Just like… I’ve told you, the inner... The Power within us opens after initiation; then, nothing can be compared to it. It’s indescribable, just incredible. That’s why you can have your five generations, six, seven, or eight generations liberated. Or even nine generations, a hundred generations. Your friends, dog-people and cat-people, all liberated together. There’s more. Then we… Anyone who sees us, anyone who touches us, whoever has a connection with us will get unbelievable benefits. […]
“On his knees, He (Yang Tzu) crawled to the side of Lao Tzu. He said, very respectfully, ‘Just now, Master raised Your head to look at the sky. Right? You looked at the sky and sighed, telling me that You previously thought I was teachable, but now You think I’m not. What does that mean? May I ask?’” Meaning asking His Master to advise Him. He said it in a beautiful way, not in the way I talk. “‘Just now, because Master remained silent, walking slowly and lightly, so I dared not ask. Now, would You please enlighten me where I’ve done wrong? Where are my shortcomings?’ Lao Tzu answered, ‘Seeing that You are so complacent and proud, who’d want to be near You? When one thing is very white, it’d seem to have a little bit of…’” What? A little bit… (Blemish.) Meaning kind of dirty. […] “‘When one’s virtue is too perfect, it’d seem imperfect.’” Do you know what He (Lao Tzu) meant? (Yes.) “Then Yang Tzu felt so embarrassed that His face changed color. Then He prostrated and said, ‘I obey.’” Obey. […]
“Now,” meaning after listening to what Lao Tzu said, “He seemed to become humbler. Even when the guests fought with Him over a seat, the innkeeper didn’t come out to greet Him, the wife of the innkeeper didn’t offer Him the wet towel with French perfume, etc. None of that anymore. That’s it. They didn’t make any remarks.”
But, let’s see if there’s anything we can learn from it. Why would a very white thing become blemished? A little bit dirty. Why is that? (Because it’s easier to see stains on things that are completely white.) (Because of the light.) Optical fiber? (The light. It seems to have a little black stain.) Maybe a kind of shadow or something. So there seem to be some dark spots. OK. What he meant is, when it’s too white, it’ll reflect too much light, so that we humans will seem to see some flaws, a little bit of dark spots, or traces, just because it’s too white. Maybe it makes sense. Does it? Yes, yes.
Your clothes are very white, so it looks like there are stripes of darkness. Yes, yes, yes. Huh? No. It comes from the fabric. Then, when a person’s morality reaches perfection, it would seem as if he has shortcomings. The most important thing that Lao Tzu taught Him was these two sentences. As for Yang Tzu, since He was well-cultured and wise, He didn’t need to talk much. He just said a few words and prostrated Himself. Then, His whole personality, including style and manner, all changed. He was originally a VIP there, but then He became an ordinary guest. Then, people no longer treated Him in special ways. Maybe He hadn’t met Lao Tzu yet. I mean He might have learned from Him a little bit, then He became kind of pampered or wealthy, etc. And many people praised Him when He talked, then He felt like He was a big shot. Therefore, wherever He went, He might have put on a show so that people would know how terrific He was and treat Him nicely.
I’ve already told you many stories. For example, we had a monk who… That was before. That monk was with us for only one year. He followed me for a year and then went to Âu Lạc (Vietnam), and everyone worshipped him. Even those who had been monks for 40 years, honored as elders or masters, etc., still worshipped him because he spoke so wisely and eloquently. Because of how he became a monk… When they asked how long he had been a monk, he answered, “Only one year.” Then, people began to worship him, thinking that he was very enlightened and very wise. Those others had been monks for so long. All they could do was recite sutras, or listen to the lectures of other Buddhist masters who also could only read the sutras, without much wisdom to comment or to explain anything. But that monk of ours had listened to my lectures. He said he just repeated what I had said and people were already awed. Of course… No need. My ego has already grown big. Don’t bring it out more – hard to cure.
They had never heard those kinds of things. So when they heard them from a young man who had been a monk for just one year, they thought that he must have achieved the Tao or Buddhahood or the like. He could speak so fluently. He understood the Truth and the sutras. That’s why everyone was so happy. Since then… I lost that monk. He belonged to the public. He became a teacher. Then he was finished. I rarely saw him again. Yes, he did come back. He knew later that it would be better, but he didn’t come back to my side. He did come back once after going out. When he came back, he was different. He used to be very diligent and humble, but now he was working reluctantly. He even told me that he could do more important things. Over here, he just cooked and washed clothes, which was a waste of his talent. He wanted to return to Âu Lạc (Vietnam) to “save sentient beings” and do a lot of things. After hearing what he said, I knew I wouldn’t see him again. He promised to come back. I told him not to talk anymore, not now, because I didn’t think he’d come back again. Truly, he didn’t. He didn’t do anything important after going back to Âu Lạc (Vietnam). Before long, he returned to the United States – to the life he used to live. That’s it. It’s all maya.
Probably, Yang Tzu was the same. Having learned only a little from Lao Tzu, He went out and… New initiates are all like that. They have the same problem. More or less the same. Talking a lot. Knowing very little and talking a lot. However, no matter if they’re right or wrong, people on the outside seldom hear about such things. Fifty percent of the truth is better than nothing, isn’t it? So people worship them. And that’s what happens. Thinking that they’re OK, they give talks everywhere they go. Then people are very impressed.
I’m telling you, this Quan Yin Method of ours, the Power of the inner Master… The inner Master’s Power is very, very… I cannot describe it; it’s unimaginable. Therefore, wherever we go, people would smell something from us. Those who have a lot of bad karma would resist us. Those with good roots would run after us, asking questions and trying to chat with us. We don’t know why people want to talk to us, why they suddenly like us so much. They don’t know why, and neither do we. Actually, we know a little bit, because we feel it or we understand it.
Some people understand 100%: “I know it! Now I’m practicing very well. Every day, I meditate for two and a half hours – two hours dozing off and five minutes reciting the Five Holy Names, plus 25 minutes of daydreaming. Exactly two and a half hours. And the alarm clock happens to ring, so I can write it down in my diary: ‘OK, did my homework from 3 o’clock to 5:30.’” If you really concentrate, sometimes you’ll start sweating. When you are very concentrated, so focused, trying as hard as you can, sometimes you cannot even move. You can’t move because you are concentrating. So you don’t know if your legs get numb or ache, or your legs or head feels itchy or what. But you’ll know it most of the time. You know it already before they’re itching. You’re prepared before they get numb. “I’ll change my position first, or else it’ll be troublesome later.” I’m talking about me, not about you. Most of you meditate better than me. I saw it. For me, it’s occasionally. But you often are very, very concentrated on wandering thoughts. And very concentrated on dozing off. OK, it’s alright. It takes time to practice.
However, when you talk to outside people, you talk big. When you talk to outside people who are not initiates… it sounds like you’re the reincarnation of the Buddha or Bodhisattvas. You are – yes, more or less, or more than that. It’s just you don’t know how much you have. Just like… I’ve told you, the inner... The Power within us opens after initiation; then, nothing can be compared to it. It’s indescribable, just incredible. That’s why you can have your five generations, six, seven, or eight generations liberated. Or even nine generations, a hundred generations. Your friends, dog-people and cat-people, all liberated together. There’s more. Then we… Anyone who sees us, anyone who touches us, whoever has a connection with us will get unbelievable benefits.
Because we sometimes get the Method too easily. Like when I’m in Taiwan (Formosa), you just pay a few hundred NT dollars to get it, which is not for me; it’s for the bus. Bus, public transportation. You spend a couple hundred NT dollars to take a bus and come here, then you can learn the Method – so cheap. Besides, you can have free (vegan) meals and take a packet home for your children, enjoy the cool air and the water, the Dragon Boat Lake, etc. So it’s quite cheap. Out there, it’s not cheap to visit around. Is that so? (Yes.) If you want to enter places like ours, you’d need to buy tickets. (Two hundred dollars per ticket.) Two hundred dollars for one ticket? Those places aren’t as beautiful as ours. (Yes, very artificial.) Very what? (Artificial.) Very “tsou tsou?” (A lot of people.) A lot of people? Yes, yes, yes. (Not natural.) (And not cool.) Our place here is cleaner. No smoking, no radio. (No one chewing betel nuts.) No betel nuts. Chewing betel nuts is not the worst thing.
OK, where were we? You always think of food, interrupt my inspiration. Where were we before? (The ticket. Ours is cheap.) Tickets. Yes, yes, yes. It’s cheap to come here. The (vegan) food is free. Whoever wants to pay pays. It doesn’t matter if you pay or not; no one is watching. Five dollars, $10, or whatever. It’s up to you. And the view is wonderful. You can hang a hammock, relax in the shade and so on. The scenery is so beautiful. And you can listen to me sing at no extra charge. Now I’m singing and working on different songs. So it’s pretty good… a pretty good deal. (Worth it.) What? (It’s worth the money.) It’s a very good value. That’s why sometimes, when you get things easily, you don’t appreciate them.
It’s like in mainland China, Âu Lạc (Vietnam), or Russia, places where I can’t go. Maybe I can go to Russia, but I’m not yet thinking of going. Like in those places… I can actually go, but I’m not free to move around. In countries where I lack that freedom, people cherish me very much, just like you Taiwanese (Formosans) or some other people. It’s the same everywhere. When you go back to Âu Lạc (Vietnam), if they know that you’re my disciple, with your ID card or something to prove your identity, and that you’ve seen me once – I don’t need to have seen you – if you have seen me once, people would worship you. Since they can’t see me, it’s also nice to worship the copy.
That’s how it is. I’m scared of sending anyone back to Âu Lạc (Vietnam) or to mainland China. Like Tong, the last time she went somewhere, the whole village received initiation: men, women, children, cat- and dog-people, all of them. The entire village bowed to her when she arrived. Can you imagine how spectacular it was? Frightening. She didn’t have time to get away. And neither did she want to get away. That’s what I think. According to the way she talked about it, she was embarrassed to say so, but she accidentally liked it. Yes. That’s how it was. Because it’s very difficult in that kind of place.
Photo Caption: A Welcoming Sign Speaks Volumes
