If you ever want to be a Buddha, it’s just because of your compassion. Because you see all beings suffer so much and you wish that you could have some power, so you can help somehow. That is the only reason that you want to be a Buddha.
Not so that you go out and lecture or have a lot of disciples worship you, making you a lot of offerings, offering to build houses for you, etc., become famous, become like a big shot, or being worshipped, being believed in, just for the sake of being big, then it’s wrong. Then it is your fault, that you deserve any demon that comes to you, any at all or all of them.
Don’t ever want any fame in this world. What for? How long will it last you? To be famous, I told you already, it’s a nuisance. People will be envious of you. They’ll try to make trouble for you, harm you. You always, almost like you have to always run for your life. Truly, it’s like that. Especially if you are not in the political arena; you don’t have a bodyguard; you don’t have anything. It’s not a position to desire, to have, to be envied. Never.
Cast it all out of your mind. Just meditate to improve yourself and cast out whatever undesirable traces you think are no good for your practice. Pray always for protection and help, so that your ego will not harm you in any way. So that your compassion will grow and grow and grow. So that wherever you go, your spiritual blessing and power will influence people for the better; will help them in any way, in some way, with or without your knowledge.
If you’re good, people will be blessed. Just like the sandalwood tree, it will just give fragrance. A rose will give you beautiful kind of fresh fragrance and make you feel good. The rose doesn’t boast of her fragrance or children. The sun doesn’t keep claiming his benefit to the world; he just does.
Same. We spiritual practitioners must have only one goal in mind: that’s to benefit others. A small way, a big way, whatever way we can. Better we don’t even know it, so our ego doesn’t make our nose become higher.
And I told you already what I wished. I wished I could help the worst kind of suffering beings. The worst suffering persons or beings, without me even knowing it. I didn’t want to know about it. That’s what I wished, and I was only 20-something. I did not practice the Quan Yin Method yet. So, if you practice many lifetimes, you will not forget your goal. You come back again, you do the same again. You understand? You will just want to help others. At that time… Many, many years, I never told anybody, but I thought now I could tell you; maybe a good example. This is all we should wish for, really. Because my wish really came true. So, I’m happy to tell you that if you really wish like that, it will come true.
So, Maya, although we blame him for everything, we also have to thank him. Because if he doesn’t make everything so miserable, painful, then when you go out, you don’t see the pain. You don’t awaken to the ephemeral, you don’t feel awakened to ephemeral life. Or you don’t awaken your compassion and your love. You feel the person cold, hungry, shivering on the street, don’t you feel sorry? You feel compassionate, and you try, maybe you have some clothes, you give it to him. Or you go back to your home, bring him some food. See? Good for you, no? If the Maya took care of everybody, here’d be Heaven already. What need for me to sit here? What need for you to go out do some charity work?
So, whether or not he’s bad or he’s good, he’s good for you. It is us who have to be good. No need to worry about the Maya. If we are bad, we should worry. The Maya’s bad, we should not. Even if we cannot control him, we should not worry about him. Worry about if we are bad or not. Got that? So, thank you. It is true, no?
So, everyone in this world or the next, bad or good, are for our sake, actually. In English, they even say, “I was because you are. I am because you will be.” Something like that, OK? Maybe that’s a wise word, somebody gleans this wisdom and tells us in such a short term. So actually, we, you, I, we are connected. We all help each other in some way, bad or good, so that we can improve, progress in our evolution, spiritual evolution. So, look upon all with that kind of attitude.
I told you before a story about a guy. Whenever he saw a drunken person outside, he changed, he became a better person. That drunken and poor beggar outside always sat there where that person passed by. He sat there to help that guy to remember, to remind him something that he didn’t even realize. But he improved. At least he would not become drunken. Because he knew, looked at the guy who drank a lot and became a beggar, sitting on the street in the cold weather, had no home, no love, nothing. See what I’m saying?
Bad example is for you not to do it. Good example is for you to emulate. Then it’s all good. Everything’s good under the sun. Just be good, then everything’s good. Then you can see things more clear and you can understand the situations are not there for us actually to hate, to complain. Even though sometimes I say, “I hate that sofa,” I don’t mean that. That’s the way we say things in this world. Actually, I should not say that. It’s just habit. I learned it from you guys. When I was born, I never said such things, did I? And then we grow up and everybody says this, says that, and then it becomes ingrained in us, and then we say the same things. But try, from now on, say things positively. Use positive words. Instead of saying, “I feel so sick,” just say, “I’m unwell,” or “I’m not well.” Or “I will be better. I will get better.”
