Once
upon a time,
A true peace lover wandered around the many worlds
In search of eternal happiness.
She walked on the face of the Earth, the suns, the moons and the clouds.
At last she found,
That it was all the while hidden in her very heart.
Then she sat down,
And was about to enjoy the new-found Bliss,
But suddenly she looked down,
And saw countless beings were still groveling in darkness,
For they were searching for happiness without.
Just like her before, erring over millions of ages.
Her tears were then rolling down...
One drop, two drops...and many more...
Each drop became a shining jewel,
And soon the sky was studded with glittering tears,
Which are the stars today.
They are too shy in the day,
And too restless in the night to go to sleep.
For all Truth aspirants,
The stars are there to light the Way,
And to remind them of the compassion of a holy Sage.
By
Supreme Master Ching Hai
(from her anthology of poems called "Silent
Tears")
(Originally In English)
Supreme
Master Ching Hai's search for an enlightened Master, who could
show Her the most direct path to God, took Her through over thirty
countries during a period of some seven trying years. She visited
numerous important spiritual sites and ashrams, always hoping
to find the Master she perhaps intuitively realized was waiting
for her.
She eventually
arrived in India, a land that has been graced with many great
Masters over the centuries. In discussing Her travels in this
mystical land, Supreme Master Ching Hai commented that, "There
are many spiritual practitioners in India who eat only one meal
each day. They practice a number of methods rather than a selected
one. Without a permanent home, they go everywhere on foot, searching
for Masters and paths. They meditate every day, never forgetting
to practice even for a minute during meals or sleep. They do
not meditate briefly, just for one minute. You can imagine how
terrific their inner power is. Some of them can walk on fire
without getting burnt. However, these are only minor tricks that
cannot lead to the ultimate level. It is more important to attain
wisdom and liberation. We have tremendous latent power. If we
practice well and have absolute faith in ourselves, nothing is
beyond us."
Her faith,
selfless devotion and all-consuming passion to serve others is
made apparent when She describes Her time at one of the many
ashrams She visited. "When I had the time, I did anything that
needed to be done. Since most people disliked chores, like washing
dishes and scrubbing the floor, I did these jobs though office
staff like us were usually exempt from laborious work. I was
a quick worker, and if I found things strewn around everywhere
when I had finished my office job, I promptly cleaned up the
mess because I disliked untidiness. I knew how to put things
back in order, so I could do it very fast."
"The more
we work, the more enlightened we become. Frankly speaking, it
gave me great joy to scrub the staircase and floor in India.
I said to myself in jubilation, Oh! I am so honored to have the
chance to clean the staircase for these saints. Their feet walk
past this place every day; it's as though I am washing the feet
of the saints. I felt highly honored! This thought was a spontaneous
one; no one had taught me that. Merely washing the staircase
trodden by the disciples was enough to make me feel so honored.
How much more honored would I have felt had it been the staircase
used by the Master? It is better for us to work unconditionally.
Serve others, and all will be given unto you."
"During
my times in the ashrams, I never clung around an enlightened
Master or asked him to look at me while I worked. I only served.
I scrubbed the staircase, cleaned the floor, watered the plants,
and did things that no one else wanted to do. I washed the eating
utensils because it was the last thing that people wanted to
do. After each meal, eating and cooking utensils piled up like
a mountain. Yet I found happiness in washing them every day."
After
working tirelessly in many ashrams, Her truly remarkable search
had its final chapter in the highest and most enigmatic mountain
range in the world, the Himalayas, the place that for centuries
Indians have believed is the abode of the gods. For this reason,
millions of devout pilgrims venture into the Himalayas each year
to visit the numerous sacred sites and perhaps meet with one
of the rare enlightened beings that are said to live in seclusion
in remote, secret caves. Sadly, many pilgrims die along the way
due to severe weather conditions, landslides or the dangerous
icy terrain. There are few conveniences, so some are even consumed
by starvation. Fear prevents most pilgrims from venturing too
far. Only an extremely rare being with unshakable faith in the
Universal Power and tremendous courage would ignore the obvious
dangers.
When speaking
about Her numerous Himalayan treks that took Her increasingly
higher and deeper into the snow swept region, Supreme Master
Ching Hai said, "When I was in the Himalayas, I couldn't afford
to hire a horse or a coolie. I had nothing, so I could only walk.
Perhaps my continuous walking kept me warm. Otherwise, I would
have frozen, as I was wearing wet clothes and shoes amid the
rain and snow in the mountains. Some peaks were high and lofty,
and looked awesome. I must have been as crazy then as couples
who are madly in love, and oblivious to everything else. Lovers
are blind to the risks and burden of marriage and family life,
nor do they think about the future. They are enthralled by their
amour for each other, and live only for that moment in time."
"However,
God blesses idiots like me. When I was looking for an enlightened
Master, I had only two sets of clothes, but I never caught a
cold traversing the Himalayan trails. Sometimes, I couldn't even
afford to buy firewood to dry my wet clothes, so I went near
other people's campfires, holding them in my hands. The heat
made my clothes dry faster and I could also warm myself. I must
have been blind and "God-crazed" I probably wouldn't have dared
to do it now."
"All I
had on my mind then was God; and all I could see was God. There
was no room for family or money. I was stupid enough, but nothing
else could penetrate my mind because I had only God in my heart.
It is like when we are in love, we are completely blind to the
faults of our lover, and we refuse to listen to any unfavorable
remarks against him. Probably that was why God gave me protection,
or I would have died long ago."
Supreme
Master Ching Hai's devotion to God enabled Her to overcome the
many hardships associated with traveling alone and the inhospitable
mountainous environment that She experienced. " n some parts
of the Himalayas, the low atmospheric pressure made it difficult
to cook food well. I could only wash the food in the Ganges and
eat it raw. It was delicious, though. The Himalayas is the most
wonderful place. I could do without hot water. It was fun taking
a cold dip. It was so cold that it felt as though my body had
shrunk. I would count to 5, and then jump out from the ice-cold
river. My body seemed to bloom then as thousands flowers and
I felt so exalted."
On what
would be Her final trek into the abode of the gods, Supreme Master
Ching Hai began like She had often done before with only two
sets of clothes, a pair of sports shoes, a sleeping bag, a water
bottle, a couple of books and a walking stick. She was almost
constantly wet and cold as She ascended ever higher. The further
she went the more belongings She discarded to conserve energy.
Having discarded virtually everything, She put Her life entirely
into God's hands.
All things
come to those who seek God and God alone. So it was inevitable
that one day She would find the Master She had incessantly yearned
for. That Master was the great Master Khuda Ji, who lived in
seclusion deep in the Himalayas. Master Khuda Ji was four hundred
and fifty years old when He initiated Supreme Master Ching Hai
into the ancient art of meditation on the heavenly Sound and
divine Light. He had remained patiently in His Himalayan abode
waiting for Her. She would be His first and only disciple. Although,
She had practiced this form of meditation before, Master Khuda
Ji was to impart to Her the ultimate spiritual transmission that
is the essence of Initiation. Only the few great Masters, who
have attained the Ultimate, can perform Initiation.
Supreme
Master Ching Hai rarely speaks about Master Khuda Ji, who left
the physical realm soon after His noble mission was accomplished.
She acknowledges all those who taught Her at each point during
Her search but saves the highest accolade for God. “I had
many Masters, both tangible and intangible, and each of them
taught me different things. The truth is, God is my only enlightened
Master. However, once when asked by one of Her initiates about
Her great Himalayan Master, She said, "Oh, I followed an enlightened
Master - a very great one! However, He has passed away. He had
only one disciple, that was me. And I must carry on His work."
Supreme
Master Ching Hai stayed in the Himalayas for several months after
Her experience with Master Khuda Ji, perfecting the ancient art
of meditation. Despite the extreme conditions and many adversities,
She felt strangely connected to this uniquely spiritual region,
as She once said, "In the Himalayas, you could feel all the animals
and plants giving forth a gentle and friendly ambiance. The sky
was tranquil and boundless; the pine trees were very friendly.
I lived at a high elevation and could feel the white clouds drifting
around me. It was as though I was walking on the clouds. I didn't
summon the clouds for me to ride; they came on their own. You
may have seen paintings of people riding on clouds; that is exactly
what I am trying to describe. It was not a celestial phenomenon;
rather, it was a common scene in the Himalayas."
Returning
to the plains, She visited one of the ashrams She had stayed
at previously. While She sat innocuously reading a discarded
newspaper, one of the ashram's most long-standing disciples,
who had practiced under three successive Masters in the lineage,
unreservedly performed a full-body prostration before Her in
full view of all around, touching and even kissing Her feet.
Of course, Supreme Master Ching Hai was startled and overwhelmed,
as She later explained. "That was not the first time we met;
we had worked together for several months and had had tea together.
However, he prostrated to me after I came back from my trip to
the Himalayas. I was afraid that my ego might grow as tall as
the hill! Like everyone around us then, I was really startled.
I was so shocked that I couldn't think of anything. My mind went
blank and couldn't give the incident a further thought. I only
knew that I should leave." And so She did, immediately.
She tried
desperately to remain inconspicuous as She traveled widely throughout
India. However, Her sublime Inner Light was impossible to conceal.
At India's
Maha Kumbh Mela festival that is held every twelve years at Hardwar
on the banks of the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh, millions of
Hindus from all parts of the country congregate for an entire
month. It's a rare gathering of spiritual Masters, many of whom
venture down from the Himalayas only on this occasion, so pilgrims
go with questions and all kinds of offerings for them. Perhaps
not surprisingly, Supreme Master Ching Hai's visit caused quite
a stir. "When I was at the Kumbh Mela, many people followed me.
In India, if a woman goes out alone, people would throw stones
at her, thinking that she is a bad woman. However, although I
was traveling alone, people bowed to me and offered spices, coconuts,
flowers and food to me. They even gave me the best tent, the
kind usually reserved for great Masters. They let me use a big
tent all by myself while some other Masters had to squeeze into
one tent."
"There
was nothing about me that would attract attention. I didn't nail
myself or grow a beard; nor did I blacken myself with ash; nor
was I as lean as a skeleton. You recognized saints the moment
you saw them. They had been exposed to the sun all day long,
so most of them were dark. They grew a beard because they didn't
have the time to shave. They had long hair too. You could immediately
recognize that they were enlightened Masters or Saints. I didn't
look like one at all."
She eventually
left India but no matter where she went people intuitively knew
of Her spiritual greatness. She had no desire to attract followers;
but no matter how many times She fled from those who found Her,
they just kept coming. Finally, in Taiwan, just as had happened
on other occasions in India, in New York City, and in other parts
of the world, She was found by a group of spiritual seekers who
were divinely guided to Her. At the time she was living anonymously
behind a small, little-known temple. She was touched by their
sincerity and realized that she could no longer avoid Her life's
mission. The seekers sincerely sought initiation, so Supreme
Master Ching Hai eventually granted them, and so began Her public
life as a Master.
While
Supreme Master Ching Hai's mission is first and foremost a spiritual
one, nevertheless She provides necessary material assistance
to people in need whenever possible. As a result, during the
last few years She has received numerous awards recognizing Her
humanitarian commitment that has assisted millions of people
all over the world in coping with natural disasters, poverty
and disease. The most notable so far has been the 1994 World
Spiritual Leadership Award that was presented by the Governors
of six States in the United States (viz., Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin,
Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota) for Her generous aid after the
1993 Mississippi flood. Most of Her other aids were unnoticed
as they were done not through the governments. Her undiscriminating
compassion, like Her patience, determination and perseverance,
which She has displayed throughout Her life, are important qualities
for all spiritual aspirants. These are the qualities that were
also taught and exemplified by the great past Masters like Jesus,
Shakyamuni Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Mohammed, Guru Nanak, etcetera.
Yet while each Master's life is unique, the spiritual path they
take is and always has been the same. That path is the path of
meditation on the heavenly Sound and Light. Supreme Master Ching
Hai has called this the Quan Yin Method, because She gave Her
first public teachings in Formosa. Quan Yin is a Chinese term
that means observation of the inner Vibration.
This primal
Vibration or Sound is in its nature transcendental and therefore
perceived in silence. Jesus' disciples called it the "Holy Spirit" or
the "Word" (which is from the Greek word "Logos," meaning sound). "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God." After Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment,
He spoke of this Sound too, calling it the "drum of immortality" Krishna
equated Himself with the "sound in ether" Mohammed perceived
this Sound in the cave at Gare-Hira when He had a vision of the
archangel Gabriel, and Lao Tzu described the Tao as the "Great
Tone".
Spiritual
Light also manifests as an aspect of the Divine Presence. Hence,
the great Masters impart both transcendental Sound and Light,
as Supreme Master Ching Hai explains. "So, we get in contact
with this Spirit, which is a manifestation of divine Light and
Vibration, and by doing so, we know God. In fact, it isn't really
a method. It is the power of the Master. If you have it, then
you can transmit it. The method is a transcendental one that
cannot be described by our language. Even if someone describes
it to you, you will not receive the Light and the Vibration,
the inner peace and wisdom. Everything is transmitted in silence,
and you will see your old Masters like Jesus or Buddha. You will
receive all that you need to follow their footsteps, and little
by little you will become Christ-like, and you will become one
with God."
In less
than ten years, the ancient message of the Quan Yin meditation
has spread to many countries across the globe. Supreme Master
Ching Hai's many lectures and informal discussions have been
transcribed to numerous books, and audio/video tapes in several
languages, and hundreds of thousands of people from different
faiths have been initiated. Supreme Master Ching Hai accepts
all sincere spiritual aspirants for initiation, which like Her
public lectures, is always offered free of charge. Aspirants
must agree to a lifelong commitment to basic ethical codes of
conduct, including adherence to a vegan diet.
She finances Her mission with the proceeds derived from the sale
of Her colorful artwork, exquisite fashion and fine jewelry designs,
that have all been exhibited internationally to critical acclaim.
The rapid
pace of Supreme Master Ching Hai's vital and self-sacrificing
work continues today, and with God's grace will do so long into
the future. Her work will enable as many beings as possible to
have the chance to connect with a most precious, fully enlightened
Master. She has often said that such connections are made perhaps
once in millions of years, so naturally, She welcomes all those
who feel their time has now finally arrived.
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