Master Says

Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. April 8, 1993(Originally In English)

This is the book of Chuang Tzu, Chapter Three, The Secret of Growth. "Life has a limit, but knowledge is without limit. For the limited to pursue the unlimited is futile." Life has a limit, but knowledge is without limit. It is because our life is ephemeral. And if we use the whole span of our life in trying to learn this and that in the space of our world, that means we are doing the impossible. For example, if we are expert in the medical field, we are not necessarily expert in the electrical engineering field. And should we try to learn one thing after another, we would never actually finish with learning in this world. Even more so if we would like to use our life to pursue wisdom, which is even vaster than this knowledge of the world. To become a Buddha is not measured by the extent of your knowledge of Bibles, Scriptures, or whatever the worldly instrument can afford, but just to rediscover your vast storehouse of knowledge which already exists within us. Then, we know, and the knowledge of the world we will know also.

Therefore, as you see from your own example, you didn't know many things before or you couldn't do this and that. But after initiation, after practicing for some time, you discover yourselves that you know many things. Right? (Yes.) You have experienced, and I have experienced. For example, when I write music, play the piano, or things like that, people think I have studied or played music for many years. It's not true! I play whenever I want. I don't need preparation. The same with painting, interior design, or even clothing design. I don't need preparation. I did not learn in any school.

This knowledge, even worldly knowledge, already exists within us. And if we open the whole door, then everything is there in the daylight. I have never gone to medical school, but when you are having an operation or when you have trouble with sickness or something, many of you have seen the Master come and help you. And you recovered quickly, better than with ordinary medical treatment. That is because within me there is knowledge of medical secrets. Many of us have been here for thousands of billions of years, and we have done all kinds of things which have collected within our memories. And when we open the whole storage of wisdom, everything is there. We have learned everything already! There is no need to relearn it. Once we have learned everything, we are qualified to go further into the higher development, which is sainthood, which is Buddhahood.

But actually everything in the universe is already printed within the seeds of wisdom before the whole cosmos came into being, even. Therefore, everything we try to learn in one corner is just a waste of time. That's why people call a saint the king of all the medicinal doctors, the king of all this and that -- because a saint knows many things. The Buddha never practiced magical skills, but He has magical power! The Buddha did not practice medical knowledge, but He can heal people.

Similarly with our school, you have always credited me with a lot of magical power, of healing, of knowing your thoughts, of helping you when you are in trouble. But this is no big deal. Everything is within the storehouse of wisdom. And if you try to remember that every day in your meditation, you subconsciously renew your knowledge of all fields, which gives you extraordinary wisdom about everything. Then you think, "How come? I didn't learn all this. How do I know?" If it happens that you come into contact with a special situation, which requires difficult and expert knowledge, you suddenly find that you can do it. Or if you can't, you just ask the inner Master Ching Hai to do it for you. You are very expert in asking Master Ching Hai to do whatever you want accomplished!

The power is within yourself really. While in training, of course, if you are not yet expert in using your wisdom, then you pray for the inner Master to help you. That's what the teacher is for. But later, you do everything yourselves. It's just like you are learning in an apprenticeship with a carpenter, for example, and sometimes you encounter some difficulties in some corner. You still don't know what to do yet, so you call your teacher to come, and of course he'll help you immediately. But later, you will know how to do it yourselves.

If we want to learn all the time about everything in this world, we do not have time. So, it's best to open our storehouse of wisdom, and then everything is there. If you want to be proud of yourselves, of your greatness, then you should be proud properly. If you want to think that you are very great, then think properly, know that you are truly great. First, be enlightened, and then more will come. During the time that you are observing the sound in meditation, many ideas come, much knowledge comes, many answers come. That is the direct line of study. No need for a teacher to be around because we communicate inside. That is when you truly know we have 'some' teaching.

All of the verbal lessons or lectures I give you are just a very small part of it -- 30% of my teaching, and 70% you learn through silence, through meditation, through your sleep. While you sleep, you'll be taken up to a higher school, and then study there. That's why even though you sit in meditation and you don't see much sometimes, your wisdom still increases tenfold, twentyfold, one hundredfold. Your loving kindness, your level in every aspect rises up. It is because of the teaching in silence.

No Master ever uses words to enlighten the disciple. Even though he might appear to speak or to teach the disciples through some verbal expressions, that is not all. And once we are connected within, we always have the direct teaching. That's why you become wiser, you become more knowledgeable in all things, and whenever the situation arises, you know what to do. Even though before you would not react so quickly, now you can. It is because every day you learn with the Masters, past, present, and future also, during your meditation, during your sleep, and/or during your daily activities. You are blessed twenty-four hours. That is the difference between the enlightened person and the not enlightened person, between an initiated person and a non-initiated person.

Sometimes I myself also forget the differences, but I do have the chance to know. And you always have the chance to know because you have more opportunities to mix with the people of the world, who are very highly knowledgeable in their field, who are very intelligent, who are very capable of many things, and who are highly positioned in the society. When you are in contact with them, you know the difference. That person may not know. That's why in the sutras it says, it takes a Buddha to understand the Buddha. While you have not yet fully realized your saint-potential, at least you know that you are on the way to sainthood. And when compared to those who still stay down there or outside, you know how much you have gained through meditation in our practice, in the Quan Yin Method. Otherwise, no amount of knowledge, talk, or lecture would qualify a person to be a saint or to be enlightened. It's truly a world apart!

For example, we grow up, become adults, and occasionally we play with the children and with their toys. We pretend to enjoy very much and all that, and maybe we do enjoy, also. We love the children, and we want to share happiness with them. We play with them, and they are happy, so we are also happy. Maybe we remember our childhood, and we're happy for a while, but no adult would be mesmerized by the children's toys like when we were young. Similarly, the enlightened person through the Quan Yin Method may appear to be like ordinary person with all their emotions, sometimes their anger and their frustrations. But on the other hand, they never sink into that level, not for long. Maybe they know it, but they do not sink. They do it, but they're not mesmerized by it. Just like we play with the children, but we are never so attached to the toys the way children are because we are grown up.

Similarly, the enlightened people in our group look like ordinary people, but they are never ordinary. You know that very well, or not? (Yes.) I am glad that you know. Sometimes you have to remind me, because I don't know. I look at everyone as a saint. Then sometimes I discover that, "Oh, yes, they are saints, but they are ignorant saints." Just like children sometimes grow very tall. Some children are bigger than I am -- wider and taller. And from afar or from appearance, we think that it is an adult until we talk to him. Then we discover, "Oh, he is only ten years old!"

The worldly people sometimes appear to be very intelligent, but that is not enlightenment, not deep. You talk a little bit further, and then you'll discover the difference. Therefore, if you have doubts about your enlightenment and about your level of understanding, you go and talk to people. Don't pray all the time that you only meet saintly persons. It's okay to meet "unsaintly" persons. It's good for you, so that you know how much you have progressed. White is only more distinguished when compared with black. If the whole world is white, no one ever thinks that it is white because it is taken for granted that it is so. But when it's coupled with black, we know that it is white. Similarly, if we do not have contact with other people sometimes, we never know for sure. So, it is also good for us to be with the people at large. It's all right.

Just accept whatever situation, and then you learn from it. Otherwise, how do you know? You've forgotten how beneficial it is to be in the circle of sainthood. It's only one hair difference; the door is only that bright. But once we step beyond it, we are forever changed. Whether you stand at the door or you move further into the higher dimensions, you are different than before you stepped in the door. Absolutely different! Of course the further we go, the more discoveries we make, and that makes our life different.