 Special
Reports
Experiencing
One World, Enjoying
a Peaceful Era
Narrative
on the 1998 International 3-day Retreat in Los Angeles, USA
Reported
by Taipei News Group, Formosa
 On
Dec 16-18, 1998, a splendid congregation accompanied by a concert
lyrically expressing universal love was held - the International 3-day
Retreat in Los Angeles, USA, which brought a message of peace to the
world. The Retreat was held at the Century Plaza Hotel. In front of
the Hotel, a fountain with glittering colors invited fellow initiates
from around the world to enjoy "Trillion Star" service and
inner bliss. With the dedication that arises from love and wisdom,
many fellow initiates had worked day and night to transform the hotel
into an enchanted Holy Land. In the outdoor dining area, the kitchen
crew placed food on a lovingly constructed, silver-colored wooden
dragon-boat decorated with Christmas lamps. The delightful area was
replete with a joyful, romantic holiday atmosphere. The Bookstore
and SM Celestial Clothes & Jewelry areas, highlights of the Retreat
and favorites of initiates, combined wisdom with artistic creations.
On
the day before the 3-Day Retreat began, a spectacular initiation was
held. Sitting at the front of the initiation venue, would-be initiates
from around the world, clad in different skin colors and attire, were
surrounded by old initiates also from around the world. During the
initiation meditation, surrounded by the peaceful atmosphere, everyone
felt contented and filled with bliss.
Prayers
for World Peace
On
December 16, the Three-day Retreat officially began. During the four
meditation sessions each day, everyone practiced diligently and enjoyed
the cleansing power of the Inner Light and Sound. At the end of the
second session on day one, Master, clad in a red coat and white pants,
arrived at the hotel. Ignoring Her fatigue from traveling and a hectic
work schedule, She immediately came to see us and to satisfy our longing,
She walked around the entire meditation hall.
Chatting
casually, Master mentioned that since She now lives alone, She had
to learn to do such mundane things as paying bills, making phone calls,
and even how to use E-mail and the Internet. She has become an expert
at pushing buttons! Chuckling, Master said that She felt more sympathy
for us now. It seems like we are never free. One cannot go away for
more than one or two weeks because the bills chase after you. Although
we are not prisoners, we are bound; we are all "pre-owned".
Master also said that most of the time, we see through it as an illusion
and just play along. If you see too clearly, you don't want to do
much. Sometimes God keeps us a little bit in the dark or in the closet,
so that we will continue to do the things that we must do before we
leave this world.
That
evening, Master came to the meditation hall dressed casually in white,
and as when reuniting with a loving mother, we had endless topics
to discuss with Her. In the question and answer session, She pointed
out that not many people are able to see through the illusion; instead,
they are caught up in it. On the other hand, the enlightened people
might look like they are caught in it, but they are not; they see
with a different angle of vision. They can choose to play along with
it or they can choose to quit or change. Similarly, one can see this
life just as clearly as one sees a movie. Master encouraged those
of us who have not seen it that clearly to continue meditation and
think about it until we are that clear, and then we will be "enlightened,
big time!"
Master
also mentioned that wherever we meditate, the energy stays in the
place - even the walls vibrate, the ceiling vibrates. Consequently,
we should do good things all the time to surround ourselves with good
energy. Even to talk about meditation, God, the Master power, and
about positive things, also creates good energy. When we meditate,
think, talk, and do more positive things, the thicker the wall of
energy with which we surround ourselves will become. Then, because
"like attracts like," it draws more energy from different
directions. Therefore, wherever we go, we carry this so-called "pocket
of energy", or "halo of energy", this good energy,
like a movable house. Master urged us never to sink into the negative
circle. Sometimes people may drag us down, but we must always beware
and always try to stay positive.
On
December 17, a female employee of the hotel told some of our fellow
initiates that when she was on her way to work, she had prayed to
learn more about this special spiritual group and their Master. She
commented, "Now God has replied to my prayer. I have noticed
that your group emits a feeling of tranquility and peace rarely found
anywhere else." After we had briefly introduced Master's teachings,
she was overwhelmed, and said, "This is exactly what Jesus taught!"
Happily taking a sample booklet and some News magazines, she expressed
gratitude to God for granting her the chance to learn about Master's
teachings.
A
Modern Master
 In
the morning, Master saw Aulacese and Chinese disciples. Jokingly,
She commented about how a present-day Buddha would have to manifest
Himself in today's modern world. Master pointed out that in the minds
of ordinary people of the Buddhist faith, there exist certain ideas
that a Buddha should be like this or like that. However, in this age,
even if a Buddha comes again, He would have to fit into the world
and update Himself to modern times in order to deliver sentient beings.
If Shakyamuni Buddha were to come again, He would be stuck since He
could not speak English; He would be caught by the police for asking
for offerings and dressing in very sloppy clothes. A modern Buddha
must be able to use a walkie-talkie, a fax machine, and E-mail, to
speak several languages, and even pay bills and have credit cards.
A progressive Buddha must present Himself in accordance with the progress
of the age. However, it is still difficult for many people to accept
this concept of a modern-day Buddha; instead, they are suspicious
and attack this Buddha. Nevertheless, in the long run, the result
will prove itself.
On
the afternoon of December 17, Master continued to answer questions.
A sister initiate was concerned about new genetically engineered vegetables
that might contain animal genes. Master said that it would be too
terrible if that were the case, but humorously replied that next time
before eating a vegetable, we should listen carefully to it. If the
vegetable squeals like a pig, barks like a dog, or meows like a cat,
then we should not eat it. Master's lovely comments stirred ripples
of merriment throughout the audience, bonding us in the oneness of
shared laughter.
One
brother, who had just received initiation at the Retreat, told of
an experience three years before, when, with his eyes open, he had
seen the moon transform into a lotus flower. When he asked Master
the meaning of this experience, She responded that maybe God wanted
to remind him to pursue spiritual practice earlier.
During
the evening session, after a lengthy dialogue with a German brother
who suffered from epilepsy, Master hugged him, touched his face, and
gave him a lot of candy. She urged everyone not to let anything that
happens, whether good or bad, distract us from knowing ourselves -
that we are great. Once we enter samadhi, the whole world disappears,
and we are just the light; we are just freedom. We are everything
that is so beautiful, blissful, and blessed; we are not the physical
body at all. The body doesn't even exist, not even the whole planet
exists; therefore, we should not worry about what happens to us, to
this "non-existing" body, but find the Real Thing, and be
happy. "Let's be simple."
We
Are Light
Master
continued: "It's such a beautiful feeling to be enlightened and
to know that we are God - we are light, we are freedom. The physical
body is not reliable. Anything could happen. Let's not worry about
what happens to us physically." Referring to a story about a
man who was disfigured with a hunchback, Master explained that he
met and fell in love with a beautiful girl and he wanted her be his
wife, but she, of course, looked down on him. Nevertheless, he said
to her, "We are supposed to be married. Our marriage was already
made in Heaven. You do not remember, but before we came here, God
said to us that one of us must be hunched-back and it was supposed
to be you. But that, I could not bear, so I took on the deformity.
That's why I am like this, and you are so beautiful." Somehow,
his words caused her to remember and know that what he said was true.
Then, turning to the German disciple, Master tenderly said, "So
maybe you are sacrificing for someone, and you don't even know it."
Cherish
any Chance That Leads to God Realization
During
the final meditation session on the morning of December 18, Master
commented that She did not like cold weather, and hoped that we would
not invite Her to retreats held in cold places during the winter.
However, it seemed that the Heavenly Guards also understood Master's
wish, for the typically cold weather of California in December had
suddenly become very warm and remained pleasantly comfortable for
the duration of the Retreat. In jest, Master said that it was because
thousands of magical saints had meditated there and created the heat
energy. She also especially praised the kitchen crew for creating
such a romantic dining area and providing very delicious food. She
pointed out that it is not easy to prepare food for so many people
and that the workload for the kitchen staff was very heavy. She continued,
"When hundreds of people work together in perfect cooperation,
it is as if only one person is working." Touched by their sacrificing
spirit, Master praised the outstanding abilities of our fellow initiates.
Master
thanked everyone for being so kind and good for so many years, and
for their unconditional love that goes with the gifts and comfort
that the disciples have provided for needy brothers and sisters. She
further observed that we know they are all God's children, and no
one ever really needs anything from anyone. Rather, it is just that
they have manifested themselves as such so that we can manifest our
love and realize how great a love we are capable of giving - how great
we really are inside. God works through us to manifest Hiers love,
so we are representing God, and the more we manifest the love, the
closer we are to Godhood. That is what God-realization is all about.
She urged us to remember to create good things so that we will manifest
Godhood on this planet and turn this Earth into Heaven.
Many
western disciples expressed their gratitude to Master for thoroughly
changing their lives and leading them toward enlightenment and liberation.
Disciples also shared many wonderful experiences. One brother said
that he used to ask Jesus and God many questions, and they both would
answer. However, after he came to know Master, They told him to ask
Her. One time, standing beside Master, Jesus said, "Now you've
got Her," and He disappeared, but Master remained. In response,
Master chuckled and said, "Jesus is lazy. He tells me to do a
lot of work for Him. He says He is retired now. He has been doing
this job since 2000 years ago and it's my turn." The brother
further said that whenever he needs it, he can see the inner Master
clearly and ask Her questions.
In
response to a sister's question, Master explained: "After initiation,
you find miracles, you find peace, you find happiness, you find expanded
love within yourself every day. You feel more secure now, you feel
loved, you feel taken care of. It is not to wait for Heaven or after
you die to realize it; it's now. To go to Heaven, of course, is another
thing; it's another dimension, another kind of feeling, another kind
of environment. Of course, we will shed this physical body and regain
our true body, and we will regain our true feelings, true sensory
perceptions, true knowledge without the hindering of the mind, the
computer brain, and the flesh. We will be free, totally free; we can
go anywhere in an instant. If you need to go somewhere, you just step
on a cloud, step on a lotus, or step on the air; you just think, and
you will be there or anywhere in the whole universe. There are things
that we will do greater and with a greater sense of freedom and self
than what we are doing here. We are just crawling here, like insects,
like a prisoner in this cell, compared to the life in Heaven. We would
feel very sorry for ourselves if we knew for one moment what we are
missing in the Real Life. So of course, Heaven is something to look
forward to - it is beautiful. Sometimes we can go there through meditation
too, so we know that there are greater things than this. It's just
that language is never adequate to describe this kind of higher dimension."
A
new Muslin initiate shared his wonderful meditation experience when
Jesus and Mohammed told him that their work was done and it is now
Master Ching Hai's turn. They said that Master is the living Master,
and Her power is tremendously great. The initiate also saw God Who
asked him to relate to Master that Hes is very pleased with Her work.
Master gave him a hug. With Master blessing us as She made Her way
around the enormous, but crowded, meditation hall, the International
3-Day Retreat in Los Angeles ended in a joyful atmosphere.
That
night, everyone donned their best attire and enjoyed the concert of
the century at the Shrine Auditorium. The beautiful songs, touching
poems, and grand orchestra combined to synthesize one world of peace
with the melodies of love.
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