I'll tell you a story about very nice things that happened before, a few thousand years ago. Just to let you know that in the old times people also had very high civilizations, not just now. And then sometimes, according to the research or according to history, our previous ancient civilizations were destroyed somehow by war--perhaps by Star Wars or planetary wars between each other, or by civil war between brotherhoods. Because every civilization will develop up to a peak, a very high peak. And then if the people in that society do not take care to preserve their inner power to control themselves, and to make wiser use of their scientific knowledge, then there will be trouble. One will compete with another to seize the newest discovery and become a master of the other race, or the other side of the continent or the other planet. And that's why war will begin. And then, when the war is finished, everything's finished.

But that's the trouble with humankind; we never learn. As you see around us right now, many countries still haven't learned this lesson. Every time we go to war, our country becomes bankrupt. It will be in poverty for a long, long time. Everyone knows that; all the leaders of every country know that. But they just go to war for any reason rather than have peace. Sometimes they just want to intimidate other people. But what if the plan goes wrong? Then both sides will misunderstand each other. Small things lead to bigger things, and then there will be an explosion. Then war will start all over again, and then our civilization might be gone, just like the ones that have been discovered recently from the Atlantic dig or ancient Atlantis, or the ancient alien people.

And now we think, "Oh! How come they were so civilized before?" They must have been, at some time. Maybe they were even more civilized than we are. Even in the Bible, there is some recording of the wife of Lot. When she turned around to look, she turned into a pillar of salt. It looks like the effect of an atom bomb or something like that, like a highly chemical weapon, that can "chemicalize" people. It just burns them into ashes and then looks like salt from over there.

So there have been a lot of wars before, too. And of course there have been a lot of discoveries and inventions, maybe far superior to what we have nowadays. So there is no reason for us to really be proud of what we have right now, or to rely so definitely on these kinds of transient means, like scientific apparatus. But we always do that. Every time we discover something, we think we are great. And then we destroy everything, and we start from A-B-C again.

I'll read you a story that maybe will illustrate this. This story happened in China. The Chinese people were the first inventors of many kinds of modern-day equipment. Of course, at that time perhaps it was a little bit cruder or in a very elementary form. But then later they developed more and more. Or maybe the European or American people learned from their ideas and then made them even more civilized and refined.

For example, the Chinese people invented firecrackers. And they have been used for New Year's, just to make fun and have fun, and to scare the ghosts away, or to celebrate a very noisy and boisterous occasion, or when they get married or something like that. But mind you, the Chinese use firecrackers for anything. (Audience laughs) If someone dies, they burn firecrackers. If someone marries, they burn firecrackers. When they feel lousy, they burn firecrackers. When they feel happy, they also burn firecrackers. When they celebrate a birthday, they burn firecrackers. And when they celebrate Ching Hai Day, they also burn firecrackers. (Applause) You have heard them many times, during my birthday or Ching Hai Day. They burn our ears, too, with all kinds of noises; they love it. I've gotten used to it by now, with all the drums and gongs and the firecrackers and things like that.

These firecrackers were invented by the Chinese many thousands of years ago. And they used them for fun. Then there came the Europeans. And they used them to kill. That's how the gun was invented. The first guns were used with the Chinese. Before, the Chinese didn't have guns. The first time the Europeans discovered the firecrackers' explosive powder from the Chinese, they bought it. Then they refined it. They made it become guns, or cannons. And they sold it back to the Chinese. At that time, the first king who possessed the cannons or those explosive substances, became the greatest conqueror of China at that time. So it's like that. Inventions sometimes are harmless for children, and then other people use them in a more murderous way.

Ice cream was also invented by the Chinese and many other things. That's why before, when the European people first visited China, they were also very astounded and very surprised. It was such a beautiful fairy tale--like kingdom that existed. And, as with every other thing, beauty sometimes attracts the beast and makes a lot of trouble. So I don't really know what to tell you. If you have a lot of things, like you have beauty, talents, money and all that, then maybe you attract the envy of other people. And sometimes it is the source of your misery or misfortune. So should I tell you to live in poverty or just to have a simple life and not care about money or things like that? Then life is also not very comfortable for you, especially in America. You can't walk on foot like in the Himalayas. You will be starving because the supermarket is at least three hours away--by car. Everything here is counted by hours!

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