A Spiritual Method
Of Magnanimous Love

 

Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai, Formosa
July 5, 1987 (Originally In Chinese, Unabridged)

After we are initiated, we may feel living in this world is like being in a dream; our parents, partner, children and relatives all seem like strangers to us. Even then, we should treat them nicely, and fulfill our obligations. It is because we still have karmic connections with them. All sentient beings have a connection with us, whether they are initiated or non-initiated, good people or bad people. They may be heterodox or orthodox believers, they may have or not have religious beliefs, yet they are all related to us. All goodness, evil, sadness and happiness concern us.

We are, more or less, responsible for the situation of the world, because of our past thoughts, be they good or bad ones. Together with other sentient beings, we created this world and the present situation. Therefore, we cannot say, "That person is really bad; he has no connection with me." We are related! It's possible that we had many bad thoughts and ideas in the past, or committed many mistakes. These bad thoughts and mistakes have accumulated life after life, and have been transformed into the present situation. Therefore, we have heard the saying, "All is created by the mind." It is only because of our mind that this world exists, that there is goodness and evil on earth. So, we must practice spiritually to rectify our past errors and the bad things that we have done.

We are responsible for the world because we did many bad things in the past, which account for the bad situations that are now occurring. Therefore, we have to rectify the bad aspects. We practice spiritually not only for ourselves, but also for our relatives, our country, our world and the universe. They are all connected to us. No matter whether they are good or bad, it is all because of us that they have become like this. Therefore, spiritual practice concerns both internal and external aspects. We cannot say, "I want to be a spiritual practitioner, so I am going to forsake my parents and spouse." This is not the way. We should remain the same as before. It is a different situation if we really feel the urge to become a renunciate. It is because we want to offer our body, speech and thoughts to the Buddhas of the ten directions and sentient beings. We want to sever our connections with the world to make it easier for us to practice spiritually, and to progress faster. This is our choice. We become renunciates because we want to offer ourselves to the Buddhas (enlightened masters) of the ten directions and the three times of time, and to sentient beings. This is a different situation.

If we are not prepared to become a renunciate, then be filial to our parents, no matter whether they are good or bad. Even if our parents have done something wrong, try to counsel them with moral doctrines, and explain to them in a filial, gentle and respectful manner. Try to reason with them. In the event that they do not want to listen, or even reproach us, as we have failed to let them understand our way of thinking and our logic even after a very long time, we still cannot become unfilial children. Similarly, we should talk to our partner or siblings with sweet and gentle words, and counsel them or explain to them with logical reasoning, to help them understand; instead of sitting in one corner crying and blaming our spouse. Since we haven't tried to make them understand, how can we blame them? Most probably they dislike what we are doing, so they misunderstand us even more, and make trouble for us.

Influence Your Family With Love

In fact, this is also our responsibility. Our faults make them suspect us and feel uneasy, and then they blame our Master. Therefore, we cannot blame them, we can only blame ourselves for not being wise enough, not being able to discuss and not having sufficient power to convince our kin. We should be more penitent, and simultaneously, love and respect them more, using greater love to care for them. Let them feel that, regardless of whether they are good or bad, we won't reject them. Only then they will be touched and believe us. Then we can pursue our spiritual cultivation peacefully, and gradually convert them back to the correct path. This is our responsibility, and this is the way to deliver sentient beings.

Spiritual practitioners should not become oddballs. If you scold your husband because he refuses to practice spiritually, or when he disagrees with you, you quarrel with him, don't speak to him, don't buy things for him, stop having relationships with him, and estrange him, this is not beneficial to anyone. Shakyamuni Buddha said: All sentient beings are our kin, and we should love and respect them. Jesus Christ also said: Love thy neighbors and also thy enemies. Though He didn't say that you should love your friends, it is a very natural thing to do. It is very natural to love someone who is good to us. Everyone can do this. Of course we'll love people who are good to us, and will treat them nicely in return. But to the people who are not good to us, we also have to respect and love them, forgive them, and be nice to them, so as to edify them.

We are not doing this only because we want to influence them. We should remind ourselves: "Those people are so pitiful. We have such great blessings to have our Master, to have good doctrines, teachings, and the method. We have the blessed rewards and wisdom to pursue spiritual practice. They are so pitiful. Perhaps their time hasn't come yet, so their mind is still blocked, and they do not have the wisdom to practice spiritually like we do. Therefore, they are truly pitiful. We should be more compassionate to them, and endeavor to love, respect and protect them." Just because they do not understand or cannot understand, don't be angry with them, or criticize them. This is wrong! This is not befitting the demeanor of a spiritual practitioner, and this is not being compassionate and having universal love.

Be more patient and magnanimous to people wherever we are. However, there are times when I don't treat disciples this way. I might throw someone out, but it is not because I don't love him. When I scold someone or being very severe to him, I am trying to make him change quickly, eliminate his karma faster, shatter his ego, and erase his errors rapidly. I know what I am doing and he knows also what he is doing. However, when we don't know, the safest way is to be more compassionate to others.

[The Amusing Saint]

Before I became a renunciate - when I was a teenager - people used to call me a living Buddha. I didn't know what a living Buddha was then. However, several of my friends and relatives addressed me this way. Some called me "the amusing saint," or "the comical saint," which actually meant a queer saint, a funny saint. Some people called me "the living Buddha," but they didn't really think I was a Buddha. What they meant was, my personality, behavior and the way I treated people were as good as a living Buddha. They thought I was very nice. The way I did my work and treated people was very relaxed, not so serious. Therefore, some people called me the "comical saint," "amusing saint," or "funny saint". There were also people who said that I was a "living Buddha" (in a more serious way).

People in England also said the same. They said I was a living Buddha. In Germany, they said I was funny and amusing saint or a Bodhisattva. The friends in Au Lac also called me a living Buddha. I was not practicing any spiritual method then. Though I chanted the Buddha's name and read the scriptures, I was not that serious in spiritual practice; I was just like an ordinary person. I was only a teenager, and had not yet become a monastic person - still very young! From primary school to high school, even until I was over twenty years old, in whichever country I stayed, people always called me by these names. It was because they observed that I was behaving like a Bodhisattva or a saint.

I didn't know why they called me by these names, but they were serious; they really thought so - they were not joking! Of course, it was also a joke - but a serious one! They truly had that feeling, and they meant to praise me. If ordinary people could treat another ordinary person so well, being spiritual practitioners, naturally we should treat other people even better. We understand more doctrines than before. I knew little about the doctrines then, and I didn't have an enlightened master. Though I had been reading the scriptures since childhood, including the Tao Te Sutra, the Buddhist scriptures, the Holy Bible and others, I was not graced with the teachings of an enlightened master; so I didn't know much about the doctrines. At that time, I just treated people naturally. Of course, I should treat people even better now.

Severe Reprimands Arise From Profound Love

However, it seems that I sometimes act conversely. I seldom scolded people before, but now I do. Why? It is because I have to teach the close disciples quickly, making them progress faster. Therefore, don't think I dislike a person when you see me scold him. You are wrong! Precisely because I like him, I scold him. Otherwise, I would just ignore him. At home, you only care to scold your own children. Would you go to the neighbor to scold their children? Even if the child next door goes out to steal or kill, you wouldn't care; because he has no relationship with you. Therefore, you wouldn't think of punishing him. Though you might abhor his actions, you are not really concerned. You don't have the earnestness to go to his home to punish, care and worry about him. You wouldn't go to his home to explain the doctrines to him, or to scold him, punish him, tell him to kneel, or beat him, would you? (A: We wouldn't.)

Generally, parents always hope that their children will be better than them. If you were a farmer, you would dream that your child would one day become a congressman or senator, perhaps even the President, or a person of high status, for example, a Ph.D., a lawyer and so on. Though many parents are not well educated, not wealthy or not in a high position, they still work very hard and exert all their efforts, sacrificing time and money to let their children enjoy a comfortable life, a high status and receive a good education.

All parents hope that their children could live a life which is more comfortable, more elegant, more wealthy and more useful. So do I. When I scold a person or a disciple, or when I am very strict with him, it is with the hope that he will become better than I. For instance, I am not humble enough, but I hope my disciples would be more humble and less arrogant than I am. Or, I am not wise enough, but I still hope that my disciples would be wiser and smarter than I. Or, my level is not high enough, so I hope your level would be higher and better than mine. Though my power seems insignificant, I hope my disciples would have greater power than I.

Suppose my level is only at the stage of an initially resolved Bodhisattva - one who has just resolved and cannot be called a saint, yet. It means one who has just resolved to learn to become a saint. Even then I hope my disciples would quickly become tenth-level Bodhisattvas or the highest saint. It is because I hope my disciples would be better than I, more powerful, progress in spiritual practice faster and better than I in every way. This is why I am so strict with disciples. Also, because most of you understand my character, understand my teachings, and understand that my supra-worldly love is different from human passion, I can afford to be stern with you. Since I know what my job is, I have to do it.

Being Humble And Gentle Is The
Best Way To Communicate With People

If our relatives have yet to understand our moral conduct, our ways of thinking, our level or spiritual method, we should be more magnanimous toward them. We must not scold them, beat them, or force them to believe us; we ought to be smarter. Even when we are spreading the teachings or the Truth, don't let them feel that we are educating them. Try to be gentle, speak in a normal way, just like you are having a casual chat over a cup of coffee. Don't let them sense or feel that we are trying to convince them to become Master's disciples. Otherwise, you will scare them. You cannot say: "You must listen to me. Do you realize the power of my Master? You have to understand, or you'll go to hell. If you don't believe in my Master, you are the most unworthy person. You are really dumb! Don't you know that my Master is the supreme enlightened Master? Can't you see that a living saint is here? Can't you see that our method is the highest? You are truly pitiful, truly dumb and have no wisdom." You must not talk like this. No one likes to listen to these things. Most people who are not spiritual practitioners have very high self-esteem, very big egos and deep attachment. They think their way of thinking is the best, their perceptions are the highest, their religion is peerless, and their concepts are the most correct. Should we hurt their self-respect, then we'd be in trouble.

Therefore, don't let them sense it, don't let them think that we want to educate and convert them into our fellow practitioners, or make them a Buddhist. Don't talk about religious matters with them; let them believe what they believe. If they believe in Laoism (Taoism), then let them remain good Laoist followers, and tell them things about Laoism. I have given some talks about this. I have expounded a little on the Tao Te Sutra. Tell them: "The Tao Te Sutra is great, but there are some points that we do not understand very well." Don't say 'you' don't understand; you have to say 'we' don't understand. "Perhaps 'we' can help each other by discussing and making cross-references." Then, you may express the level that you have realized, the thoughts that you have understood, and your opinion. Definitely do not criticize their opinion.

You may say: "Your philosophy is very logical, but I also have an idea. Please listen patiently, and see whether it's logical." Don't retort immediately: "Your view is wrong! You are wrong! You are so stupid! This is not true!" You should first accept his idea, because he has the right and freedom of thought. They have the right to think and realize whatever they want to. To communicate with people, we must not look down upon them. We also have to put ourselves in their place and see things from their point of view, then we can understand and communicate with each other. That is how we can save people.

Be As Magnanimous As The Creator

The more we practice spiritually, the better we should be able to understand others and treat them magnanimously. We should be more capable of accepting other people's opinions and their levels of understanding, as well as respecting their freedom of thought. This is a free universe! The Creator has created so many things, including big trees, tiny grass, elephants, cockroaches, frogs and many other things. Since Hes can accommodate them all, why can't we tolerate the thoughts of our relatives, friends and people we know? We should be able to do the same to attain the Anuttara-Shamyak-Sambodhi, the highest dimension, the highest level. Perhaps we cannot understand now, because we have not reached this level; but we have to learn. We have to assume we are the best, the highest person. Through our learning, one day we definitely will become the highest, the most magnanimous, the most compassionate and the most patient persons. That is a real spiritual practitioner.

In the process of spiritual practice, avoid becoming a weird person, and getting estranged from people. The so-called severance of relationship refers to the inner aspects; those on the outside should remain the same. We cannot say: "I have no relationship with them." Since we have "vowed to deliver infinite sentient beings," how can we accomplish this if we can't even deliver one or two persons? Therefore, the purpose of our spiritual practice is to make us become more loving, more patient, and more noble. Spiritual practice doesn't only mean to cross our legs and practice the Quan Yin Method. Of course this is spiritual practice, but there are other things that we have to practice on the outside.

"Love" is a spiritual method, "magnanimity" is also a spiritual method, allowing others to feel free. Otherwise, we will chain ourselves within the three realms, and cannot have freedom. It is because we have interfered with the natural system of existence in the universe. We try to transform a cockroach into an elephant. We want to force an earthworm into becoming a butterfly. This is ridiculous, and definitely cannot be done! Lao Tze said, Nothing is matter with the world. We don't need to do anything in the first place, and there is also nothing to be done. Should anyone wish to join our spiritual practice, and have the same ideal as ours, then we help him. Otherwise, we don't have to be anxious (to convert him).

To Be A Living Saint

If sentient beings can be forced into pursuing spiritual practice, why have they not all become Buddhas now that billions of years have passed? There must be a reason! Therefore, if people do not believe us, don't be anxious and do not hate them. They can hate us, we allow others to hate us, but we forbid ourselves to hate them. Compassion and universal love is our spiritual method. Let our quality exude from within ourselves, let people be aware, and let them feel that we are a living Buddha. Let them feel that we are the "amusing saint," and let them feel that we truly are like a living Bodhisatta.

I hope that you can achieve this. I also believe that you can achieve it soon, and can continue to always do it. However, you also have to cooperate with me. If you lock up your mind and do not let me come in, I cannot teach you or communicate with you. I can only teach you when you sleep, because your mind is more relaxed then. It is too tired to resist! The body is also too tired to resist, so it is easier for me to teach you then. Though many disciples seldom meditate, when they sleep, they often dream of the Master coming to tell them something, to answer their questions, or to help them. It is because the mind is more gentle then. For you, the initiates, your sleep is no longer the same as that of ordinary people. Therefore, your dreams are also inner experiences which should not be revealed to others. If you must talk, then talk to me, or write in the diary. When the real incidents happen, you will know that the dreams are true. Then you'll know that the dreams are your spiritual experiences. It is the Master coming to give you advance notice, or take you to practice or learn something at 'night school'.

A Spiritual Method Of Magnanimous Love You Are Buddha