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The fellow-initiate whom Master addresses below works as many as fifteen hours a day as a computer programmer and always feels drowsy during meditation. Concerned about the effect of his fatigue on his spiritual progress, he seeks Master’s help in finding a solution to his problem.
A complex life is exhausting
What a pity! We invented the computer and learned how to use it so that our lives would be more comfortable and relaxed. But little did we realize it would aggravate our problems. Our initial intention was to make life simpler and more relaxing but eventually the more we invent, the more complicated life becomes and the less time we have.
This isn’t your fault, but you live an exhausting life. You’re stuck to the computer, working fifteen hours a day. How can you stand it? I admire you. If I were you, I would have collapsed long ago, right by the computer. Because this job is very dull, cold and without emotions and you have to work fifteen hours a day, by the time you get home your mind and body are overcome by fatigue. Even if you sleep for seven hours, it isn’t enough so of course you fall asleep when you meditate.
I truly sympathize with your situation. I don’t blame you; I only blame your job. Get a new job or cut your workload in half and earn half the pay. With fatigue, of course, you cannot sit in meditation! This is an outcome of the situation; it’s not that you don’t want to meditate. Because of such lifestyles it’s more complicated to deliver people in this era. It’s not very easy because people don’t have time. It’s not that you don’t want to follow me in spiritual practice but your life is too exhausting. After initiation, though you have tried your best to get up and meditate, you end up falling asleep again. Initially, you sleep lying down and after getting up you sleep on in another position. There’s no difference. You’re very pitiful!
If Shakyamuni Buddha had to work as much as you do there is no way He could have become a Buddha; I can guarantee you that. No matter what kind or what level of Bodhisattva He was, He couldn’t possibly have accomplished it. Just as situations make heroes, situations also make Bodhisattvas. For example, if Mahatma Gandhi had not been born in India, he would not have become a hero. Or even if he had been born there but not in that era or under those circumstances he would not have become so famous either.
Create a situation conducive to spiritual practice
If we want to become Saints, we have to create a relaxing situation for spiritual cultivation. I’m not telling you to shave your heads and leave home; I just want you to choose an appropriate job. If our job is too exhausting or if we’re bound too tightly by the world such that we cannot rise higher, we should get a new job or cut our workloads in half. We don’t come to Earth to work until we die; we come to find our God Nature, to elevate ourselves spiritually through our human bodies. And we should realize that our ultimate goal is to ascend to the superior realms and not be shackled here.
So if we find that a certain job is not beneficial to our spiritual progress or our quest for the Truth, we should know it’s not an ideal job; we need to get a new one. We ought to arrange our lives so that we have time for spiritual development. This is most important. Earning money is not good enough. Don’t be deceived by this world! Who is ultimately going to spend the money we make? We cannot wear more than three sets of clothes each day! We wear only one set at a time; no matter how gorgeous the clothes are, we can’t put on three sets at the same time. Likewise with food, we don’t eat much. Why should we tire ourselves out like that? Working fifteen hours a day will drive us crazy!
Don’t be bound by material things
As such, it’s really difficult to pursue spirituality in this era, when people have less wisdom. The more civilized they are, the less wise they become because their time is occupied. For instance, today we have telephones so it’s only right that we call our friends or chat with someone. Now that we have television, we should watch it. Otherwise, it’d be a pity. Since we have cars, we should drive them around. Sometimes we have nowhere to go yet we drive around the city aimlessly because we’re bored. When we do have some time, we have to wash the car, repair it and take care of the insurance. There are so many things to do!
So delivering sentient beings in this era can be both very convenient and inconvenient because everyone is very busy. We’re so busy that we don’t have the time to think of liberation, to wonder, “Why are we here?” We don’t have the opportunity to think, “Hey! I was not born to be a slave to this computer!” So much of our time is occupied yet we still have not awakened. We devote fifteen hours to it, but to what end? It’s for nothing.
Previously our world was fine without computers. I don’t mean that computers are useless. We can use them, but we should not be enslaved by them. Most people forget that cars are here to serve us; instead, they become enslaved by cars. Is that not true? Some people polish their cars until they shine and are reluctant to drive them. The cars are on their minds day in and day out. They become slaves to their cars. Some people even forget about their illnesses in their zeal to earn money. They dare not eat what they want. They want to wear beautiful clothes, but cannot bear to spend the money. They never help their relatives and friends just because they want to hoard more money, the more the better.
They forget that money is there for us to spend, not for us to work for. So it doesn’t matter what we use or in which era we were born. As long as we know where to stop and are not enslaved by material things it’s fine.
Be broadminded and encompass the universe
We should be broadminded in our spiritual quest, doing it for the world rather than for an individual or family, or even for just five generations of our family. However, at least doing it for five generations of our family is slightly better than practicing for fame, gain, longevity or miraculous powers.
When we pray for Master’s help, the broader our minds and the greater our will is, the greater is our power. But if we pray only for our own benefit, our prayers are not very powerful. They’re useful, not entirely useless, but much weaker. We reach a level in spiritual practice where we don’t care about any situation, letting Master take care of us if we fall ill, not caring if we win a lottery or even if we’re penniless. We don’t pray for anything; we only think, “Master, since You know everything, I have no need to say it.” Then we can say we’ve reached a very high level. We don’t care whether we have Light when meditating on the Light or whether we have Sound when contemplating on the Sound. That’s the time when we have a dispassionate mind and are most contented. That’s the state of one who has attained the Truth.
After following me in practice, some people still ask this kind of question: “Master, my husband is …” or “My son is ....” or “I am …” I do not forbid you to ask these questions, but we should be more broadminded to include all sentient beings in the world. Only then can we say we are sincere in seeking the Truth. Only then will our level be elevated and will we become less restrained and more powerful and attain Buddhahood more quickly.
If we think constantly of only one or two people, we’ll be influenced by them—I mean we will reap their karma. Because when we think of someone, of course, his or her energy reaches us, whether it’s positive or negative, large or small, from the Buddha power or the Maya power. We’re influenced by whomever we think of. So we should think of the Most High, Who is the most powerful and is free of karma so that we can benefit from it.
If we love the karma of this world more than we love God or our almighty wisdom, we naturally give the world a chance to drag us down. So the broader our thinking, the greater our wisdom and power and the more we benefit. I’m not strictly forbidding you to think of your spouses or children. You may think of them, but they should only be part of the whole. Don’t make them the most important aspect, but include them as part of the universe. When we pray, it’s best that we pray for the Master power or God power to alleviate the sufferings of the world. In this sense, of course, both we and our relatives are included. This is the best kind of prayer.
God is the true benefactor sustaining everything
Why can we not attain liberation? Let me tell you a “state defense secret.” It’s because we mistake falsehood for the Truth. We borrowed the womb of a person to come here, and we come to think she is our mother. We feel obligated, highly obligated, but we forget the one who gave birth to our mother. God gave birth to her; Hes also gave birth to us. God took care of her and let her grow up. Now God also takes care of us, and yet we forget who our true benefactor is. When someone gives us a dollar or two we’re grateful and say, “Thank you, thank you very much!” When someone serves us a meal we also say, “Thank you, thank you very much!” And when anyone gives us an injection we say, “Wow! I’m grateful!” but we forget the one who is really taking care of us, who is taking care of the doctor and giving him power so that he can save us.
The one who really saves our lives is God; the one who really sustains us is God; the one who really loves us is also God. What I mean is the supreme power, which is also our original wisdom. Sometimes we forget our true benefactor because of this false benefactor. That’s why we cannot gain liberation. For instance, the letters we receive are from our mother or lover, not the postman. The postman only delivers the letter; he has no idea what it says. However, as we know who has delivered the mail, we say, “Thank you, Mr. Postman!” There is nothing wrong with this. However, when we thank someone in this world, we regard him as our benefactor. This is why I tell you not to worship me. I am merely a postman delivering the gift to you. This gift is originally yours so do not worship this postman. When he’s worshipped, his ego grows bigger and bigger as he thinks that he is the one doing it.
In this world, our physical bodies are not great. Our God Nature is within us. You have the God Nature and so do I. Since you have forgotten your God Nature I have come to open it for you. That’s all. There’s no need to worship anyone. Outside people think that I like fame and profit and enjoy being worshipped so I give lectures to the public. This is not true! If it were I might be overjoyed to have you worship me every day. This is not the case. Don’t I scold most often those who worship me? (Yes.) So don’t be ignorant and engage in such superficial politeness.
Shakyamuni Buddha said something similar: “I am just the finger pointing at the moon; I am not the moon. Follow my finger and you will see the moon.” However, people of the world turned Him into the one-and-only Buddha. During his lifetime He was the only one. This is no longer true, but most people don’t realize the truth. Wherever and to whomever you explain this, no one accepts it. That’s why people believe “Shakyamuni Buddha is superior to Jesus Christ,” “Jesus Christ is superior to Shakyamuni Buddha,” “Lao Tze is superior to Confucius” or “Shakyamuni Buddha is superior to Confucius.” People of the world cannot free themselves because they mistake falsehood for the Truth.
Dissolve karmic relationships and help others on the spiritual path
Each of us has an affinity with not just one person but with many people. We have lots of parents. In whichever era we’re born, we always have parents; whether we’re born as animals, Heavenly beings, astral beings, insects or trees we have parents. The parent of this guava fruit is a guava tree. (Laughter) Never in any one lifetime were we born without parents. Therefore, life after life, we have numerous parents. Each time we reincarnate into this world we choose a pair of parents. Even if we don’t choose them, someone else does because the parents have affinities with other people besides us. We have many ties of affinity. That’s why it’s so difficult to sever these affinities and this karma.
Each time before we come here we make a vow up there to develop ourselves in order to become a superior being, a Saint. But in the end, when we come here we become attached to “my mother,” “my father,” “my wife,” ‘my sons” and “my grandsons.” Then we’re finished! We’re trapped in this web, cannot walk away and cannot realize the Truth. If after we descended from above we could remember the vow we made, it would be too simple!
In our descent, how can we come down here if we don’t have a pair of parents to give us a body? We can come precisely because we have an affinity with them. They’re just a vehicle like a taxi. It’s more convenient to take a taxi from Taipei to Kaohsiung. If we cannot find a cab, we have to take the train or airplane. All these are merely vehicles. However, people in general cannot understand this truth. The mother thinks, “He’s my child.” The child also identifies the mother as his parent so they’re tied to each other.
If parents and children are all enlightened and realize that they’re in this illusory world to help each other find an enlightened Master to practice spiritually, such a family is the most blessed. By helping each other in their practice they progress very rapidly and then ascend together. Even if they do not have an affinity for a long time while they’re here, they can stay together after going up. Isn’t that more wonderful? (Yes!) In clinging to each other here, they can at most only bind each other for a hundred years. After that they all have to go their own way, which is even more agonizing!
If you truly love your children or your parents, you should persuade them to join you in practicing the Quan Yin Method and then you can ascend together, never to part again. Isn’t that the best way? (Applause) Yes! Though we provide our parents and children with money here, it isn’t much. They still suffer, fall sick and remain ignorant. When we go up later, they will still be crawling around here.
Be filial by introducing the ultimate method to your parents
Shakyamuni Buddha said that the most filial children are those who persuade their parents to pursue spirituality and tell them about the true method. We are the most filial children when we help them realize the Truth and attain enlightenment, not just give them money to spend. However, if our parents have no money, we cannot forsake them and let them starve while we seek the Truth. This is also not the right thing to do. If there is someone who can take care of our parents and keep them from starving, it will be very good! It shows that we have a wonderful destiny!
The Sixth Zen Patriarch, Hui Neng was an only son and had no money so it was not convenient for him to go out to seek the Truth. But later someone helped him and gave him some money. He then gave the money to another person and entrusted him to take care of his mother. Having done that, he left home immediately. That is the way of an enlightened person. Shakyamuni Buddha practiced spiritually and attained Buddhahood so His mother was able to go to the Trayastrimsas Heaven after her demise. If Shakyamuni Buddha had not attained the Truth, or if His mother had not given birth to Him but to an ordinary human, perhaps she would not have ascended to the Trayastrimsas Heaven. Then it would be difficult to say where she might have gone after death.
Being a queen she also incurred heavy karma. Every day she did nothing but consume food grown by other people while dressing herself in the finest fashions. She lived in a palace built with other people’s tax money and labor and had people waiting on her every day. All this produced karma that she owed to sentient beings so how could she have gone to the Trayastrimsas Heaven? Hell is full of kings; most kings of ancient times went there due to the karma they owed the people. If a king was not moral and failed to take good care of the people, good grief! All foolish kings and tyrants go to hell. The greater their power when they’re alive, the lower they go after their deaths.
We spiritual practitioners bring intangible benefits to our parents. The greatest benefit is elevating their souls instead of taking care of their ephemeral physical bodies while they remain ignorant and foolishly waste their lifetimes. If we cannot deliver them spiritually the best approach is for us to practice spiritually and share our blessings with them intangibly. Otherwise, we’ll be the most unfilial of childrsen!♥