Wake Up From Your Dream

■This article was published in Central Daily News, Formosa December, 1995

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Harvard University, Boston, U.S.A. Feb. 24, 1991

☆Life Is Like A Dream ☆Hell Is Just A State Of Mind ☆Find Your Own Treasure Inside ☆Liberation Is The Ultimate Freedom ☆No Such Thing As Death ☆Question & Answer Session After The Lecture ☆Jesus Was A Man, Christ Is A Power ☆Do Only God's Will ☆Noble Qualities Come From The Kingdom Of God ☆Enlightenment Is A Gift From God

Life Is Like A Dream

We always stay in a sort of dream. Everything in this world seems like a dream to me after many years of searching. Just like a man who wakes up from a long dream. We also wake up after we die. Some wake up in beautiful surroundings. Some wake up to find themselves in a strange, peculiar world. Some wake up to find themselves still in this world, in the same surroundings, but a different kind of body. Well, the same body, just different kind of feeling, different kind of movement, different kind of bodily functions. Some wake up to find themselves in a suffering world. And some wake up to find themselves in very dark, unbearable surroundings. It is just like a man in this world, who wakes up from his dream to find himself in a different situation of his daily life.

It depends on what kind of life he was leading. For example, if a man of great responsibility, he might dream a very beautiful dream or not. But when he wakes up, he is faced with all kinds of responsibilities and all kinds of questions to solve. A businessman, when he wakes up, he finds himself confronted with a lot of investment problems, bank accounts, new currency rates, the world economic crisis, and things like that. A patient in the hospital, when he wakes up, he finds himself in his pain again, with all his tubes surrounding his nose, and needles in his arms and another needle here, or maybe bound in bed. Maybe he has recovered and he is enjoying better health -- a better view now, or he is going to be discharged from hospital that day.

So each one of us will wake up one day from our dream which is approximately about a hundred years. It's a long dream. Some have a shorter dream -- good luck. Lucky people! We all know that we will wake up one day, but then we are not ready, we are not prepared for the waking-up stage. That is why we are perplexed and fearful. If we know how to prepare for the next day of our lives then the transition is not so painful. It is just like a man who lives a very peaceful life, who does his duty, and who has love, he would wake up everyday facing a nice atmosphere, more or less nice. It depends on how he has arranged his life.

We do not die after we leave this world. There is nothing to fear if we have led a very, very ordinary and normal life. But there is some fearsome illusion awaiting us if we have neglected the commandments of God.

It is for the play of the world that regulations are made. It's for life to go on in a multicolored manner that commandments are installed. It is not for punishment actually. But if we do not abide by these laws, then some kind of correctional service is necessary. It is not eternal. Please do not have this negative picture in your mind that everyone who is disobedient to the laws will be punished eternally.

Hell Is Just A State Of Mind

Hell is limited. No one can be a permanent resident there because God did not intend to make the world into a permanent hell or make permanent such an ugly thing. Therefore, whatever we do we will have to compensate for it, but for a short while only. But even then, it is very painful for us to suffer for just a short while; because when we suffer, time lasts forever. Takes a long, long time to overcome this period of suffering.

Just like when we are in this world, when we sleep and we're happy, the time passes so fast. We cannot get up in the morning because we think it's still time to sleep. When we're happy with a beloved one or with friends, time seems to be too short. Now when we are in trouble; when we have to wait for someone; when we have anxiety; when we have pain, bodily or mentally, time seems never ending. The same situation happens in so-called hell.

Hell is just another state of mind when we are too unhappy, too much suffering, mentally or bodily; it's just like when we are sick or unhappy in this world. It is multiplied much more; and that's what we call hell the state of mental disturbance, of pressure, of invisible suffering.

We have many ways to avoid suffering in this world. If we are bored and feel unhappy, then we go out, have a drink, or maybe dance, go to see movies, go to see theater. Other people would go to find meditation, go into their "corner" and find their own happiness inside -- their within-world, the Kingdom of God within. I do not despise people who take drugs, take alcohol, or use various so-called lowly or cheap substitutes to gain happiness, to forget the sorrow of life. I just think they use the wrong way.

That's all. And it's a pity! If they knew the other ways, if they had tasted the different way of happiness, they would have turned faster to the other end; and they would be the fastest for enlightenment. They would be the ones who would run the fastest to any goal, to any means that would offer them happiness. These people are victims of very bad information, or have been misinformed.

Therefore, it is our duty -- those who are so-called still awakened and have some intelligence, to help instead of just accuse; because we do not know their longing for Truth. We do not know inside their hearts that there is a great yearning for happiness. What is happiness and love if it's not God? They yearn for God, they are misinformed, they turn to the other end, and they use the wrong things.

These people are also very near the renunciation stage, near monkhood; because they also renounce life; they want to find their own imaginary happiness; they reject this kind of material, transitory, ephemeral life. Other people would just be happy with a big steak, a bottle of whiskey or whatever small things. Go to work everyday, take care of our life, and take care of our wife, husband, children, etcetera. But these people, they are so unhappy with this kind of ordinary life. They cannot take it. They don't want this offer. It's not good enough for them.

That means they are very noble. It's not that bad. It's just that they don't have the means to find a way to get out. They are probably more fed up with life than any monk and nun. (Master laughs.) They probably are the most renunciate people. Just they don't know how to have the real thing, how to achieve the real happiness. We find many ways to gain our so-called enlightenment, nirvana or happiness. The better way, of course, is through effort, through enlightenment, through a proper channel to God; and not through material substitutes like drugs, alcohol or other kinds of unnatural ways.

Find Your Own Treasure Inside

We would like to present to you and any other people who are thirsty for happiness, this way of meditation which is very safe, which doesn't demand much effort, doesn't demand a change of life, doesn't demand any cost, and doesn't demand anything that you could not offer. In fact, it doesn't demand anything at all; except that you must look inside and find your own treasure, find the real lasting happiness. Even the richest man in the world, or even the king of the whole world would not be happy without enlightenment. No one has ever been truly happy without enlightenment.

The one who is enlightened may seem to be like any of the others; may seem to have the same quality, the same character; might seem to be angry sometimes. But his anger is no longer real, no longer with hatred, no longer deep-rooted. It fades just like the clouds. Comes and goes so fast without any deep emotion. And it is very, very relaxing when you can be angry like that. His anger is just like the sea waves, doesn't affect the sea at all. The waves come from the sea but they aren't the sea. It is but it isn't. It's just caused by wind or by the rotation of the Earth. It's unreal, even though it's there.

Now ordinary people without enlightenment, when they are angry their anger shakes the whole foundation of their being and uproots most of their intelligence at that moment only. I wouldn't say forever, of course. And sometimes drives them into fanaticism or uncontrollable fits of emotion which hurts their mental, psychic, emotional and physical body. But the enlightened person, even when he's angry, the anger is just on the surface. It doesn't hurt that much. Also the force of anger would not hurt the opposition, because it is not supported with hatred and with real emotion. Sometimes the enlightened person could be angry outside but laughing inside. Just like you are acting on the stage, you know what your role is even though you act very real for the purpose of the audience -- to make them happy or to make them sad. Just to amuse them.

Therefore, there is a difference between enlightenment and not enlightened even though both persons with enlightenment or non-enlightenment look exactly the same in some ways. If we are also enlightened, we can sense that that person is not the same. We can sense only, but we cannot tell because they both have the same nose in the middle, eyes on both sides and ears over here. They might eat, talk, sleep, and do various duties like us. But inside they are completely free.

Liberation Is The Ultimate Freedom

Now we always talk about freedom. There are different kinds of freedom -- freedom from outward movement and freedom inward. Freedom inside is the most profound, and nothing can shake it. Freedom outside can change all the time, with the different regimes, with the different environment or with different physical ability. But the freedom inside never can change. Once we have it, we will always have it. We just have more and more and more each day only. And we discover endless possibilities to express our freedom. Whereas the freedom outside is very limited and it makes even more responsibilities, often more responsibilities than not.

There is a film about Jesus. I don't remember what is the name, but it's a story about a man who looks for a master for many years. He saved all his treasure, bought three different precious stones, and saved it all his time until he met a master. Then he offered. That was all his treasure. Now finally he met Jesus, and he was supposed to offer it to Jesus; but it was too late. Then something else happened in between. He never met a master. He always chased Jesus from one place to another and always something happened. He could never be face to face with the great master. He had a slave, or so-called work-mate for himself. That man worked for him for a very long time. One day the man demanded freedom from the master. He said, "I have followed you everywhere and you don't even pay me" or something like that. "I want to be free. I don't want to work for you any more. You are no longer my master, Okay?"

So that person who was supposed to be looking for a master said, "Okay, you go. You want to, you go." The man left, went outside, and enjoyed his freedom. Then he thought, "I don't know after all if I really want my freedom. It's terrible to have no master." He had to take care of everything himself now, and he was not used to it. Everyone says being in prison is no good. You are not free. You cannot move about. You have to sleep on time, wake up on time, and do everything under dictatorship. But some people like to be in prison. "What job to look for? What work to do? Who takes care of the kids education? Who buys the wife jewelry?" And things like that.

They just wake up when they are told to wake up, and they go to sleep when they are told to sleep. They do what they are told to do and they feel fantastically free. Maybe they are enlightened -- these people. When the people are freed from prison, if they go outside, they have to look for a job which is not always easy, especially if you have a record from prison. It's difficult to find a good job. You can find any job but not so good. And you have to take on all kinds of responsibilities with taxes, bills, filling in all the forms, and complications.

Many people say that nuns and monks are those who are renunciates, but I think you are the ones who are renunciates. You renounce the simplicity, the happiness of leading a simple life, the happiness of a care-free life, the happiness of dedication to God. You renounce all these in order to take care of these complications: taxes forms, electric bills and what next, children. Maybe you derive some "happiness" from taking care of children. It's not that complicated, but I mean those things which are concerned with children are complicated. You have to take care of them. When they are sick, you cannot sleep. When they are not good in school, you don't feel well. And when they grow up: who is the girl friend? Who is the boy friend? Who are they with? Are they with drugs or with whatever? Endless trouble, endless anxiety. Just like you have two or three bombs in your house exploding every minute.

I think you are the great renunciates. I really admire your courage, your patience, perseverance and true dedication to complications. (Master and audience laugh.) I don't know, between us, who is better than whom. Sometimes I think that, if you put me back to that life to take care of all these, I probably couldn't do it. It's too complicated for me. With waking up every five o'clock in the morning when the bed is the warmest and you are in the most deep, deep sleep. You have to wake up eyes half closed, drink coffee through the nose. You cannot see properly, and eat some dry bread. Try to preserve the sleeping atmosphere but having to wake up at the same time. Sometimes you feel the way into the bathroom. And everyday like this. How do you do it? (Audience laughs.)

If I wake up, I have to only crawl to my meditation hall. It's not very far. Well, I have my work too, but I don't think my work is that complicated. It is in the other way, in the other sense, but it's not as complicated as your life. And you can go through that happily, or apparently happily. I don't know how you do it. Therefore, this life is each one for himself. But anyhow in case you are not satisfied with this, and you want to have a simple life or more strength internally, eternally, and more understanding of some very delicate details of life in the universe, then we must find an enlightening way to go.

If we are satisfied with life as it is, and wake up from the dream after a hundred years or sixty years, then it's okay. But anyhow, I think it would be nicer if we wake up from our dream finding a pleasant surrounding, a pleasant situation awaiting us. It would be better than to wake up from our dream and find the same situation again or worse. Everyone goes to sleep at night, hoping consciously or unconsciously of a better tomorrow with problems solved, business better, children nicer and marriage works out better. But we wake up often after a long night's sleep, finding the same problem, finding the same situation or worse circumstances.

It is the same with our life. Should we wake up after a life-long dream and find out we are still in the same world but in worse circumstances, then it is very very tiring, very painful. And I don't think we could endure it. That's why you may have heard of many stories of people who die and then come back and make a lot of trouble for their relatives. Because they are not happy where they are. And worse still, they don't have a body to enjoy the enjoyable side of life.

We, the human beings, suffer sometimes, but we can enjoy sometimes. And then when we enjoy, we forget the suffering, at least temporarily. But those who leave the body without preparation, without a guide and without any virtues, merit to accompany them -- that means if they live a very ordinary life without doing any good things, without turning their face towards God, once or at least sometimes in their lifetime -- then after they leave their bodies it is difficult for them to find a chance to be in happy surroundings.

No Such Thing As Death

So now since we still have the body and we do not suffer that much, we could have some happiness, some choices, some free will, we should just prepare for the other world; because I do not believe that most of the people think that after death there is nothing. People are more intelligent now in this era to understand better. And also we have much, much more information nowadays to prove this belief that our life is eternal. Doesn't matter what happens after death, before death or before birth, our life is a continuous stream of consciousness and we never die. We might forsake one body; one kind of vestment after the other, but we never die. Or else if we die, how can we be born? If there isn't life before our birth, then where did we come from? If there isn't life after death, then where did we come from before our birth?

We couldn't just spring out of nothing. We learn from science that nothing comes from nothing. So why should we come from nothing and go back to nothing? So at this age of scientific great development, we should believe even more in life eternal. I have enough proof within myself, within my practice to understand this. I would like to inform you or confirm your belief that this is true, and that according to my opinion and also the opinion of other great masters of the past that we should prepare for our great awakening which takes place after we leave the physical body. We awaken to find that we don't die, but then what do we do with it. How do we orient our life after we have this so-called life? That is the trouble that we must take into consideration before it's too late.

Question & Answer Session After The Lecture

Q: How can we still live and feed this body while we take care of our spiritual body?

M: It's not as difficult as you think. You see, for example, this fellow initiate, she is still eating and she is still working. She is a teacher. She even does two jobs, teaching at night and learning in the day time. Then still takes care of her spiritual attainment when she has time. We have to prepare our schedule. Most of our time is lost in idle gossip, in too much long telephone chattering, too much nonsense advertisements in the newspaper, or watching TV when we don't want to watch it. Many times you switch on the TV, and you don't even want to watch it but because it's on, you leave it and just watch.

When we have a definite purpose and definite schedule, we share the time. Like time to go to school, time to go to work and time for meditation. And in the time of meditation, you don't gossip, you don't talk, you don't answer telephones, etcetera. You put it off for the next moment. Many people won't die without talking to us. (Audience laughs.) We just think we are so important. First, we take care of our intelligence -- means open up more of our great reservoir of wisdom. Then we can take care of people even better. We learn faster. We work more efficiently. We contribute more to the world. Not that we just lean on the spiritual side and forget the world.

I'm still working. You don't know? I sing. I lecture. I do painting. I sell them to get the money for lectures and that. (Master laughs.) I work very hard. It's very easy to do it. Very easy. If I can do it, you can.

Q: So sometimes we need to be selfish, to be self-fulfilling, to take time out for ourselves, to be selfish for ourselves?

M: It's not selfish for example if you take time to eat because after a whole day working for the society you are already tired and hungry. You need to fill in some energy. It's not selfish; it's for this body alone, so ephemeral and short-lived. We have to work so hard, invent so many things, and cook so many meals to feed it. How much more must we take time to feed our spiritual body or aspect. It's not selfish, it is the right thing to do. We're used to doing things in the hard way; in the wrong way. And now when we get the correct way, we think it's selfish. It's not true.

If everyone in the world never ate and you felt hungry and ate, they'd think you were selfish? (Master laughs.) But we should eat, inside and outside. It is because we don't eat this kind of spiritual food that we are hungry, we suffer, and we are ignorant. We don't know what to do next, and we struggle so. We are always lost in this life.

Jesus Was A Man, Christ Is A Power

Q: Master, how about God's word -- the Bible. It says in one of the scriptures that salvation is a gift from God that we don't earn it through good works. Jesus Christ died for our sins and gives us eternal life by accepting Him as Lord and savior. Please explain.

M: Yes, salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn it through charity, through a virtuous life. But these things help. Help our peaceful feeling. If we do some good things, we are virtuous, we feel more balanced, more virtuous, and when we try to find God, there are not many obstacles -- no guilty feelings to stop us, to make us feel uneasy. So they help. But we don't earn it through a virtuous life and through charitable deeds. That is correct. Jesus died to save our sins, that is also correct.

When Jesus was alive, He was a great master. He emphasized the Kingdom of God is only through Him. Means through a living master. He didn't say that He would always be eternally the master. He said: "As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world." And after, He said "Don't grieve for me because I will send comforters to you." That means there will be another master who will come.

The spirit is eternal. How can Jesus die? He will live again and again and again through us, through all the enlightened beings. We must make ourselves become like Jesus. Then we can manifest His salvation, we can prove His salvation. Otherwise, if we live our daily lives just very ignorantly, low level, low thinking, how can we prove that Jesus has saved us? Many people call themselves Christians but fight with each other. And so much bloodshed through Christianity or through the so-called fanatics. They are not true Christians. Jesus could not save them. They don't prove Jesus' grace through their actions.

If we want to understand that Jesus really saved us, we must be in the saintly level. Otherwise, we are just discussing, talking. We don't know anything about Jesus. How can we really understand Him? How can we really appreciate Him? Jesus is a man but Christ is a power. Now, that power can be transmitted anytime, anyplace, through anyone who is qualified. It's like electricity going through any wire, if that wire is okay, in order, good condition and if there is a plug. Now I just offer you a way to plug in with Jesus Christ -- with Christ-power, and then you understand what Christ is, and you really appreciate Him. Otherwise, I think we just talk about Jesus Christ; but we do not understand and we do not get any salvation from Him.

Jesus died for mankind. It was His time; because whenever a living master is on Earth, the master takes on some of the karma of the people, especially those who believe in the master and especially those who are disciples of the master. And that karma has to be worked out. Therefore, the master suffers for the disciples and for mankind at large in his lifetime, and it manifests through his body. Therefore, he might be sick, he might be ill, he might be tortured, he might be nailed on the cross, he might be slandered, he might be persecuted. Any master has to go through this kind of thing. You see it yourself. Even Buddha, Mohammed, Christ and many other masters in the East and West, no one has ever lived their life peacefully without persecution. That is what is meant by a master sacrificing for mankind. But only as long as he has the body to suffer the karma, because karma in this world is physical. If you want to save the people from the physical karma, you need a physical body.

Therefore, a master has to manifest a physical body to take on all this trouble and suffering and work it all out. Because the master is a great reservoir of grace and blessing, therefore his body can take on anything at all. But doesn't mean he doesn't suffer. Therefore, Jesus suffered for mankind -- it's correct. But as long as He is in this world only. After Him, someone else has to suffer. Some other master has to come and take care of the next generation. Otherwise, how do we explain the suffering continuing in this world? If Jesus had saved all mankind, why do they still live in ignorance? Why do they still kill each other, even the Christians? If you say to me other people are ignorant, don't know the name of Christ, do not live the Christian way; therefore they suffer, therefore they fight each other, therefore they kill each other, therefore they are bad. I accept. Maybe so. But the Christians, what do you say? They know about Christ. They know the doctrine. They go to the church. There are even some in the high ranks of the church. Why do they do these things, if Jesus has saved them? He can only when He is here. Now He is gone to the other world, and is doing other work. Other masters come here to work.

Q: Master, what is the Quan Yin Method?

M:Quan Yin Method. "Quan" means observing. And "Yin" means the sound. The sound means the "Word" in the Bible. You know, In the beginning was the Word, the vibration, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Everything was made by it. Nothing that was made was not made by this. In the old times they called vibration "word." Oh, you must know words vibrate. So when you get in touch with this vibration which was with God and which is God, then we are in touch with God, we truly understand what is God-like, and we are one with God again. Then we do things from God dictation and not from our own ego; and we will not do wrong any more. Even if we want to do wrong, it would be difficult. Just like now, if you want to do right, it is difficult.

Do Only God's Will

Q: Some say that the truly enlightened ones are of no mind, that they do not act in this world; they are only observers, they make no choices; they only flow like the river. How does anyone live in this world without acting, without choosing? It's also said by some, that to act upsets the balance of nature and nature will compensate by creating opposites. Is this true?

M: You have to be enlightened first, then you know what it is. Otherwise, how can I tell you when you are not there. I'll try.

To act without acting doesn't mean you are lifeless, soulless, mindless or anything like that. You just do things very naturally. When you are enlightened, you don't do things. You don't have choices anymore. You are one with God. You do only God's will, and you know exactly it is like that. Even though outside, outwardly looks like you are doing the same thing as others, but it is not so. Everything is dictated by God. You just feel no responsibility. But you do always the right thing, never wrong.

Now we cannot say that everyone else who acts irresponsibly is acting out the will of God. It is not true. They don't know what the will of God is. After enlightenment we know what is the universal plan and we act accordingly. Before enlightenment, we just accept everything; try to force our will into the plan of nature.

Now for example on the stage, a good actor and actress knows their roles, has memorized their script. They say, do, and act according to the whole setup of the drama and to the dictates of the director of the drama. But some who are lousy, who do not like to know it, or who like to earn money only or just to be on the stage, don't do their work, don't try to know their role properly, do not try to know the drama motive and instruction, and do not like to follow the plan of the director. Then he does wrong on the stage, and upsets the whole thing. That is the difference between a good actor and a lousy one. He doesn't even memorize his script. When he comes on the stage, he just says what he should not say. And what he should say, he doesn't say. Or instead of just slapping the opponent just a little bit like this, he really slaps very hard and makes him faint on the stage. So the director has to stop the whole thing and do it again. It's troublesome. He has to interfere.

Q: Master, would You explain how to meditate -- the time, how often and what technique to be successful?

M: There are many techniques for pacifying our mind, for being more intelligent, or being more efficient in our work. You might choose any technique that you like. But we offer what in my belief is the one that has direct contact with God, if you want to know yourself.

God means our own nature, our own noble quality, our own highest wisdom. That is why it is said that the Kingdom of God is within you or the Buddha is within each of us. Otherwise, He would say the Buddha is in nirvana or God is in heaven, or things like that.

Now when we want to find God, or find our true noble quality, noble position, then we have to follow the Quan Yin Method. The Quan Yin Method means we are in contact with the vibration, the original power of the universe, God.

Q: If animals can hunt for food, why can't people? In nature, hunting is a normal pattern of life. Is not humanity an intrinsic part of nature?

M: Then call yourself an animal if you want! If animals hunt for food, and you hunt for food, then we are the same. That is to degrade ourselves. If you want to you can. Who stops you? But if we want to be more noble, to call ourselves a human, we should try to understand what a human should do and how a human should live his life to make an example for our younger brothers and sisters. If we live the same life as our younger brothers and sisters which are animals, then we are not worthy to be in God's creation because God says in the first chapter of the Old Testament that men should lead animals. We should be in the superior position to all the animals. Now if we want to lower ourselves and be like animals, then it's okay. It's freedom of choice. But whether it is a good choice or not, you should ask yourself. I do believe that humans should be superior to other beings, should lead a noble life to make an example; because these animals will evolve and become human next. If they see our bad examples, how can they become better? We should be their teacher.

Noble Qualities Come From The Kingdom Of God

Q: We keep five precepts and practice ten virtues, but we don't meditate. After death, can we get liberation or not?

M: We cannot be liberated by keeping the precepts or doing virtuous deeds alone. We can only be liberated when we know that we are liberated. Then we know our nature is liberation. Then we truly know that we are eternal. That is when we are liberated. We cannot be liberated when we are still blindly doing virtuous deeds. That means we still know there are things to be done, there are things to do to achieve liberation. We are still ignorant. We do not know our real nature is liberation. You can keep as many as 500 precepts or do 10,000 virtuous deeds, not only ten or five, but you still cannot get liberation. It is like cooking sand and hoping it will become rice.

Q: The last goal of meditation is liberation. Please, Master, let me know if a liberated soul is really liberated from greed, anger and lust, etcetera.

M: Yes, I already said the enlightened person when he is angry, it's not real anger. He is not deeply shaken. Or the person who the anger is directed towards is not affected with hatred, with the negative atmosphere. The enlightened persons are never angry for selfish purposes. He's never angry because you don't give him enough money, because you run away from him, or his wife runs away to another man or vice versa and he tries to chase her back and finds other ways to harm that person -- the rival. The enlightened person may appear to be angry, but for different purposes.

Sometimes you have to use so-called aggressive energy to break through it in order to work and to advance in your mission. He's not angry because no one feeds him, no one gives him money, or no one loves him. You cannot get away from anger. You must use it. There is a difference between the real anger and the one who is enlightened who uses anger as a weapon.

It's just like a knife in the hand of the surgeon. It's different than the knife of a murderer. It's still the same -- it hurts, it bleeds, but it heals. The surgeon knows how much to cut, where and how long. But the murderer, he just blindly kills people out of hatred or for selfish interests.

Anger, greed, lust and all the so-called negative qualities all came from nirvana; all came from the Kingdom of God. They are all noble qualities. Why are we greedy for the things of this world; because we came from the glorious Kingdom of God. We are used to glory, we are used to richness, we are used to the things that we don't need to work for. That's why we are mostly lazy -- don't like to work. We just want money, we just want diamonds. (Audience laughs.) We must know in this world, it's different. We use this greed to push ourselves through this world in order to achieve the precious stone which is inside us, the wish fulfiling gem.

Greed is not bad. Anger is not negative. Lust is okay. Just we have to use them in the right way. Use it as a tool to heal, not to kill. Then everything is okay. Nothing is negative. It's our misconception that makes things negative. (Applause)

Q: Is it contrary to nature to work by healing others and to alleviate suffering. Should one simply accept the suffering of others, such as the refugees, and not take part?

M: Healing by using spiritual force is unnatural. We mess about with people's auras, with people's chakras, with people's spiritual, magnetic fields. We mess them up, and they are difficult to correct later. Also mess up the psychic nature of people. But if we try to help those who are in need and who call on us for help, then it's not unnatural. It's like a doctor who uses physical means like needles, knives, tubes and medicine to heal a person. It's not unnatural and the doctor will not incur any karma through that. But if we mess about with people's spiritual magnetic field, then the karma is heavy.

If you relieve the famine or if you help the refugees, that is okay, because in the Bible it also says: Be kind to strangers. Do not oppress the strangers, for we are also the strangers in the land of Egypt. Means we are strangers on this Earth too. And the refugee situation may be ours soon also. We are at war now. You could be refugees also. So we should help others who are in need, that God might help us.

Enlightenment Is A Gift From God

Q: The Buddha reached enlightenment being Buddha after many, many lives of good living. How can the ordinary people, use the short cut to achieve enlightenment or heaven in this life?

M:No, it isn't. How do you know you have not been good in many lifetimes? Can you prove it to me that you have been very bad? Can you prove it to me that Buddha has been good in many lifetimes? He only told you and you are only using hearsay. You don't know if it's true, and you don't know if you have been good or bad. So why should we be so negative. We must believe our worth, because God said that everyone is made after the image of God and we are exactly like God. So why should we feel that we are inferior?

The Buddha, whether He was very good and noble in many lifetimes, that I don't know. But I know He didn't do anything during His lifetime, except after enlightenment. He was born in a palace and He was looked after so exceedingly well. Then He was married and He had five hundred wives apart from the main one; He had many beautiful girls and dancers who looked after Him and who danced for Him everyday, every night. And He had four palaces for four seasons. He spent all the taxpayers' money in His country for thirty years. Now you tell me what kind of good things He did that He was entitled to enlightenment. It is already said that enlightenment is a gift from God. It's not achieved through virtues or charitable deeds.

We can all get enlightenment. We can all become Buddha, or at least become liberated. Otherwise why would God send Jesus, Buddha or Mohammed to us, if we are so hopeless? If only the virtuous people can achieve enlightenment then I don't really know who is virtuous because there is a saying that "every saint has a past, every sinner has a future." We are not that sinful as we think. Sin is also an illusion. After you understand this -- no sin, no virtue. But you have to work hard to understand this and then you are free. The Quan Yin Method offers you this free way to understand yourself immediately -- that you are originally noble. After that, maybe you'll be able to see into your past life and you can tell me whether you have been doing good or bad.

Q: You were just saying the enlightened one can only act from the divine will. How can the enlightened one be held responsible for his or her behavior or can he/she act in whatever way he is guided? How can we know who is enlightened? Can we trust them?

M: :You can't. You don't. You don't know who is enlightened. You can't trust anyone, except yourself. If you cannot trust people, then pray and look into yourself. See if your motive is sincere, if you are pure. If you truly want enlightenment then you will meet a right master. All depends on you, not on the whatever master -- if you are pure. Like attracts like.

If anyone who happens to stumble onto a lousy master or bad master, that's their own fault. They should check their own behavior, their own motive, their own purity, their own sincerity. Then pray again. God will guide them to another master. There's always the law of supply and demand. "Ask and it shall be given. Knock and it shall be opened."

Q: Why do we not remember the previous lives and deaths?

M: Because it's too much for us to cope with, too much burden. We have enough to deal with today, with taxes, with wars, with children and with our own immediate problems and karma. Should you know that you have been such and such or very bad, very good or very noble in the last life, you would be more confused; and you could not focus on the task at hand in this life. Therefore God, or the natural law, draws a curtain. You'll know it when it's necessary. You'll know it in time. And in meditation, sometimes you know it too, if it should be necessary for your progress. You won't know also, if it is not necessary.

Jesus also said: Do not worry about tomorrow, it's enough that we take care today. If we don't want to know about tomorrow which affects us, which is important to us, how much less should we know about the past which is already gone.

Q: What is the form of Buddha's wisdom? Is it revealed in logic, intuition or something beyond these?

M: Beyond all these things. Whatever we can think of is not yet Buddha wisdom. Buddha wisdom we can only know it when we reach it. We cannot express it, but we know so definitely like black and white when the situation arrives. I mean you don't go around all day and carry your Buddha wisdom with you. You just live in it, live with it, and you are just it.

Q: Can we reduce our karma by praying?

M: Yes, we can if we are sincere enough, because a very sincere and deep prayer is a kind of meditation. We are in a meditative mood. Therefore, it reaches the deepest recesses of our grace store, our merit, our blessing store; and it affects, it cleanses. Only if we are truly sincere and deeply, longing for forgiveness, then it helps.