Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Three-day International Retreat, Los Angles, CA, USA,
December 18, 1998 (Originally in English)

Unconditional Love

I thank you for being so kind and so good, for being saints in this needy world. I thank you so much for being so good all these years to yourselves, to the world and to me. Through your kindness, we have done a lot of God's assignments; we have helped our brothers and sisters around the world.

It's not the material things that are important; it is your unconditional love that goes with those gifts and the comfort you have offered to our needy brothers and sisters. And even though we know that they are not truly the "needies," it is good to know that we have love in such circumstances for such people. We all know that they are all God and God's children, and that no one ever needs anything from anyone, least of all from us.

It's just that they have manifested themselves as such, so that we can manifest our love. And for me to witness such unconditional love is always a great gift and a great privilege. I often think, "How do I deserve you, such beautiful people?" (Audience applauds) I know we do have, sometimes, a little personality conflict, due to backgrounds and habits. But these are just small things. The personality conflicts or the ego problems, these are just small, superficial things, compared to your greatness and your love, which you are realizing more and more every day.

Realize the True Essence of God

And since you have come into the circle of sainthood, you have begun to realize how great a love you are capable of giving, how great you really are inside, and how much greater you can continue to present yourself. And this is all about finding God, finding the Kingdom of Heaven. It is you who are Heaven. It is you who are God. Even if God really exists as a person, Hes can only work through us to manifest Hiers love. So we are representing that love. We are representing God. So Every time we forget that, we should try to remember again. That's how we become great. That's how we realize God. There is no such thing as a God we can grab, we can hold, we can blame, we can pray to, except as that great love. And the more we manifest that love, the closer we are to Godhood. That is what God realization is all about.

So some of you ask me, "What is life?" and "Where is God?" in the beginning when you haven't completely understood. But I think many of you understand now. There's only one God inside us. All of us are the same one. And it's up to us to choose to show Hirm out, to present Hirm to the world and to ourselves, or not. There's no one else who can help us. Because you always think, "Oh, the Master must be good; the Master must be this and that so that I can follow him or her." No, no, don't follow any Master!

There's no Master. Since we are only one, there's no Master, no disciple. Just the one who walks a little bit in advance, or walks before to show the ones who walk later. But later is all the same. And so there is no other God, except the one that's within you.

That's why in the Bible it is said, "The Kingdom of God is within you," and, "You are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit lives within you." That's the only truth there is. It doesn't matter how many sermons any Master preaches or how many long lectures we give, there is only one truth: that we have God within us. And it's up to each of us to choose to manifest Hirm. It's up to you to identify yourself with that source of wisdom, love and greatness. Do not let mundane problems or personality habits hinder you from remembering your true Self.