How do we take care of bugs and insects in order to keep our houses clean and hygienic? Master recommends the following practical tips, which are also good for the environment.


Natural Insect Repellent

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Fresno Convention Center, California, USA,
June 23, 2001 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 711

You should just clean your house thoroughly with water and vinegar, 50/50. This will disinfect and deodorize everything, and neutralize all the odors that attract insects. Clean whatever is infested once and for all, put it in the sun, shake it out and clean it every day or as often as possible with 50 % vinegar and 50% water. You should use more vinegar, if possible, if you can bear its smell. And you have to spray your window frames and door frames with an insect repellent, a harmless one, outside your house. Then the insects won't come in later. Otherwise, they will keep coming in all the time. You should spray them once a week or every once in a while, and then they won't come in. And you must keep yourself washed and clean and hygienic. Then they won't have the grounds to breed in your house.

Great Ways to Prevent Mosquito Bites

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Hsihu, Formosa, February 11, 1996. (Originally In Chinese)

The insect that kills the greatest number of human beings is the mosquito; it kills millions of adults and children each year. The number of human beings killed by mosquitoes far exceeds that of any wars, natural disasters or assassinations. This tiny but extremely vicious demon kills at least four million people every year! Many people get all kinds of strange diseases because they are infected by the mosquito.

We have to protect ourselves, because there are more mosquitoes in the world than we could ever kill! We could not kill them all even if we wanted to so don't be "silly" ("kill" and "silly" in Chinese have a similar pronunciation.); we should just endeavor to protect ourselves. Cover your children with mosquito nets when they sleep, just like you would cover a wok (Master and everyone laugh), and let them sleep inside. You can do the same for the bigger kids as well - it's convenient.

You don't have to kill the mosquitoes, just use mosquito nets and window screens! Your window screens are most inviting - with mesh holes so large that even I could go through them. (Laughter) I heard that even Master's transformation body can go through those small holes, not to mention mosquitoes.

When buying window screens, choose those made of a fine mesh to prevent the tiniest mosquitoes from entering. There is a type of screen made of very fine mesh that can stop mosquitoes while still maintaining ventilation. What's the use if the mesh holes are so big? At night, mosquitoes can see very clearly from outside the mesh just as though they were looking through binoculars. So in they go. They say, "Since the door is open, I'll just go in easily."

Even when you have installed window screens, do not switch on the lights too early. Try to see things with your naked eyes or use a flashlight, and switch on the lights later in the evening when the mosquitoes have gone to sleep.

About five to seven in the evening, it is dinner time for mosquitoes (laughter), so there are plenty of them around. They disappear at about nine or ten! If possible, do not switch on the lights when they come out to eat. Switch on the outdoor lights instead of the indoor ones; so even if there were some mosquitoes inside, they will go for the light outside. Should you switch on the lights indoors, mosquitoes will come in even if there were originally none inside!