So I hope you are reinvigorated. Is that right? (Yes.) And rejuvenated. (Charged.) (Recharged.) Recharged? (Yes.) And revived. And re... (Reborn.) (Replenished.) Reborn. Replenished. Yeah, yeah. After this retreat and after the treat that the Hawaiians gave us tonight. (It was wonderful, wonderful.) Was it good? Wonderful, wasn’t it? Yes. (Yes.) And so, you can be stronger, work better, think faster, react quicker when you go home. (Yes.) That you bring all your happiness and blessings and share it with your family members, your workmates, and your immediate people that you meet in your daily life.
I was so touched. You know, when I sit here, I’m very calm, but when I was on that stage, I was so touched tonight. I was a little bit trembling. I had never been like that before. I was when I was younger, maybe once, but not for a long time. And when I went to lecture, I never felt like I felt tonight. Maybe because it was touching. I’ve never heard of people who get four awards in one day. The Mayor really took time to do it, the government of Honolulu. They never did it before, so they had to print it specially. Only one piece like that. And there’s no available document that they just sign. They had to print it, especially for me, for today, all these documents, just one piece.
And I never paid them one penny, nothing. All these are done by themselves, by their heart. So now, it was a surprise for me also because we help many other countries. (Yes.) Like the Philippines, Âu Lạc (Vietnam), China, and other small, small countries, Taiwan (Formosa) also, but nobody gave us any reward. And here in Honolulu, we gave nothing. We never knew anybody before. I just met them a few months ago, when I had a lecture in Honolulu, and that’s it. We have everything here. They gave us every honor that they could afford to a stranger, a beautiful stranger like me. It’s truly generous of them. (Yes.)
I mean, to get the day of [Supreme] Master Ching Hai is already shocking. The Americans say to me, one of our American disciples, she said to me, “I never heard of anyone who is living and gets a day.” (Statue too.) Yes, yes. (Because You are a Living Master.) You have to die, and then you get a day, but you don’t get it when you are alive. Is that not true? Is that true, Americans? Is it true? (Yes, yes.) (Yes, that’s true.) So she said like that, so I said, “Oh, maybe I’m not living.” She said, “Oh, no, no, no, please don’t say that.” I said, “You don’t know. I’m living and dead at the same time.” Right? (Yes.)
I’m living; I’m doing everything as a living human being for your sake, but I’m dead to everything I do. I’m dead to the world. I’m dead to anything that is unnecessary for spiritual progress. Understand? (Yes.) So that’s why I didn’t know much the importance of today, until today, when I told you, and I felt a little bit important, I felt the issue was important. More than when I first heard about it. The person who knew the news flew to me, and he was so excited. He came right down from the airplane and said, “I have to see Master right away. I’ve got to see Master right away.” I said, “What’s all this problem?” And he said, “Well, I got good news for Her.” I said, “Never mind. Tell him to go to the tent, sleep, and then I call him tomorrow or something” because it’s no big deal. But today, when I told you about the citizenship and all that, and you went groovy! And then I started to realize this is kind of important.
And then I talked to some other people, or today they congratulated me, and we had nearly 200 faxes and telegrams from all over the world to congratulate me, from different people. (Wow!) And I didn’t read them through, but I heard Mr. Chen, he said, “The President and Vice President also sent words of congratulations.” I didn’t know where it was, but he told me like that. And it was so noisy, I said, “Which President? What President?” It was noisy, I couldn’t hear. Maybe Taiwan (Formosa) or maybe America. I couldn’t hear anything, so I said, “OK, tell me later.” Now he’s not here. So I’m always too busy. So sometimes good things come, I haven’t got time to digest or to consider how important it is. And that’s why we didn’t let many people know.
Only the last minute, in these last two, three days, that the people who knew about this spread the news to all corners of the world, and then they poured in because they couldn’t come. We didn’t invite them long enough. So they pour in all the telegrams and faxes with very touching words. Some would say, “This is even more worthy than the Nobel Prize,” the World Peace Prize that the American government awarded me. They think it’s even more important, better than the Nobel Peace Prize. They say because the Nobel Peace Prize is only decided by a few people, a private company or something like that, a private organization. And this is decided by a nation. So they congratulated me and very, very sincerely. I didn’t have time to go through all this. I only heard it from… Kind of skipping around, but only one or two on top. Many of them were in Chinese or some in Japanese, Thai language, how can I read them? Not even with my Wisdom Eye. And also, I’m too busy.
Even if you don’t see me working, you’re sure all the comfort and all the convenience you get is a result of some work. Somebody must work behind the scenes, and somewhere and somehow. So it’s not that I don’t have work to do, but I just work casually. Only scolding occasionally, but always smilingly. So you don’t feel pressure from me. But sometimes the attendants will feel pressure because they work too slow for my tempo. But then I become used to them since they don’t become used to me; I have to slow down my pace, to wait for them.
So, many people didn’t get an invitation, and you didn’t get to know it before. Some of the reasons is due to the part that I didn’t realize the importance of the event so much. But today, I realized it when I stood up there and received all these awards and all the well wishes from different states, heads of state in America, and other associations. I felt really overwhelmed with emotion, with love and dignity, because even if they just gave me a World Peace Prize, it’s already too much. And then they gave me an honorary citizenship of America. Wow! That, even money cannot buy. I mean, I heard you can buy a seat of the Senate or something, but I didn’t hear people can buy an honorary citizenship. Never before. And this, not many people can get. Once every couple of decades or something.
And this, in Hawaii, he never gave it before. (Wow.) This Mayor never gave it before. It’s alright. You knew it already. And then get the day of [Supreme] Master Ching Hai, the 25th of October. That was already too much for me, much too much. And then a statue to be placed in the public park. Oh, I nearly fainted. With all my wisdom, I nearly fainted right there. You know, it’s one thing that you hear it, and another thing to realize it, and another thing to actually live it. Actually, realize it and have it as a true event. It was different when you were there with all this love and pampering. So I just don’t know what to do for America now. I have to think about it. More honor means more responsibility. But I think you’ll help me to do it because you’re all Americans. (Yes.)
And the best help from today, the day of [Supreme] Master Ching Hai, is that you’ll spread more of this noble teaching. And be a good example of your teaching, of your Dharma, of what you learned. Then other people will see your shining example and they will just follow. And that’s the best thing you can contribute to your motherland, America. (Yes, Master.) And I think that’s also the best thing I can contribute to any country or to the world. So please help me to fulfill this mission.
And our world, we hope, we pray, that it’s going to be better and better and better. And we feel that it’s going to be better, despite the economic struggle, but that is a cleaning process. The fault is not with the present administration. It’s just there is a cycle of economic kind of recession after every 12 years or something like that. I heard, I’m not an economist, but everything up would go down, then up again. So we have no fear for the future. We just do our present work every minute of our life, then the future will be OK. Will take care of itself. (Yes.) The future will take care of itself.
So, I thank you for all your love, your affection, and your time, that you have come and that we can share with each other these wonderful moments in Hawaii these days. (Thank You, Master.) So, I’m very proud of you. (We are proud of You.) Because you practice well, so America will be more clean and then more tending toward higher thinking, more spiritual thinking. And therefore, our teaching or our presence is beginning to be accepted lovingly, willingly by the public and even by the governments. So that’s a good sign. Let’s work more for it, and let’s preserve our strength and our determination to clean up the planet. And to make all citizens of this world become honorary citizens of Heaven. That’s it. So love you, and aloha! (I love You.) (Aloha.)
Photo Caption: Thriving Well in Nature by God-Love
