Anybody has become a Buddha? Why are you laughing? Buddha business is very serious. It’s no joke. No, you haven’t become Buddha yet? Take so long? What? (Not everything...) Not yet? What? (Everybody is a Buddha.) Everybody is a Buddha? “Āmítuófó.”
All right. OK, what do you want? Working Master. Welcome. Who’s new one? Newcomer? Really? Very new? Brand new? What is the purpose of your coming here? Oh, I’m sorry. Really, a working Master is like this. You see the work going on? (Yes.) So, I’m the most busy boss in Miaoli. Good that I can see you sometimes, cheer me up. If I’m only working labor camp, you know labor camp? Then I’d go crazy. Any news? Any question? Good news, bad news? No news? So, all have a good look and then I’ll go work again. It’s OK to be busy.
You all right? Not too much disturbed by the work? (No.) No? Really? Sometimes? What? What’s that? (Everybody says it’s always too noisy.) Too noisy? (I think it’s OK.) No. Who said it’s too noisy, raise your hand? You mean you disturb the workers? You’re too noisy, is that right? You come here, no need to stand. There are places here. Come here. The standing ovation come over here. I don’t need your standing ovation. Just come over. I’m just a working staff, one of. Well, every time you come, there will be… Yeah, sit here, there are places. In front here, around here. I can’t stand it that you stand. Come here, yogi. Come up, here. There are places, anywhere.
Oh, what’s wrong? You don’t tell me you work too hard? (A big rock just dropped on my feet.) You dropped the rock? (No, I…) Did you kick the rock? Sit anywhere. It’s all right. Or sit there. Just all right. So, you mean you hurt the rock? And it hit back at you or what? What happened? You practice… (We were loading rocks and the rocks dropped on me.) The rock can drop on your feet by itself? That’s rock magic. It’s on the rock. But it didn’t hurt so much? You’re OK? (I’m OK.) Did it break or anything? (I think I broke a bone.) Broke the bones? (Yeah.) Oh! And that’s all they gave you? (Yeah.) Who gave you? Who? (A Chinese lady.) Chinese lady is not good enough. I will ask a doctor to come and look at you. OK? (OK.) Maybe we will take you for an X-ray tomorrow and then they put a cast on it. It’s better. You don’t run to Olympic game tonight, all right? (Thank You.) You’re welcome.
Is Chen or Hong around? Later, when I finish talking, go find Dr. Chen. It’s Dr. Chen, not Tong. (OK.) Ask him to take a look at this person and see if his bone is broken. If it is, he will need to go to the hospital for an X-ray tomorrow. (OK.) Please take good care of him. Understand? (Yes.) Maybe go to the hospital today. (OK.) May need to take him there today. (Yes.) I said maybe tonight, if necessary, we have to go and take you to the hospital. You don’t stay there, I guess. No? (No.) You like to stay there, better? (I’ll stay here.) No work, no work. Good excuse to just lay in bed and many beautiful nurses run around you. Good vision. Even if you meditate, you can’t see that much. You consider my offer. Don’t tell me that I don’t do anything for you. Anybody else with broken... spirit or something?
It’s OK. All of you, all right? (Yes.) When I see you here, I feel a little bit guilty that I haven’t seen you earlier. Because I saw you were very happy and welcoming when I come, like a big movie star. But when I work, sometimes I forget. You know I’m very forgetful. Do you know that? You remember in Australia? In the middle of the lecture tour? I forgot all about the lecture tour. I came about two hours late. And, last night, just because we talked about that yesterday, last night. And one of our disciples reminded me that “You did that also in Seoul in Korea.” I said, “When? I didn’t do that.” She said, “Yes. Yes, You did.” Because, it was an afternoon lecture, something like that, and I was very tired. I said “OK, let me have a little rest.” So, I rested for around three hours. She said the lecture was supposed to be at two o’clock. I showed up at four. I said, “You didn’t call me. Why didn’t you call me?” She said, “Everybody walked up and down, but saw You snoring.”
Oh! How embarrassing. I didn’t know if I snored or not. I was sleeping. How do I know? I said I needed a rest. You know, I’m very tired. Or when I rest, I rest. I don’t mess about. And people asked me, “Master, how can You sleep? You know, at such a time. Other master, before the lecture time, they couldn’t sleep for many nights.” For fear of Saturday night fever, you know? Fear of the limelight fever, they call it. At least they couldn’t sleep for one night, before the lecture night. “How can You always sleep like that?” I said, “I don’t know. When you’re too tired, you sleep anywhere.”
I forgot. When I work, I forget too. I know that already. I thought when I worked… I was watching the clock. It was around…. a little bit after eight. I said, “I still have about 40 minutes, so I can do some other work. And then I can come to see you later. I still have about 20 minutes to warn the people down there. Like a quarter to nine, then you get together, and then I come at nine.” But then when I looked at the clock, it’s five past nine already. I was thinking maybe you all ran home. Did anybody go? Not yet? You are so in deep samadhi? Really? I’m really encouraged.
Anybody has become a Buddha? Why are you laughing? Buddha business is very serious. It’s no joke. No, you haven’t become Buddha yet? Take so long? What? (Not everything...) Not yet? What? (Everybody is a Buddha.) Everybody is a Buddha? “Āmítuófó.” So then why do you sit there like idiots? And listen to a non-Buddha like me?
What’s wrong with your eye? Your wisdom eye opened and you don’t need it? (Suffer a little stye.) Here? (Little stye. Eye stye.) (She has a stye in her eye.) Her stye? (Yeah.) What? Is there a Japanese, or I mean... No. (It’s a little infection.) Infection? From here? Here or from home? Where? Miaoli? Miaoli? Why? You do something? You work or something? Is there any translator there? You talk there and the translator will tell me. What’s wrong? (I don’t know.) You don’t know. Is it very bad? (It’s just a little bad. A little bad.) A little bad? (Yes.) OK, we’ll take you together. Oh! Welcome.
(Please, I took care of her eyes because her eye was something wrong. A stye, you know the stye?) Yeah. (There is some inflammation around the eyes.) Is it very serious? (Not too bad, but she had some treatment at home in Seoul.) Oh. She already had it there, she said it’s here! (She didn’t understand. I’m sorry.) OK. She told me, “Here.” There’s a little difference. (So, I put the antibiotic ointment in her eyes.) Is that enough? (I think it is enough.) OK. (Because I gave her antibiotic ointment.) How long does she stay here then? (She stay...) How long will she stay more? (Maybe one more week.) Oh. Then better take to eye specialist or something. You think it’s serious? (I don’t think so.) You are not the…the… eye doctor. You are a den… You’re a Zen doctor. Teeth doctor! It’s a little bit far from each other. You treat the teeth and the eyes differently. What can I do? She’s funny. OK. I wish maybe the doctor will look at her later. (All right.) He’s an infant doctor, you know, like for babies but perhaps he would know something about eyes. Eyes are very tender, you know, like babies, so perhaps.
You just arrived? (A few days ago.) A few days ago? I haven’t seen you at all. (I was standing in there,) Oh, translation. (a lot of translation.) Oh! But the other guy, is he not there? (Yeah, he is around here.) OK, OK. She just arrived, you know. Immediately you take her to work and then you sit there (She volunteered.) like nothing happened. She volunteered? (Yes.) Really? (I didn’t tell her.) OK, OK. Never mind. It’s your own business. It’s Korean people business.
All right. So later when the doctor comes, make sure he looks at both of them to see whether they require more treatment. If he doesn’t know, just say he doesn’t know. (OK.) Just because he is a doctor doesn’t mean he knows anything. You know what docs are like. Why are you laughing? You’re funny. Aren’t you all very funny! I talk perfect English and you always laugh at me. (I think it’s all right now.) Something wrong? No? Did I speak the wrong thing? (No.) Correct. Yes, of course.
So, any more complaints? (No.) Of course not. And you’re OK. Even more people, you have enough food? (Yes, a lot.) Actually, I don’t want to rush you all to come here together at one time like this, but I never know when I will stay here for a long time or not. Even sometimes I’d like to stay longer but then something unstable makes me go, or some necessity in other places. So, I only know for sure this time that I stay one and a half months, until the middle of this month.
But if I stay longer… well, you may stay. I don’t care. As long as I have enough food, it’s OK. You have no problem? (No.) Really? You must tell me. Is the food enough? (Yes.) (More than enough...) More than… Because we eat only twice a day. Is that enough for you? (Yes.) More than twice? (Yes.) Three times? (Yes.) Wow, you eat in between? (Yes.) That’s all right. Don’t be cheated because the monks eat only twice a day, no, they have their (vegan) snacks, you know? They have their allowance; with that they buy extra, so they eat what they want in between, like (vegan) snacks. And besides, there are a lot of nutritious (vegan) food free in the kitchen. Do you have them here too? (Yes.) Like… (Lychee.) (Lychee, rice, mango.) Oh, lychee, mango, that’s different. That’s fruits. But there are some drinks, nutritious drinks, like vitamin drinks and a lot of… mineral drinks. You know those?
With a lot of sesame powder, whole meal wheat powder and things like that, mixed together. They call it the eight precious ingredients. So, when you mix it with hot water or cold water, you can drink it. Those are always available in any kitchen. In the monks’ kitchen, nuns’ kitchen, and in your kitchen, perhaps. You have outside? You eat freely. You take whatever you can and eat whatever. Eat as much as you can. Right? What? In America they advertise something like… (All you can eat.) “All you can eat.”
All you can eat, and all you can drink. But because last time, last time I heard that… You don’t understand? (No.) “All you can eat?” “All…you…can…eat.” In America, they have such restaurants, where they don’t have the menu, but they have like a buffet counter. So many things there, hot and cold. And then you go there, and you eat as much as you want and pay only five dollars. I went in one of them. And then... Chinese restaurant… but help yourself and eat as much as you can. But you pay only the same amount. Doesn’t matter if you eat much or you eat little, it’s up to you. But you pay cheap, the same price. Five dollars or ten dollars, whatever the price there is. So, I went in one of them. I told some of you? Did I tell? Perhaps in Chinese, no? I went in one of them. And that’s it: they have the sign “All You Can Eat” outside. That means you eat whatever you want. Anything you can stuff in is yours. And you don’t pay more. You see? You pay five dollars; it’s five dollars. But, inside there is a sign, “If you take too much and you can’t eat it, then it’s ‘fine’”. You know, the “fine.” One dollar for how much. How much left over, etc., something like that. But I don’t think every restaurant is the same, it's not the same.
But you’re OK? Because last time I heard that... like, they say if they cook for you especially already, and then you always look at the Chinese section there… The workers’, whether there’s something else, and then you also try? And then when the workers come, there’s none left. Is that true? Maybe you don’t know, maybe a language problem, right? “How do I know that is Chinese?” The food doesn’t say anything. So later, I said “Well, then you bring your food down there and eat there.”
Because they eat at different hours. Sometimes they work a lot and they don’t eat. Then they eat later. So the food is lying around there, is inviting, inviting the foreigners’ “hunger ghost.” Hungry ghosts. But does the food taste better here or not? Somehow? Does it? (Yes.) I hope so, because I worry that you’re not used to the style here. You know what? You can volunteer and cook Western food. No? (No.) Why not? No? You’re OK? Yes. It’s all right if you accept it. Yes. Maybe it’s less trouble for you. Otherwise, I tell you, it’s not fun to mess around with the fire in such a weather like this. It’s very hot. They’re all sweating. But they’re very dedicated, the people who cook, they cook with love. (Yes.) Whether they come here for one day, or they cook every day. They’re really dedicated, because they love to eat themselves. They’re very sympathetic to the fellow eaters. Anyhow, if you really cannot eat this kind of food, you may organize one or two days and cook them yourself, or cook yourselves. And cook yourselves well.
