Photo: With glowing charm, this esoteric and beautiful Arabian Goddess comes alive from the ages old memory of people. She is the Supreme Master Ching Hai

We Must Take Good Care Of Our Actions, Speech and Thoughts At All Times

Master's Wonders The Four Maharajahs Serving Happily - A Room Filled with a Golden Light A Chance Meeting With A Sincere Seeker

Spot Light The Ways To Eliminate The Ego

While On The Path The True Love Of God How Wonderful To Have Our Master My Heart Was Blooming With Happiness The Benefits of Retreat

Letters Between Master And Disciple

Group Meditation A Charming Little Center In A College Town

Master Says Start With Nirvana And End Up On Earth

The Front Line The Grand Opening Of The Supreme Master Ching Hai Vegetarian House

You May Not Know A True Master Recognized By The Discerning Eyes Of The Wise Au Lac People - Live and Work in Peace and Content

Our Liaison Practitioners Throughout The World

The Supreme Master Ching Hai News No.33 Published: August 25,1994
Published by: The International Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Associations

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Letter Between Master And Disciple

By Initiate Chen In Mainland China

Dear Master,

How are You?

I miss You so much. I hope someday I can see You in person! Great Master, when I saw You touch fellow initiate's head and embrace everyone on the video tapes, I felt so happy, as if You were embracing me. Afterwards, I could only wish that someday I would be able to see You and enjoy the sweet moment in the warmth of Your embrace. I anticipate this happy day will come soon.

In January last year, I had the opportunity to come across Your precious books. After I borrowed and read the first one, The Key Of Immediate Enlightenment - Book 4, through Your blessings and great power, I immediately became a vegetarian. Then I went to Guang-Zhou and got initiated. Thank You, Master, for taking care of me. It has been six months since my initiation, and I miss You all the time. Today, I sincerely beseech You for Your blessings and guidance.

I used to have a nervous condition. I couldn't sleep well at night. I had stray thoughts all the time. For the past few years, I have been going out to do exercises in the morning, and my headaches and insomnia have gotten better. I wonder if this has any effect on my practicing the Quan Yin Method and my meditation, in which I have never reached the state of samadhi. I have lots of stray thoughts so I had few inner experiences. During "sound meditation", I can hear a sound coming from my right. I can also hear it when I am doing the "light meditation" or sometimes even when I am not meditating. It's an unchanging, monotonous sound. I often examine myself to see if I have kept my actions, speech and thoughts clean. Sometimes, I wonder if Master is testing me or, perhaps, if I am possessed by evil forces. But, I also understand that You take care of me at all times, so I can't be possessed by evil. No matter how Master tests me, I will never regress. I will do my best to strictly keep the Five Precepts, meditate for two and a half hours a day, and follow You for life, to be a good practitioner. I want to be a useful tool for You in order to repay Your love and blessings.

I would like to ask Master a question. Just before I started writing this letter, a would-be initiate asked me, "Can a mother be present in the delivery room and help her daughter give birth to a baby?" Please advise Your reply, which I will relate to that would-be initiate.

Wishing You Health and Success.
Respectfully Yours

Dear Fellow Initiate Chen,

The Master is wisdom, love, and power, and cannot be contained in anything, nor be separated from you by any space or distance. When you are thinking of the Master, you may feel indulged in the love and blessings of the Master as if I was touching your head or embracing you and loving you in person. As you progress in your spiritual practice, you will feel more and more being at one with the Master. You will also understand the Master is not just a physical form. Whenever we sincerely think of the Master and are eager to be near the Master, who will already be there.

Because more and more people are yearning for liberation and ask me for help, I have to travel continuously to many countries and work with my best efforts to satisfy them. Nonetheless, my physical body has its limitations, and I cannot satisfy every one of the initiates at the same time. Hope you can understand and will continue to be diligent on your spiritual path.

As for your previous nervous condition, it should not affect your meditation too much because the vibration of the sound helps us relieve excessive stress and keep our nervous system in balance. When you have too many stray thoughts during meditation, you may read or listen to Master's teachings before meditation or play Master's tapes at a low volume while meditating. This way you will receive Master's blessings. Remember to keep your attention on your wisdom eye and silently recite the Five Names at all times. This protects us from external interference and contamination. If you get distracted during meditation, try to concentrate and recite the Five Names silently. Eventually, your concentration will improve. Also, the sound that you can hear continuously is a bonus blessing, to let you know that the Master is always with you. This inner sound can help our spirit and protect you from the interference of this world. All you have to do is to keep your concentration on your wisdom eye and enjoy the sound. Don't worry. You are not possessed by evil or being tested by the Master. You have strong faith. I can only love you more and give you more blessings. You should not have any doubt about yourself. Just try your best to do your part and have a peace of mind while you continue on your spiritual path. No matter what level you are at, Master still takes good care of you.

Regarding the would-be initiate, it's alright for her to be present in the delivery room to assist her daughter giving birth to a baby. Whenever we help anybody do anything, as long as we do not violate the Precepts or cause harm to others, and if we can be beneficial to others, we may pray for the Inner Master's blessing to become a good tool in helping those who need our assistance.

Wishing you health and progress in your practice.

By Fellow Initiate Wu in Hong Kong (Originally In Au Lac Language/i>

Dearest Master,

It has been three years already since I started practicing with You. On the day of my initiation, I was truly reborn, and truly became a human being. I feel very happy and at ease, and I am filled with confidence towards the days ahead. Everything I have comes from Your loving grace and meticulous care. Master, You have given me so much! I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to You, to thank God.

During this past year, I have had many inner experiences, in which You have taken me to heaven and to hell. I started to record them in my diary each time, but eventually there were just too many for me to record. I remember Master had let me learn to write poems, I cannot recall any of them, but I have been sleeping deeply. Every time, I dreamt about going back to visit my homeland, Au Lac. At times, I woke up suddenly, not knowing where I was, until later I realized that I was still sleeping in the refugee camp in Hong Kong.

Sometimes, You gave me many, very delicious fruits that were indescribable. Sometimes, You let me listen to Your latest musical tapes. But the most happy occasions were during my meditation on the sound, that I could leave the binding of this physical body, and fly at will in the limitless sky like a bird suddenly released from its cage.

Master! I cannot find words to describe my happy feelings. I have not paid much attention to these experiences, because I have absolute faith in You. I completely believe that You will take care of me twenty-four hours a day, so I leave everything up to You. Besides practicing diligently, I have nothing to repay Your grace with. But I know that I have not worked hard enough, let alone being good enough to mention about repaying You. Please forgive me.

Respectful Master! Recently, I've told a fellow initiate about my inner experiences because I was too happy to keep it to myself. Now I have encountered many obstacles. I wish to repent truthfully to You; may I please have Your forgiveness.

In this New Year's season,
dear Master, I wish You good health!
Your disciple at the Sha-Tien Refugee Camp

Dear Fellow Initiate Wu,

I am pleased to know that under the noisy and terrible conditions of the refugee camp, and no longer wearing a monk's robe, you all still believe in Master, and are practicing diligently.

If we know how to concentrate in a difficult environment, this power will push us to accomplish everything and attain a higher spiritual level. Whether any situation is to be good or bad is decided by ourselves. Therefore, I often encourage all of you to practice diligently, and to keep your actions, speech and thoughts pure, then you may come in contact with your Inner Master. You will no longer suffer for your mind and thus have happiness.

However, do not tell anyone about your inner experiences in order to avoid unnecessary obstacles on your path of spiritual practice.

May your wishes come true!

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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!

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MASTER'S WONDER

The Four Maharajahs

By a resident disciple at Miaoli, Formosa

One day, I went to Taipei with another fellow initiate to run some errands. It was already past midnight when we were done, and on our way back, we were lost even though we had a map. As we busily looked for the road signs, a police patrol car chased up from behind us with a shrieking siren. After we stopped the car, four patrol officers charged up fiercely and yelled: "Security check!" The other fellow initiate, who was from Hong Kong and did not speak very good Mandarin, misunderstood what was said. He was puzzled and asked, "What? Did we forget to pay toll?"

On guard and fully armed with rifles, the four patrol officers loudly commanded: "Shut off the engine immediately!" I promptly obeyed. Since we had just finished doing Master's work, we were still filled with bliss. We cheerfully jumped out of the car with several of Master's magazines and proceeded to tell them excitedly the news about Master receiving an award in Hawaii and about "The Supreme Master Ching Hai Day". Feeling our joyousness, they changed their attitude; they became very friendly, and with innocent smiles they inquired about Master enthusiastically.

The atmosphere had unwittingly became filled with Master's love and humor. Learning that we were lost, they even conferred among themselves: "Why don't we lead them along?"

"Let's take them by the easy way, even though it would be farther."

"Oh! That's wonderful! You must be the guardian angels sent by Master to help us!" we were so happy and full of gratitude.

"Maybe we were the Four Maharajahs!" they replied humorously. (Note: The Four Maharajahs were the guardian angels for Buddha.)

Master's love had melted the differences that separated us. Under the guidance of the patrol car, we went on our way home.

Serving Happily - A Room Filled with a Golden Light

By a resident disciple at Miaoli, Formosa

The husband of a fellow initiate in Mainland China had been very supportive of her spiritual practice. They live in a small place, but he always invites everyone to his home to watch Master's video tapes. He gives them warm hospitality, and even voluntarily cooks vegetarian meals to treat them.

One night, when the fellow initiate's husband went to sleep, he suddenly felt a brilliant, golden light fill the room which the would-be initiates often visited. Then countless images of Bodhisattvas and Arhans, overlapping one another, appeared there. Their presence was so majestic and dignified that it was indescribable. For several times he also had dreams about Master manifesting Herself to him, and he saw the sky flash with lightning as if a saint were descending from heaven. He was totally convinced that Master is a living Buddha. Hence, he is even more eager to work for Master, and hopes to become one of the practitioners of the Quan Yin Method in the near future.

A Chance Meeting With A Sincere Seeker

By a resident disciple at Miaoli, Formosa

After the three-day retreat in Chicago had ended, everyone was dressing up with excitement as they tried to get ready to attend the celebration in the evening. It was in the afternoon, and I just felt like meditating in my hotel room; so I closed my eyes and two hours went by in an instant. Then, all of a sudden, I felt anxious, I immediately took a bath, changed into formal dress and hurriedly left the room, hoping to arrive there quickly. As I was getting into the car, a sister initiate told me, "Master's attendant was looking for you about some urgent matter." When I arrived, the attendant said anxiously, "Master wanted you to go out to buy two pieces of fabric immediately. I have been looking for you for two hours now. Hurry! Hurry!"

It was almost time for the party, all the working crew were very busy and all their cars were in use; it wouldn't be possible even to find a local fellow initiate to help me. It had begun to snow, and a fleet of taxis were waiting outside the hotel. I quickly jumped into the first taxi in line, and estimated the distance between the hotel and the fabric shop to be at least half an hour's driving time. How would I make it in such short time?

As soon as I got in the taxi, the driver asked me, "What are you people doing in there?" I told him that it was a dinner celebration in which the Supreme Master Ching Hai would receive "The World Spiritual Leadership Award". We could see through the glass windows many beautiful dresses, paintings and lamps. I explained that they were all designed by Master. The driver said, "Yesterday, I was driving a lady singer who is a soprano from Germany. She is also your Master's disciple. She told me about the Master, but didn't give me any material." Because he kept requesting sincerely for some material on Master, I went back to the hotel to get a sample booklet and magazine for him.

On the way over, he was constantly asking about the differences between our organization and other religions, and lots of questions about spiritual practice. I sensed that God's will was upon this spiritual seeker and not the two pieces of fabric. So I tried my best to answer his questions while praying to Master for help. We arrived at the fabric shop in about twenty minutes, much faster than I expected. I rushed into the store, and saw that both of the fabrics which Master wanted were sitting next to each other amongst hundreds of bolts of other fabric materials! I sighed with amazement, "Isn't all these God's arrangement?!" The driver was reading Master's magazine attentively while he waited for me in his car.

However, something still puzzled me. I had delayed for two hours before I went to buy the fabrics; during that time, where was this taxi driver? So I asked him, where had he been for the two hours before I got into his taxi? He replied, "I was waiting in line in front of the hotel. But there were many taxis before mine, and when mine was the first in line, you got in within a few minutes." So the two-hour delay was also arranged by Master!

He was so sincere, and had such a great longing that he was all shaken when he listened to Master's stories and teachings. He clearly felt Master's blessing powers. He said, "I would have believed it if Master were to say that the sun rises from the west." I was also quite surprised at his strong faith, because he had never met Master and never heard of Master's teachings before. And in less than an hour of our conversation, he has developed a hundred percent faith in Master. To those souls seeking for liberation, Master's supreme teachings are just like water to fish, and is accepted in no time.

Go with the flow of the highest, most spontaneous power, then all situations follow the most perfect order and produce the most ideal results.

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You May Not Know

A True Master Recognized By The Discerning Eyes Of The Wise

Recorded by Fellow Initiate Kuo from Hsihu, Miaoli, Formosa

Once, during our visit to the United States, Master took the three of us to eat at an Indian restaurant. After we went into the restaurant, a waiter came to serve us, and we seated at a rather small table. Later, the waiter said that Master was a VIP, and moved us to the best table in the restaurant. We ordered some Indian food and chatted along as we ate. At that time, Master said that She was very happy to have dressed in a simple, casual outfit, so that no one would recognize Her, how nice it was! But alas! Four guests came in and sat down at the table in front of and to the left of ours. A while later, they started babbling incessantly. Master couldn't help but take a look at them and found out that those guests had already recognized Her and had been talking about Her. Not until Master waved at her did the American lady dare to come over. This lady was not an initiate, but she was very devout and very respectful of Master. As soon as she walked over, she put her palms together and kneeled down in front of Master. She told Master that she had read Her books and watched Her video tapes, and she would cry every time. She had been sincerely longing to meet Master.

She already had an Indian guru who also teaches the Path of Light and Sound. She said Master was just as great and powerful as her guru. Then, Master gave her some blessed food, and she was all in tears and full of gratitude. As we watched, we all felt that this lady was really very sincere. Later, unable to stay any longer, she reluctantly left the restaurant taking with her Master's loving care and the happy surprise of having met with Master.

Master gave a tip to the waiter. This Indian waiter was a complete stranger who had never known Master or even heard Her name. But interestingly, he told Master that he would forever treasure the tip She gave him. As Master was leaving, the waiter suddenly prostrated himself to pay respect to Master, with the highest form of respect that an Indian person salutes his guru, and Master was shocked! He also apologized to Master for not paying the highest respect to Her when She first came in. He said that he would repent throughout the night when he got home that evening. After listening to what he had said, Master didn't even dare to go to the restroom, and the four of us left the restaurant hastily.

Afterwards, Master said in the car, "Did you see that? The Westerners do not care about the clothes you wear; as long as you are a true master, they don't care whether you are a man or a woman. They are truly sincere; they kneel down and bow down on the floor to you. That's why I did not dare to stay longer"(master laughed)

Master also said, "For an Indian person, to bow down and touch the feet of another is the highest form of salute. He would not do that to anyone other than his own guru, unless he knows that this person is just as great as his own guru." No wonder Master suddenly visited that restaurant, because the lady was very sincere and truly longing to see Her.

Au Lac People - Live and Work in Peace and Content

Spoken by The Supreme Master Ching Hai on Feb. 23, 1994
(Originally in English and Au Lac Language)

During the recent three-day retreat, Master spoke about the benefits of changing the name of Vietnam to "Au Lac".

She said, "Vietnam is getting better now. Yes, after we changed the name into Au Lac, things began to change. I told you, it's good. Doesn't matter if they didn't change over there because we changed. That's enough, because we are practitioners; we have a strong will and strong spiritual power, so whatever we wish is more likely to come true. See?! So we change the name and we believe in the name, and that's enough. Don't need the Vietnam country to change it. If they change it, it would be much better."

"Au Lac" means to live and work in peace and content. As long as the name Au Lac is used, the Au Lac people will sooner or later have a happy and peaceful life. In fact, they are beginning to do so now!

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While On The Path

The True Love Of God

By a resident disciple at Hsihu, Miaoli, Formosa

Located at the end of the Snow Mountain Range is the Chiaoshi meditation center in Yilan. It has the most panoramic view among all the meditation centers in Formosa. Facing the seemingly boundless Pacific Ocean, where the sky and water are joined together at the horizon, one immediately feels that one's heart is opened up, and merges into a vast ocean of joy. Looking at the scenery afar, the limitless sky with surging clouds staggered like thousands of mountains is like a Chinese painting of a heavenly world. A few years ago, I was very lucky to have an opportunity to retreat here for a period of time. What I experienced was something that cannot be expressed with words, a true experience of God's love.

That year I was sent to Japan on official business. Due to my careless mistakes in handling my work in Tokyo, I was called back to the Yilan Center for refuge. That was the most unforgettable time of my life. The climate in the mountain areas in Yilan is affected by the northeast wind during the winter. It rains a lot, more than twenty days out of a month. Every day the mountains are surrounded by the winding clouds and pockets of mist, and attacked by the strong bone-chilling winds. I ate only one meal a day, and spent the rest of the time meditating in my tent. The more I meditated, the more progress I would make, and the more I could appreciate what Master used to say, "Everything that I teach you is the outcome of my own blood and sweat experiences. Therefore, remember my words until the day you die." It was only after going through the experience myself that I could even more appreciate Master's good intentions.

The twinkling stars filled the night sky. As I gazed at the stars, I wondered where my hometown was. The Lanyang Plain down the mountains was lit with a sea of colorful lights. That was the mundane world, a world that binds people to the suffering of birth and death. I was very happy for myself to be lucky enough to have escaped from it half way. But, when I thought about Master rejecting me as a disciple, I wept in sorrow, and then began to cry out loud with all my heart. Being apart from Master, I felt so helpless, all on my own with no one to depend on. It was like having fallen into a roaring, splashing current that could swallow me at anytime. To be repudiated by Master as Her disciple would be as shocking as thunder in a clear day, something that I knew not how to endure. Before initiation I didn't appreciate how precious the true love of God was. After initiation I was always under the protection of the heavenly light and sound. To sever the relationship with this force was the hardest thing one could imaging. I felt helpless, insecure and a deep despair welled in my heart. All of a sudden, a prince of heaven had become a commoner. Oh! God! If we hadn't known this love, I wouldn't cherish it. But, I had it before and I was about to lose it. How sad and painful it was!

Each time I thought about it, I would cry. Every two or three days I would cry my heart out. I prayed and begged the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions to help me get my Master back. I could not live for one more minute, one more second, without my Master; I would rather die. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and the sound of my feet stamping broke through the silence of the night sky. Almighty God, Amita Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Mahasthama Bodhisattva, Manjusri Bodhisattva, Bhaisayya Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, and all the great masters of the Ten Directions of the past, present and future, several times a day I prayed and begged them to bring my Master back. Day after day, before meditation, I was in tears when I prayed to Master beseeching Her not to leave me, not to abandon me.

Perhaps, God and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas couldn't stand my intense pleading and finally granted me my wish. After fourteen days, I dreamed that many fellow initiates came to see Master. Master was in a room giving blessings to four or five initiates. I immediately kneeled down and asked to be blessed. I said, "Master! I haven't seen You for a long time." Looking at me lovingly, She touched my forehead for a minute to give me Her blessings. A warm and strong electric current ran through my whole body. Immediately, I felt my wisdom, my spirit and my body change completely, as if I was reborn. This comfortable and happy force field was more intense than when Master was blessing me in person. This inconceivable change suddenly elevated my vibrations to a higher level. This reminded me of what Master once said, "We are going to be living in a world of high level of vibrations. Master will elevate our vibrations to the same high level as in that world. This way we will be able to live there. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to stand the vibration at that high level of existence."

Suddenly, I realized that Master was fully aware of my heavy karma in Tokyo, so She found an excuse to send me back for a retreat to cleanse myself. Master guides and teaches us like a stern father and a kind mother. Who can thoroughly understand the concerns of the parents? I know that Master will never forsake us. Master once said, "God has no attachment, therefore, God has no karma." Perhaps, He is only attached to His children!

How Wonderful To Have Our Master

By a residnet disciple at Miaoli, Formosa

Master often reminds us not to be attached to Her physical form, because Her power is omnipresent and will teach us from within. I have had profound experiences in this regard. Let me illustrate this through my learning process of being an interpreter.

I attended the international seven-day retreat in Costa Rica a few years ago. Being young and innocent, I took on the job of the assistant interpreter because I could speak a little bit of English. But I ended up making some mistakes and Master had to correct them Herself. Master had made some "Divine Vegetarian Punch" for everyone. She was so loving that She poured some punch and gave it to me Herself. Master asked me, "What language are you interpreting?"

I tried to reply very `humbly', "I am `learning' to interpret English."

Master laughed, "Still `learning'? And you dare to interpret my English!"

At that time, I couldn't understand what Master meant, and it was not until years later that I gradually realized that it is extremely difficult to do Master's work. This is because everything that Master does is to benefit all beings, and we only ruin things if our spiritual practice is not good enough. We cannot do Master's work if our attention span is too short or we are too egotistic. I have slowly realized that Master helps us to grow up by allowing us the opportunity to work and serve others.

Later, I had more chances to interpret for Master, and from Her lectures, I understood that She wanted me to "be ready". So I began to work diligently to improve my English and to scrutinize every aspect of my life and my spiritual practice. Master once said that most of Her interpreters did a good job during the first half of the session, but not later on. I knew that this had much to do with the ability to concentrate. Normally when I meditated, I could hardly concentrate for a few minutes; but in order to interpret well, I pushed to train myself to be able to concentrate for several hours at least. Also, to be a good interpreter for Master, it appeared that I had to change my entire being; every person, everything and every incident that I had come in contact with, all became mirrors reflecting the qualities in me which needed to be improved. And I had already begun to understand deeply, that if these imperfect qualities were not changed, I would not be able to perform well in Master's work.

At the same time, I could clearly see that Master had been silently arranging many opportunities for me to learn. They included my linguistic capacity, my ability to respond and even training me to relax and let go of tension. I had been a very nervous person since I was young; my whole body was often very tense and unable to relax. Once a person is unable to relax, he is unable to concentrate and wastes much energy which not only makes him tired but also lowers his ability to respond quickly.

By letting me edit both Chinese and English articles and produce the cassette tapes, Master cultivated my linguistic capabilities. From watching Master's video tapes I learned to interpret; through gradual training, She built up my confidence. It felt like a mother helping a small child learn to walk, She guided me step by step, and afterwards, She allowed me to come in contact with important events. Interestingly though, whenever I was "not ready" to do a certain job, I would suddenly lose the opportunity to do it. "Not ready" included my being too tense, my language capacity being inadequate, my lack of confidence, insufficient meditation, or being too egotistic, etc.

However, Master also let me observe the prices She had to pay for the consequences of my being "not ready". Sometimes, the sacrifice was the audiences' opportunity to absorb Master's teachings, and the invisible karma created was quite amazing. Because every word that Master says is the Truth, even if She is just chatting along, all are words of wisdom; to misinterpret a word would interrupt others' comprehension. For example, one day Master was happily displaying a corner of Her dress, and said that She had especially made it a round corner, representing fullness or perfection. In that instant, I couldn't think of a way to relate round and perfection in English, so I skipped it. Later, a sister initiate unwittingly mentioned that during Master's talk of that particular day, what she learned the most was the part about "perfection". I was startled to realize that the fundamental essence of translation is to abide by the original words, and not to use our ego to add or delete any words spoken by Master. However, this is very difficult.

It is because the job of interpreting is very difficult that I understood the path of spiritual practice is not easy. In the past, I often stopped trying to do a job better when I scored 70 to 80 percent, thinking that it was good enough to be proud of. It was just like my level of spiritual practice; I got stuck there. Recently, Master showed me through another instance, that to score 70 to 80 percent is just a minimum requirement, and to reach professional standards you must score 80 to 90 percent. This 10 percent would not be an easy breakthrough, and from 90 to 91 percent would be much more difficult, and it would get even more difficult from then on.

From a small incidence in translation, we can see that Master is omnipotent and omnipresent, and She is always guiding us along. I believe that Master will guide us through the toughest of all difficulties. This is why it's so wonderful to have a living, enlightened master! Thank You, Master!

My Heart Was Blooming With Happiness

By Fellow Initiate Jan from Kaohsiung, Formosa

Master often tells us, "We are not this physical body, not this mind. Our original self is eternal; it was never born, and it shall never die." With Her teachings and through our meditation, Master helps us break through the concept of time and space. She also educates us quietly through the occurrences of our daily lives.

I remembered that soon after I was initiated several years ago, I heard Master said, "Among fellow initiates, we address one another as elder brother or elder sister. This is because some of you have already practiced in past lives and so we can't determine a person's spiritual level by the time of his initiation in this lifetime." Therefore, whenever I saw our fellow initiates who had just met calling each other elder brother or elder sister, I would have a feeling that we were elevated beyond time and space. Yes! We seem to feel that our daily thoughts and deeds are all for this life, and therefore, we are bound to this lifetime; this is where the problem lies. Master always teaches us through the bits and pieces of our daily lives to break through some of our preconceptions which we had thought to be rational and true but which actually got us stuck in a certain corner. Whenever I clearly come to understand the true meaning behind a certain concept, I am delighted because it feels like an obscure layer is being peeled away, and an obstacle is being overcome.

Since then, I have talked to Master in my heart, "Oh! Master! In order to follow such a divine and supreme path, I must continue to break through many preconceptions. In cases when I have doubts due to my ignorance during the course of my practice, please do not abandon me! I wish to be enlightened, so please let me come to understand the millions of 'whys' about life that I have in my heart."

After I joined the Quan Yin practitioners group, I was happily working for Master. But before long, I stumbled my way home! I cried in my heart to Master about my frustration with the other initiates. While I sharply criticized others, I was unable to see my own faults, my own sharp edges and corners, which also hurt others badly. I was like a spoiled child complaining to Master, "I know You are a great enlightened Master. I just want to follow You, but I don't want to be a part of this large group."

Then while I was meditating, a thought came to me: "Ever since you were young, haven't you quarrelled with your sisters numerous times and made up with them later? If you could forgive your sisters each time after a quarrel, then why can't you accept the brothers and sisters, who are learning under the same Master and who hold the same ideals as you? Everyone is trying to learn!" Oh! Master! Then I understood, no matter what, this group was my family! My heart was relieved, and I felt so good!

I recalled that the last time I attended the seven-day retreat in San Di Men, I saw that there were lots of round pebbles of all sizes. A brother initiate said, "I hear that these stones fell down from the mountain above. They originally were very rough, with sharp edges and corners, but when the rainy season came, water flushed on them and made them tumble around and bump against each other. As the years went by, they all became smooth and round." When I heard that, I thought that how I could ever leave this fortunate spiritual group where Master, the Holy Mother, took care of us constantly. With Master's love, teaching and guidance, and by practicing with my brothers and sisters and by learning with them, I knew that this would be the best home for me to learn and grow! My heart was blooming with happiness again!

The Benefits of Retreat

(Originally in Au Lac language)
By Fellow Initiate Nguyen From Ottawa, Canada

I heard about Master Ching Hai when I was in Au Lac. I really became Her disciple when I came to Canada. At first my father agreed to let me and my mother get initiated. He seemed to change his mind later and was hard on me with no apparent reason when I contacted my fellow initiates or read Master's books. I thought that these were just challenges to see if I had faith in Master, then I began to encounter some difficulties in attending the group meditations.

I used to keep Master's books and tapes in my drawer carefully along with my initiation card. One day when I got home, I saw my photo was torn and its pieces were cluttered on the table, and Master's tapes and books had disappeared. I was choked with tears. I had no words to describe my surprise at my father's act, and I felt like there were hundreds and thousands of needles going through my heart. But I told myself: My father could tear one or hundreds or even thousands of the initiation cards, but he could not tear the card that my Master transmitted into my heart, mind and soul. I prayed to Master to gave me more strength to endure all of the upcoming challenges.

I tried to attend the one-day retreat in Ottawa in December. I always prayed to Master to gave me more strength to overcome all difficulties. After the retreat was over, I was worried because I was away from home for one day and one night. My fellow initiates reminded me to pray to Master and everything would go smoothly.

I have a younger sister. I used to be afraid of her because she unintentionally or intentionally told my father about my meditation practice and then I would have a bad day. But today after my one-day retreat, she embraced me when I got home. I was surprised and also worried because this kind of warm love didn't happen every day. I went to my room to listen to Master's tapes and prayed for help. A few minutes later I discovered that in the next room, my sister was also interested in listening to Master's tape. I closed my door and meditated. She seemed to be very angry because I didn't let her listen to Master's tape. She immediately ran into my room but when she saw that I was meditating, she went out and did not say anything. After my meditation was over, she came and asked me if I had more new tapes. I was surprised and felt sorry for her because I had no more. That night she could not sleep. My mother told her to recite Buddha's name. She recited Buddha's name a few times and without her knowledge she started reciting "Namo Ching Hai Wu Shang Shih" and felt asleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she tried to remember why she recited Master's name and had a peaceful night. She started believing in Master. One day, in a computer typing class, she prayed to Master because she used to be very weak at typing, then she typed very fast. Her teacher did not believe it. He asked her to type it again in the front of him and she again typed very fast. He asked her how she typed that fast? She told him she did not know the reason, but in her heart she knew that she recited Master's name and prayed to Master for help. Her belief in Master improved every day; she began her vegetarian diet and practiced the Convenient Method. Today she really became an would-be initiate; beside the sister relationship I will have another fellow initiate and another companion. I think the strength of the group meditation and Master's blessing gave me this gift. After that one-day retreat, I really have more strength and have good effects on my family and everything goes smoothly.

I know, Master, You are a living Buddha, a living Master and are everywhere. You always help me and my fellow initiates to overcome all difficulties in this world and also bear karma for all of us sentient beings. From my sincere heart I thank You.

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The Ways To Eliminate The Ego

A speech given by the Supreme Master Ching Hai at the Hsihu Center, Miaoli, Formosa.
(Originally in Au Lac language) October 10, 1990.

This is very difficult. It's even harder than breaking off a love relationship. Why? It is because the ego is the self-pride of humans. Therefore, to eliminate the ego is very difficult, as we have been used to being the father, the mother, the Buddha, the God for such a long time. However, there are ways to eliminate your ego. Just look at your practice diary each day and see if the things you've done are good. If the good deeds are few, and the bad ones are many, and if we are full of greed, anger and hatred, then we know that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Then, gradually, we will become more humble, and we'll not dare to criticize others, because we can see that we are charcoal-black. Is that not so? If our own feet were soaked in mud, how would we dare to use a torch to shine on others' feet. So our ego is lessened.

Otherwise, you can stay here. I'll give you a few scoldings each day, and your ego will be fine, because you have nowhere to hide in here. I will pick out your shortcomings everyday and elaborate on them over and over again. Then, you'll not dare to be egotistical anymore. Do you understand? But humility and self-inferiority are two different things. The so-called inferiority complex is different. It means that one feels that he is very lowly and useless. I yell and scold at you, but within that there is love, support and blessing.

But, in the outside world, people oppress you because of fame or wealth. For their own interests, they make our lives very miserable, break our hearts into pieces and crush our self-confidence totally.

So the two kinds of reprimands are different. One is in competition with us. The other is to help us eliminate our egos. In scoldings of the latter type, there is hidden love. So sometimes we feel that there is a kind of soothing fragrance, a soothing, compassionate atmosphere. Therefore, even though you have been scolded, you always seem to miss that person. You cannot forget him, nor can you hate him. But in the outside world, even though they might use sweet talk, we may still fear them. We fear that they might conjure up a plan to cheat us. We feel that they are frightening as if they have in hiding a knife ready to use on us.

When you practice the Quan Yin Method, gradually, the ego will be lessened. This Method allows you to use the Buddha's light, God's Love, the source of infinite power or our own true selves, to erode the mundane ego. It is not that we use our limited human power to control it. Many people practice by strictly disciplining themselves. They dare not do this or that; dare not open their mouths too wide when they laugh; dare not walk with big strides; dare not run; dare not do anything. Even then, the ego still cannot be eliminated. Why? It is because they are using the mind and their mundane experiences to eliminate their mundane egos. Both of them are at a mundane level, therefore, it's difficult.

Here we use the Infinite Wisdom of Buddha which is beyond the ordinary level. Therefore, it purifies the mediocrity. Understand? Our egos will naturally dissolve, so we don't need to restrain them that much. But otherwise, even if we spend our whole life trying to control the ego, it is of no use. Even though we can control it, we only do it superficially. For instance, we used to have a bad temper; we yelled and screamed at people, hit and struck them over trivial causes. But after we find some way to practice, we train our personalities. What are our personalities? Up until now, we were cruel and short-tempered, but now we try to train ourselves for the better. Each day, when we get mad, we will tighten our lips, swallow the lump in our throats, or we will go into the bathroom, slam something with all our might, and then come out laughing, "Ha ha ha ha......" That is the training to have a good demeanor. But it is only for training you to change your characteristics, meanwhile the real problems are still hidden inside. When the situation occurs that is so sudden and urgent, they will reappear unexpectedly.

Sometimes the resident disciples here are in the same situation. Each day they behave very docilely, acting as if they truly believe in me. One day I used a special method, one that they would never have expected. For example, I slammed on the tables and chairs, yelling and screaming loudly, as if I was really mad. Then their egos popped up. They tried to teach me and said, "Oh, Master, what is it that matter?" At that moment, I laughed to myself, and I knew how strong their faith was. I know how and what they think of me. Therefore, often in normal circumstances, when I treat them well, they will not reveal their latent character. Understand? Many times, I have to corner them into a dead end for it to be exposed. So, the ways in which a Master treats others cannot be judged.

The dust and garbage under the bed have to be poked and dug out. If we don't use a long broomstick, we won't get it all out. If these things are not dug out, we cannot see them. Everyday we just sweep on the outside, and we think it's very clean. But the dirt hidden deep in the corner, nobody sees. We only realize it when we dig it out. If we don't get it out, we are not aware of it. Nevertheless, it is there if we get it out. Tempering the character is not as good as practicing the way of the Buddha Nature inside. Therefore, only the Quan Yin Method will gradually lessen your ego.

As you practice for a while, you will notice that you have changed greatly, or you will see that the fellow practitioners around you have changed a great deal. When we've practiced for a long time, our friends will be greatly surprised, "How did you change so much?" It's not that you have changed all by yourself, but it is your own Buddha Nature that has naturally cleansed all the stains of the mundane life. Do you understand? Only practicing spiritually will bring good results; no other kinds of training will do. But if you are close to a living Master, it will benefit you greatly. The Master can do it faster, digging out all of your garbage. Wherever you try to hide it, the Master will use a big, long broomstick to poke it out, whether you like it or not. Usually we hide it very carefully, covering it up with a cloth. Although we feel uncomfortable when all the dirt is being dug out, but somehow we also seem to like it. So, never mind, shovel it all out in one go, so it's finished. Then we know that our house is clean; that's all.

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The Front Line

The Grand Opening Of The Supreme Master Ching Hai Vegetarian House

Provided by fellow initiates in Hong Kong

The Eye-Catching Vegetarian House

That day, during the grand opening, Master's vegetarian House with its sharp and bright-colored sign, and the many congratulatory baskets of flowers at its doorstep, was especially eye-catching and had attracted much attention. Master's photograph on the sign overlooking the many passers-by appeared to be so affable and kind. It reminded people of that sentence in the Buddhist scripture, Pu Men Pien: "Looking at the sentient beings with merciful eyes".

The opening ceremony began at noon, with a lion-dance and the ribbon-cutting ritual. There was a full house of honorable guests and fellow initiates. The atmosphere was delightful and joyous. As everyone was savoring the different kinds of vegetarian delicacies, they talked about how the House was started. A television set had been positioned facing the street and Master's UN-lecture video was screened. The warm and cheerful occasion had attracted many neighbors and onlookers. They came to admire the House's elegant layout, and accepted sample booklets from the fellow initiates. As we looked on, the happy occasion inevitably brought memories of the planning and preparation of the House.

The Preparation Went Smoothly With Master's Blessings

Because of the frequent requests from fellow initiates around the world, Master eventually agreed that vegetarian houses could be set up to popularize vegetarian food and spread Her teachings. So fellow practitioners started to plan actively. With Master's blessings, the initial operating expenditure was successfully raised. The next step was to look for a suitable shop. Hong Kong is notorious for its high cost of land. The rent of a good-location shop is staggering, and as for the purchasing price, it is quite intangible. Nonetheless, empty shops are very hard to come by and the competition is fierce. It's not that you can buy a shop whenever you want.

While everyone was trying hard to look for a shop, Master already, secretly had something in store for them. As if it was a miracle, a fellow initiate recommended a shop at a busy location, and yet it was situated in a quiet street. "Prosperous but tranquil", it was also close to public transport, an ideal location indeed. In addition to the shop downstairs, it also had an attic which could be used as an office, storeroom and a place for the non-initiates to practice the Convenient Method. The fellow initiates were very thankful of Master's arrangement in resolving such a difficult problem in such a natural way! "The Supreme Master Ching Hai Vegetarian House Co. Ltd." has now been properly registered, and other administrative requirements have also been partially completed.

Open For Business Before New Year's Eve!

Next, it was renovation time. One of the initiates is a commercial architect. He quickly developed a two-dimensional draft, so that the work could get started straightaway. In order for the shop to be open in time for the New Year, so that more people could have the opportunity to try vegetarian food, everyone joined in with the work actively and eagerly. Several fellow initiates were willing to work on a full time basis, and many others volunteered to work unpaid. The staff members were so excited that they quickly busied themselves with the job and had it completed just in time!

Thanks to Master's arrangement, a renovator, who is a friend of a fellow initiate, provided assistance. To make sure that things were not only beautiful but also practical, the whole renovation was redone afresh. Most of the experienced renovators shared the view that it was impossible to get the job done before New Year. However, with everyone working overtime and with Master's help, the major parts of the renovation were completed one day before the New Year's Eve, and the House was ready for business from that day!

A Versatile Establishment

During the New Year festive season, the Vegetarian House was open everyday, so that people from all directions, young and old, men and women, who went to visit their relatives at the New Year, could come in to have a look around or to make purchases. The shop was neatly and beautiful prepared. From different kinds of vegetarian ingredients to instant vegetarian dishes; exquisite, pure and clean vegetarian food or produce from around the world, all were readily available; with the best available service.

As soon as we stepped inside the Vegetarian House, we came face to face with a large and elegant photograph of Master. Next to the door was a glass cabinet with Master's books and other publications neatly on display. A television set inside the shop screened, all day, videos of Master's wonderful lectures for passers-by and customers to enjoy. Shelves were full of Master's books, audio and video tapes, and sample booklets and news magazines of various languages. Reproductions of Master's paintings were also on display. There were also chairs for visitors to rest on.

Since its grand opening, the House has attracted the custom of many visitors and fellow initiates. Whenever an interest in Master's teachings has been shown, the fellow initiates have happily gone out of their way to introduce, explain and answer any questions. The atmosphere is most amicable. There is talking and laughter, and everyone is so friendly! "The Supreme Master Ching Hai Vegetarian House" has become the best location for everyone to get to know Master.

An Honorable Work Opportunity

In the darkness of the night, the glass windows of the Vegetarian House shone even brighter. Everything seemed so warm and clear. After the shop was closed, more than ten fellow initiates had a group meditation at the office and meditation room in the attic. The establishment has made the spreading of Master's teachings so much more convenient, and more and more people are being made aware of the benefits of vegetarianism. This meaningful tasks has had an encouraging start. The fellow initiates are very thankful of Master's arrangement, in giving them such an honorable job!

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A Charming Little Center In A College Town

A Report On The Branch Center In Oxford, England
By Initiate Huang at Oxford, England

The City of Oxford in England possesses the beauty of medieval architecture and breathtaking scenery. It is especially famous for its university, the oldest in the world. College campuses can be seen all over this town, which gives off an atmosphere of academic freedom. Within this leisurely, free spirited "heaven-on-Earth" surroundings, people's yearning for the Truth has not been diverted.

Starting From Nothing, Willing To Be The Stepping Stone

The Oxford branch center was established not long ago. However, due to the eagerness of fellow initiates to spread Master's teachings in the early days, and with the loving blessings of Master, this center has set down a healthy foundation from the start. The current contact persons at the center are a husband and wife team. They came to Oxford a year ago from Formosa to study. After spending a short time getting used to the surroundings, they started using their residence as a contact point for the initiates and for group meditations. They strive relentlessly to spread Master's teachings.

This branch center is located in a dormitory of Wolfson College. One room was allotted to be a meditation room and another, to be an office for handling Master's work. Besides the regular group meditation hours, the center is open every night, for a set time, so that initiates can join each other to meditate. The meditation room can accommodate dozens of people. Since the place used to be an apartment, it has all the essential facilities, and is ideal for our purposes at this time.

The Quan Yin Initiates Are Like A Family

Saturday afternoon is the time for group meditation at Oxford. In addition to those living in the vicinity of Oxford, sincere fellow initiates from as far away as London and its surrounding areas disregard the long journeys that they have to travel to come and join in the group meditation. For the convenience of fellow disciples, the Center arranges for those who drive cars to pick up those who do not, and also to take them back home, so that all the fellow initiates can get to the center smoothly.

After each group meditation, initiates have dinner together. Under a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere, they exchange views on their practice and discuss Master's teachings. The warm and friendly atmosphere invariably makes one feel deeply the close relationship between the brothers and sisters of the big Quan Yin family.

Vegetarian Dinner Party Achieves Good Results

The Center also opens every Wednesday night for the would-be initiates and those interested in the Quan Yin Method to practice the Convenient Method. For these beginners who are interested in spiritual advancement, fellow initiates are very considerate and prepare vegetarian food for them to enjoy after meditation. Besides learning Master's teachings and sharing the benefits of spiritual practice, they also use the opportunity to exchange vegetarian recipes and cooking techniques. This helps to further develop the confidence to be a vegetarian in the would-be initiates, many of whom have already learned to prepare several delicious and nutritious dishes. Some even volunteer their cooking for all to sample.

Consideration For Children To Be Looked After During Meditation

In order to accommodate the increasing number of people who practice the Convenient Method, the Center rented more space from the University, where a greater number of people can meditate, watch video tapes and join in discussions about Master's teachings. To allow those with children to meditate without distraction, the Center also provides a baby sitting service. This has been arranged so that the children stay in a room where they can watch TV. After meditation, parents are joined by their children to enjoy a delicious vegetarian dinner. There are now some children asking for half-initiation after hearing Master's teachings from their parents.

A Great Deal Of Thought Put Into Spreading Master's Teachings

The Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Association in England has formally been established and an application for a branch also has been submitted in Oxford to facilitate the spreading of Master's teachings and the Quan Yin Method. A small library containing Master's books, cassette and video tapes and other information has been set up in the branch center for use by fellow initiates and anyone else who is interested. Recently, they tried to set up in computer networking to provide up-to-date information on the movements of Master and the Quan Yin Method, through electronic mail (E-Mail), to the local government of Oxford, teachers and students. This kind of computer networking can reach the whole of Great Britain, and even the whole world. We believe that this will provide more information on the Quan Yin Method to many more people who long to be liberated in this lifetime.

In order to allow more people to see Master and to have the opportunity to practice the highest method -- The Quan Yin Method -- the Center is actively in the process of negotiating with major book shops in the area to let people be able to purchase Master's books, The Key Of Immediate Enlightenment, etc.

In addition to their local activities, the Oxford Center also cooperates with the Surrey Center to participate in events all over England, for instance, the Art Healing exhibition of last December and the upcoming one in London during May. This gives an opportunity to those longing for liberation, yet still looking for the Path, to fulfill their wishes.

The Lunar New Year Celebration In Chinatown

The Chinatown in London has the greatest concentration of Chinese people in Great Britain. The annual lunar New Year celebration has been carried on for years. Large crowds of people attend the celebration each year. Many local English people bring their entire families to watch and enjoy this traditional Chinese festival.

In order to be Master's good tools, fellow initiates gathered for a one-day retreat and worked all night to prepare posters and decorations for the celebrations on the next day. Much needed sample booklets and news magazines also arrived from the Hsihu Center in Formosa just in time.

Fellow initiates rented a space at an ideal location in Chinatown. That day, although it was snowing and the cold wind was blowing hard, it didn't stop the enthusiastic initiates from setting up the book stand, preparing vegetarian lunch boxes and giving out sample booklets.

They finished setting up and decorating the stand within a short time. It was the brightest and most eye-catching stand of all. Besides Master's books, also on display were the reproductions of Master's paintings, video tapes and cassette tapes. The longevity lamps designed by Master attracted many curious visitors to make inquiries and purchases. Vegetarian lunch boxes and groceries were also sold to promote the vegetarian diet. Large crowds came to ask for the sample booklets.

While working together, fellow initiates in England, new and old, got the opportunity to know one another. Over ten thousand sample booklets and news magazines were distributed within half a day. After that day, people continued to respond enthusiastically and contacted the Center for more information about the Quan Yin Method. This was the invaluable result of the exhibition.

The Double Harvest Of The Contact Person

Because the Center is still in its infancy, much time and energy needs to be devoted towards its development. So naturally the contact person, Brother Loh, is under a lot of pressure, and this is made greater by the added requirements of his academic quest for a PhD. How does he handle such dual responsibilities?

Brother Loh said, "In terms of time and energy, it is rather hard. Fortunately, I have learned a great deal from Master since I was initiated in Formosa many years ago. On top of that, making a habit to meditate daily has also improved my wisdom and efficiency. For example, when I am doing experiments in the lab, I listen to Master's cassette tapes at the same time. I also meditate or do some work for the Center during my breaks. This way, I not only receive Master's blessings and teachings, but I can also bring benefits to both the visible and invisible sentient beings.

As a contact person, I could understand better the words from the Bible that Master often quotes, 'Seek you first the Kingdom of God, and everything shall be added onto you.' In order to do Master's work well, I have increased my meditation time. Sometimes, I have been so busy that I could only spend a very little amount of time a week on my academic work. Incredibly, I was able to make breakthroughs in my studies and experiments with such smoothness and unexpectedly good results. What I received was truly much more than what I gave." He is grateful for Master's blessings and help, in both the tangible and intangible aspects.

The Power Of Cooperation

As of now, the Oxford Center, overflowing with Master's love and blessings, is beginning to get on track. Especially after a recent initiation session, the number of initiates have increased by ten. This is really exciting.

There is a saying, "Great power comes from cooperation." Currently, there are only dozens of initiates in England and they are mostly scattered in different areas. To spread Master's teachings in this conservative country truly needs the cooperation of all initiates. From now on, besides the regular national monthly, one-day retreat, both the Oxford and Surrey Centers will hold meetings periodically for discussions about spiritual practice and Master's teachings. I believe, in the near future, our Centers will grow at an even faster pace.