because it's not we, alone, that get the full scale of responsibility of what we do, what we say, or what we think; but we might affect other people. .....

Actually, our thinking is very important. We should take care that our thinking is always good, because thinking is the material for the physical appearance of all things in this universe. If it is too strong, it will materialize right away. If it is not strong enough, it will take some time to materialize. .....

One should take care of one's thoughts; don't let them go astray. .....

Whatever we speak will give a vibration; and accordingly what we say, good or bad, will affect upon us again. .....

Therefore, we have the choice to think positively. Everything that is beneficial to other people and ourselves at the right moment, that is positive. And everything that hurts you and hurts other people, that is negative. So every time we have to consider what is negative, and what is positive and that is how we fight. And

when we always think positively, speak positively, and love people, and always act in a positive way, which means properly, in the right time and beneficial for ourselves and to other people, that is when we are siding with the positive force and the positive force has one more storehouse of power to overcome the negative energy in this world. .....

The purpose of keeping the precepts is to make ourselves stable; it is not definite that they will protect anyone. However, when we are protecting ourselves, naturally others are also protected; because they won't collect our karma through scolding us, hurting our feelings, beating, or humiliating us. If they were to reap any retribution later, it would have all been initiated by us.

Therefore, if we are pure in actions, speech and thoughts, we are not only protecting ourselves, but also the other party or any other people around us as well. .....

We must take care not to make new karma. Don't make a new reaction to pull us into suffering anymore. We must keep the precepts and keep vigilant day and night with our spiritual strength. Whatever we desire at the time of death, we get. That is a problem and not many people know about it. That's why they don't think they will fall into hell but they will. It's a pity. .....

We are an open book to the whole universe, so be careful. So whenever we think something bad, better cut it out right away. Otherwise very embarrassing. .....

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!" .....

Do not ever think that no one knows what we are doing. That is the most important message I want to tell you. People will sense it, they will recognize it, they will just feel it. Sometimes they will see it in a vision. So I want to tell you this not to be proud, but just because I want you to know whatever we are inside, it's difficult to hide. Even though we think not many know. They do. Not everyone knows perhaps, but there are people who know.

That is why have to make sure that we are pure inside, because there are saints, there are highly developed people in this world. They know who we are, they know what we think inside, they know what we do even though they are not acquainted with our daily lives. They know; they can see through the clothes

that you wear, doesn't matter how thick; they can see through all the make-up, doesn't matter how good quality the powder and the lipstick. They can see through everything. So make sure that you know you are good and pure and you are with God, then people will see that within you. .....

Q. How do you get rid of bad thinking?

M. Yeah, it's difficult. You also have to use this power, this inborn power. You have to practice this Quan Yin Method, then you naturally become pure. It isn't for us to struggle anymore. Every day we use the light, use the sound to purify us, to bathe us. But also there is a kind of inspection, the spiritual diary. Every day, you may check yourself to see how clean you have become in speech, action, and mind, to see how you have progressed. the THREE TYPES OF MASTERS It is easy to find a Master if we know that there are different types, and know which type is most suitable for us. In my opinion there are three types of Masters. The first type is what we call the intellectual type, the scholars. They are very knowledgeable about scriptures, versed in the terminology within the realm of philosophy. They can teach you who wrote what scripture when, and the meaning of its terminology. These teachers are very worthy of our reverence. They can transmit to us some of the holy teaching from the ancient times that we may not have the time to understand, or maybe that we are not expert enough to know the terminology. That is the first type of teacher.

Learning with them about different teachings and religions, our knowledge will be broadened.

The second of teachers are absorbed in ecstasy or Samadhi all the time. They are entirely devoted to God, to the Holy Plan. They are in direct contact with God and have direct knowledge from God. They can see Him face to face. And if we are in contact with these Masters by chance, or by our own will, we will derive some benefits. Our mundane mind will be less burdened by the pressure of the world, and we will feel uplifted and happy and regain a longing for God. We will feel like we want to renounce the world. I don't mean by that to shave your head and live in the jungle, but to feel less desire for the sensual pleasures and the material gain of this world. These teachers are usually hard to find, because they mostly do not really teach, they just absorb themselves in ecstasy, enjoying the bliss and harmony within.

The third type also absorb themselves in the love for God, but they also have love and compassion for those who are in ignorance and suffering. Therefore, they run around as per request. Even if there was only one or two people sincerely longing to be reunited with God, they would come and share with them the secret of the Kingdom of God, the way to find the Reality, the Truth, the Tao within ourselves, of how to awaken within them the greatest source of knowledge, of all power and saving power within ourselves, in order to lessen

the intensity of suffering in our lives, in order to develop our own self-confidence and merge with the almighty source from which we come.

This is a basic outline of the three types of teachers. So, we have to look for one type that could satisfy our desire, needs and inner longing. If we happen to see any Master, then we must use our discrimination to see whether this is the Master we want, whether he or she is worthy of our reverence and trust.

The first type of teacher is easy to recognise because of his erudition. He can talk and know all the scriptures, and we know he is a man of knowledge. It is easy to know this, because worldly knowledge is easy to understand and to test.

The second type is also easy to recognise by their appearance and the devotional atmosphere around people always absorbed in ecstasy. The third type of Master is difficult to detect because when a person is not in ecstasy, it is difficult to know if he has ever been in ecstasy or not, because this type of teacher is 24 hours a day in an invisible 'Samadhi' or ecstasy. Samadhi means that you are in ecstasy, in bliss, tranquillity and light.

You can be in ecstasy while living in this world. There are two kinds of Samadhi: One is after you leave this world, you are forever in ecstasy, in bliss, in the Kingdom of God. You are one with God or the Ocean of Love and Mercy. The other type is a smaller ecstasy that you experience every day through meditation, through devotional longing, or any type of ritual in order to reach ecstasy. So when you are in Samadhi, you forget the whole world. Sometimes you can hear the people around you, but cannot relate to the world. When you are in a deeper ecstasy, the whole world disappears, and you only see light and God, and feel peace, bliss and ecstasy.

Because the third type of Masters are in and out of ecstasy at the same time, like Jesus or Buddha, it is difficult to detect them. They look like ordinary people.

This is the danger of being a third degree Master. The first kind of teacher, everybody knows you, reveres you, thousands of people follow you. The second type of teacher, everyone knows and bows to their feet. You may know it or not because you are in ecstasy all the time and people can see. But the third type, like Jesus or Buddha, people may throw stones at them, nail them, scold them and kill them, because many people could not believe that they are the sons of God, that they are the Salvation, the Light and the Way of the world, when they are in the physical body and acting like most ordinary men.

So, those who go around and share their secret of the Kingdom of God to people, like Jesus or Buddha did, are in ecstasy and out of ecstasy. Because, when you are preaching, your real Self is in Samadhi, but your physical self still suffers, still knows pain and sorrow. Now, the second type of Masters feel no pain in their bodies, no worry, no anxiety, only bliss, all the misery disappears, and there is no word in this language to describe this state. If you belong to the first and second category, people will recognise you and follow you. But the danger in being a Master of the third type is that they look like ordinary people, and people might throw stones at them, even kill them because they don't believe that they are the way to salvation. the THREE WAYS TO OBTAIN SPIRITUAL LIBERATION

We have three ways to become liberated. I have talked about the devotional way, which is the easiest. You just believe in a saint and pray to Him or Her for blessings and deliverance, and when you leave this world you will be liberated.

The second is, you get initiation from a Master and become a Master yourself.

This is of course more ideal, because then you can also save your family and other beings, not only yourself. It is more noble, and is what God wants or the Master wants from us. When a person becomes a Master, he can save numerous beings from heaven to hell; he can save any beings, and walk on any kind of plane. The third way to be saved is by being a relative or a friend of an initiated person, even if you are already dead. If you were dead, already in hell, and suppose your great, granddaughter is initiated by a great Master, then you would immediately be free and go to heaven. If we are a friend of an initiated person, then we will also get help from the Master.

These are the three ways to liberation. Of course I emphasise the way of selfdiscipline, because once we are initiated and start on the path of self-discipline toward self-realization, then our many, many generations (past, present and future) will also get liberation. It is because these generations and relatives have been connected to us by the law of Karma,' which means give and take, cause and effect, which carries on for many lives and many generations. time QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. Today and yesterday, now and two thousand years ago, is it all happening here at the same time in overlapping dimensions? Is every part of existence in every lifetime like turning the pages of a book that can be read from back to front, or not necessarily in order?

M. That's right. Everything is co-incidental. Most have preconceived ideas about the concept of time. Therefore this time we will only choose this corner to look at. A practitioner however can observe a lot of things at the same time. In fact, all are occurring simultaneously - an uncountable number of different occurrences happening in overlapping dimensions. There is no past, present or future. In people's dreams, sometimes they can go beyond these dimensions and time, so they can see previous and future lives, as well as many aspect simultaneously.

Time With A Master Is Precious Spoken By San February (Originally In English)

The Jose,

Supreme 4,

Master Costa

Ching

Hai Rica 1991

Perhaps no one, including any master, has the right to blame us. It's just that probably we have to come back to learn again, or probably we have to learn in a hard way or through suffering. Or probably we have to wait a while, many lives,

to see another master again, because we have refused the golden opportunity when it is easily available. That is not very convenient All day long we work -- eight or ten hours -- just to do a little bit of worldly things, which are ephemeral and not lasting; and we don't complain. And we even earn just a little bit of money -- enough to eat, enough to clothe ourselves, and enough to have a roof above our heads. But when we want to become a perfect person, to become God-like, we work only two and a half hours a day and we don't want it. It's too much. So what kind of logic?

If you come from San Jose up to here -- one hour, half an hour -- to see your so-called Master, if you call me even Master, you say: "Too much." Why have you invited me from Formosa up to here? Thousands and thousands of miles and thousands and thousands of dollars! All from my own pocket, effort and time. I never complain. Then if you come to see me, you say: "Ah, it's too long. Ah, too far. Ah, too much. Aye ya, too tired, no car. Ah, the bus, the bus is lousy."

The government has to pay for the bus, maintain the bus, make beautiful roads and you cannot even go to the bus station and step on. Then you blame. Maybe you say the government doesn't look after you. You don't want to use the service just because you have to walk about five or ten minutes from the bus station to here.

But I tell you, I have to walk too; from the aeroplane to the Customs Office and sometimes it's very long, ten, twenty minutes -- no problem -- and I walk to the airplane too. I walk everywhere. Yeah, I walk from the airport gate to the aeroplane and vice versa. Walk to the luggage place and take the luggage out and in, back and forth, check-in, check-out; walk to the ticket office; and walk to the Ambassador's Office. I beg everywhere so that I can come here.

Do you ever consider all this or not? I don't think you do. Otherwise you would not tell me the bus is too far, or think it is too long and too cold or whatever. Or that you don't have the money to buy a cushion for meditation -- you're joking with me. If you have money to buy coffee and tea, you have money to buy a meditation cushion. Don't make any excuses with me because I'll be sick -- that you have so little understanding.

You call yourself doctor, professor, teacher...master, secretary of the..., manager of such and such a big government office and a lawyer of broken marriages -- all kinds of titles you clothe yourself with. You don't even treat a good friend the way she deserves. And you expect God will shower all favors on you, and whatever you ask. God must immediately give you, even give you yesterday. Would be better that God gave you when you were born, born with all kind of favors.

Now you say you don't need to learn with any master. Do you? Or you don't? Do you have enough wisdom? You are a human of perfection? Already born with perfection? Know how to be a human? You don't even know how to be a human yet, let alone to be a saint. You don't know how to be a good friend yet and you want to teach humankind. You don't have enough logic to teach yourself how to have a good manner within the society and you dare to teach anyone. How can

you serve people in this way? What kind of intelligence do you offer with this logic?

Oh, I suppose you don't think I am good enough to be a master. I accept it. I don't ever say I am good enough to be your Master. Maybe not.

True Love Is Transmitted In Silence All because they have too much intelligence but too little love. Those with much wisdom and intelligence know how to take, how to protect themselves, how to get, how to invade, how to rob but know not how to give. So, intelligence doesn't serve us in a good way. So we come to someone who has love -- to learn how to love, because love cannot be taught in schools, it cannot be read from books. It can only be transmitted in silence and by example, by the vibration, by the energy of the one who possesses love.

Now, if we think we have enough intelligence, we know everything, we can take care of our life, and we don't need to learn anything, then we make mistakes.

Yeah, mistakes, because when we examine our way of life, we know we lack many things, we lack much love.

If we only earn enough money to feed ourselves, to clothe our family, to have all our comforts and we care not for the service of the public, care not to examine our inner purity, then we still are not yet complete. We are not yet perfect, we lack much of the so-called compassion. We still lack wisdom because should we look at the lives of the animals, don't they do the same? They take care of themselves, their immediate family members and they're happy. That's why they are called animals.

But we are hu-man -- human. We should be a little different, don't you think?

Just because we have a car to go to work and the animals have to walk on foot that doesn't mean we are better than them if our motives are not better. Now if we learn meditation, we want to be vegetarian, we want to be a saintly person, and then we feel better than other people -- ah we don't have good logic. What is the good of all this external show?

Now if sometimes you organize a kind of big meeting and you want all kinds of great masters or international yogis or something to come to Costa Rica so that you can serve them, you can see them, and you can learn from each other, that's very good. You even want to give them money to come. Some of them don't have money to come, you would feel sorry, you would care, and probably find some way to donate some money so they could buy aeroplane tickets to come here. That's very touching. And now you care not for the one that has already come with his own money and ticket. So what kind of logic? Especially if you have come and learned something with that person and you have accepted that person as your friend.

Is there any good person who only cares for another country's citizens but cares not for his own country's citizens? Is there that kind of person? You would go and take care of your neighbor's country but you never care about your country?

Is that okay? Should the president do that kind of thing? Would you send a lot of

money and care, doctors and nurses to maybe a very far country friend but you care not when your neighbors next to you are dying? So, this is the kind of logic that you might take around with you every day and never think whether it's logical or not.

So it's good that I am not here very long otherwise I'd trouble you. You'd have to come and see me everyday or sometimes or often. But humans are like this.

Sometimes when the person is not very near then we appreciate his or her beauty more. Just like a mountain over there is clearer than when we climb up.

But then, when we climb up, we discover many beauties that we could not see from afar. So do not think that from afar it looks better. It might look clearer generally, but we cannot discover many beautiful details that please our eyes and ears, and make our hearts feel very pleasant.

For example, we have hills in front of our house full of beautiful wild flowers.

When we pass, we can only see a little bit. We see that there are flowers there, there are flowers on the hill. But when I walked, I climbed up the hill and saw the panorama for myself, it was so breathtakingly beautiful. So beautiful, so beautiful. So much different than when you look from afar. And that we can only know and appreciate when we go in the heart of it, into the garden on the hill.

So beautiful that I tried to paint but failed for three days now. I couldn't paint.

Maybe God didn't want me to paint. (Master laughs) Hes is afraid I'll make a mess of Hiers beautiful garden. Hes didn't trust my talent. When I went up it became rainy and windy, and when I came down the sun shone -- making fun of me all the time. When I came down Hes laughed. So tomorrow I will try again and if it's no good then I'll thank Hirm and then goodbye.

God Always Hears Us But We Sometimes Ignore Hirm In any kind of science, if we want to be perfect in that science we must learn, we must practice, and then we must be near to those who teach us if we are interested in that field. Of course, if we are not interested then no one can say anything. But then, do not blame the teacher or do not blame God that we are not expert in that field.

So many people stumble in life and have many difficulties; or many feel exhausted and frustrated in body, speech and mind and they wonder why, or say: "God doesn't help me," or "God doesn't hear me." But it is not true, it is we who don't hear God. We don't care to listen to Hiers message every day.

For example, we have to go to school about four or eight hours a day in order to learn what the teacher wants to teach us, to become wiser and more intelligent each day, and to get our graduation or masters degree. Then by each day we learn. Each day we're more intelligent, we know more things, we can do more things, we can tackle more things, our lives are more organized, we have more understanding, and we have a more comfortable job and a more comfortable life. So now, just like if we don't sit in meditation for one, two or three hours a day and listen to God's teachings, or come to be near our teacher who represents the teachings from God, bringing the message of God to us, then how can we get wiser and how can our life get more comfortable?

Sometimes we pray, we say: "Oh God, why don't you come to me? If you exist, please come!" But if God comes, do we have time for Hirm? I doubt it. I don't think we have time for God. So don't blame Hirm if Hes doesn't come. We will say: "My mother just came. My father just died. My children are ill. My job! My boss! My bank account! My electricity bill! Oh God, my God, please go away, I don't have time for You! Oh my God!" (Master laughs) Can you imagine how we would treat God if Hes came? Hes has come many times to us. Hes comes all the time in the garb of the fleshy body, in the garb of humans.

It's the same when we are with a wise person, then we'll be wiser. If we are with stupid people all the time, we get more stupid. We have to accompany that person's level otherwise he doesn't understand us and that's how we are dragged down. Therefore, we choose a friend. Therefore people come to wise masters in order to awaken the wisdom inside themselves. That is very, very logical.

If I already know English and now if I stay in England, in America or always among English speaking people, then my English improves each day. But if I am among non-English speaking people or speak English like chopping vegetables, then of course my English will become like theirs. I've already notice that my English is getting like chopping wood -- wood-chopper -- because in the last twenty years I have not been in England. I have always traveled around and everywhere people don't speak perfect English. So my language talent has become stunted -- doesn't grow. Every day I speak Chinese, Spanish or the Au Lac language! (Master speaks Spanish and laughs) You see, these are very clear things. So if we think we are already too wise, then we don't need a master. But if we think, if we cross-examine ourselves and know that we have something missing, then we should go and find someone who has that quality and try to make up for it. If God can teach us directly from within then we don't need a master. But we know that it's not possible for God to be in touch with us directly even though Hes is within us. Therefore, Jesus had to come, Buddha had to come, Mohammed had to come, Socrates, et cetera.

It is true that we can learn from everyone, but from someone maybe we can learn more and from someone we learn less. From someone we learn good things, from someone we learn bad things or at least not to do bad things like them; they're also our teacher. At least they teach us not to do bad things provided we have enough discriminating power to know what is good, what is bad.

Some human beings are with God, some human beings are with the world, some human beings are a little bit inclined towards the negative aspect of humankind.

If we are with those persons who are with God then we become influenced by their Godly qualities. If we are with those who have the worldly qualities then we're imbibed more with the worldly qualities. If we are with those with negative tendencies, then we're also affected by their negative traits.

Every day we are in touch with so many personalities, so many persons and we do not really know who is with the negative -- sometimes we don't know clearly -- and who has human tendencies. Therefore, we are sometimes confused and we are affected by them, with or without our knowledge. Therefore sometimes we feel tired and confused and our spirit feels very depressed.

So, if we know someone with Godly qualities, saintly wisdom, we must by all means, any time possible, be near such persons in order to be affected a little bit in a different direction and get pulled up instead of pulled down or stay in that low level all the time, every day. Especially when this kind of occasion is very rare, because we can be in touch with anyone, but with saintly persons, how much time? How many saintly persons? How many occasion that we meet such persons? And how many saintly persons in this world?

It is okay if we don't believe in that person, if we think that person is not good enough for us. But if we do believe, if we know that person definitely is beneficial for us, for humankind, is saintly, is wise, then we must run. We must make excuses to come, not make excuses to stay away because it's good for us, for us and us alone.

A Hungry Soul Needs To Be Fed If we know that food is good for us, should we make excuses to stay away from the kitchen? We can be hungry one or two days but not too long. When we are hungry, when we don't have enough nutrition, we know what happens. Our body becomes tired, we get dragged around, we cannot move, we cannot think so much and we cannot work. Our soul also gets hungry sometimes if we don't look after it properly.

And how do we know when our soul is hungry? When we cannot survive well in this world, when we are tired mentally, when we are depressed, when we cannot think correctly, and when we cannot cope with the pressure of this life. When our body gets sick, that's also because the soul is oppressed; when our bad tendencies overpower our goodness.

If we are honest with ourselves and cross-examine every day then we know that our soul is very, very tired, exhausted and hungry. When we cannot recognize what is good from bad, what is the most important issue in life and what is the second important issue in life, then we know that our soul is oppressed.

Do not think that those who go out and murder people, steal, do all kinds of violence, or violate the neighbors are the bad persons. No doubt we don't say that they are good, but they can be awakened in no time or they may change when their situation improves. But if we do violence to our soul, that is the most serious crime. By denying our soul good teachings, by denying our soul it's spiritual food, by denying our soul the presence and the company of virtuous, saintly persons, we are doing violence to ourselves. Just like when we make an excuse and deny our body the food that it deserves that makes our body strong and healthy. The same, we retard our spiritual progress by denying our soul the food that it badly needs.

To do violence to others is more pardonable than to do violence to ourselves because sometimes we do violence to others because we cannot help it, because that person annoys us, makes us angry or denies us something and we have an excuse; and because of our ignorance and because sometimes it's difficult to love others because of the differences between personalities. But, not to love ourselves -- that is a terrible thing.

When we work, when we feed ourselves, when we clothe ourselves, we only love our bodies alone, we do not love the soul, and the soul is our real Self. How do we improve our spiritual progress if we are not all the time mixed and in the company of the spiritual group, with spiritual people who have the same motive, same ideal, same goal, same way of life, same way of thinking?

We are not yet strong enough to walk alone or else we would have become a saint, become a master. If we check ourselves, our behavior every day, we know that we are not yet masters, if we're honest. We know we are much too selfish, much too self-centered, much too ignorant to reach the level of so-called master, of Jesus or Buddha.

Walking The Spiritual Path Requires Effort If after examining such and we know our level, then we must learn, we must practice more, we must open our hearts to all kinds of noble influences, all kinds of noble company. We must take advantage of these chances. If we still believe that to improve our purity, to improve our wisdom is the highest purpose of humanity, then we must make an effort. But if we do not believe in this, if we think being human beings means only to grow up, to eat, to work, to earn money, and to die, then okay, then we don't need to make an effort.

Then we just live like that and carry on day after day, day in, day out: working, eating, sleeping, making love, producing children, earning money, and then dying. No need to meditate, no need to be vegetarian, no need to read ethical books, no need to do any of these mentioned items. And don't tell anyone, don't make excuses that it's too tiring, it's too much, it's too this, too that and the other.

Don't we make effort in all undertakings? Effort is necessary in all kinds of transactions. Effort is needed in studying, needed to work, needed in maintaining marriages, needed in maintaining our bodies, needed in maintaining even our hair! A few strands of hair take two hours in the beauty salon. Don't you tell me that you don't need an effort for meditation and you don't need to go see a master because you're too tired, too long, too this and that and the other.

How about your hair?

Ask yourself how many hours you spend on your ephemeral body -- all the eight, ten hours working just because of this body. All the study -- many years - just because of this body. You study for ten, twenty years because you want to have a good job, maintain your body and your family's bodies. What else? And you work for thirty more years after studying, also just because of the body or maybe for the bodies of your family members or the bodies of your beloved citizens. So now, how can we say we don't need any effort?

We refuse the effort for the soul -- it's not logical! And the soul is the most important thing. Without the soul the body is no use! Go to the cemetery and find so many bodies there. When people die they also make them up, make their lips beautiful here, and make coiffeur and beautiful clothes. But what is the use of that body then?

Now, effort is needed or not? It's needed just even for your lips. If you want to have rosy lips you have to go to the beauty shop and choose the beautiful color that you need. It sometimes takes two or three hours and you bear it because you like to be beautiful. And this is an ephemeral thing. It's here today maybe gone tomorrow. And if for the soul, for something eternal, we take two, three hours a day, or come to see the teacher and we say it's too much.

Suffering Or Liberation Is A Matter of Choice Then we ask ourselves: "Why did God make the world like this? Why you -- we the people -- suffer so much? Why do I suffer so much?" It is very clear. We choose it! We choose suffering, we choose ignorance, we choose not to move, we choose not to improve, we choose not to change, we choose not to be pushed, not to be civilized. That's all our fault. The world suffers because it wants to suffer. Because we make effort -- too many hours spent for the ephemeral things and too little hours spent for the eternal wisdom. That's why we are not wise, that's why we do things with topsy-turvy wisdom, that's why we cannot get away from the circle of birth and death.

If everyone made a little effort to learn in wisdom, to learn to recognize our greatest intelligence inside and then use it in everyday life, the world would not be so suffering like this and everyone would become wise. Everyone would know what is the right thing to do, how to have consideration for other people; all people would cooperate in wisdom and no one would suffer at all.

If everyone waits for the neighbor: "Oh why doesn't she go to meditate? She didn't find a master, why should I? Why should I go to study with a master? Why should I meditate and be vegetarian, no one else does it?" Everyone then waits for each other and that's it.

Now, everyone else is supposed to be ignorant, you are supposed to be the better ones. You already know how to meditate, you know to be vegetarian, you strive towards Light and wisdom. You're supposed to be the better half of humankind, and you also stay there and sleep away your time! How can you expect others to follow your example?

Am I too harsh with you? If I am, please forgive. If you forgive me, God will forgive you -- good karma. But if no one tells you, you will not tell each other.

Manage Our Time Wisely Everyone likes to skip school. No children are willing to go to school. All the parents have to push, teachers have to be stern. Otherwise, if you just allow the children what they like, then they will never do the right thing because they

don't know. Left alone, children will go play in the park all day, watch television, or do this kind of video machine -- ping, pong, pong.

No doubt, the teacher is not always strict and also takes the children to the park and plays with them; and the mother, father also play with them sometimes. But there are times for playing and times for learning. Time for your family, time for your friends, time to work, earn money, and take care of your bodily needs. But time for spiritual aspiration must be included. Of course, we cannot do that twenty-four hours or every day, but when the occasion arises we must take the opportunity.

We already do too little for our spiritual progress. You see, for any job, for any study, for any bodily comfort we put in the full time -- eight hours per day, ten hours per day and sometimes extra work in the night. Sometimes, you have to take supplementary schooling at night -- extra, apart from your ordinary schooling -- and just to have a master's degree in English or Chemistry. And that's one or two subjects for just a very short time, just a very, very ephemeral thing. Learning to be in eternity, learning to be a saintly person, to be God-like, and we put only one or two hours a day, see the teacher only occasionally, and we already make excuses. So what kind of logic do you think that is?

To be a disciple or to be a practitioner suffices not to be vegetarian and suffices not to be initiated. Vegetarian -- a cow is a vegetarian since inside the stomach.

And initiation -- even cows came for the initiation when I gave it. They come for initiation anytime. Whenever I'm here the cows come to see me. They come all that way, very far from the other field up to here, and stand or sit in front of the meditation hall, waiting for initiation. Yes, they did! People said they didn't ever come until I came. They also filled in the initiation form! They filled it in their way! They cannot write so they swallowed them.

You know the story. When I was here the first time and the pickup truck was full of vegetables and some initiation forms behind, they didn't eat the vegetables they just swallowed the initiation forms and some of my lecture notes. They stole them and our initiates chased after them wanting to take them back. They were so nervous that they just swallowed them. (Master laughs) We could not take them back so they think they are also initiated. Any time I come they also come for group meditation. (Master laughs) They have darshan, they look at me. When they came here and our disciple tried to drive them away, they didn't go, they just looked at him as if to say: "You and I are equal -fellow initiates -- why do you drive me out?" Something like that.

Do not feel that you are initiated and you are vegetarian and that's enough. If you think that is enough, it's just like you think that to enroll in the university is enough and no need to go to the university or see the professor every day, every week or every two or three days. Or like the cows, just swallow the initiation form, be vegetarian, and that's enough. But they are even better, they come to see me any time I am here -- very faithful disciples (Master laughs) and vegetarian all the time. Never fail. This, I never need to worry.

They would never pretend to make a mistake by eating cake with eggs, or drinking something with a little bit alcohol in it only. And they do their meditation every day, with or without Master. After they eat -- full -- then they will sit there and meditate on their food on the grass. That's their meditation.

The same like us, just after working and eating we sit there and meditate on television, or meditate on our worldly desires and problems. So what is the problem? No problem. Everyone meditates on their own beloved object. Like this I really should retire. No need to come anymore. No need to bother you. Both of us happy. Mm? Do you think a master is only there to fulfill your needs when you want it, and you don't need to have any obligation? That's also okay as far as the master is concerned, but you don't progress. You waste your human time, the precious time to develop our wisdom -- no, to recognize our wisdom. Wisdom cannot be developed, wisdom is already perfect and there, we just need to recognize and use it.

But if we do not give time to recognize and use it, then we waste it. God has given us the human body and entrusted us with wisdom in order that we serve ourselves and this world while we are here. If we do not do this, then we fail in our duty towards God and towards ourselves. That's all.

Perhaps no one, including any master, has the right to blame us. It's just that probably we have to come back to learn again, or probably we have to learn in a hard way or through suffering. Or probably we have to wait a while, many lives, to see another master again, because we have refused the golden opportunity when it is easily available. That is not very convenient for us, that's all.

To Be One With The Group Spoken By The in Los Angeles, (Originally in Au Lac Language)

Supreme USA,

Master April

Ching 4,

Hai 1993

I have never thought of any center as mine. Not for a single minute, a second or even a tiny fraction of a second have I thought that. I was very happy for our fellow initiates every time we were able to buy a center. I regret that I do not have enough money to buy one for every location. However, in the last three, four years it has been better; we have been able to pay off many centers and do not have to pay any mortgages. You know that I don't like to have debts. If I died while still owing someone money, then I would have to come back to pay it, and that would be very tiresome! What I am saying is that you should make yourselves comfortable here, and consider me as one of you. Actually, I do not have any personal rights in this center, because I seldom stay here. You are the owners of the place. We do not have any possessions in this world; we only borrow them to use temporarily.

Life in America is not that easy, working hard everyday from sunup to sundown just to have a little extra. It can mean living on credit with debts to pay for 40 to

50 years. People live just to pay their debts, so life here is not at all what it was in Au Lac. Therefore many Au Lac people found it was difficult when they came here. Likewise this is true in spiritual practice, like when we've just joined a group, or even after a long time we find out there are different opinions because of different levels of understanding and misunderstanding. So before you misunderstand someone, or are ready to debate about something, you should consider whether you have understood correctly what the other person really meant, or whether what you are about to do is what the Master would want you to do. Constantly reflect on your inner self in order to get in touch with your inner wisdom. Your wisdom will not misguide you.

Why do other practicing groups have problems and obstacles? Because they forget to look at themselves, they forget to overcome their desires for fame and profit. Of course, for practitioners of the Quan Yin Method the desires for fame and profit becomes less and less, but a new practitioner may forget, because it's an old habit. So you have to remind each other. Most of the time, the opinions we carry on the outside, such as at work, are different from what we use in the practicing group. When we practice, the mundane outside opinions and working attitudes we bring into the center can sometimes cause conflicts among us.

For example, if some initiates haven't wanted you to work for the center, you get disappointed and upset, then leave saying that you can't practice. Your personal emotions are harming the whole group, or something like that. That is only one example, but you don't understand, and you are not open enough, then you stand there criticizing inside, "Why do they treat me that way? Is it because I am a newcomer to the group? Is it because I am not initiated yet that they treat me badly?"

Wherever we go, we have to act accordingly. Sometimes, perhaps it is because people hold separate meetings for particular members, and we aren't allowed to go inside. However, after a while they'll let us in. We shouldn't take that matter as a reason to complain. Wherever we go, we should respect the rights and customary rules of the organization.

Similarly, religious groups also have rules and regulations that help build cooperation, eliminate complications in their communal lives, and avoid wasting too much time. If within a group, everyone has the same ideal, compromises with each other, and serves with a noble ideal, then it would be very comfortable and pleasant. Once you step in you don't want to leave. You want to stay forever. (Everyone applauds.) So, I also feel very happy like you, seeing our group doing so well.

The greatest enemy our organization and we ourselves have is nothing but our ego, our own pride. Having others scold us or degrade us is not so important.

We know that has nothing to do with us, so we can push it aside. However, if we cannot get rid of our ego and pride, it is difficult to cleanse them away, because they come from within, they are inner sicknesses. The sicknesses on the outside, physical things, are not a big deal, a little ointment and medicine can resolve the matter.

Many times, when we work for Master, even though we have not made any mistakes, but sometimes it is because of collective karma, we feel very heavy, and we don't know where this feeling has come from. We just feel very oppressed, unstable and disturbed, but we don't know why. At that time, we should pray to the Master inside to help us overcome our hardships. There is no other way. We should then meditate more, do more Quan Yin, and it'll be better.

We will feel that all our questions have been answered.

We have to go to group meditation, so we have the chance to rub against each other. (Applause) In going to group meditation not only will we improve spiritually, but our personality will change. If there is no rubbing against each other, we will not know our sharp corners and our thorns, so we cannot change.

After we interact with each other for a while, some conflicts will arise, and when we go home, we will think it over again, "Ah, I was wrong today." We will know, right? If we never face any challenges, how will we know how high our level of martial arts is? With no one to practice with, how will we know our own level?

That's why we have to go to group meditation. Whoever goes to group meditation a lot will definitely improve. I see that very clearly. Do you?

(Applause) Therefore, by practicing in our group, we improve not only spiritually, but also in our personality.

At the center, we have to help each other and divide the work. For instance, if all fellow initiates agree that a certain person has some skills, then request him to do some work in that area. If that person doesn't accept, then find someone else. We shouldn't fight with others to do the work. Fighting for the work even when we lack the skills will result in obstructions for everyone as a whole. We have to know our own potential and capability. If we have some talents, but no one knows, then volunteer: "Let me work for one or two months, and if you see that I can't do it, then choose someone else."

We always have to be like that. Understand? Don't always be fighting for the job and say, "This is my job. I've always done this. No one else may do it." Don't be like that. If we lack the skills, then step aside, because here we are working for the universe, for heaven sake, not to gain a little fame or to have satisfaction in our job. Doing it like that is creating karma for yourselves.

Yesterday, the driver said to me that sometimes during his meditation, he travels to a place where it is very bright. There, he saw a lot of sick people, some had lost their arms, some had lost their legs. Each of them had lost some part of their body. That means their body was not whole. He saw Master passing by this place to heal these suffering people one after another, and to see what She could do to save them or to take them out of this suffering place, to see if they could be useful doing some work. Because yesterday Master said that sometimes She goes to visit hell to look for those who have improved in order to bring them up, he asked whether that was the same case as what he had seen.

Taking this opportunity, I explained to him that the missing parts of their bodies represent the mistakes in their spiritual practice and the work they have done.

They had made someone suffer in many previous lives or the last life. Since they had created suffering for someone, they must suffer the same and therefore their body was not whole. Actually, healing their body is done in the high realm

and not down here. The bright place is where bright light is used to heal people with missing body parts. It takes a long time but eventually it will get better.

Those who want to get healed faster would come down here and follow Master to work, using the merits that they earn to remedy their previous mistakes, and then their soul will come back as a whole again. That's all.

Therefore, when you work you are helping yourself, and not only for the public.

When you are working not for reward, but only from love, then everything will go very smoothly. We need not worry that this work will bring benefit for us or for someone else. We only do because things need to be done at that moment.

This way, we will feel that our spiritual life is improving day by day. We will have more endurance; the more we work, the more we offer, the faster we will improve. We don't need praise from anyone. We know this ourselves. We know this during meditation, right? If we sit there but there is no peacefulness inside, because of too much greed, anger and lust, then we know that we have not travelled very far. We know that we are still at the astral level. together WE CAN DO IT

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 weak person out of your personality. Whatever you believe is good, stick to it and don't let other people make you waver, because the good example in this world is rare. So make yourself a good example. Try your best in everything so that people will know that because you practice, you have become better. Then you really are being useful for society. That's how you prove. That's how you help other people.

That's how we rescue the world from the great destruction that may be coming. .....

Therefore, we have the choice to think positively. Everything that is beneficial to other people and ourselves at the right moment, that is positive. And everything that hurts you and hurts other people, that is negative. So every time we have to consider what is negative, and what is positive and that is how we fight. And when we always think positively, speak positively, and love people, and always act in a positive way, which means properly, in the right time and beneficial for ourselves and to other people, that is when we are siding with the positive force and the positive force has one more storehouse of power to overcome the negative energy in this world. .....

The future is in our hands really. There are no aliens who can do anything about it. There is no God who punishes us. There is no enlightened being who blesses us. It's only ourselves. We have to make a choice, because that's how we grow - by making a good choice. .....

The world is in need of such fast working people. It is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people.

Therefore, the more the better. .....

Another example: you may have run into trouble today on the road or in a certain place, you may have had a car accident or another accident. Then, you met two very compassionate people who cared and helped you, making you feel loved, safe and very comfortable. Later, you left when everything was alright, or after spending a week in the hospital and that loving feeling was still affecting you. Whomever you saw thereafter, or in a conference with many people, you would be very loving and patient to them and then, those who you treated compassionately would continue spreading the love outward, also treating others with love. And then, those whom they had lovingly treated would again spread this love to more people. The transmission would go on and on, just like a drop of oil, spreading outward continuously. .....

You have to reprogram your thinking and reorganize your reaction. Otherwise, you have wisdom, you have blessing from Master, you have power to act for success, but you always step back and worry. Because of your habit, you think you cannot do that. Some of our disciples are still like that. For example, last time Hong Kong... everybody wrote a humanitarian letter, to send to Hong Kong Government, but the Hong Kong didn't write. Said "Oh no! No, we can not offend Hong Kong Government." Things like that. They are brainwashed by some of the false information that some of the political people want to spread around to get the support from the people, so that they can get together and abuse the handful of the Au Lac refugees, because just want to get rid of them. And so even the disciples, they also go with the strong. You know, and suppress the weak. .....

Nevertheless our fear is not the real fear. We can conquer it. That's the difference. And we know how to do it. We know how to conquer it. But we are made like that, so that we help in cleaning the planet. Every Quan Yin practitioner shares the responsibility of cleaning the planet in some degree or another. .....

Q. Master, I am confused about what position to adopt when I see countries at war, being invaded, women and children being abused and tortured. Do you have any words of advice?

M. Your question is one of many concerned and considerate people, but there is no cure if people do not cure themselves. You know the law of karma. Suppose you succeed in killing the murderers and protecting the women. How can you do it in the whole world? And sometimes the innocent is not always so pure and the

murderer is not the only one responsible. The whole society, the whole world is responsible. So what can we do? You can put that person in jail, but another person will come. We cannot change the world if people do not want to change, but we must try. Therefore, Masters go out risking their lives telling people to change themselves. So why don't you join them and light one more torch instead of sitting there and feeling sorry? Do something. Maybe you can save ten, maybe he can save twenty, and little by little we can save the whole world.

There is no other way to change people, but to tell society how to change its pattern of life. Not to change the victim alone, but to change the whole society.

And if we cannot stop the whole misery, we can at least stop some parts of it, and this is already a good accomplishment. .....

Q. Thank You Master Ching Hai, for having the patience with us today, (Master: It's okay) for answering our questions and being so generous. You spoke about a level where one is aware that they have powers that come from that awareness.

Now what if you are aware of the powers, you don't know that you have them but you are aware of them. You may even feel like you do. How do you access it or not access it? If you don't access it, how do you not become impatient with the process that's going on around? Like you see the process taking a slow, mundane way when you know you can just pray or do something else to bring about a better or quicker resolution.

M. Yeah, understand.

Q. What does that mean and how does one access it with the blessing that it will come out okay? Do you understand what I mean?

M. I understand, I understand. What you meant is that when we have the power to change things and when the things around go in a bureaucratic way and a slow way, how would you have the patience to bear it, right? Or would you just pray or do some magic or point a finger and push it, right? No, I have patience because we have to work with the pace of this world in order not to bring it into chaos. Yes. For example, a child cannot run. Not because you are in a hurry or you want to run that you make the child stumble and fall. So we have to be patient. Even though we have the power to run, we walk with the child, yes.

That's why sometimes I am also frustrated and impatient but I have to teach myself to be patient. That's why I have to go and bow my head from one president after another for the refugees, even though we want to add all the financial support. We would give all we have, everything, millions of dollars, or billions even. We have to go through the bureaucratic system. Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Understand? I am not going to wield my head or to point a finger at the U.N. even make them run. No, no. We cause disaster in this world if we use physical, magic power. Understand? It has to go the way it goes. But we can elevate people's consciousness by spiritual healing, by spiritual wisdom, understanding. Impart to them the knowledge that they are willing to do it, you understand, and cooperate. That's the best way, not to use magical power. I never intentionally use magical power in any aspect of life. But miracles just happen around the spiritual practitioners. That's very natural, but not intentionally. You understand? Not trying to push things. Yes, that's no good.

The child cannot run. All right? You satisfied with my answer? If any of my answers don't suit you, please let me know, because I can explain further. But I trust you are very intelligent, being the most chosen and intelligent people of all nations. Therefore I don't elaborate very much, yeah. Any more question? Yes, behind there. It's good that we have United Nations, I have to say, by the way.

Yes, yes. We eliminate many of the world's conflicts and wars, even though we cannot completely minimize. But I read your books of United Nations. Everyone is United Nations. And I have followed some of the United Nations work. And I must praise its effort and efficiency in rescuing hostages where other people cannot rescue, all the power of the world cannot rescue and one United Nations' commissioner did it.

Yes, and many other things concerning disaster relief, refugee problems. You have about twelve million refugees, I heard, responsibility. No? It's a lot of work, and the wars and everything. So it's good that we have United Nations, yeah!

It's very good. .....

Q. Thank You, Master Ching Hai, for sharing Your wisdom with us. I have a question. It's about the escalating world population and its accompanying problem of further environmental abuse and the further greater demand for food. Would You like to comment something on this escalating world population?

Is this a world karma? Or is this going to create certain kind of karma in the future?

M. Ummm, to have more people for this world is also very good. Why not? More crowded, more noise, more fun. No? It's not that we are overpopulated, really.

We just not spread out evenly. People just condense in certain areas of the world and do not want to move to another area. That is all. Yeah, we have so many vast areas of wild land that have not been used. Many virgin islands, many vast.. you know, plateaus which are only green with forests and nothing there.

Ummm, people just like to concentrate in New York, for example (Laughter) because it's more fun here. Yes, because if a government or any government is able to create jobs, you understand, and industry... and employment of different kinds in different places and people would go there also to work. They just condense in some places because it's easier to find employment here, or safety.

If the safety, security and employment opportunity presents itself in those other different places, people would go there also. They would go for security, for their livelihood. That's very natural. Yeah? So, it's not that we should fear about overpopulation. We should be more organized to give people of the world more benefit of employment opportunities and housing and security. Then everywhere is the same. We would never be overpopulated. And about your question concerning food, you should know better. Because in America, we have so much information concerning how to preserve the world. Vegetarian diet is one of the best, to preserve the world's resources, to feed the whole population of the earth. Because we waste a lot of vegetarian food, energy, electricity, medicine, to raise animals. Understand? Whereby it could feed other people directly. And many countries of the third world nations, they sell their protein-enriched vegetarian food for cheaper price. But that is not a help to the other world nations' populations. If we spread all the food evenly and vegetarian diet will help this, not only for ourselves, not only for the animals, but for the whole

world. One of the research something... magazines, they already said that if want... if everyone in the... how to say... Oh, last time, I was in United Nations, I mentioned that already. I've forgotten. If we eat vegetarian, the world will not be hungry anymore. And also we have to organize, yeah, organize. I know some person, he can make rice bran into nutritious food and milk even. And we have talked last time about that. He said he spend about three hundred thousand dollars and he can feed six hundred thousand people in Ceylon - the poor, the under-nourished, the mothers, and all that. Yeah, it was fantastic. Because the way we do it in many parts of the world, it's that we waste the natural resources, not that we don't have enough. God wouldn't put us here to starve.

Actually, we starve ourselves. So we have to rethink... rethink, reorganize, and that needs the blessing of many countries' governments. They have to bless us with their absolute honesty, cleanliness and, you understand, dignity, and the will to serve people instead of serve themselves. If we have this blessing from all the countries' governments, you understand, we have no problem really. No problem. We have to have good leadership, good economic organization and ruling talents and honest governments. But that can come about more rapidly when many people or most of the people or all the people become spiritual.

Then they know the discipline. Then they know the precepts. Then they know how to be honest and clean. And they know how to use their wisdom then. Then they can think of many things to do and reorganize our lives. Understand?

Otherwise if you just run for power with your pocket money or with the money collected from the public and then you try to collect the same money again before you run out of power then. Does not help at all. Does not matter if you sit on gold mine, we die all the same of poverty. The leaders of many nations have to be aware of their power and responsibility. Have to think of the people, reorganize the system. Uh! Yes. Q. That seems to be very difficult because as I see, much of the... as I understand, much of the environmental abuse today has to do with a growing population's demand for more living space, for homes, for living the way we in the 20th century know and want to live. Say the jungles in Brazil. The environmental abuse there. The destruction of the forest there, the rain forest.

The land, it's being defoliated and that results in floods. And these are not unrelated to the problem of overpopulation.

M. Yes, everything is related to each other, of course, in this world. And the only solution is to solve it from the root, not the branches. And the root is spiritual stability. Understand? So all we have to do is to try to spread the spiritual message, what we know, and keep to the spiritual discipline. That's what people don't have. It's okay to plug yourself in the electric machine and have some lights and some buzzing music and get samadhi. But if you don't have moral discipline, then you only use the power for bad things sometimes. Can't control it. You understand? That's why we in this group, we keep... teach people the precepts first. Precepts are important. We have to know where we go and maneuver our power. Power without love, without compassion, without proper understanding of the moral value, then it's no use. It becomes black magic, abuse. Yeah. That's where black magic comes from. Understand? So it's easy to get enlightenment, it's hard to keep it. In our path, if you are not truly disciplined and morally equipped, the master will take away some of your power so that you cannot abuse it and do bad things to the society. Understand? That's the difference. Master has control. The master power, the master power, okay?

Yes, I am very happy with all of your intelligent questions. Very intelligent.

People do these things because they are not wise enough, you know, like abusing the land that you have said, or doing something just because their lack of wisdom. Yes, so the root is wisdom, spiritual practice. Get enlightened. Yes man.

Toughness And Gentleness Together Make Perfection Spoken By The at Tien Shan Center (Originally in Chinese)

Supreme Master in Satin, Hong Kong

Ching April 6,

Hai 1994

Confucius And Four Of His Disciples Liezi had written a story about Confucius and his disciples. There was a person named Zixia who asked Confucius, "What kind of a person is Yenhui?" Confucius had many disciples, one of them was called Yenhui, right? (Answer: Yes.) Confucius said, "Yenhui is more compassionate than I!" More compassionate than Confucius, not I! I don't have anything, anyone is more compassionate than I! (Master and everyone laugh.) He continued to ask, "What kind of a person is Zigong?" Confucius answered, "Zigong is more eloquent than I." Meaning more eloquent than Confucius, not I. I don't have any eloquence to be included. I worry that sometimes I say "I", "I", "I", and you don't know who "I" refers to. (All laugh.)

Zixia continued to ask Confucius, "What about Zilu? What kind of a person is Zilu?" Confucius answered, "Zilu is more courageous than I am!" meaning more courageous than Confucius, don't you mistake it for me. (All laugh.) I am pretty courageous. (Master laughs.) If anyone beats me, he'd know how courageous I am, because I'd run away immediately! (Master and all laugh.) Zixia inquired further, "Then what about Zizhang? What kind of a person is Zizhang?" And Confucius replied, "He is more solemn than I." Meaning he was more serious, unlike me, telling jokes all the time! We laughed for quite a while in the cave before I came down to see you.

Then Zixia stood up and questioned Confucius, "Then why do the four of them come here to learn from you?" (Master laughs.) The four of them were better than Confucius in a certain way, why do they come to learn from him? Confucius then said, "Sit down!" (Master laughs.) He was so disturbed that he stood up.

"Sit down and I'll tell you why. Don't you understand, that Yenhui knows about compassion, but doesn't know when not to be compassionate." That is being compassionate without knowing when not to be. "Zigong who is articulate, but doesn't know when to be silent." He meant being a person who doesn't know arguing, understand? Not to act like one who knows everything and argues all the time to bore others! Right? But let me finish reading before I make comments. It may be more satisfactory or I can just comment freely. Whichever, I am not "Jin Shentan" who added his comments under every article he saw. I'll just make comments freely, whether under or over, head or top.

Confucius continued to say, "Zilu knows about bravery, but he doesn't know when to be afraid. "Understand? He did not know when to pretend to be fearful

or when to be afraid. Well, not really "afraid", but to be meek at times. He doesn't know when to be meek. And "Shih!", means Zizhang, "Shih is serious and stately, but doesn't know when to accommodate and compromise with others. If you were to add all of their talents together and exchange them for all of my imperfections, I wouldn't take them!" Since they were so great, then add up all of the parts which were better than Confucius; and exchange them for the parts which were not as good as theirs. Confucius said he would not take the exchange. Therefore, those four people should come and bow to him as their teacher; they followed him wholeheartedly, without any thought of losing faith, without any thought of regret.

To be Or Not To Be Compassionate This is a great story! Have you read it before? Why do you think it is this way?

Why should we know about being compassionate and also know when not to be compassionate sometimes? Who knows? In our world, we all respect the compassionate people, right? Then why does it say here that sometimes we should be unmerciful? Who knows why?

What does being compassionate mean? It means that a person is very loving towards all, is that right? He is very generous, very understanding, ready to forgive others, never blame others, and is always loving. This is being compassionate. When we see others in difficulty, we love them and help them; when others make mistakes, we forgive. Then why shouldn't we uphold this quality? Why shouldn't we do so every time? Isn't this a better way? Why did Confucius say that we should know when not to be compassionate? What does it mean? Who knows? Quick! (Someone answered: When we deal with bad people.) (Another answered: It means capable of being a loving person and also being able to treat someone unlovingly. Being unkind to people means being unmerciful. We should have both qualities.)

Right! We should have both; yin (negative) and yang (positive) must be balanced. Be compassionate when we should be; but when we need to be unmerciful, we have to be unmerciful, this is what I mean to be truly good.

Under what conditions should we be or not be compassionate? For example, if we have a friend who is having difficulties. Being his good friend, of course we should help him, give him some money to run some business. Later he may become independent. If he has money, he may return to us, but even if he doesn't, we don't really care. If we have a lot of money, we don't mind if our friends use it, or if our brothers and relatives use it.

But if that person does not use the money to run a business but to do some bad things such as gambling, smoking, drinking and all kinds of terrible things, and he comes to us for more money, then at that time, we cannot continue to be compassionate! If we help him to be a bad person, a dependent person, then the more we are compassionate towards him, the more we hurt him. He will gradually become a person without an independent spirit and will not develop his abilities. Eventually he becomes a person who relies on others, a weak person, someone without a sense of shame or guilt, without conscience, without any integrity, and is not worthy of being our friend. Thus we not only lost a friend

but we also hurt him. His life will become more vanquished and he will not be able to stand up on his own.

The Story Mercilessly Helped His Friend

Of

How

A

Scholar

There is a Chinese story, I am not sure whether it is a Chinese or an Au Lac story, a story about Liu Ping and Yang Li. Whether they are Chinese or Au Lac people, anyway, there were two friends who were studying to take the Imperial examinations. One studied diligently, and he was selected to be the top scholar after the examination. He was given a high post in the Imperial Court and returned gloriously to his hometown. While the other friend, who enjoyed playing around and did not study as diligently, and even though he was very talented, as talented as his friend, he did not succeed in the Imperial examinations because he was lazier and did not study much. The friend who became the high official was very good hearted. He remembered his friend for they used to be close buddies. He thought his friend must not be in good shape now, so he sent for him.

When the friend arrived, the scholar pretended to be busy inside and let his friend wait outside for a long time. When his friend asked for him again, he purposely sent a little clerk out to entertain him and serve him a lousy meal. He was given the same kind of food given to the lower class workers or the very poor people, and was not treated well. When the friend asked to see the scholar, he pretended he was busy again and told him to wait or come back another day etc... On another day, the friend came back to see him, the scholar treated him the same way as before. Later, the poor, discouraged friend was very upset and felt very angry and insulted, so he did not come to see his scholar friend anymore. He went home feeling very disturbed! (Master laughs.) He felt very upset everyday. When he was feeling very down, didn't want to do anything, didn't even want to live, then, unexpectedly he met a girl. She was very beautiful, very graceful and noble, but was dressed in ordinary clothes.

She appeared suddenly from nowhere. After they met, she encouraged him and she understood his feelings, knew his difficulties and how he was betrayed by his friend, etc. She decided to support him and told him, "Don't worry. You continue to study, and I can weave and make lots of handicrafts to support you. I will also pray to the inner Master to help you. Don't worry." (Master and all laugh.)

Therefore, the young man was able to focus his attention on his studies. He promised her that he would study hard and succeed in the Imperial examinations and marry her. The girl didn't say much, she only said, "We'll see at that time! You study hard first. This is a minor affair, we'll talk about that later!" She always said that and refused to let him get close. She always said that he must study hard, not to divert his attention on love affairs, that this matter is still very far away, and he must prepare to take the Imperial examinations first! She continued to work and supported his studies, and at the next Imperial examinations, he was selected as the top scholar!

After he also became the top scholar, the first person he wanted to see was his ex-friend, the other top scholar who was mean and wicked and betrayed him. He went to see him immediately, bringing along many subordinates to show his

friend that he was also a top scholar now! He wanted to scold this bad friend on how he mistreated him before. While he was lashing out his anger, the old friend whispered something to his subordinate. The subordinate went inside and came out with a girl. The new scholar immediately recognized that it was the girl who worked and supported him while he studied for the past three years! He asked her, "Why are you here?" The previous scholar replied, "She is my wife!" (Master and everyone laugh.)

Do you understand? He sacrificed his wife to help his friend. He sent his wife there to work and support him, to encourage him to study so that he would not degenerate, waste his talent and bury his brilliance. This friend of course couldn't understand his scholar friend's good intention. He kept thinking that his friend had mistreated him and wanted to scold him in revenge. Later he understood. He kneeled and bowed down to him and they hugged each other and cried touchingly. You must know this story; is it a Chinese story? It is very famous in Au Lac. (Master laughs.) This is the mercilessness of a gentleman.

Sometimes, the compassion of a mean person might hurt others instead. But the mercilessness of a gentleman is truly hard to come by; it can help many people, help himself and others. It is the true compassion. Therefore, sometimes we need to know how to be merciless. Do you understand what I mean?

The Truly When To Be Tough And Gentle

Good

Person

Knows

Through this story we can understand Confucius when he said, Know compassion and have compassion, but also know when not to be compassionate.

This means that we should know how to manage toughness and gentleness effectively. Otherwise, we get attached and get stuck in our compassionate qualities. But it is also not good if we cannot let go. Sometimes we must let go!

For example, we have some treasure. When a war breaks out, of course we will gather all of our diamonds, gold, agate, coral, etc. into a pack; we carry it on our bodies and do not want to let it go. Wherever we go, we carry it with us until we reach some safe place. But after we have arrived at the safe place, we have to put the package down. Or if our friends or relatives are hungry, we need to take some out to sell in exchange for money in order to buy food for them. We cannot hang on to the treasure and not care about others. Therefore, compassion and mercilessness should be used accordingly. If we know how to use it appropriately, mercilessness is compassion; otherwise, compassion becomes mercilessness, compassion becomes malevolence.

Many people misuse the word "compassion". They think a person should be compassionate and merciful all the time. Everyday, they smile and say to whomever comes "Good! Good!" (Master and all laugh.) That is stupidity; only a wooden Buddha would do that. Human beings shouldn't be this way. A gentleman should know how to deal with others; he should know when to go forward and when to retreat, when to be tough and when to be gentle. That is a truly good person. Therefore, Confucius said here that he was not as compassionate as Yenhui. This is the reason; because he was not compassionate sometimes. There were times that he seemed to have let go of his compassion and was rather merciless to some people. That's why he said Yenhui was more

compassionate than he was. Perhaps Yenhui was compassionate all the time, and didn't know when to say "no", "I don't understand", or "I cannot".

Understand! To take everything as "yes","yes" "yes", is not compassion, but stupidity.

A Higher Form Of Compassion Therefore, even if Yenhui was very compassionate and very loving, he lacked the part of mercilessness and didn't know when to let go of his compassion. So in order to have a truly loving heart and greater compassion, he must come and learn from Confucius. You now understand what I mean! It is not that Confucius didn't know how to be compassionate, but he knew a higher form of compassion.

Therefore, we say that a fully enlightened person is not all compassion. He is not as compassionate as we human beings imagine him to be; his behavior and methods are not what we expect them to be, within the framework of morality, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness. Understand? He has transcended this level. When he should step inside this framework, he will come in. When he should step outside in order to help more people, to fulfill higher ideals, then he will step out, understand? He comes and goes freely. Most of us can only stay within this framework, do not know how to get out or come back. If we don't know how to get out, then it is not the same; it is more rigid, like a one way street, we only know to go forward and don't know how to come back!

The same way like Zigong. He was very articulate, very good at debating; but he didn't know when not to argue and be a simple person. When he didn't know, he should say he didn't know, for he shouldn't know about everything anyhow. All that we should know, we know; that which we should not know, we don't need to know. If I don't know, I can say that I don't know because I don't need to know about that, and I will not die because I don't know about that! I know all of those things that I should know, and all that I should do; for those that I shouldn't know and shouldn't do, then I leave them alone!

Even if we say that we know, but sometimes we don't really know. There are some people who always have an answer for you regardless of what you ask.

(Master laughs.) Understand? Nobody can convince them otherwise; sometimes, people are just too tired to argue with them, but it doesn't mean that they know everything. They are too curious, too fond of winning. They wanted to know everything and understand everything. Thus it becomes a big burden sometimes, understand? And then you cannot afford to lose, you cannot become someone who sometimes is very ordinary, very simple, just like a child who does not know how to debate, and does not care who wins.

The Ordinary Way Is The Tao Reading this story today, I feel rather comforted. It's because sometimes when I got into a debate, I could not convince the other party. The other party kept citing a lot of sutras and a lot of theories, that I thought made sense also.

(Master and all laugh.) So I lost. After I came home, I felt, "How can I be a Supreme Master yet lose my face?" (Master and all laugh.) Oh, then I thought, "Well, since I didn't have a face anymore, who cares whether it got lost?"

(Master laughs.) Today I read about what Confucius said that when we talk, we need to stumble for words once in a while. What he meant was, Zigong was very eloquent, he had excellent articulation, but he didn't know when he needed to stumble, understand? What good is it when we stumble for words? It does not mean that we don't have the eloquence, but just that we don't have to win every time, we don't have to be so great every time. Understand? If a person has to be so fantastic at every moment, then nobody can stand him! And he can't stand himself either, understand? If we don't know that we need to stumble once in a while, we are not used to that way, and we always win, then one day if we lose just once, we would commit suicide, because we are not used to it and we cannot take it. This type of person is just too rigid!

Therefore, in this world one cannot be too perfect, understand? Slightly imperfect is perfection indeed! This means to know when is a good time to do what; when we should explain and when not to argue. It is alright to be a deaf mute; it doesn't matter. Then, we can truly be uninhibited and free! If we try to be a good person all the time, try to keep our good names in perfect order, and are able to argue back no matter who says what, then this is too boring and too inflexible. It is not perfect and not fun. (Master laughs.) When things are the same all the time, then it is not fun anymore!

An Enlightened Situations Humbly And Accordingly

Master

Handles

Confucius said Zilu, who was more courageous, but he did not know that he needed to be a meek and timid person sometimes. Sometimes it should be this way, really should! I have told you about what happened in the Philippines last time, that they tried to control us by force. There were a large number of us, and of course we could have reacted; but if both sides got tough, a fight would have erupted. Do you think the result would be good? Certainly not! Isn't it so?

First, I was a guest in their country. Second, we are a spiritual persons. Third, we were there to help, not to complicate the situation and cause further misunderstandings. It would not have been beneficial for either side, right?

Therefore, at that time, if I was not meek and did not leave, if I did not pretend to be afraid of their power and gave in, then there would have been big trouble!

It would have become very complicated and terrible, and may not have been beneficial for the Au Lac refugees. What would have happened if we won? We still would have had to buy plane tickets to go home after a short while! (Master and all laugh.) We were not meant to stay there forever. We must not be too impulsive, and not judge a true hero merely by the outcome of an incident.

Since ancient times, all the martial arts practitioners, teachers or masters in China always forbade people from showing their martial arts randomly. They were instructed to be patient and tolerate it until they had to defend themselves.

They were not to provoke a fight, accept a challenge to fight, or to show off. Am I right? It is not that they were not brave or had no ability to fight, but the true martial arts is tolerance and not fighting.

When we are being pushed against the wall, then of course we have to fight back. But it is not for us to show off any time, so that others know that we are not afraid of anyone, or to show how terrific our martial arts are, how talented,

how powerful we are. Therefore, in this world, sometimes an enlightened master handles matters according to the natural flow of the situation and in a humble way. Such as Shakyamuni Buddha, even though he possessed great miraculous powers, he refused to compete with others when challenged. Jesus Christ was also full of miraculous powers. He heard that he would be crucified, He knew that was his destiny, he should be crucified to be able to save sentient beings, so he allowed himself to be crucified. It was not that he couldn't escape; he could have run away without using any miraculous powers, because he had a lot of disciples, and he knew his time was up beforehand. It was not that he did not know, and he could have simply run away without using any miraculous powers!

Transcend The Three Realms With The Power Of Enlightenment Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai At Wan-Haw, Taipei, Formosa September 1, 1986 (Originally In Chinese, Unabridged) A person asked a Zen master, "Killing one's parents is the greatest sin. Suppose a person has killed his parents. Could his karma be eliminated by repenting to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas?" He continued to say, "However, if he killed the Buddha or Bodhisattvas, then he would have no place to repent!"

The Zen master answered, "Yes! Exactly!"

Do you think this is correct? (A: Yes!) Because of ignorance, we slay our own Buddha, not allowing Him to live, not giving Him the opportunity to use His almighty power, and depriving ourselves of something to rely on. This is our ignorance.

Therefore, not practicing the Quan Yin Method, and not knowing our Buddha's power, are the greatest sins. There is no way to save us then! (Master laughs.)

Even if we have killed an enlightened master, we can still be saved because we can find another master! (Master laughs.) Killing our Buddha nature, killing our rights, our almighty power and greatest position are the greatest sins.

Understand? (A: Understand) Therefore, whether a person, due to ignorance, refuses to learn to realize the God within, or due to ego, refuses to learn to realize his own wisdom, both are bad; both are the gravest ignorance.

Even after we have practiced, we still have to mind our ego. If, in doing anything, we think that we are doing it, instead of the almighty power of the universe or the power of the Supreme Master doing it, then we will be in a trouble! It is because we have confined ourselves in our own personal room, and stopped ourselves from being unified with the great harmonious universe.

Naturally, we will be very lonely and weak in power. Such a slight fault in concept could make a great difference, so we say everything is created by the mind.

Our concept must be correct. If a person has intense longing in seeking his inner self, understands a lot of the teachings, and is good in spiritual practice, then this person is not bad. If a person comes because of superstition, he doesn't

understand the teachings, then perhaps his cultivation would not be very fast.

Later, when he listens to someone who is good at debating, he will be pulled away easily. It is because his foundation is not firm.

Therefore, Bodhidharma said that there are two doors: One enters from teachings, the other enters from action -- which means meditation. One is using the teachings, while the other is understanding the teachings. One must first understand the teachings before he can use them. It is still not a high level by just meditating blindly everyday and believing in the Master's power. So, some people will fail when they are tested! If we have a very correct concept and understand the teachings very well, we definitely will not fail. It is because we know why we believe. Understand? (A: Understand!)

Our mind is not an insignificant matter. It has created the three realms. It is difficult for you to ask it to keep quiet. The mind needs to understand, so we have to practice! Otherwise, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas might as well use their magical powers, then everyone just unknowingly goes to the Western Paradise, taking along their kittens, puppies and children. Then there is no need for all this suffering. Since the three realms have already been created, we must eliminate them ourselves. But with what? They can only be eliminated with the power of realization, of enlightenment. To destroy them doesn't mean incinerate them with fire. No (laughter), but by our inner realization.

In the original form, the three realms don't exist and have no attraction. It doesn't matter whether they exist or not, as long as they have no attraction to us! For instance, we may be watching television, but we have lots of things on our mind, so we don't know what the television program is talking about though we are watching it. Later, when someone asks you how is the drama, you would wake up and say, "Oh! I was not watching just now!" (Laughter) Sitting in front of the television but not seeing anything -- that happens to us sometimes.

Right? (A: Yes!) Similarly, all within the three realms was created by ourselves.

The method to destroy them now is by ignoring them. We know they don't mean anything, and there are better things. (Applause)

The Three Kinds Of Disciples Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai At Group Meditation, Surabaya, Indonesia March 3,1993 (Originally In Chinese, Unabridged) Talk about my disciples! Some of my disciples follow me really faithfully; they are more intelligent. Asides, from our experiences, disciples who have good inner visions would follow to the end. They overcome any test. I can have hair or shave it, I can wear jeans or other clothing...they simply follow. They understand from within, not depending on my words and teachings. They receive my teachings directly from within. Disciples having better inner experiences are more loyal to me. They are so relaxed and happy. In spite of how I treat them, scold them, love them, give them plenty of things or nothing, they still follow.

They understand from inside that Master is teaching them the correct things.

The ordinary or moderate disciples may lack a deep foundation from practice in previous lives. They came back, but their habits have not rectified. They don't research deeply. They don't really want to understand diligent. After I have taught them, they only meditate occasionally. meditate when they are tired or in distress.

their been or be They

Normally they don't. They hardly think of Master. When they are in trouble, they pray to the Quan Yin Bodhisattva or the Amitabha Buddha. If nothing else works, they would try praying to me. (Master laughs.) If this works, they may continue to practice. In case there is no response, or the response is not up to their expectation of receiving a million dollars immediately, they would stop practicing. (Laughter) The lowest disciples are those who lack wisdom, and do not have many inner visions. Perhaps before they got the initiation, they would even laugh and leave when they heard someone preaching this Truth; they wouldn't believe. When Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, also five thousand people once left His preaching lecture.

It is not the real Truth if no one laughs at it. Why do they laugh? Because they have never heard of such a theory. So, except those who have great wisdom, ordinary people would leave laughing. This is simple and reasonable.

Master Makes Offerings To Buddha Narrated By Initiate Brother Chang-Jeh Lee , Taipei, Formosa Recorded By Supreme Master News Reporter Chio-Ling Hsiao, Taipei, Formosa Once after finishing a lecture in Thailand, Master gracefully walked out and immediately got into the car and left. A short distance later, Master saw a rickshaw parked alongside the road. It was about ten o'clock at night already, but the driver was still waiting for customers. Even though the lecture was over, Master's photograph still hung on the back of the rickshaw, helping to spread the teachings.

When Master saw that, She immediately got out of the car. She took out all of the presents from the trunk and personally gave the gifts and some Thai money to the rickshaw driver with utmost sincerity. Master closed Her palms and bowed to the driver over and over again with the degree of sincerity equivalent to making offerings to a Buddha. As I, the guard, watched from the side, tears rolled down my cheeks with emotion. Master's humility made a permanent impression in my heart.

At that time, I told myself I must remember to be humble in my daily dealings with people. Giving gifts to others should also be like making sincere offerings. I deeply thank Master for sowing a seed of humility in my heart. transforming SUFFERINGS INTO SPIRITUAL GROWTH

We have to thank God every time that Hes gives us the opportunity to learn the fastest way, to understand the Truth which erases all of our miseries; because the only thing that sets us free is the Truth. .....

Even though we live in a place where there is no freedom, but if our hearts are filled with happiness and satisfaction, obtaining the inner source of happiness, then we are truly free. .....

We must be trained under the circumstances of pain, injustice and misery. As we make a breakthrough, we will truly be liberated. .....

As spiritual practitioners, we should use the same kind of concentration as when we practice, no matter what kind of situation we are in, painful or joyful.

Forgetting about ourselves, the worldly temptation and any other different situations, we should know that we do everything for God. .....

The greater the challenge, the greater our spiritual understanding and growth. .....

Since ancient times, all great spiritual practitioners, great kings, and great men have succeeded through perseverance. They did not succeed in an instant.

Therefore, when we encounter difficulties, we ought to thank the Creator, God Almighty for giving us the opportunity to discipline our patience. .....

To be a noble being is the only choice. To walk forward doesn't matter how difficult, to fly upward doesn't matter how far, how high, we just have to try again and again, until there is nothing but goodness that resides within us, until we recognize nothing but the Kingdom of God within ourselves. .....

Q. Why is there so much pain in this world?

M. Because we have no supports. We have no enduring power behind us. This power, we neglect. We only use our minds, our brains; we don't use God's limitless supply. Therefore, we can not endure the pressure and pain in this world, and we feel pain and suffering. if we have that great treasure, great support, great strength, then we don't feel that much pain. The pain still exists.

It's just that we can bear it. Just like when we were young, when we were children, if we lifted about a five pound sack of rice, it felt very heavy. No? We couldn't even walk. But, when we grow up twenty years later, even fifty pounds means nothing. That's the meaning of God power. That's why we have to practice. That's why we have to practice the Quan Yin Method to get in touch with this inner limitless supply. Then we don't feel so much pain, so much pressure, and we will feel joy ever after. The pain still exists, mind you. I don't mean the pain disappears, but you can bear it. You feel nothing much of importance, that's all. .....

Q. How can we let go of our grief that keeps us stuck in a miserable state?

M. Yes, that's true. Yeah? We have to go out of it. Get Initiation and feel uplifted, all your burdens washed away. Even when your parents die, you know where they are going to and you won't grieve so much. You will see the master come and take them to heaven, so you won't grieve. And after you practice you'll see all of your friends or relatives go to a happier sphere and so, instead of grieving you'll be happy. That's the secret at happiness, because seeing is believing. Why do you grieve, when somebody leaves you, or dies? It is because you don't know where he is going to, so you feel the loss. But if you know where he is going, that he enjoys himself somewhere, and that you can even visit him, then you don't grieve. That's the secret of practicing. That's the benefit, and that's why we must practice.

No More Transmigration Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Laiyi Center, Pintung, Formosa, October 24, (Originally in Chinese)

Hai 1993

We are born from God, and we are one with God. No matter how long we have run around in the cycle of transmigration, thinking we are heterodox or orthodox, we have never left the Tao (the Truth). Heaven and hell are also in the Tao; they are only a little distance apart. Just like a wave in the sea, sometimes when there is a strong wind or when the Earth moves vigorously, the wave will rise higher. Actually, it is still linked with the sea, still on the sea surface, still one with the water. It might think that it is great and no longer has any relationship with the water, yet when it falls down, it still has to go back to the water in the sea or river. This is very logical. Of course, the sea wave doesn't understand these things. It just rises and falls innocently, so it has no karma, and will not have to transmigrate. It doesn't know what transmigration is.

It is all because our mind is too complicated, thinking we are incurring karma, that we are separated from God, that we are sinful and lowly human beings.

Then, we forget we are forever with God. If, after we die, we have no such concept about transmigration, and have no greed, we would float as if we were in the air, and definitely would not transmigrate again. We transmigrate because of our senseless concepts; we cling to the mind and keep trying to grasp anything that it desires. The soul and the mind are connected. In order to

experience, the mind says, "We have not yet finished with our game!" Then, both of them have to come back. When the mind has learned all its lessons, and the soul is aware, then they will not come back to learn again. We are tired of this world even before we leave. We have enjoyed everything and have no more attachment. We have realized it thoroughly: we are tired of fooling around here life after life. Then this time, we definitely won't have to come back again.

The Karma Has Disappeared Spoken by Supreme Pintung, Formosa, (Originally in Chinese)

Master January

Ching 24,

Hai 1993

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 farmernext 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.

Will Positive Thinking Change Our Karma?

Spoken by Los Angeles, (Originally in English)

Supreme U.S.A.,

Master March

Ching 15,

Hai 1996

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.

Elevate Ourselves to the Positive Level Spoken by Youngdong, (Originally in English)

Supreme Korea,

Master May

Ching 6,

Hai 1998

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 Hsihu Center, (Originally in Chinese)

Supreme Formosa

Master September

Ching 29,

Hai 1991

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.

Trinity Spoken by Supreme Chuongli, Formosa (Originally in Chinese)

Master February

Ching 25,

Hai 1989

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, betterlooking 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 threefold 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.

Master's Physical Body Is Much More Precious!

Spoken To Fellow Initiates At The European (Originally In Chinese).

From 3-Day

Mainland Retreat

By China, 1995

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.

True Masters Spoken by Hsihu Center, (Originally in Chinese)

Supreme Formosa,

Master December

Ching 30,

Hai 1991

If we see a person bound by affection for another, we know that he is at the astral level. If he is eloquent but with no affection for others, we know that he has gone beyond the first realm and has reached the second. If a person has no feelings for others, and does nothing good or bad, or has great creative talent, we feel that he has gone to the third realm. We do not know his inner visions, but we can tell a little by what is shown outside. What if he possesses all three qualities? For example, if he has affection for others, he is eloquent and creative then we know that he is at the third realm. But if he is very clumsy and cannot accomplish anything, we know that he is still at the astral level. It does not matter how good he is with his words.

Then, is it true that a true master who has reached the fifth realm has no affection for others? I mean that he has passed the third realm and reached the fifth realm, and then does he not have any astral sentiment? Is he not the same as those who are ignorant? (A: He can control it!) Since he can control it, why does he still have it? Why does he need affection? (A: In order to understand others!) In case he wants to teach the people at that level, he can use it.

For example, now that we walk on the spiritual path, we have no desire for money. We do not really need much money. We do not want to be high-ranking officials. However, in case we are already high officials, we need not throw away our positions, but we should use our positions to help others. If we have plenty of money, we can use it. There is no need to throw it into the sea. We can give it to the needy. Therefore, it is not that sentiment is not good. It is not that eloquence and creativity are not good. We can use them wisely and should not discard them.

If a person only has those abilities but does not have countless transformation forms and does not do any good deeds, then we know that he is not a true master. He is merely an astral being. If he also has astral sentiment, or he seems to have affection for or have whatever relationship with people, as well as billions of transformation forms, transcendent powers, great compassion, and indiscriminate love, then we know that he is not stuck at the astral level but possesses those qualities and uses them as the situation requires. This is the difference between true masters and people who are ignorant or at the astral level.

True Love Is Transmitted In Silence

All because they have too much intelligence but too little love. Those with much wisdom and intelligence know how to take, how to protect themselves, how to get, how to invade, how to rob but know not how to give. So, intelligence doesn't serve us in a good way. So we come to someone who has love -- to learn how to love, because love cannot be taught in schools, it cannot be read from books. It can only be transmitted in silence and by example, by the vibration, by the energy of the one who possesses love.

Now, if we think we have enough intelligence, we know everything, we can take care of our life, and we don't need to learn anything, then we make mistakes.

Yeah, mistakes, because when we examine our way of life, we know we lack many things, we lack much love.

If we only earn enough money to feed ourselves, to clothe our family, to have all our comforts and we care not for the service of the public, care not to examine our inner purity, then we still are not yet complete. We are not yet perfect, we lack much of the so-called compassion. We still lack wisdom because should we look at the lives of the animals, don't they do the same? They take care of themselves, their immediate family members and they're happy. That's why they are called animals.

But we are hu-man -- human. We should be a little different, don't you think?

Just because we have a car to go to work and the animals have to walk on foot that doesn't mean we are better than them if our motives are not better. Now if we learn meditation, we want to be vegetarian, we want to be a saintly person, and then we feel better than other people -- ah we don't have good logic. What is the good of all this external show?

Now if sometimes you organize a kind of big meeting and you want all kinds of great masters or international yogis or something to come to Costa Rica so that you can serve them, you can see them, and you can learn from each other, that's very good. You even want to give them money to come. Some of them don't have money to come, you would feel sorry, you would care, and probably find some way to donate some money so they could buy aeroplane tickets to come here. That's very touching. And now you care not for the one that has already come with his own money and ticket. So what kind of logic? Especially if you have come and learned something with that person and you have accepted that person as your friend.

Is there any good person who only cares for another country's citizens but cares not for his own country's citizens? Is there that kind of person? You would go and take care of your neighbor's country but you never care about your country?

Is that okay? Should the president do that kind of thing? Would you send a lot of money and care, doctors and nurses to maybe a very far country friend but you care not when your neighbors next to you are dying? So, this is the kind of logic that you might take around with you every day and never think whether it's logical or not.

So it's good that I am not here very long otherwise I'd trouble you. You'd have to come and see me everyday or sometimes or often. But humans are like this.

Sometimes when the person is not very near then we appreciate his or her

beauty more. Just like a mountain over there is clearer than when we climb up.

But then, when we climb up, we discover many beauties that we could not see from afar. So do not think that from afar it looks better. It might look clearer generally, but we cannot discover many beautiful details that please our eyes and ears, and make our hearts feel very pleasant.

For example, we have hills in front of our house full of beautiful wild flowers.

When we pass, we can only see a little bit. We see that there are flowers there, there are flowers on the hill. But when I walked, I climbed up the hill and saw the panorama for myself, it was so breathtakingly beautiful. So beautiful, so beautiful. So much different than when you look from afar. And that we can only know and appreciate when we go in the heart of it, into the garden on the hill.

So beautiful that I tried to paint but failed for three days now. I couldn't paint.

Maybe God didn't want me to paint. (Master laughs) Hes is afraid I'll make a mess of Hiers beautiful garden. Hes didn't trust my talent. When I went up it became rainy and windy, and when I came down the sun shone -- making fun of me all the time. When I came down Hes laughed. So tomorrow I will try again and if it's no good then I'll thank Hirm and then goodbye.

God Always Hears Us But We Sometimes Ignore Hirm In any kind of science, if we want to be perfect in that science we must learn, we must practice, and then we must be near to those who teach us if we are interested in that field. Of course, if we are not interested then no one can say anything. But then, do not blame the teacher or do not blame God that we are not expert in that field.

So many people stumble in life and have many difficulties; or many feel exhausted and frustrated in body, speech and mind and they wonder why, or say: "God doesn't help me," or "God doesn't hear me." But it is not true, it is we who don't hear God. We don't care to listen to Hiers message every day.

For example, we have to go to school about four or eight hours a day in order to learn what the teacher wants to teach us, to become wiser and more intelligent each day, and to get our graduation or masters degree. Then by each day we learn. Each day we're more intelligent, we know more things, we can do more things, we can tackle more things, our lives are more organized, we have more understanding, and we have a more comfortable job and a more comfortable life. So now, just like if we don't sit in meditation for one, two or three hours a day and listen to God's teachings, or come to be near our teacher who represents the teachings from God, bringing the message of God to us, then how can we get wiser and how can our life get more comfortable?

Sometimes we pray, we say: "Oh God, why don't you come to me? If you exist, please come!" But if God comes, do we have time for Hirm? I doubt it. I don't think we have time for God. So don't blame Hirm if Hes doesn't come. We will say: "My mother just came. My father just died. My children are ill. My job! My boss! My bank account! My electricity bill! Oh God, my God, please go away, I don't have time for You! Oh my God!" (Master laughs)

Can you imagine how we would treat God if Hes came? Hes has come many times to us. Hes comes all the time in the garb of the fleshy body, in the garb of humans.

It's the same when we are with a wise person, then we'll be wiser. If we are with stupid people all the time, we get more stupid. We have to accompany that person's level otherwise he doesn't understand us and that's how we are dragged down. Therefore, we choose a friend. Therefore people come to wise masters in order to awaken the wisdom inside themselves. That is very, very logical.

If I already know English and now if I stay in England, in America or always among English speaking people, then my English improves each day. But if I am among non-English speaking people or speak English like chopping vegetables, then of course my English will become like theirs. I've already notice that my English is getting like chopping wood -- wood-chopper -- because in the last twenty years I have not been in England. I have always traveled around and everywhere people don't speak perfect English. So my language talent has become stunted -- doesn't grow. Every day I speak Chinese, Spanish or the Au Lac language! (Master speaks Spanish and laughs) You see, these are very clear things. So if we think we are already too wise, then we don't need a master. But if we think, if we cross-examine ourselves and know that we have something missing, then we should go and find someone who has that quality and try to make up for it. If God can teach us directly from within then we don't need a master. But we know that it's not possible for God to be in touch with us directly even though Hes is within us. Therefore, Jesus had to come, Buddha had to come, Mohammed had to come, Socrates, et cetera.

It is true that we can learn from everyone, but from someone maybe we can learn more and from someone we learn less. From someone we learn good things, from someone we learn bad things or at least not to do bad things like them; they're also our teacher. At least they teach us not to do bad things provided we have enough discriminating power to know what is good, what is bad.

Some human beings are with God, some human beings are with the world, some human beings are a little bit inclined towards the negative aspect of humankind.

If we are with those persons who are with God then we become influenced by their Godly qualities. If we are with those who have the worldly qualities then we're imbibed more with the worldly qualities. If we are with those with negative tendencies, then we're also affected by their negative traits.

Every day we are in touch with so many personalities, so many persons and we do not really know who is with the negative -- sometimes we don't know clearly -- and who has human tendencies. Therefore, we are sometimes confused and we are affected by them, with or without our knowledge. Therefore sometimes we feel tired and confused and our spirit feels very depressed.

So, if we know someone with Godly qualities, saintly wisdom, we must by all means, any time possible, be near such persons in order to be affected a little bit in a different direction and get pulled up instead of pulled down or stay in that low level all the time, every day. Especially when this kind of occasion is very rare, because we can be in touch with anyone, but with saintly persons, how much time? How many saintly persons? How many occasion that we meet such persons? And how many saintly persons in this world?

It is okay if we don't believe in that person, if we think that person is not good enough for us. But if we do believe, if we know that person definitely is beneficial for us, for humankind, is saintly, is wise, then we must run. We must make excuses to come, not make excuses to stay away because it's good for us, for us and us alone.

A Hungry Soul Needs To Be Fed If we know that food is good for us, should we make excuses to stay away from the kitchen? We can be hungry one or two days but not too long. When we are hungry, when we don't have enough nutrition, we know what happens. Our body becomes tired, we get dragged around, we cannot move, we cannot think so much and we cannot work. Our soul also gets hungry sometimes if we don't look after it properly.

And how do we know when our soul is hungry? When we cannot survive well in this world, when we are tired mentally, when we are depressed, when we cannot think correctly, and when we cannot cope with the pressure of this life. When our body gets sick, that's also because the soul is oppressed; when our bad tendencies overpower our goodness.

If we are honest with ourselves and cross-examine every day then we know that our soul is very, very tired, exhausted and hungry. When we cannot recognize what is good from bad, what is the most important issue in life and what is the second important issue in life, then we know that our soul is oppressed.

Do not think that those who go out and murder people, steal, do all kinds of violence, or violate the neighbors are the bad persons. No doubt we don't say that they are good, but they can be awakened in no time or they may change when their situation improves. But if we do violence to our soul, that is the most serious crime. By denying our soul good teachings, by denying our soul it's spiritual food, by denying our soul the presence and the company of virtuous, saintly persons, we are doing violence to ourselves. Just like when we make an excuse and deny our body the food that it deserves that makes our body strong and healthy. The same, we retard our spiritual progress by denying our soul the food that it badly needs.

To do violence to others is more pardonable than to do violence to ourselves because sometimes we do violence to others because we cannot help it, because that person annoys us, makes us angry or denies us something and we have an excuse; and because of our ignorance and because sometimes it's difficult to love others because of the differences between personalities. But, not to love ourselves -- that is a terrible thing.

When we work, when we feed ourselves, when we clothe ourselves, we only love our bodies alone, we do not love the soul, and the soul is our real Self. How do we improve our spiritual progress if we are not all the time mixed and in the company of the spiritual group, with spiritual people who have the same motive, same ideal, same goal, same way of life, same way of thinking?

We are not yet strong enough to walk alone or else we would have become a saint, become a master. If we check ourselves, our behavior every day, we know that we are not yet masters, if we're honest. We know we are much too selfish, much too self-centered, much too ignorant to reach the level of so-called master, of Jesus or Buddha.

Walking The Spiritual Path Requires Effort If after examining such and we know our level, then we must learn, we must practice more, we must open our hearts to all kinds of noble influences, all kinds of noble company. We must take advantage of these chances. If we still believe that to improve our purity, to improve our wisdom is the highest purpose of humanity, then we must make an effort. But if we do not believe in this, if we think being human beings means only to grow up, to eat, to work, to earn money, and to die, then okay, then we don't need to make an effort.

Then we just live like that and carry on day after day, day in, day out: working, eating, sleeping, making love, producing children, earning money, and then dying. No need to meditate, no need to be vegetarian, no need to read ethical books, no need to do any of these mentioned items. And don't tell anyone, don't make excuses that it's too tiring, it's too much, it's too this, too that and the other.

Don't we make effort in all undertakings? Effort is necessary in all kinds of transactions. Effort is needed in studying, needed to work, needed in maintaining marriages, needed in maintaining our bodies, needed in maintaining even our hair! A few strands of hair take two hours in the beauty salon. Don't you tell me that you don't need an effort for meditation and you don't need to go see a master because you're too tired, too long, too this and that and the other.

How about your hair?

Ask yourself how many hours you spend on your ephemeral body -- all the eight, ten hours working just because of this body. All the study -- many years - just because of this body. You study for ten, twenty years because you want to have a good job, maintain your body and your family's bodies. What else? And you work for thirty more years after studying, also just because of the body or maybe for the bodies of your family members or the bodies of your beloved citizens. So now, how can we say we don't need any effort?

We refuse the effort for the soul -- it's not logical! And the soul is the most important thing. Without the soul the body is no use! Go to the cemetery and find so many bodies there. When people die they also make them up, make their lips beautiful here, and make coiffeur and beautiful clothes. But what is the use of that body then?

Now, effort is needed or not? It's needed just even for your lips. If you want to have rosy lips you have to go to the beauty shop and choose the beautiful color that you need. It sometimes takes two or three hours and you bear it because you like to be beautiful. And this is an ephemeral thing. It's here today maybe gone tomorrow. And if for the soul, for something eternal, we take two, three hours a day, or come to see the teacher and we say it's too much.

Suffering Or Liberation Is A Matter of Choice Then we ask ourselves: "Why did God make the world like this? Why you -- we the people -- suffer so much? Why do I suffer so much?" It is very clear. We choose it! We choose suffering, we choose ignorance, we choose not to move, we choose not to improve, we choose not to change, we choose not to be pushed, not to be civilized. That's all our fault. The world suffers because it wants to suffer. Because we make effort -- too many hours spent for the ephemeral things and too little hours spent for the eternal wisdom. That's why we are not wise, that's why we do things with topsy-turvy wisdom, that's why we cannot get away from the circle of birth and death.

If everyone made a little effort to learn in wisdom, to learn to recognize our greatest intelligence inside and then use it in everyday life, the world would not be so suffering like this and everyone would become wise. Everyone would know what is the right thing to do, how to have consideration for other people; all people would cooperate in wisdom and no one would suffer at all.

If everyone waits for the neighbor: "Oh why doesn't she go to meditate? She didn't find a master, why should I? Why should I go to study with a master? Why should I meditate and be vegetarian, no one else does it?" Everyone then waits for each other and that's it.

Now, everyone else is supposed to be ignorant, you are supposed to be the better ones. You already know how to meditate, you know to be vegetarian, you strive towards Light and wisdom. You're supposed to be the better half of humankind, and you also stay there and sleep away your time! How can you expect others to follow your example?

Am I too harsh with you? If I am, please forgive. If you forgive me, God will forgive you -- good karma. But if no one tells you, you will not tell each other.

Manage Our Time Wisely Everyone likes to skip school. No children are willing to go to school. All the parents have to push, teachers have to be stern. Otherwise, if you just allow the children what they like, then they will never do the right thing because they don't know. Left alone, children will go play in the park all day, watch television, or do this kind of video machine -- ping, pong, pong.

No doubt, the teacher is not always strict and also takes the children to the park and plays with them; and the mother, father also play with them sometimes. But there are times for playing and times for learning. Time for your family, time for your friends, time to work, earn money, and take care of your bodily needs. But

time for spiritual aspiration must be included. Of course, we cannot do that twenty-four hours or every day, but when the occasion arises we must take the opportunity.

We already do too little for our spiritual progress. You see, for any job, for any study, for any bodily comfort we put in the full time -- eight hours per day, ten hours per day and sometimes extra work in the night. Sometimes, you have to take supplementary schooling at night -- extra, apart from your ordinary schooling -- and just to have a master's degree in English or Chemistry. And that's one or two subjects for just a very short time, just a very, very ephemeral thing. Learning to be in eternity, learning to be a saintly person, to be God-like, and we put only one or two hours a day, see the teacher only occasionally, and we already make excuses. So what kind of logic do you think that is?

To be a disciple or to be a practitioner suffices not to be vegetarian and suffices not to be initiated. Vegetarian -- a cow is a vegetarian since inside the stomach.

And initiation -- even cows came for the initiation when I gave it. They come for initiation anytime. Whenever I'm here the cows come to see me. They come all that way, very far from the other field up to here, and stand or sit in front of the meditation hall, waiting for initiation. Yes, they did! People said they didn't ever come until I came. They also filled in the initiation form! They filled it in their way! They cannot write so they swallowed them.

You know the story. When I was here the first time and the pickup truck was full of vegetables and some initiation forms behind, they didn't eat the vegetables they just swallowed the initiation forms and some of my lecture notes. They stole them and our initiates chased after them wanting to take them back. They were so nervous that they just swallowed them. (Master laughs) We could not take them back so they think they are also initiated. Any time I come they also come for group meditation. (Master laughs) They have darshan, they look at me. When they came here and our disciple tried to drive them away, they didn't go, they just looked at him as if to say: "You and I are equal -fellow initiates -- why do you drive me out?" Something like that.

Do not feel that you are initiated and you are vegetarian and that's enough. If you think that is enough, it's just like you think that to enroll in the university is enough and no need to go to the university or see the professor every day, every week or every two or three days. Or like the cows, just swallow the initiation form, be vegetarian, and that's enough. But they are even better, they come to see me any time I am here -- very faithful disciples (Master laughs) and vegetarian all the time. Never fail. This, I never need to worry.

They would never pretend to make a mistake by eating cake with eggs, or drinking something with a little bit alcohol in it only. And they do their meditation every day, with or without Master. After they eat -- full -- then they will sit there and meditate on their food on the grass. That's their meditation.

The same like us, just after working and eating we sit there and meditate on television, or meditate on our worldly desires and problems. So what is the problem? No problem. Everyone meditates on their own beloved object. Like this

I really should retire. No need to come anymore. No need to bother you. Both of us happy. Mm? Do you think a master is only there to fulfill your needs when you want it, and you don't need to have any obligation? That's also okay as far as the master is concerned, but you don't progress. You waste your human time, the precious time to develop our wisdom -- no, to recognize our wisdom. Wisdom cannot be developed, wisdom is already perfect and there, we just need to recognize and use it.

But if we do not give time to recognize and use it, then we waste it. God has given us the human body and entrusted us with wisdom in order that we serve ourselves and this world while we are here. If we do not do this, then we fail in our duty towards God and towards ourselves. That's all.

Perhaps no one, including any master, has the right to blame us. It's just that probably we have to come back to learn again, or probably we have to learn in a hard way or through suffering. Or probably we have to wait a while, many lives, to see another master again, because we have refused the golden opportunity when it is easily available. That is not very convenient for us, that's all. the TRUE MEANING OF MEDITATION "When you pray to your Father, enter your secret chamber and pray in secret and your Father will see you and reward you openly."

So, how do we pray in secret when we all go to church and pray openly? So maybe it isn't the way. The Bible teaches us not to pray loudly, like the heathen or the hypocrites do. So the secret lies in this secret chamber. That is why when we go to church, we pray a lot, out loud, and everyone hears it except God! So, most of the time, our wishes aren't fulfilled. It is because we do not follow what the Bible says. If we believe in it, then we should study it more carefully.

Now it isn't that we must sit there and think about God all the time. We just have to merge with God, and become one with God, and always be in His consciousness. That is what is meant by the Kingdom of God. If you go to the church once in a while, on Sunday, it is also a way to seek the Kingdom of God, but probably not a very fruitful way. Because Jesus said to us that the Kingdom of God comes not through observation, but it is within us. If it is so, what shall we do? Still, we must meditate, even though, it is said that the Kingdom of God doesn't come through observation, meaning not through meditation even. But it makes us more aware of it. The Kingdom of God isn't made by meditation, but by meditating we become aware of our Kingdom, which is already existing within ourselves. .....

Our meditation, we believe, is the original plan from God, that we should get in touch with the God power and with the Word of God. In the Bible it is said,

In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was God and the Word was with God. So we meditate on that Word, which is the vibration within, the Word which indicates the frequency, the God Power. Because we are the temple of God, and God speaks to us in such a way. He appears to us in the form of light and speaks to us in the form of sounds. Seeing the light, we see many other things. Hearing the Word we hear many other things. We hear the teachings directly from God. So this is what we are meditating on. But when we have a powerful teacher, you may pray inside to Him or Her, if you have difficulty in meditation, or if you are too far from God, then you might need an intermediary. So you are still a little weak like a baby that needs his parents to hold him, so he can walk. But later you walk alone. You must know that your goal is walking alone, and growing up, and not to rely on parents forever. turn YOUR FAMILY INTO A HEAVEN Most people own their success in their career to having a secure family.

Members of their families have more affection for each other. They are more united and cooperative, and not complicated. Both the husband and wife give a harmonious atmosphere, so they are not easily affected by the trials outside.

They are also not easily troubled. When we are happy, we do not mind about others' mistakes as much. We are not concerned or troubled.

If we refuse the love from our families, refuse the love from people close to us, then we will not be successful in whatever we do. We will feel so miserable that we cannot bear even ourselves; and of course, we cannot bear other people.

The disorders and troubles in society all come from dissonance at home. It is because we don't have good friends who are willing to make sacrifices, to offer sympathy to each other, accept each other, and respect each other. We don't have anyone who truly knows us well and can be a friend for life. Understand?

That was why I said not to turn your home into a hell. Because we live in it, we need to look after it, organize it, repair it, make it look beautiful and turn it into a heaven. It is not out of compassion or brotherly love that we love others. We love others because we want to be comfortable and happy. The more we offer our love to others, the more others will love us. When all the people love each other, how comfortable that will be! two CHOICES FOR THE FUTURE Singapore September 29, 1994.

We don't need to ask a prophet whether the world will end. If we continue the life-style that most people live today, we might have to believe that the world will end.

It's our duty to rescue people if we love this planet. if we think it's a beautiful place, which it is. It takes billions, trillions of years to make one until it is beautiful like today. We also have to make a contribution. If we can, we fix it. Of course, if, after all, we've tried our best and still the end of the world comes, then let it be. But if we can fix it, we should do it. So spread the good news and let the people go back to the natural way of life, the righteous way of life, that is, being vegetarian, being virtuous, keeping the precepts, living a simple life, and thinking positively. Then our world will have no problems, and we will probably live a few more thousand years in a better condition.

There are two choices now - one is total destruction, another is go ahead with progress in all ways of life, including spiritual. The future is in our hands, really.

There are no aliens who can do anything about it. There is no God who punishes us. There is no Buddha who blesses us. It's only ourselves. We have to make a choice, because that's how we grow by making good choices. the SACRIFICE OF BEING A MASTER Q. Then this is perhaps Your Christian side because Lord Jesus, He was always all forgiving, even the worst sinners, the criminals. Now, do You have to take on the karma of these people?

M. Yes. The law of karma has to be respected. But when the Master takes on the karma it's not like when the disciple takes on the karma. For example, when Jesus was persecuted, yeah, nailed on the cross, then many of His disciples or followers would be forgiven the sins. But if you pick anybody on the street and tell them now, you will be nailed for everybody else's sins, nobody else would get forgiven. Nobody had any benefit. Understand? The body of the Master is different from the body of other people, even though it looks the same. For example, all the cars look similar. Yes, but the Mercedes car and the Volvo car have different structure and different endurance. Now can you imagine at the time of initiation, when the master has to initiate thousands or hundreds of people. He has, the master has to house at least enough blessing power to give to each one. Understand? To give to, at least, to hundreds persons or thousands persons depending on the number. Now when one person receives, only his individual share, he has already opened the eye of wisdom and can see the visions and the stars and the heavens and hells and everything. And that force must be strong to clear all the karma of ten thousands of years of that individual, one, alone. And the Buddha said only one person's karma or sins, if it had shape, the whole universe could not contain one person's sins, one person's karma. In order to burn all the sins and karma of one individual, including all the five generations, at least, of him, you know how much force it takes. If not he could not hear the sound, he could not see the light because he is burdened and locked with his own karma. Now all that force has to go through the body of the Master in order to come out. And when She initiates thousands of people then the force must be more. Then the ordinary person cannot house this power.

Even good power will make you collapse. Understand? Just like in order for this light to shine it has to contain so much voltage of electricity. This bulb might look similar to the other bulb but it has different structure. It can contain more power, more electric power. In order to give you such a brilliant light. He has

Himself to be able to stand this kind of electric voltage. Yeah. So therefore the body of the master is no doubt different. But most of the time the masters do not mention these things, unless when asked. Most of the Masters are very humble. And it is not necessary to talk about things when it is not the time.

Understand? And also, it has to be the right audience. .....

We are united. We have to show it somehow, we don't just talk. We don't just say, "I love my neighbour," or "I and you are one." But then when they are suffering, "Oh! It's okay. Nothing to do with me." So when you are sick, I am sick also. While I am here, I have everything that you have. Otherwise, I only have pleasure. It's good to be a Buddha, and everyone can be. Also someone said to me, "Well, if you are in operation, you can just leave your body and enjoy heaven when you come back." Well, you can do that as a disciple, but I cannot; because if I do that, I only enjoy the things and don't suffer with you. If I don't suffer, you suffer more. So I don't run away. .....

Sometimes you dig also into my garbage. I've told you that I have a lot of garbage. I have never cheated you. Everything you have, I have. I collect it so that you're clean. I collect it so that your house smells nice. Don't criticize my garbage if I even have it. Don't smell it. Let me take care of it. I'll take care of it in my time. I'll dump it where it belongs, I'll destroy it so that you're clean, beautiful, nice, hygienic and healthy. Don't criticize my garbage.

This is the mistake that many of you make. It's okay with me, but there are many things that are not okay with you. For example, you smell like garbage, you look like garbage because you carry it around, and people know you are garbage if you collect it. It's not your job. We have a lot of garbage collectors out there on the streets. You pay them because they are doing their job. Don't do their job, you have better jobs to do. Be happy that someone else collects the garbage for you. Why do you snatch it from them, and even examine it whether it is really garbage or not? It is. You know already.

I have never cheated you. I told you I have a lot of karma. That's why I am often sick, I am often in trouble for nothing, I am often in bad shape, bad reputation. Even the people I've helped have turned against me. The things that I do good, people use that against me, personally also - a lot of things. A lot of newspaper write bad things about me which are 100% garbage, not true at all.

So if you know already I have a lot of garbage, don't come around me, don't come near. Stay away. Keep yourself clean and pure. Even if I am full of garbage, it's okay, it's my problem, it's my job. Don't look. I've never cheated you and said I am always okay. I am not okay.

I am a sacrificed garbage can. Anyone can dump anything into it, and I have to digest it and take care of it. It's very painful sometimes. I don't have to go through it but I do. That's okay with me because I don't look at garbage as garbage. I have the way to digest it, make it into fertilizer, and turn it into

beautiful flowers. But you don't do that, you don't have the means to. You were not born to do it, so just stay away. Leave the garbage to me. Leave the garbage to your own neighbor whoever that is. Keep yourself clean and pure.

That's your prime duty. Your duty is not to be born to look into neighbor's garbage or into my garbage. You have enough with your own problems. .....

Q. Master, You just said that Jesus never would have wanted to be nailed at the cross, is it Your belief that every living master has to suffer?

M. Oh, I do. I know that for sure. I don't have to believe. I do know it! the "SAINT'S SYMPTOMS" Hsihu Center, Formosa February 4, 1996.

Today, I'm going to tell you the story of a saint. This story is about a person who didn't know that he was a saint, unlike you. (Laughter) Each of you are aware of your sainthood. He didn't know that he was a saint - the only "remaining" person (the words 'saint' and 'remaining' sound similar in Chinese). (Laughter) The name of this person was Long Shu, and he went to see a doctor named Wen Zhi. I think Wen Zhi was born in the Era of Spring and Autumn in the Warring States. Long Shu went to see Wen Zhi, a very famous doctor who could cure any illness. Someone said that he once cured Emperor Wen of Chi State in the Era of Spring and Autumn in the Warring States. Emperor Wen suffered from an unknown disease. He went to consult Wen Zhi, who didn't prescribe any medicine to heal him but only made him angry, and his illness was cured! Have you heard this story? (Audience: No.) Long Shu consulted Wen Zhi, "Your medical skill is so wonderful - this the whole world knows. Now I am suffering from a strange disease. Will you please treat me?"

Wen Zhi said, "Of course! But first let me know what is wrong with you. Tell me about your symptoms."

Long Shu then explained, "I don't know the name of this disease, or from where it came. The situation is this: I have been living in my village for a very long time, but now I find myself feeling alienated. I feel myself as a total stranger, having no deep relationship with anyone.

"For instant, when people in my village all praise me, I don't feel honored. When people in other villages insult me, I also don't feel upset. Even when I get some precious things, I am not delighted, nor do I feel agitated or sorry when I lose something. I feel that life and death are the same! I could even die tomorrow. I see no difference between wealth and poverty. The worst thing is that I see people the same as pigs. (Laughter) I also see myself the same as them - a pig.

(Master and everyone laugh.)

"I live in my house as if staying in an inn. I live in my village as if living in a foreign country - it doesn't feel like my hometown." Apart from these strange habits and thoughts, I also have many shortcomings. For instance, I look down upon positions, fame, palaces and governments. I think they are just common things for which I have no respect. I have no fear of punishment - life, death, goodness or evil; all of these things do not touch me!

"Therefore, I cannot help my country, or be loyal to the king. I cannot maintain close relationships with relatives and friends, nor can I handle my children or wife. I cannot educate them or mix with them. Unable to think in the same ways as my wife and children do, I find it hard to live with them. I cannot manage my wife and children, nor can I manage the servants and maids in my household."

"I am perplexed! Do you know what type of illness this is? Can you cure me?"

Doctor Wen Zhi then told Long Shu to turn around and stand in a brighter place under the sun, so that he could observe him with his heavenly eye. Then he yelled loudly, "Oh! I saw it!"

Long Shu asked him, "What have you seen?"

"I saw your heart."

Long Shu asked, "What about my heart?"

"Your heart is square and fair, spacious and empty, very much like the heart of a saint! The six apertures are open, only the last one remains blocked."

Perhaps it was because this aperture was not opened, he didn't know what was wrong with himself. If the last hole had also been opened, he would have been certain about his own illness.

Long Shu then asked, "What kind of disease is this?"

Wen Zhi explained, "In this era, people regard the wisdom of a saint as an illness. Perhaps this is what you've got. If you are really infected with the "Saint's Symptoms," my medical treatment will be futile on you!"

Do you understand? (Answer: Understand!)

I also don't know what his illness was, but it is fine if you know. Do you really understand? Do you really know? Good grief! How do you manage to understand? Perhaps you are similar to him. Is that right? Are you all saints, so you understand each other? Maybe this is the reason. However, when I ask you to forsake your wife and children, and come here to help Master to spread the Truth, you would say, "I can't do it!"

Perhaps you have transcended the level of this person! He couldn't maintain relationships with relatives and friends, but you are more advanced; you have such close relationships with your relatives that you cannot forsake them. It is easy to talk, but difficult to act.

As an after thought, perhaps we are all similar because many people have these symptoms. I seem to have these symptoms, but I am not a saint. Perhaps I have been infected!

There are many types of illnesses in the world! For instance, people who indulge in meat eating, smoking, drinking, and sexuality, will incur a specific disease some hard to cure diseases, like AIDS or others! Then, when you go around outside, and use other people's bathrooms or toilets, sometimes you may also be infected with that disease, though you have not indulged yourself.

When people exert themselves excessively, they may get a lung disease. If you had a relationship with them, or got too close to them and were in contact with them for a period of time, you would also get the disease.

I amnot a saint! However, it seems that I've also got the "Saint's Symptoms".

Who is the one who dared to infect me, raise your hand and show me!?

(Laughter) You should acknowledge your own faults! Don't pretend that you don't know. Do you? (Laughter) Normally, I only interact with you. I never go anywhere and socialize with other people. Therefore, if I ever got any disease, it must be you who infected me.

Who is the one? You dare not admit it now that you know it is a disease. (Master and everyone laugh.)

It must be you who infected me. Otherwise, why would I have become like this?

Previously, I also loved to stroll on the streets, go shopping, or find someone with whom to dance or sing. Otherwise, I would feel very lonely.

Now I feel nothing even if I sleep all day long. If you had not come, I would carry on sleeping, and only get up to eat when hungry. One, two or three meals - I eat when I feel like eating, but most of the time I don't.

Most probably I've got this disease, now that I have no special feelings towards my relatives and friends. Not that I do not love them! I love them as much as I love you. However, love remains love, and it vanishes when it should. I love them dearly when they are here, but I forget them immediately when they are gone, and don't even need to wait till tomorrow. As soon as they turn their backs, I also turn. (Laughter) Even my mood and emotions are changed. It is strange! Most probably I've got this "Saint's Symptoms" disease. Perhaps I was infected. I shall go to consult Wen Zhi! (Master and everyone laugh.)

Perhaps Long Shu was a spiritual practitioner! Do we become like him after we have pursued spiritual practice? It seems to be the case. Haven't you?

(Audience: Yes.) Oh! So you are the ones who infected me. Now you finally admit it.

I was not like this before; well, perhaps a little bit. However, it is getting worse.

For instance, I used to hate something, but then I stopped hating it later. I just don't mind anymore!

Anyone may come or go as they want, I won't be very upset! You too would only be upset for two or three days. (Answer: Yes.) Not as much as before.

Previously, we would suffer a lot when we lost something, or failed in our business. Now we don't mind too much; we won't blame others or heaven, but will work harder instead.

So, there were saints in the Era of the Warring States, not only in Miaoli now!

(Master and everyone laugh.) Don't think that you are the only saints in China.

They existed long ago.

I have told you, the method of spiritual practice exists in every age; the problem is whether or not we have the affinity to study under an enlightened Master. If we have an affinity with a certain enlightened Master, we will follow that Master.

Perhaps Long Shu practiced spirituality in his previous life, so he came back only to complete it. Maybe he had reached the fourth level, (Master laughs) so there was only a little way to go!

Had the doctor told him to look for an enlightened Master, he would have been cured! Only one more aperture to open; once it was opened, he would have been immediately enlightened, and would not have felt that he was sick.

Perhaps initially he didn't think himself as being ill, but he was in contact and associating with people, and everyone told him. "Why are you so odd, so unemotional and aloof?"

Being unemotional and aloof is not the same as treating people badly. All of you, after listening to this story, should not behave like pieces of ice, (laughter) and then proclaim this is the "ice quality" of saints. (Master and everyone laugh because Chinese words for ice [ping] and quality [ping] are almost similarly pronounced.)

I notice that some people do have this "ice quality" - ice cold personality - when talking to people, and do not seem to pay attention at all. When people ask them something, or whether they understand or not, they don't answer even if they know. Or, they would respond very slowly. People ask them on the first day of the month, but they don't answer until it is the fifteenth. (Laughter) This is really awful.

Besides, people are very busy sometimes, and have many things to do; they don't have time to tolerate your sluggishness. These kinds of people must rectify themselves. Theirs is a sickness of ego. They love to make things difficult for people, and love to hear others begging them. They desire constant attention from people, so they deliberately delay their response. They don't reply, or do it very slowly, thinking that they are very great, very elegant. This is not elegance, this is being stupid and senseless!

Perhaps for the first few times, people may feel embarrassed, and will continue to implore you politely, and maintain a relationship with you. Gradually, they will get tired of you. Since there are so many people on Earth, why should they go to

you - a senseless and sluggish piece of ice? Do you understand what I mean?

(Audience: Understand!)

Therefore, being unattached to the world doesn't mean that we should detest the world! Long Shu was sick in that he was not attached to his relatives, friends, or his hometown and country. However, he was not aloof, only that he was in a very ordinary and calm state of mind. He didn't deliberately make things difficult for people, or demonstrate that he was a saint; nor did he act coldly, or speak very slowly - unable to finishing one sentence in half a month.

He also didn't deliberately refuse to reply or respond when people sought his help. He didn't say, "What do you want? Could I possibly help you?". Unlike some people, instead of sincerely and promptly rendering assistance to people, they talk extremely slowly for half a day, as if something - maybe karma, has got stuck in their throat. (Master and everyone laugh.)

Perhaps they have just descended from the snowy mountains. Maybe they are great masters from the snowy Himalayas. (Master and everyone laugh.) They want people to realize the intensity of the cold! I really dread having relationships with those cold and aloof people. They deliberately act very sluggishly to attract people's attention, so that people have to beseech them.

In fact, this is a serious disease of heavy ego and an inferiority complex. If a person is confident, he would not behave like this; he will act frankly and earnestly. There is no reason to "um and "aw". Maybe he (or she) hanged himself (herself) previously, and the impression extends to this life; the rope is still tightly tied around a certain spot, so he (she) cannot speak. (Laughter) We human have plenty of illnesses, but we often do not think that we are sick.

Long Shu thought that he was ill, but actually he was not. Many of us think that we are all right, but we are actually sick.

We should be aware of where our illness lies. Others may be able to correct us several times, but we must know where our illness is, and save ourselves quickly. If we cannot save ourselves, then consult books, or find someone to help us, instead of doing nothing. If our fault is not rectified, we have to come back next time, with or without following an enlightened Master. It is because we cannot forsake that corner, and keep clinging to it, using it as a weapon to make things difficult for others or to win their attention. Then, we have to come back!

The law of this world is very impartial - you get whatever you want. Even the enlightened Master cannot force you to get liberation, unless you want it yourself! The doctor also cannot force you to take medicine, or forcibly operate on you without your consent. Right? (Audience: Yes!) Even if you cannot make the request because you are unconscious, your relatives can speak for you. It means that you have consented in the first place. It can only be done with your consent.

If you deliberately cling to your faults, you have to come back next life, and may not meet an enlightened Master! Then, you will also run around like Long Shu,

carrying a heart with six open apertures, not knowing what is wrong with you.

And, it will be very difficult to open the seventh.

All of you should reflect and quickly rectify your faults, if any. If you do not rectify it today, you have to do it tomorrow or the day after anyway. The longer you delay, the more serious the trouble, because the interest multiplies. The bad habit will become strong and entrenched, then it will become more difficult for us to eradicate. Good day!

A Saintly Mind Expects Nothing In Return Spoken by Supreme Master Ching June 6, 1995 (Originally In English)

Hai,

at

Hsihu

Center,

Formosa

The retreat is over, so I think I'll let you go to sleep, you know, normal time.

You don't have to meditate so long. You may go back to your tent and meditate longer, until you want to sleep. And in the daytime you may rest or meditate as you please, and follow the schedule here, like 4 to 7 and 6 to 9. Normally, you follow what is here. Sometimes summer and winter there is a slight difference in the schedule. So you're free, but try to meditate as much as you can; and don't gossip too much. If you have to talk then talk about God, something beneficial, something that vibrates positively in the air and contributes to the harmony of the world as well as to your spiritual progress and those of your neighbors.

Whatever we speak, we'll give a vibration, and accordingly what we say, good or bad, will affect upon us again.

There are still many around. You'll stay a long time? Your family is okay? I told you if you have no obligations, family, children, job or any other duty, especially the family, the children, and the job.... If you have work to do, you must tell your boss before you leave or before you stay or whatever. You don't just go like this. Place yourself in other people's positions and then act accordingly. Don't be selfish and make a bad name for yourself and for our group.

Do Good Things Expecting Nothing In Return We have to do good things in this world, not because we will have a good result, good karma. That is only for children, for the beginning, for the beginner of practice. Then they still need awards, merit, punishment, all these praises and blame. But as we go to a higher dimension, a higher level of consciousness, we forget all this. We do whatever to benefit other people and whatever is righteous according to our conscience. Not to expect anything at all in return.

If we look at the history of the world, not everyone who does the righteous things, not every act of kindness will be rewarded with the same level of goodness. For example, you look around, Jesus. All his life he tried to do good and be a good example of Godly qualities, but he had no fantastic reward in return. At least, I mean, when he was alive. And Buddha, he has done a great deal for the world and for his disciples. But he had a lot of slander, blame and curses, sometimes, even close to assassination. Gandhi, for example. He strived

to do good for his people and his country. And to bring peace among religious believers in India, and what did he get in the end? A bullet. And many other people like Kennedy of America, Abraham Lincoln, etc., etc. All these good people. They sincerely tried to bring justice to the world and peace to human beings. But they all got a very tragic retribution for the good that they had done to the world. Politically speaking even, not only in religion.

Like in Formosa here. Formosa is one of the founders of the United Nations 50 years ago. And now what do they get? They are kicked out of the United Nations, in preference to the Communism, which the whole world says is bad, and has to be eliminated, etc..., for example, blah, blah, blah, you know what I mean? So not everything that we do good will get the good things in return. So don't expect me to promise you that if you keep the precepts, if you eat vegetarian, I will give you all the power of protection so that your life will be smooth and have no problems, everyone loves you, no enemies, no sickness, no accidents, no diseases, no undesired accidents or anything like that.

Understand? You keep the precepts, you do good things because it is the only way to be a human, be a worthy human being. Understand?

Surpass Praises And Blame And moreover, if we want to step beyond human life to become a saintly being, beneficial to the whole universe, that is the meaning of being a righteous person. That's the purpose -- the only purpose. As long as you practice goodness and kindness, there will be always a negative power that tries to attack you, that tries to make you stray from your purpose and go in a different direction, sidetrack you. So it takes a lot of determination and principles to control ourselves, to check our way, to check our lives, so that we always go in the right direction without regret, without complaining when we don't have any good result out of this. Even I myself don't always have the correct result, and righteous result awarded to me. For one of the awards, or one of the praises I get a hundred slanders in return. You know what I mean? Just because you don't know about them doesn't mean they don't exist. Just because I don't care about them doesn't mean they don't exist. We do not take praise and blame very literally, very seriously. Therefore, we are not very affected by them.

Doesn't mean I always get praises and smooth operation and cooperation from everyone. Even among disciples, there is no such thing as an easy way for a master at all. In fact, it's a way of great sacrifice and inner sufferings. Most of the people do not know. But still, despite all this obstruction and ungratefulness of mankind we continue to do good. We still continue to improve ourselves to do what is right, because it is right. Do you understand now? (Clapping) Because it is the challenge of this world that we always keep the way of God, we always keep the commandments of conscience. That's how we rise above all differences and all the praise and the blame to be a noble being.

Being A Noble Being Is The Only Way Even though to be a noble being is a very difficult position and also very difficult to achieve, that's the only way. Or do we want to always sink into the lower existence, the lower thinking, the violent way of living or a very, very ignorant quality. Should we do that? (Audience: Of course not.) Right. You're right. So,

that is the only choice, to walk forward doesn't matter how difficult, to fly upward doesn't matter how far, how high. We just have to try again and again and again, until there is nothing but goodness that resides within us, until we recognize nothing but the Kingdom of God within ourselves.

What is the Kingdom of God? It is not the palace that is shining with gold, silver, diamonds, rubies and all kinds of precious stones. It is the purity, the loving kindness, the compassion, the peace of mind. That is the Kingdom of God. If we carry this Kingdom of God within us, then wherever we go we always feel that we are in heaven. So there is no need to yearn for the life beyond and to shun the opportunities to serve our brothers and sisters here on earth while we are still living. If we have already attained heaven within, whether we live or we die, it is ours. No one can take it away. But if we do not attain this, then even if we go to heaven, the outer environment of heaven may not even penetrate inside our darkened souls, and we still carry with us hatred, jealousy, bad, negative thinking, within our hearts. Then heaven is just another place in the universe for us, the same as everywhere because we have not changed ourselves.

Having Peace Within Us, Everywhere Is Heaven So if we change, the situation changes. If we have heaven within us, peace within us, then everywhere is heaven, everywhere is peace. That's the purpose of being good, trying to do good, trying to be good, because that's the only choice. Unless we want to stay in hell forever.

Well, then I don't know. That's very easy to do. To go to hell we don't have to try. There's no need for effort. It's the most easy way. Most crowded place. So I think it is better to go to heaven. Less crowded. More quiet. More room. More space. Everyone goes to hell, so why not we go to heaven? Just like in the cities, they are too crowded already. Why should we go there? So if we want peace and quiet and tranquility, we go to the countryside. There's more room, more space, the land is cheap and we are in a very green surrounding. It's good for our health and spirit, etc.

The same, huh? So I think we are very wise if we choose to go to heaven. Takes a lot of effort, maybe (clapping). It takes a lot of effort now, but if you want to try again later or next life, it's even harder. It adds up more garbage, more bad qualities, and more habits. It's difficult to clean. Now maybe we are already in the thousandth incarnation and if we come back again, one thousand and one, you know, and we come back again one thousand and two. Each life we accumulate more garbage and more bad habits. Then it's more difficult to kick off the habits. Right? So, however hard it is, try this time, try one time.

Pull Out Deep Rooted Habits And Hardness You may think that you are already very clean and pure but I tell you, be careful. Don't think because we are vegetarian, because we keep the precepts, we are clean and pure. Not yet, not so easy. Watch yourself next time. Watch every moment, just one day. Spend one day watching yourself. See how you react in different situations. Watch carefully, then you'll know what I mean.

Like some people they will come to me and they want to become monks and nuns, for example. I tell them no, you don't need. I don't want to tell them that they are not up to it. But I just tell them no need. Because even when they are with me, talking to me. . . For example, if a boy were talking to me, and then he hears a voice of another female coming to my room or coming to my place, immediately he brushes his hair. He doesn't know it even. I know it. You know what I mean? Or a girl, talking to me and then hearing a voice, only hearing the voices of approaching boys, one boy or two boys, doesn't matter whom.

Immediately she also adjusts her dress, strokes her hair. (Everyone laughs.) Not the way we causally do it sometimes when the wind blows. In my office there's no wind, for example.

And many things that we ourselves do not notice, very, very trivial matters, very deep rooted and subtle habits that we don't know we have. You know what I mean? And many other things like love, compassion and sensitivity to the suffering of other people, we don't have too. For example, sometimes I watch movies with the monks and nuns, so-called monks and nuns here, huh? And many things in the film, sometimes about the war, sometimes about spiritual matters or sometimes about the things that are very touching in this world, like war, death, suffering and things like that. These things make me cry, or sometimes I am very shocked and very deeply touched. But to some monks and nuns, they just laugh away. Maybe they are at a higher level than me. No emotion. I have more astral feeling or what? (All laughed!)

But because I know it is a film, I don't see the film; I see the suffering behind, what they want to convey in the film. You know what I mean? It's not that I cry because the film person dies, I know that it is a film. I don't cry because that actor dies or loses an arm or a leg. But I am touched because of the suffering of this world which they try to portray on the film, which is very, very, very true.

But I saw some of my monks and nuns, they sit around and they just laugh because of some other incident in the film. I cannot laugh. Of course I am the one that laughs a lot. You know that. It's not that I don't know how to laugh, but in such a situation, I cannot laugh at all, and then I can sense some of them are so insensitive. So insensitive.

So these are the very subtle habits and subtle hardness that we have accumulated during many lifetimes and we don't even realize it.

Be Honest To Yourself So make sure that you check out whatever undesired, deep rooted habit that you don't want to carry around with you. If you're comfortable with them it's okay with me. It's your garbage and not mine. But what I mean is that if we are truly honest within ourselves and want to improve and want to train our sensitivity to the suffering and to the happiness of others as well as to our own purity and well being, then we must always be vigilant. Always, always pay attention, otherwise it is easy to just pass the day, pass two days, pass three days, pass the whole life, in self indulgence, in bad habits and not get into a higher level of consciousness, not be able to understand a deeper meaning of spiritual life. You understand? And then we blame others, blame God, blame the

method and blame the Master, blame everything. That doesn't help us. It is not true, I tell you. It is not true.

You can blame me, you can blame the method if you want, but that doesn't help you at all. It doesn't help you to get better. The best is for you to be honest with yourself and always be watchful of our deep rooted habits, and very undesirable affects that they have upon us. Always be careful.

I just told you a few examples. But there are a lot. I cannot even remember here. And of course I don't want to bring all the garbage to you. I trust that you are very intelligent and wise enough by now, to take from these examples some indications, enough so that you can check out yourself, other habits or other deep rooted karma that I did not mention. But you will recognize next time around, when you see them, when you sense them and when you watch them grow or creep into your life when you're not noticing. There are so many things.

I cannot even remember and I cannot even tell you all. But you know, hmm, many small things.

Okay. From today you can go to sleep around 9:00, continue to meditate in your tent, then get up around 3:00 and meditate until 7:00, etc. Then in the daytime you rest, help around or cleaning. Try to concentrate all the time when you are working, and not to gossip and talk nonsense. Of course, no one will scold you or do anything, but since you are here you should profit from the free time and the environment and the atmosphere of the center to better your spiritual practice, understand?

In walking, sleeping, talking, sitting, laying down, always try to be concentrated on the wisdom center. In that way you speedily progress and then you will feel that. And the more you progress, the more encouraged you will feel and then the more you practice. It's a pity that we already have the method and we don't use it.

It is very conducive here for you to practice your meditation, no one disturbs you so much. Is that not so? So try to profit from it. Try to profit from the time you are here. That is all I have to tell you. Good-night. (Clapping) Thank you.

A Saintly Way Of Living Spoken By The Supreme At Group Meditation In June 20, (Originally In English)

Master New

Ching York,

Hai U.S.A. 1994

If you think, "Oh, I am a meditator, I don't need to take care of the outer appearance." It's wrong. The outer is the inner, because actually we don't have an outer and inner. Everything is inside the universe. How can you make this corner of the universe lousy, dirty, messy while you claim that you belong to another universe which is more beautiful, more clean, more fabulous, and thing like that. It's not correct. Then we still live in discrimination, thinking that this world is no good so we'll make it even worse and we will immigrate to another place anyhow! But this is not yet to come. We're still living in this world.

We have no right, no right absolutely to damage, to spoil, to ruin this only house for the whole population of the Earth planet. You don't have the right to ruin any corner of this world whether you like it or not. And in the name of meditation, of a practitioner, don't make yourself a laughing subject or a degrading subject for other people to look down upon. Whatever you do, you represent the Most High; because we follow the highest path, we worship only the Most High. So we have to represent Hirm in speech, actions and thought -- at least, speech and actions.

Though people do not know much of what you think; but at least your speech, your actions are easy to detect. So please remember this.

Now, it is similar to inside progress. Sometimes we think we have already improved, but actually in many other corners of our soul, our spirit is still not yet looked after.

The light and the sound are the elements inside that cleanse our souls and our thinking. Our virtuous life will be more evident after we practice the light and sound. But the outside also we should take care; because the more we are elevated, the more we see that cleanliness is necessary. It is the way of life. It's not that someone is cleaner than the other, or someone loves more cleanliness.

It is the inner, the inner expression of beauty, virtue and Truth -- the saintly way of life. We should live a simple life, not the poorest life. A simple life, not a messy life. Simple is different. If you happened to go into my tent, or visit my tent, my tent is just like any of your tents but it's spotlessly clean. Everyday it is cleaned, everything is in order. It's not that it's too much order like I have to measure how many millimeters I fold my blanket and things like that. But it just looks beautiful and comfortable. Very inviting, very welcoming, very warm; and you know that it belongs to you.

Be Consistent Within And Without I am also very sorry every time I have to point out to someone, specially the close disciples, how dirty they are and how messy they've made their environment become. But I have to do, someone has to do it for you. Do not say that I am too over critical. I just want to point out to you that your level must match. Inner and outer must match because we live in the universe. There is no need to say inner, outer anymore actually. Inner and outer is just a way of speaking in the beginning of the practice. Afterward, you should level the frontier. There is no more, because it's the universe we've born in, with the Most High. We live with it everyday. We're swimming in it. We're breathing in it.

We're eating in it. There is no outer-inner universe. It's only the universe.

Everywhere in the universe is okay. It's perfect, as long as we make it perfect.

Suppose you go to the Buddha's land and you are messy just the same like in the Center. The Buddha's land will become what? Messy land. Yeah! (Laughter) It is just very logical to say that the inner level matches the outer arrangement, the environment duly, how you arrange your life. Now, look around you and you'll see my logic. It's not that I'm over critical. The human beings, where do they live? Huh? Houses, palaces, mansions, buildings, don't they? Where do the pigs live? Huh? Pig stalls. Where do the horse live? Horse stalls. Do they look the same? The two houses, the horse houses and the human houses, look the same?

Huh? Same smell? Everything, same arrangement? Tea table, teacups and

everything in the horse stable are the same? Same or not same? [A: No. (Laughter)] No. Okay. And where do the pigeons live? They live in cages, or on some branches. Yes, yes, yes, nests. So, every beings has their standard of living.

Now, suppose you are saints. But you have to live as a saint, you have to form your saintly standard.

Cleanliness Is Human Nature Because we are practitioners, we should be more clean even. That is an automatic thing. It should not be even taught. No one taught me when I was young to keep my clothes spotlessly clean everyday, that even the principal of the school always took me out as an example. I was so embarrassed always standing in front of hundreds, of thousands of people to make an example for them.

I was only in second or third grade of primary school. I washed and ironed my clothes everyday myself because I did not trust the servants to do it. I thought, ?They come from poor families, they can't do it. They can't do the way I want and they are not used to it.? So, I did everything alone. I earned the prize from the principal of the school. I earned it myself actually. If the servant had done it, then it was the servant who made it clean. It was me. So, actually it was me who earned the prize.

These things should not be taught, they should come automatically. If anyone tells us that we should be clean, we should be thankful for it instead of being upset, feeling offended, feeling degraded or something like that or looked down upon. It should not be so. Many times we have a temptation to resist a teacher's teaching and we only regret afterward. It's all right. It's all right to learn by mistakes, but the fewer mistakes, the better, the quicker; because the more mistakes we make, the more time we waste, the more burden we feel sometimes in our conscience, and we spend a lot of time feeling regret and correcting our mistakes instead of pushing forward and doing something more important and more fulfilling for our life. That is all. (Applause) Even though they are not so clean, they will be after today, after I have cleaned the whole house from inside and outside. And I will give them some pattern to follow -- after today you have to do like this. Actually it's difficult, very difficult. I already cleaned the whole area and made the picnic table there for its good looking. Normally they didn't exist -- the table, chairs and thing like that. Then they would come with their cups or their umbrellas and put them right on there immediately. Because there was nothing there for them to put things, so they didn't. Now there are something there, so they immediately use them. Ah! It's terrible. Everywhere they make it become like a storeroom.

The question with many of our houses is not that we don't have enough room, it's that we don't organize things well. We spread everything out and everywhere becomes like a storeroom. Just now when I came to New Jersey... everywhere.

Sometimes, when I come back to a Center, everywhere is like a storeroom; there is no space. The storeroom, of course, you can not go in to sleep. But then

the living room you put umbrellas, shoes and plastic bags, everything.

Everything that when you happen to pass by and leave there, it stays there forever. It's a part of eternity, perhaps. So you have to represent it by putting things forever somewhere and anywhere.

So when I went back to the Center, the one that was supposed to be the living room was full of boxes. Everywhere was boxes. But the living room also had boxes. The corridors also had boxes. The dining table full of boxes. So what is the use of putting a dining table there? Really it is not that we don't have enough place, because if we didn't have enough place, I couldn't make all these things disappear. After I came, I said, "All these things must go, go, go. Go storeroom. This goes there, goes here." Then nothing was there. This is how we clean the inside, and clean the outside also.

A Method Of Training By Zen Masters Remember in the Zen stories, many Zen masters let the disciples first come to do some labor work, like cleaning the hall, sometimes shining the Buddha's statue. All these things are not nonsense, really. Actually some Zen temples a long time ago -- you know long time ago when there were still good and enlightened Zen masters -- they still kept the Buddha's statue. Not that they were attached to the Buddha's statue. They knew it already, but still they thought some people are very much attached to the Buddha's statue still, so they kept them. So they let the newcomer disciples shine the statue everyday, and dust the Buddha. They cleaned the table for the Buddha and changed the water, changed the flowers everyday, cleaned the floor. That's what kept them busy and concentrated, and not thinking nonsense. Also to give them good habits of being clean and being orderly, putting things in order and returning things back to where they belong. That was the rule, strictly followed in most of the Zen temples. Even till now.

I think it is a very, very good way of training people, only if they train together spiritually as well. Not letting this habit become like an empty ritual and just keeping the outside clean and inside nothing. So these are the two extremes.

Sometimes we see some people just keep the outer rituals of any kind of religious sect; and some others just keep the inner, everyday sitting twenty-four hours in a cave or something like that and don't worry about the world, and don't dust themselves even. These two extremes we should not follow. If we just keep the cleaning outside, the Buddha outside, and we do not know anything inside, or our concentration just rises a little bit because of the cleaning, then it's not enough. We have to do both.

So I hope this is not too much nonsense for you. By the way, it's good for your house also, and it's very practical. Everything that doesn't belong to the living room just don't leave it there, very simple; and you'll see how your life will improve with the spacious house, with the cool feeling, with the warm welcoming atmosphere when you come home.

Keep Your Place Holy Clean

Do not complain that your husband runs away or your wife fails. If everyone just makes the house become like a garbage place, no one likes to go there anymore. That's why most people go out drinking late at night, go to the clubs, go dancing, go anywhere, damaging their health, their spirit, wasting their time.

Just because they can not stand it at home. They feel nothing, nothing there in the home to keep them. Whereby I stay at home all the time. I hardly walk out of the door if I have nothing to do. I hardly walk out of my own room door because I am comfortable there. It's my heaven. What for do I walk out into a messy world and no one else cleans? If a house is comfortable, it's like a santuary. It's like a church. You feel peaceful.

That's why many people including non-initiates like to come to my place. This morning I had a guest. He just loved my place. He said, "Oh! It's so quiet." And you feel even your soul become quiet just by the environment alone. You only hear, now and then, a little bit here and there, the birds chirping. Nothing more.

And the rushing of the leaves among the trees. Nothing there. No disturbance.

No dust. No confusion. So even in that kind of environment, where everything's so clean and cool, you will feel cooled down. You know, the passion, the lust, the anger, the ambition, everything becomes just calmed down.

Very important to keep your place holy, clean for yourself and also for the sake of this world, for the sake of the universe. It is a corner of the universe. We live in it. Even if we lived in heaven, it's also another corner of the universe only.

Why don't we respect the corner that we stay in now? It is a dedication to God. Clean your house as a dedication to God. Cook the food with love as a dedication to the universe. Do everything as a dedication. There is no menial work. There is no dirty job. There is nothing that is not worth your attention, because everything composes this universe. Every little particle of the universe belongs to the whole, and we taking care of a part means we take care of the whole. So, do not think this is a dirty job -- I clean the garbage, I clean the floor.

I do things myself when my time and schedule allow. I cook also. You know that.

There is nothing that I don't do, and there is nothing that I don't do well, because I am dedicated. My soul, my body are very dedicated to the work I do.

It's not that every time I do something, I say, "I dedicate this to God. I do it because of dedication. Da da da da...." But it becomes natural, you know like your own nature. It's very natural just like you love someone. You don't have to recite it. You know you just love him or her, and you do everything out of love.

Similarly, a person who practices the way of love. You know, light and sound are supposed to make you grow in love and wisdom. So if we practice the way of love, we should do everything with love; and everything that comes out of love is naturally beautiful and perfect.

Do Everything With Love If you do anything that is not yet perfect, or not yet beautiful, know that your love has not yet completely developed. You have not completely used the power of love which is inside you.

That's the way to reflect, to know if we've progressed or not. Don't always write letters and ask me, "Master, am I already in the seventh level or not? Or do you

think I am on the eighth?" What is the use? Everywhere is inside the universe.

While you live here, you are the saints. While you live in the Buddha's land, you're also the saints. You live anywhere as a saint. There's no need to choose one place or another. Heaven is just illusionary talk before we know the real heaven within ourselves. If after practicing for some time, you still long to see heaven and Buddha and all that, I think you should just meditate for two years in the Himalayas and reflect on yourself. This is no use. Heaven is here and now.

Anywhere you go, make it a heaven. If you're happy, it's heaven. If you're not happy, even if the situation around is very merry, very boisterous, you still feel miserable. Is that right? (A: Yes!) SAMADHI Samadhi means that you are in ecstasy, in bliss, tranquillity and light. You can be ecstasy while living in this world. There are two kinds of Samadhi: One is after you leave this world, you are forever in ecstasy, in bliss, in the Kingdom of God. You are one with God or the Ocean of Love and Mercy. The other type is a smaller ecstasy that you experience every day through meditation, through devotional longing, or any type of ritual in order to reach ecstasy. So when you are in Samadhi, you forget the whole world. Sometimes you can hear the people around you, but cannot relate to the world. When you are in a deeper ecstasy, the whole world disappears, and you only see light and God, and feel peace, bliss and ecstasy. .....

Sometimes, during samadhi, you find your body doesn't exist. You know you exist, but not the body. You don't find any body, you don't find any trace of the physical substance that we call flesh, bones, body, hair, or whatever. It's all light; it's all God. That's when we truly realize we are God, that only God dwells within this temple; and after all, the temple disappears, too. Only this realization will make us happy, truly happy; otherwise, no matter how many Bibles we read, how many other teachers tell us that we are God, we can never believe it.

We can never know we are truly the children of God or the Kingdom of God is within you. samadhi QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. What is the difference between the state of samadhi and the awakening of kundalini energies?

M. When the kundalini is awakened, you may be or you may not be in samadhi, and when you are in samadhi your kundalini may be or may not be awakened.

You see, kundalini is a kind of psychic energy. It takes care of the body. It's like what we call in Chinese "Chi". When you awaken that "Chi" you'll have vital power, the body is strong, your mind is strong, but samadhi offers you wisdom.

Your body might be very weak, very sick, but you are in samadhi, you have wisdom. So that's the difference between samadhi and kundalini.

.....

Q. Dear Master, is it right that we have to be at or beyond the second level of spiritual practice to have a samadhi experience?

M. No, no. It's not true. It's just that deeper or shallower samadhi. If you see the light or hear the sound, that means you're already in samadhi. It's just a little bit not very deep. And sometimes you're in very deep samadhi, and you sit there and only aware of the inside, and sometimes aware of both, inside and outside. .....

Q. How many kinds of Samadhi levels are there?

M. Wow... Many, many. There are many levels of consciousness, hence also many levels of samadhi. But the last one is the non-Samadhi Samadhi. It means you carry on working in the world just like an ordinary person, but at the same time, you are always in Samadhi, and that doesn't smell, (Master and all laugh) doesn't give out any odor that you can smell, the person is in Samadhi. That is the highest Samadhi. .....

Q. Have you experienced death? Do you remember a death experience?

M. Well, I can every day! I die and I come back.

Q. Can I do that?

M. You can, and I will teach you how. I think that it was Saint Paul who said, "I die daily." When you are in Samadhi, you can sever the ties with this world for a few hours and then reconnect again. You come back because it isn't time to go.

We must come back and finish our job again.

Q. Why do you want to die so many times?

M. I don't want to die. I just have to die in order to live. .....

Q. To what extent does thinking bother the samadhi state?

M. [Master laughs] If you still have thought, then there is no samadhi. Samadhi has no thought. science QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q. What do you think of the relationship between quantum mechanics and some principles of Buddhism?

M. This only confirms the Buddhist discovery about the different levels of consciousness. You can say that is energy, you can say the different planes of existence. But then the scientists have discovered only the matter. They discovered all the energy as matter, not the flexible intelligence behind the energies. Therefore, it is a little different here. People use energy as a means to sustain their lives and to make more comforts for their lives. But they do not know that behind the energies is flexible intelligence, wisdom. .....

Q. How do you explain the fact that in the 1940's scientists proved that there is no ether. What is it and how does it function?

M. It is maybe because the scientists call it by a different name. Ether is what the Chinese called "Chi". You know, it functions invisibly and you can't just use science to prove it. I disagree with that. The scientists have, how you say, invented many things, have discovered many things, but there are many things they do not know, and they could not know, and they could not discover. The simple reason is that everyone knows they use only a limited fraction of their minds, or a little part of it. We use only one fifth or one tenth of our mind and we think we know everything. Oh, impossible! .....

Q. What do you think psychiatrists should do to help people with their problems?

M. There are psychiatrists, but the problems of the mentally disturbed people are deeper, deeper than just what the surface looks like. So the psychiatrists sometimes do not have very deep insights into solving the problems, but even make them worse. Now it's not their fault, but it is the fault of the system of the whole society. We should make everybody become enlightened, and then everything they do will be in perfect order. Because they would do it with wisdom, with the inner knowing, not with the limited brain guessing and false data. The help that psychiatrists offer is not really from their own knowing, it's affected by others' thinking, by other psychiatrists and by other doctors, by other things. And then at a later date, they prove that their method is wrong, and it is too late to correct it. Most of the time it is like that, so don't ask me what they should do. I think they should all practice the Quan Yin Method, get enlightened, and then go back to their jobs and do a better job, be a better scientist, and help many more patients in a better way. .....

Q. If you see that your father only believes in the physical things such as science and traditional western medicine, what are you to do? Do you do nothing when you see that he thinks that all yogis are ignorant? He thinks that if a yogi is great, he must prove it by doing a miracle such as flying or disappearing. What do I do about this?

M. You know what you do about this? Keep silent and practice. There is nothing we can do about it. But we can, by our own practicing power and vibration,

influence our family members. They will become automatically receptive to the higher power in time, by and by they will. In Formosa there are many people who become initiated even though their family members objected fiercely. But after they patiently and lovingly practiced for a period of time, their families felt the change, and felt the benefit. They also became initiated, those who before objected not only to their daughter or son, but objected to their Master. And they even came and threatened me with all kinds of ways, and obstructed my mission in all kinds of ways. But later the whole family came and got initiated. I don't need to fly or disappear in order to convert them. I use the love power which is invisible, which is natural. I don't even use it, even. It is there. It flows every twenty-four hours, and then they get it somehow. And then they got it, and then they appreciated it, and they became devotees in a natural way, in time. So that's what we have to do. We have to prove to ourselves that we are worthy. We don't need to debate so much. The more we talk the more we lose.

Just wait until the moment comes, and then just say one or two words, it may be enough. But we must become a light bearer. We must become an example of love, patience, and wisdom. Then others will sense it, and they will come naturally. Like a flower. It doesn't speak, it attracts bees by its own fragrance and honey. Now, as for thinking of flying and disappearing, you may even see me doing it. As a matter of fact, you may see it often. But I will not do it just to convert your father. After he is converted by his own wisdom and free will, he might see it. I'm not doing that to convert him. It's contradictory to my policy and to God's order. Understand that? A master may not show any miraculous power to prove how great he is. The more he proves this, the smaller he is. The sun doesn't need to prove anything, it just shines. Those who have eyes will see.

With the blind one, you don't need to argue. No? He is blind, you don't need to argue with him. But he also will feel the sun shine on his face, and be benefited by it. Flying, doesn't need this physical body. The master can be anywhere any time. Flying in the sky, flying on the lotus, flying in heaven, flying to hell, flying around the world, any time anywhere, he/she can do this. This is a childish trick, and the most elementary instrument that the master may use, in order to be anywhere to rescue and help his disciples in need, or those who have affinity with him or her. There is nothing to demonstrate and to talk about. This is all small action. And disappearing, you may even see it now, but because your eyes are so obstructed, you only see my physical body, and you see nothing else. If you really have the wisdom eye, you might not even see me talking. You'd only see light here. The whole room is light, nothing else, no person. Even all of the audience will disappear in this light. So this is the real disappearing. And if you see some of my photos, you don't see me, you only see light there. People photograph me, but they don't see the master, only a big light. The person disappears, and many of my photos are like that. It is a kind of disappearing, no need to prove any more. The cameras can prove it. And sometimes on the stage there is no master, that is the disappearing. Because in reality there is no master, no one, no sentient beings, no existence, only light and vibration, love and togetherness. Now is that alright? Everybody loves to fly and not practice. if you practice with me, after a while I promise you can see me flying and disappearing with no difficulty. If you don't practice, I won't do it. Not for you to look at. We are not in a circus.

Science of Life Religions originally are very scientific.

It's just a science of life.

Therefore, many enlightened masters know a lot of things before the scientific discoveries.

For example, the Buddha said that in a glass of water, there are numerous sentient beings inside; and the scientists refer to them now as bacteria. The Buddha knew that over two thousand years ago.

It took a lot of time and research before the scientists confirmed that; because the enlightened person sees with their real wisdom eye, and the scientists have to see with instruments.

Searching FOR ANSWERS The more we go inside, the more we understand things without talking. .....

We must think clearly when making a decision. If we know from within that it is wrong, it is better not to go through with it just to save face, or as a habitual action, or for the convenience of a fleeting concept. Otherwise, we will create very destructive consequences for our future. .....

Just look for it inside yourself! Don't talk and listen too much! It is always the devil talking. .....

You can never be wrong, if you listen to the natural responses of your inner self. .....

Most of you find trouble and hinder yourself. You don't allow yourself to develop and to relax. Not being relaxed, your thoughts are blocked, thus your deeds are not perfect! .....

As long as we do more meditation, we will naturally come to know the best answer to any problem. .....

Your willpower is very strong. If we concentrate it on a certain aspect, we will achieve the goal.

.....

Our choices make us noble or lowly. If we do not struggle within ourselves and try to better our thinking, our ideal, our work or our actions, then we will always remain at the same level as before. .....

In times of emergency we can discover many ways to protect ourselves or others. But then, why wait till an emergency before we do that? If we first think, we will not encounter that kind of situation! But it is understandable if an emergency is unavoidable. There is nothing wrong with us; our brains are not out of order. Why don't we use them? There must be a way! There must be a way! Day by day we can solve those so-called unsolvable problems. There is nothing that cannot be solved. Right? Besides, because we practice, circumstances will become better. It will naturally improve. .....

Q. Dear Master, thank You for being here. Where does intuition come from? How do we know which decision to make? Sometimes I get so confused. I have two options, and sometimes it's so hard to decide because each choice it comprises makes up my life and I don't really know which one I should do? I want to get to the place where I know exactly which decision I should take.

M. That takes some time. That's why we must be enlightened. That's why we have to get back the power of wisdom that we have forgotten. We let too many mundane troubles cloud our vision. That's why we are indecisive. We cannot make decisions because we do not know, we are not clear. That's why we have to be clear. The two and half hours that we reserve every day are to clear our mind, to get back to the origin, to be Godlike. Then we will know what to do better. It will be clear. It will be very clear. Meanwhile, if you don't meditate that much, if you don't want to meditate and if you have intuition, that is the remnant of whatever is left over of the so-called Godlike wisdom. It's sometimes clouded by worldly worries and survival efforts, but then, sometimes it's clear.

That's what we call intuition. Meanwhile, if you are not so clear, then you just have to take a risk. You have to feel which one is more appropriate or which one ins a higher percentage, then just do it. You have to risk. There is no one else to tell us what to do. Pray to God, and just pick one. Or else, you tear two pieces of paper -- one left, one right, and then pick one. Either way is risky, so you have to get your own wisdom, your own Master power.

The secret OF THE ANCIENT Pyramids

Hsihu Center, Formosa June 4, 1995.

Today, I take you to Egypt to see the pyramids. Have you seen them before?

No? What a pity! Neither have I. (Laughed.) Now, we will go there together. The pyramids are nothing special! Just like a temple. Do you know that? Triangular on all four sides, this is what I heard! Sometimes, we can visit the place with our souls, and save the air tickets. Has anyone tried going this way? Yes! However, we can go to even further places. The pyramids are nothing!

Their name is pyramid (means 'golden symbol tower' in Chinese), but they are actually made of stones. If we go to the Amitabha Buddha's World, or the World of the Medicine Buddha, or the Heavenly Kingdom, we will see the real golden pyramids. Is that not so? They are more beautiful, in brilliant gold, real gold!

Furthermore, the gold there is different from the gold here, which is so hard and not that bright. In our world, gold and diamonds are the brightest, but in the superior worlds, the gold and diamonds there are more brilliant, and radiate light!

Great Architecture Ahead Of The Times Alright, we are now going to Egypt to have some fun. Do not go to heaven, because it is too far. And here it is very hot, why do I take you to Egypt? It's because it is even hotter there. (Master and all laugh.) In that case, you won't complain any more here. When you come back later, you will say, "Wow! Miaoli is really great. Marvelous! There are still trees, and a little breeze." There are not even trees in Egypt. Do you know that? It seems there are no trees near the pyramids, so it is even hotter.

Okay, now, let us try going there. Use your wisdom eye to look over there. In the desert, everywhere is sand and rocks. They built several pyramids in the middle of the desert. I don't know why they are called the 'golden symbol,' there is no trace of gold, only rocks. However, they cannot be bought with real gold.

Even in this modern era we still have to shake our heads (in admiration) when observing the way they were built!

Near the pyramids, there are many tombs of the kings, queens, and princes.

Naturally, the atmosphere is very scary at night. Nevertheless, some people love to take adventures in that place at night. Why? Normally there are hardly any people in the daytime. Of course, there are some tourists, but they just walk about and then leave. Very few people venture inside. There is almost no one there at night. Of course, there are some guards outside. No one can go in night. They lock the door when the sun goes down. Even tourists are not allowed to go in. However, some people love to go in at night. You have to apply for entry if you wish to go in at night. Under special circumstances, they will let you in.

One night, a man ventured inside. He wanted to find out why people would build such a grand but empty structure, and leave it unused. Initially, they thought the pyramids were the tombs of the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, but they could not find any coffins or mummies inside. They are all empty. In the pyramid, there is only a box that looks like a coffin, made of stone, also empty, without even a cover on top. Above the so-called main hall, there is an empty chamber, with another empty room above that. It is empty from there all the way to the top. They kept the space empty to minimize the pressure. Can you imagine if it were all stones on top? The pyramid is very gigantic, surely it could not bear the weight for so long if it were all stone on top. They were built perfectly and given consideration to every aspect, so the pyramids are still standing after so many ages have gone by, while many civilizations or non-civilizations have changed.

Our Ancestors Were Extraterrestrial Scientists Their building technique was extremely superb. Capable of building such structures, they must have been a highly intelligent race. Nowadays, many scientists and archaeologists have discovered that our ancestors were extremely civilized and clever. Perhaps they were scientists from extraterrestrial planets.

Besides the pyramids, there are many other things that were buried in ancient times, and discovered only recently. They prove that our ancestors were extremely and exceedingly intelligent. I don't know why they would have children like us, not intelligent at all, who try to come to Miaoli on Sundays to buy a little wisdom. Here we give it away free of charge. It is possible to buy it and take home, but it is still useless if you do not use it. Think of some ways to use it.

I have given you the 'Instruction Manual of Wisdom,' some of you! I will give to whoever wants it, and not to those who don't want. However, it was very difficult to get the 'Instruction Manual of Wisdom' in ancient times. Not as simple as just come and write down your name and then receive it immediately. This is like buying ready-made clothing, try it on immediately and then take it home.

The pyramids were not built to be used as tombs. They found out later that this was not the purpose. I think they built the pyramids for spiritual practice. Just now I told you it was very difficult to get the 'Instruction Manual of Wisdom' in ancient times. This is one of the reasons why they built the pyramids. It was because spiritual practice was very difficult in olden times for fear of being discovered by others.

Where canyou sit when holding a group meditation in the desert? (Master and all laughed.) Do you understand? Even with the guards around, everyone can still see you. It is better here, with all these trees! In the empty desert, you roast to death by sitting there in the daytime, and freeze to death at night. The temperature in the desert is extremely hot in the daytime, and extremely cold at night. Two extremes. That was why they built the pyramids. They are very, very quiet inside. It was very difficult for people to locate the entrance later.

Hundreds of years have gone by! Many people are still looking for the entrance, but have failed.

The Hidden Entrance Is Difficult To Find Once, a king made a very firm decision to find the entrance. He said, "Strange!

It was built like that, but no one can go in. What does it mean?" He gathered hundreds and thousands of laborers, spent much money and effort, mobilized a great group of workers, stone excavation experts. Someone like me, specialized in breaking rocks. (Everyone laughed.) They pushed and hit for a long time, but found no trace of the entrance. They were built so perfectly that the entrance was tightly fitted into the wall, invisible, as if it were only a wall. No one noticed the entrance was there.

They worked so laboriously and sincerely that perhaps the ghosts or deities inside, or God, helped them. Suddenly a piece of rock fell down, from the inside, not because of their striking efforts outside. It fell from inside by itself! So they started digging from that spot, and found an entrance.

Going inside, they were very disappointed because it was empty, nothing. Every room was empty. In the biggest chamber in the center, there was an empty box like a coffin. They were bewildered. How could someone spend so much effort, labour, money and time to build such a grand structure that contained nothing?

Why were they so wasteful?

Later, going in from that door, they found another door. It was highly concealed, I mean very difficult to find. They built doors as if there were none. But, slowly they noticed and found the door. There were a dozen doors after that door before they reached the so-called main hall. There was nothing inside, and no one knew why. They found no treasure, no coffins, no mummies, no living person, no dead person, nothing.

There was a man, probably an Englishman who also practiced spiritually. He had been to India and practiced meditation. He also knew what searching for the self-nature within is, so he thought he could do it! He went inside alone at night, carrying a flashlight and a coat.

The pyramid Protects Practitioners Of The True Path Hewas not allowed to enter at first, but finally got the approval because he persisted in applying repeatedly! He went in there to find out why the pyramid was built this way. He eventually found out, and I knew it too.

Since the place was intended for spiritual practice, naturally it was empty. What furniture would be required if it was built for people to meditate? Take our main hall for instance, is there any furniture? No, only the sun umbrellas, and they were not here before, only recently we have them. The only furniture we have are these trees intended to give shade or for you to lean on. The rooms are empty. As it turns out, in old times, spiritual practitioners were afraid of being chased by people. In those times, they have to practice this method in secret because if their practice was revealed, their life would be in grave danger. It is still dangerous now, not to mention in ancient times. It was dangerous two thousand years ago, and when Shakyamuni Buddha was alive.

Many people always threaten the so-called true spiritual practitioners. It is perfectly all right if you do not practice the true method, everyone praises you.

If you practice the real path, you are finished. You have to start to cover and protect yourself -- camouflage. You must be ordinary. Otherwise, people can sense it, and trouble you.

Since ancient times, it has been always like this, not only today. That was why they built the pyramids in such a concealed way. The entrance was known only to their own people. They were very spacious inside, and completely empty. Of course there was nothing! They were built for people to meditate inside, for initiation, etc., without being seen by outsiders.

Shall we move the pyramid over here? (Master laughs.) Then we don't need guards anymore. (Everyone applauds.) What? Do you think I can do it? No kidding! Even if we build a pyramid here today, the demolition machine will come to tear it down.

When that man entered the pyramid that night, he meditated there and discovered this secret. Actually, he did not need to meditate in there to find out.

Looking at the empty rooms, we can understand. A real place of spiritual practice is only for people to meditate. There won't be anything inside, at the most a Buddha statue or the Buddha's photograph. They used the Buddha's statue before, but now perhaps it is faster to take photographs, or use a portrait. It was empty because people needed to sit in there, about the same as our place here.

Midnight Terror In The pyramid That man had a very terrible experience in the pyramid. He said he dared not go again! He had the courage to venture inside, because he was very sincere in seeking the Truth. He wanted the answer to why the ancient people would build this kind of empty yet grand structure. It has nothing inside, yet was very mysterious, even the entrance was a secret.

In the pyramid, he meditated with a method he had learned in India. As he sat there, nothing happened at first. Gradually, he felt that the owners of the tombs near the pyramid had all came to greet him. They all came to give him a not very cordial greeting, but it was a terribly frightening atmosphere. They threatened him, nevertheless, he maintained his composure. He knew something would happen even before he came.

Another person had ventured into the pyramid before him. Having returned home, that person revealed in his diary that he had discovered the truth.

However, his life would be in danger if he revealed it, because society could not possibly understand him -- this was what he wrote in his diary.

This second adventurer was mentally prepared! Although he was prepared, the extremely terrible and ugly faces he saw, and these lonely souls and wandering ghosts almost crushed him! Fortunately, being a practitioner he had some idea about what to do. He strived to keep himself in samadhi. Suddenly all the ugly ghosts fled, and stopped threatening, oppressing, or trying to kill him. They all

vanished suddenly, and he didn't know why. Then he saw two brilliant beings come radiating light. It was because of the two of them that the ugly ghosts fled. Later, the two beings taught him a great deal while he was in there. They advised him not to seek the Truth anymore, because it is very difficult. They said, "You will encounter many trials, and you will surely regret it."

Finally, the man said, "I will not regret it. What else can I ask for except the Truth? This world is very strange to me now! I am living in this world, but I can ask for nothing. Nothing in the world can satisfy me. Nothing excites and attracts me anymore, except the quest for Truth. I want nothing. I fear nothing.

I will die sooner or later. It is all right if I die for Truth."

Tested In Quest Of The Truth Later, the two so-called inner masters, the superior masters within, touched by his determination, finally agreed. They asked him to lie on the stone -- actually he should lie in the coffin like a dead man, and then they would take his soul out, just like a dead man, and come back after a while. Never mind, it is all right to lie on the stone. He saw his astral body going out while his physical body lay still.

It was dark in the pyramid, darker than the nights here. There was nothing inside, sealed on all sides, leaving only a ventilation hole leading to the top. The ventilation hole in the pyramid clearly shows that it is not a tomb (dead people don't need it!) It must have been a place for people to live or stay in temporarily. Otherwise, there would not be a vent, illogical! It was very dark inside, darker than blackness, so it was very horrible. The longer he sat, the more frightened he became. He could see the lonely wandering ghosts coming to annoy him even though it's very dark. They only fled when the two so-called superior masters arrived later.

They told the man to lie down, and started to help him. Suddenly, his soul exited, and he saw his very ugly body lying there motionless. His eyes could not see, his ears could not hear, nothing was functional, except the heart throbbing automatically. It was just as if he was a dead person. Then he realized what death really is.

After that, the two masters took him to visit a dying old man. They introduced this old man as a life long Truth aspirant. However, the old man claimed that he had found nothing, only temptations, desires, fame and wealth, nothing else, no Truth. He persuaded the young man not to search any more! "Don't be cheated!

There is no Truth in the world. All are lies. You can never find It!" However, the young man didn't listen, and still wanted to go on searching.

Following The Instructions Of Enlightened Masters Is Most Difficult That was only meant to test him! Finally, the two enlightened masters said, "Okay, if you are determined, we will take you to another place to 'show you the Truth,' meaning initiation!"

Travelling with the soul, not the body, he could feel being taken to different chambers. There was a secret chamber beneath the pyramid. The two enlightened masters told him not to look back, just follow them, absolutely refrain from looking back.

The result was, he followed for a while and then wondered. Why is there no door? Where is the original secret door? He could not resist any longer and looked back. Suddenly, everything was severed! The two masters were gone, and he had returned to his body.

He could still hear the faint and distant voices of his two masters: "Why didn't you listen to us? What for did you want to find the secret door made of stone?

The most important thing is to find the secret door within that liberates you from the transmigration of life and death. Now it is too late! Good-bye!" Then, they were gone.

Should you think I am too strict, try your luck in the pyramid, if you can refrain from looking back. Remember! In case you really go there and meet the two masters, do not look back. We humans are always seeking superficial things. We are curious. We look at this and that, asking, " What is this? What is that?"

Master taught you not to touch them, but you insist on touching them. Is that not so? If I ask you to touch it, then you refuse. This is why we progress very slowly. Even when Master tells us the moral guidelines, and secret method of spiritual practice, we will think: "Uh-huh! Why does She have to talk so much?"

We know very well that they are good for us, but we still resist sometimes. Do you understand? When we eventually run into trouble, and become aware of the bad consequence, it is already too late!

The two masters had forsaken him, and didn't teach him anymore. He passed the first test of the ghosts. On the second test, the old man tried to persuade him to go back. He observed that the old man was struggling in great agony. His search for the Truth was so painful, but still he failed to find It on his dying day.

The young man did not lose his faith. On the third occasion, he was only told not to look for that door, yet he turned around to look.

There are many similar stories. We also have some fairy tales from ancient China. A man went to the Peng Lai Fairy Island and married a goddess. They lived a happy life together. The goddess told him which doors could be opened and gave him the keys. Only the seventh or eigth door was forbidden. Yet, he still opened the door, and dropped back down to the wordly level. After going home, he could never find Fairy Island again.

Many people pursue spiritual practice, but very few attain the Truth. Or, they have attained half, one third, two thirds, but not the whole. It is all because they cannot control their mundane ideas and habits.

Sometimes, we have already climbed a great height up the hill, two thirds up the hill. We tell ourselves: Do not look back, or you will be frightened, and you will fall! It's true, but we are curious. We think: "What does it matter if I take a look? I used to look very often. Why can't I look today?" Very often it is different

from today. The result of taking a glance is panic, and then you fall down! After falling down, it is very difficult to start all over again. You can; it's not totally impossible, but much of our courage, spirit and energy have been exhausted. It is very difficult for us to climb again later. Is that not so? the secrets OF HOW MASTER ATTAINED THE TAO To the resident disciples, Hsihu Center, Formosa December 3, 1995.

Do you know how I attained the Tao? It is because I have always been doing everything for others. Your spiritual practice is still blocked at the stage of keeping all the beautiful things to yourself and grabbing all the delicious food for yourself to eat. You are reluctant to give things to others, and that is why you don't have plenty. The truth is, the more we give the more we will have. You see I have given so much, so I have plenty of food - more than I can eat. Therefore, I have stopped rendering aid recently, fearing that the blessed rewards will keep coming until I cannot take any more! (Master and everyone laugh.)

There are several secrets of how I attained the Tao. First, I am very considerate towards others. Second, I greatly respected my teachers. From primary school to high school, many teachers liked me. Perhaps it is because I respected them very much, and they felt it within. Maybe I have something, I don't know.

Perhaps I have affinities with them.

After growing up, I followed many masters. Although they were not very enlightened, I still followed their instructions completely. There was not the least bit of disrespect in me - no resistance.

Do you think my masters treated me very well? No! They would sometimes scold me. Compared to our level now, they were just like primary school teachers, but then I was a primary school student! They were not particularly nice to me. I helped and offered a lot to them, yet sometimes they would scold me, or hurt me greatly with their words, saying that I was nothing.

For instance, after I was married, the first words that my female master said were: "You do not deserve to marry him." (Master laughs.) She said I didn't deserve to marry my husband. She said, "Only your girlfriend deserves to marry him." We had already married, but she still said these things.

I told my my master, "My girlfriend is a married woman. She got married before me. Otherwise, I would listen to you and let them get together, as they deserve each other more." From then on she ceased to comment further. However, I was not angry at all. I didn't say, "Master, how can you speak like this?"

I feel you are different in this respect. I am not blaming you, I just want you to know the secret.

The Difference Between Master And Disciples Sometimes, we think our spiritual practice is very good already, because occasionally I send you out to give lectures. After coming back, you feel: "I have

graduated. Master graduated in six months, I can make it in six years at the most!" You become different after coming back! Consequently, you hurt yourself. You think you are very good, but you are not that good!

I also think that you are very good, and this is the strange thing! I am the greatest fool in the world, therefore I am often hurt, frustrated, and disappointed. It is because I also think you are very good, so I cannot figure out the difference between you and me.

Sometimes I know. When I stay or work together with you, then I realize there is really a big difference. Otherwise, I am not aware. If there is no work, I totally forget that you are disciples. We look alike and are of a similar age; some people are even older than I am. I cannot imagine the differences between you and me.

I think you are just like me, and we can understand each other; so I keep on talking. In the end, no one understands, so I really cannot stand it. I sit there feeling very frustrated. It seems that I am the only one in the whole world who can understand myself, and I really feel sorry.

Since ancient times, it seems that the enlightened masters can hardly communicate with people. I feel I am also one of them. It can only be done with great effort. You don't understand even very simple things; not until I have talked for a long time. You obstruct yourselves too much! You're too complicated - still thinking that it should be like this or that. Very complicated, very complicated.

You don't understand, yet you don't want to learn from others. You don't want to learn from the teacher for fear of losing face: "I can do it alone! Let me do it myself!", just like that, and then you make many mistakes.

With introspection, you will find many shortcomings in yourself. I also check myself everyday, but I do not find any faults. (Master and everyone laugh.)

Completely Become A Tool Of God Since I am totally devoted to doing God's work, I virtually have no choice. I cannot control my actions, or the situation. Even if I dislike it very much, I still have to do it. Since I have offered all of myself, why should I keep anything? I cannot say, "I don't like this one because it doesn't suit my character, and that thing will ruin my reputation and make me look awful." This is not the way to do God's work.

Just like a mechanical shovel, it goes wherever you direct it. It will dig wherever you direct it to dig. The mechanical shovel cannot say, "I am not in the mood today, I don't want to dig there." It must work in whatever way it is operated to.

It is only a tool, and so is Master. I have completely become a tool of God, with no individual existence at all.

The moments that I treat you badly are actually when I am treating you well.

When I treat you nicely, it is still human emotions, fearing that you cannot stand it! I think that is the proper way to treat people, and you will feel more comfortable that way. Actually, that is really "human" behavior. When I am

really frank with you, very straightforward and without restraint, then I am really treating you well - you're being handled directly by God. However, you would have died long ago if you were handled directly like this everyday. Not a single soul would remain here. So it is necessary to do things with a little ego. If I let God handle you everyday, even I could not stand it! My body and mind would not be able to take it, because they would be used with too much intensity, too much!

If you kept stepping on the accelerator - did not let the car rest or stop, and maintain a speed of 170 mph even when turning a corner, that would be very exhausting, and you would be very tense.

Now and then, we have to remember we're humans and relax a little. Have a barbecue, or chat about some lighthearted topics, this is also very important.

Just like a house, we can only use it when it is empty inside; we cannot if filled with cupboards or valuable furniture.

Your Heart Must Be Simple And Pure To Attain The Tao A character too rigid or too strong is not desirable. It is not necessary to win every time. You should know how to be reasonable and flexible, instead of always trying to prevail over others, or become better than the teacher. It is good to be better than the teacher, but it is still too early. At the moment, none of you are better than the teacher! I tell you frankly, not that I am arrogant, but I want you to know that you have to introspect yourself, endeavor to adjust and train your inner wisdom and character, and find out where your shortcomings are.

However, it is also bad to always hide behind your shortcomings. It is too negative, too self-despising and too pessimistic. It is not enough just to know about our faults! We have to rectify them, stop doing them, and behave in the opposite way to compensate for them.

Knowing your faults doesn't mean blaming yourself, shutting yourself in a cave, holding a "closed-in retreat" everyday in there; becoming a turtle after nine years and boring people to death when you come out. (Laughter) It doesn't mean keep blaming yourself, suffocating yourself; but you should try to climb up and change, and act in the opposite way. This is real penitence, instead of only punishing yourself with kneeling; this is only part of it. The best repentance is to stop the negative quality altogether, act in the reverse way, and make positive contributions. This is the secret to sainthood - the heart will become more simple and purer.

Even though now I say that it is useless worshipping the wooden Buddha statues, I was very sincere in worshipping the Buddha ten years ago. Because I have worshipped enough, I know it is useless. My masters told me to worship the Buddha and buy a Buddha statue - any statue that I liked. I thought the Maitreya Buddha was more magnanimous. I was right, I really need it now.

(Master and everyone laugh.) He was also very cheerful. I had greater need for these qualities, so I bought a statue of Maitreya Buddha.

That day, my masters held a ritual to welcome the Buddha statue into my home.

They burned incense, worshipped, and then told me to make a wish. I made only one wish: "In the future, if I could help anyone, I would be willing to do so, but please do not let me know consciously that I have helped." It has really come true now; I never know whom I have helped. My master said if the incense burns then curls, that means the wish will come true. It really curled, so I believed it worked!

My master said I also had to recite some sutras at home. I wanted to chant the Medicine Buddha Sutra, but he wouldn't let me. He said, "You have not yet reached this level, just chant the Great Mercy Mantra." It was a long time after that that he gave me the Lotus Sutra to chant. They chanted very loudly, and asked me to do the same at home. I was also told to buy a wooden fish (a round wooden instrument to accompany the chanting) and tap it everyday. I was very serious, and got up very early to do the chanting.

In the early morning, my throat was hoarse, so I had to drink plenty of water.

The chanting was to be repeated in the evening too. Usually, lay people are not that serious, and it was enough to chant once. However, I was very sincere then, and would do anything my master told me to do, even to such an extent.

Unlike now, I have difficulties getting you to do anything. It is hard getting you to move a stone, never mind worshipping one.

So, I went home everyday I bowed to the sutras, chanted the sutras, and worshipped the Buddha; and I did have experiences. You will have experiences when you are very sincere. I had so many experiences that I cannot talk about them all.

I asked my master why it was necessary to chant the sutras so loudly. I said, "Do I have to chant so loudly even at home?" He said, "It is better to chant loud, so the invisible beings are also benefitted."

I believed him, and I chanted very loudly until I lost my voice. I even left the windows open, fearing the invisible beings could not come in. (Master and everyone laugh.)

Can you imagine? I was thirty then, not three years old, yet I was so naive!

Whatever my master said, I would do. Perhaps, exactly because I was so dumb, I realized some Truth. Very smart people like you can hardly attain the Tao. You are full of ideas, your minds are too smart, too cunning, and know too much!

Once, in winter, the snow outside was higher than a person, and it was very cold. Yet, fearing the invisible beings could not come in, I opened all the windows and dared not even lower the curtains, to show my welcome. Invisible beings do not need to come in from the windows but I thought, "what if some of them cannot come in?" Besides, it seemed as if they were unwelcome if I closed the windows and curtains, then they might not dare to enter. I even apologized to them, "I cannot open the door for fear of disturbing the neighbors." (Master and everyone laugh.)

Listen To Your Master, God Will Be Touched

Listen to your master - whoever he may be, you cannot go wrong. God will be touched. Observing this person is so dumb, God will protect him, let him understand something. Otherwise, what will happen if he remains a dumb person all his whole life?

Therefore, God always takes better care of dumb persons. We should be dumb when we ought to be dumb. Do your best when you have work to do; use your wisdom when you have to use it, and do not use your wisdom when you are supposed to be listening. We have two ears but only one mouth. However, you seem to have grown two mouths and one ear, (Master and everyone laugh); or they have grown them in the wrong place. As soon as I tell you something, it's exhaled very quickly and seems to vanish, leaving little effect.

When many people come here, they still embrace their own preconceived notions, concepts and ideas. They feel that they are great, and love to pull Master down. It is better to pull yourself up than to pull me down to your level.

Of course, it is more comfortable to pull Master down, so you feel closer to me: "She is exactly like me!"

However, this is bad for you. I can always climb up or come down, but I must tell you the truth to fulfil my obligation as a teacher. I know, deep inside you understand very clearly, but it is only your mind struggling. You should identify the purpose of your coming here and don't listen to your mind. Otherwise, both of us will be very tired, having to battle with the mind.

I am always fighting your minds, which is extremely tiring. Each time I think about a certain person, I feel his mind fully packed with this or that, blocking my way to his soul. The mind is guarding the entrance tightly. It is very exhausting!

Okay! Everyone understand now? (Answer: Yes!) See Through The Reality And The Illusion Similarly, we have many things in life and we try to enjoy them; but most of the time, the enjoyment is very shallow and short-lived. Sometimes it brings another misery along. But, if we know the real happiness, then even in this life, the shadow of the real life, we also enjoy; because we know where from this life has come and we know even how to adjust the shadow to make it more real.

Before, we did not know how to stand, where is the angle to make the shadow more beautiful. Now, we know. Then, we go through life contented, happy, waiting for the time to come that we can step into the eternal reality, leaving behind all this so-called suffering in the shadow world. If we do not know this real life while we are still here, it's very difficult to say whether we will know it after we leave this world. Because we don't know it, we come back again and again searching for this life, for the enjoyments that are never fulfilling, hoping to get it in the next birth, etc. Therefore, comes the reincarnation.

An enlightened person never reincarnates except of his own will for some noble purpose in order to help some other suffering brothers and sisters who are still mired in illusion. Most of the people reincarnate because of the pull of their previous tendencies from the past lives. They can't resist to be reborn because of the many unfulfilled desires, many ideals that have not been accomplished.

But, using the limited knowledge, which is passed from one to another in the same world, recycled all the time, the same thing, we can't know the whole universe. We can't tackle the things from the root of its problem. It's just like we water the plants from the leaves and never the root. To be enlightened is to know the root of all things. Therefore, whatever we do is correct; and people will be also affected by us and turn into the light. Then the whole world will be bright.

Originally, when we first came here, we were living in light, happiness and glory.

Then, after some time, we became entangled in the enjoyment of this world. To everything in this world, we became curious. We wanted to know, we wanted to taste, we wanted to touch, and we wanted to experience everything that was around us. Slowly, we got in contact with these material phenomena or appearances, we become more affected by the material side of nature, and we become more and more material. Eventually, we became mostly material and the light disappeared from sight. Now, the light didn't truly disappear or vanish.

It just became enveloped in a gross material case. In order to find the light again, we have to break through the material barrier.

That we can do with a definite method. Just like every scientific thing, we have a method; then we can do it. Just like women can bear children and men not.

Therefore, there is one way to enlightenment and the others are not so effective.

The sages of old have discovered this method. Actually not discovered, the method was conveyed from heaven through different sons of God at different periods of time, to remind mankind of their glorious original state -- that they should not forget their origin and should not wallow in their suffering, which is unnecessary. So, we are here today to share with you this good news and very simple technique to break through the material cover, to get in touch with your true glory again.

Questions and Answers Q: Why is the spirit hidden from us?

M: Why? Because we just look outside, and we don't look where the spirit is.

Suppose I am sitting here and you're always looking at the back door. Would you see me? No, right? That's it. I'm not hidden from you. It's just that you don't want to see me, for example. Similarly with our spirit.

Q: If we are to live in a harmony, why have we created the fear that causes us to fight?

M: We do not create fear. We have fear because we do not have the power to resist fear. We have not known our greatest strength which is within ourselves.

As soon as we know this, our fear vanishes. That's the best way to conquer fear -- to know our greatness, to know our strength, our super wisdom.

Q: Is there any difference between God and Buddha?

M: Yes, there is dif ference; but, there isn't any difference. God is the unmanifested aspect of the cosmic power. Buddha is the manifested one. Within

the Buddha, there is cosmic power. The Buddha came from the cosmic power, and also possess this cosmic power.

Q: Please tell me about the role of evil in life.

M: Evil is an extra force that we have created together with other beings while having interrelationships in our life. For example, I am alone here having nothing to do and have no business with anyone. Suddenly, someone else comes. Then ask something, want to do something, then we have a misunderstanding. We create some very aggressive atmosphere and then that person probably punches me in the face.

Now, if I couldn't punch him back because of my weakness, I would try to remember that all the time, try to get any chance at all to give him back what he has given me, as a present. That breeds hatred. Hatred wasn't there in the beginning but it was created because of the interrelationship between me and that person.

That is evil. Originally, evil did not exist. Evil existed after we failed in our effort to keep to the positive side of our nature, after we failed to remember our goodness and forgiveness, after we failed the test of life.

We Can Create Heaven Q: Is the creation of evil the play of the spirit?

M: No, I told you already. It's our own creation. So, similarly, we can create heaven if we want to. Every time, we extend loving kindness, tolerance and understanding to others, we create heaven.

Q: Does the ego need to open to this evil or integrate it?

M: The ego does nothing. The ego is evil itself. The ego is the feeling of individual pride, of self-arrogance. Therefore, we should not even bother about that. We should know our greatness instead of being proud of our little knowledge and accomplishments. Whenever we are proud of our little accomplishments or knowledge in this life, that is when the ego comes to take place of our spirit. This is no good for us. We should do without any sense of pride or asking for reward.

Q: For enlightenment, is service in love to humanity as important as meditation?

Or is service more important or less 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'll be more efficient in our work, and more service to others. Without meditation, sometimes we have the very best intention, 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.

Q: Is it possible to lead a life completely free from doubt and fear forever and if so, what does one need to do or not to do?

M: Fear and anxiety come only from darkness, from ignorance, from the fear of the unknown. Once we get to know the stable side of nature, the real side of our life, our fear and anxiety disappear. We only fear because we thought after this life, we 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 have no fear at all. So, I invite you to get to know yourself through the means of initiation.

Q: God is a concept, an idea, but it refers to that which is transcended and beyond words which are always qualifications of limitations. Infinite, universal and eternal life is only in the present. Eternity is an aspect of here. Now, thought and time block it from our experience of life. So, I think that we can only experience in the present. So, this life moment is the most important. What do you think?

M: Sure, but you do not experience it. You only repeat what other people say.

Eternity is in the present time, it's true. For example: Now, I close my eyes or I don't close my eyes, I see reality, and I stay in the dual world at the same time.

Therefore, I can say to myself and to you that eternity is here, now, present!

But, as long as you don't see it, you only see the duality, you only see the material world. Therefore, here, now, past, present or future, it's just the same to you. The reality is different from this world, different from what we know since we were born into the material existence. So, if we don't see, we cannot claim the reality is right here and now. What we see around us now is not reality. Reality is something beyond this life, beyond what you see here, beyond the material bodies that we know. If we see it at the same time as we see this body, as real as seeing this body and this surroundings, then we can claim we see reality here and now, all the time.

Q: What will happen after death?

M: I know you sincerely want to know what happens after this life. So, I will try to explain to you even though I'm not completely dead yet. I'm half-dead.

(Master laughs.) With the world tour and busyness, I'm always half-dead.

Anyhow, what happens after death depends on you. For example, if we are very virtuous, correct, loving and kind while we are living in this world as a human being, then after so-called death, we are taken to a deserved mansion, which is called heaven; but this is not eternal. Because our merit is not eternal, the heaven corresponding with it is not eternal. To have eternal heaven we have to find the eternal source of merits, which is the greatest kingdom within us. Which is, itself, eternal merit.

Now, if in this life we are doing the opposite things, which are contradictory to the commandments of God and below the standard of humanity, then we probably have to regress to a lower level of consciousness, of existence in order to re-experience what we lack, what we must supply to our knowledge. After some time, we will be lifted up again to a human standard.

If we are better still, above human standard, then we will be asked and we will be lifted to heaven. The initiates are the ones who will enter the eternal kingdom and will not reincarnate again onto this Earth or to any other Earthly world.

Q: Dear Master, how can I get rid of bad thoughts?

M: To get rid of bad thoughts you have to replace it with good thoughts. It's very simple. You don't want to wear black, then throw it and wear white.

Q: Master please talk more about the Buddha nature within us?

M: The Buddha nature (our true inner self) is the so-called supreme master's power which moves the whole universe, which makes all things alive and beautiful, which makes us wise and loving, and which leaves our body lifeless after it decides to withdraw from it, or not to use that instrument anymore. If we know this Buddha nature, there is nothing that we do not know and there is nothing that we would desire.

That doesn't mean we become a wooden stick, a wooden statue. We have all things that human beings have. We have emotion, we have feelings, and we have the taste of enjoyment of beauty, of Truth and of virtue. But, the emotions that we have now are under control. We use them whenever necessary and we withdraw them whenever we want. That is the difference between the ones who know their Buddha nature and the ones who don't.

The ones who know their Buddha nature are always in happiness. Doesn't matter in what circumstances. He may be very poor, he may be very rich, he may be in a top political position, or he may be just collecting garbage; but he will be always absolutely free of anxiety and fear, always contented in whatever situation he finds himself in. That's the difference.

Q: How long must one meditate to reach enlightenment?

M: Enlightenment comes immediately. As soon as you sit down with the master and sincerely want it, it comes immediately. Before immediately event.

Sometimes I have not finished the instructions, and people have already got enlightenment. Some people are in a hurry, they have no time to wait.

(Laughter) But the meditation takes place daily; because we always want to be in the enlightened state, we always want to renew our acknowledgement of enlightenment, and also we want to strengthen it to expand until infinity.

Otherwise, even if you meditate for one hundred years, you won't get any enlightenment. Meditation doesn't bring enlightenment, the master power does; because during initiation, or during so-called meditation in our method, you do not meditate. Meditation means effort, but in our way, it's effortless. You may sit there, sometimes even sleep, and enlightenment comes even then; or you will be enlightened during sleep. The master power will wake your soul while your mind is asleep, your body is at rest -- your soul will be awakened into the world of light and wisdom. Therefore, meditation is not a means to enlightenment; but for lack of vocabulary in this world, we have to call it meditation.

Actually, you just sit there, receive the grace of God, and acknowledge your own supreme power. There's no meditation, actually, that is involved; because anything that is earned, is a result of some kind of action, is still the worldly production, within the material framework. Therefore, our meditation is a nonmeditation meditation -- effortless meditation. (Applause) Q: Dear Master, I meditate thirty minutes a day but I cannot concentrate after ten minutes. Is it because of the heavy karmas that I have? Thank You. M: No, it's just a habit. Most of us are so used to looking outside and paying attention to outer things. So, when we try to withdraw our attention inward, it's difficult. It's used to running out again. Continue, and then you'll improve.

Q: How can one who feels little love becomes more loving?

M: Get more enlightenment, and then we will be more loving. That's the purpose of enlightenment. Enlightenment makes us more loving, more tolerant, more understanding. That's the best outcome.

Our Real Self Knows Everything Spoken by Formosa, (Originally in Chinese)

Supreme March

Master

17,

Ching

Hai 1990

Q: A person knows nothing before he is born. After birth, because of having the brain, there is consciousness. After a person dies, he should also know nothing.

Why is it that there is still a world of eternal happiness for him to go to?

M: Why do you say that you know nothing before birth? If you didn't know anything before birth, how did you know that you could live for nine months in your mother's womb? Why did you not go up to the roof of the house to live for nine months?

You must have known, is that not so?

If you didn't know, how come you cried immediately after birth? You also knew that you wanted to eat. It is not that only when we are born do we have consciousness. We have it when we are still inside. It is because of this knowing that we come into this world. Otherwise, we would have run to the roof, the concrete floor, or inside the house.

Before He was born, Shakyamuni Buddha already knew; therefore, He walked seven steps when He was born and said, "Above and beneath the heavens, I am the only Supreme." However, He forgot about it as He grew up. It took thirty years before He woke up again. We are the same. Before birth we have consciousness already. It is not that we know nothing. It is after birth that we start to know nothing. If we knew only after we were born, then we would not have forgotten the past, present and future. However, we all forgot after we were born! Therefore, we should say we become "know nothings" after birth.

This is the correct way to say it.