News 170, Master’s Words

A Loving Reminder to Consider Other Beings

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Surrey, United Kingdom • January 8, 2006
(Originally in English)

Anything in this world like that hurts me a lot. I can’t watch TV right now because of things like bird flu, where they take thousands of chickens or ducks, just take them by the neck, throw them in a bag, close it, and throw it in the garbage. Can you imagine, if it’s you? Imagine it’s you! They just bury them alive, just like that! Or throw them in the fire, and burn them alive. Imagine it’s you! If all the world could just be vegetarian and not breed a lot of chickens and let them be them, they wouldn’t bother anyone.

Oh God, I cannot watch all this! It just hurts me, and I can’t sleep. Anything in this world, when I look around, it hurts me all the time. Even when I was younger, if you remember I made a poem, “I Don’t Know What to Do with My Heart.” It’s because of that. Even when I was younger, before big enlightenment, before the Himalayas, I really couldn’t bear it. That’s why when I was married, I couldn’t enjoy. If I watched TV, I would feel sad for many days and many weeks. I worked in the Red Cross, and nothing was happy. And when I was young, I witnessed people dying and suffering, and war and all that. There’s just nothing really good in this world.

So, anything can hurt me, so easily. Sometimes I even see healthy, good children being pushed around in prams without any covering in the front. Of course they are warmly dressed, but the cold air can hit their face, also the debris from the street or anywhere. Because you are tall, you are walking up here but the baby is down there. So I also feel hurt for that baby, because they are delicate and something can flow into their eyes, or they can breathe something bad or the cold air into their nose, which can be painful!

Some humans are very inconsiderate. Sometimes they put the dogs behind them on the truck, without anything to grip. So they’re just running under the hot June sun, or in some very hot weather kind of country. The dog is just slipping here and there, and he might be hurt on his legs or in the heat from the sun. We could not even bear it! So I don’t know how a lot of people do a lot of things. I don’t know how some humans have no feeling.

So the thing is, whatever you do, consider the other party. Then it’s easy to understand and to feel it. Don’t ask me how enlightened you are and what level of sainthood you are in. Just watch yourself. Watch how you react with other people, how you treat other people and how you treat the less fortunate animals. Then you know what level you are; you don’t need to ask me. Because if you are enlightened, you must be more intelligent. More intelligent human beings can see everything better than before. When your eyes are open, you see better! So just watch yourself. Don’t bother asking me when you’re going to reach the Fifth Level and be a Master and all that.

You have to do the best, alright? If you can! There’s no use rescuing some animals and then just putting them into another different kind of hardship and neglect. Talking about these things, it makes me feel painful again. I cannot rescue all the dogs in the world, but if you see a neglected, suffering animal or something that is not right, try to correct it. Don’t ignore it just because of inconvenience.