Meditation Meditation Questions & Answers  
 

Why Practice Meditation and Find God?

Initiation:
The Quan Yin Method


The Quan Yin Method

Immediate Enlightenment

Experience of Enlightenment

Inner Light and Sound

Worldly Sound Vs. Supra-worldly Sound

Sound Meditation

References from different religions


   


Meditation Questions & Answers

Q: Can an ordinary person, a worldly person, also get enlightenment? Can they attain the supraworldly state? Please explain, Master!

M: Of course! No one is an ordinary worldly person! You are only cheating yourself. The Most High is in your heart, so how could you be an ordinary worldly person? No one is an ordinary worldly person, but you deliberately make yourself one! We do not wish to know that we are the Almighty. Everyday, we just earn money, sleep, eat and raise children, and never seek anything else. It is all right to work, eat, sleep and to have children, but we should also be enlightened, we know why we are doing this, and know that we are the Most High. If you are not enlightened, and engaged only in worldly work, of course we will stay forever in the world, and forever an ordinary worldly person.

From “Practicing Makes The World More Civilized”
News 55, Media Reports
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Columbia University, New York, USA
November 3, 1989
(originally in English)

Question: According to what You said, is meditation the only way to see Buddha or to reach enlightenment?

Master: Yes. Did you see Buddha meditate? Did you see Jesus meditate? Yes? He meditated and the last time lasted forty days in the desert. Now if someone never meditated before, could he just go suddenly into the desert and meditate for forty days? No, no, no. This is a very experienced practitioner who could do such a thing. So from this, even with so little information, we know Jesus had been meditating all along and that was the last, final time, before He went out and taught the world.

Buddha meditated all the time for six years. But then, the last, final time, it was forty-nine days. Then, He went out to teach the world. So no one reaches nirvana or the Kingdom of God without meditation. Why meditation? To still our mind in order to receive the teachings from heaven or from the Kingdom of God, or from the Buddhas in the higher world. If we always keep praying and asking, "Please give me wisdom. Please give me that. Please give me ...," and whenever Buddha wants to speak, He has no chance any more, because we are busy all the time (audience laughs): we talk, we ask, and we talk and we don't listen. So meditation is a listening time.

Just like when you ask me a question and then you have to be still for a while, quiet, then I have a chance to tell you what I want to say or what you need to know. So meditation is like that - sit still and receive the message. Otherwise, God wants to tell you hundreds of dozens things and you have no time to hear it. You're too busy talking, praying, singing, prostrating, bowing, and counting the rosary. (Audience laughs.) It's all right to do these. I don't mean this is no good. This is very good. But then, we must be still for some time so that God has a chance to communicate. That is called meditation. Too easy, very easy to understand.

From “Is God A Being Or A Non-Being”
News 51, Media Reports
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Berkeley University, California, USA • October 13, 1989
(originally in English)

Q: If you want to progress faster, and doing more meditation will help that, how much more do you really have to do to progress?

M: You should feel how much you can take, or how much you want to do. Also, it’s not only the meditation; it’s the heart, the commitment. It’s the devotion inside that says, “Oh! I really only want this.” You long for it inside yourself, and that is a meditation. It’s not just the sitting.

Q: In daily life, how you deal with things and how you feel, can that help as well?

M: Yes, yes, yes: how you look at things, and how you let them go. We can talk forever, but each one has his or her own way of going to God. Faster or slower, it’s their own choice. You can’t dictate to your heart what to do; neither can I. You just have it or don’t have it. One day you are tired, weary of the world, of the fakeness and the illusion. Then you just commit inside. And it doesn’t matter how long you sit, you are committed. You are with God all the time, inside your heart. That is true meditation. And that becomes very comfortable for you. Then you know it; you know that you are devoted. Otherwise before, you try very hard to be devoted, but you’re just trying. That’s the difference!

From “Devotion Springs from the Heart”
News 122, Spiritual Information Desk
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Group Meditation at the London Center, England
March 10, 1998
(originally in English)

Q: Please, I would like to know why the practice of the Light and Sound is the best way to get enlightened?

M: Because it’s the best. No explanation is needed.

Q: You can’t explain a little more about it?

M: The more I explain, the more it sounds like garbage to me. Actually, how can you explain the sun? It just is. Because it’s ourselves; the Light and the Sound are our essence. You go back to yourself. What else can make you feel better than if you are yourself? What else can make the fish feel better than if he is in the water? Why does he feel better in the water? Because he is a fish. Ask me to explain: I don’t know.

If you feel good, you know this already. If you don’t feel good, go find something else and then run back. It’s only the best; that’s all I know. And if you look for references, we can see them in the Bible, like Saint John hearing the trumpet, and God coming with the voice of thunder. “In the beginning was the Word; from the Word comes our being.” That’s the Sound. So if we are in our element, it must be the best; that’s what it is. In the Buddhist sutras, it says the same thing. In the Koran, it always mentions Light and Sound; that this is the essence of our being. And now you know that scientifically speaking we are Light and Sound; we are energy. So what else can make us feel the best, if not ourselves? Going back into our element and realizing ourselves — that’s the best, and that’s all there is.

Q: So it’s seeing our own light and hearing our own sound?

M: It’s not seeing your own light; you are the Light. It’s not hearing your own sound; you are the Sound. You are the vibration that creates the whole universe. You are that. You are the Commander in Chief of this cosmos. The more you realize that you are that, the more power you have, and the freer you become. Instead of realizing that you are this flesh, you are this fingernail, you are this and that, you realize, “No, no, no, I am the Creator. I am the Light; I am the Sound; I am that absolute thing.”

From “The Light and Sound Are Our Essence”
News 132, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
International Three-day Retreat, Los Angeles, California, USA
December 16-18, 1998
(originally in English) Videotape No. 639

Q: From my understanding, the way to practice the Quan Yin Method is by meditation. I’m wondering how meditation can help change the world to become peaceful and in harmony — an ideal world.

M: That’s the right question. Meditation doesn’t change the world; it changes you. And then if everyone changes himself, the world becomes peaceful.

We only make war because we’re not peaceful ourselves, because we don’t know that the person next to us is God. We don’t realize that we are God, and we don’t realize that the ones we kill, we shoot, we torture, are also God. And that’s why the world is not peaceful.

Meditation doesn’t mean you just sit there like a statue. You have to really reconnect with God first; then that’s the true meditation. Once that’s taken place, your being is changed forever. You become a peaceful example of a walking God on this planet.

And even if you don’t do anything, people see you and they feel peace. They want to be around you. They want to take advice from you. They want to learn from your example. And that’s how the world will become peaceful. It’s very logical, nothing mysterious.

From “Peace on Earth Begins with Us”
News 139, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Auckland, New Zealand
April 27, 2000
(originally in English) Videotape No. 686

Q: I just got very, very tense and just struggled, and struggled and struggled.

M: Struggled with what?

Q: Just with meditating.

M: Okay. Don’t make meditation a kind of work; it’s just a relaxation time. Tell your mind it has nothing to do, and to just sit there relaxing. And if you cannot sit too long, you can lie down and rest. Make it pleasant.

You can put a flower in front, and wear some nice clothes. Make it like a ceremony, if it feels good. That’s why some people put out incense, flowers, and all of that, just to please the mind. Whatever it takes to make your meditation pleasant, you can do it. Have fun! Or maybe lie down and rest. Meanwhile, concentrate here (at the wisdom eye.)

Make it pleasant at first. Don’t make it too hard for the mind, because he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like working. And if you’re too serious, the mind will rebel, thinking, “I don’t like that. I’d like to have fun; I’d like to go out; I’d like to have music or coffee with friends. I don’t want to sit here.”

So just make it nice. Invite some good friends, initiates, to come to your house. Or come to their house, have coffee, chat first, or do something together. And then sit together, as if it’s a part of the game, part of the fun. That’s in the beginning. Later, you get used to it, and you don’t need that game anymore. You can just sit anywhere and feel good.

First relax the mind. Most often, all of us are very hurried to become a Buddha, and that’s why we have problems. We struggle between the soul and the brain. The soul wants to meditate; the brain wants to play. So we can reward it somehow, like after you have a good meditation, give yourself some of your favorite food. Take yourself out, or see your girlfriend; do something nice afterwards. So the brain will know, “Okay, that’s good.” Train the brain just like you train a dog. (Audience laughs) You know how to train a dog. When the dog does something good, then you give him a reward. That’s how he becomes better and better. Our mind sometimes is a troublesome thing! If you really sometimes don’t feel like meditating, then just leave it. Don’t force yourself too much. Just do something else: running, or doing some exercise. And when you’re tired, then you will like to sit down. And the mind will not make trouble. Actually, that is a problem when we are alone: Sometimes the mind tricks us a lot. And if we don’t have someone to encourage us or to hold hands, we cannot continue so fast. That’s why we need a teacher and friends, fellow initiates. Then we can talk out the problem with them, and sometimes they help.

So try to go to group meditation as often as you can. You can talk over problems with your fellow practitioners. Befriend them; invite them for coffee or tea to your house, and vice versa. Make it fun. And sometimes go out together; have fun. Go to the cinema and do something together, so that meditation will become part of friendship and fun. At first, for some people, it’s necessary. You have to find out what your mind likes. And then give him a little; don’t be too harsh on him.

Some people don’t need it. They love to meditate, so it’s easy. But even then, when we enter some stages of meditation, we sometimes get stuck there. We feel suddenly that we don’t want to meditate anymore. We don’t want anything like that. We’ve had enough with Buddhas (enlightened beings) and things like that. But it’s just temporary. Then later, when you have friends, you read some spiritual books and listen to some spiritual tapes or even read some Buddhist scriptures-maybe that’s going too far-but some contemporary books about life and death, about meditation, and about the experience of Heaven by other people. And then you will be somehow more stimulated to want to have the same experience. And so you will make more effort.

We have to find a way to do things that suits our pace of life, our style, our thinking, and also our habits. Habits are hard to change. We should do it slowly, if we cannot do it fast.

From “Taming the Human Brain”
News 122, Spiritual Information Desk
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
International Three-day Retreat, Norfolk, England
June 11, 1999
(originally in English)

Q: What does one do if one cannot just sit down and meditate?

M: Then stand up, walk around for a while, wash your face, or take a shower. Take a walk and come back again; try again. Don’t give up. When you meditate everyday, it’s not that everyday you get good refreshment and results; but you must do it everyday. You must do it whenever you can because God’s grace doesn’t make a rendezvous with us; doesn’t make an appointment with us, saying, “Tomorrow I will come to give you peace, tomorrow I will give you a vision, tomorrow I will take you to the third Heaven.” No, no, no. It comes anytime, any second, even when you least expect it. So you just have to persevere with whatever technique you meditate, and pray to the Godhead within us, the most high within us to guide, to help, to sustain, to bless us. Everyday we must meditate, with or without success. And anytime, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next minute, you get it. Just don’t give in. Just like when we open a shop to sell things, you never know when the customers will drop in. You have to open all day long and wait. With or without customers, we have to open. Sometimes the last customer comes and buys the whole shop, or half of the shop.

From “Unexpected Grace Will Come Anytime!”
News 56, Selected Questions & Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Berkeley University, California, USA
October 13, 1989
(originally in English)

Q: Dear Master, are you willing to establish a university to nurture the most excellent and moral students?

M: I have already established a university. The Quan Yin Method I teach is exactly that! (Applause) Our disciples are the most moral and excellent ones. They do not gamble, smoke, speak untruths, engage in sexual misconduct, take what is not offered, or kill man or animal. They are all vegetarian and meditate every day to find their inner wisdom; this is the highest morality. (Applause) Yes, that’s right. Our Quan Yin Method is the supreme university.

From “The Supreme University”
News 126, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Taichung, Formosa
April 21, 1989
(originally in Chinese)

Q: I had an experience a couple of weeks ago when I was meditating. I fell forward and I kind of surrendered to that great power. I saw myself coming out of my body, but this way, down, down this way. I just wonder if that kind of leaving from the body takes me to the lower realm if I go down instead of coming up?

M: It’s just your feeling; there’s no down, no up in that dimension. But did you feel good afterwards?

Q: Yeah. But at that time, it’s quite frightening. Fast speed and it was like going through a tunnel.

M: You went through the transmigration tunnel. You were dead for that moment. That’s why. You came back to life. That’s what a real resurrection is. It’s good. No problem. Don’t worry about it.

From “Resurrection”
News 93, Selected Questions & Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Youngdong Center, Korea
May 6, 1998
(originally in English)

Q: When the masters who are born as masters come to this planet, why do they need initiation or why do they need a master?

M: They don’t need one, really. But do you remember what Jesus said? “Let the law be done.” He was baptized by John the Baptist, and people also asked him the same question. He said, “Let it be done.” Let the law be fulfilled — the law of the physical universe. Suppose I come to the United States and I’m a British citizen, I have to obey the laws of this country even though they are a little different from England’s. I have to drive on the right side, and not on the left side like England, or I will get into trouble, just to be like everyone.

And why not? It’s no big deal to have a guru. Besides, if you have a guru, then everyone else also follows. If you have your master, they feel it’s normal that way. If everything is too miraculous, it scares people also. Suppose I just drop down from heaven and say, “Here I am, the Supreme Master, blah, blah, blah...” I think people would not like it that much. They would think it was hypnotism; they’d think it was cheating, or the workings of the devil. You really can’t. It’s already bad enough that any master should take the physical form, any form of the physical body, because many people cling to that form. They think, “Oh, this is the form of the master, any other form is no good.”

God cannot always appear right here in front of us in one form or another. Suppose Hes were in the form of Jesus; all the Buddhists would say, “No, no, not for me!” And suppose Hes appeared in the form of the Buddha, like many people would like to see, then the Catholics would say, “No, no, that’s heretical,” and things like that. It’s very difficult. So we have to find the Truth inside; it doesn’t matter whether the master has a guru or no guru. He comes here; he has to eat; he has to be born, and physically he has to grow up, has to study, and everything else is the same. So, it’s the same with initiation.

Also it’s good to be humble, to sit at the feet of someone, to learn to be a disciple first. It’s no problem with the master. The master can be anything, so why not a disciple? Besides, another thing I want to tell you is that any master who comes to this world physically, all the memory, all the glory, and all the power, are wiped away from him after the age of maybe four or something. Then he doesn’t remember anything. Like everyone else, he has to learn anew. He has to get the key again, the key from a living master, who hands over the key to him.

Q: Some masters, when they get initiated, they get self-realization very fast, in six months to one year, and some require years, all together twenty years, twenty-five years, and then they experience self-realization, even though they might be born masters. Why such a long time?

M: Oh, no problem. It’s just their own wish to do that, just to show many different people that, okay, you don’t have to be fast. Even me, I took twenty-five years, so don’t worry about your own slow progress. It is just that the master is trying to show people, encourage people. For example, suppose I get enlightenment, realization, “great” realization in six months, and many people like it. The type of people who like that, quick, come to me and say, “Oh yeah, if She got it in six months, I can get it in six days!” (Laughter) Some people feel inferior if they take too long. If they look at some other master, either in the past or in the present, and say, “Oh, that master took twenty-five years to become a Buddha, so I’m okay. Even though I don’t progress very fast now, look at that master. He was born as a master, and he still took so long.” So it doesn’t matter very much. That’s one thing.

Another thing is that there are two kinds of masters. One master is made, and another master is born. The “born master” is quick. And the “made master” is like any of us here, who has been wandering so many centuries and thousands of lifetimes in this world. It’s the first time he comes to realization and he endeavors to become a master. And it can be his destiny, his predestination. He’s destined to be like that. And the other master is born by destiny, born with the glory of the master already, with all the power from the past, present, and future to bring to this world to do the work. So that’s fast. There’s no difference between being slow or fast, because we have all been masters in the past anyhow. It’s just that some masters have realized it already long ago, and come back again as born masters. And some are just newly-made here.

Q: Some of the perfect masters, strong masters, sometimes never come out from the caves of the Himalayas. They continue to stay there, and only a small number of people can get the benefit from this.

M: Oh, that’s the master’s work. Who are we to tell the master what to do? Each master has his or her own destiny, or own mission to do. To sit in the Himalayas is just as good as to preach to the people. Some masters like to go out to share the joy with the people, and some masters just sit there and benefit others by radiation, by their presence in this world. It’s fine. Some doctors become professors and teach in the university. Some doctors just work in the hospital. Some doctors retire and don’t work. (Laughter and applause.) We benefit from the master not only in terms of the physical presence, but there is also good will and light from the master when he meditates in the Himalayas, or meditates anywhere. But of course it’s more direct for those who have affinity with some certain masters, coming in contact with the physical master so they can realize it more quickly. And the other master sometimes sits in the Himalayas and mentally or spiritually supports the working masters. Everyone has his or her work; no problem with that.

From “Why Do Masters Need Initiation?”
News 93, Selected Questions & Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Los Angeles, California, USA
December 14, 1997
(originally in English)

Q: Master, why is it necessary to be guided through meditation?

M: There’s no other way. Meditation is just a name; actually, it’s the inner reconnection with the God power. Just like why it is necessary to eat three meals a day in order to sustain your body; this is to sustain your spirit. We have to meditate; we have to get recharged by the God power again in order to be free from the shackles of the physical world to be God again, to be master of ourselves.

From “Recognize Our Own God Nature”
News 94, Master Says
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Irvine University, California, USA
June 2, 1998
(originally in English)

Q: I’d like to know a bit more about what happens at the time of initiation. I was ill for a long time, and now suddenly I have lots of energy after being initiated. I’ve found myself constantly thinking, “It’s quite fantastic!” A great thrill has come over me. Can you please explain a little more about what’s happened?

M: You’ve answered yourself. Great things can happen to you because your own power has been awakened. Your torch has been lit by another already lit torch. Our torches are both lit, and we’re both illuminated. You feel that I’m just like you and are slowly discovering that whatever I have, you also have. In case you haven’t discovered or are not yet confident in yourself, you may pray to the so-called Master to help you at the beginning of your spiritual practice.

But even without praying, you get it. Just being initiated for only a few minutes — it’s immediate enlightenment! I tell many people, but they don’t believe it. Only the ones who believe as you do will get it, and then you’ll shout with joy. But don’t shout too loudly, or people on the street will think you’re crazy! But you’d like to do it, sometimes jumping like a baby. It happens. Because you’re very sincere and pure, you receive the maximum benefit. For the ones who are pure at heart, the Kingdom of God belongs to them: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” (Matthew 5:8) or “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17) That’s it. If you’re pure, anything is yours because it’s already there. To the complicated or doubtful ones it will also come. But sometimes they waste it a little bit, or it doesn’t soak into them so deeply. Because they’ve built some protective walls around themselves, and the blessing is stopped because of their unwillingness to accept it.

Even God’s blessing is not to be forced upon anyone. Otherwise, God would force blessings from Heaven and we’d all be liberated. There would be no need for me to go around and beg each of you to meditate. But you understand that because you know it for yourself and because you’re sincere. And I’m happy for you. Many people are like that; you’re not the only one. There’s nothing to explain, nothing logical and nothing scientific about it. It’s just that you yourself, your great wisdom, wakes up and immediately goes to work. It organizes and regulates the “body-disordered” places and puts them in order again. It also puts your mind in order and erases some of the negative tendencies and residues through the great force of the universe.

Thus, you feel alive again. In the mystical sense, you can say that this illness or the heavy feeling of pressure from the physical and mental body is the result of previous karma or from this life. But now we turn to the source of mercy and love, so it’s washed away. That’s as much as I can say. Many more of the things of God we can’t explain at all. So just enjoy it, and keep quiet. It’s all right for us to talk about it here, but if there’s much more you would like to tell people later, take care to see if they understand. Otherwise they’ll doubt you and think you’re telling lies, and that will hurt you.

I’m used to getting hurt. I keep telling people, “Please come; it’s all free. I do everything for you. You only have to know yourself and be happy. Don’t be ill, don’t be so weak and don’t beg for anything because you have everything. Please just come and experience it.” But many people just stay outside. Even if they come, sometimes they walk out. It’s due to their karma, which is so heavy that they’re blind to any love that stands in front of them. Therefore, even Jesus, they crucified Him. Such a love personified, such a blessing that He wanted to pour into the world. But they see nothing and feel nothing because they’re so spiritually blind and deaf. The world is like that.

So sometimes I suffer. Even though I know everything is God’s will, I suffer for them. I feel so sorry for these people: How can they be content to live such a life? Why don’t they believe in themselves? (Applause)

Our path is a little different from many other paths because I tell you to rely on yourself, to awaken your own power (Master gestures toward the wisdom eye) and become the Master, not to worship me all your life, do everything for me and rely on me. So I give you the way to know yourself. Then you at least begin to be a teacher of yourself, or of whoever comes in contact with you. Maybe I could just let you worship me, and you would get the blessing all the same anyhow. Many people just recite my name because they don’t want to get initiated. They pray to me for every kind of help or anything they want, and they get the benefits. They see Light, and they also sometimes see the Master coming to them. It’s not that I bargain, but they won’t become teachers. They’ll forever rely on my blessing and grace. But that’s what they want so what can we do about it?

If they want it that way, I don’t mind. Relying on me is fine. But I’d like all of you to be your own great teacher. That’s what I show you with this way. Do it every day, and you’ll become greater. And everything you want will just come even if you don’t ask for it. Just be pure and sincere.

From “Amazing Grace”
News 148, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Brisbane, Australia
March 23, 1993
(originally in English) Videotape No. 339

Q: I feel that I try to do my best in the world and pursue my vision, but many times it’s easy to get lost. And sometimes I find myself doubting whether I’m doing the right thing. Will the Quan Yin Method help me get guidance from my true Master at any time so that I can have a better guide for how to live my life and make decisions on a practical level as well?

M: Yes, definitely. That’s what the Method is for. It’s to know yourself, to be sure about what you want in life and what you have to do here. But it doesn’t happen overnight, of course. That’s why we have to meditate and invest some time every day because we forget again. Sometimes you have an enlightened vision, and then after meditation you forget all about it; it’s just like a dream. So we have to do it again and again.

And every day, the more we meditate, the more surefooted we’ll be about everything we do in life. That’s for sure. Otherwise, what’s the use of spending our time, if we’re still unsure like we were before? So, it will definitely help. Ask the people who do: See how they feel better about their lives. Everything is smooth.

Of course, because you spend more time communicating with God, you get wiser; you have more inspiration and more intuition from a clear state of mind. When you clear out everything else, you just communicate with God. Then everything is clear to you.

From “The More We Meditate, the Better We Can Deal with Karmic Retributions”
News 148, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Four-day Retreat, London, UK
August 27, 1997
(originally in English) Videotape No. 595

Q: How can we overcome distracting thoughts during meditation?

M: Whenever an interfering thought comes up during meditation, as soon as you remember it, just forget it again. Forget the thought and continue with the Holy Names.

We have to practice; everything requires practice. Because near the center of our brain is a spot that’s actually the center of all intelligence and all happiness and all bliss. If we get in touch with that center through our willingness of thought, it will activate everything.

Just pray about it every time. Before you meditate, if it’s too difficult for you, pray briefly and just say, “Master, please appear. Help! I want to know You.” Pray to your Master inside, not Master Ching Hai. Because we all have that spot; we all have the invisible Master within us. That’s our true Self, awakened by our sincere effort and loving thoughts. We want to know ourselves so much; we want to be better; we want to be God-like; we want to be of noble quality. We do want that so we can pray, “Please help me recognize the Master.” You can call it the Self, Master, Buddha or God; whatever you want to call it is fine. But call upon that power, call upon your Self, the original Home of all souls and then it will come.

Do not forget to pray, but only pray for a short while; do not become attached to it and sit there and pray all night long! Because our purpose is not to pray to anyone; it is to recognize our Self. But if we’re too weak, we should just pray for our Self to come out. Really, it does help. So whenever necessary, just pray to the Self and then concentrate again.

There is a little spot inside our brain that contains everything in the universe, and there’s nothing it can’t do and nothing it can’t know. It’s a very precious place that everyone has. God gives it to us, everyone alike, so we just have to call on it and remember it every day. And then we can live a happier life in this world, and of course we’ll live the happiest life after we leave this world. This is just to have an extra Heaven while we’re here.

Otherwise, Heaven is waiting for you — for those who are sincere, the ones who don’t care for material existence; so don’t worry. If you just keep the Precepts and try your best, Heaven is waiting for you whether or not you often experience the things we should experience. If we do experience them, it’s better for us. We feel recharged afterwards. It’s like a small electric current that runs through a wire; you just feel warm. You feel that you don’t want anything in this world anymore; you just feel contented within yourself.

From “Activate Your Almighty Power and Enjoy Heavenly Bliss on Earth”
News 161, Selected Questions and Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Singapore
April 26, 1997
(originally in English) DVD #603

   

The Five Precepts

1. Refrain from taking the life of sentient beings

2. Refrain from speaking what is not true

3. Refrain from taking what is not offered

4. Refrain from sexual misconduct

5. Refrain from the use of intoxicants

The Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet


Master on Meditation

Meditation Questions & Answers

Helpful Tips for Meditation




       


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