Living Up to the Precepts Is
Living Up to Ourselves

Spoken by Supreme
Master Ching Hai, Auckland, New Zealand,
April 27, 2000 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 686
Q:
What happens if I break the Precepts after my initiation?
M:
That’s just like asking me what happens if I have an “extra”
affair after I’ve married my wife. How shall I answer you? Make
up your mind. No one is here to force you. It’s only you, yourself,
and God; you make a covenant with God. You say, “I make You my
priority. I’ll do anything to know You. I don’t need all these
stupid things in order to survive; I can live without them. I can live
without killing my neighbors. I can live without telling lies. I can
live without drugs and alcohol. I’m strong; I don’t need these
substitute intoxicants. I can have Divine intoxication. I can live without
having to have sex with every man or girl who walks by.”
Make up your mind. Present yourself as the being
you want to present. If you’re one who likes to present yourself
to everyone else as “I’m one who tells lies; I’m one
who’s always drunk, takes drugs and all that; I’m one who
covets my neighbor’s wife; I’m one who likes to kill and murder
people,” if that’s how you want to present yourself, then
go ahead. It’s your choice. But if you want to present yourself
as an enlightened being, as a wise person, as a happy being, as a helpful,
compassionate, loving, truthful person, then there’s also that
choice. You see, there are two choices, but it’s your choice. They’re
not my Precepts; they’re a way of life. It’s a choice you
make, to present yourself to the world, to God and to your own Self
when you look in the mirror at the kind of person you want to see. No
Precepts; we don’t need Precepts. You know what you want to be.

How
to Overcome Fear 
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Auckland, New
Zealand,
April 27, 2000 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 686
Q:
When we feel intense fear, what’s the reason for
it? What’s life trying to tell us?
M:
It depends. If you’re in a fearful situation, it’s all right
to feel fear. But we don’t have to let the fear overcome us so
that we’ll be paralyzed and don’t know how to react in a better
way. Fear is a natural emotion. Fear and love are natural emotions.
You don’t have to suppress it; you just have to understand it and
handle it.
For example, do you think I don’t have fear?
I do. I feared coming here and not knowing what to talk to you about.
I feared that I wouldn’t know how to make you understand what I
understand. I really did fear. Today, I arrived earlier and went to
have tea in a shop because I didn’t have anything to eat since
yesterday. I couldn’t eat on the airplane; I was very tired physically
because I had to rush with a lot of things in order to pack and then
go. I hadn’t slept for a long time, so when I got on the airplane,
I didn’t eat anything. I just tried to sleep or quiet down. Then
this morning, I worried that I might sleep in the lecture hall! So I
went and had some tea. And then I saw a lot of people sitting there;
they were having tea and talking about all kinds of things. And I was
wondering: How am I going to tell all these people about God! Do they
really care about God? They’re so happy with their physical life:
Who am I going to talk to and about what?
So I was also scared. Not truly scared but really
not very encouraged or enthusiastic and not so confident. But then I
still did it. You see? I had fear, but I went through with it. It’s
not that I don’t have it. We have fear, but we have to go through
it. If it’s a fearful situation, we have to think about what we
can do to make it better. If it’s a fearful person, we have to
try to use love to overcome our own fear. The person who’s sometimes
bad to us makes us fearful, because he or she is an insecure person.
So it depends on the situation.
Anyway, even if we have fear, we must calm down
and think, “OK, I have fear, but now what must I do in this kind
of situation to get myself out of this fear?” You have to take
control of yourself to get rid of the fear. Taking control of ourselves
means dealing with the situation so that we become more secure, and
then the fear will disappear. We can’t suppress the fear. We have
to deal with it and make it better.
Inner
Worth Is the Real Treasure 
Spoken by Supreme
Master Ching Hai, Auckland, New Zealand,
April 27, 2000 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 686
Q:
Why is it that although we’re all equal in God’s creation,
some of us suffer so much misery while certain others, though they live
a life of evil misdeeds, prosper materially ?
M:
That’s because of the different paths that we’ve chosen. When
we gain material wealth or comfort, it doesn’t mean that we’re
blessed or we’re anything good because as soon as we die, we leave
everything behind. If we gain spiritual knowledge and wealth, that’s
everlasting .
So don’t envy those who only acquire material
possessions, but have nothing for their soul; because soon they’ll
be empty. But you, even though you don’t have many material acquisitions,
are rich in your heart. You have great love, great compassion, great
knowledge and wisdom. Like the Buddha or Jesus, they were walking in
bare feet. They didn’t have any money; they didn’t have cars.
They didn’t have anything, and yet people fell at their feet to
worship them. People still listen to everything they said and worship
them, two or three thousand years later. So who’s richer, the millionaires
out there or Jesus and Buddha? You already know the answer. There’s
no need to compare ourselves with others. We have to know what we’re
worth inside. That’s what’s important.
Love
Your Enemies 
Spoken by Supreme
Master Ching Hai, Auckland, New Zealand,
April 27, 2000 (Originally in English) Videotape No. 686
Q:
Should we love our enemies?
M:
Well, what else can you do with him? (Laughter) That’s
a practical question. If you kill him, his wife might kill you, or his
daughter or son. It will continue forever. So we’d better love
our enemy. It’s the best way to kill him! (Laughter) If you love
your enemy, he or she becomes your friend. Then the enemy’s gone
for good. And you have more friends: from his family: his wife, his
kids, his relatives and his friends as well. Make one friend and you
have many friends. Make one enemy and you make many enemies. So we ‘lose
business’ if we hate the enemy.
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