The Secret Way To Quit Smoking

Originally, my husband was a heavy smoker, and almost all his friends were great 'chimneys' as well. Each time they gathered, they clouded the atmosphere with heavy smoke. Sometimes, the situation was so bad that even the smoke detectors installed on the ceiling for fire prevention would go off! Recently, the absence of ashtrays has been the most unusual phenomenon for our friends who have visited our home.

"I remember you used to have ashtrays everywhere in your house. Why have they disappeared?" asked a friend holding onto a cigarette butt, not able to find a place to dispose of it.

"Oh, I am sorry! Lin has given up smoking, so we have put away all the ashtrays!"

I remember the days when we were just married. I asked Lin to quit smoking for health reasons. Unexpectedly, he refused in a righteous and stern manner: "This is my only hobby in life. What is the point of living if this has to be given up too?" Since I could not convince him, I just dropped the subject from then on.

Several years later, our children had grown up sufficiently to realize how harmful nicotine is to our body and mind. For the sake of their father's health, and to fight for an unpoluted surrounding for themselves, they began to put up signs like "We refuse to be second-hand smokers" in the house. However, my husband was not moved at all.

"How did he eventually quit smoking? It is not easy!" a friend's wife asked me curiously. "Kuang has always wanted to give it up. He used many methods but to no avail!" "I have a secret method!" Lin answered with a happy smile. Amidst the Oo-Long tea's light fragrance, Lin told his friends his story of how he quit smoking: "I was initiated this New Years Day. Since then, I have gradually felt that many of our habitual ways are not something that we must insist on, things like boasting, smoking, etcetera. So I decided to quit smoking from this Lunar New Year Festival. This is one of the great blessings bestowed by Supreme Master Ching Hai! I only had one thought in my mind -- I said that I would quit it, so I must do it. It was so simple!"

Of course the quitting process included painful struggles against the addiction and the habit practiced over many decades. However, all these were overcome safely and smoothly under the blessing and protection of Master. It seems incredible that a stubborn man like Lin could voluntarily surrender completely, but this is absolutely true.