Do take care of yourselves. Practice more and focus on the inside. Pray daily for the help of the Universal Power, so that we don’t forget about spiritual practice, and we don’t search for anything on the outside, or depend on anything outside. The more we depend on the outside, and the more we’re anxious to become a Buddha, the more we’ll be deceived by Maya. Being too eager to become a Buddha stems from the desire for fame and material gain. Those who want to become an enlightened Master, to go out and give lectures, or to be worshipped by people, all have the greatest desire for fame and material gain. Such people will be deceived by Maya. Practice slowly. And you must truly practice and be humble. Be humble in your heart. Don't regard yourself as such an important person. If you think that way, it means you truly aren't such and such person. This is wrong. So, be very careful. Pray for the true power, the inner Master to help you, so that you won't be possessed or deceived by Maya. If you don't practice enough, you'll be easily deceived by Maya.
So, animals, and even plants, have spiritual consciousness. Even stones have it. Don’t you know this? That’s why when you are in the forests or even in a park, where there are many large trees, you feel very nice. It’s because the trees can emit oxygen. Trees need to have merits in order to emit oxygen. They also have a loving and protective energy. That’s why when you are in the mountains, you feel good. Also, each mountain has its own mountain god. In fact, everything grown in the mountains has spiritual qualities, including the stones. Each one of us has our own responsibilities, our own merits, and our own missions. To be born as a human and to be able to enjoy so many nice things, we should feel very grateful, grateful to all beings and all things in the world.
In one of the Buddhist scriptures it says that there are sentient beings and non-sentient beings. I pray that all of you, when you die, will return to the permanent Heaven. In the Buddhist scriptures that people recite daily, there is one section that mentions this. I used to recite these sutras, so I remember them, like the Great Compassion Sutra or the Diamond Sutra. I used to do the same every day as what they do in the temple, reciting these scriptures during their morning and evening chanting sessions. They all talk about such things. Therefore, there aren’t any non-sentient beings: everything has consciousness. You all know this, right? That’s why you gather the pebbles here and take them home as souvenirs. Is it that so? Anyone else want some? No? But don’t do this. Don’t practice on the appearance.
So in the future, wherever you are, pay attention: try to beautify the place, and make people happy. Whenever I take a taxi, I always give the driver a tip several times the taxi fare. Sometimes when the fare is less than NT$100, I’ll give them NT$400. Because it’s a rare chance that I ride in their taxi, I want to give them some extra help. These taxi drivers aren’t wealthy people, understand? A big tip makes them happy. So I offer some extra money to anyone who is willing to accept it. When I go to a restaurant, I also give big tips, and I compliment them on how beautiful and how clean and comfortable the place is, and also how efficient the staff is. I just want to cheer them up, understand? We shouldn’t take things from others or make people feel sad and oppressed. This is opposite to our ideals. Wherever we go, we should make that place more appealing, more beautiful, and we should cheer people up.
To create a happy atmosphere is also a kind of beautification. If I’m on an airplane, of course I can’t just beautify it by planting a few trees in the cabin. But I can say thank you to the stewardess. I can compliment her on how pretty she is and what good service she offers, or how happy I am to meet a person like her, for example. This is also a kind of beautification. So, we shouldn’t keep taking from people: we should be givers. We shouldn’t just give people money. We can show them our graceful, spiritual manners. To give the gift of happiness is our duty because that’s the way to beautify this world. If you create happiness wherever you are, and everyone becomes happy, then the world’s atmosphere will change, and in turn, it will bring a lot of good fortune to protect the planet. You should treat the outsiders this way and treat your Master the same way. I don’t expect any special treatment. Just treat me the same way you treat the outside people. If you treat people with respect, you will create a nice atmosphere. When people respect one another, the atmosphere will be good. You don’t need to scold or talk loudly. A good atmosphere makes both parties feel good. When both parties feel good, the world will be elevated a little.
