Whatever the reason, to be vegan is good. (Yes, Master.) Not everyone understands about the spiritual consequences. But if they are vegan, that is fantastic already.
Hallo! Is this the car for me? Is it heavy? Tough guy. Hallo, everyone. Everybody OK? (Hallo, Master.) Why do they sit outside? Why do they sit outside? (They’re longing to see Master in the daytime, so they’re staying outside.) They will go into the hall later, right? Or else? I don’t understand. They can also stay inside if they’re longing to see Master. (It’s already full inside.) Is it full? Oh, my God! I’m sorry. (Hallo, Master.) Are you cold? (No.) You don’t feel cold sitting together? (No. Hallo, Master.) Everyone has a body temperature more than 30 degrees. It’s hundreds of degrees all together. Wow. (Hallo, Master.) Will they still be sitting outside later? Can’t they go in? (Some will not be able to get in. Hallo, Master.) Really? Can’t they just squeeze in? (Master, we’ve asked them to let them go inside if there’s any space.) Arrange the space as much as possible for them to get in. Otherwise, we can also cover this place in the future, so it’s more… Fortunately, the weather is good, right? (Yes.) Thank you all. Thank you for your love.
Working staff? All of you? No. (Hallo, Master.) This car is very convenient. It makes me taller so everybody can see me. I’m sorry. We couldn’t build enough. Never enough. (It’s OK. Thank You, Master.) But you have good places to stay, right? (Yes. Thank You, Master.) You can stay in the Treasure Museum. (Yes, it is convenient.) Is there enough space? (Yes.) If not, bring your own houses with you. There’s still some room. Squeeze in as many people as you can. People from abroad. The Taiwanese (Formosan) have seen me enough. No need. People from abroad, like from China or… from Âu Lạc (Vietnam). (OK.)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for your love for God, for your own God, for your inner God, for your Buddha. I am glad you are here. Sorry about the small place. But they still can come in, behind, there’s room. (OK.) And they can find… one here and the men on this side. I go like this. OK. I am very small. I go this way, that way. No problem. OK. It’s only the guards, they make it big. I am nothing. You see? Both of them, both sides, they take the whole route.
Love you. (I love You.) (We love You!) Even if we build one more house, maybe it’s not enough. I keep giving birth to children, that’s the problem. In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), we have a legend that we are born from the fairy mother. She gave birth to 100 eggs, and from 100 eggs came 100 children. And later, 50 of them went to the plain and another 50 went to the mountain. But that was BC, “Before Ching Hai.” They don’t know I gave birth to much, much more than that. A hundred children are nothing. And some people don’t even believe in that legend. They say, “How can a woman give birth to 100 eggs, and then how can 100 eggs become 100 children?” They don’t know me. See how many children I have?
And another thing, the Buddha’s legend has it that the Buddha was born and immediately He could walk seven steps. Remember? (Yes.) My children, they’re running already before they were born. Running and flying even, can you imagine? They don’t know me. So, every other legend is BC, “Before Ching Hai.” Thank you. Thank you. So maybe in the future, they’ll have another legend: AC, “After Ching Hai.” Just sit down. I can fly over you, don’t worry. Sit anywhere. There is also some here. The working people, come up here. I am very, very proud of you. And I’m very proud of myself. That I gave birth to so many wonderful children who make me proud.
Also behind there can sit. It’s all empty in the back. If anyone is still outside, let them enter from the side entrance and sit in the back. It’s all right. That’s what a retreat is like. I mean, during a retreat, everything is squeezy like that. Some people can come and sit here. Ask the old Bodhisattvas to come up. There are… six of them. They can sit here. One, two, three, four, five, and six. All of you come up here. Come sit here. You sit here, in the front. Sit behind the monks. The old initiates. Then, others come up and sit here. Fill up the space. You can also sit behind there. Yes.
We need to be self-sacrificing and contributive. Don’t fight over things. Don’t compete against each other even if for Master. When people get blessed food, you want to snatch it from them, which is not right. Not to mention that the food is for older initiates. You can’t be like that. How come all of you squeeze to the front? It’s all empty in the back. Don’t come in anymore. Never mind. They can sit here, down there in the back. In future, you can arrange it like that. Arrange more seats until there’s no more space. There’s still room over there. It doesn’t matter male or female. They come here only to see Master. They won’t look at men or women, will they? (Yes.) I hope. I hope it’s like that. Sit there. Just leave a path for the guards.
How are you? (Good!) (We are fine.) All the foreigners are here? Koreans, Mongolians? You all are here? Thailand? Burma? Laos? Cambodia? All right, all right. Good. You see, they can also sit down there. Why don’t you let them? Retreat is different. Everybody has to squeeze a little bit. It’s not the same as usual, to have a lot of space. Why is it all empty over there? (It’s reserved for monks and nuns.) Reserved for monks and nuns. (Yes.) Why are there two seats? Just sit here. Just bring things up and sit. Give the space to others over there. How many people can’t get inside? There’s space for monks and nuns. You might as well shave your head quickly, so that you can come up and sit there. Yes. One person wanted to shave her head just to be able to sit here. You want everything. Can you squeeze a little bit more up here? Next time, monks and nuns can bring their belongings and sit here. Why put it over there? You’re supposed to sit here. Just don’t occupy additional space. We have to be different in retreats. It’s all right to cram with each other. Hurry up and be seated. There’re still more seats here.
Do you have any questions or anything to tell me? Has anybody collected their questions? Yes? Yes, yes. (We have some questions for You.) Please, please. (From India.) India? Oh wow! How come you sit down there? I thought they all can sit here. Never mind, you’ve been here long enough, or you can come up and sit. There is one more row here if you want. Yes.
(The Shining World Compassion awardee, Dr. Shiranee Pereira, informed us that she used the award money to build a new shelter for cats who were rescued from the meat trade. She conveyed her deep gratefulness and thanks to Supreme Master Ching Hai for helping in a time of financial crisis for her animal shelter.) OK. How much did I give to her? (Ten thousand dollars.) Ten thousand only? I will give more. (Thank You, Master.) Mostly, we give some symbolic. Can you manage quickly? So that he doesn’t have to wait, bureaucracy and write a letter. If you have some money, can you bring it here? Do you have? How much? Like $20,000 USD, if you have. If not, just Taiwanese (Formosan) money. They can change it at the airport. The equivalent. Thank you. OK. That’s it? Any other questions?
(Yes. From Jakarta, Indonesia.) Indonesia. Yes. How are you? (Fine, Master.) Yes. (Master turned a calamity into good fortune. Earlier this year, while riding my motorbike to purchase vegetables, I was hit by a car. I fell down and everybody screamed. But to their surprise, I was OK. Thanks to Master’s protection, nothing happened to me. A few days later, while waiting for customers at our vegan stall in Jakarta’s Chinatown I was watching Supreme Master Television, a teleconference about Tim Qo Tu’s Land. I felt extremely happy! Suddenly, from out of nowhere, all kinds of customers started queuing in front of our stall. For many days after, our food was all sold out, even by lunchtime. Thanks to Master’s blessing! I can only practice well to thank Master.) You are welcome. (Yes, Master. Thank You so very much.)
(One thing I can report to Master is that the vegan tendency in Jakarta is rising up now, Master.) Oh! (Because we are opening a vegan stall, me and my wife. We are opening a vegan stall over there, and more and more customers come for health reasons.) Oh! I’m glad, I’m glad. (Yes, Master.) Whatever the reason, to be vegan is good. (Yes, Master.) Not everyone understands about the spiritual consequences. But if they are vegan, that is fantastic already. (Some have already turned into brothers and sisters, because I explained to them about Master’s teachings and they also got initiated now. Yes, Master.) Congratulations. (Thank You, Master.) You have more brothers and sisters now. (Yes, Master.) I hope your meditation Center is not as crowded, because we will have more customers all the time. Spiritual customers. Anything else?
(From Manila. I thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for all Her blessings, love, and guidance, empowering me as an initiate. I feel empowered to make things come true, my wishes for my family, my Quan Yin Family, and our country, the Philippines. Thank You. Mabuhay!) Mabuhay! Long life! Good health! That’s your president who says that. (Yes, Master.) Every time I saw the former president on our [Supreme Master] TV, I felt very touched with his speech and his heart. He has a very pure heart and a good heart. He always wishes our TV. He says, “We, us – you, I, us – are watching the best television network on the planet, Supreme Master Television.” And he says, “Mabuhay! Long life! Good health!” That’s what he says all the time. OK. Thank you. (Thank You, Master. Thank You for all Your kindness and compassion.) You are welcome.
(From Singapore.) Hi! (Thank You, Master, for founding International Artist Day. In 2020, we are organizing this event in Singapore, inviting artists, government officials, and members of the public. (Oh!) If it fits Master’s schedule, we’ll be very honored if Master could join us.) While I would like to, it’s just that I want to minimize the carbon footprint in my account. The time of me running is over. I used to run around the world, but I hope I can settle down here and then I can do more work than running around. I thank you and hope you will have fun together. You can record them and then we can air them on [Supreme Master] TV and I can watch it then. I will be with you in my heart. (Master, can we invite neighboring countries like Malaysia and) Yeah, if they want to come. (Indonesia to do it together?) If they want to come, but maybe they have their own. You check it out. I have no authority over these things. I don’t want to control who is going where and doing what. You do as you please, and anyone go where they’re pleased. As long as it’s to help the world in some way, then it’s OK. Anything else? No. Good.