Seeing people running away, I felt very sorry, so I helped them. It was not that I wanted to oppose the government. I was by myself; what for would I resist them? Being a spiritual person, what for would I fight, and how could I fight anyway? We practice spiritually. We are smarter now; we know it is all karma. We know that things like changing the government are also political. The political mood changes or the karma of sentient beings changes. We know that already. Why would we want a revolution? We just pitied them.
If we have an opportunity to do what we wish and work according to our ideals, wherever we are, then it would be fine. As for those who have disputes with you, invite them for meals, talk to them, be friendly with them; don’t fight with them. Just invite them for meals. After talking with them for a while, you will become their friends. Invite them to a meal – two, three, four times – and you will become friends. You don’t have to run from one place to another place. In this world, where can we run to? Wherever you run, it’s the same.
In the old times, Confucius traveled to six states; they all rejected Him. He went to one state, thinking that He could convince the government to act in accordance with His ideals for the citizens to be happy and prosperous and for the state to become powerful and peaceful. But they didn’t accept Him. He tried going to another state but was rejected again. It was the same story in all six states. After that, He went home and practiced spiritually by Himself.
Previously, I also thought that I had to go to different countries to convince everyone to be vegan and live a simple life to save the planet. Now, I feel it is tiresome talking to deaf people all the time. So I just practice spiritually by myself, and whoever comes to us, we accept them. We teach them a few things that we know. If people don’t come, it’s OK. Gradually, the world will improve. Doing Supreme Master Television can benefit people more than my running to this place and that place and even being criticized. And those who criticize would create karma for themselves. The older we are, the more humble we become and the wiser we are. We don’t bother talking to deaf people anymore. Whoever has an ear, we talk to them; otherwise, no need.
Many people may have ears, but they are still deaf, half deaf. For example, I called disciples and told them, “That person with that name, whenever he comes here, we must give him initiation right away.” Because if you are not initiated, you cannot enter. Sometimes, I come down unexpectedly to see the people who are visiting. Then, that person who was not yet initiated, of course, could not see me. He had to sit in the guest house and wait. It was pitiful for him, understand? But they didn’t follow my instructions, forgot or were lazy. They said, “We wrote You a letter, but You haven’t signed yet, so we dare not do it.” I said, “What for should I sign? I already called you.” They thought I was like them, sitting at a desk every day – sitting at that desk all the time to sign this, that, and the other. Whatever they want to do, I have to sign off on it; otherwise, they won’t do it. But I had already called them on the phone.
I already translated the name for them and told them how old he was. “He is old already. When he comes here, we have to take good care of him. We have to provide him with food and drink and give him initiation right away.” There is an in-house Quan Yin Messenger; no need to wait. It was a special case. He was already old and might not have another chance. And he came from far away. But they didn’t do it. They wrote me a letter and waited for me to stamp approval, to sign, and send it back for them to take a look. And they would look at it when they had time. And when they had time, they would tell the other person (the Messenger), and he would come when he had time. My God! If they work like that, sentient beings could go to hell before they do what I told them. They don’t know… How many times have I talked about this? I am very busy. And I already gave them clearly his name and other information, but they were still like that.
Sometimes, it is very hard for me to work. Using a phone is better than dealing with humans. Whatever I say to the phone, it doesn’t talk back; it just transmits immediately. But when we talk to people, they have their own opinions. They may have practiced spiritually for decades already, but they are still the same. Many people are like that. They don’t practice well. They’re used to working in a bureaucratic way. Therefore, you should not blame any government for its rigid procedures. Most governments have a certain integrity. Political leaders, in general, have good intentions, but they find working with a big system like that to govern the whole country very challenging.
Just stretch your legs out. Anyone whose legs are tired, just stretch them out, OK? I am also old, so sometimes my knees speak up. They talk to me all the time. When I go up or down stairs, they talk to me. If I walk up a hill, it’s not so bad, but when I come down they talk to me. They say, “Please go gently, walk slowly.” That is their usual request. Just stretch your legs out. It’s OK. I’ve told you many times. Whoever wants to stretch their legs, go ahead. This place is small. I feel sorry for the older people, and also the weather is cold. Try to bear it. As spiritual practitioners, you have to bear a little hardship occasionally.
They were used to their habit of working needing computers, so they said they had to check their emails or Skype messages. When they had time, they would check; sometimes, they didn’t have time. They went out to do something else, to take a bath, to cook, to eat, whatever… and came back after a few hours. And that person had to wait out there because it was not them. It was not them who were asking for initiation, who were 80 years old, who had traveled a long way to come here from a foreign country. They didn’t understand. They are Taiwanese (Formosan), so lucky! I came here and knocked on their door even, not that they knocked on mine. They are fortunate, so they don’t understand anything. Their jobs are very simple. They have only one office, next to where they live, so it is very easy. They can run to their office at any moment. And I have hundreds and thousands of jobs. I can’t sit at my desk all the time waiting to hear from them. I have to go to meditate sometimes.
I was not supposed to communicate with anyone for three, four, or five days. I knew it already. While I was in the retreat, I remembered… then I called them. Even during the retreat, I had to call and explain things clearly because I knew them. I was afraid they would wait for me. When he came, they didn’t give him initiation. I had already told them that this was an exception. He didn’t have to wait for three months as it was a special case. When he arrived, they were to call someone to get him initiated right away and not make him wait too long. But they did it their way. It was like that.
We cannot always blame the governmental leaders or the central government because their “arms and legs” at the local level are too far-flung. Sometimes they have to use “remote control.” The leaders can’t always supervise all the local governments because of the distance. If the local governments don’t do a good job, they create a bad reputation for the central government or the leaders, and the citizens may become fearful. At one time, we heard, for example, that some government was very difficult, that the leader was very wicked, doing this and that. But when they went public, we got to know them, that they do things of a peaceful nature, good things. Then we knew, “Ah! All this time, we heard nonsense. It was not true! That man is gentle. His smile is like that of a child, very pure and good-natured. But for a long time, we heard that he was a very scary person. It’s not like that; he is also a human.” That is one example.
When I was young, it was wartime in Âu Lạc (Vietnam). Every day, I went to school, or sometimes I listened to the radio and heard this side slandering the other side. They said the other side was wicked, ruthless. We were terror-stricken. In those days, I sometimes went to the forest to visit my land on the mountain. Then I went to visit people for fun. And it happened on occasion that I found some cadres. At that time, they hid in the forest. Sometimes, they walked across the forest, and we met them unexpectedly. We saw them holding their rifles. Then we ran, ran for our lives because of all those slogans from this side and the other side. Not just the slogans but also those propaganda pictures that made people frightened, thinking that the communists from Hà Nội or in the North were horrible, like devils, not humans anymore. So scary like that! Especially for the young children. They were influenced by such propaganda. And when they grew up, they still didn’t know and didn’t trust one another.
Therefore, sometimes, when the so-called communists from the North came in, people were scared and ran away. It wasn’t that they opposed the government or wanted to make a revolution or anything. They were just scared, so scared! They had been brainwashed for a few decades. Usually, when two countries are at war, they each say that the other is very bad. This country says that one is evil; it’s like that. So the people were confused, especially the children. For decades, they had been shown such wicked images and disturbing slogans, so of course, they were afraid. Fortunately, the government allowed the refugees to return.
I also didn’t know at the time. Seeing people running away, I felt very sorry, so I helped them. It was not that I wanted to oppose the government. I was by myself; what for would I resist them? Being a spiritual person, what for would I fight, and how could I fight anyway? We practice spiritually. We are smarter now; we know it is all karma. We know that things like changing the government are also political. The political mood changes or the karma of sentient beings changes. We know that already. Why would we want a revolution? We just pitied them. For example, if the communists became refugees, I would assist them. And the foreigners, the refugees from the Middle East, I would aid them as well.
I would try my best to support anyone in need as much as possible, not just helping the Aulacese (Vietnamese). Because when we see them, we imagine: if we were in the same plight, how distressed, how very miserable would we be? When we think like that, we will love them like we love ourselves. It’s an instinctive reaction. We naturally feel the way they do. We sympathize with their suffering, so we have to help them. We don’t need to know if they are Aulacese (Vietnamese), or African, or European, or American. We do not even need to know. Why must we help them? It’s just because we cannot bear it. We find their situation intolerable. We put ourselves in their shoes, and we know right away. We cannot avoid wanting to serve them. It’s naturally like that.
But sometimes, it’s not easy for me to help the refugees. Sometimes, people misunderstand me. Those government officials misunderstood me. They forced me to leave the refugee camp. And I was just visiting. Other times, they made me sit outside in the sun for a very long time before I could see the refugees. And I was just visiting them; I carried no weapons. At that time, I was still wearing a nun’s robe. What could I do in a nun’s robe? Just a misunderstanding. I simply could not stop my love for them. It was like seeing your kids being sick. You cannot just stand there and do nothing. You try every means to help them, like caring for your kids. I pity those who are miserable like that. We love them the same way we love our own children. We must do all that we can and as much as we can. We will endure whatever hardship. It’s not a joy doing these things.
Many people think I used black magic to charm the refugees in order to make money. If I had black magic, I would enchant the millionaires, the billionaires. Why would I charm the refugees? The refugees had no money. To help them, I sometimes had to give them money or some small material things. What do you think? Is it logical or not? If I wanted money, I would enchant billionaires. If I had black magic and wanted to make money, I would find the billionaires, the millionaires, to charm them. What for would I cast a spell on the Aulacese (Vietnamese)? I can speak both Aulacese (Vietnamese) and Chinese. There are many rich Taiwanese (Formosan) who are very sincere and loyal. If I wanted to make money, you would not be sitting in these... I have been in Taiwan (Formosa) for 30 years. I have been preaching for over 30 years. You wouldn’t still be sitting outside under canopies like this by now. Over 30 years, and I have no house.
Some people just say whatever they want. That’s the problem. So, we misunderstand each other a lot, just like one government misunderstands the other government. Or the people misunderstand the administration, or the leaders misunderstand the citizens – all that. So, we have to be patient. There is no other way but to be accepting and tolerant. Be patient and practice more diligently to overcome the present obstacles. When we practice well spiritually, we can overcome anything.
OK, I will let you go to have your meal. We’ll see each other later, OK? Oh, there is a retreat from 22 to 28 (December), you already know it. If you have time, then come. There may be a better place for you. Because it would be very cold by that time. I am working very hard so that you can have a better place. After more than 30 years, we may finally have a better place. Everybody chipped in. I also chipped in. If I bought it all by myself, then I wouldn’t have any money left to do anything else. If I spent all my money to buy the ashram, there would be nothing left to do other things, no money to help those who are less fortunate than us.
I already told you, it’s not that I do not care about the Taiwaneses (Formosans) or the foreigners, but I think there are many people who suffer more than us. You come here for two or three days, one or two weeks, then you go back home. You have a home, a house. But refugees and disaster victims – they don’t know what to do. They lost all their possessions. Sometimes, their children, their parents, or their siblings all died. They are grieving, heartbroken. Those people we have to help. If we know, we must help. If we are unaware – well, we cannot comfort the whole world. But if we know where there is suffering, we have to help that place. You have been initiated already. You have something to lean on spiritually, a refuge to go back to for shelter. Even if it has a thatched roof, you have your own place. Otherwise, you can temporarily stay with fellow initiates. It’s not a very urgent situation where you have nothing to lean on, nowhere to go, no one to help you. It’s not like that. So, I use money to help them get through their challenging time. Whenever I think of those people, I cannot eat or sleep peacefully.
