A Discussion with Supreme Master Ching Hai on Global Climate Change

A Discussion with Supreme Master Ching Hai
on Global Climate Change

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Teleconference with Supreme Master TV staff,
Los Angeles, California, January 20, 2008
(Originally in English)

M: Of course. We already help a lot, invisibly. You see a lot more peace news now and a lot more caring for animals now. Even climate change; they’re speeding it up. It’s just not as much as we want because not the whole world is practicing, just a group of us and some other groups.

It’s helping a lot, because I’ll tell you a secret: If there hadn’t been a lot of practitioners, then the world would have been kaput (disappeared) long ago already. It’s just not the way we want because this world is still under the influence of Maya somehow. That’s because the people carry it within themselves. They don’t want to wake up. They just worry too much every day about material existence and not the spiritual one. So, it’s still better than nothing.

Q: I was just wondering, are the effects of what we have done to the planet reversible in regards to climate change? If we were to survive through this period, can we reverse the damage that we have done to the Earth?

M: To some extent. If the government and the people in the world act fast, maybe we can reverse it somehow, yes. Not so quickly to 100%, like the primordial state of the world before, but we can protect ourselves if we act quickly; then the world will not get worse. The Earth will be more protected if somehow we act very fast; then maybe some damage will be recovered.

We are just doing our best; we are really doing our best. Let’s hope they will do it faster, for the children’s sake; all of us who are already middle-aged and old, we don’t care. But we can also do something.

For instance, the Amazon rainforest, because it has been there for a long time - thousands or millions of years - it’s the lungs of the world. So even if you plant new trees, it’s not the same; but it helps somehow. The bigger the tree and the older the tree, the more effective it is for producing oxygen and neutralizing carbon dioxide. I don’t know if the governments are trained to build something to reflect and send the heat back into space in such a large area and in such a hugely effective way, like the way nature has made or like the ice does.

Q: Master, I wanted to ask You why all of these things are happening to us, in our generation?

M: Because karma accumulates; it takes time to accumulate until it peaks, like Rome was not built in one day. Even with all the teachings of the Masters from ancient times, people don’t listen, and that’s why it happens. It happens now and again; this is not the first time.

You remember Atlantis and so on; they were also happening similarly, and Noah’s time; that’s why he had to build a boat and so on and so forth. So it’s not the first time. And recently they even found a new city under a lake somewhere. This is just a thing that happens.

And now and again the world happens to go under like that because people don’t listen to all the teachings of the Masters. So, the Master comes down again, again and again. Different Masters come down and tell people, “Please be vegetarian, be moral, be good, be compassionate.” But no one listens, or not many people listen; and they even persecute the ones who listen, or the Master. Therefore, it just has to happen now and again, when it accumulates enough karma or enough destructive power.

But we have the shield. We have the power; that’s the thing. Everyone dies one day or another, anyway. The question is: Where do they go, or where do you go? You are under the protective shield of the Master. If you listen to everything that is moral and good, and kind and compassionate, then you will be safe in the high Heaven. Most people are unaware of the consequences because they have been misled by some so-called religious leaders. But even they will also be helped by the Master power of the present time. And they will be also elevated in some kind of Heaven.

So the real ‘baddies’ have to go to hell. That’s it. But it’s not a question about dying or not. It’s a question of whether they can be liberated. So the people of the world have been helped spiritually; their souls are liberated, because it’s not all their fault. It’s not all their fault that they eat meat. It’s not their fault that they don’t understand the Bible or the teaching of the Buddhas, because no one really expounded them really correctly.

So the ones who have been initiated, they are protected for sure, if they follow of course. If they break it, then they also have to bear the consequences. And the other people, the people who have not done anything wrong, who just follow the masses and are really ignorant, also have been helped; their souls will be helped.

Q: Almost all agree that climate change is happening, but some people still don’t believe that it’s caused by humans.

M: What else? What else is it that causes the carbon dioxide from the cars? You think the aliens are driving our cars and the aliens eat meat?

Q: Master, another question is: If You had a message for the world, what would it be?

That I love them very much. Because I know it’s not their fault, whatever they do. It’s just the veil of ignorance that has been cast upon them and makes them oblivious to the Truth. They have also been misled by circumstances, and by people who do not understand the doctrine of the Master. So, that’s all I can say to them: I love them very much. I feel more sorry for them than blaming.

Q: I showed one of my friends the NASA climate ad, and he seemed to be convinced with it, and then I said, “Well, are you going to go veggie?” And he said, “Maybe in a few years time.” So with those kinds of people, how do you convince them more; how do you make them take action?

M: I don’t convince anyone. I don’t know how. I’ve done this all these years and not too many people are vegetarian. It helps some, but it’s not as much as I want. Even if I go around from door to door and stick the NASA flyer on everyone’s house, I don’t know how convinced they will be because human habits are very difficult to change and also because of reverse psychology. Sometimes you tell them to do it, and they don’t, just because they want to go against what you say. It’s the human reverse psychology.

Humans have been like that since time immemorial. It’s difficult. It’s not just about being vegetarian; it’s about many other things. People love me everywhere; it’s just when you tell them to be vegetarian, they hesitate. Because let’s face it, also it’s difficult for people to know how to eat vegetarian. It’s not all that popular, like all over the world vegetarian is a big trend. So the meat eaters don’t know how to cook a vegetarian meal. For the Chinese and the Aulacese (Vietnamese) it’s easier because we cook tasty meals with tofu and so on, or chop suey. But the meat eaters just put the whole chunk of beef in the oven, and that’s all they know.

It’s difficult; even if they want to, they just don‘t know how. That’s why we have to teach them how to cook vegetarian on TV, but even that is difficult. When I was in Germany, I invited my neighbors every week to vegetarianism, but that didn’t turn them into vegetarians. They loved the food I cooked, and then I gave them recipes and so on, but that didn’t make them vegetarian.

Q: So when a person chooses to become a vegetarian, is it because of fate or destiny, or else they will come back to not being a vegetarian?

M: It’s because the person has a strong will and wants to do something good that he or she knows is good. Only that person will change. The person who is weak, even knowing it’s good, he won’t do it! God gives the free will for people to change from bad to good and vice versa - whatever they choose to do. That’s the problem, the free will of humans, and there’s the ego to boost.

The thing is, if we have the planet, we have the planet. If we don’t, we don’t. I wish really that we do have the planet, that we continue to live, and that the children can grow up in a better environment. But you see, it’s not all up to our group. It’s not even up to Heaven. It’s up to humanity to decide what they want and which direction to turn. It’s just up to them to change. And with all the power of the leaders, they should do something faster than this. So, we just pray for the best. That’s that, okay? If half the population of the planet becomes vegetarian, that would be already fantastic news.

Climate change doesn’t mean only hot. It means the change of the climate around the world, and a lot of frequent disasters, with hot places becoming cold and cold places becoming hot. And then it becomes kind of chaotic, and it’s a lot of suffering for the people later on, with many countries and many cities that will be under the water, and so on. And more storms, like more typhoons, a lot before it really ends. It doesn’t just end like, “Okay, now it’s going to end,” and finito! It’s not like that.

It will be agonizing for a while, and a lot of people will suffer and they would not even understand why. So we contact people, like politicians and newspapers. Just write them letters or send them flyers; just do whatever we can to save the world. Each one of us is responsible; we do something as we can.

Q: The data from the NASA climate reports indicate that the polar ice cap will be gone by 2012. This coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar; is this like a coincidence or something else?

M: Maybe it’s not coincidence. Some people do see things. Some people do see things in the future, but people still can’t change. The thing is, would they like to change? Would they be strong enough to change? I try everywhere I go, of course, but it’s not that easy. Our program and leaflets and the lectures, they change many people, millions of people, but that is not enough.

Q: I wanted to ask, if You have a message for the leaders of the world, what would You say to them?

M: I would say to them to use their mighty power to change the diet of the planet. Adopt immediately, new technology and sustainable energy, and set an example themselves by becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Change their diet; use their mighty power. Use their example to set a new diet for the planet: the vegetarian diet.

They first have to be vegetarian and then they can use their power truly. Like the way they forbid smoking, they could do that by forbidding meat as well, by citing all the harm that meat would do to humans and the planet. They can do that, just like forbidding smoking. Forbid meat eating, just like forbidding the smoking of cigarettes and drugs. That’s also another kind of harmful drug.

They did. Wherever there are people and planets, these things can always happen. Once the technology has developed to a certain height, the side effects will follow. If people are not spiritually stable or developed, then the technological development will outweigh the spiritual balance, and they will destroy their planet.

Q: Dear Master, we want to take this opportunity to thank You for graciously accepting to have this session on the environment. For all the work and encouragement You’ve given us, we want to thank You. We love You very much. Thank You.

M: I love you too, guys. (Applause) Heaven loves you, all the animals love you, and I love you.