I mean to say thank you for providing such a nice place for me to come back to. I feel very comfortable coming back. Even though I haven’t stayed here that long, I feel right at home, very much at ease.
Now it’s those small dog-people that are very protective. Oh! So protective! Oh! They’d hear leaves falling outside and start barking. “Don’t come near! I’m on guard here! Stay clear!” Actually no one is coming. Sometimes the wind is strong and some leaves fall, or if some tree branches fall, the dog-people would start getting loud, because he saw their own mom poisoned in front of them, and their mom told them not to trust humans and to stay away from them.
That’s why the dog-people started barking when they were newly born. They were born in the wild. The mother dog hid in a den and gave birth. Once I drew near, they ran. They were just one month old, and they barked and ran! They all ran out of sight. The mom was even more scared. She saw me from as far as that door and fled. She wouldn’t let me get close.
She came knocking at my door a few days later because I had fed her. I told her, “I’m taking care of your kids, as it’s dangerous out there. People are coming after you to kill you. I cannot let you stay outside. OK?” Then she understood. She still liked to go outside for a walk and have a look. It’s her habit. She was used to staying in the wild. But then, she knocked at our door when she came back. I asked, “Do you really want to come in?” I opened the door and she ran in. That was only one week later.
Before the vet came to give her injection, we had her on a tight leash, but she still figured out a way and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. The fence was high – taller than this tree. She climbed and jumped out. Two meters tall and she still climbed up and jumped off. She climbed very quickly.
The last time we caught her, I mobilized everyone available to search the whole place, the whole golf course. I had more than 20 people searching together. They were all strong men. Golfers are strong. They all came. I said, “Whoever catches the dog-person will get an award of 20,000 bahts.” Twenty thousand Thai bahts. It’s about the same as Taiwan (Formosan) dollars, right? (Yes.) OK. One of them caught her. That man was faster. I don’t know, maybe he had affinity with her. The others could not catch her. Wow! She ran so quickly. Because she’s skinny, just like a greyhound, she could run very fast. If I put her in a dog race, she’d surely win. She can get over any hurdles, she requires no training. If she wants to go out, she can climb anything.
Why have I talked so long? I mean to say thank you for providing such a nice place for me to come back to. I feel very comfortable coming back. Even though I haven’t stayed here that long, I feel right at home, very much at ease. I spoke to the driver. He’s from the Laiyi Center. He was probably unhappy hearing that but I still told him. I told him my feelings when we chatted.
Now, Laiyi is also working very hard, right? (Yes, they are.) I am not ignoring their efforts, but the smell over there is too strong. One time, I was back and wanted to go there, but no one answered the door. Also, when I opened the car door. oh, the smell really gave me a headache. I felt like vomiting. So I left immediately. That’s why I came to Kaohsiung. I didn’t know you had built a house here at the Center.
I was thinking about going back to Miaoli, but I said, “It would be too tiring. So, what to do?” He said, “The Kaohsiung center is nearby.” I said, “How are things over there?” He said, “They’ve prepared a very good place. They’ve built a house and been waiting for Master to come for many years.” I said, “OK, then let’s go and take a look.” So, here I am! I like Kaohsiung very much. Maybe I’ll also go to Laiyi. I’ll stay for a few days. If it’s just me alone, no problem. I wouldn’t want to leave if I stayed here. Laiyi is bigger.
And here we can’t expand, right? Can we buy more land in the vicinity? (Yes.) I mean, adjacent to our place or not very far away. (There’s a plot just opposite us. It can be rented or purchased.) OK. How many hectares? (It’s slightly more than a hectare.) One hectare plus might be a bit small. (Yes.) But better than nothing, right? (Yes.) Is the road flat enough? (We could expand further. This is what we have learned so far.) We can continue to buy more. (OK. Yes.)
Compete with Laiyi. OK. I’ll stay wherever it’s bigger. When we first bought Laiyi, it was already bigger than here. Then they bought another piece of land. That’s what I heard. I haven’t seen it yet. They bought a new plot next to the old one. It can accommodate 10,000 people now, more than this Center. Here we can accommodate a few thousand people. (Five thousand should be no problem.) Five thousand, no problem? (We can close the gate and park the cars outside.) Where can we park? (Across the street.) Is there space over there? (Yes.) You park on the pineapples field? I didn’t see any space . Is it there? (Yes. It’s there. We’ve been checking for the past two days and found it.)
OK. Take your time. (OK.) It’s OK. Laiyi has begun its construction work. I like that place. But the smell is not likely to go away very soon. No matter what magical power they have, it will be the same. It’s not that bad in winter, it’s warmer there for the elderly initiates. They said many people can stay in the Center. They built it. They asked for $200,000 from me. It’s not easy. The smell is strong and so much money is needed for the construction work. No, I meant the temporary ones.
That’s how the world is. Everything needs money. They don’t care about our feelings. The building material suppliers wouldn’t care how deep our relationship is. They still charge us a lot, and I still have to wait. They promised that it will be ready in a week. I don’t know if it can be done. Initially, I was going to ask the short-stay residents to come here. But then I thought, it would be Sunday in just a few days. People from all over Taiwan (Formosa) might come. Your Kaohsiung Center is so full already. The short-stay residents are here, and people from Taipei and other places might come. Taipei is quite far, but they might come. There might not be enough space. If it rains, it will be more difficult.
So I thought it will ask them to go to Laiyi. If they came here, they would have to move there later anyway. There wouldn’t be enough time. Christmas is approaching, then New Year will come. Moving around wouldn’t be comfortable for them. So I said that we will move to Laiyi this week. We will buy all the vegetables from the vendors outside, and take them to Laiyi for our meals. Then the vendors would not feel upset. Because after I moved, perhaps very few people would go there and business would be bad. A vendor thanked me the other day when I went out to do some shopping, and the vice minister visited us. The vegetables they sell are mostly organic and very healthy. They said they grew the vegetables in straw. Without any pesticides, of course.
She thanked me for being so kind to the villagers. I said, “I didn’t do anything.” She said, “Every time Master comes, their business is very good.” I was very embarrassed. The other day, last Sunday, I told you what to do after we left, right? (Yes.) We’re planning to have someone from Taipei or Taoyuan buy all the vegetables, when he passes through Miaoli; he buys whatever he can from there, as much as we did on past Sundays. Then we wouldn’t feel so bad. I said that, right? (Yes.)
Then, one week later, I went to buy groceries. She said, “Thank you, Master. Our business is very good, because Master is here.” Oh! I was so embarrassed. Luckily we had planned to buy from them. Otherwise I’d have felt even more embarrassed. They’re very simple. I asked whether I could pay more. It was an elderly lady. I wondered if she could make a living from selling vegetables for so little. I said, “Can I pay you more?” She said, “Yes.” I wanted to give her more. She asked, “How much more vegetables do you want?” I said, “No, no. The money is for you.” She said, “No, I can’t take it. I thought you wanted to buy more. I can’t accept your money.” She’s so old. The people are well disciplined. Hakka people are very good. It was not only there. I went to a road very far from our Center, to do some shopping. People there were also like that, very, very honest. They won’t take an extra cent. OK.
So, I’m very glad to be here. I like it here. But if I live here, and go to Laiyi for group meditation every day, or to do anything, the commute will take at least 40 minutes. If traffic is heavy, then it would be impossible. If the road is blocked for some reason, then it would be impossible to go to the group meditation there. If you go by car, there’s always the chance of traffic jam, right? So, perhaps I should go back to Laiyi. I’m reluctant to leave here.
Luckily, you were so quick. How did you manage to get those things in? With so many trees, how did you get them in here? Such great magical power! Really. I was surprised. I had wanted to let only the short-stay residents come and stay with me.
Later, I thought it wouldn’t work. Because if the Taiwanese (Formosan) or… We often have celebrations and retreats. They hold retreats without asking me in advance. They don’t ask me and just arrange it. Very often, I would suddenly notice, “Ah! There’s a retreat today?” So, I’m afraid we can’t do that here. I’m afraid not. For a retreat, people from all over Taiwan (Formosa) would come. Then where would you sit? Initiates from Taipei are very assertive, meaning very forceful. They might occupy this whole place and you’d have to sit outside. That might not be good. It would be better to go to Laiyi, unless we expand this place to accommodate more people, then it would be okay.
What can we do with only one more hectare? This is one hectare, right? (Yes.) The whole Center. (1.36 hectares!) It’s nothing, 1.36 hectares! The additional 0.36 hectare is nothing. What’s there to boast about? Tens of hectares don’t count for much. So, what is one hectare? It’s not enough when there are so many people.
But it’s still okay, as long as it’s good for you here. I’m very happy that you have a Center in Kaohsiung. There’s still some space, right? You can have more children, right? OK. I did think of staying here. Then I didn’t think it would work. But I’ve had you do so many things. Will you be angry with me? It’s all right. You can get the money back from me. When I want to hide myself, I’ll come here. (OK.) Or when I’m old and want to retire. Even dreaming of it is not that easy, let alone retiring.
But you’re doing very well, I’m very impressed. I didn’t think you could do it. I remember there are many trees here. How was that thing moved in there? Whose magical power was it? Tell me. (We used a huge crane.) Yeah. Otherwise how could you move such a big thing? (Yes, we did. It’s not that tall.) Oh? (It’s about eight meters tall only. A big crane can lift it in.) Eight meters is not tall? Wow? But how can the crane move things that far? (Yes, it can. The thing was very light.) It’s truly remarkable. (It’s about one and a half ton only.)
It’s really remarkable. Pingtung (Laiyi) has given up. They wanted to do the same, but they couldn’t. They said that they couldn’t put it in a less open place. Maybe there were too many trees. I thought you couldn’t do it here. I just asked, but I didn’t know you could do it or not. I thought you’d put it on the road. It’s easier, as the land there is level. Very flat and it’s paved with concrete. The surface is even, so why not just put it there? Why does it matter? Then, when we walk, we could just detour or climb over it. But you still put it there. So well hidden! It seemed difficult. But it is okay.
It seems that the internet connection is slower here. When I watch Supreme Master Television in the house, sometimes it freezes. (The reception was not that good.) I don’t understand what you mean. (The reception is not good. We had new optic fiber internet service installed. Yes, it’s better now. It was ready today.) Is it ready here? (Yes.) But it’s not ready in my house. (It was installed this afternoon.) Was it installed only at the working place? (Also where Master lives.) It’s been installed? (Yes.) It’s installed, but the connection is still like that? (It won’t lag anymore.) What was it like before it was installed?
Let’s leave the TV alone. The TV just freezes. Understand? From time-to-time images appear, then it freezes again. The internet connection for the computer is OK. The TV doesn’t want to work. Perhaps it also feels comfortable. It’s comfy in my house, so the TV wants to take a vacation. It doesn’t feel like working and stops for a long time. It’s alright. I know it all. I know all these programs, as it’s me who edits the scripts and modifies the videos.
