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Master  Others Stories
of Life with Master in the Early Years |
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A
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Life Even in Firewood In the forested mountains surrounding the Hsihu Center, dead trees and dry twigs were available everywhere. So we seldom used gas for heating and cooking. Once when Master saw a resident disciple making a fire, She immediately came over to tell her to withdraw the wood from the fire, saying, “How can you be so careless? I’ve told you to check and see if there’re any worms or tiny creatures hiding in the wood before burning it. Ants, especially, love to hide in bamboo and tree holes, so please check very carefully!” When sentient beings were hurt by the fire, Master felt the pain at once. The Fifth Kind of Disciple When the inviting, golden-red persimmons were ripe in the persimmon garden where Master used to live, She would call the disciples over to pick the fruit. But She gave us special instructions: “Do not pick all the persimmons; leave some for the birds.” Birds were regular visitors to our kitchen, too. Master also told us to prepare a bowl of fresh water and some cooked rice for them every day. While at Hsihu, Master said with a smile that Shakyamuni Buddha had four kinds of disciples, female and male monastic disciples, and female and male lay disciples, but She had a fifth type; that is animals — the birds and stray dogs that visited time and again, and the neighboring cows, sheep and chickens that often transgressed the boundaries of the Center to graze there. Not only do human beings love to be around Master, but animals love to see Her as well. During Master’s lecture tours and short stays in various countries around the world, some of these “fifth-group disciples” have visited Her on occasion, becoming attached to Master and refusing to leave. Responding to Cries for Help
Once Master was taking us for a stroll around a mountain near the Hsihu Center, and we were talking and laughing as we walked. Suddenly, Master stopped and bent Her head, so we all stopped, too. Master then tapped the ground gently with Her bamboo stick and told the disciple behind Her: “Be careful, there’s a butterfly here.” For some unknown reason, a butterfly had stopped in the middle of the road and showed no intention of moving. Luckily, it had met our Master, who is one with all beings. Otherwise, it could hardly have survived after being trampled by the herd of “blind elephants” that we were. On another occasion when Master was walking around the mountain, She suddenly called out the name of one of the resident disciples who was not present. When we later mentioned this to the disciple, she revealed that at that moment, she had been struggling in great pain in her tent and had prayed to Master for help. Only when Master called out her name did she get out of the perilous situation! Sound Transmission across Thousands of Miles Once Master was cooking in the kitchen while I was watering the vegetables some distance away. With the tap turned on and the water running, I was humming some popular songs as I worked. Though the running water was louder than my singing, I heard Master’s voice coming all the way from the kitchen: “Instead of reciting the Holy Names, what nonsense songs are you singing!” I then shut up right away. What sharp ears Master has! She could hear me over such a distance! Everyone has a particular vibration and magnetic field. Especially after being initiated by Master, the “brain waves” from our slightest thoughts can disturb Her. Master is like a great receiver that constantly picks up vibratory signals from all directions. So, if our minds are not in the Tao all the time while we are around Master, we can easily affect Her. Master has said, “The inner Sound can take us to higher realms and then we will develop in all respects. The higher we go, the more clearly will we be able to see, until finally, we can see every corner of the Universe. At that time, we will be able to communicate with any being, because we have already become one with the Universe.” (Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, Japan, October 18, 1993, Originally in Chinese, videotape No. 382) This indicates that, by practicing the Quan Yin Method, each one of us can reach the level of being “one with all.”
One night, in front of Master’s Glass House at Hsihu, She was planning to read us the story of Naropa (Master of the great Tibetan Saint Milarepa). Seeing a thick, hardcover book in English lying on Her desk, we knew that we were going to have another wonderful night! Usually, Master seldom looked up words in the dictionary when reading stories to us. But that night She gave special instructions to Her attendant to bring a dictionary in case it was needed, because the book had been translated from the scriptures of Esoteric Buddhism, which abounds in special terms. Master thus had been very careful and diligent, having browsed through the text before reading it to us. Naropa experienced all types of humiliations and tests on his Truth-seeking path. Being an expert story-teller, Master made the legend a thousand times more interesting than usual, with one exciting climax after another. As our spirits wandered to the ancient kingdom of Tibet, we totally forgot what time it was. Master finished reading the story at midnight, and the night air was wet with heavy dew. Then, after having said good night to everyone, Master went inside Her Glass House and continued to read. The small house owes its name to the huge glass panes on all four of its sides. Now that its windows were wet with dew, many tiny streams of water had formed on the panes. A desk lamp reflected Master’s slim figure in the faint, softly radiating yellow glow. This beautiful, dreamy scene was like one from the world of crystal!
Master likes to work at night when all is still and the tumultuous daytime atmosphere has calmed down. When everyone else is in dreamland, the Saint continues another stage of Her work. Master once invited a resident disciple to sleep in Her room. The following morning, the sister came back to the office looking thoughtful. The other resident disciples felt curious and asked her why she was so pensive. She said that the night before, Master had given her many instructions about her work, and she was trying hard to remember them. We wondered why she had not brought paper and pen with her, and the sister responded, “How could I have known to bring a pen and paper when I went to bed?” After this incident, we realized that Master doesn’t really sleep when She goes to bed, but continues to tirelessly do Her work through the night. In 1993, before leaving Formosa for Her World Lecture Tour, Master gave a wonderful talk at the Sun Yet-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei in response to the local community’s loving wishes. The night before the lecture, Master unexpectedly asked for the book of Chuang Tze, that was stored in Hsihu’s Treasure Pavilion. The messenger told us to find the book and have it delivered to Taipei as soon as possible. The next day, the theme of Master’s lecture was “Lao Tze, Chuang Tze and the Music of Heaven.” Later, Master went to Indonesia and continued talking about Lao Tze and Chuang Tze. Such impromptu situations often occur when we are with Master. Another time, it was very late and I was working overtime in the office. Just as I began to feel drowsy and was about to go to bed, the phone rang suddenly. It was Master asking for a book about Master Tson-Kha-Pa, founder of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) monastic sect in Tibet, and where it could be found. I looked at the clock; it was midnight. Knowing that Master was still reading, my sleepiness vanished in no time.
Once when I had a chance to organize Master’s bookcase, a small, loose-leaf notebook caught my attention. I casually opened it and Master’s graceful handwriting greeted my eyes. I looked at just a few lines, but they were very powerful. I dared not read more and closed the notebook, which was of a very plain, simple style that few people used at the time. But Master used it to write down Her priceless inspirations! Master is really a very simple person. But because of our complicated and unnatural minds, we often fail to perceive Her needs when attending to Her. For a period of time, Master would occasionally draw out some tissue-paper during Her public lectures, joking that it was Her “wise council.” It was actually because we had forgotten to provide notebooks for Master, so when She had inspirations at night, She had to make do with tissue-paper to write on. In order to jot down Her inspirations at any given moment, Master always placed a small flashlight by Her bed for writing at night. Once Master visited our office. When she saw some yellow post-it notes on my desk, She was as delighted as a child discovering a new toy. She took them and kept them with Her on Her trip abroad. In the office, these convenient notes had been used for a long time, but not a single person thought of getting some for Master! And She was the one Who needed them most! We also forgot to put a calendar in Master’s room, so She often telephoned us to ask the date. Besides, when Master drew Her clothing, jewelry and lamp designs, She had only a few colored pens available and often could not find correction fluid; while in our office, all kinds of colored pens were within easy reach, but we often failed to create anything. Master, the great designer, however, could paint the entire universe with just a few simple pens!
One afternoon
at Hsihu, it looked as though it was going to rain. The air was heavy
and sultry. Then, while working quietly in the office, all of a sudden
we heard an explosion coming from Master’s kitchen, which was only
a few feet from our office. While we — a bunch of sister residents
— became anxious and confused, we heard a ripple of joyous laughter,
and then sighed in relief! We realized that things must be all right
after hearing the laughter. But what had happened? It turned out that
Master had asked someone to set off some fire crackers and then sent
someone over to inquire, “Were you scared by the blast?”
Our mischievous Master had succeeded in entertaining us, and the dreary
atmosphere of the day was naturally and easily dissolved.
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The
Secrets How Master Attained The Tao |
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