Interviewer, Elma: Have You read any of the books by [Deepak Chopra]? (Who’s that?) He talks about the Masters from India who have studied here. (Yes.) And he talks about... Well, I had always heard, but don’t quite understand, (Right.) that we have God inside us, (Yes.) that we have illusions. (Everybody talks about that; that’s the problem.) Right. (It makes people [fall into] illusions.) Well, he talked about... You see, it’s beautiful, it’s an illusion when You read it. But when you start to practice it, you have to figure out what the problem is. (Yes.) He said we are almost 90% modernist. (Yes, right.) All of this. And how we have the ability to communicate inside. (Right.) And we're supposed to meditate. (Right.) But I have never thought about it. (Understand.) Until he explained it like that. (Right. Because that’s right for you to hear it through that way.) OK. (Maybe he’s more scientific.) Yes. So from time after Yogananda… Spiritual information... (Yes.) But Deepak Chopra... We have more practical... (...more practical experience, like more practical explanation. Good for you.) He has written about four or five books. (Wow.) Yes, we were actually just talking, but now I understand this, for the first time.
Master: Yes, that’s good for you. You see, Yogananda is more classical because He knows it the way He knows. Maybe it’s difficult for Him to break down into Earth-like, down-to-Earth explanation, the way we expect Him to do. Therefore, we sometimes have different Masters. You see? Some Masters appear to different people. (And you can’t get everything.)
Yes, yes, but that’s also your Master at work. (Yes, all of this.) He guides you to read more, (Yes.) so that you know. Because some Masters, any Master, They have also limited time, and also limited eloquence, limited worldly knowledge. (Right.) Therefore, the Universal Masters work through different channels to bring you into a bigger picture. (Right.) Until one day, you know it by yourself, and you digest it all, and it becomes you. (Yes.) It’s not from Yogananda, it’s not from that doctor. It’s you who know it. “It’s me. I know it, I know it.” Understand what I mean? So these are helping factors. It’s good for you — whatever’s helpful to you, you read. (Wow. I don't read a lot, only a couple. Yogananda's was the first book that I read.) Understand. (Because the Bible... His teachings, His guidance...) Yes.
I know, I know. And also, He has experiences that He can share with you. (Yes.) And He knows it Himself, He experiences it Himself. And the Bible is said to have been cut and censored and altered many times. (And also He’s there.) But it’s very easy to understand the Bible after you know Yogananda – at least. (Well, I have to go back to Him) He’s the one that has brought many good things to the West and has gotten the Western people used to being more with the way of Enlightenment, Light, anybody with… Yes.
(I would like to, with your permission, to maybe ask a few people questions. Sure, please, anything you want to ask them. (Could you get them in the back with me?)
(I want to ask you a couple of questions. Are you a disciple? Or are you just hanging around?) I’m practicing. (How long have you been?) Since April. (Is that good? Who is... I just lost my train of thought.
Master: He’s not ‘one year old’ yet. (All of these people are very advanced.) It's not necessarily, honey. The “age” doesn’t make the people more enlightened. Well, does anybody want to answer questions? Come along. (I need to… The question I’ll ask is, “Why do you love Her, why do you like Her?” How your life has changed since you started practicing Her technique starting from whenever?) Come along. (You’re going to do it somewhere else?) (Can we do it… How can we do this?)
She’s a doctor. Medical doctor. (OK. And you are a disciple for how long?) Since May of 1991. (Alright now, tell me why you became attracted, or you decided to follow Her? What it is about Her [Supreme Master Ching Hai]?)
Q1: I was searching for Heaven and I thought Heaven was on Earth somewhere and that one day I would find it on the Earth, and if I traveled, I would find it, but at first, when I grew older, I thought it wasn’t here. There’s no such thing as a figment of a childhood imagination. But now I know where Heaven is. In the Bible, it says that “The Kingdom of God is within you,” and there’s a lot of the traditional religions they will state that, but they don’t tell you how you actually connect with the Kingdom of God within you, and where it is. And that’s where you need a living Master, because the living Master opens the connection — tells where the connection is — and teaches you silently through the meditation method. When you meditate on the (inner Heavenly) Light and you meditate on the (inner Heavenly) Sound, it has to be under the administration of a Master.
And, as a result of that, I think there’s a statement that “When the student is ready, the Master appears.” And I think the other concept that the West does not understand is that all the religions have grown up around living Masters. Meaning that, like [Supreme] Master Ching Hai said, [Lord] Jesus is born, He has followers; when He dies, Christianity is established, but the living Master is gone. And the living Master is essential to connect you with Heaven. We cannot do it otherwise. I’ve always wanted…
(I have problems with… Excuse me for a second.) Sure. (I have problems when people say – in my own mind – that’s the only way, you have to have a living Master. What happens to the millions of people that don’t have a living Master and love God also? You’re cutting them out.) No, no. Eventually they will come in contact with the living Master when they are ready. They may not come in contact in this lifetime, maybe in a thousand years’ time, but eventually they will. It’s OK. When their affinity is right. Because everything is destined.
(Tell me how your life has changed since you started?) Well, it’s happier. You understand now where you came from. You understand why you’re here. You understand that your purpose on this world is to reconnect with God, to go back to where you originated from. It’s not to raise children, have a good job, earn a lot of money, get a good car, have a lot of possessions — because all of those things they really don’t make you that happy, and you’re always searching.
(But the Masters say you don’t have to be poor to know God.) Oh, no, no. No, you don’t have to be poor, you continue… In actual fact, you continue completely normally. You don’t abandon the world at all. Unless for that particular period of time that’s your destiny — a few years that you may do that — but you always come back into the world as such. So my point of view, you continue to live completely normally, and you continue to work hard. You can also add to your life though. You add in a sense that you meditate, and you follow a vegan diet, follow the Ten Commandments. And…
(And your life is better? Is your life better?) Yes, yes. Your life is better and you’re wiser. I’ve always wanted wisdom. (Yes, yes.) The big draw to me is wisdom. And overall, you become more loving.
Photo Caption: The Path Might Get Bumpy, but Keep Walking Steadily You Will Come Home
