Therefore, preconceptions sometimes hurt us a lot, and make us lose a lot of good things. I am talking about worldly aspects; not spiritual aspects. Not yet; too many preconceptions. Our eyes, ears, smell and tongue, all deceive us; they are really deceptive.
Talking is very easy. But without life after life of spiritual practice, it’d be difficult to attain enlightenment and to understand. Some of you do understand something, 50/50. You understand that in this world, we are living day by day, passing time. Because when we have accomplished our spiritual practice, we will say sayonara, bye-bye. We are only here temporarily. We stay, but we know clearly that this is nothing, the world is nothing. Really nothing for us to cherish, to preserve, or to remember. It is truly like that.
There are two kinds of things that I talk to you about. One is for worldly things; I advise you to be filial, loyal and patriotic, etc. Be responsible, OK? You have to eat well, sleep well, and meditate well. However, if I don’t talk about worldly matters, there’s really nothing to talk about. If not for worldly matters, there’s really nothing to talk about.
You don’t have translation, my love? No? (I can catch about maybe) You understand? (60 to 70% of what You said.) Wow! That’s great. Very good. (I’m OK, thank You.) Very good. Because Chinese is very difficult to learn, but you’re good. (Thank You, Master.) All right, very good, OK.
Do you understand what I am talking about? (Understand.) If not about worldly matters, what else can I talk to you about? The Dharma needs virtually no spoken words. Or should I just sit here and tell you, “It’s OK, suit yourself. It’s OK to do anything. Never mind the ethical conduct, because there is nothing.” You know what I mean? But I can’t do that, because you have yet to reach this level. So, I’m doing this to pass time, take a look at you and say something by the way. You also tell me about your worldly troubles, and I tell you some worldly solutions. In fact, for me, everything is useless, really useless, all useless; just passing time. It’s like when you are with the kids in kindergarten, you just play with them, right? Yes. You’ll tell them, “Wow! This is a wonderful toy. Where did you get it?” “May I borrow it or play with you for a while?” The kid will say, “No! No! I won’t lend it to you. This is mine.” Then you pretend to be very upset and say, “Oh, please, just for a while.” Things like that; kindergarten stuff.
Though I’m saying this, I am not apathetic. I have deep sympathy for you. I also don’t know why I am so sympathetic to you. However, when I am in meditation or in samadhi, I feel, “Why did I tell them about those things? It’s a waste of time.” It’s really a waste of time, useless, useless things. OK, never mind. Since I am still in this world, I’ll just join you for a while. Just like you playing with the kids in kindergarten. Or, would you just sit there, watching the kids, and tell them, “This is just a toy. I have real cars, a real Mercedes at home. What you are playing with is just a tiny toy.” Can you say that? (No.) No. The kid would feel hurt, he wouldn’t understand. He wouldn’t believe and he wouldn’t understand. So, you can only play with them and pass time, OK? All right. I feel that it is useless for me to praise you.
Sometimes, I feel the world is very laughable. Sometimes, I feel the world is very miserable. Sometimes, I feel, “It’s nothing. Miserable or laughable is the same.” But it is not that laughable for people in it. They are in agony. Everything is agonizing for them. Unlike our spiritual practitioners, we feel, “It’s just a bit of suffering.” But within, we understand clearly that this suffering won’t last long; it’ll be gone soon. The same with happiness; it’ll be gone soon. Whether we have it or not, it doesn’t matter; it’s no big deal.
Sometimes, I observe that the world is in great misery, but people can’t escape. They are bound very tightly by their minds. Do you understand what I am saying? (Understand.) Really? (Really.) Because these things are… (Abstract.) Abstract. OK, that’s right. This is not to be understood with the brain. The brain hinders us from understanding it. Don’t know what the brain is for.
Sometimes, I feel that the simple-minded are happier. I see that they are very happy, right? They are very happy. I see they are always laughing. They’re also quite happy not to understand too much about the joy, wrath, sorrow and happiness in this world. This is also a state of happiness. Just because we know too much, we think they are ignorant and call them “simple-minded.” However, they may know more than we do, but they cannot express themselves. For example, many blind people can see you from within; it’s bright inside for them. So, though their eyes can’t see things outside, they are happy.
There is one troublesome thing. Take a child for instance. He sees from within that the trees are radiant. The roads welcome him as if they are coming forward to greet him, instead of him walking to the road. Take this for example. And flora and fauna communicate with him in a comfortable way; they often communicate with each other. But when he reveals it to his parents, everyone laughs at him. They say he is crazy or something. Then he is alienated by society and gradually becomes sullen. He stops talking about those experiences to people. Gradually, he is also brainwashed, and even brainwashes himself. He feels that he is wrong, because his parents say so. That’s his inner vision. “How could the trees outside run to you and talk to you?” “How could the birds communicate with you?” “How could the roads welcome you?” The roads, the street. By and by, he is chastised, brainwashed, and then assimilated into our social system, the system that governs what we know, see, touch, and learn. In this way, the person slowly forgets his original Nature, and his ability will also dissipate. Finally, he becomes like everyone else and even worse, because he no longer trusts his inner feelings, his so-called inner attainment. He doesn’t trust himself any more. He becomes increasingly convinced that he is a disabled person. He thinks that he doesn’t have any abilities; he thinks they were illusionary. He thinks he is mentally unbalanced, that he is blind because he is being punished. He starts to imagine things inside. Then he becomes bored and sullen. He’s no longer the same, deprived of happiness. He cannot see, has to rely on others, and lives a miserable life.
Originally, he was very happy, as his Heaven within was helping him. He was able to see the Truth about the whole creation. Later, he is brainwashed by society and his parents don’t support him. He becomes increasingly depressed and gradually loses his inner visions. Even if they’re still there, he doesn’t believe it anymore. He thinks those are illusions, because his parents said so. He’s just a child. Of course, he believes his parents more than he does himself.
How pitiable, really pitiable. No one can see better than him, yet they turn him into a disabled person with an inferiority complex. In this way, one human life is wasted. He could have lived a happy life, if society or his parents hadn’t intervened. He could have lived in happiness, because the power and wisdom within him could help him handle his life very clearly. He’d act by instinct. Automatically, he’d know what to do. So, his physical eyes may be blind, but he’s not really blind. He could have lived happily. What a pity!
A Zen master once said, “Had I known earlier, I’d rather be blind and deaf.” Because those are of little help. Instead, they give us lots of trouble and preconceived ideas, lots of incorrect concepts. Even the correct concepts are merely worldly concepts; not very helpful. I am thinking how I can explain it to you. I can’t explain it all. Forget it. I can’t explain it. But you understand a little, don’t you? (Yes, we do.) Very good.
Never mind. I’ve talked enough. Of course, let’s return to the world. Have you eaten enough? (Enough.) Was it delicious? (Very delicious.) That’s all. What else can I talk about? This is coming back to the world. “How are you? Is your body OK? Is your family fine? If not, then “are you happily married?” “How are your dogs and cats?”
We went for a coffee today, because I hadn’t seen the world for a month. I didn’t watch TV, either. I also couldn’t watch Supreme Master TV. I could not even read books. And this time, I had to take care of one thing, so I had to concentrate there and drop other things. This retreat is different than others, concentrating on one goal only. But there are many obstacles. I had protection anyway. But I could not throw the maya out; it’s his world. So, sometimes, he talks nonsense and meddles with my work. So, there have been some obstacles. Originally, I wanted to finish it 100%, but now it seems like half completed, only half or two thirds. Never mind, I will continue working on it.
What am I talking about? Because I hadn’t seen the world for a month, so when I came out, I wanted to drink coffee. It’s like a…what? Transition. I mean not to jump from one to ten immediately; just have a break in between. There is a dog there. We found it (the café) accidentally, when I first came here. It’s so pretty. I will not tell you. There won’t be place to sit if you all go. It’s a very small café, but it has a beautiful environment, surrounded by fields, very cozy, with lots of greenery. The first time I went there was over a month ago. There was a dog, slightly white with some marks. When he saw me, he wanted to rush out of the café. I was only in the garden, not yet in the shop. He came up to me and licked my hand, my feet, and kissed my toes. Understand? What is “toe” in Chinese? (The toe.) He licked me and then went in again; a very welcoming sign. He didn’t stay there to stick around me. He just came out especially to lick me. Kiss, kiss my toes, and then quickly went back. I gave him my hand and he also licked my hand, and then went back.
A very special dog. He’s only that big. When I went today, I brought him some vegan bones. They look very much like bones, but they’re not real. I told someone to give it to him. He said, “You are welcome,” and then grabbed it quickly. Perhaps he knew I gave it to him. I promised him, “If I come again, I’ll bring you a gift. I didn’t bring any today, because I didn’t know you’d be here.” Today, I was very busy handling and arranging things, but I still remembered to bring him the (vegan) bones. He was extremely delighted.
Animals have a very high spiritual consciousness. It’s a shame that humans are so low in consciousness. Animals have very little discrimination. We have enormous discrimination, and thus cause much distress to ourselves. Oh, yes. For example, you have sparkling eyes and normal facial features. You go out and try to pick a girlfriend or boyfriend. You’ll look very carefully. “Oh. His beard doesn’t look nice. If I become his girlfriend, I’ll shave it.” Or, his appearance is not to my taste. He is too short, too tall, too fat, too skinny, or too old, too this or that. If our eyes can’t see, and someone brings a person and introduces him to us, you can try and see whether you’d like to be friends. In the end, you like him. After spending time together, you like his personality, you like his consideration, you like his inner wisdom, and his gentle feelings. He is good at giving praise and expressing his inner emotions, so you like him. But if your eyes can see, you might lose such a good husband or a good wife.
It’s because our eyes can only see outer appearances but not the inner qualities. If we don’t have eyes, after securing this husband or wife, we’d love him/her very much and cherish each other. We’ll spend our whole lives together living in happiness.
There is another story: There was a young man whose mother was blind. He came to know a man older than him. They were chatting because they were working together. He said he didn’t have a spouse and felt lonely. The younger man asked, “Why don’t you go out to court someone? How can you find a wife if you just stay home?” The man said, “Who would want me? You see, I have hair even in my ears.” He said, “Look at me. Hair grows in my ears. My nostrils are also full of hair. Such is the look of my face. I have a flat nose and a small mouth. Who would like me? I don’t need to go out to know that all will be futile and a waste of time. Who would like me?” He said. The young man said, “My mother will like you.” His mother couldn’t see. So, he introduced the man to his mother. Wow! The two of them were very happy together. His mother couldn’t see the hair.
Therefore, preconceptions sometimes hurt us a lot, and make us lose a lot of good things. I am talking about worldly aspects; not spiritual aspects. Not yet; too many preconceptions. Our eyes, ears, smell and tongue, all deceive us; they are really deceptive.
