We are here to know ourselves, to know God, and that stirs up problems within this planet among the people who are not ready to hear. You cannot imagine how blind people can be. How blind! Such obvious things, and they don’t understand. […] We are very surprised to find that many so-called very powerful and civilized countries are not always developed in spiritual understanding.
Land is not a problem! It’s the people, it’s the politicians, it’s the religious leaders, all kinds of things. Just like always. Just like always. The ones who preach the Truth, the real things, they’re having more difficulty than the ones who are just repeating whatever’s left over from the rest. Even If I were just an ordinary nun or monk or anybody, I could go anywhere and have as big a land as I want. And all I’d do is just open the Bible or the Buddhist scripture and read it. And then we’d have all peace and quiet. It’s no problem. It’s just because we don’t conform to all these rituals and traditions. We are here to know ourselves, to know God, and that stirs up problems within this planet among the people who are not ready to hear. You cannot imagine how blind people can be. How blind! Such obvious things, and they don’t understand.
If I go to your country for a while, like one week, two weeks, or two, three months, it’s probably no problem. But if I stay long, then it’s different. Very different. Because the Positive Power would be stirred up, and then the negative power would feel disturbed. Then both of them would have some struggle, and that’s how things would begin to be a little bit unpleasant – a little, and then more, depending on the country. We are very surprised to find that many so-called very powerful and civilized countries are not always developed in spiritual understanding. You know it yourselves.
So, please do not make it harder for me by asking me to go to your country alone or stay somewhere longer and make an established place. I would very much like to. I’d very much like to. Believe me, I like it more than all of you do. So I don’t have to run around – people can come to me, and all that. It’s easier for me too. I also don’t like traveling as much as you do. I really hate traveling. I don’t love exercise that much. This is the way it was arranged. It looks very easy from your point of view because it’s your country and you are just an ordinary person. You don’t do anything to stir up any trouble. You can spread the teachings to a few friends and neighbors and give the flyers. You’re not the responsible person, so you don’t feel the pressure. You do sometimes! Even then, some people give you trouble.
Last time I was invited to Taiwan (Formosa), in the research institute, just to give a short speech – like two hours, answer their questions and all that. And still, the organizer had so much pressure from many different departments: kept calling them, questioning them, and threatening them, and pressuring them, and all kinds of things as to why they invited me precisely. They could invite anybody else, no questions, because I was not the only one who was invited there. It would be too bad for them if they invited me alone; they would be in trouble, I guess. So they invited many people, at least six or seven of them. I was one of them only. And the others didn’t have problems. Only my invitation caused a lot of questions and stirred up a lot of excitement among the people, the political and the religious in there. And I don’t know why, either. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. I don’t know what I have done. And I don’t know what I did that provoked so much excitement and questions among them and put pressure on the inviter, the host.
Can you imagine why? (Because You are too famous.) (You are brave.) (You’re Supreme Master.) Sorry? (Because You’re too famous.) I’m too famous? They are also famous. (They’re scared.) (Because You teach the Truth.) I teach the Truth. (Not want the people getting better educated because they will lose their power. You’re Buddha, they know that, and they feel scared.) Probably also! Probably you’re right. All of you are right. But I still don’t understand. What I mean is, I don’t understand how we, as a Buddha, as God, could choose to be so blind, so illogical, just to play the fool. But that’s the way it is, I guess – the way of Creation. There must be two forces existing at the same time.
Well, like that, it’s also good for me. It means I have less work to do, so it’s also OK. It’s a protection in disguise! If it were so easy, everybody would invite me every week, every month, and I would be having no time at all, for you even, to take care of the ones who are already initiated. It’s not only initiation; we also have to take care of follow-up. So I have more time, and so we can have retreats and talk nonsense together, have fun, and be friends.
Recently, anything new? Anything nice that you want to tell me? Any nice idea besides the school? The school is a good idea. The hotel is also a good idea. I was thinking before, long ago, I was thinking maybe we buy a hotel and just manage it like a hotel, and everybody can come in anytime. I was thinking like that. But then we have to know how to pay taxes and all that stuff. And we need really good staff, a good accountant and all that. I’m kind of scared. Anything to do with a lot of money and paperwork and taxes and all that, I’m scared. I’m scared we might forget to pay, or we don’t know how to pay, and then... But I think it’s OK for now.
It’s just, I guess many of you’d like to have a special place, like Miaoli before, so you know I’m there, and you can come anytime. I guess it’s nice to have that idea, also. How do other people do it? How do other Masters do it? How do They... Suppose, for example, They teach the same method; how do They do that? They stay in their country, huh? I guess. Like India. India is more peaceful, or not? (Nepal, Master. Nepal.) Nepal? (Yes.) How about Nepal? We forgot Nepal. (Nepali people feel so much love for You, Master – even the Taoists.) They do, they do. (Yes.) But everywhere, they feel so much love; that I must say. Oh, in Nepal, we had, like, almost 700 people initiated just in one night. (Wow.) That’s very big compared to other countries. (Two hundred and sixty.) Two hundred and sixty! (There was a lecture, 2,500 more than...) Oh, that’s a lot! Ten percent. (There were 260 and 500 Convenient Method.) Five hundred Convenient Method. Yeah, that’s a lot.
Nepal is a very funny country. It’s very friendly. The day of my lecture, there was a big, big demonstration outside on the street next to the lecture hall. They were running around in that area. And there were thousands of people; they were demonstrating against some policy of the government or something. I had not really a very clear idea. And after they demonstrated, they all came to the lecture hall. They threw away their banners and folded their flags and then just queued in front of the lecture hall, demanding to come in. The police were scared and didn’t let them in. And they just stood there; they said, “We won’t leave until we hear the Master speak.” So they just stood out there. Many thousands of them stood outside. And we had no equipment for them because the hall inside was already full, full to capacity. Four thousand more or 5,000 – we had no place for them, but they were still standing there.
That was a very adamant country. They’re very good. That country is already a Buddhist country, the majority are Buddhists. There are some Hindus and some Muslims. But all of them, even the Muslims, the Hindus, they were all standing out there. And the police wanted them to go home. They said, “You’ve done your job, you have demonstrated, now it’s time to go home.” They said, “No, we came here to listen to Master.” They said, “We won’t leave until we hear Her speak.” That was outside, and inside was also very exciting and very loving. It’s a very good country.
What do you think? No idea. How about the Taoist master? (It’s difficult to find.) What do you mean by difficult to find? Hard to say? (It’s hard to find.) Hard to find what? Land? Land is not difficult. Stability is more… (If have money…) It’s OK if we have money. Then why do you say it’s hard to find? (Hard to find. It’s very troublesome to go there.) Oh, too remote. (That’s right.) He said that country is too remote, difficult. Difficult to go there. (Yes.) Well, every country has some problem, huh?
How about Âu Lạc (Vietnam)? The lesser problem, huh? The least problem, huh? (Political problem.) Yeah, yeah. You don’t know! You don’t know. The people everywhere are OK. In most of the places – any country – the people are OK, except the fanatics. But the majority of people in any country are very friendly to us, and they welcome us everywhere; you can see that. Doesn’t matter which country! Be it Jerusalem (Israel) or Nepal or India or America, or anywhere. Australia, New Zealand even – you see how nice people have been to us everywhere. They accept immediately because their soul knows that. It’s just the political situation of that country or the religious situation of that country that poses a problem for our long-term residence. That’s all; not about the people. So, in order to help people, I just have to go from one to another. That’s enough – no need to stay anywhere. And you have to run around with me.
(Or we can collect money and then buy some land, and then create a country.) That’s good. (And then all the people who want to enter this country must be vegetarian [vegan].) Yeah, yeah. We like that idea. You can buy an island in Indonesia and start asking for trouble. It takes a long time to establish a country. To be recognized, it is not that easy. And once you say to the United Nations that you are from Supreme Master Ching Hai and you are vegan, they won’t even want to talk to you, I don’t think. I don’t know. They like politics together. I don’t know if they would even endorse a country that is vegan and has practitioners and all that. It’s not easy. Maybe you should take a post in the United Nations, the deciding panel, and then we’ll talk about it. To have a nation, you must be endorsed by the United Nations and maybe six or seven countries. Am I right or not? Anybody knows? (No.) You don’t know that? I heard like that, something like that. And there are so… I don’t know how much demand. Why don’t you find out and tell me? Find out, and then tell me.
(Maybe we can [apply] to UNESCO. We can ask UNESCO to [issue] an authorization.) Oh, you do! You do that! (If all the disciples...) Yeah, why not! Find out about it, OK? Find out what the conditions are. How much money, for example. Maybe you have to pay something; I don’t know. (If you have the signatures of all the disciples and [can] write a letter to UNESCO, for example.) OK. We can try that. Just make yourself more famous and... draw more attention; I’m not sure. Never mind. It’s better to be quiet, it’s better like this. It’s better. I’m going everywhere easier. Once I am the head of a nation, oh, where do I run? Once I am the king of one country, I can’t go anywhere! It would be even worse than now.
