Hearing people say that each person has a different emanated aura, a scientist (Dr. Kaths) made an experiment to prove it. He targeted his experiment on different kinds of people. For instance, he found a group of cheerful, always laughing, and positive thinking people, and then gathered samples of their exhaled air. A test showed that this kind of air is white in color. After that, he found some 'frustrated Buddhas' - people with knitted eyebrows and long faces - and tested the air that they breathed out. The color was totally different - greyish, and looked unpleasant. He continued to test it on some people who were always angry, and their exhaled air was deep yellow, reddish brown, or orange red; I mean very dark yellow, very dark in color! Finally, he performed the experiment on those people who always curse or slander others, or wish others to die! (Master laughs) A test on their exhaled air showed that it is black or brown in color, very dark brown. He then injected the dark brown air to the mice, which died just a few minutes later. However, those mice injected with another specimen of air survived. The mice who survived were those injected with the white or clear air, while the other group of mice injected with the black or brown air died very soon!
Oh! We all know about it, but we did not know that he could prove by experiments that the emanated aura of a person really exists! Shih Fu often said that, by sitting close to a person, you will share half of his karma. Therefore, we cannot say that there is no mutual karma! Sometimes, we went to one place and came back exhausted, but we may feel very comfortable after returning from another place. It is true that God is in each of us, but the aura emanating from us does not belong to God. Do you understand what I mean? It is not generated from the God quality deep within, but from the dark thoughts of our mind which is relatively outside. We have not touched the God inside! Although we own the treasure, we do not use it. So we are the same as a poor person. Do you understand what I mean?
This is the situation, and this is the reason you get tired when you have to mix around with people; not that there is no God inside them, but they do not give this quality to you. Instead, they give you the dark and filthy garbage bins outside. They do not let you go into their palace within, but only throw you the garbage at the doorstep.
How To Protect Yourselves From Being Contaminated
It is really great that someone finally manages to prove this today. It is comforting that we know this really exists. Otherwise, you just hear me talk about it. I know it from my inner wisdom, understand? However, it is safer to have scientific proof, so that you know the Master has said the right thing. I do not lie to you or try to frighten you, nor am I boasting something to make you fear me, or think that I am great. Whatever the Master has said, as time goes by, you will get verification by reading other books. Although I have not read that book or done those experiments, they talk about the same things, which is really great.
Should we really want to escape from the threatening atmosphere of this world, we must always concentrate our mind. However, it is very difficult to avoid, understand? They are too close to you, or we are busily engaged in other things so we cannot always protect ourselves much. Therefore, you must do some meditation every day when you come home to cleanse the contaminated atmosphere. This is why you feel comfortable after meditation. Or when we go to the Center for group meditation, we are unified as one, thinking positively and good, and having a very pure and incredible power, which will make us feel comfortable. When we come to the Center, do not bring any negative thoughts: no garbage, no frustrations, and no troublesome matters. Otherwise, we will contaminate other fellow practitioners, understand? Dump all the garbage outside the door. Should you wish to get it back later, pick it up when you go home, and no one will stop you. Just don't share it with others.
I heard that a certain temple in the Himalayas was miraculously responsive; any sick person can be cured by going there. It was because, never had anyone said one negative word in that temple. They always said good things, thought good things, so the influential power was great. Many people only feel happy when they come to the Center because more or less, we try our best to think good. Is that right?
Group meditation is serious, though someone may have come 'looking for sweethearts', but still it is group meditation. You should really meditate when you go to the group meditation, and not 'looking for sweethearts', understand? However, it is inevitable. I think some of you still do this. If you do, then cut it off quickly, okay? And stop creating trouble for fellow practitioners, or for Master or the monastic practitioners here.
Sometimes, it is better not to know the truth. When you know it, you will be frightened and do not want to go out; dare not go out or contact with people. However, never mind, we have the protective power! Simply recharge more after going home, at night, in day-time or in the morning, or replenish whenever we have time.
We are still better-off than the worldly people. You may go out and observe. Most people in the world are on the same levels, because they have the same ideal, and live together. More or less they will infect each other. If a person is exhaling black air, and you are standing close to him, naturally you will breathe in the air that the person emanated, right?
Therefore, you see those people in love look more and more like each other, because they breathe with the same nose. (Master and all laugh) It is troublesome. Sometimes, you really do not know how to avoid this.
This world is really distressing, very distressing. We may have acted correctly or wrongly, we are contaminated all the same. Fortunately, we still have the Quan Yin Method protecting us all the time. It is more difficult when we forget, so better not forget, and always recite the Holy Names. The more you meditate the better, and always think about the Holy Names within. Even when you cannot meditate, you should think about the Holy Names, then you can concentrate your mind better.
I will tell you a story to remind you to protect yourselves. How do you protect yourselves? Do not get miserable, and then contaminate others. Simply do not pollute me when you come to the Center. I am such a simple person, laughing cheerfully every day, except when I see you. (Laughter) So, be careful not to be a nuisance, because this is contagious. Understand?
For instance, you looked very miserable when you came here this week, with faces like horses; very long faces, like the sausages. While you were here, you infected me. Okay, I received it gladly, but you had recovered after passing it to me. When you come next week, I may still have not recovered. (Master and all laugh) Therefore, when you come to see me, I will pass it back to you, so when will this circle stop? Do you understand?
We should set up a screening process at the entrance to sort out the people with long faces. Everyone should bring a ruler. One is out if it is close to 30 cm; below 15 cm is still acceptable, or even 17 cm, but throw him out if it is 30 cm. Don't force me to play the bad guy, understand? Tell him on my behalf, or press him from above and below like a sandwich so his face will be shorter. Then, use two toothpicks to pull up his mouth corners. Should this fail then kick him out. Otherwise, everyone will get miserable together, which is really bad, especially when going to the group meditation.
It is all right if sometimes we are in a bad mood, but don't bring it to the Center. Other people only come to the group meditation once in a while, bearing great expectations, a blissful heart and lots of hope. They long to cleanse their karma and replenish more vitality so that for the coming week, they can struggle with all the obstacles outside. You come here to waste your time, waste the precious time and space. You also torture people's mentality, waste their energy, and interrupt their cultivation process. You can see how heavy your karma is. All right, so you know it.
Reminding Each Other To Be Happy
Why must we be cheerful, clean and pure? First, it is to protect ourselves. Second, to protect other people. If you infect him today, tomorrow he will infect you in return. In this way, our group can never be cleansed!
Therefore, from now on, when you come to the Center, drop all your lousy emotions in the garbage bin outside. There is plenty of garbage outside. Should you prefer, you may retrieve it later. No one wants your garbage. Is there anyone? No one will be that stupid, unless that person is a masochist.
Therefore, in the future, when you go to the Center, look out for anyone with a long face, then help him pull it up, understand? Or, you may tell him to go to the beauty salon; trim it by plastic surgery, either from above or below, just to make it shorter. If the mouth corners are drooping down, help him to pull it up - any method is okay. Just don't pull it too hard, or he might react, and both of you will violate the precepts. (Laughter)
Let us remind each other to be happy. We simply decide to be happy. Each time, as we reach the entrance of the Center, resolve to make ourselves laugh, not laughing loudly of course, or you will disturb the chicken barn next door, and the hens will stop laying eggs. (Laughter) Just put on a smiling face, smiling secretly, silently and beautifully. Just like what I am doing now. It is all right to show your teeth, just don't make any noise. Tell yourself to laugh! Or, you may tell yourself to go into the bathroom, look at the mirror and smile, until you can smile sweetly, prettily and happily. Otherwise, keep standing in there and practice your smile. Until when? Until your neighbor says you are okay. The two of you may go there together while checking each other, understand?
Another choice is to bring a ruler to measure the proper length of your smile. I can hardly set a standard in this respect, because each mouth is different. (Laughter) So, set your own standard.
Okay! Whenever we feel frustrated, try to remind each other. It will be nice if we can do this every day, but sometimes we might forget. Therefore, we begin from the Center. Smile as soon as you enter the door. You ask the contact persons to place a statue of the laughing Maitreya Buddha at each Center.
So, you see why there is a Maitreya Buddha in each temple. It serves to remind people to laugh. However, as time has gone by, they have forgotten. Now, they will cry whenever they see the Maitreya Buddha, and kneel down to pour out their problems. Not even the Maitreya Buddha can laugh any more! This is why the belly of Maitreya Buddha is getting bigger, because he has to swallow the problems of sentient beings! Let us not turn each other into a Maitreya Buddha by leaving all the garbage outside the Center and then laughing.
It is useful to force ourselves to laugh sometimes. It is because our body cells are very responsive; they only listen to command signals. Understand? When the body cells at the mouth laugh, all the cells in the body will laugh together. If you have a magnifying glass, you can really see the body cells laughing cheerfully. Naturally, our spirit will improve and our mood will get better. Try my method, and see you next week - if you can still laugh next week.
Okay, goodbye. All of you take care, and go home to practice how to laugh. Greet your family with a smiling face. At least, when you enter the door, you should laugh for a few seconds before going in. Better still if you can constantly maintain this smile. However, you should not make it a habit to always laugh aloud, otherwise people might think that you are idiots. From now on: no smile, no admittance. No smile, and your Initiation Identity Card will be confiscated. (Master and all laugh) This is a more effective blow. You have only a few kids, so you have no reason to be unable to laugh. I have so many children, yet I still can laugh. Ha! Ha!
Scientific experiments have demonstrated incredible ways to kill guinea pigs. Emotional upsets generate powerful and lethal toxins. Blood samples taken from persons experiencing intense fear or anger when injected into guinea pigs have killed them in less than two minutes. Imagine what these toxins can do to your own body. The toxins that fear, anger, frustration and stress produce not only kill guinea pigs but kill us off in a similar manner.
■Excerpt from the book, "Being Happy!", written by Andrew Matthews,
an American writer and artist.
(Originally in English)
It is impossible to maintain good health while living in fear, anxiety and restlessness. Dr. Kaths has performed an experiment examining the composition of air exhaled by people. He used a test tube to retain the air exhaled from a person, which, after freezing, condenses into a liquid at the bottom of the tube. From his examinations, he found that for the cheerful people who always wear a smile, the color of their secretion is a beautiful lavender, or whitish gold. For people who are always angry, their secretion is pitch-dark or gray in color. Dr. Kaths had especially collected the secretions of particular kinds of people. When this group of people concentrated on cursing others, their secretion was a muddy brown or black. When this secretion was injected into a guinea pig, it was killed within five to six minutes. This phenomenon should be heeded by all.
■Excerpt from the book, "Visit the Fourth Dimension", written
by Japanese Transcendental Psychology expert Miwula Seiliu Hilomasa.
In Norman Cousins' book, "Anatomy of an Illness", he tells how he recovered from a crippling disease to resume a healthy, normal life. His main medicine - laughter in large doses. Cousins believed that his serious approach to life had precipitated his illness and figured he could reverse the condition through laughter. He demonstrated what people have said for years, "Laughter is the best medicine". When you laugh, all kinds of wonderful things happen to benefit your body and mind. Endorphins are released in your brain which give you a "natural high" and your respiratory system gets the kind of work-out that it may get from jogging.
Laughter relieves pain. You can only laugh when you are relaxed and the more relaxed you are the less pain you feel. In fact, you can't get ulcers and laugh at the same time - you have to choose one or the other. The same goes for other illnesses. We often get sick by taking ourselves and life too seriously. What we need to do is laugh to help us stay healthy.
The art of being happy involves being able to laugh at difficulties as soon as possible after they happen. One person, involved in the above situation, would resist laughing for two years. Another may decide that after two weeks it is time to stop crying and start laughing. Therefore, the first person gets to stay miserable for fifty times longer than the other one. And he chose to.
We all suffer misfortunes. Happy people choose to avoid waiting too long to see the funny side of their disappointments.
Let's remember that our own troubles always seem much bigger to us than to anyone else. If no-one else is losing sleep, maybe we don't need to either.
One of our major responsibilities toward others is to enjoy ourselves! When we are having fun, we feel better, we work better and people want to be around us. Life is not that serious. Let's take humor more seriously.
■Excerpt form the book, "Being Happy!".
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