And there’s one more thing. I think that ever since I started wearing ordinary clothes, the disciples who come to me are different. The ones who come to me now are of a little higher level, because they don’t pay attention to the physical aspects. They don’t get offended by [outside appearance]. They don’t see any of this as important. For them, the ultimate and only purpose for coming here is purely spiritual. They are blind now – blind and deaf to the physical aspects. They don’t see, don’t hear, don’t notice, don’t feel anything about it. They’re focused only on the spiritual path. Their level is higher, so this time I feel a bit more at ease. So now we continue on this path, continue on the road already set. At least they don’t pay attention to those useless things. The things that have nothing to do with the inner life of a person. (Yes.)
Alright, that’s basically it, done, debt paid. Can I go home now? Tomorrow. (Yes.) Tomorrow. See you. Alright, let me take a look a bit more, who hasn’t been looked at yet? Who haven’t I looked at? Raise your hands. Who haven’t I seen yet? You there, you’re too short, stand up! Oh my, so good looking for your age! No wonder you wanted me to look at you. Alright, I’ve seen you. Anyone else? (Come up.) You guys over there, stand up so I can look at you. The shorter ones. The tall ones can sit down. Alright, I see you, I see you, OK. OK? Anybody else? I keep seeing the same faces all the time, getting tired of it, yet you still keep raising your hands! OK. Just joking. It’s OK. Just joking, don’t get upset. Getting upset will reduce your blessings.
(I’ve been here for two years, Master.) What? (I’ve been here for two years already.) Two years is nothing. Aulacese (Vietnamese) have been waiting for decades, they haven’t met me. Or some Chinese, many of them in Mainland China have never seen me either. Huh? (This is my first time seeing You.) First time, that’s good. (I haven’t met You either.) (Thank You, Master, this is my first time meeting You.) First time? (Yes.) How does it feel? (Extremely happy.) Extremely happy? (Yes.) Ah, that’s good, OK. There are many people who haven’t seen me in person, but they’ve seen me inside. (Yes.) Especially the Aulacese (Vietnamese), they often see me inwardly during meditation. Including my own mother. “Bao qua” is an Aulacese (Vietnamese) word, right? (Yes.) It is? (It means “include.”) Oh, it means “include.” “Bao qua” is Chinese. Yes, “include.”
Sometimes, in painful and oppressive situations, people develop a sincere longing, and then their Buddha Nature awakens to bless them, making them enlightened and free inside. (Yes.) So those circumstances are not necessarily unfortunate, not at all. That’s why so many Aulacese (Vietnamese) people have seen my manifested form, while the Aulacese (Vietnamese) living in America are relaxed and “lazy.” Always wanting to see my physical body only, not even caring to look at the manifested form. That’s dependence. That’s why in the Buddhist scriptures, there’s a story about a father who worried for his children. He told them to take their vitamins, but they wouldn’t. Then one day, the father went away and spread the news that he wasn’t coming back and all that. Only then did the children begin to long for him, awaken, and look for the medicine their father gave them before. When they drank it, they were healed. It’s like that.
Sometimes, when a living Master’s body is impermanent, it’s actually a good thing. Because if a Master lived forever, people would become complacent. Our mind, our lower consciousness, that is, the subconscious. Is it called sub-consciousness? That means the part of us that we’re not consciously aware of but still functions on its own, that’s our subconscious, and it tends to be complacent. It says, “Ah, if I don’t see the Master today, I’ll see Him/Her tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the next day. If not the next day, then next month. If not next month, then next year. He/She’s always there, He/She’s not going anywhere.” So we lose our longing, we don’t have the sincere eagerness to find the Master within. We just depend on the outer Master instead, and because of that, our spiritual life doesn’t progress, you see? That’s why sometimes when I don’t come to see you often, it’s actually good for you. Even if someday I pass away, it’s still good for you. There’s nothing wrong; everything is good.
Every circumstance is good for us. Everything is arranged by God. Do you see? For example, take our country’s situation. The pain of war was real, and now the country isn’t free. So you left the country, but that was very miserable. But within that suffering, there are seeds of happiness, don’t you see? Otherwise, how could you be sitting here today, right? (Yes.) Right. So, what should we call it… “Rely on.” How to say in Aulacese (Vietnamese)? We tend to rely on our blessings. But we should always depend on the inner merit within ourselves, that’s the right way. Then no disaster can truly touch us. So even though the whole country suffered, you left safely, and now you sit here, always wanting to see the Master, and you still get to see me again and again. For example like that.
Not only that, but you also bring your blessings and the spiritual atmosphere from your practice to bless America, or whatever country you live in. You see, Americans here also practice, but only a little. Now that you’ve become American citizens, your practice brings happiness to America. America receives more merit. Not only does Âu Lạc (Vietnam) benefit because of your ancestral ties, but America also receives blessings from you. There aren’t that many Americans who come here to practice, right? It’s like that. Now that you’ve become American citizens, you’re helping the world. Aulacese (Vietnamese) people are everywhere now, so when they practice, they also help the countries where they live. They become citizens of that country and help it, because the people there don’t practice much, or their practice isn’t sincere. So you see, whatever God arranges is always good. But sometimes, within that arrangement, our ordinary human mind feels dissatisfied and says, “Oh, if I were God, I would do it differently right away.” “If it were me,” yeah, “I would mess everything up.” See?
Sometimes we even criticize God, saying Hes didn’t do things right. But in truth, it’s only because we don’t know the Truth. We don’t understand God’s true way, because we only look at the outside and not the inside. For example, a woman may be very beautiful, even a world beauty queen, but we only look at her shadow. How do you call it? (The shadow.) Her dark shadow stretches across the ground, so how could we truly know how beautiful she is? This world is just the dark shadow of the real world, you see? The shadow of a perfect, completely beautiful world. Usually, a shadow bends and twists, doesn’t it? Sometimes it’s half-covered, the head looks flat, the legs look long, and the middle part bends out of shape. The shadow of a person often gets distorted and doesn’t look like the real person at all. It was already not the same to begin with, yet it becomes even more deformed in many ways. So if we only look at the shadow, how can we say that person is ugly when she is actually Miss World?
It’s the same principle, the same truth. The life of this world is just a shadow, a dark reflection of the real world. That’s why when we meditate, we feel so happy. We see that there is no world, no disasters, nothing can touch us. We even feel as if our body disappears because we have entered the true world of the Creator, the perfect world without a single flaw or any suffering. We suffer only because we live in this false world, in the dark shadow. We criticize because we see the shadow twisting, stretching too long, or shortening, or flattening. But when we see the real person, the owner of the shadow, then we have the right to judge, understand? The real person is beautiful, nothing like the shadow. In the same way, the real world everywhere is the Buddha’s realm. That’s why sometimes when you sit even in the bathroom, you can see the Buddha’s realm appear, you can see this world as the Buddha’s land, right?
So, when Shakyamuni Buddha was still in the world, one of His disciples doubted and said, “Why does the Buddha seem to have no blessings? It’s said that wherever a Buddha dwells, that land becomes the Buddha Land, isn’t it? And the Buddha Land is supposed to be magnificent and pure. How can it be rough and dirty like this world? Shakyamuni Buddha is supposed to be the Lord of this land, yet why is His land so ugly? People say that other Buddha Lands up there are so beautiful.” Gold, what’s that called? (Paving the ground.) “The ground is paved with gold, the houses are made of diamonds, the ceilings of precious jewels. Why is this Buddha land so poor?” He doubted like that. So the Buddha let him see that the land appeared impure only because his own mind was impure. “When the mind is pure, the land is pure.” So, when he saw it, he naturally improved.
Therefore, those who haven’t practiced deeply or entered into the realm of great samadhi or the pure realm, you can only see the outer appearance. When we practice or enter deep meditation, we can see the inner realms. The outer world we see is just the shadow of the real realm. Inside, we perceive the true world, infinitely beautiful, and wherever we sit that becomes the true realm. That’s why it is said, “The Buddha is within the heart,” and that’s truly so. We bring the Buddha’s Realm here, or rather, this place is already the Buddha’s Realm. We see the copy, we see what? (The copy.) Yes, the copy, the replica of the real world. It’s only a shadow, yet we’re still so enchanted by it, so just imagine the original. Even just seeing a shadow, we might say, “Oh, that woman must be beautiful. Her nose seems high, it looks very high in the shadow. Her hair looks long,” and we’re already enchanted. So imagine when we actually see that person, the truly beautiful one. Once we’ve seen the real person, of course we no longer care about the shadow. Who would be so foolish. Already seen the real beauty inside the room but still insist on running outside to look at her shadow? There’s no such person, right? We certainly want to look at the real person.
In the same way, after we have become enlightened and seen even just a glimpse of the inner world, or fully entered that inner realm, even for a brief moment, we no longer wish to look at the illusory world outside. The false outer world no longer has any attraction for us, right? (Yes.) We just live and play here, that’s all. So we said that a true renunciate is one who has attained enlightenment. Only after enlightenment can one truly be a renunciate. Even if we don’t live in a temple, our mind remains pure. We may not shave our heads or wear monastic robes, but our heart no longer clings to the material world. We no longer have greed or desire. If we have a husband, wife, or family to care for, it’s only because it is our duty to do so. Yet our mind has no more craving, no private attachment, no feeling of wanting to possess anything. That is what a true renunciate is. Renouncing from the heart is more important than renouncing outwardly.
Nowadays, I find external renunciation too troublesome. Every time I go through the airport, it becomes too complicated, so I gave up on that. Inner renunciation is eternal, while outer renunciation we change just like a robe or an outfit, very fast. So now I don’t talk about renouncing or lay practice anymore. Sometimes, it’s because you cling too much to outer appearances, always insisting on having a so-called renunciate present. But those renunciates aren’t necessarily at a higher level than you. In fact, sometimes when you hear the renunciates reporting their spiritual experiences, they’re very low. Sometimes I can barely hold myself from covering my mouth in surprise. So when we’re still attached to something, it doesn’t mean anyone is blaming or criticizing us, but it shows that our level isn’t very high yet. That’s just for us to observe ourselves, to self-reflect and make gradual progress. Whatever shortcomings we have, we should cut them down, that’s all. So we’ll know ourselves and become our own teacher. Who else could be our teacher now? That’s all. Alright then, everyone, sleep well.
Photo Caption: A Physical Being Can Overflow by God’s Blessing (all no pain materials & food)
