Warm Your Body from the Ears
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Four-day Christmas Retreat, Florida, USA, December 28, 2001 (Originally in English)
Buy a hat to cover your ears because the ears are very important. If your ears are warm, the whole body is better. Sometimes I have headaches because my ears are cold. If you have long hair, it's better. If it's too cold, bring two sleeping bags: one to sleep in, and one to cover outside. Because the sleeping bag is very insulated, and insulation is good; buy a good one. Or sometimes a simple one also helps, because the cover of the sleeping bag is meant for insulation. So if it's very hot, you can put the sleeping bag on top of your tent and open the window. Just leave the screen door open. When you sleep inside, at midday it's still very cool. And if it's very cold, you can spread the sleeping bag over the top of your tent to make it more insulated. It's much better. And cover your ears with that Loving Hat, and cover with a blanket. You can also cover your head like this (Master pulls a sleeping bag over Her head), and then sleep inside a sleeping bag. This makes a big, big difference.
And wrap another blanket like this, inside your sleeping bag, on top of your body. That also makes a big difference. I just cover with this a little bit and I feel complete, immediate relief for the ears, and it feels very warm. It really makes a big difference that you cover your ears. The women can put their hair down and still cover their ears; the men can cover with a hat. Because this is where you feel a headache. And sometimes the cold wind goes through your ears. Your ears are very sensitive inside. And they have a lot of nerves connected with the whole body and the head. So if your ears get too cold, it gives you a headache. And you have a cold and flu and everything like that. So it is better to keep your ears warm.