|
 The
same
with whether we should answer to people when they talk bad
about us. You can answer, you also not answer, it's the same.
Makes no difference to us. If we like to answer and we think
it's proper, okay, why not. Pass time. Can do it, fine. If
not also fine. There's nothing really important. Win or lose,
bad or good, good reputation, bad reputation, fifty years
later you and I all face each other in heaven. All good bad
reputation, who cares. All the good kings, all the bad kings,
where are they now? All gone. Whether we criticize them hundred
thousand times over or condemn them thousand life sentence,
make no difference to them at all. So we have to look beyond
the immediate. Go beyond the future even. We don't have to
even, we don't have to. It becomes effortless now, at least
after some time with you. We look at everything as being so
light and humorous. Therefore, when people look at us and
they predicted, they predicted all wrong.
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They
predicted the way of the world, it's all wrong. Some people
report to me, saying that we like to help the Americans because
we want to be famous. That's nonsense. How about the Cambodians?
How about the Africans? How about the Chinese in China that
we don't even know? How about the Philippines? How about the
South Africans that we don't even know? How about North Korea,
that we could not even set foot in? Couldn't even talk. And
the people there don't even know it's from us because we donated
through the United Nations both times. And many like Bosnia,
Chechnya and Rawanda, many of the war-torn countries, we always
send money and medical supplies or something through different
organizations. No one even heard of the Supreme Master. So sad.
(Master laughs). No one cares, we don't care. We're only happy
to have the opportunity to serve, to share what we have; because
like this, it flows. It's not stagnant, like water in the tank.
If it kept for itself, later it becomes rotten. Water is rotten
and the tank becomes rotten too. No use for the tank, for anyone.
Money
is there only to flow, to be used, to be helpful only in different
ways. It's not for us to just keep there and do nothing. Not
that I go out everyday and force people to take my money.
Don't get me wrong and don't ask me for that. When necessary,
according to our means and according to the necessity and
the importance of that event. Sometimes we help one person
and that person affects the whole country or the whole world.
Then that person is important. Like if you help a president
or a prime minister out of trouble, in turn he is more light-minded
so he can devote himself to more important state issues and
thereby affect neighboring states, affects the whole world
and brings peace to the world instead of making the king or
president worry about pennies. It is terrible. It's so low,
so materialistic. Such a pity that a leader of a great nation,
any nation, should be in debt, should be a suspect of any
kind of crime. Either you respect him as your leader or you
get him down. How on earth would you have a suspect as your
president? Even if a suspect, in the polices' eyes is untouchable.
Of course you're innocent until proven guilty. If that's what
they say when you are a suspect, you're already done, eighty
per cent. If you don't have a good lawyer, don't have good
luck, then good bye honey. When you are called a suspect,
people already look upon you differently. They don't want
to have anything to do with you. That's why your president,
not many people help, because they're worried, perhaps, to
get involved with the law. Difficult for business and reputation.
In such case, very difficult.
Not
that you always have to help a lot of people in order to be
righteous or to be reasonable. Sometimes help one person or
two persons, it depends; and that person helps the whole world.
Like if you help Jesus or if you help Buddha, what do you
think? It's not to help Him personally. It's to help the ideal,
the noble heritage, the spiritual awakening of humankind,
if that person is alive, is comfortable, is supported, is
helped, is understood, is protected, for example. Because
these species are rare. Even though we are all Buddhas, but
not everyone realizes that he is a Buddha. That's the difference.
Even though we are all children of God, but not everyone realizes
that he is the son of God the way Jesus did, for example.
So
these people you can count on or important national leaders.
If they are righteous, if they are doing good for their nations
or humankind, we must support them; because righteous people,
selfless people, selfless leaders are rare. If we find one,
we must help. If really we believe that he is good, she is
good, we must do it, we must stand up for our beliefs. Otherwise,
what for do we practice? Suppose you are American citizen,
and if your country or your government is in trouble, and
I tell you, "Oh, don't get involve; you are Buddhas What kind
of useless Buddhas are you? Anyhow, in this world, it's funny.
If you do it, people say, "You are spiritual group, why you
do this thing? And if you don't, they'd say, "What kind of
spiritual group are you? You do nothing for us, what's the
use? We don't need you! So if sometimes people don't accept
our help, oh, it's a blessing. We don't have to do anything
anymore. If we do it, it's fine. If we don't do it, it's fine.
So no problem. Don't feel anything if people reject your help.
It's good. Maybe your help should not be given there. Keep
it. And like this later in the future, no one can blame you
that you didn't do anything. We did a lot of things. Normally
we did them quietly, until people dug it out and said, "Ha!
You did this, you did that! So what? Whatever we did is all
good. Even though we did it quietly.
It's
just so funny that we didn't want the world to know, and now
everyone knows, everything. Even many things that we never
even reported in newspapers, like we helped the veterans hospital.
I did it personally. I just wrote a check with the head of
the veterans, whoever, I forgot his name. His name is Bob
something. I promised him two hundred thousand dollars, and
just wrote it -- two hundred thousand dollars, for the veterans,
Central Headquarters. I signed my name and said, "Keep this.
This means money. It was not a check because I didn't have
a check. But I just wrote Suma and my name. I said, "This
you give to my people, that will be money. He couldn't believe
it. He said, " This, money? "
In
America, you have a credit card or check. You don't just write
your name on a piece of blank paper -- no letterhead even,
no address, no phone number, nothing, and say, "Take my word
for it. (Master and all laugh.) That's why he didn't do anything
about it. Gave it was almost a year, and then I asked my finance
minister, "How come my account's still the same? Suppose to
be two hundred thousand dollars less. I see it didn't go anywhere,
the two hundred thousand dollars, how come? No one claimed
for it?
They
said, "We didn't know anything about it. Maybe that veteran
chief thought I was, you know, in the head, wires or something
like that; made a joke, April's fools. So he didn't even think
about it, didn't even push for it. I said okay, "Get in touch
with, you know, Bob, I don't know his name, but if you ask
the LA brothers.
They
didn't even bother to trace us. They thought it was a joke,
a piece of blank paper -- no letterhead, no telephone, no
name, nothing, and just signed. Two hundred thousand dollars
for so-and- so, signed, " Ching Hai. They didn't even know
who "Ching Hai was, at that time. It was personal, I just
did it.
I
don't know if they reported it in the magazine or not. Maybe
they did. Just casually mentioned, because we did it through
the bank. No big deal, no ceremony, no photograph taken even.
Didn't even know given to whom. Of course we knew the address,
the hospital, but no person, not even. No newspaper even knew
about it. I don't know how lately they dug it out and printed
it. It had been two years already.
Many
things we don't care. They predicted that we wanted to be
famous so we gave to the Americans. Their predictions are
not true. I am not a fortune teller but whatever they predicted
about us, it's wrong. If we wanted to be famous by helping
the Americans, there are many better ways to do it than this.
Some officers, are bigger. There are many ways, channels to
do it, and do it bigger -- With photographs, television, thank
you ceremony. We don't care.
Some
occasions the government knew because you did it through the
government, like Hawaii. Sometimes we cannot do it alone.
We have to ask the government's permission, whether they need
it or not, or we don't know where to go and who needs. The
government knows better in some disaster areas. The government
has the list of the people, or the lists of poor people. Most
of the time if we want to help poor people, we have to go
through the government because the local government have the
lists of the poorest people, or the people who are truly in
need. We can't just go to any door and knock, "Hey, you need
my money or not? They'll kick you, you know where. (All laughed)
In
some cases like this, then the government knew about us and
then gave an award, which was embarrassing sometimes; but
never mind. I have gone through worse embarrassment than that.
It's a kind of honorable embarrassment, mixed. Otherwise,
these are small cases. The cases that people don't know are
bigger than that. So whatever people have predict about us
it's not correct. They do not know us. They cannot know such
a thing exist, such a group. It's not even a charitable group.
We don't even make big money, just ordinary folks. Well, I
make some money, because I don't spend so much. You don't
know the secret of making money. (I'll tell you how.) Cont.
next issue. |
