(Master.) Where are the others? Other people all went back there, didn’t they? Is the translation available only over there? There is no translation here, right? (Is there any translation here?) Isn’t there any translation here? (There is.) (There is.) (There is translation here.) Why did they all rush there? Or did they go back to sleep? They went back to sleep, didn’t they? Those…(They’re over there.) Those in the back. In the front. (They are in the main hall.) In the main hall. Are you in the main hall? Do you see me? You comrades over there, right? So you’re just staying put and not going back to the government, huh? Staying here…
Wow! Madam, you’re old but your teeth are still so nice? Are they real? (Yes. Dentures.) They’re dentures, so why do they look so good? Don’t say it, keep it down. If they’re fake, say it quietly. If they’re real, then you can say it out loud. If you come here without any teeth, the dentists will put new ones in for you. Because the dentists love pulling teeth, you know? If they see you’ve got no teeth, how are they supposed to pull any next time? So they’ll put new ones in just so they can pull them out again later. Are you eating and sleeping well here, ma’am? (Yes, I’m fine.) You’re so pretty! You must’ve been very beautiful when you were young. Right? (Yes.) (Probably pretty.) If you’re still this pretty now, you must’ve been even prettier when you were young. Similar to me at the very least, right ma’am? (I wouldn’t dare.) You wouldn’t dare be as pretty as me? Afraid people would get scared and run away?
Are you practicing any better since you’ve been here? Any progress? (Yes.) Really? (Yes.) Where? Show me, let’s see. How much progress have you made? Show me. Where’s the progress? Eating more, is that it? Sleeping more? Are you healthy? (Master, I don’t know how I could manage to sit up in the first few days. One time, the lady sitting next to me said, “My goodness, how can an old lady sit for so long like that? I thought you were dozing off.”) Oh my! Which lady was that, so mean like that? If someone can sit that long, just let them be. (She said, “How come I keep fidgeting when I sit, but you sit so still?”) She took away your merit then. (Yes, after that I couldn’t sit anymore.) That’s because you got too happy when you heard it, so you lost it. (No, I was scared. I said, “Alright, don’t say that anymore.”) Is that so? (I’m smart.) Alright then, next time don’t be afraid. (Yes.) If she says it again, tell her to say it one more time. Usually, “Heaven gives you what you hate.” So don’t be afraid anymore. (Yes.)
From today on, you’re not going to be afraid of anything. (Yes.) No matter what people say, just ignore it. Even if a gun goes off right next to your ear, don’t be afraid. If you’re already deaf, what’s there to be afraid of? You’re old already, you can’t hear anything anyway. Starting today, don’t be afraid of anything anymore. (Yes.) Because whenever you’re afraid, it gives rise to bad things. (Yes.) We must live a life without fear. It’s like Quan Yin Bodhisattva, you know? Quan Yin Bodhisattva embodies the giving of fearlessness. (Yes.) The Gift of Fearlessness means helping people not to be afraid. When people are no longer afraid, their lives become more peaceful and better. And whenever you’re afraid of something, that very thing appears. It’s strange. That’s just how the law works.
In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), people were afraid of guns and war, and when they came here, what did they see? Did you hear that? Even though they fled here as refugees, they still heard gunfire and experienced war. You came here so you could practice not to be afraid anymore. Because only Love can overcome everything. Since ancient times, the Teachers, the enlightened Masters Who came here, all taught us this very lesson. We should not be afraid of anything; we should only love. Love is a kind of… Love gives rise to a different kind of power. And from that power come other good things, beautiful creations, or positive spiritual energy that brings us happiness and joy. Only with that spiritual weapon can we travel through Heaven or hell without our mind and soul ever being damaged.
So, you see, when people insulted the Buddha, He remained silent, He simply radiated Love. There was one guy who wanted to kill Him with a knife, yet He remained calm and unmoving. After a while, they knelt down and bowed. Because when Love is radiated, even knives and swords become softened. It’s not that running away will solve everything. But if you see a tiger, just run, OK? Don’t stand there trying to radiate love to him. And if you want to give love, then climb up onto a really high rock or a very tall tree and say, “Hey, you stand there – I’m sending love to you!” Only then will it be effective. (Yes.) Because he runs very fast, and he can swallow you up just as fast. You won’t even have time to radiate love. So, spreading love doesn’t mean seeing a dangerous situation and just standing there frozen, pretending to spread love just to see how “advanced” or “spiritually great” you are. Stop it. Don’t try that. You’ll die. It’s not that we’re afraid of dying, but don’t be that foolish. If you die foolishly like that, even if you go to Heaven, you’ll be a foolish Buddha.
Love is the one and only path that all beings must choose to walk. In the end, everyone will have to choose that path. No matter what people choose – guns, violence, oppressing others, or whatever aggressive, forceful path they take – in the end, they still have to choose Love. Only Love can make us noble human beings, bring us peace, and give our souls everlasting bliss. And Lord Jesus was the same, you see? When He was crucified and suffering so intensely – His body bruised and torn apart, enduring such severe punishment and agony – He still continued to radiate Love, because He could not avoid that punishment. It was because He had to bear the karma of sentient beings, so He could not avoid it. He could not escape the punishment, yet even while enduring it, He still radiated Love, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He prayed to His Father to forgive them, meaning He prayed to Heaven and the Buddhas to pardon those people.
But He Himself also had to possess such a forgiving heart in order to pray for Heaven and the Buddhas to forgive them, right? (Yes.) Because if His heart had been filled with hatred, He might have said, “Oh, Heaven! Father, strike them all down for me. I am Your Son, while they are merely stepchildren.” He forgave them. It was from that forgiving heart that He could pray for them. (Yes.) If we hate someone, how can we pray for them? We would curse them to die instead of praying for them.
Therefore, wherever there is Love, only goodness and beautiful things can arise from it. It’s not that by radiating Love, a tiger suddenly won’t eat you – but your heart will remain peaceful. Even if we die, we will die in peace. And if we die in that state of peace, then of course we’ll go to Heaven, where else would we go? People who are peaceful, loving, and at ease, where would they go? Down to hell? Hell has no place for people like that. Right? (Yes.) It is for demons, evil spirits, and wicked people. But people who are peaceful, unburdened and loving at heart could never descend there. There’s no place there for them – no dwelling in the lower realms could house people filled with love.
Every house down there is labeled: “Here lives an evil demon,” or “There lives a fierce ogress.” The names written outside the houses – like the mailboxes at the gates of those homes in hell – all say things like that. It means cruel, vicious people – thugs and evildoers. Those are the kinds of names found there. There are no names belonging to loving people, compassionate people, generous people, forgiving people, or people with a merciful heart. Down in hell, you won’t find names like that. Because their lineage is different from ours. Just as if the father’s family name is Nguyễn, then the children born to him will also carry the name Nguyễn, right? If the father’s last name is Trần, then the child will also be Trần.
But if we want to choose the path of Love, we must practice spiritually first. When we practice spiritually and awaken our own inner power – our true Original Nature, our Buddha Nature – then we are truly able to radiate Love. Because if the Buddha Nature has not yet awakened, then the love we spread is still only worldly love. And if you spread a little bit of worldly affection, you might end up with a whole bunch of ladies clinging to you – more troublesome. When you get home, your wife will pinch you to death and grind her teeth [in anger]. She will even starve you for a few days. So we have to examine what kind of love we truly have first, and only then can we share it. Don’t go around saying, “I go here and there spreading love everywhere.” Don’t misuse the word “love” like that. I’m making it very clear. Don’t get it mixed up and then say, “She said that.” That’s not the kind of spreading Love I meant.
Spread the noble kind of Love, the Love from Heaven, the Love of the Buddha realm, the Love of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, not that other kind of love. That kind of love, the more you spread it, the more trouble you get into. The same goes for the ladies, so don’t just laugh at the men. Pretending to spread love and all that. It’s not that we’re criticizing anyone. But we have to know whether the path we choose and walk on is truly noble and beautiful or not. We have to clearly understand what kind of love we are spreading. It’s not that we refrain from doing something because we’re afraid of being judged by others, nor is it about judging other people ourselves. Because many times, we don’t really know the reasons behind what they do, so we can’t judge or criticize them.
In the past there was a “bodhisattva” who gave not saintly love but secular love. Learned it from me. I used to give out (vegan) candy and snacks to this person and that person because you all kept asking for it. Back then I had fewer disciples, and there were not many monastic students either. So whenever I happened to have a lot of (vegan) sweets, I would bring some back to give each person a piece, each person a small packet. Some people even liked eating my leftovers. For example, I would take a bite of something and set it down, and they would fight over it to eat it. There’s some kind of blessing power in it, I don’t know. And that “bodhisattva” followed my example and did exactly the same thing.
This woman was very beautiful. This “bodhisattva” was rather beautiful in a worldly way, that kind of beauty. And then every day, she’d get on her motorbike to go study with this teacher and that teacher. She would take a bite of something, eat half, and then give the other half to some guy. She was just trying to imitate me. “I learned it from my Master.” Oh my God! And the guys did eat them, and because of too much blessing power, they all became dazed and completely lost their minds. They kept driving their cars into the bushes. Whatever they did, they stayed dazed and absent minded for a long time. It was as if almost all of them had been completely bewitched. Day after day they were all spaced out, each one thinking he was the only one who got half the cake. Later, when everything was exposed, they found out everyone was the same. She kept doing that over and over.
And every so often she would dash past the men’s offices and hand out (vegan) cakes and candy. Those (vegan) cakes were from my kitchen. She took my (vegan) cakes downstairs, handed it out, and kept winking and making all kinds of gestures. I don’t know what was in her heart. But when you act like that, men can easily misunderstand. Except for me, no one would misunderstand. Because “She has always been like that from the beginning. It’s because we ate Her (vegan) cake/snack, that’s why we came back (to visit).” Whether men or women, they are all used to it. I only give because you ask for them.
But this kind of behavior is asking for trouble for yourself. Do you understand? Take my (vegan) cakes and bring them downstairs and hand them out while winking and swaying around like that, how could anyone not become dazed? They are living Buddhas, not wooden statues, of course they can get heart trouble. A wooden Buddha has a wooden heart, so it does not feel pain. But these are real Buddhas. Then I had to step in and untangle everything. But untangling it made this person feel hurt and the other become sick. It’s like when you walk into a thorny bush and get stuck, trying to pull yourself out, you will inevitably get a few scratches. (Yes.) You’ll lose some flesh, some skin. And then cry and wail loudly. You know the consequences. When you do such things, that’s how it turns out.
Photo Caption: “Wow! Tks GOD for You, Beautiful Sun”
