“Reunion of the Souls” Lecture by Supreme Master Ching Hai Auckland, New Zealand - April 27, 2000



Hallo.

Thank you so much! God bless you! I am very, very touched and honored. Thank God for giving me this chance to visit your beautiful land and getting to know your beautiful races of people, and thank you for coming.



Yes, I guess everybody's very touched, so I also thank the New Zealand brothers and sisters who have been working very hard to make this beautiful evening a special memory. Thank you, and God bless your land, your people, and bless all the wishes that you have in your dream.



I think you know why you are here. Everyone wants to know what God is and everyone wants to know where we come from, and that's the reason why we came here actually. That's the reason why we came to this planet, the so-called planet, physical planet, even though at the same time we are connected with Heaven, and spiritual planets, if we call that. But because we have forgotten the connection, so, many of us, or most of us, have just recognized this physical presence and this physical life we call human life.
 
 
In fact, we are not just human, we are also spiritual beings - we are highly developed beings. At the same time we are living here, we are also living in different levels of consciousness - we are also doing so many great things - but it is difficult for most of us to realize that. Our ancestors, for example, the ancestors of the Maori people that you have just seen, that they have sung so beautiful songs so spiritually developed, so highly elevated, so `souly' songs, because our ancestors have known a different level of spirituality than some of us do today.
 
 
But we still can develop this quality again... Not really develop - we still can remember it again, because what we once had we will not lose it; it's just sometimes we forget. So, in order for us to remember, we should... I will give you some practical experience after I explain a little, if you would like to, because if we experience it ourselves, it's better than thousands of theoretical words.
 
 
But I feel I should introduce it a little bit, even though God is not to be explained in language. But just like the Maori ancestors, they have known God, they have known spiritual levels that exceed our language, that go beyond our ordinary understanding, therefore, they could express themselves in poetry, in music, in songs, which are so beautiful, so out of the ordinary, and so touching to the soul when you hear it. It is because they express their own inner level of enlightenment.
 
 
For lack of this inner enlightenment, or because of forgetting this inner enlightenment and our true Selves, we often cannot express ourselves in beautiful ways, in the way that we would like ourselves to express and we sometimes could not behave or react in such a way that we would like ourselves to do. It is because we have forgotten the inner connection.
 
 
We have forgotten that our lives, our so-called being, is greater, greater, longer and higher and more, more, more, more, more multiple faces, multiple qualities, multiple expressions than just this physical being that we know ourselves to be; we have forgotten that. For example, for example, the whole being here is me, like, from head to toe, yes, the whole being. I am not just the toe, I am not just the finger, I am not just the forehead - the whole being is me, but if I just remember my toes or my fingers, then I am not complete.
 
 
Then it's not me, it's not complete. Similarly, if we just remember that we are a physical human being, then we are not complete. I am here today with the honor of God's permission and endowment to remind us, our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and little brothers and little sisters, that we should remember our whole being, and I'll show you how. It is very simple to remember, more simple than breathing, more simple than eating. Breathing, sometimes we have difficulty. If we have a blocked nose, we can't breathe. Eating, if we have indigestion, we can't eat, or if we don't have enough money to buy food, we're also in trouble.
 
 
But spiritual wealth is always there. We always have it. It's just we're too busy looking at the outside, remembering our physical body, taking care of too much mundane duties. The world makes us very, very concentrated in the physical and material aspects that we have hardly time to remember our 99% of our being, which is higher, greater, more powerful, more miraculous, more wondrous, more everything... more holy, more divine, more beautiful, more happy, more blessed,
more blissful - everything that is Godly, that is us.
 
 
All the teachers have come here, they told us like that: that we are the temple of God and God lives here, God lives there. So all we see here are God, or at least God's manifestation, individually, differently. But we have forgotten that God quality, that God Nature of ourselves. We just remember this small part of our being which is the human side of ourselves, just like because I like this ring so much, I keep looking at the ring and I just remember this finger all the time and I forgot everything else about myself.
 
 
And this is not how we should do it. So that is why we don't know God, because we have forgotten to look where we should look. That is all. That is why we often tell people “enlightenment is immediate” because you are already there. Suppose I am sitting here and I'm looking at the finger now. How long does it take me to know myself, if I don't look here? How long does it take me? One second, right? Not even.
 

As long as I don't look here, I remember again, “Ah! Here I am! All of this is me!” Yes! It's very simple; therefore, no one is your teacher. I'm not coming here to be your teacher, because you are already divine. I had also forgotten. At the age of three or four, we begin to forget.



If we do not try to remember the great being that we truly are, then we will forget, and that's why it is very easy to forget; and also, it is easy to remember. I am coming here to remind you of the good news that I have remembered, that I have remembered myself. So we can all remember anytime we want, and should we choose to stay in forgetfulness, this is also fine. It is also fine because you are divine, you are God.
 
 
I'm sorry if I might shock you in any way, but that's what you are. If you don't believe me, look back in the Bible. And the Buddhist scriptures say “you are a Buddha,” “Buddha Nature is inside you.” The Bible says God lives within this temple, so who is in there? Who else, except God? If we are only the temple and God is the only one who lives in there, who are we then, except we are God? Okay, we don't remember, fine, but we still are God.
 
 
So, whatever we choose to do, the God of all Gods that we are, respects that. The Father of all of these beings, which we are, respects our wish and our choice to live, to express our divine Selves in whichever way we want. That is why Jesus told us we do not judge people, because we do not know what is the path that being has chosen to walk. He does his things so that he may come to know God in a different way: he might choose to be a seemingly bad person; he might choose to be a seemingly very lowly person; he might choose to be, seemingly, a very so-called immoral person, but that is his way of knowing the divine.
 
 
By choosing to be unGodly, he will one day know that this is not him; he has to go back and learn the whole being again. Because if we always stay in Heaven and we are God all the time, we will not recognize ourselves as God. So we need to lower ourselves, for example, come down to this physical level so that we can once again recognize the greatness of ourselves. That is our choice, and that's why we came here.
 
 
So the answer to our question, “why we are here?” is because we want to know God. So when we feel that the time is up, it's the time that we choose to remember ourselves again, that is the time when we come to seek out spiritual friends, spiritual groups or maybe spiritual teachers, as we call them, so that we can remember quickly.



Because we have forgotten how to remember and where to look for, so some friends who had already remembered himself or herself may be able to help us, and then we recognize that we are nothing else but the Supreme Being, but God. We recognize the Supreme Being that lives, that is housed within this body. But actually, Hes is not housed within the body; Hes houses our body.
 
 
But then again, because spiritual terminology is never a very exact science, so no matter how much a teacher tells us about God, how eloquently a spiritual friend might express about the divine being within ourselves, we cannot just understand by listening. So the spiritual friend or teacher or the guide or a friend has to show us practically, not just theoretically.
 
 
For example, when Jesus came to our planet, he taught his disciples both ways - theoretical way and practical way - and that's why later his immediate disciples could also do wonders, could also see Heaven, could also hear the voice of God - the Word of the Creator - could also see the Light of Heaven, could ascend to Heaven and even see the angels or see the Father.
 
 
The Father spoke to them like the Father spoke to Moses; and the angels also spoke to them. Likewise, we could do that, because as great as Jesus' disciples, we are also great. We and Jesus' disciples are the same, equally, because Jesus said to us that we are all children of God. But because we have forgotten, so, sometimes one friend, two friends have to come to remind us; but only when we are ready, because if we are not ready, no one can do much for us.



*In the last days, many false Christs will appear, (Again?) showing great signs and wonders so as to lead, if possible, even the elite astray. How, without being initiated, can one tell whether you are true or false?

You can't. You can't tell whether I am true or false. So it's up to you.

*Thank you.

You are welcome. Okay, just one moment... Of course... but there are some little things that you can tell. For example - not because of me - if you meet a Master, you immediately feel something. All right? Or you don't. Either you feel something good about that person or you don't. We do have this intuition.
 
 
Even sometimes we see a stranger in the street, we feel like, “Yes, she gives me good vibes. She's lovely, she must be a good person,” and some person we just see for the first time, we feel kind of... we don't want to talk to that person; we're a little scared. Yes, we have this intuition. Or else, we come home and pray to God, “Please, God let me know who is the good one!” Yes? And then you follow your heart. No one else can tell you. You can only tell me from the outside, but inside you cannot.
 
 
Unless you go into a higher spiritual level, then you can see me, like a mirror; but from human to human standard, you cannot see anything. I am not here to prove to you that I am good or bad. I am here to tell you that you are great, you are good, and if you follow my instruction, you will feel, you will see, you will know that you are great, you are good.


You'll feel that you are great, that you know God; and suppose you don't feel like that, you can always leave. I don't charge any money, I don't follow you to your house, I don't call you at all. I'll be gone tomorrow, and you'll be lucky to ever catch me again, so don't worry that I am bad or good. Follow your instinct; learn to know, to remember your greatness. That's what I am here for; not here so that you think I'm great, okay? That's a different question. I am here to show you that you are great, yes? And if you want to know your greatness, then just follow my instructions; not follow me, follow my instructions, okay?



*Should our children be vegetarians, too, Master? Thanks!

If they wish to be, yes. Because children also have souls and they are also God, so if they wish to be, that means they're okay. If they don't wish, we cannot force children, or adults or anyone. We can only talk logically and reasonably, and if they want to, they can be. They should be, because children who are vegetarians are very healthy.


Look at her! She's so beautiful. She looks like a movie star and she's a vegetarian, no? Is she not beautiful? Our fellow initiates, when they are pregnant, the babies are vegetarians from the mothers' wombs already. And when they are born, they're the most beautiful babies, if you compare to other babies nearby. They are born pinky, healthy, and other children, sometimes they are born blue, and purple. Yes! Really! No, you go and take a look at the newborn babies; sometimes they're so blue, so dark. But our children are always born pinky, healthy and cry the loudest.


 

*What can I do to keep up meditation daily, when there's not enough waking hours in a day?

Cannot wake up? (Yes.) Yes, me too! Nobody likes to wake up when we're snug in bed, but we have to try, yes? Suppose if you have to get up to work, then you must. You must! For like, $2,000 per month, you wake up every morning... five o'clock, yes? For God, you don't wake up! So what am I to do? So make your own priority choice. We can wake up a little earlier than usual, and then get used to it. For example, it's too early to wake up at 3 o'clock, don't wake up at 3 o'clock.
 

Normally you wake up to work at 5 o'clock, okay, then wake up like 20 to 5 the first day, or 10 to 5 even, or even 5 to 5. And the next day or next week, 10 to 5, yes? Get yourself used to the idea and reward yourself abundantly. Tell yourself, “Okay, if you wake up early today, I'm going to give you a double bagels,” for example, or “one more cup of café.”



Whatever your mind loves to have, reward him. Reward yourself. You must love yourself also, because, let's face it, we have only one, this physical body, and we are so tired sometimes. We work so hard, 8 hours, 10 hours a day just to keep this “machine” running, and then we have to attend to, sometimes, other work like family, wife, children, and parents, friends, neighbors, relatives, etc.
 
 
We really are very hard-demanded on this physical body. So, of course, if you cannot wake up in the morning for meditation, forgive yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself, but train yourself slowly. Watch TV less, sleep a little earlier so you can get up better, or whatever the activities you used to do too much before in order to pass time when you are bored, use that time for knowing God. It is a matter of organization.
 
 
I am also pretty busy - you don't believe it - and it's hard for me also to get up early sometimes. But you have to put alarm clock, yes? Sometimes like that. In the old Indian tradition, there was one saint, he wakes up all right, but he sleeps sitting instead of lying, so it's just the same.



So, never mind, you try your best. That's what counts. So that person, the saint in India, you know what he did? He had long hair like me and he tied his hair onto the ceiling or something. Yes, yes, yes! Yes, I am not kidding! And then he became a Master because he tried so hard. He tied his hair to the ceiling, so whenever he nodded, “Oh! Okay...” Yes! Yes! I am not saying that you should grow your hair long or do that, but you find your way, yes?
 
 
Like, we wake up early and... In the beginning, I had to put, like, ice water next to me, a flask of ice, and then when the alarm rings, I reach for the ice and throw it on my face, and “Ohh! Blaaah!”- the ice comes through your clothes and everything and you just have to jump out of bed. But don't do it... just don't do it, I mean, you have your own ways. But when you want to do something, you can. Believe me, you can, because you are God. There's nothing impossible with God. Just remember that you have God inside you and that no one else is there. Don't listen to the mind and the brain. It's just a computer. The mind tells us, “Oh...sleep...sleep... sleep is good for you.” But that's not God's voice! God is behind that.


*Do you ever meet with Quan Yin?

Oh, yes. Yes. Why not? You can see all the saints in the past if you want to, but you have to work hard, tie your hair to the ceiling! Now you know why many yogis in India have long hair.



*As we are spiritual beings having a human experience, we are perfect in our expression of life; we are already divine. If God is everything without duality, then everything we are, everything we do is an expression of God. So do we need then to do nothing just to be without reward?



That's fine. That's fine. That's fine, too. As I said earlier, you chose to be what you want to be. But there are many aspects of God; God is the total sum of our being, yes? So if we want to say that we are God, of course we are already God, that is for sure, but then go back to the finger, see? Suppose we say, “Okay, I am God now. I don't need to do anything.” - it's fine!
 
 
But then we go out and steal, or we do things that are not proper or we harm other beings, because we say every expression is God anyway, so we don't try to be better, we don't try to represent ourselves in other aspects of divine quality and just concentrate on one point and do the physical things. And in that case, even though we are God, we have not the whole complete quality, we have not expressed ourselves in the whole, complete way.
 
 
So that is the only difference. Once we know the whole thing, the total sum of God, we act differently. We don't just look at the finger; we know the whole being, and that is different. If I just sit here and look at the finger, I look different, “My God! Nice finger!” But when I know my whole being, then I stand up, I walk, you see? I sing, I embrace people, I greet people with love, I write poetry, I play music, I go swimming - I do all kinds of things which a whole being would do, you see?
 
 
But if I keep looking at one finger only, I still have the whole being here, but it's useless. See what I mean? That's the difference. That's the difference between knowing the whole being of God and just saying, “Okay, whatever I do is God anyway.” But, of course, you are divine already, so you choose what you are doing. I am just answering your question. 

*How  many times do we need to come to this planet before we become enlightened? And where do we go when we are not in a physical body?



We come as many times as we choose to come. For example, some people who are supposed to die already, but then some relatives are crying and loving and needing them so much, they come back to physical life immediately. That's “reborn,” that's resurrection. And sometimes we go to Heaven already, but we like to have the human being's experience again for our own pleasure or our own development, and sometimes we come back because our loved ones are still there, calling us and wanting us to be with them, and we choose to come back.
 
 
And, if we have not realized God in the physical body, sometimes we choose to come back so that we can realize God in a higher level. If we are not in a physical body, we can go in many different places; we are more free. Free, free, free, like birds; we can fly anywhere in an instant!



For example, if I die and I want to go to Germany, we don't need an airplane; just one thought, I'll be there right away. One second, one instant! - and that is the freedom of not having a body.



But nevertheless, if we have not trained ourselves during our lifetime to think highly, to remember our higher Self, then when we die, we leave the physical body and we just linger in a lower level of ourselves without realizing the higher aspects of the divine Self. So we might linger there and then we get bored and then we come back to the physical body again, or we might be lucky, meeting some spiritual friend and then we inch our way up, or we go back to the physical body and get a teacher and learn properly and then go “bzzt!!” So it depends on what we chose to do in this physical life; we will be at that level when we die.


*How do the real spiritual experiences in meditation differ from my own fantasies, and visions created by my imagination?


It could be that you think that you're imagining, but imagining is a daydream; it's different. If you just daydream about something, or you dream a night dream about something, and that is different. But the spiritual experience is real, just like we are real right now. For example, during spiritual experience, suppose I sit here, and then I can ascend to Heaven, I can see Jesus, I can see the past saints, or some present saints, I can converse with them and go to a different high level of hierarchy of Heavens and universe in order to do things and learn things, just like I take an airplane and go to your country - as real as that –
 
 
and then our being will be better every day, and we can use this spiritual knowledge to better our life and the lives of our loved ones, as well as assisting in blessing and elevating the consciousness of the whole planet; and that is spiritual experience because we become different. We know ourselves as divine beings; we know the whole Self, or maybe at least partial of the higher Self, and we become powerful, we become happy.


*After taking the initiation into the Quan Yin Method, if the person can't continue with the 2.5 hours meditation daily, what will happen?



What will happen if you don't work 8 hours, and you work only 2 hours?
You have less money. You can find a part-time job or a full-time job. Part-time job, you get less money, that's all. What we mean by 2.5 hours is that's the suggested requirement. If you can make it, it's good for you. If you cannot, try your best to do as much as you can. The more you do it, the better for you. No one stands there like police and says that you should do this and that - no, no! We're just helping you, telling you which is good.



But you follow as much as you can, because the more you do it the more you feel better, and the more you feel better, the more you are encouraged to do more, and you stay stable on the spiritual path. If we do too little, sometimes the reward is so much less and we feel kind of discouraged and frustrated, that's all.



*If the person decides to follow the Quan Yin Method and the family and others can't accept the person anymore, how does the person overcome this problem?



It's not possible like that! You just become better; your family accepts you better... more loving. Most of our people, after initiation, their families become better, because they themselves become also better. Maybe some of them, in the beginning... because the family members love them and worry that they might follow some bad people or do some bad things, but later, as you improve yourself, as you show yourself as such a loving, tolerant, and compassionate person, your family members will welcome you more.



*If we are God, who is this person that is so-called God, that is coming down to Earth that everybody talks about?



There is no person as God; everything is God. We are a part of the whole, and yet the part that makes the whole. So God is the Creator, you see? Hes can make Hirmself into many, many things.

You see, if the flower smells nice, you've got to smell it. See, you can't keep asking me questions like what the rose smells like when you don't smell it. I just showed you how to smell the rose before; you try it at home, okay? All right? Then you'll know God - or, if you want to know more and deeper, you can stay for initiation.
 
God is for you, yourself, to experience, not for me to describe, because it's impossible. It's impossible to describe the love between two persons. You love your boyfriend, your husband, your wife - you can't describe what it is, but it is there. So even love is so difficult - just the physical love between human beings - is so difficult to describe, how can we describe God? Because human language is not up to God's standard, but you can experience Hirm, feel the love, feel yourself, feel the wisdom, feel the security, feel yourself at home anywhere you go if you know God. That's all I can tell you.


*When we focus on the center between the eyebrows, do the eyes also focus on the center?



No, no, no! Forget the whole body. Forget the whole body! Just your thinking is concentrated in here only. Don't pay attention to the eyes or anything in the body. Sometimes your body shakes a little, sometimes your body feels hot, cold, sometimes feels beautiful - that depends on what you eat that day and how angry you were with your wife, for example.


*The reason they ask you is that they said that the eyes follow the center when they were concentrating.



No, no. They don't follow. Did you ever see somebody who died? Okay, his eyes go up so you see only the white part of the eyes. That's when he died.

We can die like that during spiritual practice. That's why the saints say, “I die daily,” “Forsake the flesh so that you can begin to know the spirit,” “Learn to die so that you can begin to live.” When we're in samadhi, our eyes also turn upwards, but we don't even know it; we're gone - I mean, gone to a higher dimension, enjoying, but the physical body is just “dead,” and that's why it reacted like a dead person. So when you come back, you pick up the “car” again and drive around. I mean this “car.”



*Master, why is it important to meditate in the morning?



You can meditate anytime. It's just in the morning most of the people have a night's rest, and in the morning it is still quiet. - no traffic, no noise, no children, no telephone ringing, but doesn't mean you have to do it in the morning. I do it anytime, anytime - on the bus, in the car... Our people, they do it anywhere - except when driving, please!



*I sometimes sense the guidance and presence of the ascended Masters. Can they really help humanity from afar?



Oh, sure! We all are one, so if you are enlightened, they are affected. Can you imagine before, a long time ago, I mean after the Golden Age, our planet was all destroyed, and not too many people survived. Can you imagine the state of human beings at that time? Everyone was kind of groveling in darkness, and they all affected each other. We all affect each other, and that's why we have been the way we were.
 
 
And now we've been practicing and practicing for years after years, now our planet's become better. You don't feel it? You don't feel we have progressed? You do or not? Yes? Yes! I mean... not saying that you come and practice the Quan Yin Method or have experienced Heaven; even if you have not, you can feel that our planet now has different energy, different. It's more happy, it's more opened, and very relaxed, in French, “légère,” very relaxed. Yes, yes.
 
 
And human beings are very different from before - before, kind of a few decades ago - and our technology, science everything is just blooming up so fast. It's very amazing what we have discovered lately. Can you imagine the email and all that internet and... wow! It's incredible! So many other things that you don't know, they've already developed.



*Should we love our enemy?



What else to do with him? Practical question! If you kill him, his wife might kill you, or his daughter and son - they will continue forever. So we'd better love our enemy; it's the best way to “kill” him. Yes! If you love your enemy, he becomes your friend, and the enemy's gone for good! And, you have more friends from his family, - his wife, his kids and his relatives - his friends as well. Make one friend, you have many friends; make one enemy, you make many enemies. So we “lose business” if we hate the enemy.



*What happens if I break the precepts after my initiation?


Just like asking me “what happens if I have an extramarital affair after I've married my wife?” How shall I answer you? Make up your mind, okay? Nobody is there to force you; it's only you, yourself, and you, and God. You make a covenant with God. You say, “Okay, I make you my priority. I'll do anything to know you. I don't need all these stupid things in order to survive.
 
 
I can live without them. I can live without killing my neighbors; I can live without telling lies; I can live without drugs and alcohol. I am strong, I don't need these substitutes of intoxication; I can have divine intoxication. I can live without having to have sex with every man or girl that walks by.” Yes, make up your mind.
 
 
Present yourself as a being you want to present. If you are the one who likes to present yourself to everyone else, “Oh yes! I am the one who tells lies,” “I am the one who's always drunk and take (addictive) drugs and all that,” “I am the one who covets the neighbor's wife,” “I am the one who likes to kill, who murders people.”
 
 
If that is the way we want to represent ourselves, then go ahead, it's your choice; but if you want to present yourself as an enlightened being, as a wise person, as a happy being, as a helpful, compassionate, loving, truthful person, then there is that choice, you see? There are two choices; it's all your choice. It is not my precept; it is the way of life. It's a choice you make to present yourself to the world, to God, and to your own self when you look into the mirror, what kind of person you want to see. Okay? No precepts. Don't need precepts; you know what you want to be, right?



*If everyone is Buddha, why does everyone feel miserable and not happy?



Because they are miserable Buddhas. They only know that miserable part; they don't know the other happy part, that's why. That's why I ask you to be enlightened, and then you become happy Buddha.



*Although I understand the reasons why some people want to be vegans or vegetarians, and the health benefits, etc., I believe that meditation and enlightenment is for all regardless of diet customs, and can take whatever form necessary for each individual. What is your answer to this?



Cool! Cool! We all go eating pork and cow, and become like zoo-Buddha or something. We house all these animals in here and make a zoo out of us. That's cool! Why not? You could also be enlightened and make a zoo out of yourselves; but animal energy is not very suitable for a spiritual being if he wants to go higher. The higher you go, the less luggage you must carry, and animal energy is very heavy because they love life and they also fear death.
 
 
Of course, animals are also spiritual beings; they understand. If you are truly, really, in a very desperate place and you need food, and you talk to them; they'll lay down their life for you, every one of them! It's just that most of us, we kill without mercy; we kill without reason, and we eat just for the sake of getting fat, I guess - not even getting healthy, excuse me! Yes, and then spend a lot of money going to clubs and diet, and jumping up and down; spend a lot of money and time to get all of this poison out of the system later; and then go to the hospital, get needles, get knives, get electric shock and all that, just because we eat too much of what we should not do.
 
 
Besides, all lives are one, so if we kill someone, it's like we cut our finger. It's just that we're blind right now. We don't see, we don't feel it, just like the finger is numb, we don't feel the nerves. But we do hurt ourselves whenever we hurt anyone, even plants and all that. It is the minimum that we could do to survive, and that's why we eat vegetables.



But vegetables, they have less fear. They have 90% water, and if you cut one stem, they spring three, four, five more. So sometimes, you even need to cut the head in order for the plant to grow bigger. So this is more logical that we could rely on them to survive so that we can develop ourselves spiritually, but not without permission from all these plants: if we cut the plant or tree, we talk to them first. That is what we do.
 
 
Say that “I'm sorry, we need you. With your permission, and we are grateful.” That's how we should eat even vegetables. We should be grateful for everything that we take physically from this life, because we're not making any of them - we just take them. But we must meditate in order to bless it, to bless the planet so that it will grow back in abundance again.


*Does meditation work for those who steal and take (addictive) drugs?



Steal? If you are hungry... if you are hungry, it's okay. And drugs, you don't need to take (addictive) drugs in order to feel not hungry, so it's not a necessity, yes? Jesus said that the one who steals for bread is not guilty. I say the same. But (addictive) drug is not a necessity, and it damages your body, your brain, and it damages the happiness of your relationship with your family and other friends. It is better to be away from it. Today, it's easy to cure yourself of drugs addiction. Just enlist yourself to drugs- or alcoholics anonymous; they'll help you. Clean yourself so that you will be whole again.



*Thank you for coming to New Zealand. When we feel intense fear, what is the reason for this? What is life trying to tell us?



It depends, it depends. If you are in a fearful situation, that is all right to feel fear, but just we have to not let the fear overcome us so that we are paralyzed and do not know how to react a better way. Fear is a natural emotion. Fear, love are natural emotions, you don't have to suppress it; you just have to understand it and handle it.
 
 
For example, you think I don't have fear? I do! I fear to come here and I don't know what to talk to you… I fear that I don't know how to make you understand what I understand. I really did fear. Today I arrived early and then I went to have tea in a shop because I didn't have anything since yesterday, and then I saw a lot of people, they sit there and have tea and they talk about all kinds of things, and I was wondering, “How am I going to tell all these people about God? Do they really care about God? They are so happy with their physical life, whom am I going to talk to, and what?”



But then I still do it, you see? I have fear, but I go through it; not that I don't have it. We have fear but we have to go through it. If it is a fearful situation, we have to think, “Okay, what can we do to make it better?” If it's a fearful person, we try to use love to overcome his own fear. The person who is sometimes bad to us, makes us fearful, because he himself is an insecure person.
 
 
So it depends on the situation. Anyway, even if we have fear, we must calm down and think, “Okay, okay, I have fear, but now, what must I do in this kind of situation to get myself out of this fear?” You have to take control of yourself to get rid of the fear. Take control of yourself means, okay, deal with the situation so that we become secure, better, and then the fear will disappear. We cannot suppress the fear, we have to deal with it, make it better.



*If God is inside of me, then I am God. So when I want to do something dangerous, stupid things, does it mean God controls me or wants me to do these bad things? And should I do them?



Nope! There is God inside us, but because we work through the brain - sometimes the brain is bad, the computer is damaged - and that's why we do bad things. So if we think it is the bad thing, that means the God-voice inside us told us not to do it. If you already know it's bad, that means it's bad, it's no good, don't do it. Okay? Sometimes, you drive your car, you have the first class driver's license, and you drive perfectly, but sometimes your car... Yes, thank you!
 
 
Sometimes your car's damaged, the engine's dead or the tire blows out. You cannot blame yourself for all these. It's not the driver; it's the car, you see? So if it's good driving, everything, then the driver is good, the car is good. If the car blows out and everything, then the engine is bad, the car is bad, the driver is still good!
 
 
So you make the distinction between the driver and the car, between God and the brain, then there will be no problem. If it's bad, don't do it. If it's good, do it right away. Very simple.



*What do divine love and human love have in common?



Human love is a part of divine love. Yes, a small part, a small part, and if two persons, when they love each other unconditionally, that is the divine love in action also.



*Do we go through many lifetimes and collect karmic (retributive) deeds along the way? Does reincarnation exist?



Yes, it does. It does. We don't collect, really, karmic (retributive) deeds; we just experience different things. We have chosen to do this, to do that, just to experience, yes? And once we finish, and we don't want it any more, we return to God, we remember ourselves - that's when we become enlightened.



*Why is it that though we are all equal in God's creation, some of us suffer so much misery while certain others, though they have a life of evil misdeeds, materially prosper?



Well, it's because of different paths that we have chosen. When we gain material wealth or comfort, that doesn't mean we are blessed or we are anything good, because soon we'll die, we'll leave everything behind. If we gain spiritual knowledge and wealth, that is the everlasting one. So do not envy those who only acquire material possession but have nothing for their soul, because soon they will be empty.
 
 
But you, even though you don't have much of material acquisition, are rich in your heart, have great love, great compassion, great knowledge and wisdom. Like the Buddha, like Jesus, they were walking on bare feet; they didn't have any money, they didn't have cars, they didn't have anything and people fell at their feet to worship them. People listened to everything they said and are still worshipping them two, three thousand years later. Who is the richer? The millionaires out there? Or Jesus, or Buddha? You know already the answer, yes? There's no need to compare ourselves with others; we have to know what we are worth inside. That is important.



*What is your definition or understanding of “hell”?



I don't want to understand. No, hell is when we suffer or when we cause suffering to someone else. Hell is not just a place, though some people do go there to suffer because they want to clear themselves of some misconception while they were alive. You know we are our own selves, God, so we judge ourselves if we did some terrible things in life.
 
 
Sometimes we choose to go to some purification places just like the hospital, cut off all the bad cells, and then you become healthy again. So hell is a place of suffering, and it could be on this physical planet as well. When you go through intense pain, mentally or physically, or when you cause intense pain to someone else, even animals, that is hell for that person.



*From my understanding, the way to practice Quan Yin Method is by meditation. I am wondering how meditation can help to change the world to be peaceful and in harmony - an ideal world.



Yes, that's the right question. Meditation doesn't change the world; it changes you; and then, if everyone changes themselves, the world becomes peaceful. We only make war because we are not peaceful ourselves, because we could not know the person next to us is God, we could not realize that we are God and we could not realize that the one we kill, we shoot, we torture, is also God, and that's why the world is not peaceful.
 
 
Once we meditate - it doesn't mean you have to meditate - you have to enter yourself, and I have to show you that. I have to reconnect you with your true Self, then that is true meditation, not just sitting there like a statue. You have to really reconnect with God first and then that is a true meditation. Once that has taken place, your being is changed forever. You become a peaceful example of a walking God on this planet, and even if you don't do anything, people see you, they feel peace, and they want to learn `what did you do that makes you feel what you are.'



They want to be around you; they want to take advice from you; they want to learn your example, and that's how the world will become peaceful. All right? It's very logical, nothing mysterious.



*Is praying meditation?



Yes, yes! It is a kind of meditation, but praying is only a “one-way” meditation. Like, we talk, talk, talk to God, “Oh, God! God, please do this, do that...” but we don't hear what Hes says; that's why “one-way”. Meditation is a “two-way” communication. We offer our pain, our sorrow, our happiness, our gratitude to God, and Hes in turn lets us know what we should do next; or we have communication, we have connection with God.
 
 
And praying is just talk, talk, talk, one person - we don't hear what God says at all - but in meditation we hear, we know. Hes guides us; Hes brightens our lives with a thousand suns inside; Hes makes us shining, loving, wise, humorous, beautiful, inside out.

That's the difference. 

* Is our destiny fixed?



Yes and no. Yes and no. There are two kinds of destiny: one is still in store, waiting; the other one is already written for this lifetime. That's why you are born in a certain family and have to walk the way you do and experience pain and pleasure the way you do. But even then, you can correct that.
 
Once we go into a higher level, we can look down and see what's wrong in our life and then we can fix the different departments and make our lives better. That's why meditating people, they become happier and their lives smoother; they're clearer and everything's better for them automatically. “Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all the things shall be added unto you,” that's what it means.



*Can you please teach me how to love?


I can't, but you can teach yourself by going in the Ocean of Love, which you are, by remembering it, by going back into it, swimming in it every day, saturating yourself with blessings from Heaven; beloved by God, feel loved by our Father, then you will be loving automatically. I can't teach you, not even in a thousand years, because you are love incarnated - you are already love. No one can teach you. You just awaken, remember, walk the way you should be as a loving being, as a representative of God, then you will know love.


*If a person who, in a previous life, has done some bad things, what should he do to liberate in this life, and where can he liberate to, and for how long?


The only thing you should do is just know yourself, okay? Doesn't matter how bad you have been in the past, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how long this hall has been dark, tonight they just lit the light and everything is brilliant again, even if it has been dark here for 300 years. It doesn't matter at all. Get enlightened and everything else is clear.


*Why is God so hidden, so hard to realize or hard to find?


Hes is not！My God！Hes is dying to come out to shake hands with you！It's just you don't look for Hirm. Quiet yourself, like 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour, one hour, two hours, a day, and then Hes appears, immediately. Just look into where God is and don't look into the world. Meditation means we retire from the world for a while; doesn't mean go into Himalayas, but retire inside, forget the world, forget every trouble for a while and then remember God, then God will come.
 
Yes, honey? Finished? Cool！(All finished.) Yes！Good！Thank you so much for your love and your patience！(Thank you！) You are a wonderful audience！You can take some fruit if you like to. You've been sitting so long, maybe you feel tired and dry. They're all yours！


Thank you and God bless you！God already does！You guys！You want to sit here with me? Come here. Yes. Sit anywhere. You look like a monk！Baby, come here！Here, you want some cake for your mother? Okay, then sit there if you want. So cute！So nice of kids to do this, so nice！Later we share, yes? (Yes！) We share all this, yes?


Make it dry and hang it there, yes? Some people put them in tea; I don't recommend, because some flowers… I don't know if they're safe. Thank you, darling！Hey, baby！Thank you！


You can help yourselves to the candies here if you want. Thank you！Beautiful... Oh my God！Thank you so much！Thank you！I am sorry, guys, if you didn't come to the stage, but here is fine, too！Yes！



How come you are so good? You know why you are so good? Because you are me！Yes！We get on fabulously well because we are one！Thanks！You know the nature of the soul is not that “I am here and I have one soul in here” - it's not like that！My soul is bigger than just in here. It might be all over here; it might be all me, but it looks different.
 
 
I know, I know... It's not like, okay, “God is one and everybody is one with God” - it's not in that sense. It's in the sense that one individual can have a great soul that encompasses many so-called bodies. So we can happen to identify, just like each other. Just like sometimes we have two persons, but they think exactly the same thing at the same moment.
 
 
That is because that is one soul, not because they are one with God or they are one with each other, but they are one soul, just like twins, you see. They're like soul mates, something like that. But soul mates don't necessarily mean only one; means a lot, a lot of them... Can be a lot, because some great souls, they encompass a lot, a lot of other beings for their own purposes. Therefore, we feel like brothers and sisters; we feel like one.
 
 
Sometimes you feel very good with your sister or your brother, your mother, your father, because that's you. You make it become family, but it's only one, one soul as many individuals. Understand? No? No. That's all right. But that's why, sometimes we say, “I have affinity with that person,” or “she is my soul mate,” “he is my soul mate,” because it's you, it is really you！I mean, that's your individual soul group in one soul, see what I mean?
 
 
Apart from that, we are one with God and one with everybody else. We have also individual souls which can house many... big group of people as just one soul, but it looks different. No? You don't understand? Never mind！It's okay！You do understand? Yes！So that's why sometimes we feel so good with a group of people. The more we're with them, the more we feel strengthened, because we're at home with ourselves; we are together, we're pieced together, you see?



No wonder we work so well. Can you imagine, you are me?
I love you so much！(We love you too！)

Sometimes I do miss you a lot. Some people, especially some people if I know a long time, or even like one of the residents died or something, I know I can see her anytime, but it's different. You see what I mean? It's different, like I cannot keep calling her, “Come on down here and visit me！” It's not fair. But when we're physically together, we can. See what I mean?
 
 
And sometimes... So nice, so nice people that I also want to stay there with them forever. Just like, for example now, I invite some representatives, some contact persons to my room and we share some food, eat together - they eat together, I share the food and they eat together - and it's just so nice; feels like family and feels like they are so good.
 
 
I also love to be around good people, it makes you feel good, too. It makes you feel life is worth living and everything you do is really worthwhile. It's really, really nice. So I also did not want them to leave and I also did not want to leave New Zealand; I just get sentimental like that. And perhaps you do feel like that when we are not together, and in some moments like that, I understand how you feel, but otherwise, most of the time I don't feel the separateness between us at all, and I do not feel that the world needs me even.
 
 
I've told you that many times, but it's difficult for you to understand. Some people keep telling me, “It's difficult to know if you're a true Master or not.” I said, “Hey, it's good！It's good that you don't know, so I don't have to work so hard！” No problem！I only do it just because you ask me to, or people ask me to.


How can you tell? You look like me - your nose in the middle and two eyes and two ears - you can't tell. And, I don't make miracles; I don't make anything to attract you at all. I just sit in a coffee shop, sometimes drinking... and if you want, I come here sometimes, to talk to you.



At least you sit together and encourage each other to nod off, better than you sit there and “nod” alone; it's lonely, right? So then, you have maybe more kids, work harder than before, have more money, some of you, better jobs, or even if you have the same money, you know how to manage it better; and you have more than before.
 
 
You travel more than you ever did before and with the same money, because you just know how to do things better and therefore, you're just happier. You have more than before, even though it may be the same. You see, I have read an article in a magazine, “How to become a millionaire.” Do you want to hear?


It is very logical. We give a lot of money away - not a lot - for us it's a lot. Well, actually it is also a lot, millions of dollars is not little money in this world. Even though we can't compare to Bill Gates, we are different “gates”. We are also “gates” -



“Quan Yin Fa-men”！“Quan Yin Fa-men” means “the gate to Heaven,” “the gate to the world of God.” So, anyhow, we're also “gates”. We also donate a lot of money from our capacity. Other people think also a lot, I mean not a lot compared to a lot of others, a lot of people or the World Bank, but a lot for what we earn, for the ordinary action of people.
 
 
Most people don't give like that. So I do give, and a lot of people think that I am very rich - and I am also, but I am not as rich as they think I am, which is good; but if they have come to us... Suppose, if they were me and have that kind of money, they won't look that rich and they won't be able to give that much; not because they don't want to, it's just they don't know how to manage - you see? - don't know how to manage so that it will stretch out like that. So when I read that article, I think it's cool！I did it all already. “How to become a millionaire,” I knew it all already.



Because it's just natural; some people have it naturally, but it is because we are also enlightened, we also practice the enlightened way and the way of love, and we have very few wants in this world. You see, just like the way you are now. Before, you have a lot, but you think you don't have enough, and now, however much you have, you can manage; you still can come to New Zealand or Thailand, or wherever the retreat, provided you have holidays.
 
 
You can always manage, and that's the wonder - and you feel always enough and you feel always loved. I am only one, but all of you feel that I love you alone, love enough, or have enough love for everyone. It is because we practice the way of love and we just know how to have enough. It's just like how to save money to become richer - not because you earn more money, not necessarily, but you save more.
 
 
You want less of the unnecessary things and then you save more money, so when you save one dollar, it's just like you earn one more dollar, and it's even better than earning one dollar more, because when you save one dollar, you don't need to go to work for that. You just cut out some unnecessary things.
 
 
Before, you'd go out and buy everything; now you have to think carefully. Before, you'd go out and buy everything, now you go just straight to the tofu - save money, save time, save making it. Before, we cooked all kinds of things, now just tofu, chap choy, and then tomorrow, chap choy, tofu. Yes? Simple. Simple life. And before, you'd go everywhere, maybe you'd need to book a hotel for yourself and your husband, and it's also a lot of money.
 
 
Now, you just pack a tent, camp out there - cool, fresh air, natural, oxygen, a lot, around you when you camp under the tree, camp on the grass; feel good, light and economic also. We live together, we're happy; we don't need to stay in a big hotel to be happy. In fact, we're happier than when we stay in a big hotel because we have common ideas, interests.
 
 
We love each other and we just feel so good, and the natural air and the food, healthy, make us feel so good, you see? The money, you didn't earn more. You don't have to earn more money - just know how to live your life because you only have one life, this life. Whether I say the truth or not, you have Heaven or not, or you have reincarnation or not, this life is all you know, right? - and if you don't manage well, you cannot live freely and you cannot feel happy about it.
 
 
You have to do what you really want and what is good for you. Of course, you would tell me that you can do anything you want - it's not true. What's good for you is what you should do. Vegetarian is healthy, right? Meditation calms your nerves, makes you more bright and clever and loving - that's good for you. It's not that you do anything you want. Of course, we can do anything we want, but what's good for us, that's what the clever people would do. Saving money is better than earning money.
 
 
Anything you save is like you earn, except that you don't have to go out and work for it and pay tax on it even. See? Anything you earn is yours, and then you can do everything you want: you can give yourself something you like or give to the needy people. That's what we do. We do it all the time. I do, also.
 
 
What I told you, I do. I don't always do it so that it is written in the magazines. Most of the things I do are not written in the magazines. It is written because some people happened to be there and knew it and then reported it, or it is official, like concert, and everybody has to know. That's how it is. Otherwise, I do it every day, every time, every chance, so that one of the attendants laughed at me.
 
 
He said, “Master, how come this meal is so expensive? It's the most expensive restaurant I have ever seen.” You know why? Because when we went in there, we saw some homeless people - they were looking for garbage – and I gave like $500 and that's what he said, “My God！Just eating some French fries and two colas, that's it！- $500！” So he made jokes about it all the time. He said, “Okay！Next time when you say you want to take me out, I know which is the most expensive restaurant！”


Most of the time we see homeless people, they hang around there or they look in the garbage - I cannot bear it so I give them some, I give what I have. So he made jokes.

He said, “What? We eat only two French fries and two medium colas, and then we even have to serve ourselves - and even stand in line - and so expensive！”



So these things we do because we love other people, because they are us anyway. So there's nothing to talk about. But sometimes, of course, we write it in magazines because also other disciples need to learn from the example. Also, most of the things that I do are open, so people can know. Just so we know the things that we do, just like you tell me what you do and so the news reports what I do to you, so that we get in touch, we know each other's way of life and things like that. Like, knowing each other not because to boast for everybody else to know. If to boast for everybody else to know, we should put it in Reuters or like big news company, not just write it in our small magazine. But this is a way of life that we do that all the time.



It should be the way of life and everyone should do that, and I am very proud of you that you do that all the time. I know that. I know you do that individually, and still you have enough money to spare to come here or to go to retreat or come see me whenever possible. You see? Your life becomes richer or not? (Yes！) Yes！I give all the time and I still have a lot; I mean, for me, it's a lot. What do I need? When I come to see you, of course I wear this. It's my own design, so it's for fun.
 
 
When I am not with you, I just throw it quickly because it's heavy, I don't really like it, and I eat maybe once or twice a day, whatever leftover or whatever new. If it's new, I eat; if it's leftover, I eat. What can I need? That's why I still have a lot of money because I don't spend much, not because I earn more. See? It's just like you, you earn just like before, you might even have more kids now than before, but you still have more money, you still feel life is more rich for you than before, right? Feel more satisfied, more enough, right? Yes！
 
 
That is the trick. A lot of people who are millionaires, nobody knows, and everybody thinks to be a millionaire is difficult - it's not！And especially, people who are already millionaires, they keep themselves that way because they are very natural. They are frugal, they don't even drive expensive new cars. They just buy secondhand cars so they don't have to pay luxury tax, for example, and they just drive normal cars.
 
 
Most millionaires, they don't drive expensive cars. They drive reasonable, safe cars, cheap even, or anything that's safer. They don't really live the way we think millionaires should do, because otherwise their money goes fast even if they're millionaires. So they save a lot; they're looking for ways to save, like, they go with what kind of car that uses less petrol, or they stay in some neighborhood or some house that they can afford so that they don't drain out their savings.
 
 
A lot of ways, they just save here and there, and their money is always stable, yes. And some people who don't earn a lot but spend a lot, drive fast cars and all that, they really have a lot, a lot - but a lot of credit, a lot of mortgage and debt！- and the millionaire people who drive normal cars, they know how to organize their lives so they won't be in debt. A lot of millionaires live next door to you, you don't know, because they don't flash around.
 
 
Yes, they know what they're doing. They know the value of money and they don't just always spend it. It's just they're naturally that way, and that's why they become rich. They're naturally rich, they naturally know how to handle money. They know how to organize their money - they don't spend all their earnings so they can leave some for investment, and then just in no time you become rich.
 
 
For example, you put $10,000 today, 10 years later, it becomes $50,000 invested in some banks; that is slow, for example. But otherwise, they go and risk, and do their own business and that's how they become rich faster, but it's more risky. But that's life, either you take risks or you just live an ordinary life, very slow, and day to day just earn that much money; but still, if you can manage well, you're okay. It's just life is more simple now. Yes, tofu is cheaper than beefsteak, no? Just a little bit different, just a piece of tofu instead of a piece of meat in there. You eat healthy; you're okay.



You all look at the lady, the MC, she's so beautiful and she's a vegetarian. I told her many times to stand by for photograph. But all of you look good, too, and I am proud of you. You are proud of yourselves. Come out and say, “I am a vegetarian. Look at me！” Right? That's good！You're very beautiful.

Once you're beautiful inside, people see you beautiful outside - that is normally the case, yes！



But continue with your practice. Your life is better and better, I need not tell you. I'm just saying that in case somebody doesn't know yet, they can verify with you. Your life is an example of love and of spiritual blessing; there's no need to even preach to anybody.
 
 
They just look at your life, the way you walk your life, the way you present yourself to the world - that is better than 1,000 books talking about spiritual issues. You are the book, you are the best example, best doctrine, best religious theory ever presented to anybody. There was a story: In Mexico, there was a Master, long time ago… He's very famous.


(Topiltzin) Quetzalcoatl, right? He's Mexican. He told a story to his disciples, like: there were two men in the same group and one was very, very diligent and looked like very religious. He went to the church every Sunday, and he was the first one in line in any holy activities and the last one to leave. He never missed any opportunity to go to the church, but he never did anything else. And one guy, he never went to the church, but he went to work every day and he did whatever was his duty, and then whatever he earned, he took care of his family, also gave away to the poor people, and he even gave to the church too, to repair the church.
 
 
So Quetzalcoatl said that the man who never went to the church, that guy is holy, that guy is already a church himself, but the guy who went to the church every day, he just went there. Because everybody respected the guy who went to the church very much, thinking he was very holy, and spoke lowly of the guy who never went to the church, but, actually, he was going out to take care of all of the churches in his area, whatever he could do, and he sometimes worked extra so that he could earn a little extra money so then he could give to whoever again.
 
 
That was what he did every day. So the Master said, “The first one goes to church all right, but the second one, he is the church himself.” Yes！So we can be churchgoers or a church ourselves, it's up to us. I think all of you are the churches, I don't need to build any churches. People ask me, “Why you don't have any churches or any temples?” I said, “I don't need！I have millions of them running around！” I said, “Nowadays, it's the modern times, fast technology, everything is mobile: mobile phone, mobile home, mobile car, mobile temple...” You are my “mobile temples.”
 
 
We can communicate any time, go anywhere - very flexible. Bricks fixed at one place; we run around. We are the run-around temples！That is very cool！I was thinking about something else... I forgot. Well, just the same, I guess. What I forgot, it's gone. Sometimes it comes so fast... the inspiration from the Master, from God, comes so fast, my mouth, I, can't talk quick enough.
 
 
I already talk faster and faster every day already. (If) you'd met me like 10 years or 15 years ago, I didn't talk like this. I talked like you, like, “Hallo, Master！How are you? So nice to see you.” See? Now I talk like, “Hallo！How are you?” “Okay? Okay！” “Fine！Fine！” I talk quick; I don't have time.



I talk on the phone like that, too, because so many things to do. And when I talk with you, sometimes I talk so fast; that's why we need tapes so that you can review it and listen, “What did she say before?” Talking, everybody can, but living, living what you talk is harder; and you can do all that: you can talk as well and you can do as well, and that's what's great about you. I told you！I told you I came to make you great！
 
 
Whether I am great or not is of no consequence, because I am only one！A great Master, a great teacher, is not the one who makes himself great but who makes everybody else great. Yes, right！If your students are good, that means you're good; otherwise, it's no good - no use！So whether I am great or not doesn't matter, as long as you're great, that's fine. And if by your grace, by your greatness, I become also great, then thank you very much！I'd like that, too - but to tell you honestly, if all the world is enlightened  I would be happy just to be a private citizen.