Pearls Of Wisdom

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai in Thailand
Dec, 1, 1994 (Originally in English)

Once we miss a chance to study with the Buddha, we do not know when we'll have a chance to study again, because that Buddha might not come back to this life again very soon to teach us or to guide us. Or the Buddha will come but they might not have affinity with us. So we have to wait and wait and wait until the Buddha who has affinity with us comes back to this world. And then we have to be born within the same time as that Buddha in order to meet again this chance in millions of lifetimes.

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That's not always possible; it's not always easy to be born within the same time as the Buddha who has affinity with us. The people who are born in this world for the first time from a high level of consciousness, if they accomplish their task perfectly, then they go back to where they belong or a higher level. There is no problem. Buddhas don't have to worry about these people. But for the people who fail to succeed the first time and come back a second, third, fourth or thousand million times with a lot of burden accumulated from their past failures, these are very difficult to liberate and the Buddhas have to work for them. That's why the Buddhas are born into this world.

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai in Houston, Texas U.S.A.
Nov. 12, 1993 (Originally in English)

I must tell you the truth. No one is a saint when he is born. When we are born into this world of Maya, of illusion, we have to undergo all the procedures of a human being: like we have to be ignorant again, we have to suffer all these illusionary desires, and then the disappointment of the unfulfilled desires and all those kinds of things. Until one day we have enough of it and say, kay, that's it! Now, whatever I have, I have. If I don't, I don't.� That's the time when you reach complete liberation. You liberate yourself from all your own problems, from your own self-made prison, and also your own learned prejudices of who you are.

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai at Denver University, Colorado, U.S.A.
April 10, 1993 (Originally in English)

The problems in this world are not to be blamed on politicians, not to be blamed on the economic system of any country or any �-ism � of any nation, but to be blamed on the ignorance of our own natures, that we do not know how great we are, that we do not know that we are contentment incarnated, that we do not know that we are love personified. Therefore, enlightenment is a cure for all illnesses, for all worldly problems, for all wars, and is once and for all, finished!

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai in Singapore
March 7, 1993 (Originally in English)

Sometimes after we get initiation and practice the Quan Yin Method, the worldly people, who are very much attached to us, sometimes feel that we neglect them; but it is not the truth. It is just now we have a greater love, more universal, detachment and not a possessive nature. Therefore we love but we don't possess. We help but we do not get attached. And if the people of the world are still at the worldly level and judge things according to outer appearances and actions, they probably think we've became cold; but it is not true. It's not that we always have to hug someone or embrace them in order to express our love, but we do love them. This kind of universal great love will never bind. It will only heal and elevate.

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
April 14, 1993 (Originally in English)

The more we discover how great we are, the more humble we become; and that is a very paradoxical thing. It is like that because we become like a child, we become like a very innocent person. The great sage is like a very innocent person. And it seems like you can tell him anything you want about your talent, about your ambition, about your intelligence, about your degrees, and he will never object. It's not that he always tries to force his wisdom upon you. It comes naturally by circumstances or by request. And after speaking, most probably the so-called master will forget everything that was spoken, completely; just remember one or two sentences or maybe none, because wisdom comes from the universal storehouse for the common use of all beings. It doesn't belong to one person or a group of any persons. It belongs to the ignorant as well as the enlightened. It belongs to the child as well as to an aged citizen. Everyone has a share of this wisdom, but only if we truly want to know it.

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai in Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
April 3, 1993 (Originally in English)

True happiness is not offered by high positions in the world, by the knowledge that we gain from books, or from the society or from the possessions that we have. True happiness can only come with self-realization, with enlightenment. Then when we laugh, we truly laugh, and when we cry, we are truly touched. And all our emotions are worked out in a harmonious, natural and perfect way, leaving our body and mind relieved of all burdens and unnecessary pressures, which cause a lot of our unknown illnesses, or many mental disturbances. And then after enlightenment, when we understand something, we truly understand, very deeply, very profoundly, very satisfyingly. And then we truly know happiness. Even though in life we still encounter a lot of difficulties, a lot of undesirable situations, but then within ourselves, we are unshakable! We might shed tears but we are not miserable. We are not weighed down by the misery, the sorrow that we encounter. We might laugh very heartily, but we will not be attached to the fleeting happiness which the material world offers us. We enjoy things but we do not possess them. We sympathize with people, but we do not bind them to us. We love everyone without feeling a possessive impulse to have to bind people around us all the time. This is then the true happiness.