I was invited once to a Chinese temple in Puli – it’s kind of the middle of Taiwan (Formosa). […] Many monks, or so-called practitioners, like that place. So, many temples there. They go there to seek quietness and solitude. So they build many temples together and ring all the bells in the morning. Their bells are not smaller than the elephant(-person). And each one is vying with the next temple to have a bigger bell. […] And when the bell and the drum are beating together, the whole earth shakes. […]
The Buddha said, “In this world, how many people, just because they don’t keep their mouth shut, run into disasters. Therefore, take heed that you talk only when necessary.” The story speaks for itself, and I have done my humorous best to transform a very serious story into a comedy. OK. It’s not bad. So, understand that it’s not that we cannot speak but we should not speak at an inappropriate time; that’s the problem. It’s the timing. I told you last night in Chinese that when you’re too noisy, you disturb. Because you don’t flow with the rest, or you don’t flow with your partner or the surroundings. You talk when you should not – when you should keep silent, only smile, or do nothing. Understand? That’s when you make noise. Not because you talk all day that you make noise.
I talk a lot, but the more I talk, the more you love it. Right? (Right.) I don’t make noise. But even when you don’t talk, you make noise. Yeah. You make noise with your inner disturbance, inner turbulence, inner disharmony. Understand? By not being in accordance with the surroundings, by not being in harmony with the rest of the Universe, you make noise. Some people talk just like suddenly a bomb dropped. Always. Or when they do something, it’s just like suddenly we have an earthquake. It’s not suitable for the occasion and the atmosphere. That is why, you make noise, you’re noisy. Not because you talk a lot. Understand? (Yes.) Some people don’t even talk at all. They sit next to me, or they just mention one word and it’s already disturbing – just like they put a bomb inside. Understand or not? (Yes.)
So, be careful where you talk, when and what. It’s not that you talk a lot that you make noise. You can make noise with one word or one sentence and you disturb the whole thing. Just like the rooster(-person) in the morning when everything is quiet, peaceful and calm and he says, “Cock-a-coo-coo”. And he always does that around our meditation Center, in Maioli maybe. In the morning we meditate, and he makes noise. It is his duty, alright – but in the wrong place.
You remember in Miaoli, in the morning? You hear no noise. Not even bells to wake up. Not even clapping board anymore because I said it’s too noisy. We might disturb all the chicken(-people) next door. And then they’ll come up and make more noise together. Therefore, since a long time ago I have abolished the habit of banging the bell in the morning or clapping the board. Because even that disturbs me. You understand? (Yes.) Even that disturbs me. So, I said, “Everybody has their alarm clock. Somebody can have even four or five, in case. So, why should we clap the board or ring the bell?” Understand? (Yes.) And even ringing the bell, it’s not sure that they wake up. They all stuff their ears with some “security guard,” security cotton. And then they never wake up. I don’t need security cotton. Sometimes I don’t wake up either.
I remember in the early days when I was not yet very famous and the disciples were few in number, I was invited once to a Chinese temple in Puli – it’s kind of the middle of Taiwan (Formosa). And in that place, the climate’s very nice and it never changes. Approximately always the same. Many monks, or so-called practitioners, like that place. So, many temples there. They go there to seek quietness and solitude. So they build many temples together and ring all the bells in the morning. Their bells are not smaller than the elephant(-person). And each one is vying with the next temple to have a bigger bell. Temple bigger, bell bigger. And their drum, it’s similar to the bell size. And when the bell and the drum are beating together, the whole earth shakes.
Yeah! You didn’t experience this? Try. Go to one temple sometime and they beat the drum in the morning. Truly the whole earth shakes. The vibration was so strong because the drum was so big, and the bell was so loud, you could hear it from miles away. Is that not so? (Yes.) Have you heard this? (Yes.) If you haven’t, you go to Puli, the “retreat heaven” for many monks for quiet and solitude. Only, every day there are many coaches, buses, which bring a lot of tourists there. Otherwise, it’s very quiet and nobody. They come for solitude. And the temple is so attractive that it seems like a tourist center. So that’s a “quiet” place for the monks to practice solitude. OK.
So now, often when I’m in such a temple, then I would wake up because of the drum. Because the whole earth quakes, and my bed would shiver. You understand? Just like when you came to Miaoli last year and forgot your pullover. Like that. When I was in that temple, I was invited to conduct a retreat – also seven days. It was serious. You sit for 15 hours straight on the rock. Yes. Because after you sat for so long, your cushion became rock, and your bottom became rock also. That’s why I say “meditation on the rock.”
And I was conducting a seven-day retreat. There were not many people like now. Maybe over 50 or something. The temple was also small; the temples are always big, but you cannot use. Understand? Full of implements. Implements? No, no, no. Buddhist implements, right? Instrument, yes. But… (Ornaments?) Ornaments. Yeah. Ornaments. Yes, yes. And a big bell like that, big drum like that. And big Buddha like that. So, you have no place for real Buddhas. Most of the time, they can only accommodate about a few hundred at the most. But not for meditation. Not really, about 50 – if they want to meditate. Otherwise, 200 or 300 standing around in between and before and after and all that. There’s no place for people. So, we meditated like that.
And in the morning, I never woke up. Maybe too exhausted. Maybe my whole body became rock. Not only the middle part, but the whole. I never knew. I never heard anything about at four o’clock they will beat the drum and bang the gong. I never heard it. The whole weeklong, never once I heard anything, and I didn’t know that they still do their morning service every day. And I didn’t wake up in time for meditation. Well, we practitioners don’t tell lies. The priority of being a Master is that you can get up a little bit later, maybe nine o’clock or something. When everyone else is having breakfast, then you go around and say, “Ah, you’re very good. You sat very well from four to seven.” Etc... So, I never woke up at four. But I thought I would wake up at four. You understand?
So, after some time I had to tell the attendant to come and wake me up. But even then, he knocked at the door, and I’m knocking myself over. I could never hear anything. Seven days long. When I told the abbot, I said, “Thank you for your consideration,” I thought he considered my health and my sleep, so he abolished the morning service for a while, at least for the seven-day retreat, because he knew I love quiet, and I don’t want to get up early. And I do not encourage the kind of temple morning service with “Namo Supreme Master Ching Hai,” something like that. I thought he knew that we only meditate, and we don’t make noise in the morning, so he stopped the morning service for a while. But he said, “No, no, no, we do that every day.”
I was so surprised. How could I not hear it? So, this kind of “samadhi” is called the higher sleeping samadhi. And most of our disciples attain this state. Only after I had many disciples did I discover that they really did inherit this “Dharma lineage” from me. Therefore, even when we bang the gong or beat the drum, they don’t know anything. Therefore, I said what is the use to do this anymore? So, have a few alarm clocks to wake up. Or the neighbors will wake you up. But the neighbors would not wake up. I don’t know who wakes who up. But it’s alright. It’s alright. We don’t “kill” ourselves for the Buddha’s sake.
Anyhow, why do we come to this? Why do we talk so much about drums and gongs? What was the problem? (We make noise.) (Make noise.) Ah, yes, making noise. And why was that? Yes, yes, yes. Meditation. Yes, yes, yes. Because we were talking about in the morning was so quiet and everything disturbs. Right? Yeah. I was actually considering the neighbors also. They don’t need to wake up at four o’clock. Understand? (Yes.) They care nothing about enlightenment. And all the chicken(-people), in the next farm, they don’t want to wake up at four o’clock. Therefore, I said to them, “No more gongs. Only when you eat then you sound the gongs.”
But afterward, I discovered that, actually, they don’t need the gong. They know exactly what time for lunch. And that I don’t need to tell them. So, I said the gong is really a luxury only, an extravagant. How do you say? (Extravagant.) Useless. (Superfluous.) Yes. Superfluous item. Yes, yes. But they bang the gong anyhow. Otherwise, the one who takes care of the gong has no job. But we do bang the gong in the evening, telling everybody that the meditation time is over, and they should go to bed. But I discovered that was also superfluous. Because they all know anyhow.
Photo Caption: As Much Love As Possible Gathered in a Bunch!
