134/Master's Words/Beware of Maya's Traps

We practitioners should be clear in our understanding, so that we are not deceived by anyone. But each time Maya tests you, a few of you will fail. Don't listen to anyone else's words but Master's! Otherwise you will be trapped by Maya. If you imprudently listen to others' words without discrimination, you are degrading your own level. You are acknowledging their superiority over yours. Then you become their subordinate.

There are too many false masters in the world. Adding one more is no big deal. However, it would be a pity if you people with wisdom were deceived. Why not be a master of your own self? If you believe everything others tell you, and do not use your own wisdom to discern, then others will laugh at your lack of wisdom and poor practice.

If you are helping with Master's work in any way you have to be even more vigilant, lest you show any arrogance. When we help others, it is like we are working for ourselves. We should not feel complacent about our work. If we do, we will fall into Maya's trap. Say you went to work every day, and the boss paid you ten or twenty thousand dollars a month. Would you think that this was something worth being complacent about? Would you feel yourself to be extremely competent just because you were helping the boss in his work? No! Instead you would be petrified that you might make mistakes, or that you were not worthy of the job. You would worry about getting fired if you did not perform well. Is it not true? (Audience answers: "Yes.")

We should also be ever so humble, so cautious, and so careful when we are helping with God's work. We are doing very little work anyway, so what's the big deal? We work to gain merits, to cleanse our karmic debts, and to learn to become a saint. It is a chance for us to learn some lessons. Therefore, we should be grateful for this learning opportunity. There is nothing to be complacent about! Any time we feel complacent about our work, we should know that Maya is coming to test us.

Or if we are impatient to become a Buddha, Maya will definitely come to test us. He will tell us that we have already become a Buddha. Maya may not always be this blurred image that appears to you in your meditation. He may make use of a person who comes to ring your doorbell telling you, "We are good friends. I know you have already become a Buddha. I know you have already reached the eighth realm." To me it is 'Zhu Ba-jie'! (Audience laughs. Note: This is the name of Piggy in Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic, and Zhu Ba-jie sounds similar to 'the eighth realm of the pig' in Chinese.)

Our practice is not that difficult. It is not difficult to become a saint or to teach others. It is teaching ourselves that is difficult. We have to discipline ourselves first. We have to keep out our desire for fame and gain and clean up all our filthy thoughts. Only then can we help to clean up others. If we are very filthy ourselves, and we proceed to clean others, then we will contaminate them. Even worse , maybe they were not that filthy to begin with, but since our whole body is soiled, when we try to clean them, we soil them or dirty their clothes, making them even filthier.

Hence helping sentient beings is not difficult, but helping our own self is. There is a Chinese saying: "To have a victory over oneself is the most difficult thing." It is not difficult to defeat millions or billions of people. One can use violence, force, money, or even eloquence. But it is really difficult to defeat our own self because we cannot deceive ourselves. We will not be able to sleep at night. Your guardian angel will come and ask you about your level, saying, " How dare you claim to be a master or a teacher for both human and heavenly beings?"

And then after a while, the black and white messengers from the King of Death will also come to "greet you." (Master and audience laugh.) They will tell you, "Your time has come." At that time Master will not care for you because your time has come, and you have to go with the messengers of Death. You will have to take care of yourself because you have refused to acknowledge Master's protective power. Master will not force you to accept Her protection. If you want it, Master will give it to you. But if you do not want it, Master will take it back.

Back to Contents

Next page