Enlightenment is in us already; the Kingdom of God is in us. The Kingdom of God is at hand. "At hand" means we can always get it. It's not far, only if we know how. The masters of old have passed away, but their teachings, their lineage of enlightenment, has always, somewhere, somehow, somewhat survived. It doesn't necessarily survive in Jerusalem; it doesn't necessarily survive in Bodh Gaya, in India. It goes deep into the ground of existence like a river. It goes all over. It branches out. It's hidden away somewhere and then it springs up somewhere else, surprisingly. So we have to find where that river has sprung up right now, and get to the source of the water of life. Lucky for those who know where the river has emerged after being hidden underground or running to different corners of the planet.

Similar with the teachings of the masters of the old time. They don't disappear. Whenever we're ready, we will find that river again. Through some friends of ours, an acquaintance, sometimes by a very funny chance, a very strange coincidence, we'll find that river of the teachings again. Sometimes it could be very easy, in the supermarket. Sometimes it's more difficult; we have to go to the Himalayas. Sometimes we just encounter it in the library or in the candy shop, who knows? The ways of working of God are very, very mysterious, but it's always for our benefit. It's not necessary that all of us have to go to the Himalayas or somewhere very, very far away to find enlightenment. God arranges differently for each one of us, according to our desire, according to our sincerity. According to our destiny that is written in the book of the universe, we might meet the chance for enlightenment here or we might meet the chance of enlightenment somewhere else.

I'm also lucky to have encountered the newly sprung-up river and I have also drunk the water of life, which tastes good. I know it tastes good because I've tasted it. So I've come back to tell you. I can also show you where to get the water, and taste it for yourself. (Applause) It just happened that I found it first, before you. It could have been you sitting here and telling me. Yes, but as God willed it, Hes picked a small woman, easy to transport, (Master and all laugh) because small things go a long way. Very easy for me to sneak everywhere, find the river for you. So do not ask, "why me?" I also don't know. (Master laughs) Just someone has to discover something somehow, somewhere, sometime. It's not necessary that everyone discovers the same thing at the same time. Like Einstein had his theory and he is the one and only. Newton, for example, one person is enough; then he can share his knowledge with the whole world, and the whole world will benefit. It's not necessary that we have two Einsteins or two Newtons. It may be too much if we have two suns, too hot. California is truly hot in summer. Suppose we have two suns, it may be too superfluous, overflowing, so one sun is also enough. Well, here I am. I came from far away to bring you this news, and if you'd like to accept, if you'd like to find out about it, we would be very willing to share it with you -- no cost, no charge, no strings attached. (Master laughs) No before, after and between. That's what it is. Simple. (Applause)

It has been a long time since I've appeared in public like this. I do appear, but within the fellow brothers' circles. I haven't appeared in the real public like this, so I have also lost my eloquence, I guess. But it's so simple. Sometimes I don't feel the need of talking. I have a feeling that you all understand, that you all know, because you are God. I'm sitting here looking at the Gods. That's why I feel so happy. (Master laughs) I don't need to speak. But, in case you have any questions, I may have the chance to elaborate more for the sake of everyone else. So, feel welcome to ask or maybe share with me your knowledge also.

Question & Answer Session

M.C.: It's an honor to have an enlightened master to whom we can ask questions and get real answers. She is someone that knows the Truth and I, a graduate of UC Irvine, am very honored to have such an enlightened master on our public campus.

The first question: Master, could You please explain the origins of the Quan Yin Method of meditation and how to practice it?

M: As I have mentioned earlier, it comes from God. It comes from God knows when, from time immemorial, since creation began. Since we began to play the drama of life, God has granted us this way to go back to Hirm. That's where it began. And as to how to practice, I'll explain to you, if you're interested, in greater detail later if you stay behind. It needs to be explained more in detail so you will not be confused at home if I'm away. You have to know at one time and forever, then you'll never forget it again. You can do it all yourself at home, whether the teacher is dead, alive, there or here, or never seen again. So you have to learn carefully. It doesn't take long, maybe a couple of hours to explain everything, but that's for life.

Here we don't have so much time. I just briefly tell you that the Quan Yin Method is not a method really; it is the inherent power that is the power of God to prove that we're God. Because we have that God power, at the time of initiation, the master just helps you to remember it. And remember you will, immediately, and then you'll feel it. You will feel the power; sometimes it shakes you. But later on, you will calm down, because you know you're God. In the beginning, it might be exciting, but later on, "It's okay, so what? Everyone is God, no big deal." (Laughter)

Q: Why is it necessary to erase past karma?

M: It's not necessary if we want to continue living here. But if we want to go back to where we belong, then we have to pay all the debt, either by suffering or by enlightening medicine. Once we're enlightened, the past karma is erased, but the present karma continues. The future karma is nonexistent, and that's how we can be free to go back to the Kingdom of God. What keeps us here is the storage of past karma.

What does it mean by karma? It is a Sanskrit term for cause and effect, for what we call, "As you sow, so shall you reap," in the Bible. We have been sowing a lot of bad and good deeds since thousands of millenniums, since time began. That's how we continue to exist here, because we keep paying and borrowing, and paying, repaying. All the time, we come back to repay the past debt. So in order to be clear of this and to be free of bondage, we have to erase the past karma. The only thing that we can do to erase the past karma, once and for all, is enlightenment. Once we're enlightened, the past is gone. Just like you switch on the light, doesn't matter how many thousands of years that darkness has been residing in this room, in one instant, it's gone. There is no other way we can erase the past karma because it's too much. It's too much. That's why enlightenment is very necessary.

Q: Dear Master, I love You very much. I would like to ask You about animal research. What do You think about it? Do you think animal research is unethical?

M: You mean for medical purposes, try on animals first? Who is it? (The person who wrote the question does not identify himself in order to clarify Master's questions.) Well, what do you want me to say? You want me to offend the whole medical system, and they kill me? (Laughter) Some say it's necessary to have done research on animals in order to help humankind. If the intention is pure, we have no right to judge anyone. But from the animal's standpoint, it's a very, very unkind thing, an uncompassionate thing, to do. I wish we didn't have to do that. I wish we all would get enlightenment and cure ourselves inside out. (Applause)

Q: Do I have a soul? If not, how is reincarnation possible?

M: Well, the Bible says you have a soul, so you must have one. (Master laughs) In reincarnation, it is not the soul that reincarnates actually. The soul lives forever; doesn't die, doesn't live, doesn't reincarnate. It is the experience of life, the integrating process between the physical and the spiritual when we are experimenting in the so-called life here and which attaches to the knowledge of our existence, that reincarnates. And if we do not detach ourselves from this kind of experiment that we call ourselves, we reincarnate. Actually, we don't reincarnate, we don't die, ever. We are just sick; we are just diseased with these incidents, with these disasters that happen to be attached to us. If we don't cut ourselves asunder from that, then of course, we are forever connected with that. The cause and effect keep changing, keep moving, keep adding, keep diminishing; and that's how we say we reincarnate. If we are not enlightened enough, that's it.

Q: Master, when one wants to express in the work situation but finds that the opportunity gets oppressed, what should be the attitude at work and what should one do? Is ambition in the workplace wrong? I would appreciate Your shedding light on this matter.

M: Ah, we go back to real life, working. (Master laughs) Ambition at work is not wrong; ambition is a must at work. Otherwise, how can you work, how can you progress? How can you please your boss and yourself? How can you make a profit for your company? That's a duty. It's a duty to be ambitious. To be ambitious doesn't mean we have to step on other people's heads to go forward. Ambitiousness and viciousness or jealousy are different. We can be ambitious, we can improve ourselves all the time without having to suppress other people. If we do feel oppressed to some degree, then we have to find the reason the other person is oppressing us -- whether we are not competent enough, whether it's a personality problem, or it's the other person who is too envious of us. If we can, then talk to that person. If we know we are in the right, that person is in the wrong and we talk to that person, if she or he becomes better, forgive her or him. If they don't become better, forgive them anyhow; continue with your work. We can't avoid conflict in this life. That's the fact. Even within personal relationships, sometimes husband and wife also envy each other, if one is too successful. That's the problem with the human brain; it's not with the soul, though, not with the enlightened people. (Applause)

The Soul Needs Spiritual Nourishment

Q: Why does one need to meditate two and half-hours each day?

M: Just like you have to eat two or three hamburgers now and again. (Master and all laugh; applause) That is, more or less, the portion of food that you eat every day to sustain your body. So there is a portion of spiritual nourishment that you should take every day in order to become strong again in God, in Godlike qualities. You don't have to, but this is prescribed, the doctor's prescription, fixed amount.

It's more or less; it's not so strict. Besides, we can meditate in sleep as well. We can meditate on the bus, we can meditate on the airplane, meditate in the toilet, excuse me. (Laughter) Yes, yes, we can do so. We can do many jobs at the same time. There is always time to meditate. Cut down on some of the "unfavorite" television programs, read only the essential things in the newspaper; talk less on the telephone, then you'll have a lot of time; stay in bed a little bit less. Sometimes, we don't sleep, we stay in bed late in the morning, just turning around. (Laughter) That's the time we can meditate very wonderfully. Instead of tossing and turning, you just meditate, concentrate. That's it. Very simple. Instead of thinking all kinds of nonsensical things, you just concentrate. That's where your meditation is. You don't have to sit down and cross legs like the Buddha; you just lie there and concentrate. I'm showing you how to utilize your "lazy" time, oh, I'm sorry, (Master and all laugh) your "unproductive" time, or some other time in which you scatter your mind all over and you don't do anything. Those times we can gather together and remember God. Very easy. (Applause)

Q: Do You believe there will be world peace one day?

M: (Master laughs) Do you? (Laughter) Maybe in the year 3000! No, there won't be world peace at all, ever, because otherwise, it wouldn't be called the world, it would be called Heaven. (Applause)

Q: Dear Master, thank You for being here. Where does intuition come from? How do we know which decision to make? Sometimes I get so confused. I have two options, and sometimes it's so hard to decide because each choice it comprises makes up my life and I don't really know which one I should do? I want to get to the place where I know exactly which decision I should take.

M: That takes some time. That's why we must be enlightened. That's why we have to get back the power of wisdom that we have forgotten. We let too many mundane troubles cloud our vision. That's why we are indecisive. We cannot make decisions because we do not know, we are not clear. That's why we have to be clear. The two and half hours that we reserve every day are to clear our mind, to get back to the origin, to be Godlike. Then we will know what to do better. It will be clear. It will be very clear. Meanwhile, if you don't meditate that much, if you don't want to meditate and if you have intuition, that is the remnant of whatever is left over of the so-called Godlike wisdom. It's sometimes clouded by worldly worries and survival efforts, but then, sometimes it's clear. That's what we call intuition. Meanwhile, if you are not so clear, then you just have to take a risk. You have to feel which one is more appropriate or which one has a higher percentage, then just do it. You have to risk. There is no one else to tell us what to do. Pray to God, and just pick one. Or else, you tear two pieces of paper -- one left, one right, and then pick one. Either way is risky, so you have to get your own wisdom, your own Master power.

Q: Dear Master, if I sincerely pray to You, will I be liberated eternally?

M: I think so, (Master chuckles) but only one person. Whereas if you get enlightenment yourself, you can take other people with you too. Like one person enlightened, many generations of your relatives and friends, even your dogs and cats, will be liberated. If you pray to a God person, you get only one ticket if you're really sincere. You don't even know if you're sincere or not. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Q: Does hell exist as the Bible says?

M: What do you think? Does it exist? Look at our world, and you know the answer. There's no need to look elsewhere. There is a bad joke, do you want to hear it, about hell? Yes or no? (Yes!) (Laughter) Don't be mad. There was a girl, 18 or 19, came home, crying to her mother, "Oh, mommy, I don't want to marry John anymore. I called the wedding off!" The mother said, "But why honey? You're engaged already. You're going to get married next week. What's the problem?" The girl said: "I don't like him anymore. He is an atheist. He doesn't even believe in hell." So the mother said: "Don't worry dear, after marriage, he will!" (Laughter) (Applause) Bad joke. It's not always true, though.

Why Did We Come To This World

Q: Master, why did we fall? Why couldn't we have remained pure consciousness for those who may have never wanted to be incarnated in the first place? I understand karma, but are karma debts and credits a part of the Creator's plan? Why did Hes desire our suffering karma so much?

M: Hes doesn't, we do. That's a part of the deal, so that we learn to know the difference between God and un-God, so we can recognize the light when we come back to the light again. We go into the darkness deliberately, so that we might know the light at its full splendor. For those who did not want ever to leave Heaven, they did not come here. There are some who never left Heaven, that's for sure, some masters. Some left Heaven to come here to teach us. Some have also reincarnated many times and became a master. We had our choice. We did because we wanted to.

There are many answers to this, but in summary there are two main purposes that we have karma. Number one is that we want to know God, we came here purposely just to know God. At some time, we lived in Heaven, all full of light, everyone was a saint, everyone was God. Then we said, "God, what is God?" So God said to you: "You are God. God is you. God is that." "I don't know what is God." Hes said: "You are like this. It's God." But the soul did not fully understand, and asked God: "How can I know God? How can I know myself as God?" God told him, "Then you have to become different from God, from yourself, first. And when you look back, you will know." That's why we came here. The purpose of our coming here is to know ourselves better.

The other one is, since creation had not begun, nothing had appeared in this world or any other world, then God made a plan. Hes wanted creation to spring forth, to come into being, and we joined. We were happy to play every part of the grand design, just for fun. Just to make life more colorful, some knowingly played their part, and for the purpose also that one day they'd become God again. They would know God again.

In order to know God, they had to play many different roles and one role was related to another. Just like in the movies, you have the main character, you have the supporting actors and all that; otherwise, it doesn't work. So, the karma for us right now feels very heavy and very unreasonable. But at that time, for us, it was no big deal. Because we were God, we didn't see suffering, we didn't know problems; we didn't look at obstructions as anything undesirable. For us, everything was just a play, until we really played, then we felt that suffering. But that's a part of the game, a part of the universal plan. If we don't play our role, we don't exist, nothing is here. I don't sit here. You don't sit there. You're not blonde; I'm not black. What is there then? Everything is just so plain. It's okay. That's why all the perfect masters say, Everything is perfect under the sun. Jesus said, "You are all the children of God." They realize there is nothing to do; everyone is perfect. But we do not realize it yet, so we suffer. We have to realize the same as they do, and then we know why. Then we look at suffering as not suffering. It's still suffering; it still hurts when someone pinches you, but you understand it's just for something. You don't suffer. You do not sink into the suffering, just float on top of it.

Q: Dear Master, my wife is here today for initiation. She has been vegetarian for a long time. I tried, but could not. Please tell me why, and how to.

M: Maybe your wife should go and learn vegetarian cooking more. The poor husband cannot just eat when it's not tasty. So actually, enlightenment begins here too, (Master points to Her stomach) not just here. (Master points to the wisdom eye) (Laughter) When I first met my husband, (my ex-husband, he already remarried) I was a vegetarian, he was not. He was a doctor, very practical, very down to earth. He's a Taurus kind; he belongs to the bull in the zodiac of the orient, so he is a double bull. So he doesn't believe any nonsensical things, but because I cooked very nicely, he ate every day with me and he had nothing against vegetarianism at all. After I left him for "to save the world kind of idea," (Master says jokingly) he gathered all my recipes and cooked for his friends. He always advertised, "My wife used to do this, my wife used to do that, and all the vegetables are very rich in vitamins." He cooks exactly like the recipes I left behind.

If even a Westerner, a German, a scientific-minded doctor like that, could be a vegetarian, you could be too. If all the wives cook very tasty meals, you don't miss anything. For example, you eat a bowl of soup, like Chinese soup, you have noodles and some pieces of meat in it. Instead of those meat pieces, you can have like gluten meat, tofu meat, or vegetarian ham meat, everything, all kinds, even fish. Everything can be made exactly like the non-vegetarian, so it's a matter of skill. The way to enlightenment goes through the stomach, I believe. So you wives, please take care of your crafty fingers, make it nice and tasty so your husband will be able to eat with you. Women are easier. Truly. Once you believe something, you just eat anything. (Master and all laugh) But men, they are more scientific, they are more practical, not too sentimental like a woman. A woman can live by sentiment, affection, emotion, so she believes, then she eats and she doesn't care how it tastes. (Laughter) But men, they're more critical, so they please their taste first, and then enlightenment comes. (Laughter)

Q: Master Ching Hai, please explain our relationship spiritually to You. After You die, and one has been initiated, is our flight back Home still guaranteed by Your soul spirit?

M: Guaranteed. (Applause) As has been said earlier, we are not the body; we are the spirit. So when this body goes or comes, there is no difference, no distance between us. And I have told you already, at the time of initiation, the Method is explained to you so that you can use it for life. There is nothing that can come between anymore, unless you don't want it and you leave. But the seed is still there for next life.

Q: Master, five of my children are already initiated into the Quan Yin Method, but I'm quite old. Is enlightenment for everyone? What requirements are needed, or is sincerity the sole criterion?

M: Yes, sincerity is enough. But when people are too old, like past a certain age, sometimes the physical body and the memory are not so sharp anymore. Then we might tell them to come back again next time, next life. Or just to practice the Convenient Method also can help her or him, no need for full initiation. But that is a guarantee only for one person, and initiation guarantees for many generations. That's the difference. By initiation and practicing yourself, you can also become an enlightened master and help many, many souls, too.

Q: Master, why does Christianity as a whole tend not to believe in reincarnation? Does the Bible talk about reincarnation?

M: It does, but it has been censored. When someone asked Jesus whether He was Elias, whether He was so and so, the past Master before Him -- that meant whether He was the reincarnation of those past masters -- He kept quiet. That was a part of the Bible that people forgot to censor. Suppose reincarnation did not exist, then Jesus would have said, "No, no, there is no such thing as a master coming back. I am me, alone, one time, never again, never before, never after." He kept quiet, and in those times, quiet means okay, agreement, acceptance. Otherwise, Jesus would have explained, so as not to mislead His disciples. He kept quiet.

Q: Dear Master, explain that if one person gets initiated, five of their generations would be saved. How about living family members who eat meat and drink alcohol, will they also be saved?

M: They will also be saved, sadly but fortunately. (Master and all laugh) That is, if they deliberately do not want liberation, then the master will not force it upon them, of course, because each one is God. You must remember, each one of us is God. No one can tell God what to do, even another God. How bad he is, how good he is, that's his own decision, his own path in life to choose. He chose to play this role. He is okay, even if he is bad. That's why the Bible says to us, "Judge not."

Q: Before we become an enlightened master, we vow to do this and do that for human beings, and we vow to serve them, but say, after we've become an enlightened master, we change our mind for some reason, because now we have a different outlook. Are we free not to fulfill our vow, or must we fulfill our vows due to the law of karma?

M: We're free. We are free to do what we want.

Q: Greetings Supreme Master Ching Hai. Please give Your view of Earth as a great sentient being whose love assists us in our ascension.

M: Everything is made from God. The Bible says so. Everything springs from the "Word," means the vibration of the universe, and that vibration is God. That is the Quan Yin Method. That's what we teach you to tune in to, the vibration of the universe, of the source of all creation. So, even if we are human, are from God, then also is the great Earth or everything in the universe. It also has Godlike qualities, but probably in a different form and a different density. So, in that case, the Earth is also a great being as you have mentioned. We live here, we live from the Earth, of course, we have to respect this great Mother. (Applause)

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