Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association -
A Display Of Distinction And Resplendence.

[Xie Yun Feng reporting from Miaoli] Yesterday at the headquarters in Hsihu, Miaoli, the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association's International 7-Day Retreat began with the Third Anniversary Ching Hai Day Anniversary Celebration. Six thousand disciples from all over the world were asked to wear ceremonial court dresses or European styled resplendent costumes to attend the opening of the event. The grand and magnificent scene was like a fashion carnival.

From thirty-five counties, about six thousand disciples of Supreme Master Ching Hai joined this International 7-Day Retreat. Within the country, many personages from the educational, political and business fields also participated in the opening of the event. All those in attendance had to comply with the regulation of wearing an exotic court or European styled costume. There were also special performances on the first day of the event.

Yesterday, at about three in the afternoon, Supreme Master Ching Hai appeared in a Quan Yin Bodhisattva costume. She was carried in a sedan chair by eight persons dressed as British royal guards. Wherever She passed, the disciples exclaimed, "Your Majesty the Empress!" Classical background music resounded throughout the entire Center.

As Supreme Master Ching Hai ascended the celebration performance stage, as smoky mist of dry ice was sprayed, creating the atmosphere of Quan Yin Bodhisattva descending. The MC read out congratulatory telegrams from President Clinton of the United States, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, etc. Legislator Lin Cheng-Chieh, accompanied by Lin Ming-Ning -- Lin Yang-Gang's daughter, gave a speech on the stage, wishing the event every success. On the first day of the 7-Day Retreat, the huge gathering of celebrities made the occasion look like a brilliant celebration, being totally different from ordinary spiritual gatherings.

Later, Supreme Master Ching Hai sat in a majestic throne in front of the stage. Together with the thousands of disciples, She appreciated the twenty-one performances from many countries. The performers were very professional, making the show a spectacular one with their best efforts.

According to the convener, Supreme Master Ching Hai will stay at the Center with Her five thousand disciples for the 7-Day Retreat that started yesterday continuing through to the 31st.

According to the Association, three years ago the Mayor of Honolulu designated October 25th as Ching Hai Day, to express acknowledgment towards Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Caption: Fashion Show? Yesterday, from all over the world, wearing resplendent costumes, disciples of Supreme Master Ching Hai participated in the Third Anniversary Ching Hai Day Celebration and the opening an International 7-Day Retreat. (photos by reporter Xie Yun Feng)

On October 25, 1995, at around 6 AM, all guests took their seats. Not only were they neatly dressed, but they were wearing their most elegant clothes.

Just like a costume party, all guests were dressed in the traditional or royal attire of their respective countries. The guests from Hong Kong were dressed like Mongolian soldiers. Practitioners from England were dressed in colorful British royal costumes, complete with wigs. The long, curly, silvery hair hung over their shoulders. The eight attendants carrying Supreme Master Ching Hai's palanquin were dressed like British royal palace guards and the one who accompanied Master looked like the king of Spain.

The practitioners from Surabaya, Indonesia were not to be outdone by the crowd; they were wearing the traditional clothes of Eastern Java. Those from Jakarta were dressed in Central Javanese costumes.

Hsihu Meditation Center is a practitioners' heaven, created by Supreme Master Ching Hai. There is an ever flowing stream. Trees and flowering bushes are everywhere. Large trees and umbrellas provide shade for meditation. A library, a guest receiption area, a children's area and a newly constructed zigzag bridge make up this beautiful place.

In the middle of all this, an open stage was built for special occasions. "Celebration Of The Third Anniversary Of Ching Hai Day" was written in red characters on a golden background. There were three large vegetarian cakes. The middle one had nine layers and was flanked by two three-layered cakes.

Many trees were decorated with colorful ribbons. A variety of cookies and candies were hung on many tree branches and anyone could take them off and eat them. An uncountable number of colorful tiny lights twinkled in the trees, creating beautiful scene.

Caption: A Souvenir -- The General Secretary of the World Cultural Communication Association presents Supreme Master Ching Hai with a gift from the six Governors of the mid-Western states of the United States for the Third Anniversary of Ching Hai Day.

Before the celebrations of Ching Hai Day got underway, the MC read aloud the congratulatory letters and telegrams from all over the world, including one from President Clinton of the United States.

Most performances were traditional and typical of each country. There were more than twenty performances, including folk songs, traditional dances and opera.

Soon after the performances concluded, "pi-pi-pa-pa", the sounds of fire crackers could be heard. In the Hsihu sky there appeared a magnificent display of fireworks. It lasted about a half hour. Supreme Master Ching Hai and disciples enjoyed watching the fireworks in the night sky together.

Actually, this celebration was just the beginning for this gathering. The main event was a 7-day retreat -- a whole week of group meditation. Those guests who attended the celebration but who were not yet initiated had to leave Hsihu Meditation Center afterwards.

How great is Supreme Master Ching Hai? Why do Her disciples respect Her so much? "She is the past, present and future." Huan Chung Li, Vice President of Shinemound Enterprise in USA said, "Practicing the Quan Yin Method makes one more wise, more peaceful and more enlightened."

Another, Lloyd L. Tow, President of Advance Pacific Corp., admitted that he could communicate with Master from a long distance away while meditating.

How can one achieve such a level? "You must ask Master," said a man who came from Phnum Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

"Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association" is a group of spiritual practitioners. Its headquarters is in Formosa. There are local centers all over the world, including Indonesia.

Caption: "Surabaya's Response" -- Six representatives from Surabaya attended the celebration for Ching Hai Day on October 25, 1995. They sang two of Indonesia's famous songs, namely, "Bali Island" and "Surabaya."

I would like to talk to you about today is: "What is the difference between Buddhism and Christianity?" Everywhere I go I tell people: "There is no difference between Buddhism and Christianity." Basically there isn't, but there is some difference. When Jesus and Buddha talked about enlightenment, there was no difference. But if you read the Buddhist sutras, there are many different things. Buddhism offers a richer treasure. That's all. If Jesus Christ had been allowed to live a longer time than just three and a half years, He might have told us about many so-called planes of existence, of attainment like Buddha did. So that is the difference between Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity has only one Bible, but I did not say that Christianity has not the essence in it. The essence is excellent and everything is there.

It is just that some people are interested in studying Buddhism because the Buddhist scriptures have such a wide range of experiences and inner enlightenment which Jesus did not have time to mention. So, many people misunderstand and think that Jesus did not get that high attainment like Buddha did, because Buddha went through many different levels of consciousness, and therefore encountered many so-called inner planes of existence. Then He told His disciples to write it down. Also some of Buddha's disciples went to these kinds of planes of existence and wrote them down.

Therefore, we have a very rich treasure of Buddhist sutras, whereby in Christianity, due to the prevalent persecution of the time, and also the short life of Jesus, we do not have many records of His disciples' attainments as well as the master's.

I will go into one of the Buddhist sutras. This sutra is called "Amitabha Buddha." In that Buddhist scripture, it describes the experience of one of the Buddha's disciples. The disciple was a queen of India but she was put into prison. Now, when she was in prison, she longed very much to see her master, Shakyamuni Buddha of India. When she longed so intensively, the master appeared to her. Not in a physical body, but in what we call the light body or manifestation body.

Any kind of master who has reached a very high level of attainment can manifest many bodies at the same time to appear to their disciples in different places.

"Amitabha" means "the infinite light." This Buddha has infinite light, boundless light. So when this queen of India had longed so much to see the Buddha, He appeared to her in prison. He appeared together with one of His disciples, and took the queen by the hand and led her to another land of existence.

Now scientists have proved to us that there are many planes of existence in the universe. Some have people; some they have not yet discovered if they are peopled or not peopled. Shakyamuni Buddha had discovered long ago that there are planes of existence with people like on our Earth and some are different from our Earth. Some are more advanced in technology, some are less advanced in technology. Some are more civilized than ours; some are less civilized than ours.

When the queen went over there to that land, she saw that the earth of that plane was covered with gold, with crystal, and all the houses, the buildings were built in the air, not on the earth. And built with all kinds of precious stones - like lapis lazuli, crystal, pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc. She was thinking what a beautiful land it was; and the people who lived there, they looked similar to us but they were more beautiful in appearance. Also they did not walk, they did not need transportation like we do. Whenever they wanted to go somewhere, they just flew. And whenever they wanted to come back, they flew back. Every kind of clothing or necessity would just appear to them whenever they needed. There was no need to go exchanging money, shopping, waiting for parking, and all this trouble.

Also in that land, there is a pool of nectar, where if one bathes oneself in it or when one drinks a little from it, then one would feel enlightened, refreshed and full of spiritual insights. Even in that land the birds and the trees speak the dharma. Dharma is the Sanskrit term for teaching - teaching in a verbal language. Also sometimes it means the sentient beings, all kinds of phenomena in the universe; and in the subtle sense means the invisible teaching, the Truth. So it can be explained in many ways.

In that land of Amitabha Buddha, all the birds, the trees, the winds speak the highest truth teaching. When people listen to this so-called dharma, they have more faith in the Supreme, more faith in the Buddhas, in the practitioners or the assembly of the saints and in the teachings of the saints.

Now when we come to think of the Amitabha land, it's truly just like a fairy tale. How can the earth be covered with gold? How can the houses built in midair not fall down? How can all the walls and roofs be made with crystal, diamonds, rubies, all kinds of precious stones, etc.

Here we fight over a piece of diamond which is large enough. We have to work very hard for many weeks in order to buy a small 'drop' of a diamond. I would say it looks like a drop of water; just a little bit harder. And you have to spend a lot of money. Now in that land, they use diamonds, crystal, rubies, etc., to build their house. Can you imagine?

That is one of the points why the Christians or the other religions could not believe in Buddhism. It was because the Buddha spoke too much. It was because His disciples spoke too much, what we call 'talkative'. The Buddha did not speak actually. He did not tell us all this. It was the disciples of the Buddha, overhearing all these experiences, fantastic stories, who wrote them down for others to enjoy.

Now my disciples sometimes they have also written down their stories. The Master has taken them to which land or to which country of the universe to visit, and they wrote it down as their own inner experience for them to check up their progress. That we must do. And after that disciple dies - then what happens? Maybe his nephew, his grandson, granddaughter will accidentally inherit this kind of so-called spiritual diary, and inside it will be full of inner experiences.

Like today Supreme Master Ching Hai took him to which Buddhas' land and introduced him to whatever master or to which Buddha over there; or maybe took him to see Jesus, Maria or Santa Clara, whatever. Then he wrote it all down. Then this book, if it is interesting enough, the nephew, the grandson, granddaughter, may just publish it, and it may become one of the Buddhist sutras.

That's what happened with all the sutras in Buddhism. The sutras, or the so-called scriptures had not been accumulated or written down until one hundred years afterwards. Before that they were only spoken through word of mouth, and His disciples also did not write them down. They just listened to them.

That's why the Buddhist scriptures are so vast and so rich in number; because Buddha lived to a very old age of eighty, so His disciples were many and the stories no doubt were many. Also in India at that time, it was very peaceful and no one persecuted Buddha or any of His followers. They enjoyed a prosperous time, and they had time to write down and to preserve these precious memories of those disciples.

Whereby with Jesus Christ, He had to work in darkness, to work in hiding. If you read the story, you would know. He was only famous a little bit after three and a half years, and they killed him. Afterwards all the disciples had to separate in different directions and also working not in the open. Therefore, even if they had any inner experiences, they could not write them down; or they could not be well preserved, because the government at that time would search for them and destroy all of them.

So we have just noticed the Amitabha land looking like a fairy tale story. So, to some Christian believers, Buddhism is a kind of imagination, hallucination or something.

The land of Amitabha exists. Some of my disciples have visited it after initiation, some of them visited it right at the time of initiation, because it doesn't take long to visit these countries. In just a second, you can go, and in a second, you can come back. It all depends on the openness of our mind, the inner channel or our enlightened level. So, there is a difference between hallucination, imagination, illusion and reality. Everything is within; there is nothing we can find without.

Now if a place is a hallucination or a product of imagination, then the others cannot come. Only that person can come and can only come once, never twice; because it is a dream, an illusion. But if a place's real, then anyone can come - before him, after him or any time, and verify the place's existence. So if we do not practice the way to go into such places, then we cannot know that these places exist.

Most of the religions of the world are based on some kind of philosophy and argument. "If there is God or there is no God?", "Why it's so?", and "Why isn't it so?" Most of the time when I go to give lectures, I have to also air the views of different religions and make them understand that what the Buddha said about the moon, what Lao Tzu said about the Tao, and what Jesus said about heaven is the same thing. But that is not my intention and it's not my beloved subject. Actually, it's difficult.

And you know what? After I die another one coming will have to add some of my sayings in it, in order to compare again and to convince the later generations that what Supreme Master Ching Hai said the same thing like the Buddha. You do not need to argue, etc. It goes on and on. So we have so many religions in the world with no help to the yearning people, because we only talk about philosophy and we do not show people the way."

The "¯way" cannot be shown through books, through speaking, but through experience. That's why the Buddha said: Look at my finger and you will find the way. Therefore, the queen followed the Buddha, she saw the Buddha's land, she went with Him. The finger just means instructions or follow, believe in the master and let the master lead you to wherever is suitable for your spiritual attainment at that time. That is the meaning of the finger.

Now the queen, she was an ardent believer of the Buddha and she surrendered herself to the master's instructions. Therefore, that day in the prison, with a very sincere and longing heart, she prayed to the Buddha that this world was too miserable. Her own son had put her in prison. Therefore, she felt the world was full of misery, unhappiness and uncertainty. She prayed to the Buddha that she may go to some places in the universe which are more stable, more loving and more kind; for the Buddha to come and take her to that land.

After she came back from the Amitabha land, she wrote the experiences down. These leaked out, people got them and print them. Until today we have them preserved in original form. Many people are aware of the content of this sutra, but few people have experienced the land of Amitabha.

The same with Christianity: If we are not sincerely devoted, if we are not gifted since many births with the spiritual tendency, it is hard for the average Christian believers to experience the second heaven, the third heaven, the Light of God or the Sound of God which are mentioned in the Bible.

In Christianity, there are some experiences about the inner Kingdom of God. Like when Jesus was baptized, He saw the white light from heaven. The spirit from heaven came down like a white dove. Now how many of us today are baptized with such a high experience? Or when Moses went to Mount Sinai, He saw God appear in a big flame, big light. It just says God is a big light; and God's voice is like the sound of thunder, like the sound of many waters. John heard the sound of trumpets in heaven, and someone else had been caught up in the third heaven, etc.

Now who has these kinds of experiences nowadays? You see very seldom. There are some exceptional saints in a Christian kingdom; they have had similar experiences to these mentioned in the Bible. But the average Christian or even the average Buddhist cannot experience these? So religions all boil to nothing without actual experience.

So someone who is called enlightened is someone who can go at will to these kinds of light planes, light worlds of existence. At least those of my disciples are called enlightened, because they experience the light. "En-light-en-ed" implies you must have the light. Understand?

The light is within you. In the Christian Bible, it is said: Take care, take heed that the light in you should not become darkness. It also says: If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. It always mentions light. Also it mentions many kinds of godly sounds, like the sound of thunder, the sound of many waters, the sound of the heavenly trumpet, of harp, of all these kinds of things.

Now if we do not see God at all, at least we must see some of God's light, the manifestation of God or hear the heavenly music which resounds from heaven, in order to reassure us that we are very near heaven. Now if we do not see Amitabha Buddha or have not been taken to that land, at least we see some of the light of Amitabha Buddha; because "Amitabha" means "infinite light." Or at least we hear some of the sounds from Amitabha's land, the sound of the birds singing, the sound of the leaves, the sound of all the animals or the Buddhas speaking the holy teaching. At least we hear some from afar so that we know somehow we are very near the Buddha's land, or we are in touch with the border of the Buddha's land. Otherwise how do we know at all if God exists, if Buddha exists, if any Buddha land exists?

There is one more thing I want to mention about Amitabha Buddha. It is said in the sutra that Amitabha, when He was in the flesh body, when He was practicing as a saint, as a yogi, He had forty-eight vows. One of His vows was that: If anyone who had heard His name prayed to Him, even once, at time of death, in sincerity of course and all utter devotion and longing, He would take that person to Amitabha land, to His land. But His land, according to the sutra, is not a ready-made land, purchased from real estate agency, or is already there empty and waiting. His land was made from His own spiritual power, His own austerity and discipline.

Now this is what makes Buddhism stand out in contrast to Christianity. It is only because Christ did not have that much time to explain to us in detail what He meant in such a short paragraph. Or maybe He did explain but the information was too much for the church and they cut it down - the prevalent authority erased them. Anything could have happened.

Now let me tell you more about Amitabha Buddha. When He practiced austerities and virtues of meditation, He vowed that His own created land later would be as pure as crystal, as precious as diamonds, and everyone could always go there if they sincerely wished. So, what is the point of me telling you this? It is like this: a great master of virtues and power can take us to his own land even, he can make a new heaven for us.

It is the same like Jesus said: In my Father's house there are many mansions. Now what are all these rooms for? They cannot just stand there empty, waiting for us, the heavy-ladened with sins.

I tell you the world is populated with some Christian believers, some Buddhist believers, some Moslem believers and Hindu believers, etc. Maybe one-fourth of the world is Christian, at least one-fifth, no? Now if all these Christian people believe in Jesus Christ and get salvation, then why has our world's population not decreased by one-fifth? Understand? They haven't gone to heaven. The rooms, the mansions of the Father are empty still. If they already exist, then they might be empty; no one has come up.

Also many people believe in the Buddhist religion, at least one-sixth or something of the world. It is very popular, Buddhism. Now our world also has not decreased by one-sixth, one-fifth, one-tenth or whatever you might name. It has increased - the population. Many people believe in Hinduism. At least all the Indian people could be liberated. But we do not see this way, Indian people keep increasing.

So, how do religions serve us? You must know by now. Religions are good. All religions are meant to save people from their misery, from suffering and take them to heaven; but the world is ever increasing in population and misery. It is because the essence of religions is missing; the enlightened masters are missing.

When Buddha was alive, He was the light of the world, He was the essence, the all and total of Buddhism. That's why after He died, we call ourselves "Buddhist." It means we are the followers of that Buddha. When Jesus Christ was alive, He was the sum total of Christianity. He was the Christ, the absolute, the only one at that time - the Supreme Master. So after He died or when He was alive, people called themselves Christians, to signify they were the followers of Christ just like the Buddhists, the followers of Buddha.

When Lao Tzu was alive, people followed Him and called themselves Laoist or Taoist. When Confucius was alive, people followed Him, so distinguishing themselves from the rest who had no master. They called themselves "Confucians," among themselves, among the disciples of Confucius, of the Buddha, of Christ; saying that they have a master, the others are different. The others maybe followed some doctrines but did not have a real enlightened master. So they wanted to distinguish among themselves that they were the followers of Confucius, of Buddha, of Christ, of Mohammed, etc. They called themselves "Mohammedans" also.

That's why we have so many religions. These were great enlightened masters like Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, Lao Tzu, Confucius, etc., were the lights of the time. They made it into worldwide recognition through some means, some destiny or some help of some kind - the proclamation from disciples.

If I carry on being famous like that, maybe I'll make myself into history and maybe people will make a sect becoming "Ching Haiism" or something like that. So people will know about my name long after I die. Then they become the followers of Ching Haiism, Ching Haiists or whatever that is. It could be that way. That's how the Buddha, Christ, Confucius and Lao Tzu made their way into history.

There were many other famous, very enlightened masters mind you, but they were not famous. Maybe their doctrines were so few, no one printed their doctrines, no one proclaimed their divine messages; so they were not that famous. Any masters who came after Christ, after Buddha, after Lao Tzu, after Confucius, after Mohammed had to stand in their shadow, because they had become so worldwide famous and established in the minds of billions of people. So any master who came afterwards had to quote their sayings in order to verify their own teachings, in order to prove that their present teachings were in accordance with those in the past. But it's very difficult.

When Jesus arrived on Earth, He also had this difficulty. He always had to keep quoting the past masters all the time. Moses also said who and who said this, this, this. He had to also defend Himself and His teachings. He said: Look! I do not come to destroy. I only come to fulfil. He only came to explain the old, ancient teachings. He did not come to destroy the ancient teachings. But people at that time did not understand His intention, and did not know who He was; thinking He was a heretic, a manifestation of negative force or whatever.

People are so peculiar. How can someone be negative if He teaches the holy things? How can someone be a Satan or a devil worker if He teaches people: Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall love thy neighbor, Thou shall forgive thy enemy, etcetera? How can someone be negative if he teaches this way? Even if he has no God power at all, if he teaches this way, he can't be evil. Is it not so? So it is very surprising for us sometimes to dig into the history of any time, and see that the ignorance of the masses is beyond comprehension.

The same with Buddha. When the Buddha was alive, what did He teach people? The same: Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not tell lies, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall not harm other people, Love thy neighbor, Have great compassion, etcetera. But at the Buddha's time, many people opposed Him, saying that He was a heretic, outer path, etcetera. How can I understand this ignorance of the people at large, at any period at all? So that's how difficult it is to take people back to heaven, because of too many preconceived ideas; too many prejudices; too much ignorance; too many ignorant points of view; too many attachments to old things, worn-out concepts and not understanding these concepts.

If people understand the scriptures, that is good; but they do not understand. That's what makes the difference between an enlightened person and an ignorant person. Anyone who is enlightened is the embodiment of the scriptures; they understand any scripture thoroughly and correctly. And anyone who is unenlightened - doesn't matter how long he reads the scriptures, how many he has learned by heart - will never know anything, only gets stuck there, gets stuck in the conceptions and the false beliefs in the conceptions.

It's not that the religious scriptures are no good. It's not that Buddhism is no good. It's not that Christianity is no good. Any religion is excellent. Just the people do not understand the essence of religion, do not even understand the real meaning of the sentence. How much less they understand what the sentence implies and behind the lines of the sentences. For example, Jesus said: I am the light and the way of the world, as long as I live in the world. So they get stuck there. Christian people say: "Jesus is the only light; always the light, the light and the way of the world." No, He said: As long as I live in the world. And after He goes, He will send comforters to us, meaning there will be others coming, other prophets.

Most Christian people get stuck there and believe only in Jesus. It's all right to believe in Jesus, but we must rise up to Jesus' level in order to really understand what He meant, really can be connected with Him, and then let Him take us back to the Kingdom of God. If we are here and Jesus is there all the time, and we make no connection, Jesus cannot help anyone. Jesus cannot help us at all if we are not in connection with Him.

Now, when Jesus was alive, we could easily be in contact with Him, we could 'register' our name with Him, say, "Look, Jesus, I believe in God, please, take me home." Then He knew, He promised, Okay! Whoever believes in me will go home. That He promised. But when He has gone out of this world, His magnetic field is taken away from us. Now He has gone to some different world to live where He teaches other kinds of, maybe better, advanced disciples of a better race.

If we truly believe in Jesus and want to see Him, we can go; but we must rise up to where He is staying. And that only can be done through perseverance, meditation, prayer and the grace of a living master, because the master, the one who is in flesh also in the spirit, is easier to contact. But the one who is in the spirit only, cannot be in the flesh. Understand?

That's why the living master is more important than the in-the-spirit master, because you cannot see, you cannot rise to that level. The master when in the flesh is also in the spirit. Therefore, Jesus, when He was on the Earth, He said what? I and my Father are one. He was on the Earth, having the flesh body and having to eat, walk, drink like any other mortal, but He said, I and my Father are one. He did not tell a lie, He told the truth, because He was in the flesh as well as in the spirit. He had both instruments to help people in the flesh as well as the people in the spirit.

Buddha was the same. When He was in the flesh, He could even manifest to go to heaven. He took His disciples to many different heavens. If we read different Buddhist scriptures, we will see different kinds of heavens or different kinds of Buddhas' lands in them. This is due to the power of the Buddha -- He can manifest at the same time in many places on Earth, in hell, in heaven, in Buddha's land, in the Kingdom of God, etcetera. So at the same time, He taught disciples in different places and at different levels, and took different people to different heavens. That is the power of a living master. A true living master should possess this kind of power. If not, he is not the living master.

Therefore, Jesus, He wasn't only in the flesh. After He died, He resurrected, He flew up to heaven. But that was not His real physical body, it was the light body -- the spiritual body.

The Bible is too short; the experiences are too few, too rare. Therefore, we cannot understand very much the similarities between Christian's experiences and Buddhist's experiences. But from what I understand, and from my own experiences, I know Jesus had the same power like Buddha did -- could appear anywhere, any place, any time. He had attained Buddhahood in other words.

Christ is just the Hebrew name for Buddha; Buddha is only a Sanskrit name for Christ. They mean an enlightened person, an enlightened saint, a living master -- embodiment of Truth, light and salvation. Once you attain that level of Buddhahood or Christ, you can save as many people as come to you. Whoever comes to you for help, you can help them. Your treasure is endless. The only difficulty is that not many people will come to you; not the whole world, because most of people are covered, obscured by their own ignorance and misunderstanding of what a Buddha should be, what a God should be. Too much hallucination, too many doctrines and too many dogmas keep people away from such a living embodiment of Truth. If you are a Buddhist, you are stuck in Buddhism, and you always pray to the wooden Buddha, hoping for salvation after you die.

Well, if you are really sincere, you get, no doubt. If you are really sincerely repeating the name of Amitabha Buddha, the utmost purity from your heart will touch His spirit and He will take you to liberation after you die. That's no doubt. Or even this life. But very seldom people can be purified by themselves to such extent. Therefore, the Buddha, Christ or the saints have to manifest themselves time and again into this world to show them in the flesh, so that to get direct contact with them and help them to go home.

Therefore, we see many periods of time, the Buddha came, Christ came, Mohammed came, etcetera. All these we call prophets or the messengers of God. They are truly the messengers of God. They have contact with God in heaven, and they have contact here in the world as well.

Just like you are a big boss of a big company. You have your offices everywhere, you have representatives everywhere, and they can take care of people's problems when they come to your company. If you have no representative in Australia, for example, it's difficult for people to know that you exist in Germany or in America -- that your company sells such and such in America. And so many small problems in detail, you need to be in direct contact in order to solve the problems.

So, the messengers of God or so-called enlightened saints are representatives of God. Coming in contact with them, we will come in contact with God in due course, and it's a direct line.

When we get enlightenment, we will create a new heaven. And when we do something bad or sinful, we create new hell. Do not think the hell exists already, waiting for you to fall into it. No, we create them. Heaven and hell are all our own creation.

Let me tell you a story from Hindu mythology. There was a man who was very rich. He died, and then he lived in a very beautiful palace in heaven. He lived there, no problem. Everything was beautiful and a golden palace for him. He lived there for many days, but he saw no one around him, no one at all. So he went very far, far away and then he kept asking an angel, "What happened to my palace? I have no servants. I have no one around -- no relatives, nothing. No one loves me. Why?"

The angel said to him, "It is because when you were on the Earth, you did not love anyone. You didn't treat your servants very well, so you cannot have them here."

So the man, being very miserable, went back to his palace and pondered over this. He said, "Well, if I come back next time, I will be loving to people, to attract many people to come to me, because I'm too lonely now."

As he pondered over this matter, he got hungry. He kept searching in his pantry for food. There was nothing there, nothing at all, not even a piece of dry bread or chapati. Chapati is Indian bread. So he was sitting there, so hungry, and then he kept praying again to the angel saying, "Please come, I cannot come to you now. I am too hungry. I can not walk, please come to me. I want some answers."

So the angel, out of compassion, came to him. And the man asked the angel, "What happened? I have no food, why? I thought in heaven there would be plenty of food. I have come here and get hungry, why?"

So the angel said to him, "It was all your making. When you were on the Earth, you did not give anyone anything. People hungry came to you, you didn't give them food, any shelter. Therefore, now that's what you get. You have to create them in order to have them here."

Oh! So the man became enlightened somewhat. He said, "Well, that's what I get. I guess the law of karma."

And there was nothing to drink, so he knew it was the same thing, that what he did not sow in life he could not reap after death: As you sow, so shall you reap.

Now he was very miserable, so he prayed to God. He said, "Please, give me some more time to live, at least two weeks, so I can create a better environment, so that I can have something to eat and to drink."

Because of his sincerity, God gave him two more weeks to live. During these two weeks, he gave food, drink and love to many people. So when he went back to that palace, he had plenty of people to serve and love him, and food and drink. But this is only a small story. In order to create the infinite heaven, the long-lasting heaven, we need much more perseverance and virtues.

Now you may tell me, "Well, I just have this one life. How can I create an infinite heaven for myself?" Well, then you go to someone who has already created infinite heaven. Then you join him or her and go to that heaven. You can also stay. But also according to Buddhism, we have life after life; we do not have only one life. Therefore, maybe we have accumulated enough virtues and merit in order to live in such an infinite heaven, like that of Amitabha Buddha. That was the one he created himself.

It says so in the Bible, and it is the truth. That's why whenever a living Buddha is on the Earth, people flock to him to take refuge; because they do not have enough confidence that they can create their own heaven. Nevertheless, the Buddha or the enlightened master would tell them, "Look! You are your own heaven. You can create it through this and that discipline, through such and such virtues and spiritual practice." Because God's grace or Buddha's mercy is infinite, if we turn to them for refuge, then we get it.

Now God or Buddha nature is what we have inside ourselves; it is the infinite power which is endowed to human alone. We can discover this infinite power and create anything we want. Forget about the hell. We do not create hell, then we don't have it. We have to live according to the instructions of the master not to create a new hell for ourselves, but to create heaven.

M: If you are somewhat enlightened, you know immediately who is talking what. If the master, who claims to be the real one, can give you some experience of the light and the sound of heaven, or some kind of heavenly abode where that master has been, share with you some of his power immediately, that's what you call a real master.

Also the real master can appear anywhere at anytime without physical means, without transportation. That is the second criterion. But before you come to that, you must select a master according to his or her speech. Appeals to you or not? Is it logical or not? Intelligent enough or not? Answers all your questions or not?

Look at the virtues of the master. Is the master truly without fame and name, without desire? That's the outer. Then the inner occurs when you are initiated, then you know the master has power or not.

When you practice sincerely, the master appears anywhere, anytime, to help you. That is more and more each day. Otherwise, how can you identify the master. If he gives you no money, how can you believe that he has money? So, if he is enlightened, he should give you some light. I mean you get your enlightenment also.

Q: Can You talk about meditation?

M: Meditation is a kind of listening to God's advice, God's instructions. Now why do we meditate? It's just to reserve some time for the inner message. As we always keep asking for something, praying for something, we must also reserve some time to listen. Just like you ask me a question. Now you have to be quiet for a while and try to listen to what I say.

Everyday we pray to God, "Oh! God. Oh! Buddha. Please, give me that. Please tell me what to do! Please this, please that." Then we go out, always busy, noisy, talking, and never listening. So, actually meditation is nothing but a process of quiescence. Just sit there and listen to see what God answers to our prayers, and what the Buddha instructs us to do. That's all there is. It is very simple thing. You ask and you need an answer. So when we need an answer, we have to be quiet and listen. That is called meditation.

Q: You speak many languages and You've been around the world, and how did You come to select the land Formosa as Your first seat of teaching?

M: Formosan people are very sincere and pure in their hearts. They truly pray to God, to Buddha to deliver them. Of course, there are some who ask for material comfort and worldly possession etcetera, or fulfillment of their worldly desires. But Formosan people are very pure at heart and they ask me to come to help them. They asked in their hearts before I came. Therefore, even before I went to Formosa, many people had already seen me appear in their meditation. They haven't meditated with my method, they just meditate anyhow. You know, must sit there quiet, and they saw me come already. Therefore, when I came, they recognized. Understand? That means I have a lot of affinity with the Formosan people. It's easy like that, maybe in previous lives. But actually the Buddha doesn't select anything. It's just a kind of telling you something so that you understand. The Buddha comes according to the people's wish.

Q: When will the world be destroyed?

M: When we die, that is the end of our world. Doesn't matter by what. Suppose I die tomorrow, that is the end of the world because I don't see the world any more. So we don't need to worry about the whole end because more or less we will end one way or another, sooner or later.

Now the question is: After the end of our world or the whole world, what to do? We go to another plane which is better. So be prepared from today. Whether you end it yourself or the world will end altogether, matters not! We will go to different place.

Q: How to save the world?

M: You'll know that after great enlightenment. All your anxieties, worries about the world will fall apart. You will look at the way in different eyes. Of course, you will be a good citizen still, and try your best. You see, what we are doing now is also helping the world; because when we meditate in the correct way, we radiate love and light. That would benefit many people. There are always people in this world who practice the light, therefore, the world stays as it is now. If there were no one who practiced the light and virtues at all, the world would have become hell already.

So what makes the world different from hell is that there are many enlightened, great saints in the world, who radiate light, love and benediction. And what makes the world different from heaven is that there are only a few of these people, and not the whole world. When the whole world practices, then it will become Buddha land. But because the whole world is not practicing, it's the world. And it's not the hell because there are people who are good, who are evil. That's the difference, and the world stays as it is. If you want to help the world, then we practice virtues, we practice the light. That will help somewhat.

The end of the world or not the end of the world - I will not say. It depends on the hearts and will of the people, and the will of God. We do not know what is good and what is no good.

For example, if a house is too rotten, too dangerous, unsafe to live in, would you still, out of love for antiquity, preserve it in that condition? No, you have to pull it down and make a new one. Or else you have to do something about it; put something up and renovate the whole thing.

Similarly in God's plan, we must know God's will. Whatever God wishes to do, that is correct. If, for example, this world is all destroyed, there are other worlds we can immigrate to. No need to worry.

People, anyhow, after great enlightenment, will see, there is no world, no people; just light, just bliss and happiness. Everything else is just the shadow of that light. For example, I am here, my shadow is on the wall. If you destroy the shadow - means nothing. You can put something in behind my back so you don't see the shadow. That doesn't mean the shadow is dead, because it isn't there in the first place. It's only a shadow; I am here.

The soul never dies! Whatever disaster or dying is only illusion.

Q: Why sometimes when we pray we get some response from God, sometimes we don't get any response at all?

M: It is because our sincerity differs, our intensity of prayer differs according to our mood. Now you must know God, Gods, Goddesses or Buddhas are all within us. So when we pray, if we are really deep in prayer and sincerity, and our prayer gets in touch with that innermost wisdom, innermost power, the almighty God, then we get answers. If we do not touch so deep within, then it doesn't come through.

Just like when the rain is not very hard, we just put up an umbrella, or just a very thin layer of cloth will protect us from getting wet and cold. But if the rain is very hard, also windy, then even we sometimes wear the raincoat, it will be blown away even. So the intensity of our prayer is what makes it. That's what gets us the answer or not.

Q: Where did the negative creative force come from? From God? Why does He allow that thing to happen?

M: It's a kind of theater, having the negative and positive. There is fun! Otherwise, no fun. Just like in this world we have daylight and we have night time. Night time is for us to rest, and day time is for us to be active and working. What I mean is, we need some periods of rest. If we cannot sleep for two, three days, we feel terrible. So night is to put everything in sleep, to rest and restore.

The winter is the same. You see all the leaves are falling and all the things look all dry and terrible. But then they restore their strength in spring. They need rest. Everything is created in opposites, in pairs, in order to complement each other. Now we are not to be afraid of the negative force. We just have to know how it functions in order to control it, and not to get into its clutches.

That's why we get enlightenment. Not that we get enlightenment and then we shun the opposite force, or we hate the negative force or the Maya, etc. It's not the case. To get enlightenment is to know through the positive and the negative, and then can harmonize each other, and go. We break through the negative and the positive even, go through the 'un-negative' and 'un-positive,' go to the most high where all is blended in harmony. There is no differentiation between negative and positive like here. Everything comes from God; everything is good. In reality, it's only a play; it's a complement for each other.

Q: I am a psychiatrist and do research on mental illness. There are many questions that still need to be answered. You know, as to why there are families which have schizophrenia passed on in the families and how is that explained by karmic actions?

The second question is: Is it rightful for scientists to ask, after enlightenment, that there is a quicker answer from somewhere above to these questions, or do they still have to stick with their scientific methods in trying to answer these questions?

M: There are quicker answers than scientific research.

Q: And that happens directly or you can expect that to happen?

M: Yes, directly, intuitively. You see, we have the brain of which we use only 5 percent. That everyone knows, including the scientists. So there is another 95 percent laying dormant with a lot of power, information and capabilities. When you awaken this full power of the brain, then you get all the answers, which you have to do the research for many, many, many years in order to get, and even not correct sometimes after many years of research.

The scientists sometimes prove that is correct, then the next year they prove a different way, and next, next year another different way; because we use the limited power instead of using the whole power. So the method of enlightenment is nothing new and nothing mysterious. It's only to awaken your full competency, full power of intelligence. Ninety-five percent is still there. So you get answers quickly from meditation.

Q: Yes, the other question I was asking is that we know that there are diseases which are inherited. How is that explained by the law of retribution?

M: The people who inherit these diseases are connected with each other in previous lives through some common goals, common deeds and togetherness. Together doing something, together thinking something, and together inherit something. Because of their passion for each other, they also stick together, come back as sons and daughters, and inherit the past fruits. It happens through their love and attachment for each other; and also from the past lives that they have done things together, the same things which bear the same fruit. Everything is through karma, no exceptions.

Q: People that live in the United States which is the richest country in the world, have lived very enlightened lives in the past.

M: Very charitable lives in the past. Not necessarily enlightened. Richness and enlightenment are different things all together. You may be rich but not enlightened. You may be poor but enlightened.

Well, that's just true. This you can believe when you see it. After you practice for sometime, meditation -- some kinds, not necessarily my kind, then you will gain access into those past memories. You will see too, yourself, the whole karmic structure of the world, and why some places are poor, why some people are rich. You'll see clearly like you read the book, or you see a movie picture.

Everything is recorded in the history of time and space. There is nothing that is destroyed, nothing disappears. Everything is manifested and concentrated in a form of energy and is recorded in a different level of consciousness. We can see that too ourselves. Then we have no more doubt.

Now if you argue with me until tomorrow, you will still have doubt because you don't see it. So my proposal is, I invite you to come into the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of invisible knowledge, and find out for yourself.