Master Says

A reporter came to interview me today. "Where does this power of Maya,
or the negative power, come from?" he asked.
"It comes from God," I replied.
"How can that be?"
"The Bible says, 'God created the universe and everything. There is nothing that is not created by God.' So, if God didn't create this power of Maya, who did?"
"You are right. But why did God create this negative power?"

I told him that the negative power is very useful to us, when we learn how to transform it into a useful force. For example, electricity is also very dangerous. We get shocked and might even get killed if it flows through us, or if we come too close to a high voltage point. However, if we have learned how to make use of electricity, we will have no problem. Money, for example, also induces many people to break the law, violate the precepts, and commit evil acts. However, if we have learned how to make use of money instead of being enslaved by it, it is very useful to us as well. Instead of being controlled by money, we manipulate it and become its master. If it is the other way around, then we cannot survive without money. Some people are very greedy for money and would steal it, or kill or resort to evil ways to acquire it. At this time, money becomes a negative thing. If we know how to make use of it, however, it becomes positive.

Let's take electricity, for instance. It is bipolar; only when the negative and positive poles are connected will electric current be generated. Likewise, there are two kinds of power in the world. On the positive side is God's power, which encompasses compassion, love, care and benedictory power. On the negative side is the power of Maya, which confines people to this world, and tests their greed, anger, infatuation, wisdom and strength in surmounting obstacles. By its origin, this power is neither good nor bad, but it becomes good or bad, depending on how we use it. The negative power helps us learn how to overcome and transform it into something useful.

All the Enlightened Masters - Shakymuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Socrates, and Plato, among others, descended to this world to teach human beings how to overcome the negative power, the power from the left, and how to integrate it with the positive power. We Chinese call it the "integration of Yin and Yang." It is better to have both Yin and Yang. Why? Do we humans lack Yin or Yang? No, but most probably we have too much Yin and too little Yang. We are not balanced and easily become like leaves waving in the wind without self-determination. If we follow the ways of the world, and follow our greed, anger, infatuation, and desires, then we are following the way of the Yin, the negative power. At such times, the Enlightened Master will advise us to take some Yang supplements. Otherwise, we will be too inclined toward the left; we will have too much Yin and be forever bound by this Yin.

What is "Yang"? It is the positive power, the power of compassion and love, which is enlightening, radiant, blissful, and charged with blessing power. It comes from "above," while the Yin power comes from the world, or from "below." The former pulls us up while the latter drags us down. In Heaven, or the abode of the angels, there is plenty of Yang, so the heavenly beings have no idea what pain and suffering are, much less can they sympathize with suffering people. In this world, we have too much pain and anguish. Suffering is on our minds all the time. We think very little about happiness. We have very little idea what happiness is, for we have very few moments of joy, while we have plenty of painful times.

Let me cite an example: We work for more than eight or ten hours a day. When we are home, we enjoy only a few bowls of rice. Our moment of joy is mealtime, but we have to work ten hours in exchange for it. When we are happy being with our spouse, we say we are in Heaven, but we forget how many obligations are attached to this happiness. For twenty, thirty, or forty years after marriage, we have obligations toward that person and our children. From dawn till dusk, we work hard to earn money for our food and clothing and to take care of our children until they are twenty, twenty-five, or even thirty. And it does not end here. Later, when they are married and have children, they bring their kids for us to take care of. Therefore, in this world, heavenly moments or happy times are very rare. We have to exert a lot of physical and mental effort before we can earn a little happiness. (Applause)