Spoken By The Supreme Master Ching Hai
in Los Angeles, USA, April 4, 1993
(Originally in Au Lac Language)
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. o