A Buddha can immediately recognize the presence of another Buddha. How could they not? (Yes.) Do you understand? (Yes.) Just like animal(-people) of the same kind recognize one another. (Yes.) Right? (Yes.) So how could human beings not recognize each other? (Yes.) You can’t possibly look at the lady sitting next to you and say she’s an elephant(-person), right? Even though she’s quite overweight. I’m not referring to you. This is just an example. Don’t feel bad, alright! I’m just giving an example here. No matter how overweight she may be, you still can’t call her an elephant(-person). Her nose is not that long. Her ears aren’t that big either, right? So when we look, we know she’s a human being. That’s the visible side.
The invisible aspect – the Buddha Nature – is the same. No matter how evil or mentally disturbed a person may be, their Buddha Nature within remains intact. (Yes.) It is merely faded to some extent because they chose the wrong path. (Yes.) They chose the wrong path. They chose the wrong experiences, so their Buddha Nature became obscured, and they came to feel distant from their own Buddha Nature. At that time, the soul is suffering greatly, like being in hell. (Yes.) That is what happens when one chooses the wrong path. But that, too, is their way of spiritual practice. (Yes.) They choose all kinds of crap, mixed-up paths, and after getting all fed up, they say, “Alright, now I know. I am a Buddha.” At that point, they no longer want to go around trying those other kinds of things just to figure out who they are. Ah, yes, that’s right. By then, they know. That is when they go looking for an Enlightened Master, looking to practice the Quan Yin Method (meditation on the inner Heavenly Light and Sound). “I only love the Buddha now. Nothing else can make me happy anymore. I know now. I have tried everything. No other method worked. They only made me suffer more every day.” (Yes.)
So when we practice spiritually, our Buddha Nature becomes brighter and revealed to us more day by day. Then even the Buddha within the person next to us – even if they themselves are not practicing – their inner Buddha is still completely intact. That Buddha can sense it, can “smell” it – knows there is the fragrance of meditation. Then they recognize a future Buddha, a Buddha who is growing and maturing. (Yes.) That is why they are drawn to it. (Yes.) The Buddha within them is attracted. Even though they are not yet ready, even though their time has not yet come, they still feel drawn to you. However, because their mission is not yet completed, because the things they wish to accomplish before returning to the Original Source have not yet been fulfilled; therefore, they will not follow you at this time. (Yes.) They must complete the path they have laid out. They must carry out all the plans they have set in order to evolve themselves. Only after many stormy experiences can they truly recognize themselves as Buddha. (Yes.)
One cannot simply sit there saying, “I am Buddha, I am Buddha,” over and over again. So boring. Without anything to compare to, how would one know that one is Buddha? Therefore, one must descend to see, must do all kinds of messy, nonsense, seemingly irrelevant things that have nothing to do with Buddha Nature at all. Many times they are even completely opposite. Only then can the Buddha Nature be recognized more clearly afterward. It is like a land where there are only women. No one would even notice who is a woman, because they have never seen a man before. Only when a man enters that place do they realize, “Oh! Why is he different from me?” That is basically how it is. (Yes.) And from then on, one understands, “Oh, so you are a man?” “And I am a woman? So this is what a woman is, and that is what a man is.” Do you understand? (Yes.) After all, the Buddha is already the Buddha now. So if He just sits up there in Nirvana all the time, what would He do? He already knows He is the Buddha, there’s nothing left to do. What is there left for a Buddha to do anyway? Heaven is the Creator, what else is there to do? Sitting there forever, year after year, month after month, endlessly, eternally like that, it would be terribly boring. So that’s why He goes looking for something to play with. He goes out wandering around the world, the world of suffering.
It’s like sometimes there are rich kids, handsome, doing well in school and so on. Big, spacious houses, but they aren’t content with living in comfort. They grab their tent and go to Cambodia. They go over to the new economic zone of Madam Ching Hai, eat vegan food, sleep on the ground, brave the rain and endure the sun just for fun. They like it that way. But after playing around for a while, they get fed up and say, “Alright, I miss home.” Then when they come home, they find the house even nicer than before, cooler, more comfortable, more pleasant than before. At that point, they feel extremely content living in that house. But after staying there too long, they get bored again and come down once more. Go to Cambodia again. Or they go to Taiwan (Formosa), climb mountains, to fall up and down. Or they sit there, nod off, then blame me for it. They say my [blessing] power is too strong to bear. What power? If you wake up at 4 AM, stay up until midnight before sleeping, of course you’ll doze off, no “need” for my blessing.
Let me tell you, some people suffer from chronic insomnia, they can hardly sleep at all. But when they come here and I make them sit for tens of hours, then wake up early and stay up late, they end up sleeping like logs. They even snore. Later on, they’ll have to pay me for medicine. There are many types of medicine – Western medicine, herbal medicine, Chinese medicine, and even invisible medicine. They call it allopathy or something like that. Allopathy or homeopathy. They say imagine. They imagine the medicine, then give it to you to drink. It’s like those spell-casting shamans who chant, “Ha la la la la, the green stork jumps around the rock.” Yeah, like that, and then give it to you to drink. If you believe it. (Yes.) Then once you drink it, you’re cured. (Yes.) Faith is the mother of all merits, right? (Yes.) But don’t drink haphazardly, OK? Your faith is very small. So if you’re sick, just go see a doctor. Don’t believe in nonsense stuff and make trouble for yourself. If it gets serious, it’s very troublesome. (Yes.) If it gets better, great. If not, must go to the doctor. (Yes.)
Now I’ve forgotten what I was saying. What was I talking before, dear? What did I say before? (Talking about people dozing off while meditating.) That was just by the way. (Faith is the mother of merit.) That was just now. Before that? (Master… about going home...) Ah, right. And before that, before that too. (The Buddha…) Such a terrible memory. I just talked about a few things and you forgot everything already. I’m old, so I forget. But you’re still young, only 80 years old. How can you forget everything too? (Master said it’s boring, so go to Cambodia for fun.) Boring. (When it’s boring, go to Cambodia for fun. Master said a lot, like after staying there, they get bored again and come back.) Yes, I know.
That lady. (Many young people become Buddhas.) (Wherever there are many young people – many people like it.) Yes, that’s right. That’s how it is. Because when you cultivate spiritually, you become younger and more beautiful. And even if you don’t become younger or more beautiful in a physical way, inwardly you’re still beautiful, still youthful, still attractive. People who feel attracted to you don’t know why you’re attractive. When they go home, they talk nonsense like, “She cast a spell on me.” Like that, like that. That’s why people say I cast spells. What spells do I have to cast? Why would I bother casting spells? People are already stuck in droves, why would I need spells? Cast spells! Those sorcerers and shamans are the ones chasing after me in droves. No need to cast spells. You all know this. (Yes.) In Taiwan (Formosa) there were sorcerers or shamans, remember? (Yes.) Wrote all kinds of stories in our newsletter. They were chasing after me nonstop, so who’s casting spells on whom now? They were casting spells on me, maybe. From childhood till now, I’ve never known any spells at all. I only know the losing-money spell. The more disciples I have, the more money I lose.
So whenever you practice spiritually, you must remember this clearly. (Yes.) Our Buddha Nature is naturally like attract like. (Yes.) So whenever you discover your own Buddha Nature, people naturally follow you, that’s all. (Yes.) They run after. Discover a little, people follow a little. (Yes.) Discover more, and more people follow. (Yes.) Discover even more, and people become more attached; more deeply attached. That’s how it is. It’s not because I’m beautiful or special that people follow me.
You don’t even need to be beautiful. Even if all your teeth fall out, people will still follow you as usual. If you don’t believe me, go home and pull out your teeth. Then go outside and see if people still chase after you. Or shave all your hair off, people will still follow as usual. Losing teeth or hair, doesn’t matter at all. They’ll still chase after you like crazy. Ask that desert hero over there and you’ll know. Ask her how many boyfriends she has had and you’ll know. The neighbors chase after you, don’t they? If yes, just admit it. Yesterday you already told the truth, so today just confess it all. And that older gentleman over there, see him? Bald head, see him or not? Handsome, isn’t he? Bald but in a handsome way. Don’t feel hurt, sir. I’m just telling it honestly. He’s like that but his wife is still terribly jealous. Because he’s attractive. Women keep coming over to talk to him all the time. They just talk; they don’t do anything to be afraid of. At his age, what could he even do? He’s old already, what is there to be afraid of?
This gentleman really… how can you still be so naive at such an old age? It’s because he practices a lot, so people like him. So if you practice more, you’ll draw them all over to you too. Yeah, you see? (Yes.) That’s how it is, yet there are still people who get jealous. There really is an attraction. But it’s not that he wants it to be that way. Or it’s not that you practice spiritually and attract many people, because you want that to happen. No, it’s not like that. It’s because your Buddha Nature attracts the Buddha Nature in others. And then that Buddha Nature pulls the physical body closer to you, that’s all. It’s not that the physical body pulls the Buddha Nature toward you. When they come close like that, if it’s a man and a woman, people start to suspect things. A woman and a man, people get even more suspicious. If it’s a woman and a woman, people wouldn’t say anything yet. But if there are too many, people still get suspicious. They’ll say, “What is She doing, seducing my wife? So, does She want money, or wealth, or what does She want? Ever since my wife got to know Her, she’s always gone somewhere, always going over to Her house. What are they whispering about all day long? She won’t even come home to me.” For example like that. And then he gets really annoyed, he gets jealous.
Sometimes a lot of women follow me to learn, and their husbands get insanely jealous, threatening all kinds of things. I didn’t do anything at all. I’m just sitting here. You all came running here from all four directions, I didn’t go knocking on your doors telling you to come. And could I tell you? Can I tell you to do anything? So even if I told you, would it work? (No.) What kind of spell could I possibly be casting on so many people? Where would such a powerful spell come from? But why would I cast a spell on a bunch of toothless old ladies like this? If I wanted to cast a spell, I’d cast it on handsome, young men; rich, well-educated, right? (Yes.) Or on beautiful young women who are useful, to be secretaries or even attendants. (Yes.) But what can they do? What use is it to cast spells? What would I gain from casting spells on old ladies? Casting a spell on this lady who’s nodding off, what for? Why would I cast a spell on her? She can barely walk anymore. She has to use a cane like I do. She falls up and down, can’t climb mountains, wherever she sits, she falls asleep. Oh my God, casting a spell on her is exhausting. If there were a spell that could make her fly away, I’d use it immediately. So many people are so whiny. For example, that’s all.
So when you find that there are people following you, lots of women or men depending on the situation, depending on the gender, don’t think you’re so special. But you really are special, but don’t even think about it. You really are. But not special in a worldly way, (Yes.) not because you have some kind of personal charm that seduces people. It’s because you practice a lot, your Buddha Nature becomes brighter and brighter, and then other people’s Buddha Nature wants to come and merge with yours. We are essentially one. (Yes.) It’s like two magnets that aren’t rusty, aren’t corroded; there’s no piece of paper in between, nothing stuck in the middle, nothing covering or blocking them, then they naturally pull toward each other. Or like a needle and a magnet, if there’s nothing covering or shielding them, they just get pulled together. (Yes.) Exactly like that.
Everyone’s Buddha Nature is exactly the same. Because their karma envelops them, their habits, their bad experiences cover their Buddha Nature. So they can’t fully become one with those who have already discovered their Buddha Nature. But they’re still attracted a little bit. For example, sometimes if a needle is placed too far away, it still feels a slight pull, but not strong enough to stick together. Or sometimes we… (Turn the needle.) Huh? (It’s spinning.) It’s spinning around. It’s moving around a lot, right? It’s so itchy, but it can’t actually run in. But it’s also itchy, it’s spinning, it’s moving. (Yes.) Sometimes if you put a thin piece of cloth or something in between, it can’t be pulled through, but it still twists and wriggles quite strongly. It’s just like those Buddhas who haven’t practiced the Quan Yin Method yet. (Yes.) When they see you, they feel restless, they squirm inside.
Sometimes the wife standing nearby thinks the husband is attracted to you or something. But that’s really not the case. She is attracted too, but it feels odd to her, so she becomes self-aware and restrains herself. But when she sees that he seems attracted, she gets upset and becomes vigilant. (Yes.) She’s worried about keeping him, forgetting that she herself is also attracted to you. Ah, it’s very clear like that, you see? (Yes.) So many times, there are many people Master knows, the husband follows Master first to practice, and the wife gets insanely jealous and starts cursing. Oh my God, she says all sorts of things about me, but she’s actually deeply attracted too. Then later on, once she wakes up and realizes there’s nothing wrong, she’s also so drawn that she can’t stand it anymore, and ends up following too. At that point, both of them are attracted in exactly the same way. Sometimes the wife is even more attracted. Wherever I go, she runs after shouting, “Master, wait for me!”
Photo Caption: “Special Giants in the Making!”
