Therefore, I said to you, if you have magical power, forget that you have it, don’t use it, otherwise it continues the habit, and this is just like borrowing from this physical and the astral world, and you’ll have to pay dearly at the end, or it will cut off some of your spiritual merit points.
Now, Milarepa, disciple of Marpa the Great. Marpa Master told Him not to go anywhere. Go hide, don’t go down the mountain. Don’t go near people, don’t teach anybody. If you want to keep your life intact and your spiritual unhindered, don’t go near humans. Therefore, He stayed all the way there, but then some people discovered Him. And then sometimes He went down, and He taught them something. Maybe He did not down, but He taught them something. There were four nuns who came and learned with Him and asked Him to go back to their village so He could teach other people. He said, “No, No, I am here. It’s good for me. I don’t want to go down.” But then, still some people became His followers and so-called disciples.
One of them, very, very envious of His fame and all the respect that the people gave to Milarepa, he poisoned the Master Milarepa. I think poisoned, right? I think so. A long time already since I read this, long, long, long, long. Well, at least 30-some years ago. When I still had time to read, like in India or whatever. And now I don’t have time to even read my own mind, what I want this morning or not. Ah, God, if you sit next to me, you will complain also, like my dog the other day. They have time. No time for dogs. I have no time for myself even. Thank God, you come every week, so I take a shower and smell nice, and wear new clothes. If not, I am very comfortable with whatever. No time for thinking even.
Now, one of Milarepa’s disciples, a man who was very envious, jealous of Him, poisoned Him. And then the Master, Jetsun Milarepa was in agony of course. In those times, maybe they were so wicked, they gave Him the poison that won’t kill immediately, but He had to agonize for a long time before He died. And then he came, because of other disciples around, concerned, and he also pretended to be concerned. He said, “Oh Master, why don’t You give me all Your pain, so that You will be relieved?” He poisoned Him and then pretended to be kind to the Master. So, the Master said, “No, no, you could not bear it. Such pain you could not bear it. I can, because maybe I have a little power, thanks to my Master Marpa. But you could not bear it.” So, he still insisted, “Please, Master. Please give all the suffering to me, so that You will be free.” Blah, blah, blah, blah. And, because Milarepa had some magical power and as habits will have it, if you have miracle power, you cannot not use it, good or bad. Therefore, I said to you, if you have magical power, forget that you have it, don’t use it, otherwise it continues the habit, and this is just like borrowing from this physical and the astral world, and you’ll have to pay dearly at the end, or it will cut off some of your spiritual merit points. A lot! Big chunk! If you eat just simple food and you pay for it, and still have a lot of spiritual merit points to compensate, how would it be if you borrowed something that’s invisible, that you could not even pay back.
So, this person pretended to be nice to the Master, kind, compassionate and all that, and maybe doing this kind of sympathetic face, maybe shed a few crocodile tears and the Master said, “No, no, you could not bear it.” After he kept insisting, the Master said, Jetsun Milarepa said to him, “OK, I will transfer some percent of it into this door, and then you will see how powerful, how painful it can be. One percent.” So He did some magic, He just waved His hand and then the door crumbled into dust. Understand that? (Yes.) I wouldn’t bother. Because He knows that this is the person who poisoned Him. Maybe He wanted to show him that He had enough power to kill him, but He didn’t want to. Maybe that, but I wouldn’t bother. You are dying already. What for do you have to prove it to anyone?
But, as I told you, habits die hard. If you have power, you cannot not use it. It’s the same with governments. If you are in a powerful position, you have to really use it carefully. Very difficult; just one stroke of your pen, somebody might die, or somebody can live. Something can happen to some people or some family. It’s a very difficult position. That’s why since time immemorial many political figures have not fared well. Even if they want to keep themselves spotlessly clean, there’re still relatives, friends, or wife and husband.
I told you one of the stories before, of the man who was born without any hands or feet, just a little male organ. And then he inherited, he was still counted as a male. Just a little difference like that, and I have to wear these clothes, those clothes, inside, outside, otherwise criticized. Being a man is easy; you don’t even have to wear any clothes to come down, nobody says anything. Many men in India, they don’t wear; the monks or the practitioners, they renounce everything. They don’t want to bother with the world, to have any complications to go with the clothes and the food and all the decorations or so-called necessities. I also wish sometimes I could be like that, but I do it only at home. Because it is cumbersome, the clothes you have to either wear the what, the belt or all this what? Elastic band, what if it broke? It breaks somewhere. Well, luckily I wear some very long dresses. You know now why I wear long dresses; it’s safer this way. Otherwise, I would be all over national TV, whatever, who knows. Become more famous. I’m already very famous in Taiwan (Formosa). Wherever I go, people know. I go to a non-disciple restaurant, they still recognize me. At the airport, not just in Taiwan (Formosa), but everywhere. It is a nuisance to be famous; you can’t have enough privacy.
Now, that person who poisoned Milarepa at the end of His life, went to hell, forever, this kind of forever hell. Don’t think only in Milarepa’s time that happened. It still happens now, in my lifetime. That’s why I’m telling you, I always count my blessings, that I’m still alive. That’s it, just something, but it didn’t take my life. It’s just, that person is burned beyond recognition after that. But the soul, you understand, is almost destroyed. It’s not about the physical body, that you don’t feel, you don’t see it. It’s the soul that’s going to be destroyed. Luckily the Master has the power, and can help. But that doesn’t mean that person will not go to hell for a long time, at least for long, I don’t know how long. I’m telling you, a long time ago…
I have a story for you here. A long time ago there was a Master, and He was very pious and powerful. I mean in a good way; He could save souls and rescue people, and the king of that country was also very good to Him. So, he gave Him a piece of land and he built something for Him to stay in, and then His disciples could also come and stay and listen to Him now and then. But then, some of the disciples were not content with just coming and going. They wanted to stay there forever, then slowly they took up everything. And then the Master felt uncomfortable, because what kind of teacher can stay with the students 24/7 or even every other day or every few days? And then they put up tents everywhere, right in front of His house, and He could not go out to the bathroom without people trailing behind wanting to paint a picture. Not with a toilet, I guess, I hope, but still trailing around. He could not even sit down to eat, without people staring in His mouth. He could not even have any conversation with His mother or sister, brother, without somebody sitting, listening to the private details. He could not even talk to His doctors about His illness, of course from the karma, without everybody listening. They even sat around Him, around His bed all day, all night, whenever they came. So, the Master left. He could not bear it and left for a while, went somewhere. And then they took up everything, of course.
And then after a while, they didn’t have the Master, so one of the so-called disciples said, “Hey, maybe we are too possessive here, that’s why the Master cannot bear it, and He left already. Why don’t we maybe leave the place for the Master to stay alone and then we can come to see Him at His convenience. He’s getting older, He also needs rest. OK?” So OK, they all left. But one of the so-called disciples was not happy with that. She came and stayed there a long time; it was cheaper; no need to pay any rent, nothing. Put up a tent there and just stayed. The ashram always had some food. I like that. Came and went whenever she wanted, like her own house. So, was reluctant to leave, didn’t want to leave.
And by the way, one of the other disciples, her friend, they’re two friends, two females. One didn’t have magic power, or was not aware that she had magic power, but they were friends in many other lifetimes. They were magicians, black magicians and followed the Master, of course, didn’t exercise any more power, fine. Another one of her friends happened to do something that was wrong and harmful to the whole assembly, so the Master asked her to leave. And then this friend came and gossiped with the black magician friend, and this magician got this excuse to curse upon the place of the Master. Not only that, but the Master also got affected.
He could have averted it, He could have returned this power to that magician person, but He could not do that. Number one: He didn’t have the heart to do that. He was not used to doing this kind of bad thing. Number two: the karma of the disciple, He must bear. But that person’s soul has been burnt almost like black coal, until the Master came and embraced her, inside, and repaired her damage. But still, that person still needed to go to hell for a long time. Let me see how long. I saw this inside, the vision, so I noted it down. It’s not in any book. But if you see Maudgalyayana’s story, then you should know, it’s similar. OK, the one that cursed the Master and put a forbidden fortress into His place, so that He’d come back, they invited Him to come back, but He could not live in there. Live very uncomfortably; some days headaches, some days stomach aches, some days heart problem, some days blood pressure, some days insects come and invade His quarters, etc., etc. And also, the assistant around the Master also became infected, and they also worked against the Master.
