Host: Okay, everyone. Welcome to our second hour of the Novas Report on KQSB 990 on your dial. Our number here is 967-3181. And we really have a treat in store for everyone here in Santa Barbara. We are going to be joined by the Supreme Master Ching Hai.

And you may ask: Who is the Supreme Master Ching Hai? Well, She is a symbol of spiritual wisdom and guidance for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. She is a model of selfless service, devoting all Her time and Her energy to freeing people from suffering and ignorance. She teaches free of charge a nondenominational form of meditation called the Quan Yin Method, in thirty-six countries and centers around the world. She has become internationally famous for humanitarian and disaster relief activities on four continents.

In 1993, Master Ching Hai received the international Peace Commendation, the "World Spiritual Leadership" Award, and was also made an honorary citizen by the United States government in recognition for disaster relief work there, as well as for Her tireless efforts in assisting refugees around the world. But beyond that, Master Ching Hai is a true spiritual leader for people, as we said, across all denominations. And I want to welcome Master Ching Hai.

Contemplating On The Inner God's Word

H: You know, Master Ching Hai, there is something when people read Your literature - and not many people in Santa Barbara are acquainted with You and Your work as in other parts of the country. They say we study the Quan Yin Method, which You teach; and You have the key to immediate enlightenment. And that is one of my main questions for You: Is that possible? What does that mean - the key to immediate enlightenment?

M: It's possible. Everything is possible as long as we find out the correct way. It's just like any other science, if we find out the correct combination of certain chemicals, then we find the right reaction to certain things, to create certain substances. Similarly, there is enlightenment already within ourselves. As we all know, we carne from the Kingdom of God and God is the only one that created the world and ourselves. So if we find out where we can contact this God-power or the Kingdom of God within ourselves, or what we call Buddha nature, whatever you may name it, then it is immediate because we already have it there. It's just like in our pocket.

H: So in your estimation, enlightenment is not reserved for the few people who have been sort of practicing Zen or been monks in Christian monasteries forever. You feel that anyone - the man and woman in the street - can gain instant enlightenment.

M: Can. Everyone can provided they sincerely want it, want to find out who they are.

H: How is that done?

M: It's just like you know how to operate a radio station. You know which button to turn on so that you can introduce your program to people. And the people at home who know how to tune into your radio program, then can receive. Very easy!

H: So you feel the Quan Yin Method of mediation opens the key to enlightenment for people?

M: Yes, the key of enlightenment is within us. It's just that we forget how to use it. And now if the so-called teacher or the spiritual friend show us how, then it happens instantly.

H: What is the Quan Yin Method?

M: I started in Formosa and people ask me about the method. I just didn't know what to tell them, because the method is a kind of abstract thing, is God-power, is not something that we can put into words. So, I just depend on the outcome of the so-called method; I tell them it's Quan Yin. Quan Yin in Chinese means contemplating on the inner God's word, or God's vibration, or God's power, or God's energy because it vibrates within all of us. And especially human beings are able to receive that by their so-called super-sensory sense.

H: You know, there is a very beautiful eleventh century Bodhisattva from China here in the Santa Barbara Museum, which is the "Quan Yin Bodhisattva". She is the largest figure in the museum. Is that related to the Quan Yin Method in that she is the Goddess of Mercy?

M: It's not directly related right now; but it is also, because she is the one who practiced this so-called "Quan Yin Method" to become an enlightened being. And therefore she can even hear all the sounds of the universe, all the suffering sounds of the people, and help them. That's how she got the name "Quan Yin", because of contemplating on the sound. When we contemplate the same thing, we can reach the same power as she has, sooner or later. But, we do have a little bit to begin with immediately; that's why we call it immediate enlightenment.

Karma Is The Retribution Of Our Past Actions

H: Master Ching Hai, some of Your disciples have published a really beautiful hook which is called I Have Come To Take You Home. It is a collection of quotes and spiritual teachings of Master Ching Hai. To order this book, people can call area code
(415) 493-3355. And this book, I must say that Your disciples did a superb job, both in the presentation and how they were able to condense some of Your sayings. I know because I have watched so many of Your tapes and read Your magazines. And I want to ask You: In Your book You mentioned that karma is the cause of most people's troubles, Is "karma" a noble word for "sin"? What is karma, Master Ching Hai?

M: If we say it is sin, it is a little bit too heavy and frightening for people. But, if that is the only word that we know, then I may put it that way. Otherwise, if you permit me, or if my explanation is clear enough for people to understand, then I would put it: it's just kind of a habit-forming way of life, whether it is good in the society's eyes or whether it is no good in the moral standard of the world. That is the habit-forming actions and reactions and the retribution that we have to take out of that. For example, if we work a lot and we are sweating and we are thirsty and we eat a lot of salty stuff, then we must drink water, you see. Whether people think that is bad for you or good for you, you must drink it. So now, "sin", it is a kind of heavy word and condemning , which I very rarely like to use, because we are helpless in this world and we don't even know what is right, what is wrong sometimes. And what is right for other people may be wrong to us, and what is wrong for others may be right to us in circumstance and in our need at that time. Just like Jesus said: One who steals for bread is not guilty, for example. So the so-called karma is the thing that we have to reap, the retribution of past actions.

H: Is it the retribution of past actions that we have to reap? Is that a personal retribution or do we also reap the retribution of the collective actions?

M: Yes, we do have both. We have individual, as well as collective. If we are involved with other people by even thought or merely just being happy with it or being in agreement with the person who did the things, whether good or ball, we share the approximate percentage of that action and retribution. And that is the so-called karma.

H: But in Your practice, what You work towards is ridding people of past karma, as I understand it, so that the result of it being that they do not have to be reincarnated. Is that Your belief!

M: Yes, yes, that must be done. Otherwise, how do we get out of here?

H: Some people don't think it's so ball, right?

M: Yes, yes, yes, that was the purpose of many past teachers who have become my teachers too, you know, invisible and visible teachers, because they came here to teach people how to wipe out the past.

H: And You have come here to this earth to teach Your followers and disciples here to wipe out their past karma, so that they don't need to be reincarnated?

M: Yes, yes, and to recreate a new so-called karma, a new pattern of life and a new future, so that we continue in that direction and not have to go back to that direction, whether that direction was good or bad. We can walk in a different way.

H: So if karma exists, and there is also a certain amount of predestination in our life, how does individual choice come into play? How can we change our destiny if, according to Your belief, we are so tied up with other people's karma as well?

M: Yes, you are very enlightened. It's very difficult to ask this kind of question and to even know about it. You know, it is true that we have certain karma and we have a lot of karma. And these karma are put to two different uses. First, into this life before we are born or as we are born, we have to carry on according to a certain pattern, right? That is called the immediate karma. And the other karma, which is so much from many lifetimes, that the Lord of karma, the one who is in charge of this karma management, will put it in a kind of storehouse for us. When we are born and we are finished with this karma, he will give another one again, anyhow. Therefore, the store karma is the most important. So the master, the teacher or the friend must destroy this karma for the individual. And the individual immediate karma, which we have to carry on in this life, we have to undergo because it has already been written, agreed upon before we came.

Enlightenment Comes Only From A Living Master

H: Master, how does a person find a master who can help him or her come into this revelation of getting rid of the past karma and becoming aware or our oneness with the Father, Mother, God, or whatever you want to call it?

M: One can seek a so-called teacher or friend through the past masters; that means we can pray to Jesus or Buddha or whoever the past master, the Great One that we believe in, or to God Almighty. And if we are sincere in that effort, we truly want one, then God will send one to our way.

H: Your understanding and Your teaching is that the past masters can only help us to a point, because they are dead and we need a living master. This is part of Your principle.

M: Yes. yes. But before we know the present master, we can pray to the past masters and they can lead us; or God can lead us to find the living one, the representative at this time.

H: Master, one of the requirements of Your practice is strict vegetarianism, including no eggs. Many people feel that perhaps that is an extreme idea, and that sometimes we need meat. They feel that vegetarians, for example, don't get adequate protein and maybe that it's putting too much emphasis on the material. Could You explain Your belief about the need for vegetarianism?

M: Yes. I can understand people's point of view because so much emphasis has been put on how you have to keep your health, how many calories per day, and things like that. And you have been brainwashed since you have been born. But the thing is that nature has so much, the vegetable kingdom offers us so much protein which is sometimes richer than the meat kingdom can offer. Therefore, you see, all the strongest animals are vegetarians, like elephants, horses, etc., huh? And even lions and tigers can not compare to elephants and horses who are only eating vegetables. But actually, eggs are one of the ingredients, egg especially .... If you want to eat one egg or two now and again, well, I will not kill you or tell anyone to put you in hell, anything like that. (Laughter) But I do not forbid people, you know what I mean? No forbidding of any kind. It's just a guidance that if you want to truly get the quick result and liberate yourself in one life, then any price is not too much! The main point is that we are willing even to sacrifice our lift for enlightenment, if it comes to that. But no one is asking us to do that. Just a few ingredients that are not good for our practice.

H: But why is vegetarianism a necessity?

M: Yes, because you asked me before about the law of karma, the law of retribution As you sow, so shall you reap. Even in the Bible, God said to us: Who told you to kill all these she-goat and he-buffalo to make offerings to me? Stop yourself from killing these innocent lives. Otherwise, I will never listen to you when you pray, I will turn my head away, things like that. Even if to make an offering to God, we should not do it. But sometimes the Bible translations and people translations confuse us.

H: Yes, if we take the literal meaning of the Bible, we can find many instances of meat eating and fish eating and so on.

M: Yeah, but the thing is that we should ask our conscience alone whether we like an innocent life to be sacrificed for our sake or not, when we have other alternatives. You know what I mean? Okay, that is the thing that if we carry on our love of God into every being in this life, even a blade of grass we do not destroy if really it is not dangerous to our life and not truly necessary.

H: You are saying that in a way like the Goddess of Compassion, like Quan Yin, that we must show compassion towards all living things in order to evolve.

M: To be that, to be that, to be the love itself, yes. We must go up towards love and we must walk in love and carry love everywhere we go. Okay! Now, about the egg before I forget. Eggs nowadays are unfertilized, and sometimes it is okay. It does not concern killing that much, but it's just egg is one of the elements to represent life and death, the circle of transmigration. It is the first symbol. Second, it is an ingredient that most of the white or black magicians use to attract the negative entities; and if you studied magic, you should know that. And eggs, if we eat them, isn't that like we want to attract the negative power to ourselves? You know what I mean?

Switch On To God And Live A Moral And Tranquil Life

H: What is the ideal diet for the present planet and for the present evolving human beings?

M: Yes, I think you American people know better. There are many books about vegetarian diet, one book about "Survival In The Twenty-first Century," [Yes.], or another one like "Diet For A New America," things like that. You know, they have really verified scientifically that we don't really need animal diet to survive. One of the magazines in Canada say if the western part of America cat vegetarian, we can save six million lives for many years. For example like that. The vegetarian diet can rescue our forests from deforestation, because we don't need to raise so many cattle; the killing karma will not make a bad retribution on our planet people; and economically, the vegetarian diet will rescue all the rest of the people in the world without having to make war or to make any frontier, or to kill for it.

H: Master Ching Hai, You mentioned that You have the method, the Quan Yin Method, and that You also initiate people. In order to become enlightened, Your followers have to become initiated in Your practice. Is that correct?

M: If they do not know where the key is and they ask for it, I will show them.

H: Master Ching Hai, we are coming into a new millennium. And many people are concerned about the state of the environment and the future of our planet, and whether the world is going to come to an end or not. What do You believe our future is? Do You think there is a reason for these avalanches that we have been seeing in California, for example, in recent times?

M: You mean the flood? The what?

H: The flood. Yes, exactly, and all these many kinds of natural disasters ....

M: Yes, recently a lot. I felt very sorry it happened last night - on TV again, you know. Every time we try to help, but we cannot help forever, because that is not the main help. Even though material is important for people immediately and that we give; but the main help is from the root, not the branches. The answer lies not in God or in any prediction of Nostradamus; it is in our hands that we can change the future. We can switch on to God right now. We can remember the old golden times. We must stop killing people and animals, and we must live a very moral and tranquil life.

H: What is a moral life to You, Master?

M: Yeah, whether or not initiated, or coming to me or not coming to me, or coming to all the masters or not coming to a master, we just lead the life according to our conscience, like the old times. We do to people what we love people do to ourselves.

H: Yes, like the golden rule.

M: Yes, golden rule, like you just do what is good. What is good, we do immediately. What is beneficial for people and people ask for it, we do it. And what is bad for people and for ourselves, we just stop it immediately. And that is easy enough to do.

H: And that is the conscience ... that is the one conscience we need to be guided by.

M: Yes, we can look in the Bible, for example, like the Ten Commandments: Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not lie. Thou shall not steal, etc. At least those basic social behaviors. And then in our hearts, we must pray day and night for the guidance of the most high.

Know You Are The Master

H: I know that You don't like people coming to You for healing in the way the people went to Jesus for the leaves and the fishes rather than for the true spiritual life. But it is true that people pray to You, is it not, Master? and that You have been known to heal and comfort them?

M: I do not encourage people to pray to me. Instead, they should develop their own power, because we have God within all of us. But perhaps in the beginning of the practice, when the younger sisters and brothers are a little bit still weak in spiritual power and in the will, so they just pray to an elder perhaps. They think elder sister is stronger, and it works. So they pray and they tell each other to do, and it works for them. Then it's fine. As long as it benefits people, I do not say I like or not like. It's just that I'd rather introduce them to themselves, to their own greatness.

H: You have said often in Your talks that every one can become a master

M: Truly.

H: What does that mean?

M: Well, if we remember, in the Bible, Jesus said: What I do, you can do even better. Yes, because that is the purpose of any teacher on earth as well as in heaven ...and in heaven is what make us become like the teacher, no? [Yes.] Like an English teacher, he will teach until we become ..., you know, we can read and write and understand as much as the teacher does. Yes, so why not in the spiritual sense, especially we are all children of God. We all know that, all the masters have told us that and it's true. Otherwise, where do we come from? If we don't come from God. if we are not children of God, where are we? Where do we come from?

H: How does one recognize a real master? I mean, because You are saying You have to look for a master and a master appears and so on. How do You know a false master from a real master, because it seems also there are many people who are bogus and so on.

M: Yes, yes, yes, that I believe too. But I do believe that if we are sincere and honest and pure within our search for the spiritual kingdom, then the true master will come, because like attracts like. So if we happen to find a false master, we are the only one to be blamed. So we should take care that we are pure and sincere in our search, then God will send the right one for us. And if we happen not to find one, then we should continue to pray.

H: In Your teaching, Master. You have a fundamental Buddhist teaching, I would say. Is that right?

M: Not really. It's just that I began in the East, in the Orient, and most of the people there understand Buddhism better than the Occidentals.

H: Yes, but You were born in Au Lac and You were brought up both in the Catholic faith and in the Buddhist faith?

M: Yes, correct. In our country, the faith of the Buddhists and Catholics don't conflict with each other. Sometimes they marry the wife who has different religion, so we are used to it. So we don't discriminate so much. And when I started in Formosa, I must speak in a Buddhist kind of understanding; otherwise, people don't know. But for me, the God-power, the creating energy of the whole universe, is only one. You call it Buddha nature or you call it God-power, to me it's the same because I have realized it is the same. Not that I learnt it from books, but I realized it myself. It's only one.

H: You realized it Yourself through prayer and meditation and seeking on Your own?

M: Yes. First by prayer and learning through different religious teachers of different religions. But not as deep as when I came to the Quan Yin Method and got the great enlightenment myself.

H: Did You know Yourself You would always spiritually lead the way? For example, Jesus was as a young man and, you know, that we saw Him from the early times trying to preach and so on when He was twelve years old? Did You always feel that calling?

M: I did not have this calling when I was young. But somehow, I tended toward spiritual reading, you know, books or Bible. Apart from the ritual one from the Buddhist and Catholic, I read more for myself. And I preferred these books since I was six or seven years, since I began to read a little bit. I read these books instead of the children's books or other things. So I don't know what is the sign.

H: So You brought this with You?

M: Perhaps I loved them. Yes.

H: In Your teachings, Master Ching Hai. You talk about the five precepts. What is that exactly for our listeners who might not be acquainted with that?

M: Yes, well, they are similar to the Ten Commandments of Catholicism, of the Christians. Like you don't kill. Refrain from harming other beings, including animals; hence, the vegetarian diet. And even don't cut trees and things at random. We don't worship nature but we must protect nature, even including trees and that; because they also have living, loving impulse within themselves. And also to protect our environment. It goes deeper than just the five sentences. But you know, this scares people. So, I just say: We refrain from harming and killing other beings. We refrain from telling lies, tell the truth only. We refrain from stealing, but give in charity and love. We refrain from adultery, but are faithful to one another, helping one another spiritually and materially. We refrain from drinking intoxicants, drug and things like that, or alcohol.

H: You know, You are talking about no hamming and no killing of others. And this brings us to a very sensitive subject, particularly, I think, in America today, which is that of abortion. What is Your position on abortion, Master Ching Hai?

M: Well, you're trying to get me into trouble. Okay. I hope that your listeners will understand that each one has their own opinion, and I respect that too. But in my own opinion, if I have the right to have one and I have the right to air it to you, then I would prefer that we preserve life because that is good for our conscience, not only good for the child. Yeah, it goes for both, you see. But in such a case, when the mother and child are in danger, you know, and the doctor decides to save the child or the mother, then it is an individual case. Then we must consider. But in such a case as if we just, you know, enjoy our life or abusing the sexual gift from God for pleasure, and then we don't consider the other's life as a consequence to it, then I think it might bother our conscience the whole life. And it might even endanger the life of the mother. But of course, I understand that in such a society, there are many individual circumstances that the people can not even decid! what is right, what is wrong, you know, because they are pressured with time and immediate environment and the material difficulty and all kinds of things.

H: How do You feel about the equality of the sexes, Master Ching Hai?

M: We are born equal from God, but we are not equal in different quality and character. Man should he happy as a man, woman should be happy as a woman. I wouldn't change myself to be a man. And I don't think many men would like change themselves into women. We just should be happy. Man, woman, who cares?

Experience Different Dimensions

H: Master, in Your book, there is a question here that says: Have You experience death? And so I would like to ask You about that as a Master?

M: Oh, I see, for the practitioner of a little higher level; they don't know what is so-called death. They just walk from one room to the next, and the next room is always better than the last one. There will be kind of different mansions in the Father's kingdom, in Christian terminology. That means so many levels of consciousness, so many beauties in the whole universe, that we just step on and on and leaving the last, you know, the lower level. And that is what you call so-called death. And for most people, if they do not experience these beautiful mansions of God, then they might experience some little bit of darker kind of region. But then, there is also walking from one room to another. There is no death in any sense at all.

H: You have personally experienced the death?

M: Yes, no problem. Everyday, anytime you want to.

H: Do Your followers do this through their meditation?

M: Yes. yes. yes, they experience them too.

H: Is that what Saint Paul meant when he said "I die daily"?

M: Oh, I run glad you remember! Yes, yes, exactly! Because we can just step into another dimension without having to quit this physical dimension too. We just leave the coat behind like you leave your coat outside.

H: Master Ching Hai. I know You have mentioned a number of times in Your talks about life on other planets and so on. Can You tell us a little bit about this? There is a great interest in Santa Barbara. I know, for example, some people here feel they have been abducted by aliens and so on. What is Your belief on this entire concept of other planets and UFOs and so on?

M: Uhuh, there are some other planets apart from our own which house different beings. And some of them are more beautiful and benevolent, and some of them are uglier and less loving. So this is true but not everyone can see them, even if they fly in front of our eyes.

H: And You have traveled to these other planets or those other planets or dimension? Are these really planets or are they states of beings or....?

M: Well, state of being and planets are hung together. Yes, so for example, now we are in this planet because our state of being is more in the physical dimension than in the invisible spiritual sphere. That's why we are here. And If our level is a little bit near to the angels, for example, then we see more of them. And if we are nearer to, for example, negative power, then we see more devils. If we are near to human beings, then we see more humans. If we go to the jungle we see more animals.

H: How do You near that or stay away from it? Do we have any control over this?

M: We do, by leading a very, very moral and beautiful life from inside out. Then we can avoid at least the negative influence. Then we don't see devils and things like that. And if we don't see angels, at least we don't see negative beings like devils and the frightening creatures.

H: But You have travelled through these different dimensions? Is that correct, Master Ching Hai?

M: Am I allowed to disclose to you my level or not?

H: Absolutely.

M: It's a "universal secret". Actually, in our practice we keep our levels to ourselves except when it is truly necessary.

H: I see. What is the highest level?

M: The highest level is no level.

H: But how many levels do You refer to? I know You have a second level, five levels....

M: Okay, right. That is for the beginners so that at least they recognize that they have progressed, yeah? Bur once we reach the so-called highest level, then we are one with all beings. We don't have the level. It's difficult to tell you.

H: No. And so therefore, there is no journey, there is no traveling?

M: Actually not, because we are always where we are.

H: There is no place to go.

M: Yeah, we go all the way from all different levels and planets, and then we are back to where it never begins and never ends and never started. But it's difficult to explain. I am afraid to confuse you.

H: No. You have to try to know it.

M: Yes, but you see, in that level, in the highest level, you know only love and sacrifice. There is no me and I. And anything better for you, I do. You know, you must know love and sacrifice in that level. That's all there is.

A Master Has Come to Bear The Suffering Of The Worldly People

H: Master Ching Hai, the understanding we have in the West of Bodhisattvas is that they are beings that refrain from entering Nirvana. Then they take on the karma of the suffering people so people can be elevated? Is that right?

M: Yes, that is what I mean by love and sacrifice. You see, if you practice, for example, the Quan Yin Method and then you became a very elevated person, you can know all the universe from heaven to hell. And you can know everything from the past to the future. You can do anything you want. Okay. But then, if you want to retain this, absolutely no emotion and no suffering, then you must remain all by yourself, must never mix with the suffering, the disaster, anything in this world at all.

H: Could You explain that a little differently'? It's hard to grasp.

M: You ask difficult questions. (Laughter) This is a spiritual thing. It's a little bit difficult if we have not experienced it ourselves first, you see. I'll try. See, for example, you and I both practice the Quan Yin Method. And you and I both reach similar levels of power - that we can heal, we can see the past and future, we can do anything we want, we can call all the angels to come to earth in one second, and we are absolutely in control of everything. Okay, if you and I both want to retain this power, then we must refrain from any emotion, conflict and concern, even compassion for the world, for anyone, even if people die in front of you, your heart should not move!

H: In other words, You are talking about absolute detachment.

M: Yes, yes. If people die in front of you by thousands, you just feel nothing.

H: Because You know that that is not the Truth.

M: Yeah, also you should know that it's a plan of God or it's a karma, or whatever you call it, whatever excuse, okay? You must not move. But as long as you move, you hear people call for help, and if you help them, even once or try it, and then continue, then you have to know the suffering of the people who suffer. Otherwise, you never know how they suffer. And then some people, some spiritual people, they say the people who help the world are stupid. And then you get involved in the emotion of the people, and you got to know the suffering of the people, and then, of course, that affects you too.

H: But I mean, that has been Your role, hasn't it?

M: Yeah. That's it. That's it. So, you have the choice.

H: That has been Your role to help with other people's karma, to help in their suffering, and to be compassionate towards them by helping them be relieved. Because many of the things You mentioned before like, for example, you must be moral, or follow the five precepts, or pray to God all the time.... And so this is fine, but there are many people, especially in our society today who are so troubled mentally and also physically, who have physical ailments as well as mental ailments, who find it quite impossible to do these things that seem so simple, who find it impossible to reach out because they are so much in the quagmire of this. And so how are people like that helped, Master?

M: Well, in that case, I cannot tell the

M: Well, you have disaster because of your karma. I just bring the blanket and food. But in doing that, you will share the suffering now or in the future. But never mind, in that case, you do not think anymore. You just do it.

H: Master, There are people who believe: As you believe, it is done onto you. And therefore, those people who believe in karma and retribution, they experience such a thing. If you didn't believe it, you wouldn't be having it. What is Your opinion about that?

M: Well, I don't think Jesus believed that He should be nailed on the cross, because He did not do anything wrong. It is just that He is so pure and He sacrificed. That is the only answer. Otherwise, He wouldn't also teach us that As you sow, so shall you reap. He would say: Well, just kill people; do what you want; steal everything; enjoy your life. There is no karma, no retribution. no life after, nothing, no God even. Right?

H: Master, You just said that Jesus never would have wanted to be nailed on the cross. Is it Your belief that every living master has to suffer?

M: Oh, I do. I know that for sure. I don't have to believe it. I do know it!

H: So why does every master save when they don't have to save and suffer?

M: Well, your question: To be a Bodhisattva or to be a Buddha?

H: Yes, that's right.

M: To retain absolute power or to run into the battlefield looking after the wounded and the sick.

H: And You feel that it's Your choice?

M: Well, I don't have any choice any more. I am just in it. (Master laughs.) I don't know how or when or why. I run just in it.

Spiritual Unification Of Mankind Can Change The World

H: Master, we are going towards the twenty-first century very first and as we discussed previously, many people believe in the millennium that the world will come to an end and so on. How do You envision the next few years?

M: Well, I just said that from 1994 until 1997, probably will be a lot of disaster for people, a lot of unexpected disease and things like that, that kill a lot of people. But I do hope that with our strong spiritual unification around the world, from our group and from other groups, and from the sincere repentance of the other people, we can change. God is not a fixed ruler. We can always find another way to do go around it, if we are truly sincere and turn to God, you know, the God-power within ourselves, in heaven. Pray and try to mend our ways.

H: You think that the few can save the many?

M: Oh. yes, why not? In the hospital, there are only a few doctors, thousands of patients. As you believe, huh? You told me as you believe, you get it. (H laughs.) So it doesn't cost anything! (H laughs.) What else can I do but to try the best and to believe in the positive?

H: And I know what You have done and the many wonderful things You are doing. I mean, it's amazing. Here in Santa Barbara, people don't realize this. There are millions of followers You have around the world; and the good You have done in every aspect of humanity, from helping the needy to praying for people, to sustaining people's spiritual lives in almost every country in the world. Is that not so, Master?

M: Actually, these things are not to be broad-casted, but you know since the disciples have the magazines and they print them in the magazines. And some people do know, but very few. Because if you are too busy doing things, you don't think about telling other people about anything, because these things are also natural to us. Just like you broadcasting your program everyday, you don't even think about it. You just do it.

H: And that's something that you have also said that impresses me so much in this book "I Have Come To Take You Home". You talked about: Don't try to be a healer; just heal.

M: Yes. that's right.

H: And that is really the ultimate: To be so loving that Your presence is already a blessing and healing all humanity.[I do hope so.] And all those whom You thought of are being healed.

M: I do always pray that I will he worthy.

H: Thank You so much, Supreme Master Ching Hai. It has been an honor to have You on my show.

M: It's an honor to be your guest. You are a very enlightened person.

H: Thank You so much! Thank You!

M: I thank you too.