You do more Quan Yin (meditation on the inner Heavenly Sound), OK? I observed that mostly you just sit there and do a lot of (inner Heavenly) Light, and don’t do the (inner Heavenly) Sound. The (inner Heavenly) Sound will make you more comfortable, have less sickness, also even physically, because you feed back to your body, recycle your energy. Most energies are lost through outer apparatus. So, when you sit in the Quan Yin position, you recycle it. You withdraw all the energy within and not too much is wasted outside. […]
Now, in our meditation place, we don’t have many rules. But come to think about it, it’s like rules. And then after I die, maybe people would say, “Well, if you want to be a ‘Ching Hai-ist’ Bodhisattva, then you have to bring your back leaning chair, or Quan Yin chair.” Or what else? (You have to eat three times a day.) Eat three times a day. “You have to eat (vegan) candies, and you have to take (vegan) cough drops, cough candies, and you have to have popcorn.” For example. And even maybe they will prescribe what kind of (vegan) candy you have to take. Probably new rules, like, “(vegan) lollipop is a must.” “‘Mr. Tom’ is a must,” whatever that is. And maybe some more rules like… Because some outside people, they wouldn’t know, they’d say, “The candy has to be wrapped from both sides, twisted like this and not like that.”
Some rules are really ridiculous, I’m telling you. Like, don’t cover the rice with vegetables, or don’t cover the vegetables with rice. Because some people like to eat more rice than vegetables, some people like to eat more vegetables than rice, so they want to make sure that they have equal share for everybody, that became a rule. They call it “precepts” really, very important. Precepts are more important than rules even. Just like the “Five Precepts”; that is a must. Did anybody cover vegetables with noodles? Or vice versa, here? Then you broke the rules! No good! Not a good Buddhist.
My God, if I read all those rules for you, it’ll be very long. For example like that. “And you have to have a cloth, because of the...” Right now, we make something like this from “SM Clothing.” (Yes.) How wide, how long and probably they will measure all that. “And it has to be exactly that size.” And all this color we make now, “It has to be exactly that color.” Oh, dear! And there will be rules “you cannot stretch your legs,” or “you might stretch your legs now and again, like five times every hour” or something like that, and no more. Do you understand now what rules are made for? For humans, for the gathering.
And last night I told you, I discovered why we have to cross legs; because we don’t have room to do otherwise. You have to room whatever you have with you. Room it all, so we can have a little bit more room. Room it. But also, if you sit on the floor, the best is to cross your legs. It’s more balanced that way, so you can sleep more peacefully. You don’t fall easily. Right? OK. In India, the yogis, they meditate like this as well. I know why now. It’s also balanced. Suppose you fall this side, “uh!” You fall this way, “uh!” This one will act like a balancing column. Yeah, like this you look like a built house, the pyramid. You see this? Then you never fall anywhere. My God! What clever people.
But you do more Quan Yin (meditation on the inner Heavenly Sound), OK? I observed that mostly you just sit there and do a lot of (inner Heavenly) Light, and don’t do the (inner Heavenly) Sound. The (inner Heavenly) Sound will make you more comfortable, have less sickness, also even physically, because you feed back to your body, recycle your energy. Most energies are lost through outer apparatus. So, when you sit in the Quan Yin position, you recycle it. You withdraw all the energy within and not too much is wasted outside. So, crossing legs is also for one of these reasons.
One of the reasons you cross the legs is to preserve the energy. Really. Well, if you know something about like white magic, they would advise you to do something like that too, even if they’re not a yogi or anything. One of the protections the white magicians do is: when they sense or when they see some bad aura or energy from other people who sit in front of them, they will cross their legs and maybe cross their hands as well, if they can.
So, actually it is natural also, when you don’t feel like talking or something, when you feel defensive, you cross your arms too. (Yes.) It’s kind of closed-in. And when you feel lovely, hah! You see? When you want to greet somebody with heart, you just open your arms, the gesture of defenselessness. No defense, open. But when you feel bored or you don’t like the person, you tend to just cross your arms. And when a man crosses his arms, it means he’s not interested in you, so please go find another man. It seems to be that way.
So even though you don’t know why you cross your legs, it’s good. And Quan Yin (meditation on the inner Heavenly Sound) is even more, more conserving of the energy. It’s good for you also, physically, psychically, everything, alright? But if you are tired, of course you stretch your legs a little bit. Do it, whatever, as long as you can meditate well and enter samadhi, it’s fine. Position is not really that important. Just physically speaking, it helps. It helps to preserve also the physical energy, and helps you stay more well and more healthy.
In the morning, or after the Quan Yin meditation, if you look into the mirror, you’ll see yourself with all very clean skin, pinkish, bright eyes. Yeah, when you cover yourself and do Quan Yin for a while, and you go look in the mirror; it looks like your skin has renewed itself. Or not? Did you ever look, (Yes.) Chocolate? Have you seen in the mirror that your skin has become less chocolate and become more like milky coffee? Or maybe more dark chocolate, smoothie chocolate? Have you ever tried? (Yes.)
You feel different, you look different. (Yes.) You look bright and smooth; you’re glowing, after some time of Quan Yin. Quan Quang (meditation on the inner Heavenly Light) also, but Quan Yin, it’s more obvious. Whenever you cover yourself and meditate alone on Quan Yin (inner Heavenly Sound), and then if you happen to go into the bathroom and have a look, you look different. Your skin looks new, and more tender, and you glow with pink and everything, even if you never had pink color before, and your eyes sparkle. Anyway, there are some techniques and technique does really help, helps you stay young. But there is one “bad” point about it. That means you die (looking) young. But who cares. Better to die (looking) young, and pretty. (Die pretty.) What? Who said what? (I just said, “Die pretty.”) Die pretty, that’s right. Die pretty. We don’t ever “die” anyway. We forget about that already, we don’t care.
Oh, it looks so ugly. Don’t take pictures of this. (Master.) Huh? (What was that?) I forgot what it was. It’s for the pain of the arm. I’ve had it for a long time, and I didn’t take good care. So today, they gave me some hot pad to speed up the recovery. So, makes me stronger, then I can go take care of the world out there, and move mountains, for example. Small mountains. So you feel a little better now? (Yes.) Freshened up a little bit. Anybody want to say something? You feel “itchy”? Mouthy? If not, then we meditate again, if you don’t have any questions, spiritual questions, meditation questions. I guess not. If you can sit well, I’m sure you’re already very highly advanced people. No? I feel you are pretty cool though. For example, I can feel the people who meditate a lot, or who mostly come to group meditation, they really are different. And who ever opens their mouth and asks some questions, I know that he doesn’t go much to group meditation.
Those people who don’t come to group meditation, they have an edge around them, and you are more round. At least you rub each other every day and then you become more smooth. But people don’t come here... Because sometimes you go to group meditation, you also talk about each other’s little problem here and there, and then you smooth it out, that is physically speaking. And then you meditate a lot, your wisdom also grows, and you become more placid, more simple, wiser. The people who don’t come to group meditation often, they ask questions like: “Master, can You repeat the Five (Holy) Names? I forgot already.” “What does the Second Level look like?” “Can You bless my leg?” For example like that. These kinds of people, they come sometimes just for fun or just for material benefit, and I really don’t feel very comfortable with that.
If you meditate well, the spiritual benefit comes, and it breeds also physical benefit, material benefit too. You know that. (Yes.) It happens. It’s easier that way. Why become a beggar all the time? Earn your own money, man. That’s like that. No matter how hard you earn it, it’s better. Why you go begging? Those people who beg for material gain from a spiritual person, they’re also like a beggar outside, it’s just they don’t beg for money. And it is not the dignified thing to do, for a saint like you guys. Bear it, bear it in silence, and then everything will smooth out by itself. It is like that. There’s no other way to do it.
OK. If you don’t have any questions, then you can go back to “sleep.” I’m really thankful for your effort. You made it. You have come from a long way, with your long legs. From the stiffness you come and sit and control them and make them sit like this for hours on end. You’re really a master of yourself already. That’s pretty cool! That’s really cool. Especially for the Westerners, you’re not used to it. You’re more used to a table, sitting on a chair, and you’re not used to sitting crossed legs at all because your legs are so long also. You don’t know where to cross them either.
Photo Caption: Nature Is a Natural Beautifier, Now and Later.
