I want to thank herewith Mahākāśyapa for being so kind to me. We were friends in earlier lives, and we were good with each other, compatible. Thank You for the relics of the Buddha. Thank You for the bowl, like the alms bowl, the begging bowl for the monk. […] But in our time, Mahākāśyapa should understand, the Buddha also understands that it’s very difficult to go out begging, especially for a woman, and I’m not that young anymore so I just eat one meal a day in the house, and I have to do so much homework inside, outside. So if I keep going out and begging and coming back, I don’t think it’d be convenient for me, even though I’d love that free life soo very, very, very much!!!
Even just to eat one meal – cooking and washing – I feel already it’s a lot of work for me. And you have to clean your house, you have to clean the floor, wash the blankets and the clothes, and then wash the dishes after cooking, and wash the kitchen and utensils and all that; I feel it’s too much, too much work already. I wish God would allow me to be breatharian again. It’s more convenient, but still, I cannot. I’m not allowed to. I still feel very sorry that I can’t be breatharian because it was so good when I was breatharian. I felt like I was walking on a cloud. And everything felt light. Everything felt like no worry, even nobody involved. Nothing you should worry about. Nothing you fear. Because you have nothing. And if you even don’t eat, don’t drink, you really have nothing to fear at all; you have nothing to lose. It was absolutely a very, very, very beautiful feeling.
And now, even eating once a day, oftentimes I also don’t taste anything. Sometimes I feel a little appetite or even hunger, but rarely does the food taste any good. Maybe because when you cook for yourself, it doesn’t taste very good. If somebody else cooks for you, then maybe it tastes good.
I remember I loved food; I loved food so much before. And I always had a kind of small party in my little kitchen. I had a couple of chefs and cooks to cook for me, so I asked them to cook a lot, and I invited the workers in the ashram, some monks or some nuns. Not all of them – those who came and helped me to repair the house or repair the car, or some helped me to clean the golf cart or clean my yard, something like that – so monks or nuns, I invited them. They took turns, so it was very good. And when I ate with someone else, it tasted so good, so good, so appetizing. And then I kept eating a lot.
But then later I preferred to eat once a day, and less and less, because even if you like to, you shouldn’t eat so much – I mean me, not you. Please, do what you want with your life; it’s your life. As long as you don’t harm anyone, and as long as you’re vegan, I’m happy already. But if you want to try to have less and less pain – invisible pain even from plants, trees or flowers in your house – then you can try it a little bit at a time, till you get used to it. See if your body accepts the new habit. Don’t cut everything off all at once, like the way I did when I became breatharian; maybe you would cause yourself trouble. I didn’t cause myself trouble; I was younger then and healthy. I worked a lot in that temple, cleaning every day, washing, cooking for everybody. And helping to write articles for the Abbot, and transcribing his talk onto paper. He had a magazine or something.
Before that, I had met a waterian nun before, I told you, in Miaoli – not where we live, but nearby in the same region called Miaoli. So, my heart ever since has been longing to be at least a waterian or breatharian, but I could not somehow. Because I have to tell you the truth: I loved food! I remember a long time ago, the Buddha told me that He became Buddha before I would, because I love food too much and ate a lot! I still do though, even though not as much as before. Usually, before, I lived with people, or in the temple, a lot of people come eat together, so that makes you have even more appetite. And when I was in Hsihu, Taiwan (Formosa) also, I invited people to come eat with me. So, the more people with you, the more appetite you have, and the more you eat.
Sometimes I couldn’t go back into the old, beautiful clothes that they made for me before. Because mostly, when I go out in public, I have to wear the clothes that I designed, or they designed at different companies, in order to sell – like I am a model. But I don’t have any payment for it. Don’t be envious. I didn’t know being a Master, you even have to sing and dance. I had to do many things, and I still have to. Somehow, most of the people who know about my designs or my jewelry, for example, they love it. So I have to show it anyway.
You might wonder why I don’t advocate for one meal a day, or asceticism, when I myself do it. I do it for a different reason. I told Heaven that if I eat once a day – while normally I could eat three times a day – that whatever meals I don’t eat could be given to other souls. And even if you don’t meet those hungry people, or maybe hungry ghosts, if you have spare in your mind, then the food will go to them in a different delivery. They don’t necessarily see that I share my meal with them, but because of the vow, they will get it.
But I’m just trying to bring home to you: “Don’t punish your body.” One meal a day won’t make you liberated and won’t make you enlightened. Because it has to be transmitted by an enlightened Master. Just like a candle – pass on the light to the next candle, and both will be brightened like that. But without that lighted candle, the other candle will not be bright; there has to be another fire instrument somewhere, like a candle, fire, a lighter, or even burning gas on the stove.
Now, Mahākāśyapa, He was already an ascetic – so spiritual. He learned some with other Masters before the Buddha. So how come He still had to find the Buddha in order to realize His holy position as an Arahant in a short time? Why did He have to do that? Because He knows you have to have a Guide; you have to have an Expert; you have to have this Master Who transmits the Way to you with the Master Energy attached to it, in the beginning at least, to help you to go back into the inside realm where you belong. And then slowly, you walk Home from the inside realm.
If you don’t have a Master, a living Master, a living Teacher, then no matter what you do, you can say that 99% is not fruitful. Even if you can achieve some meditative power like a seer, or some yogic power or something, it’s not complete liberation, it’s not Buddhahood. You will be reborn again on Earth, and then God knows if you can still continue to control your life in virtue, morals, and beauty, or not. Without a real transmission of Inner Power to you, to open your own power, it’s a very slim chance that you could enlighten yourself and reach liberation – or if learning some other method that is not suitable, that is not the Ultimate.
And after Mahākāśyapa sent for His wife, She came, studied with the Buddha, and in a short while She became an Arahant also. That means “Saint” already. During the Buddha’s time, sometimes the Buddha just talked to somebody, or they came and talked to Him, and the Buddha explained to him/her, expounded to him/her the Truth, and then that person became enlightened and attained some level after meeting and talking to the Buddha. It’s not because of the Buddha’s talk or voice, it’s because of the Power emanating from it, and/or also that the Buddha will teach that person a method to practice. Maybe inner Heavenly Light and Sound Method, the way you are practicing.
So, it is not like you can just repeat or learn from somebody else, second- or third-hand from the Buddha – that means produced from the Buddha’s teaching – and then you can be enlightened. It has to be a living Teacher. And many other monks also, like Ānanda and other persons – They had to be under the Buddha’s merciful Guidance, with tremendous Power from within the Buddha Himself.
Photo Caption: Hurrah! Another Beautiful Day. Thanks God for the Sun!
