Q:
Every time after I have meditated for a while, I want
to stand up. I cannot continue to meditate, because I feel a power
pulling me up.
M:
What power? (Laughter) You don't blame your own laziness,
but you blame an outside power. You always blame ghosts, Maya, foxes,
rats or cats. You do not think whether it is your own problem. Well!
(Master sighs.) If we practice diligently, we will eventually have
inner experiences, but we must truly be diligent and not blame negative
powers for disturbing or pulling us away. Actually, there is no
power pulling us away except our weakness. Even if Maya bothers
us, it is all because we are afraid of it.
There
is an Au Lac saying, "When Maya wants to trouble you, it will look
at your face first." This means that it will see whether you are
fierce and courageous or not. If not, Maya will bother you. If it
sees that you are more fierce than it is, it will not dare to bother
you.
In
"The Journey To The West," when the king of hell wanted to take
the Monkey King to hell, he arrogantly said to the Monkey King,
"Ha! Ha! Ha! I am the king of hell!" However, when he was defeated,
he kowtowed to the Monkey King, saying, "Oh! Your Greatness! Please
spare my life! Please spare my life!" (Laughter) We should be like
the Monkey King. If we are too weak, we will be intimidated by Maya.
If we are always afraid of Maya's power, it will come to us, because
we are actually expecting it to come. Otherwise, what power in the
world comes to you only but not to others?
Therefore,
when we encounter obstacles, we should not be bothered. Even when
we feel a negative power, we should continue with our meditation.
If we cannot meditate, get up and walk around for awhile and then
try again to meditate. While reciting the Holy Names and praying
to the inner Master for help, we continue to meditate and see what
the negative power can do to us. (Applause)
We
should be positive, optimistic and courageous and then this will
become our habit, because everything is created by the mind. If
we lack self-confidence and courage, we will feel scared even when
a rat moves; we will imagine that it is a horrible thing or that
Maya or some power has come. But it may actually be just a rat.
So don't be afraid of anything.