In the evening, they have to see people also. They’ll soon all resign from their post. They’ll soon resign. And especially, they get no pay out of it. You will see no politicians left. It’s not lucrative. No holidays, don’t care about weekends or summer, winter, nothing. They’ll soon resign from their post. And especially, their house becomes their office and open public holiday resort. And everybody comes all day, all night, and children screaming and monks shouting and all that, every day. In their residence! They’d resign immediately. They will not even go out for election. They may not even run for their job. They’d resign.
So try to have some consideration, not because of other people, but it’s for yourself, to elevate yourself into a much higher sensitivity of consciousness. Cannot always remain in a very coarse level, very rough way of handling people’s emotions and their environment. If we are sensitive to other people’s feelings and needs, that doesn’t mean it’s good for that person only, it’s good for the people only. It’s good for us. That means we are highly developed souls. We are very sensitive. We understand before people speak. We reached the level of Amitābha’s Western Paradise that they were talking about in the sutra. Saying, in the Western Paradise, people don’t need to speak, and each understands perfectly the other person’s desires and expressions.
We have to bring paradise to Earth and not wait until we die to meet it. It is a wrong concept to run to somewhere and then forsake the world. We have to better the world as much as our ability allows. Otherwise, not only we cannot elevate ourselves, but also, we damage the world. We make it worse.
Before you came here, these monks, this place was quiet. The ghosts were living in harmony with each other until you came and you disturbed them with all your noise. That’s why they tickled you. That’s why they troubled you when you first came because you disturbed them. You’re too noisy. They were thinking to themselves, “We are the ghosts and we don’t make so much noise. And we’re so quiet. And when they came, they jumped all over the place. They shouted at each other. They talked in such a loud manner, what kind of monks are these?” Therefore, they made trouble for you. They pulled your legs and pulled your head. They made you trouble, no? The ones who first came. Until you called on the Master Power to interfere, it’s just like telling the parents to impose the power upon the children only. We have to command respect from people and ghosts by our own dignity and merit and power of concentration. Not always take the Master out to become your shield, and then behind that, you do what you want. It’s not OK just to wear a kind of robe or to do some kind of function. We have to polish our manner to justify it. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how long you wear the robe, it makes no difference. You just spoil the atmosphere and spoil the reputation of the whole group.
The same with all of you. You must always take care of what you do, what you think and what you speak, whether it is beneficial to people, to yourselves, or not. It’s OK to say our Home is in Heaven and this world is not ours, but we have no right to destroy the world we live in. We have no right to disturb and to break it up. If we cannot better it, we must keep it in order. Do not be too loud that the ghosts will come and complain to me that a few monks here are louder than all the United States put together. We have no need to speak so loud. No need. Why?
But actually, it’s not to blame all the monks, it’s all of your fault. You also bring trouble. You, the people, come too many and at different times, and bring different temperaments and your loud noise with you, your excitement and your street atmosphere with you. So they feel like there is a distance between you and themselves, so they have to shout and talk loud so that you understand. Sometimes people don’t understand when you talk, so the Bible says, “Hearing you hear, but you do not understand. Seeing you see, but you do not perceive.” It is because we see, but we do not pay attention. We hear, but we do not catch it.
Last night when I told you about the refugees’ issues, I mentioned some of the people: brokers, politician brokers, and humanitarian project brokers. We told them clearly that this is a humanitarian project and that is already enough that we take care of the refugees and provide them with shelter, food, and jobs so that their country will not become burdened, and they get only fame and praises out of that, out of accepting the refugees without doing any work even. We run the whole work. It’s enough that we do that. No need to ask for any special commission out of this humanitarian project. It’s enough that we collect all the money we can and put up all our property to take care of these unwanted refugees, for them, so that their country gets more people, more industry and more fame. It’s enough with that. They should not expect any commission out of this.
And I said to them – we said to them, some of the workers who worked with me and some of the refugees – we said, “This is humanitarian. You should not mix business with it. Nothing is to be gained out of it. If we gain nothing, why should you? We put all our money in and you stand by only and you gain. It’s enough that you gain fame and industrial benefits and more laborers and more people, more intelligent people to work for your country. It’s enough, more than enough.” But they couldn’t understand [no matter] how many times I repeated, they could not understand it. So today even I had to tell one of the disciples to fax it to them in black and white – say, “We’re not going to do business like this with you. We’re not going to cooperate in this way because you only expect impossible things.”
It is already hard enough, troublesome enough for us as a spiritual body to move into political issues and to take care of the political problems of the world. Out of our love we do that, but it’s already troublesome enough for us because we’re not in this field. And it’s troublesome enough because we don’t earn money out of anything. And we try to put up all the money we have and whatever we can do to help already. So it’s no need for them to make more trouble. It’s very troublesome for us already to fly from one place to another, talking to the people that we are not interested to talk to and to go into this big work of helping the refugees. It’s troublesome enough even to gain all the money necessary. Even then they want to put trouble in front, more trouble than the refugees. But they don’t understand. We repeated it many times, but they still kept talking as though we hadn’t said anything, that we agreed to it. It is impossible that people just keep thinking in their own way and they don’t change. And sometimes it’s difficult to talk to them in a subtle way. Well, you have to shout, or you have to make it noisy.
Therefore, sometimes when you come in here, do not think that you do us any favor and add in some flavor to this quiet place. No, no, no, no. We don’t need that. So don’t make too much noise and excitement that you come here and that you are so good a person, that you come to see me and all that. It’s not true. It’s for your own sake that you came and for your own sake that we receive you. Otherwise, I could do it more quietly and rest, and just do the official work. The bureaucratic work of our organization is enough for me already. Everywhere I go, work follows from Taiwan (Formosa). All the letters have to be answered. All the problems have to be solved, immediate problems, long-term problems, suddenly-arisen problems and all that. Do you think I sit on a bed and sing all day long? I don’t even have as much time to meditate as you if I don’t do it in the night, I will not have it even.
So there is no favor when you come. Try to be quiet and don’t let people notice even your presence. It’s no big deal that you come. One person more, one person less. It’s only because of the love-bond between us that we come to see each other and nothing more. And do not run around all day around your tent and expect to see me every time. I have to work also for you and for other people in different ways, not only to see you. Seeing you is one part of my work, but it’s not all. That’s not all that I have to do in this troublesome world and there are many expectations from different people.
I understand that you might be excited and over-enthusiastic to come to see me, but it’s no big deal. Try to look inside and be calm, otherwise, we disturb all the ghosts here. They lived in quietness before we came, so they complained. They pulled the monks’ legs when they first came and made them quarrel, disturbed their sleep, and made a lot of chattering noise and clattering noise down in the cellar and in the kitchen, everywhere, at night, and tried to make their complaints understood. But it’s OK, they’re used to it now, or maybe they moved out now, they cannot bear. They cannot bear all this loud noise. Actually, everywhere we go, we have many invisible beings around also. So, we try to be considerate for the visible and for the invisible beings. Alright? Love you and leave you.
Photo Caption: Writing Is Not Reserved Only for Humans
