"Although after initiation you’re liberated from birth and death, you still have to practice spiritually. Because if your mind doesn’t allow you to become an enlightened saint, it will be difficult for you. Your mind will tell you, "You, a saint? Don’t be ridiculous!" Or others might also say the same thing. Without self-confidence, it will be useless being a saint of any kind. Even if you’ve become a saint, what purpose could it serve? We still need to have a deportment that befits the superior realms. Before we’ve become well-trained or practiced diligently, our mind won’t be convinced. It will assume that we’re cheating, and refuse to let us ascend. It’s we who obstruct ourselves. So, we still have to diligently practice spirituality to thoroughly convince our mind and allow it to realize that we’re now different, that we really befit the status of an enlightened saint. Only then will it totally accept this status, and we’ll have no more problems.

Spiritual cultivation is thus a process of repairing the mind. Life after life, the mind records too many undesirable things and ensnares us with a guilty conscience. That’s why we have to train and rectify it, illuminate it with Light every day, educate it and also brighten all our bodily cells. Every single bodily cell is imprinted with all the good and bad impressions, or karma, from many lifetimes. That’s why sometimes people only need to take a look at you or your body to be able to tell what you did in previous lives or what you’ve done in this lifetime. It’s because each of our cells, each vibration of our bodies, distinctively records all our actions, behaviors, thoughts and desires. We can’t cheat anyone.

We’ve heard that after we die, when we go to see the Yama King (the King of Hell), we’ll see a mirror that shows the details of our entire life as clearly as we watch television, except that it runs very quickly and in a relaxed way. This is absolutely true. This is our personal "video recording" function. Therefore, spiritual practitioners can perceive and identify who is who, what they’ve done in previous lives, what they’re doing now, and what they’ll do in the future. Our personal record is encrypted in our bodies and in our mind, or in the atmosphere around us. Each of us — whether we practice spiritually or not — has such an aura. But the more we practice spiritually, the lesser this aura will be."

From "The Quan Yin Method Transcends Time and Space"
News 144, Master Says
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Hsihu Center, Formosa • August 11, 1991
(originally in Chinese) Videotape No. 187b

"Q: I go back and forth between surrender and wanting God to know, asking God things and then feeling like if I ask, it may limit something greater that God has. What should I do?

M: It's good that you asked this intelligent question. If we have to ask, then we ask. God knows how much to give. Hes shouldn't give in your limit, but he should give in Hiers limit, if Hes is God. So why bother? Ask when you need to. When a child is so young, he can't pretend to be an adult and not want milk. If you need milk, ask for it. Later you will grow up and give it up. Don't worry. God knows what you truly want.

Q: Can we go within and allow ourselves to ask from God?

M: Well, you can ask. You can ask, and say, 'Oh, God, I probably shouldn't ask You this, but let me ask You anyhow, since it will settle my mind. Then whether You give it or not, it's up to You. You see what I need. I ask, but You don't need to give what's not good for me.' "

From "The Best Way Of Praying To God"
News 88, Selected Questions & Answers
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Group Meditation in Colorado, USA • May 14, 1991
(originally in English)

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