Oh, God, you’re small, how come your child is so big? What great blessings. Ah, [blessed] and [merit], you two are just right together. He’s really big. (His wife is tiny, but their child is so big.) Really? (Right?) (Right.) Big? He’s already a teenager. (The oldest one is 16 years old.) Oh, right. So that big. I asked whose child he is, but he wouldn’t say. He brought his child in, but didn’t let us know in advance. I told him to bring his wife, not his child. And that guy, where are your wife and children? (They’re in the car, Master.) In the car? Go call them in. If they want to come in, let them. (Then I’ll run out right now. Let me go get them.) OK. (They’ve been waiting outside, Master.) Waiting? (Yes, there’s a child too, Master.) Oh, it’s OK. Tell them... If they don’t… (Where is Master? Where is Master?) Alright! Singing the same old tune. Always trying to bribe me like that. I don’t accept offerings, still trying to bribe me, and singing the same old tune.
What’s going on in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) these days? Nothing at all? Has anyone returned to Âu Lạc (Vietnam)? Âu Lạc. I keep forgetting and say “Việt Nam.” Is it better now? How are things over there? How’s life? Has anyone gone back? (Last November, I went to Quy Nhơn from Taiwan [Formosa], Master.) And then? (Yes, I heard that there were about twenty people…) (Waiting for initiation, Master.) Who asked about that? I was asking about the country! How would I know about initiation? (Talk about something else.) It’s OK. (Yes.) It’s always like that. Taking it easy? Not dead, but not quite alive either?
Ah, OK. And these two? This young Bodhisattva. (He couldn’t sleep for weeks, Master.) Why’s that? (He heard Master was going on tour, and she just couldn’t sleep. He was dazed and spacey at school. When he came home and said...) Oh, really? (“I was dreaming, and I wanted to tell my teacher but didn’t dare. My teacher caught me off guard and asked, ‘What’s 4 times 8?’ I said, ‘I’m dreaming, I don’t know anything.’ But I answered 32, and it was right.”) So he just blurted it out and got it right? (Just blurted it out and got it right.) Respond with his wisdom? Come here. You can come over here. Sometimes we’re not sleepy, but we feel kind of lethargic? It’s not the same...
Sit closer so others can come in. If you can’t see me from out there, come inside. Over there, at the back. If you can’t see clearly, move closer. Come in. You go and get some (vegan) candies here. My mood is better now. You didn’t say who you belong to, that’s why. Here, for you. All of you, take how much you want. All, three of you, take a lot more. Put it inside your shirt. Take it before I change my mind. Behind there, three of you, take as much as you want. Put inside your shirt and eat slowly at home. Don’t worry. Oh, the person in the back. (The person in the back.) What about the little one, do you have it yet, honey? Put it inside your shirt, or on your shirt like this. (There’s a lot. There are plenty of [vegan] cakes. He already has a lot of [vegan] cakes.) Oh, he doesn’t like candy? Candy makes your teeth fall out, huh? That’s right, he’s so handsome, if he has no teeth, he won’t be able to get a wife. If anyone doesn’t have a seat, move closer.
Anything else funny? Tell me, or else I’m going to doze off, I’m about to fall asleep. Has anything new been happening in the Âu Lạc (Vietnam) villages lately? (I received a letter from Âu Lạc [Việt Nam] with many interesting stories, Master.) Oh, oh, that’s good. I love hearing funny stories. (In Nha Trang, there were two young female practitioners. They were very diligent,) Oh. (and loved to go to many places to show Master’s video tapes.) Oh. (There was a person from the mountains, I think he was from Ban Mê Thuột or Pleiku. At night, they said that there was a mountain god who appeared, he wore a robe.) What kind of man? (The mountain god.) The mountain god. Oh, the mountain god. (Yes, the mountain god. He was all dressed up very formally. He came to beg that person to bring Master’s video tapes to that area to show to his people, so that he could be elevated to a higher level.)
What? A mountain god, and still desires a higher level? (He’s ambitious for a higher level. So…) If the mountain god can still go up, he’d probably go to the top of the mountain, right? (When I read that letter, I couldn’t stop laughing.) I’m dying laughing. Going to a higher level. Maybe he was a mountain god stationed at the foot of the mountain, and after you show him Master’s video, he’s climbing to the top. (Yes.) Where else can he reach up to? (So the two girls must have been shocked when they heard that.) Did they hear it clearly? Or was it some mountain dialect and they misunderstood? (That area is mostly ethnic minority, Master, but apparently they do speak Chinese too.) Really? Probably, that’s how they knew about Master. Anywhere there is Chinese, people will know about Master.
So what, any other funny stories? (There is a story about a monk, Master.) No? (There’s a monk who wanted to receive initiation.) What monk? (I heard there’s a monk in Âu Lạc [Việt Nam]. Someone told him their inner vision, and then he also got an inner vision. Then he said he has been a monk for over 30 years.) Was it the monk that Hòa mentioned? (Yes.) So then what? (He told a practitioner that he wanted to receive initiation. He’d been a monk for 30 years, so this practitioner accidentally asked, “Have you been vegan for three months?”) Have to ask. Some monks are Hinayana, and they still eat (animal-people) meat. Especially monks from Thailand, you have to ask. Oh, ask them how many days have you been vegan? Vegan Buddhist monk. Yeah.
Anything else? I thought they were going to talk about a factual story, but turns out... It’s like the story of the time when I went to India. There were little kids selling combs, trying to find monks to sell combs to them. They looked for monks to sell combs to. They even went looking for the naked ascetic monks, and asked to clean their shoes. It’s the same thing. (Selling hair clips to the nuns.) Selling hair clips to the nuns. Yeah, selling hair clips to Master is OK. This kind of nun is different. Modern nuns, top ten.
(At my place, Master, I really don’t know how it happened, it must’ve been Your arrangement.) What is it? Why are you taking over someone else’s property? (I was just staying at home, Master. My uncle in California said, “Just stay home, and sell vegan food.” So I said, “OK, I’ll send some samples down for the practitioners to try, then I’ll sell to them.” “You can do it at home. Your husband is still working, so you stay home to take care of the children, and sell vegan food.” Then I started selling. One day, someone picked up one of Master’s books, the ones we passed out during Tết holiday, Master. That person brought it back and said...) It should be said that person received the book. (Yes.) In Aulacese (Vietnamese), if you say “picked up,” it might sound like they stole it.
(Yes. That couple received Master’s book when we went to distribute books on Tết holiday. Then they shared it with their sister-in-law’s couple. But that guy, every time someone mentioned Buddha or God, he would criticize and say all sorts of terrible things, Master. He didn’t believe in anything. But after getting the book, he brought it to his sister-in-law and said, “Oh my God, this is a Living Buddha. Here, a Living Buddha.” His sister-in-law was shocked. She said, “Oh God, for decades this guy has always criticized, he would criticize the temples, Buddha, God and all that. And now he says this is a Living Buddha? That’s unbelievable.” And that woman came to my house to buy vegan food. She saw Master’s picture and suddenly has a kind of intuition, Master. She just felt good.) She also said… (She said she was really happy.) (Happy. “Vui.”)
(She was happy, Master. Then two or three days later she came back and said, “I’ll tell you the truth. I cooked vegan food for twelve families, and now all twelve families turned vegan,” Master. And among them are educated people, doctors and engineers. They tried the vegan food and found it so delicious. So I gave her one of Master’s chanting tapes. Now she plays it all the time, and the whole family is vegan. Then her 19-year-old daughter took the tape and showed it to some Americans. Later those Americans came to ask that couple to cook vegan food for them too. Now it’s connected to over a dozen families, Master. And people suddenly felt something and they said, “If you’re not going to eat vegan, then I won’t cook anymore. You can go somewhere else. But if you eat vegan, I’ll continue to cook.”) Just that one book? (Yes, just one. Now I truly believe Master arranged everything. Since that couple received the book, they no longer dare to speak badly about Buddha or God.) After their eyes opened, they stopped talking nonsense. Like a cat(-person) that opens its eyes and stops meowing randomly.
Anything else “nonsensical”? (There’s nothing nonsensical when talking about Master.) Nothing nonsensical? (Yes.) Oh, God, it’s already 12:30 (AM)? Why is it so early? It’s still early morning. Do you all have a place to rest? Do you have one? (Yes.) Where are those from far away, sleeping? (I’m staying at […]’s house.) Oh, nearby? (Yes.) (Yes, Master. The practitioners are split up and staying in different places.) Really? How did you know that in advance? Are you in contact with each other? (Yes, we are in contact with each other.) Then let’s go home and go to Nirvana. (Yes.) I must get some rest too. (Yes, Master. You still have a lecture tomorrow.) OK. Alright, everyone go home now.
The two of you are wearing the same clothes, how can we recognize who is who. (They missed You so much, Master. They even dared to bring the Bible and talk to the teacher about it.) Really? That bold? (“My Master said clearly, but you don’t believe.”) Really? (Got up front and talked to the teacher.) Talked about the Bible? (Yes, because Master taught them which Psalm number to use.) Ah, I see. Go home now. (Good night, Master.) Thank you.
Photo Caption: Rare Existence, Rarely Can Be Seen. Inner Existence, Extraordinary, But It’s You, Within!
