Master Tells Stories

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Cambodia,
May 12, 1996  (Originally in English)   Videotape #544

There once was a person who was very rich and very addicted to alcohol. One day he had to go out and he worried that his house servant would try to eat some of his food or drink some of his good wine while he was gone. Of course, he had already been very careful: He had picked a very stupid-looking servant, one who wouldn't be too tricky and wouldn't know how to steal food or make excuses. Even then, the man was careful and worried about the servant.

So he said to the servant, "Now stay home and take care of my house. There's a piece of pork hanging in the kitchen, but just look after it: Don't touch it! And there's a live chicken next to the kitchen. Don't touch it, either. And take care that all the dogs and cats don't come and eat them." And then he said, "There's a pot over there which is covered very carefully. That's poison for the mice so don't touch it."

Then after he left the servant took down the pork, roasted it and ate it. Next he got the chicken, killed it and ate it, too. At the same time he drank the alcohol to accompany the food. So, feeling very good and then drunk, he lay down and slept very peacefully.

When the boss came home, he saw the servant sleeping on his sofa and also smelled alcohol and saw some of the chicken bones scattered all over the place where the servant had kicked them around while he slept. So he woke the guy up and said, "Hey! What about my chicken and my pork spare-ribs? And how about my wine--I mean, what happened to the poison over there?" 

Then the servant started to cry, and crying hard he kneeled down on the floor and said, "Please forgive me! I've really been very obedient. I tried to look after your house and everything, but unfortunately, a cat came by and climbed up to the kitchen roof and took the pork and ate it. Then the dog saw the cat do that so he took the chicken and went out to eat it. I was so worried that you would come home and scold or kill me that I took the poison! But how come I haven't died yet?" (Master and everyone laugh.)

The servant wanted to kill himself, but he didn't die. So you should be careful with people. Even if some people look stupid, it doesn't mean they're truly stupid. And someone who looks sweet is not necessarily that sweet. Watch the way she or he does things and see the outcome of his business or her efforts. Then you'll know that person from the inside. Don't ever look only at the outside and try to judge whether that person is OK.

Similarly with us when we're searching for a Teacher, most of us love sweet things so we love people's sweet talk: a soft voice, good manners, a very cordial way that's pleasing to our ego, eyes and habits. So we find it very easy to look for a teacher or master with a very sweet nature, one who's always soft-spoken, gentle and so on.

But that's only one part of the personality, perhaps like a trained airline stewardess. It's not necessarily true that such a person will do us any good or have a real teaching inside. Because many people are soft-spoken, but the things they do are very destructive to themselves and society, with outcomes that are always bad or negative. In that case the person may look sweet or soft-spoken but is doing no good for him or herself or the society at large.

So it's the outcome of our lives, our work or our effort that speaks volumes. It's not how we look, how we react or how we live our life. You've heard that in the old times Jesus even used a stick or something similar to chase the money-changers away from the church, and then He turned the tables there upside-down. It may have looked very ungraceful for a Master to do that, but He did tremendous good for humankind. He even sacrificed His life for His disciples at that time, and His teachings still have a very good impact on the human race as a whole. 

But many other soft-spoken housewives or even officers have never done anything as great as that, and perhaps have even done harm to themselves, to their family members and society because they don't know any better. Perhaps they were born with slightly defective vocal cords so they speak very softly or can't speak very loudly. Or maybe something got stuck in the person's throat; you never know. So we have to be careful about what we want and how we judge people. Don't judge the appearance because it's always very deceptive.