(The lady wanted to ask about her husband.) Yeah. (The Aulacese [Vietnamese] one.) I know, I know. (You know.) But she made a lot of noise. (Yes.) And her husband’s already taken care of, because he’s too old for initiation. (Right.) And she knows. She shouldn’t come and bother me for that. She thought if she asks me, he would get a pass. They shouldn’t ask people like that. She knows. Don’t disturb in the middle of the congregation. Because she kept talking all the time over there, and making... (Disturbing.) It’s just a good excuse for me to stop my lecture, because I ran out of stuff. It’s also good. (Yes.) Good in a way, huh? (Yes.) Yeah, I’m clever, no? (Yes. Smart cookie.) Smart cookie. What’s that box on the table? What kind of cake is that? Oh, it’s not? (No, it’s not.) Oh, is that just paper? (Yes, it’s a box.) What’s in the box? What is it? Sticky rice or something? Bring it here. (Yes.) Is it edible? (Yes, it is edible.) (Can I have some.)
Where did (…) disappear to? (There’s […], I saw her.) Call (…) in here; I need to talk a bit about San Jose. Ah, never mind, someone’s already calling him. (Alright.) No need to call. They don’t know, someone is calling. You alright? I forgot your name again. (Dionne.) Dionne. (It’s an Indian name.) Oh, yeah? (Sounds French, the spelling.) Where did you get that? (When I was initiated by another guru.) Oh, yeah? Why did you come to me when you already have one? (Well, that was when I was like 30 years old. So, then I left because he didn’t have… I wasn’t satisfied like the way with You. Yeah, so, I...) Oh, really? (Yes.) Even we teach the same thing. Even he taught the same method. (He didn’t.) (He doesn’t have Your Power.) (No, he didn’t teach Your method.) Wow.
(Dear Master, […] headed home.) Where did she go? ([…] went back to San Jose. She has work tomorrow.) Oh, work tomorrow? (Yes.) (She was planning to go back with me tonight, but she’s probably tired.) Is that so? Who is she riding with? (She’s flying back.) Poor her. (Yes.) Really? (Yes.) Didn’t get a chance to give her anything. (I can bring something for her if it’s OK.) What should I give her? Alright, give her that bag of fruit. That one. (Yes.) Give to her and her family. Her family’s here, right? Mother or father? I didn’t see them. Are they there?
(I just came back from the rescue team, and came to pay respect to Master.) Oh, rescue, huh? (Yes.) Ah, is that so? You needed that merit to get in, right? Why didn’t the rescue team meet people? You just went there to drop off the supplies? (Yes, just dropped them off, didn’t meet anyone.) But do they have enough finance? Did anyone ask? (They seemed quite young. I’m not sure.) So why just leave things there instead of giving them directly to the people? (I don’t know.) Well, they should’ve let us help directly. (Right, but they screened everything, like we had to go through them first.) They are afraid of losing their reputation. It’s our money, we should just give it directly. (Yes.) Ah, this one, right? (Yes.)
You bought it yourself? Didn’t make it yourself, just bought it? That’s it. How do you eat this? Will eating this kill me? I haven’t seen this for a long time. We have some Aulacese (Vietnamese) (vegan) food, and I haven’t seen it for a long time. But I don’t think I’ll eat it here. I eat at home. Better. That’s better. (Then You can talk to us.) Yeah. (You can’t talk with Your mouth full.) You’re very “selfless.” Just think of yourself. Very cute. Depends. Depends. (I know You wouldn’t want to talk with Your mouth full.) No, no, it’s not graceful.
So, all of you are happy, Happy Halloween, huh? You don’t go out with your gruesome costume? But where did that originate? (It’s gruesome.) (Where did it originate? From Americans.) (It’s a religious holiday called All Souls’ Day, which is tomorrow.) All Souls’ Day. (Which is the celebration of the dead.) Oh. (But Halloween is the eve before, where all the spirits come back to…) Back to life? (to celebrate it.) Oh, yeah? (And if you don’t offer them something when they come to your door, then they perform a trick on your house.) Is that right? What kind of trick? (Well, in modern age, they soap your windows or tip over your pumpkin or throw water balloons at you.) (Or they toilet paper your house.) Oh, throw papers? (Yes.) Oh, that’s nothing. (So these are…) Tomatoes. (Syrup.) And what else? What is it? (Well, these are just juvenile pranks, but it came from just an offering to the past souls to have them leave you in peace.) Understand. So that’s it. So, all the dead people must look so gruesome like that? (A lot of ghosts.) Yeah. People like the dead, huh?
In Germany, we don’t have this, huh? (Oh, yes. Should I talk in English?) Yeah, sure. (OK.) Everybody here is… Ah, Ragtime. Yeah, they call it… (All Saints’ Day.) Yes, All Saints’ Day. Yes, yes, yes. (All Saints’ Day is tomorrow. Tomorrow.) Yes, yes. (All Saints’ is today.) Today. (All Saints’ Day.) Yes, do they also have these gruesome costumes and they all go out onto the streets? (We have a nicer tradition. We have heads [costumes] of animals…) You speak English, so everybody can understand. (OK. We have animal heads [costumes]. They have the jaw loose. And every kid has an animal head and they go from house to house, with animal heads [costumes] on and make noises.) Yeah. (And then the family at home opens the door and welcomes them, gives them candies.)
But I saw… One time I was in Germany – maybe was Oktoberfest, I don’t remember – people wear different costumes. You wear what you want. (Oh, that’s, that’s...) Ragtime, they call it. (Yeah, but that’s not, not at this time.) Is that Oktoberfest? (October, well, Fasching.) Well, that’s Oktoberfest. Oh, Fasching, Fasching (carnival). Voila, voila. (Yes.) Yeah. It’s similar to Halloween, because everybody wears what they want. (Yes.) Yes. And some people wear nothing. It’s also OK. Yeah, that day, nobody cares. (Well, it’s a warm day.) Warm day. (So they’re streaking. Streaking – when you don’t wear anything.) Nobody cares. (Especially in the English Garden, right?) Yes, yes, yes. (In Munich.) Not just that, but on those days. On that day. (Yes, yes, of course.) Carnival. You can go out with nothing on. (Yes.) Nothing, yes. No costumes, nothing. That’s your costume. People say, “It’s my birthday costume.” (Birthday suit.) Yeah, some people who happen to be born on that day and they say, “Why, I wear my birthday costume to go out.” Yeah, very convenient. And if it’s a girl, people like it. If it’s a boy, well, I don’t know. No comment. (Passé.) Huh? (It’s passé.) So and so, huh? Ah, so…
(Do You need some water?) What? Me? (Would You like some water?) You’d like some? Me? (Juice or something.) This is not good for me. That, I don’t know if it’s good for me. No, it’s soyabeans. (Vegan) milk. (Soya milk.) (Soya milk.) I drink (vegan) milk all day. And now I drink another (vegan) milk. I’ve become like a baby. Fine. (Oh, that’s good. That’s Swiss.) Yeah, yeah, yeah. (Yes, that’s good.) (That’s very good. It’s made in Switzerland.) I have to rely on that to be able to suppress the cough. Otherwise, sometimes I cough too much. (Do You need another napkin?) Thanks. Can I give this? OK?
(…) wherever you go, you work so much, and don’t meditate at all, right? (Yes, I do, Master.) Really? (Yes, if we don’t meditate, we wouldn’t be OK.) Why did you leave your poor wife behind? I told you already, you shouldn’t leave your wife and kids. (It’s my wife who left me, not…) I sent you back home, and you still left again? (My wife left me, not me leaving her.) Oh, come on! No way! (It’s true.) Men are unbelievable! Is it really true? (I’ve been practicing and am so gentle, Master, really.) So gentle indeed! So why did I keep sending you back home, telling you to stay with your wife and kids, yet you still ran away? (I stayed home; I didn’t go anywhere, but my wife didn’t understand me.) That’s strange! I don’t understand.
I heard she already received initiation, didn’t she? (Yes, she did, but she still doesn’t understand. She said, “Why do you keep going to see Master?”) Then try to take her along. (I begged her to come, even offered her money, but she wouldn’t go.) You even gave her money and she still wouldn’t go? Such a foolish girl. (Yes. But at the beginning of April, when You were in Los Angeles, and I told her, “Come on, let’s go visit Master and also have some fun.” She said, “I have to work.” I said, “Just take the day off, I’ll pay you for that day.”) Oh, my goodness. (Then she said, “Give me three hundred [US dollars].”) Oh my! (I even said OK to that) And she still didn’t go. (but in the end, she still didn’t go. I’m at a loss.) Are Aulacese (Vietnamese) women really that hard to please? (I don’t know.) (Yes, my wife just wouldn’t agree.) Are the other Aulacese (Vietnamese) women like that, too? (Yes, very difficult, Master.) Very difficult? (Many are difficult, they should not be that way.) Aulacese (Vietnamese) women are hard to please? (Very hard to please.) Very hard to please, huh? What about American women? Are they difficult? Don’t know? (I don’t know.)
I have a nephew, my sister’s son. I just visited him recently. He’s married to an American woman, (Yes.) And she really loves him, even more than he loves her. (Yes.) Poor girl, she follows him everywhere. So sweet. Why don’t you marry an American woman, then? (I’m tired of marriage, Master. I’ll wait a bit longer.) Wait a bit longer? (Yes.) Giving it up completely? (Yes.) Why give up after just one try, man? (It’s exhausting, all that pampering...) Pampering is too tiring, huh? (Yes, it is.) Yeah, that’s true. Sometimes I feel the same way. Better just forget it. Too tiring, no time. (Yes.) We don’t have time to chase after those people, too exhausting. (Yes.) And no one really understands you. (Exactly. Yes.) Feeling lonely? Then just forget it. (It’s better to follow Master once in a while, feels much better.) With so much work, who has time or energy to pamper those sissy ones? It’s tiring, isn’t it? (Yes.) That’s it, forget it. If someone follows us, fine, if not, forget it. They follow us, but we still kick them away, why bother chasing after them, right? (Yes.) But why didn’t your wife get initiated? (She could not be vegan yet.) Could not be vegan yet?
But (…)’s wife already got initiated, how come she’s still so neglectful? (She got initiated just to keep her husband, like You said, Master.) Exactly, I said that, but no one listened. Anyway, I just let it be. (Yes.) Let her conscience figure it out, no need to keep reminding her. (Yes.) Finally, she got initiated, right? (Yes.) Never mind, one day she will be regretful. (Yes, she’s starting to regret a little bit now.) She is? (But I just let her be, to let her...) Playing hard to get, huh? (Yes, let her experience a bit of life.) Is she jealous of Master? Any jealousy there? (No, I don’t think so. That’s not it.) Not at all, huh? I am so gentle, what’s there to be jealous of? (She just keeps saying I don’t work or save money.) Work and save money. Ah, so it’s because you visit Master and don’t make any money. (She can’t accept that. Yes.) A few hundred [US] dollars is too much. OK, just tell her, all the money you’ve spent visiting Master, I will pay it back!
Why make such a big deal about money? The bond between Master and disciples can’t be measured with money. (Right, you can’t measure that.) (And she said...) And it’s not like you’re poor or starving, so why worry about money? (We’re not struggling at all.) Too much! Forget it. People who care too much about money, I find it tiring. You can’t take money with you when you die. (Right.) Look at those houses worth millions. (Yes, I also showed her some earthquakes.) In five minutes, you could die, and in five minutes, everything’s gone. Now you’re homeless.
Photo Caption: Who Could Create Such Minutest Details for the Butterfly’s Beauty???
