You always ask me: why can't I just beat the devils and kick them out, and then set free the whole world or set free the disciples, at least cook all their karma into curry, and finish with it. Why is there left-over karma for this life? Sometimes disciples also experience a little suffering and sickness. But it's already much better than before, because you're cleansing your house every day with meditation and the vegetarian 'broom stick.' Is that not so? People always clean house with the broom stick. It's made from the trees. Or, when you eat cabbage or things like that, you get a lot of fiber and that cleanses your system also. That makes you more healthy each day. That's why all of you look younger than before initiation. No need for the beauty salon, right? No, not really.

So, the reason why any Master cannot completely erase the karma of the disciples or the karma of this world or interfere in any kind of unfavorable circumstance is because both have to respect the rules of this playing field. Just like both opposite parties in a football field have to respect the same rules. We can talk together, but we cannot break them just because someone belongs to our group. When he kicks someone else he should not kick, we cannot do anything about it. He has to be out. It doesn't mean that because he is our friend, we can cover him. And when the opposite group wins or does something right, we can't kick them or annihilate them just because they are the opposite enemy group.

So, similarly in this world there two groups playing. One is positive - our side - and the other one is negative, or the so-called enemy side. It always makes trouble for us and makes obstacles and everything. But, we owe them something from before. We live in this world, and we have inter-connection with them in many lifetimes. So, we cannot now forget what we have done to them, or what our friends have done to them in the past and just cover our friends up, and treat the opposite unjustly or in an unfair way.

Therefore, it's not that we don't have power. It's not that the Master cannot do anything. The Master can change the whole universe, but we have to be fair. Otherwise, we are not worthy to be a Saint or to be Saintly practitioners. That's why you see sometimes that many Masters are very patient. Like Sakyamuni Buddha: He could go to any Buddha's Land or do anything He wanted. He could take care of disciples' karma. He could make people become Arahant overnight. But, He could not change the karma of his birthplace when it had war and conflict with the neighboring country, just because He didn't want to treat people or other beings unfairly. But that also cost Him his reputation. Many people, including His disciples at that time, were losing faith in Him and thinking that He could not do anything. Even his own clan members were being harmed; they were going to be chopped away and He could do nothing about it. He went there and talked to them only; that's the only thing He did. He tried to convince them of the harmful effects of war and of the retribution circle of karma. But they did not listen. The karma power was too strong that pulled them together, and they clasped together and died together.

The Buddha could not intervene because He was a fair player. Similar to Jesus Christ, He had many magical powers, according to legend. So He must have been able to or could have been able to save Himself. But he did not. He let it be. Milarepa of Tibet also knew that he was going to die from poison. In fact, he said to the woman: "You first go and take the price of poisoning me from that person first. And then I will drink it. Otherwise, if I drink it, I will die and he might not give you the money." 

So they all know before they died. Sakyamuni Buddha also knew that he was going to die. He already said: "Three months from now, I will go to the great Nirvana." It meant leave the world. And then he hoped that Ananda would tell him, "Please don't die." But Ananda was probably thinking too much of something else, or he was hungry, thinking of chapatti, and he couldn't hear what the Buddha said at that time. So the Buddha hinted three times, but Ananda said nothing. He was probably thinking of chapati more; when you go begging once a day only, it's difficult to keep your mind centered away from the chapati. So, he did not ask the Buddha to remain in this world. And after that, the Buddha was fed up. He said, "OK, three months later I'll be gone from this world." And then Ananda woke up from his chapati dream, and he was crying: "Oh, please don't go!" But it was too late. When the Buddha asks three times and you don't answer, that's fixed. And because Maya, the king of illusion, always stayed around Buddha, when Ananda did not answer, the king of illusion said: "See? No one wants you! So you have to go."

The Buddha said: "All right." He knew it. But he still went. He could have waited for another time when Ananda had fully eaten and was well meditated and had a clear mind. And then He would ask this question. And Ananda probably would know what to say: "Oh, please Master, don't go!" But He chose the wrong time, perhaps because He should have gone anyhow. Just like Milarepa or just like Jesus Christ, He knew before He went. He said, "This is the last time you'll see me. After tomorrow, or in a while you will not see me anymore." He knew that. And He even told His disciples that the one who dipped the bread in that sauce, that such-and-such was the one who would sell him for, perhaps, two hundred dollars.

So, these so-called Masters of the world, They know everything; They know what They are doing. But sometimes They play along with whatever it is, because this world has already come into being and They cannot annihilate it. Many people want to stay; the whole population of this world clings to this planet and doesn't want to let go. So, even the Buddha will not destroy it. Even God will not destroy it. If the karma is not so heavy, if it's still balanced, then the planet will still exist. But if the planet exists, there is give-and-take of the karma, and it will never finish. So, today they kill him, and another day his children will kill them and then their children will kill his children and so on and so on, until this group of people wake up by themselves and realize the uselessness of this forever unending evil circle. Then, they stop revenging and they stay still, and then everything will become different.

Otherwise, the people of this world keep playing and playing and playing all the time and they never stop. So when the Buddha comes here, the Buddha has to also respect the rules of play here. Otherwise, Buddha cannot come in the first place. Even God cannot come here. For example, if any president wants to join a football team, even if he is the president of the United States and he is respected by the whole world, can he join it without going through any rules of the football team? Can he kick around anything he wants? No! They will refuse him outright; it's not just because he is a president that he can just go into any football field and then kick the ball around.

Similarly, this world is a playing field of the sentient beings of this planet, and of this kind of level of consciousness. And so this world is the playing field of the planet dwellers, like human beings or animals, or ghosts and goblins, those who stay around the planet invisibly. So even if God wants to come here and persuade some of Hiers children to come Home or try to find those who want to come Home with Hirm, Hes has to respect the rules here.

For example, if the president likes some of the football players and maybe he wants to be the friend of the football star, the only way to go onto the field and to befriend this person is to become also a football player, at least occasionally or pretendingly. So he has to learn the rules and respect them. Then finally, or slowly and gradually, he befriends the football star. Then he can talk to him, help him or love him, or shower his attention on him or his love for him. Otherwise, he cannot just come in because he is the president. Even if he owns the whole football field, he cannot come in like that. Even the owner of the field cannot come in; even the biggest millionaire of the world cannot just enter the football field and mess around.

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