So, can you now please introduce this great lady who had benefited hundreds, thousands of people last night in her program? (We were very honored when we were trying to make contact with the press to tell them that the Master was in town. Generally, the press likes fires and ambulances and...) Or murders. (Things that sell newspapers) Yes, yes. (and TV time. When I told the press about Master, they assigned a special reporter, apparently, to cover the Master. This was Channel 13 News… I’m introducing her. Channel 13 News, one of our best channels in town.) OK. (And the director called me back and said, “I’m assigning Elma Barrera to interview the Master.” And I had no idea why until we got there. And apparently, Elma Barrera was familiar with the teachings of Yogananda, and she has been familiar with the teachings of Yogananda for some time...) (Four years.) Four years, yes. (And coincidentally, a reporter earlier that day for a radio channel, who was also familiar with the teachings of Yogananda,) It’s similar to our teaching, very much. (did a beautiful interview of Master on the radio. And Elma did an outstanding job for Master and for everybody here on TV news. It was on twice last night and…)
For the Houston people, 200,000 at least were listening. (I don’t know how many people You reached.) Joe told me about 200,000. (Yes, I think it’s more than that.) More than that. (Fortunately, we’re number one.) Joe told me. (We’re number one, and so we reach more people than any other television station. So…) I’m sure it must be more. And you played it twice. Later, I think you play it for them, have a look. (Excuse me. I have a tape, yes.) Yes. (I’ll bring it to group meditation.) The videotape. (Well, before you do that, I need to tell you that it’s very short.) Never mind. It’s so compact. (But I did a 15-minute interview with Her because I was very interested in things.) Yes, you did.
(And She did a wonderful job of answering the questions, and I interviewed a follower right there.) Yes. (I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.) Yes. (And because I asked Her, “Why are You so wonderful?” And She couldn’t answer. And I kept asking Her things about Herself, and She was too shy, you know how She is sometimes. She doesn’t want to talk about Herself. So, I had to have someone else tell me why She is wonderful, and she did a very good job. And unfortunately, I only had 22 seconds. And so that’s all.) But it was so compact. (She was only 22 seconds on the air and a little bit more that the anchor read, and that was it. And I apologize, and the next time that I own Channel 13, it’ll be more time.) It’s OK. But everybody was so begeistert (impressed), so impressed because in such a short time, you packed everything in. And when I listened to that, you made me feel like a giant, a spiritual giant.
(She didn’t tell you one thing. They put [Supreme] Master Ching Hai literally right after the Pope, which was excellent.) They did it on purpose. I don’t know why. Have I anything to do with the Pope? I have popcorn, though. I’m sorry, honey, that you have to squeeze together. It won’t be long. We’ll buy land soon. Now we’re big enough. We need a bigger place, right? Hey, in Texas, you can find it, right? You can find a place. Easy, huh? (Yes.) Find some place around with trees and all that. Not necessarily in the city because it’d be more noisy. Maybe a little bit far. What’s that? (They’ve been waiting for this so long.) Oh.
(Master, I’d like to also introduce You to a new disciple You have not met yet.) Yes. (She… I tried to get her to come with me to Denver to get initiated) Yes. (when my family flew to Denver.) Yeah. (Unfortunately, her husband is not on the path, to say the least,) Oh, what path? (and would not allow her to go to Denver.) Oh. (So this time, when You were coming into town, and You were going to come in on the 7th and You were going to leave on the 11th, it was perfect. She was going to be here, and she was going to leave on the 11th with You.) Right. (Instead, You came in on the 11th and she went to Denver on the 11th and was not going to come back until after You left.) And then what happened now? She’s here. (As soon as she found out You were going to be here, she changed all her plans just like You did.) Again? (She flew in specially for this initiation, and she is here. And she is…) One of another hero. Come here and let everybody see. I have a gift for her. A small gift, for children. Congratulations. (Thank You, Master.) You did the right job. (I also thank…) (I left my daughter in Denver.) Your daughter is here? (No, she’s in Denver.) Oh. (I take her to see university in Denver.) Oh. (And so, I left her there and came from the early flight this morning.) Yes. I’m sorry this place’s too small. (I also found You through her indirectly.) Is that right? But she came after you. You can sit here. Sit here, sit here. That’s a place. Yeah. Sit, just sit anywhere.
(There’s another lady here who came here for the first time because You were kind enough to come to brunch,) Who? (and I invited her to brunch.) I remember her. And left in the afternoon. One more lady, is she here? The one who was sensitive? (No.) Not here? (Oh, yes, she came, but after three hours she had to get home.) Oh. (We’re going to get her next time.) It’s OK, it’s OK. She was coming and then something... (She came,) Too late. (but she couldn’t have too much time away. She couldn’t be away from her family that long.) OK, OK. Where’s your daughter? (She left her there.) Why? She’s not a baby. (She’s half-initiated, so she would have...) (Do You want more questions from her?) No. She could have been here. Why? Half-initiated can be here, also she’s not a baby. Why didn’t you let her come? (Well, she was going to come tomorrow and do the group meditation, when everybody can come in the house.) OK, OK. Never mind, this is what she demanded from me. (Is this for her really?) Yeah. (Oh.) And this is for you.
(I’d like to say one other thing. George, who is a black belt in Hapkido.) Oh yeah? (His master couldn’t come to brunch for a number of reasons, but we were fortunate enough for George to come, and he got initiated today too.) Yes, that guy, the Korean. You be careful. I told you I learned Shaolin (kung fu) when I was 14, didn’t I? But I’ve never practiced, so… If you hit me, I’m going to run fast. OK.
(There’s one last person I’d like to introduce to You.) Yeah. (She came here just after You left Denver. And she’s been just earnestly waiting for You, and were waiting for her 90 days to be up.) Where? (And she made it this time.) Oh. You did? From Denver? No, I left Denver and then you waited until now. What is it? (Houston. No, no, she’s been here in Houston, but she just missed Your Denver trip.) Oh. I understand. (And this is the first time You’ve been close enough.) You can sit here if you want to.
I’m sorry for you Westerners with your long legs. I promise. (And sore bottoms.) Well, you can sit here if you want to, honey. Yes. I’m very sorry for you, but the more so I respect and love you. That’s why I spoil you Westerners sometimes, and I make my other practitioners “jealous”. I would never go to any Aulacese (Vietnamese) house privately to have dinner or lunch. I don’t even hold anybody’s hands or talk to anybody’s daughter all day long, and no children sit with me all day long like yesterday. You see, any Asian children can sit there, except you two. The Western children sometimes I spoil them, and you know why. You know why. They have long legs. That’s why. And they have to sit on the floor like you, and they suffer so much. Last time we had... You don’t have to sit cross-legged. You sit however you like just for the time being, please. I think we have to buy some chairs. (Yes.) (Yes.) Why don’t you bring your own chairs? Yes. Maybe you bring just a small kind of chair that you can sit up a little bit when you don’t feel like crossing your legs. Because a small chair is convenient. Then you can sit sideways or behind that you don’t obscure other people’s vision. Whoever likes to sit on a chair, we can have probably a special chair section for the “chairmen.” And then we’ll have all the “chairmen” here. Alright?
Now, I sympathize with you, the long-legged people, because once I initiated one guy, he flew all the way from New York to Korea. At that time, I was on the World Tour, and I wasn’t in the United States. So, he flew to Korea to have initiation. And he was kind of like him. What’s your name? I forgot. (Moses. You said...) Oh, yes, Moses, yes. Just like Moses, kind of solid and robust and kind of an athlete type, hero type, likes to protect women and children, just like me. So, he is like that, and he is a businessman. He never sat on the floor before, during his 40, 50 years lifetime. So, he sat there three or four hours, and after he told one of my disciples – one of our fellow practitioners, his friend who brought him there – he said, “That is the most suffering time in my life.” He had a little bit big stomach, and he sat there like a Buddha. You know the big Buddha. And he said, “Whoa. That’s the most suffering three hours of my life.” He kept saying that all the time, and then the vegan diet and all that. And he’s a businessman.
Some of the businessmen, which are our initiates, they live in hotels. They don’t even live in a house, don’t have a house, or they don’t have time to live in a house. They live from one hotel after another because they fly all the time with the airplane, and they always change locations. So, they live in hotels, and it’s very difficult for them to eat vegan. But they stick to it. I’m very proud of these Westerners. If we, the Orientals, live like that, it is no big deal, right? We’re a little bit more used to it, or more comfortable with less. But the Western people, they’re more comfortable with their food and real chairs. And then they have to go through all this just because they want to be pure, and they want to know their own great Self. They want to be great again, to be of use to the society, and they go through all this. This is very worthy of our respect. So, I think all of you should take care of them, more than take care of me even. I hope.
And English class should be going on all the time, English class, so that you can communicate with the native people or anywhere. English is international. I told you last time in the meeting: Every (meditation) Center should set up English class, at different times, different days. You will see how you improve, if you practice. And don’t speak Aulacese (Vietnamese) together when you stick together. Try to speak English. Even broken, people like it. First it’s broken, and then they fix it. Even Hildegard, she doesn’t speak that great English. “What do you want? It’s wonderful. It’s not bad.” She speaks with a German accent, but it’s cute. We are foreigners. If we speak broken English or with a little bit slight accent, nobody minds. This thing is cute.
Actually, if you speak a very perfect English, people will be shocked. It’s kind of strange, kind of strange. Just like if he looks like an American like that, and he speaks Aulacese (Vietnamese) perfectly to you, like the guy yesterday, I felt kind of strange. I don’t expect him to speak such a perfect Aulacese (Vietnamese). It’s just like an Aulacese (Vietnamese) guy. He was from Aulacese (Vietnamese) newspaper. But he’s American. And he spoke Aulacese (Vietnamese) to me in a northern accent even. Wow. That even most of us don’t speak. There’s a perfect Aulacese (Vietnamese), just like you speak Oxford English or with Cambridge accent. And he spoke in that kind of language to me. And I felt kind of strange, shocked. If he spoke a little bit slightly lousy or broken, I would prefer that.
Yes, sometimes people surprise us. Like when I was in Germany, there was one guy, German, and he spoke perfect Chinese. And he was so proud of it that he always had to kind of squeeze in a few Chinese sentences to make me realize that he could speak Chinese. And he discussed grammar and all that, just like a Chinese person. He spoke with Peking accent. And that is shocking to me. He speaks with his rolling tongue and all that. “Yes, I’m full, too full.” And it felt kind of strange. I would rather he spoke a little bit with accent or lousy a little bit, but he spoke just like a Chinese. It’s “terrible.” So, you don’t feel worried when you speak imperfect English. People expect it. It’s only strange when you speak perfect English, like me. By the way, I don’t have any ego. Just to prove it.
Photo Caption: Not Flower, Just as Beautiful!
