Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Hsihu, Formosa,
December 17, 1995 (Originally in Chinese)
Videotape No. 516

A man went to his master to tell him his problem: "Master! You must help me. I can't stand my life anymore. I am in great trouble! If you don't help me, I will surely die!"
"What happened?" The master asked.
"My family is very poor, and we have only one house. We cannot afford a big house, yet we need to squeeze in a lot of people, including my grandpa, maternal grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, my sister-in-law, and my elder sister, plus my own three or four children," the disciple replied. "Besides, my elder sister will be having a baby soon, and my younger sister is getting married and plans to live with us with her husband!"

The master shook his head, thought and meditated for a while, then tapped his wisdom eye and said, "Ah! I have a solution! You keep animals at home, don't you?"
The disciple was a farmer, so he replied, "Yes! Yes!"
The master asked again, "What animals do you have at home?"
"I have two cows, two sheep, four geese, three pigs, ten chickens, twenty chicks, one cat, and two dogs," the farmer replied.
Wow! Do you see how "poor" he was? Then, the master said, "Now, move all the animals into your house, and everything will be okay!"

The farmer was bewildered by his master's words. But since he had heard that the master was omniscient, efficacious, and wise, he had no choice but to follow his instructions and give it a try. He went home and moved all the animals - cows, sheep, geese, chickens, cat and dogs, into his house and locked them in with his family. (Master and everyone laugh.)

A week passed and the man came again to see his master. He must have lost twenty pounds, and his clothes were a mess, covered with animal dung and urine. God! He really stunk! He rushed in and fell on his knees, saying, "Master! I am going to die very soon! Please save me; I can't stand it anymore! Now there are animal excretions everywhere in my house. The animals wander around everywhere, on our beds and tables, into the kitchen and bathroom. The whole house is filled with these things, and we are busy the whole day trying to clean it up, but it's all in vain. Just see what I have become!" The master strolled to and fro, tapped his wisdom eye, and contemplated for a while. Suddenly, he said, "Ah! I got it! Go home and take the two cows out of the house, and everything will be fine."
"Thank you very much, master," said the disciple, before rushing home to push the two cows out of his house.

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