By sister-initiate Tena Norm, Los Angeles, California, USA
(originally in English)

Recently, after the L A. Center's early morning group meditation session, local initiates had a very surprising and uplifting visit from Master on that beautiful spring day. Later, She even asked two teenage boys to teach Her a few "break dancing" steps and joyfully participated with them. Master said that "break dancing" burns up a lot of energy, rids the body of many frustrations and is much more positive than fighting or behaving violently. Once again, Master focused attention on an issue so that its positive side could be illuminated. Happily, this whole interaction between Master and Her disciples caused a chain reaction of thoughts that I believe are helping me to solve a problem in my own life.

When I got home from group meditation, an event that happened over twenty years ago came to mind. My father wanted me to read a Biblical passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes called "A Vanity is a Vanity." I thought, "Why does my father want me to read this passage? Does he think that I'm vain?" Once again, this passage came into my thoughts and was somehow synonymous with Master's message to the two teenage boys who taught Her how to "break dance." One may ask, "How does "break dancing" have anything to do with Ecclesiastes, a very heavy and dreary passage in the Bible?" I really did some serious contemplation about this question before Master's wisdom finally became clear to me.

The answer to the question deals with my "attachment to virtue". For most of my life, I have considered myself to be a very moral and upright person. I cannot lie, cheat or steal. However, in the process of living a moral life, I have often looked down upon "those people" who are not as moral or upright as I believe they should be. Although it may seem commendable to be a "good" person, this thought process has its negative side. As I began believing in my own goodness, I also began to separate myself from other people and became attached to my own virtue. By focusing on the negative habits of others, we momentarily feel better about ourselves. In the long run, however, this wreaks havoc when honestly dealing with human relationships. This attachment is also a very difficult habit to break.

Master has taught us that in order to reach the higher realms of consciousness, all of our attachments must be erased. But how, I asked myself, can I erase my attachment to virtue? Although it is easier to see the splinter in someone else's eye and avoid the forest in one's own eye, I have admitted to myself that I do have a problem in dealing with other people. Now that I have finally admitted to this problem however, where do I go for help?

Of course, the solution to all of life's problems is to meditate more and ask our inner Master for guidance! However, there are many other examples of where we can find Master's wisdom, in order to solve our own problems. All of Master's paintings have very significant names and we are attracted to different titles and compositions by our own affinity with them.

The many generations of Master's celestial jewelry collection have mysterious names that rival the jewelry itself for beauty. However, did you know that even the jewelry is able to help solve our problems? An example of this occurred during the past gathering in Florida for the Chinese Lunar New Year. I love most of Master's jewelry designs but one in particular really caught my attention. In Chinese, it is called Han Hai Dian Di, which means A Drop of the Ocean. I really love the name of this beautiful platinum design and the name reminded me of certain Chinese characters that I really like. More importantly, Master's jewelry allowed me to realize very deeply that we are all but drops in the ocean and that ocean is GOD! How can I look down upon another drop, when we are all the same?

Now that I look back at my life prior to following Master, I believe that my father must have wanted desperately to teach me these same lessons in life about attachment. He must have witnessed the impact of my not getting along with others. Although I am still a long way from taking the middle road, at least I've admitted to myself that I have a problem and have asked for help. Each step that I take will be one step closer to reaching my goal. Perhaps, my father is smiling down on me now because I am finally beginning to do something about these attachments. Yes Father, a VANITY is a VANITY after all!

Thank You Master!