We have a place in Austria, you know? But I don’t know; it’s too far. (No!) No? I thought originally we could go there, but we have this place. It’s nearer even, nearer to international airport. […] It’s not really a very international airport over there. (Klagenfurt, yes, it’s not international.) Only for Germany, Berlin and some small… This one is more convenient. Four hundred people can fit in here. (And cheap.) Yeah! Over there, there are more bathrooms and toilets though. Have about 20 or 20-something toilets and bathrooms. (Wow!) Ja. (Yes.) I didn’t know anywhere else, so I just landed there, and I thought, “Well, this is not bad. There’s a lake nearby. We can go swimming,” (Oh. Wow.) things like that. But in summer! Now, I think you’d freeze. The lake, you can walk on but not swim in.
Well, it’s not too much, is it? It’s maybe not for retreats, but I was thinking if we stay there, everybody can come anytime they want. That’s the idea. Then, you don’t have to squeeze like this because they don’t always come together. It’s only because I’m not here that now and again we come for a retreat. That’s why a lot of people. But if it’s free, like, you come Monday, he comes Tuesday, the other guy comes Sunday, it should be OK. But I’m not sure if they’d only come on Monday, Tuesday. They’d probably come every Sunday, and it ends up the same – ABC. Yes, she told me it’s ready. (Yes, I heard it too.) But it’s so cold now. Here it’s warmer, no? (Yes. Actually, these guys were there recently.) How cold is it there now? Are you there? Yoohoo! The Australian guy? (I think they left already. So anyhow…) He was just there. (I think 3, 4 degrees [Celsius].) Three, 4 degrees? (Yes.) Above? (Above.) That’s not too bad. How cold is it here? Ten, huh? Ten above, huh? (Fifteen.) (Six.) (No! Five.) (Here is 15.) (Five.) (Here 15?) (Yes.) Five outside? (I don’t think…) (No, no!) It didn’t look that cold.
(No, I think the thing is, the hotel, it’s not for winter actually because many glass windows… And this area actually, it’s like a summer place.) Yeah, it’s a summer place, actually. (The buildings are not very well put, but it’s OK.) But we don’t need heaters because, you know, here… it’s too hot. (They have heaters. They have in the room heaters.) I know. In winter, it’s OK too, no problem. But mostly, they don’t use it for winter, actually. (No.) Only the old woman (owner) stayed there. Is it snowing right now? (They said normally at this time, it’s covered with snow. But this year it was exceptional, so, no snow yet.) But not big enough (space) for now. Forget it. I’m just dreaming.
There was another hotel, better, bigger, but then it was too late afterward. And somebody was living in there, and so it was too complicated. I don’t know where to go anymore. But never mind, we’ll have another, better. Don’t worry about it. We probably will. If not, then this is not too bad either. It’s enough. You take turns, huh? Take turns to come. (The realtor said that there is another one.) I know, I know. He said there are many. OK, guys. OK, you go sit down. Don’t stare at me. Oh, man.
(Master, one brother told me of a place in northeastern Germany. I don’t know what it’s called, I’m sorry, but it has castles near the sea. Maybe there’s a castle for sale.) Yeah! (Little castles, not big ones.) Not enough. They have about 12 rooms or something. (Oh, yes.) Some bigger, but not by the sea. Yeah, there were some… actually, a few months ago. It was in summer, and I was also looking. I was hunting around all this year. And I saw two castles, one with 20-something rooms (Oh.) – very beautiful and nice! And then another one, smaller. But I called them, and they said, “The realtor is not here. I’m just an answering machine.” Secretary. “Leave Your phone number; he will call you back.” And then he didn’t call. [After] many days, I called again, she said, “Yeah, he’ll come back, he’ll call You, tomorrow.” And then tomorrow, again, he didn’t call. And I called again. “Tomorrow, he’ll call You.” And he never called! (Oh!) (Sounds very strange.) Very strange.
And they had our email and everything and never answered. And I said, “At least tell me if it’s still available. I am very far; I cannot just go there and look at it like that. So, please tell me.” Nobody said anything. (Huh!) Yeah, it was very funny. There are funny people over there. Yeah, really! And I called a couple of agents – they were the same. Maybe, if I was in Germany… Over there, maybe they won’t deal with it if I’m a foreigner. They don’t want to or something, or far away, they don’t want to deal with it. I don’t know. But the least politeness, just say, “No, we don’t want to deal with you,” or “No, it’s not available,” or whatever. Nothing, nothing! Didn’t answer, didn’t email, nothing at all, and I was fed up to keep calling them, calling them. So I thought, “OK, they don’t want to deal with us.” It’s funny, huh?
Yes, ma’am? (Master, we’ve been talking with the Italian contact person. She lives in Pescara, which is the same latitude as Rome but on the Adriatic coast, and she is going to look for some land. She said it’s very, very beautiful around there, all national parks, and land is cheap. If she finds something with, say, an old house on it or something, we could just camp. The sea isn’t too far away, and the mountains are very beautiful.) Not far away? (No, no. We would need cars, but…) Do we have an airport nearby? (Yes, Pescara has an airport.) International? (Ryanair goes there.) (Low-cost carriers.) (Ryanair, it’s a cheap airline.) (It’s an Irish company.) Yeah, I know, but does it go there? (Well, one might have to change in Rome, might have to change planes in Rome, or come by bus from Rome. Anyway, she’s looking into it. It would be warm, and it would be near the sea and near the mountains there.) I heard the name Pescara, Pescaro or something like that. (It’s a town on the Adriatic coast. It’s just much warmer than Germany.) Who cares? We’re too hot in here.
Anyway, last year I also went all over Italy, believe it or not. I’m running all over Europe trying to find a place for you guys. Up to now, I am not really happy with anywhere. There are some places we could have, but then there’s always another problem. Oh, there was one place, very nice, 36 rooms, something like that, and nine hectares of land. (Wow!) But then I looked around, I saw so much astral atmosphere. That is like their portal. How come such a beautiful place and situated in an astral area? And, of course, we could go there, but then that means we would have war with them. Yeah! The neighbor would make trouble, the police would come, blah blah blah… And then soon you’d have to move away. So, it doesn’t mean a nice place you could stay forever. (Yes.) There is always some problem like that.
Wow, I really liked that place very much. Yeah, I really liked that place – 36 rooms and a big yard. And it had its own small, private lake and a stream running in the middle, oh God! It made me so angry. Maybe one day we’ll be cool. Who knows. (It’s already good…) It’s good like this. Really!? (Yes.) Yeah, but one day maybe better even. Even in this place, in this area, but we want to have more room. And we go slowly. I’m going slowly about it, so maybe we’ll have more room. But the thing is, they’re not together. That’s the problem, you see? More rooms we even have here now, it’s just up and down, in and out. But still, it’s better than nothing. (Yes.) At least we can sit together and see each other some minutes. Better than nothing, huh? (Yes.)
The main point is the neighbors. You see? And the food! Here, neighbors are quiet; food is cheap – right in front. We can munch carrots all day long. Doesn’t cost much because it’s wholesale in the front every week. Today, they had a lot of wholesale, do you know? Did anybody go buy? Nobody bought from them? No? (Just bought for the kitchen.) They sell a lot in front. Every week, one time wholesale. You can rent a truck and buy and bring it to where your country is, and it’s still worth it. Yeah! It’s good that we can sit together at least. It doesn’t matter. Even if it’s choppy, choppy. (Yes.)
OK, that… Yes?! (The ceiling is high here; maybe we could build two floors.) Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, but the Caucasians, they’re so tall. They’d go bang! (Yes.) Then… (Just add cushions.) Yeah, OK. Then, this is a new rule in “Ching Hai-ism”: When you go into a temple, you have to put a cushion on your head. For the future generations, we’ll add that to the long list of “precepts.” Yeah, we can do that. But then, how do I see them? Oh well, probably I can. They will be up there. Well, it’s a rental house, you know. The Murphy bed is a very good solution. Yeah, we can do that – flap in, flap... At least some people could sit up there, over there, and then some people could sit over there. We talked about that in London already, didn’t we? (Yes.)
Photo Caption: Even the Most Delicate Life – Details Are Predesignated
