You know the famous story about Marie Antoinette? She was born with a golden spoon in her mouth. And when she was told that the people of France were very hungry and had no bread anymore, meaning that they were hungry, she said, "No bread, then let them eat cake!" (Audience laughs) If I don't have bread, how can I have cake? But she didn't know about such a situation. She didn't know that bread means everything to the ordinary citizen. Bread means a meal; it means blood. Just like the Chinese say, "Oh, we don't have any more rice." That means we are hungry now. We don't have food. Rice is just a saying, symbolic for food, just like bread for the American or European people.

But such a queen like Marie Antoinette, perhaps she had never suffered from hunger and cold. She perhaps never had to walk on an uneven road or to go outside and even have a look at the ordinary life of the citizens. Wherever she went, the people ran away or had to be covered, and she was protected by all her bodyguards. She never saw anything. She never saw the life of the people. Perhaps she was not a very cold-hearted queen. But because her life was surrounded by too much protection, too many lies and too much luxury, unnecessarily; sometimes the king and the queen didn't even know what they were doing. This is very difficult. And no wonder people always make a revolution against the king and queen and chop them down. It's just to change the rules or the dictation so the people's lives will become more bearable.

Because in the old times, you couldn't talk to the king. You couldn't tell him he was wrong. Today you still cannot, but with some presidents you can. At least it's freer than before. It's a little bit different. Before, you could not say anything against the king or the government. You just did what they told you to do. Today you can speak against the government or the president, but you still have to do what they tell you to do. (Audience laughs) So there is a difference, a "speech-freedom." You can say what you want, but you still must "do it." (Master and all laugh) It's not much different really, but maybe when people can speak it out, they feel, "Oh, I am free. At least I can say it." Let it out and clear the air. So even if they have to work, they don't feel that they are so suppressed. And that's a problem, too.

Did I tell you the joke about the Russian? One American came to Russia to have a look and visit. And there he saw all the secret police, and the people were scared and didn't smile. (That was before; I don't know how it is now.) So the American said, "What's wrong?" He said to his friend, "What's that? You dare not say anything. In America, we can criticize the president and government anytime we want. We are free to criticize them anytime, about anything." So the Russian friend said, "Yeah, here we're also free to criticize the American government and its president any time." (Master and all laugh; audience applauds)

Some time ago I told you about the UFO that landed in Au Lac. That was about four thousand years ago. And the man was supposed to rescue the Aulacese country at that moment. He was an alien, very small, and he made himself very strong and big. He rode on a fiery horse and flew into the sky. Whenever the horse landed, there was a rounded hollow in the ground. What kind of a horse was that? It must have been a football kind of horse, all rounded like that. So whatever it was, it didn't look like a horse. Besides, it was an iron horse with fire on both sides, and wherever the fire went it destroyed all the enemies there. They all died. And nothing could go against that horse and the fiery weapon that came from the horse. So it sounds like modern-day equipment, like fire guns or a UFO.

We always think in our time that we are very civilized, that we have discovered everything and that we know many things. But actually we should read history again and again to be more humble--not to be depressed, but to feel more hopeful. If in the old times, humankind reached such a peak of civilization, then we will be able to do it again in the future. But there is a lesson to learn: that we should not abuse the power of intelligence. Above all, we must train ourselves within to have the stability of ethical conduct, moral standards, noble ideals, love and compassion. Then it doesn't matter what kind of machine we invent, even if it's dangerous. We can turn it into a peaceful apparatus to serve humankind and to help speed up civilization, instead of destroying each other. I hope we learn. (Applause)

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