News 105, Supreme Art

Tools of Peacefulness

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
during a Celestial Jewelry Presentation Conference
Basel, Switzerland • May 3, 1999
(originally in English)

What is most impressive is that You have symbolism in Your jewelry. I think that is unusual with us. Where do You get the ideas?

Master: Probably from God. I get everything from God. I'm just no one without Hirm.

Why do people find it so hard to find God in their hearts?

M: It's not hard. Hes is just hiding. It's just that they look in the wrong place. Suppose you lose your camera here, and you go out there to find it because it's lighter or there are more people, then of course it's hard. You have to find it where it is.

But everyone knows that "God is in your heart."

M: Well, they know it literally, but they do not know it practically. That is why, since I have the fortune to know where Hes is, when people ask, I must share it with them.

The Peaceful Side of Forceful Actions

Why do You think You can affect the circumstances of the war in Europe? How do You think You can have some positive effect on Earth, I mean what would you do, practically?

M: There are many things in this world, apart from the material things that we can touch and hold. There are invisible things such as the air or love, goodwill, and positive thoughts. Even if we don't see positive thoughts or we don't see love, it affects people. For example, if you love your wife, it makes you and her feel good. Although you cannot show people what love is, you both know it and it makes you feel good. Similarly, positive thoughts, loving prayers, and concentrated purposeful meditation for some motive or goal will take effect with time.

Don't You think that there is also a need to address some situations of violence? There are some people in this world that you cannot meet with these tools of peacefulness.

M: You are right, sir. In some extreme cases, you do need to answer with more forceful means. Some people do that already and we do it on the peaceful side. We help so that in case strong measures are used, they will be minimized for the innocent. The effects on the innocent will be minimized if we pray for the forceful actions to last a shorter time, to be over more quickly, and to be better resolved. Even if we have to use strong measures, we don't want to use them for long, so prayers and positive thinking will help to shorten them and to minimize their effects.

Reminders of God

What is the link between spiritual life and the jewelry that You have created?

M: There is a link between everything in life; it's just that sometimes we forget the link or the connection. If we do everything in the name of God, even though there's no link, it's still better than not doing it in the name of God. There are so many things in this world already that make us forget God. So, if we can use anything at all to remind us of God, then it's very useful.

How do You remind people of God?

M: You can see that in many things I do. I can even turn stones into a passage of the Holy Bible - a message from God. When people wear a piece of jewelry with a name such as the "Wisdom of Solomon" or the "Ultimate Glory of Love," they cannot help but be reminded, also subconsciously, that the ultimate goal is that we should find love, we should find our real Self, instead of just thinking of this material body which doesn't last very long. Names and words have very powerful effects on people.

What do You mean by "the name is powerful?"

M: It is powerful.

What name?

M: Any name. The word, language, is powerful. When we say "God" even though we don't see any God, it's different from when we say "dog". Although it's just an empty name, it has an effect. When you say to someone, "I love you," there is a different effect than when you say, "I hate you" even though it is just an empty alphabet. Therefore, names have effects on us, especially on our intellect. Even though unspoken, words sometimes also are very strong.

Does God have a name?

M: Hes has all kinds of names and Hes doesn't have any name. We name Hirm. We name Hirm "Allah", the "Most High", "Buddha"; we name Hirm all kinds of things, and then some people fight with one another over what name is the real one.

Do You know what name is the real one?

M: I do know, yet I cannot tell you.

Do You keep it for Yourself?

M: No, it's not that. You have to discover it yourself. Hes will whisper it in your ear alone in the God-language.

You cannot share it with others?

M: That kind of language is not like human language. I'm just afraid to humiliate Hirm if I say it in human language. It's very difficult to describe what I know, just as it's difficult to describe love. We say "love", we say "amour", we say "liebe", but it's not the real language of love. The language of love, only lovers know, and the same with the name of God, only the God-lovers know. In a quiet moment of your life, when you sit down alone with Hirm, then Hes will tell you. I'm afraid to make one more name.

Is there a written statement about how you reach God or how you get to know God?

M: I'm afraid not, but there is a way you can find God. I'm afraid there is not such a black and white thing that you can read and then find God, but there is a subtle empowerment. There is a subtle connection, as one torch to another lights up the potential of the torch, and then both will be alighted. Nothing is written, but there is a way to do it, and we call this kind of process "immediate enlightenment". When someone already has found the light, He can light your torch, too. It is so very simple. There's no need for spoken language. The more we speak, the less we can find Hirm. That's the problem. And you ask me for the name. I would like to give you one of Hiers names, but I'm afraid to create one more name; then we would fight more about which God is better. We have so many names already.

The Paradox of God

Some of us are lucky enough to have had a God experience as children or something, and on the other hand, we have hundreds of different groups of people who suggest that theirs is the way you are going to find God. So, perhaps You have a suggestion or something to say about why some of us ask for revelation and get it immediately or within a couple of years, and some of us spend the rest of our lives begging for a sign of God and never see it.

M: That's a contradiction of God. The thing is, in the Bible it is said, Seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7-8, KJV) but it's not like that. It depends on how we ask, and this we cannot teach. We cannot teach sincerity; we cannot teach desire for God. Each one must find a way to communicate this desire to Hirm. For example, two persons ask for the same thing, but one really wants it and the other one just asks because it's there or because someone else has it. God knows every soul's deepest desire of the heart. Sometimes people think, "I ask so much, I pray all the time, why doesn't God give, and this guy just kneels there for maybe five minutes and he got something?" This is because it's inside, just as we can only love one man and cannot love the other even though he's more handsome or richer; we just can't explain this.

Having a longing for God is one thing, but wanting God is another. The more you want something, the less likely you are to get it. That's the paradox of life, but it is true. For example when you say, "I need money," the Universe hears you; God hears you. "Oh, she needs money, all right!" The effect of your sentence will be that you will be needing money all the time for all of your life. That's the effect, because you ordered it. You said, "I need money," so They know, "Okay, she needs money," and that's the way you will be. You will be needing money, needing money, needing money.

In the Bible, it also is said that you have to believe that you will get what you ask for. (And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22 KJV) But that's another trick there. How can you believe that, when you know you won't get it? And you argue with yourself, "I believe that I will get it," but then you know you believe that you won't get it, and that's the thing. Unless we become child-like again, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. That purity, we have to have. We have to cleanse ourselves inside out, upside down every day; that's why we have to meditate. We have to really repent, inside not outside. That's why we go to church, we go anywhere, we go to the Himalayas, we go to the Ganges and bathe, but it doesn't have any effect. It has to be inside, and we have to know.

There's one trick I want to tell you: if you want something, then don't want it. That is difficult, but that's how we have everything. Do you think I want all this jewelry, all this success, all this money and all this fame? No, I don't! I never wanted them. They just came to me, and God knows I tell the truth. I just do it because it's there; it just comes my way. I never wanted it. I still don't want them. Suppose tomorrow I lose everything that I ever earned and the whole world even slanders me, I won't care. You have to get to that state, and then you'll get everything.

The Other Side of God

We are in a time of science and technology and we all have a belief and awareness of it. In the several thousand years of history, many Masters have come to the Earth and been able to show people the way to realize God. But the scientific world has still not found any tangible proof of it and we still have a lot of debate going on. We could all believe in God, but actually we cannot measure it.

M: I can prove it!

I know this is a silly question, so forgive me for the stupidity, but there is a lot of debate going on. Would You like to say something about that tonight?

M: There are many ways to prove something. There are some ways to prove God, just not the scientific way. For example, they have proven that there are black holes, there is anti-matter, and you can call that God. There is energy, anti-energy, and things like that, but they are not measurable.

You just can't measure it.

M: Yes, but we can know it because it's inside us, and if we know how, we can get it. I can show you. I can prove it to you, but you have to follow the way I tell you. Not follow me, but follow the guidelines, just like when we want to play football or drive a car, there are always rules.

Not to me, because I know God and have no difficulty in believing, but can You prove it to the scientists, for example?

M: No, I cannot, because they want everything the material way. God is material, but God is also invisible. When God is materialized, then we see Hirm here and there, and in this and that. This is the God that you can touch: you can talk to, you can hug, you can kiss, you can love. These are all God, but there's another side of God that everyone is dying to know that you have to find in a different way.

The material way we can do in a material way, but the invisible way, we have to do invisibly. The scientists forget that side. They just concentrate on the material God, and then, of course, all they find are material things. Materialization of God, this is also correct. However, if they want to know something more about God, something else, another side of God, then they have to follow another way, just as they follow the material way to find the materialization of God. You see all the wonders of God in the material world. They have to follow another way in order to find the invisible wonders on the other side of God, and they don't do it. How can I prove it to them? I don't want to. I'm not here to prove that God exists or does not exist. I'm only here on this planet in case anyone wants to know the other side of our Father, the other side of God, the God that we also can love, but it's not the God that we imagine. I don't want to prove anything. I never have the desire to prove anything. I don't ever want to prove that I'm right. I just want to help you know God if you want to. That's very simple.

Is there anyone that can be successful in shedding light on some issues for people who do not have Your level of awareness. If it's at all really important and I don't know whether it needs to be done or not, but if it's important, then perhaps people like You can try to persuade scientists they have got to change their ways of understanding things if they want to find proof.

M: They don't have to change their ways. They're okay the way they are, unless they want to know another side of themselves, and then they'll find a Master. There are plenty. There are some that are more famous than I am, more prestigious. I'm just a designer and by the way, I found God, or found God and by the way became a designer.

They don't have to do anything. No one ever has to do anything because everyone is God already. There is no hurry for anyone. Some people are ready; they want to go Home. Then they will find the Way: go to the Himalayas, find this Master, that Master. Some people still want to hang around here and it's okay. Everyone is okay; everyone is God. Truly, there is nothing. If you feel sorry for the people who do not want to study with Master Ching Hai, don't; they are God already. There's nothing they must do. If they don't want to, then they don't do it. They decide their lives; they decide their progress and the time that they take to go Home. They still have things to do here, so it's okay if they don't want to know God and if they don't want to prove it. It's okay because their job is to discover some new things and to invent some new comforts for us. Later on when they finish their jobs, maybe they will decide, "Okay, now I'm done with it. I want to go Home." Then a Master will appear to them; therefore, it's okay. Everything is okay.

I don't want to change the world in any way. I do everything here just because I'm requested. If you, who are my sister, ask me to do something, I'll do it for you; that's it. You ask me to design; I design. You ask me to come here to teach you meditation, I come and teach you meditation. I don't desire to do it, but I don't refuse. I'm not here because the world is so terrible that I have to save it or anything. I don't have any thinking like that because I know everyone is God. Definitely, there is no doubt about this. I'm not in a hurry to take anyone Home, unless they are in a hurry. Then I'll push it a little - "Okay, go!" [Master laughs] So relax, everyone is okay, I assure you. They will come Home one day. [Applause]