How are you? (Fine.) Really? (Yes.) I think if I wear prettier clothes today, you will listen to me. Is it too hot? (No.) Really? (Really.) Is it still OK at this time? If it is too hot, I will change the schedule. For example, we could meditate from 4 AM to 8 AM, then go to sleep. Meditate from 4 AM to 8 AM, go to sleep, then get up at noon to eat lunch. Then, continue to sleep till 5 PM, because it is hotter at that time. And get up at 5 PM to eat again, take a shower, then we meditate from 5 PM to 5 AM the next morning. That works, too. What are you laughing at? (OK.) Is it not good? But you can… It’s so hot in the daytime; can you sleep? Maybe it’s OK? I see all of you are comfortable. So I wear beautiful clothes to keep your eyes open. Then you can’t sleep. Just like that. Good. Probably, I’ll show up every half an hour. Then everyone’s eyelids won’t be… drooping so much, right?
Have you had better inner experiences? No? A better sleep only? OK, it’s alright. That’s just a habit, not a big deal. But why do you like three-day retreats? Three-day retreats, one-day retreats, why do you like them? It’s the first day, the first day comes. It’s a joy to meet you for the first time in the retreat. The first time seeing each other is nice; both of us are happy, so it’s OK. It can still be good, but after a while, the shortcomings start to emerge. I see them everywhere. It gets better the second day. You see, even God feels more comfortable today… so the weather has improved, right? (Yes.) I feel a little bit better, just a little bit.
Is it easy when you teach people? (No.) Have you taught? Have you? (Yes.) Who do you teach? Who? (Children.) Teaching children? (Yes.) Kids are the easiest to teach! (But still…) (Still not easy.) (Easier by comparison.) No, kids have to be taught from a young age, then they’ll be better when they grow up. Probably, when they go to school and mingle with others, with other kids, then they become different. Right? Is that true? Or they’re just being themselves. Are they naturally naughty? Don’t you know? How about when you were children? Were you nice kids? (Yes.) Wow! Hear, hear! Really nice? (Yes, really.)
There was a German guy who had a bald head. Where is he? Has he gone to sleep? Or did you switch today? Didn’t switch? There was someone who looked like a monk. Has he left? Have you seen him? Is he sitting somewhere else? Oh, he’s too hot? (Yes.) He went to sleep? (He moved somewhere else inside.) He went somewhere else in the shade? Are you sure? (Pretty sure.) Is he German? English? (Canadian.) Canadian. Oh, of course. It’s very cold there. I don’t think they can stand it here. I feel sorry for the Westerners.
You feel better today, everybody? Are you alright? (Yes.) Feeling better? (Yes.) OK, alright. I will let you take a rest earlier today. I think it is no good that all of you sit here and sleep. Ah, is it the “Instant Enlightenment Festival” today? (Dragon Boat Festival.) Is it “Cut Enlightenment,” or “Instant Enlightenment,” or “Cut Noon”? “Cut Noon” means we don’t get to eat lunch. What noon? Cut… (Duan-Wu.) “Duan.” (“Duan.”) (“Wu.”) “Wu.” (Festival.) Is it “Festival”? This is about someone called Qu Yuan, right? (Yes.) But some people did not come for this three-day retreat. Are they not patriotic? Today is a patriotic festival, right? Is it? (Yesterday.) It was the same yesterday. Not joining this three-day retreat is being unpatriotic. You should come here to pray for him, for the liberation of that fool’s soul – no! The liberation of a patriot! Qu Yuan, is it?
By the way, let me tell you a story. I don’t know if I have told you before; it’s about Qu Yuan. That Qu Yuan is very famous. In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), he’s famous. Everyone knows him. We also have “Duan-Wu,” Duan-Wu. But it’s not a festival, so we don’t eat anything special on that day. And then, previously in our country, a few decades or a few centuries ago, more than a hundred years ago, we still had… No, no, several decades ago, there was still a king, but I am not talking about that recently retired king.
A few centuries ago, there was a king. He was really lousy – very dictatorial and self-centered, very lousy. He disliked an official because of his straightforward manner. He was a righteous man, and he often advised the king to do good. So the king hated him. One day, the king couldn’t tolerate him anymore. Many government officials got on a dragon boat to have fun and enjoy themselves on the dragon boat lake. A lot of civil and military officials were on board together, and they… The corrupt officials who specialized in flattering the king also disliked that loyal and upright official. So they mocked him, saying many nonsensical and sarcastic things.
Finally, the king could not bear it. He said, “I heard that you are well-educated, so you should know this. What must one do to be a good citizen?” He replied, “We must be loyal to the king and patriotic to the country. That is common knowledge. You don’t need to be well-educated to know that.” The king hated him even more, so he said, “If you are loyal to the king, if the king asks you to die, you would go and die? Is that right?” The king set a trap for him. The loyal official immediately said, “Yes, yes, Your Majesty. Yes.” Then the king said, “OK, now I order you to die. Jump into the water now and die.” He jumped in immediately. Isn’t that even better than Qu Yuan? More impressive than Qu Yuan? Right? Was he? (Yes.) No. Why die for nothing?
Then, all the other officials just stood there. Oh, they cried very loudly and shed a few crocodile tears. “Oh God! What a pity! He’s gone! Alas! He was such a nice guy, and he died so well! Alas!” Like that. OK. Everyone was wailing and making a scene. Then they threw fake flowers, plastic flowers, into the water to bid him farewell. He seemed to have heard everyone’s sorrowful crying and came out of the water again. He didn’t want to die, so he resurfaced and went ashore, totally drenched, like a wet bird-person. The king said, “Huh? You didn’t die?”
He said, “Yes, I did. When I was down there, I met Qu Yuan.” The king asked, “How did you meet him down there?” He said, “Yes, actually, he…” What is it… How to say “drown” in Chinese? (Drown.) “He drowned there, so all waterbodies belong to him now. His soul is wandering around. He saw me go down and immediately came to me. He even chatted with me and told me to come up.” So the king said, “Why did he say that? I ordered you to die. Why did he tell you to come up?” The official said, “Qu Yuan scolded me a lot. He told me I was a fool. Because in his lifetime, he encountered a bad king, so he had to die. Now I have a good king, so why should I end my life? I thought he was right, so I couldn’t die, and I came back.” Did you hear that? (Yes.) That’s better, OK? If he had died, I would have beaten him up! I wouldn’t liberate him. That is a true story, a story from Âu Lạc (Vietnam). It looks like the Aulacese (Vietnamese) official was a bit smarter.
Photo Caption: The Meek and the Strong, They Depend on Each Other to Live Well!
