Many things Masters always have to endure, and there’s no time to always record everything. So, do not think that you just come out and announce yourself that you are a master, and then everybody will follow you, and believe you. Don’t be hurried. If you are destined to be a Master, you cannot run away. Believe me. Believe me. Even though I went from one country to another, still somebody told somebody inside – some inside message – told them to go where and where, and look for that Master. Exactly the address!
And then on the third watch of the night, after midnight, He (Huineng) came and then the Master, the Fifth Master of Zen, gave Him the cloak from Bodhidharma, passed down at that time. He said, “But this is very dangerous for You; now that You’ve received it from me, it’s dangerous. You have to go immediately. You have to leave immediately. And after You, You should never pass on this cloak anymore as a symbol for spiritual succession. No more, because it’s too dangerous. Only until this time; I give it to You, but You have to leave immediately.” Imagine. Just to take the cloak from the Master, and a begging bowl, symbolic, or a staff, something together, and it was so dangerous like that. He said, “In the daytime, I saw Your poem and I know You are enlightened, highly enlightened, and You’ve got the essence of Tao, of Zen. But I don’t dare to praise You or admit it, because I’m worried about Your safety. Somebody will harm You if they know.” Imagine! Imagine.
Why are you clapping? (After listening to Master’s lecture, I understood it, but before that, I would read it, but could not understand it.) (Yes, I understand.) OK, understood. OK! They just want to tell me that they understood. Very good. And just imagine getting something from the Master and being a successor, you would think people would know that and would jump, “Oh, hurrah! We have a pope!” Just like in Rome, whenever the new pope comes up, people would jump and shout and be happy like that. You would imagine that. No. Dangerous for any Master to be known so publicly in such an open situation. So, He (Hongren) told Him He had to go and hide. So, He gave Him maybe some money for the road, and then Huineng didn’t know where to go. So, He (Hongren) told Him, “Oh, when You see this, then You stop. When You see that, then You hide.” Then Huineng would know where to go.
Because He said, “I came from far away. I also don’t know the road around here. How do I even go past the river to go to the other side?” So, the Master said, “Don’t worry. I will ferry You across.” So, He personally ferried Him on the boat. But Huineng said, “Let me do it for You.” It’s just symbolic of Him already being enlightened, being able to take care of Himself. They were playing with words here. Ferried across. “Let me ferry You across.” That means I will deliver you to the other shore – of liberation. Mostly, people say it like that, in nuances, in Buddhism. And He (Huineng) said, “When I am ignorant, then You can ferry me. Now I am enlightened, I can ferry myself.” So, they were playing with words in Chinese. Some similar things like that.
So, from then on, Huineng went out and just hid anywhere He could. Because the Master, the Fifth Master of Zen, told Him, “After You depart, three years later, I will depart from this world. Then Buddhism, the true Dharma (Teaching) rests in Your hands. You have to do what You can to deliver beings from suffering.” So, that’s the between-Master- and-disciple farewell talk. Then after that, of course, Huineng hid everywhere, until a few years later, somebody asked Him to come out, discovered Him or something like that. But before that, after He crossed the river already, and said goodbye to His Master, He had to go on foot. Of course, like everybody else at that time. A horse(-person) was expensive and you couldn’t just find one anywhere. You could not find any horse station anywhere. Just like nowadays, if you want to go somewhere, you have to go to a bus station, or a train station or a taxi stand, etc.
At that time, it was even more difficult. You didn’t even have a mobile phone. We are really lucky. The world developed (technologically) so fast. So fast! When I was little, we didn’t even have television yet. I don’t remember. When I was born, no television. After a while, we had television – black and white. It was already very good. If anybody had a black and white TV, the whole neighborhood would come and nose at the window and the door, watching together. In my little town, we could only watch now and then, black and white movies from the projector at that time. The most we could watch were, like, Charlie Chaplin. That I remember. Not much more at that time. Or not even that at that time, but black and white. And sometimes, the government organized for the village to come and watch. And we’d all go to the district building over there, and watch a film outside, and the TV came after.
And now, we even look down upon the small telephone that I have. They say, “Oh Master, You must change it, this one doesn’t function very well.” I have those small ones, very small. And so, they changed it for me. They upgraded me to an iPhone. Intelligent phone, but I am not intelligent enough to use it. That’s the problem. I have to ask them all the time, “What button does what?” And sometimes, I push the wrong button, and everything’s gone. Never mind. I can call and receive (a call) now, but nowadays I don’t do that even. It’s too much trouble. I call some other people, “You, please pass the message.” Because they can. I cannot. So, I say, “You pass the message to that person and tell him to come here. Tell him to do this, do that.” Also it’s very convenient nowadays. If you don’t know how to use iPhones, you can use “iPeople.” Intelligent people, “IA.” No, not “IA,” “IP,” “iPeople.” Not “Artificial Intelligence,” but “PI,” not “IP.” “PI” becomes P, no good, no good. It’s “IP,” not “pee,” OK? “IP.”
Alright. I come back to China. Before Huineng even reached His hiding place, somebody already wanted to harm Him, just exactly as the Master had said. Luckily, He’d left the temple already. So, maybe only a few people followed Him. Not the whole district or many people knew that He was in the temple; it was easier to harm Him. So, He left, and then one night, somebody followed Him and wanted to kill Him to take the power, to take the robe of the Master – whatever that was symbolic of the successor, they wanted to take it. Number one, maybe because He was Vietnamese (Aulacese), He was not Chinese. I don’t know the reason, really. Number two, why should this guy take it? He came just some months and then He got the Master’s successor robe. They didn’t feel like He deserved it, so, they wanted to kill Him.
So, Huineng knew, He knew this intention. He knew somebody followed Him, so, He took the robe of the Master and whatever belonged together and He put them on a big rock. He put them there, so that whoever wanted the robe, would be welcome to take it. Who’s attached to a robe anyway? Are you? Would you be? (No.) But you would take my things and put them on the altar, and then do whatever you do every day. Or my umbrella, my hair, my whatever. I told you, don’t practice outside stuff. Enlightenment inside, that’s the most important. If I give you something, you can take it as a souvenir, but no need to make a holy shrine out of that. Got that? (Yes.)
So, that man, he was very strong, powerful and muscular – a killer. And then Huineng knew, so He put them on the rock and He hid somewhere else, and that person saw the robe, “Ha, ha, I got it now.” He came and tried to take the robe away from the rock and go, but he could not lift it up. He could not take it. After trying so hard, with all the muscle he had, he could not do anything to take it away. So he knew then that was the arrangement of High Heaven. He could not do anything to do it. So, he realized that enlightenment or a robe, or whatever, cannot be forced to have it. It’s from inside. So he knelt in front of the robe and said, “I repent. Forgive me. I come here for enlightenment, not for the robe now. Please forgive me. Come out and teach me.” So slowly, Huineng look-looked, to see if it was really safe, and saw that man; maybe he was really repenting and crying, so He came out. He took the robe easily, two fingers like that, and then taught him something. So he was happy and left. It was not the first time Huineng was harmed. Later, you will see also. Maybe it was not all written.
Why are you crying? (Because I was touched. Because I was so moved by Your words. I was touched.) You’re Korean? She says she’s very touched, that’s why. In which way? You speak in Korean, we can translate. Why are you touched, which part? (The man came to kill Master Huineng, but the man realized Huineng was a true Master and then repented, and sought His forgiveness. I was deeply touched by that.) English? Or Chinese? Whoever can translate? Louder. (She’s very touched because he came to kill the Master, but he realized that that He’s a true Master. And then so…) So, he’s subdued. (She’s very touched.) Touched. OK. That’s it, right? OK. I thought maybe I said something wrong. OK good, good. I think many people are also touched like that. Say it in Korean. (I think many people were also touched by the story, thank you.) And the Master still forgave him and taught him. Gave him initiation. (The Master gave him initiation.) Now I give myself something first. I’m thirsty. Forgot to drink this morning. Water is something good for us. We have to thank the god of water. Thank you.
And later, some other times, some people also wanted to kill Him, or maybe before that, I forgot. It’s a long time ago; somehow, somebody else also wanted to assassinate Him already. Anyway, maybe more, without being recorded. Many things Masters always have to endure, and there’s no time to always record everything. So, do not think that you just come out and announce yourself that you are a master, and then everybody will follow you, and believe you. Don’t be hurried. If you are destined to be a Master, you cannot run away. Believe me. Believe me. Even though I went from one country to another, still somebody told somebody inside – some inside message – told them to go where and where, and look for that Master. Exactly the address! And told me some proof about it that they really tell the truth, some proof that only I knew. Something about me that only I knew. Never mind. Discovered in three or four countries, then you give up after that. You can’t keep running. And if you are not destined to be a Master, then whatever you do is useless.
