I remember when I just started in Taiwan (Formosa), and it was a new year, New Year’s Eve. I had just finished a lecture and went back to my tent. At that time, we didn’t have land, we didn’t have a home, we didn’t have anything. I started… It grew so fast, I didn’t have time, I didn’t have money for my followers. So, some of the followers, they wanted to be monks and nuns, because I was wearing nun’s robe, and they followed me. They wanted to be the same, like renunciates. And so it was OK. We stuck together, but I didn’t have any money to do anything with them, no house. So, not even everybody had one tent. Did I tell you all this already, right? I did, no? (Yes.) Don’t make me repeat again boring stuff. (Not in English.) Huh? (Not in English.) Not in English? OK, alright. OK, OK. You still want to hear it? (Yes.) Alright, OK.
So anyway, not even everybody had one tent. I had one tent, of course. I’m the Master. Besides, I snore. No, I don’t. I guess I don’t, but who can tell? Nobody’s there to tell. So anyway, what we did ‒ three persons shared one tent, and it was very tight, but at least it was warm. And sometimes, you could walk by and know whose tent it was. Because if the toes stuck out, if you saw a bulky at the end, then it must be Tung, for example, or Tong whatever, those very tall guys. We put all the tall guys together, though, so you could see the tent was kind of bulging out, at one side or both sides, and you could make out immediately where was the head and where were the toes. It was very easy. So those days, it was like that. Why am I talking like that? Oh. OK, OK.
I came back from my lecture in Ping Dong, and we didn’t have land, so we camped on the riverside of Ping Dong. Mind you, we were lucky, because that river sometimes was just unpredictable. Any river… because any river, you never know where it comes from. So don’t ever pitch a tent on the riverbank, even though the water looks low and it’s not the rainy season. Because it might not be raining there, but it rained where it came from, and it could be a landslide, mudslide, and a torrent of water coming down, and we’d be in trouble. We’ve been lucky many times. And you have been there also once, but it was OK. I made sure that it was OK. But if you are alone or with a group of friends, don’t risk it. OK? Because I was sure that it was OK, of course, also a couple of lucks, and Master’s Blessing and God’s Love.
So I came there and came back to my tent, and we didn’t even have utensils to cook. Everybody followed me so fast. I didn’t have a… I wasn’t experienced. I didn’t have experience being a Master or having disciples following everywhere. So, I just bought more and more tents every day. Whatever, whoever came, if they had money, they bought a tent. If they did not have, whatever I had, I bought tents for them, and three or four shared it. And then, we didn’t even have utensils, so we lighted a bonfire, collected wood, and we roasted potatoes and apples and whatever, and ate. And some disciples at that time just also came to see me. They followed – OK, I welcomed them, and we roasted potatoes together, and we drank tea, and talked about how good the potato tasted.
And that’s it. This guy went home and criticized me. He sat there and criticized already, “What kind of Master is this? Sits here and talks about potatoes.” I hadn’t eaten all day, all of us, and we had been working and all that. And that was New Year’s Eve! We were supposed to have vegan rice dumplings, vegan steamed buns. Bread, (vegan) pudding, sumptuous meal. If we didn’t have vegan chicken, at least we had vegan beef, or whatever. Nothing. We just roasted something to eat, and corns and other stuff. And he sat there and criticized. Can you imagine? But we do that. We do that. When we’re new, we’re too idealistic. He followed me from the lecture, [was] eager to learn some more because he had good experiences. It was Tung. I tell you the secret. He confessed later. Now I tell you like this, maybe you share some of his karma, otherwise that guy is no help. Oh, he doesn’t mind. He likes it. He shared it openly, though.
He was idealistic. He kept looking for many years, and he was going to temples, was a monk temporarily and all that, but he never found anything. But he went to my lecture just once, and his sickness was healed immediately, and he felt warm currents all over his body, and he sat there in samadhi. And he listened to my lecture. He read the book – the Sample Book at that time. That was all we had: a sample book. And he felt, “My God! My God!” He couldn’t believe in this world there’s still a Master like this. So he went immediately, even though he was very busy. He was the only son working in that family, and the family relied heavily on him for the farm that they had. And he could actually not afford to leave at all. He could never leave his house, but he said he couldn’t care less. He had to go.
And then he experienced such a good thing. He used to have pain in his arm all the time from milking the cow- and the goat(-people), and it was so painful, and he could not even move his fingers. And it’s been for a long time, and nothing could cure him. But he went to the lecture, and the warm currents ran all over his arm and his body, and then it was done, gone. And then he went into samadhi. That’s how he liked it so much. And then he rushed. He ran after me. We normally don’t invite people there. We had only a few tents. My God, [there was] already three in one. How many more can we accommodate? So we did not invite anybody, but he ran with us. He came following, and another one also. And then instead of thanking me, or whatever the blessing Power that runs through me, he sat there and didn’t even want me to eat the potato. He wanted more Buddha. He wanted more of his Buddha.
Well, of course he was very eager to learn, and who can blame him? But just think of how dangerous it is to be a Master. You couldn’t even eat a potato on New Year’s Eve, when everybody has a house party, and drink and eat. He forgot all about that. He was so eager. You cannot blame him, of course. But sometimes, being too eager can make you blind. So take it easy, relax. That’s how the Buddha will come to you. My God, any Buddha would be scared to come to Tung. I would. No? If you’re so eager like that, my God. So take this for a lesson. Be cool. That’s what they say in America. “Be cool, man. Be cool.”
My bird(-person), one of my pet bird(-people), ran away once. I told you yesterday, a small one. Yeah. She ran away. She wanted to experience the world. OK, and I’m happy. I said, “If that’s God’s Will, it’s good. I originally intended to free all of you anyway, and if you can be free, it’s cool. Just go.” But, by the way… because people told me that these bird(-people) are born in captivity, and they’re fed by human hands since they were babies, and they look upon you as another bird(-person) mother. Yes. In fact, one of my bird(-people) told me that I’m a beautiful bird(-person). No, I’m not kidding. I’m not kidding. Yeah. He said he likes my attendant because he’s very soft-spoken, but he likes me because I’m a beautiful bird girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m not kidding.
You can talk to them. You can talk to them, but you have to go down levels, and it’s more tiring. Only do it in an emergency. Any of you here can talk to animal(-people)? Raise [your] hand. You can? No, I don’t mean just talk blah blah blah, but talk inside. He can talk back to you? You both can do it? Cool. Then you understand what I said. Anyone else? Yeah, that’s good. Come here, come here. Come here. Come here. I’ll let you talk to my bird(-people) later and verify what I said, that I’m a “pretty bird(-person),” that I am. Yes. Now you be careful. If you don’t like me, somebody likes me already as a bird(-person). Because he said I wear colorful things – you know bird(-people), they love colors. The parrot family, they love colors. I wear sometimes colorful necklaces for them to peck on. They love that. Anyway, so you know what I mean, I’m not kidding.
So anyway, this bird(-person), she went out, she enjoyed. She liked to enjoy the view and all that. But by the way, people told me they were born in captivity, and they cannot survive outside so easily. One of the persons made an experiment with a hundred parrot(-people). One hundred, he fed, but he let a wild parrot(-person) integrate with these hand-raised parrot(-people), home-raised parrot(-people), so that he can teach them from the beginning how to survive before he lets them out in the wild. But out of one hundred parrot(-people) that went out, only one survived. (Oh!) Therefore, I worried for this bird(-person). Of course, I can tell her to come home, but I cannot force her. So we distributed flyers everywhere. She flew far, but then came back one and a half days later. (Oh.) Yeah. And the reason we couldn’t find her is because she said, “You guys are so nervous and anxious. I am so scared. What’s the problem?” So she was even nearby. She wouldn’t let us know.
So of course, I know where she is, but I just couldn’t see her. I knew where she was, and we went in that direction. And sure enough, some people called us later and confirmed that he saw her there. And she even came down to a bicycle person, and he had her in his hand. Everybody saw it. But then she flew again. No, she’s very friendly. Of course, she can fly onto you or anybody. But then she’d fly away again. And I was in the correct place, in the correct direction. Just she hid, so we couldn’t find her. And then she said it’s because we are nervous. We’re too anxious. We come on too strong. The energy was too sharp, too frightening, so she didn’t dare to respond. But she came back alone later. She didn’t go back home, she went next door. “Quickie! Quickie!” And I heard her, I said, “Ah!” I sent the assistant and said, “Come here. She’s over there.” And sure enough she was there. But when she saw us standing there, she acted like nothing happened. She didn’t even look at him, but squawked very loud though: “Quickie! Quickie! Quickie! Quickie! Quickie!” But don’t look at... “Quickie! Quickie!”
And when she came home, we fed her, she didn’t eat. Like, “OK, I ate out already.” But when we came inside the room, and looked outside, oh, she ate like crazy. My God. Eat, drink, eat, drink, eat, drink. My goodness! Back and forth, back and forth. Oh, I looked at her, and I felt tired for her. My God, so quick! ‘Choop, choop, choop, choop.’ Eat, drink, eat, drink, like this. As if there’s no chance anymore after, like you’re going to die without food. And I walked out, I said, “My God, you enjoy! I’m glad you enjoy the food, honey!” And she stopped, like, “Ahem.” She stopped and looked around in the air somewhere. “Oh, [the] weather is nice.” “Quickie, Quickie!” Nothing happened. And I went back in the house again and peeped through the window: ‘Chaak, chaak, chaak, chaak, chaak!’ Eat, drink, eat, drink, eat, drink! Oh, so crazy! I can’t believe this! I cannot believe bird(-people) are like that! I mean, I do know they are beings like us. I do know they have intelligence and soul. But still, still to my brain, to my mind, she’s a bird(-person). And still, cannot be as crafty as us human beings, but my, no, no, no. They are, they are, they are. And my dog(-people) as well, they teach me a lot, a lot. Yeah, yeah, cool. You do that? I like that.
So the more you study them, the more you have to respect all beings because they really do know. They really do know. Many things they know that I’m surprised. (Yes.) They play like they don’t know; they don’t care, because they want to play bird(-people) and dog(-people). But when they have to defend for their own, or whatever, like for example, “You like a vegan bone, honey?” “Oh yeah, oh yeah,” and then run to where the vegan bone is and stay there. How do they know? What does vegan bone mean to them? They know anything. Normally, I’d say, “Come here, come here.” And if they’re playing, they don’t want to come. But if I say, “You want to go out?” “Oh yeah, yeah.” [They] run, run, run, run immediately, to the leash or to wherever, the door, and wait for you. And don’t tell me they don’t know.
They know everything. You know why? Even though they don’t understand English, when you speak to them – even if you don’t have the ability to converse with animal(-people) – when you speak to them, you form a picture in your mind somehow, and that picture is what they get. (Right.) You see what I mean? (Yes.) So they understand you. They do understand perfectly what you say, except when they ignore you, they don’t want to understand. And that’s a different thing. I forgot what they all do to tell you, but they’re really intelligent. (Yes.) They really understand and do it appropriately.
Photo Caption: We Seem To Be Small, But We Came From the Giant
