There was another one who was also very bad, very stingy. One day, he crossed a river, tried to cross a river by himself, and then he slipped because the current was very, very strong. And then, the current swept him away, swept him away in the middle, and then he kept calling for help, “Anybody help me? I will give you some money!” And there was one person on a boat, nearby. He said, “OK, 50 dollars. Alright? And then I’ll help you.” And the person said, “Fifty dollars! Too expensive! Twenty dollars, OK?” […]
There was a person who was very bad, never practiced charity, or never ate vegan, and never followed Master Ching Hai. So of course, after he died, he went straight to where? (Hell.) Hell? You know where. OK. That’s a bad word. But you know where. OK. Now he went to… You know where. And then the King of you-know-what told him, “You are very bad. I’m going to punish you. You have been a very bad person. You have never helped anybody, never [gone] to listen to Master Ching Hai’s teaching, and never done anything good; never gave anybody anything when they needed. Now I’m going to fry you, deep fry, in a very big pot of oil.” That’s what they do in hell. People are supposed to do like that. When you’re bad, they just put you in the oil and fry you.
Anyhow. So the person said, “Oh my God, please forgive me. I didn’t know. I was ignorant. I didn’t know Master Ching Hai exists. Well, I knew, but I didn’t know She’s good. Well, what people told me, She just sits there, and looks at people’s eyes or touches their head. Oh, what is that? How can I believe it? So please forgive me.” And the King of hell said, “No! Definitely not! You are terrible! You’re worse than anybody I’ve ever seen. So, your sin would be washed only by boiling oil. There’s no escape about it. Be prepared for your retribution.” So, he was crying and crying but nothing helped. So, all the devils were preparing the oil pot to put him in, and the oil pot was near boiling, and he said to the devils… This man, because he’s very stingy, he said, “Look! It’s very wasteful. Why don’t you just boil a pot of water, put me in, and keep the oil, or you can sell it and give the money to me first, and then put me in the pot of boiling water.” Oh, gosh.
There was another one who was also very bad, very stingy. One day, he crossed a river, tried to cross a river by himself, and then he slipped because the current was very, very strong. And then, the current swept him away, swept him away in the middle, and then he kept calling for help, “Anybody help me? I will give you some money!” And there was one person on a boat, nearby. He said, “OK, 50 dollars. Alright? And then I’ll help you.” And the person said, “Fifty dollars! Too expensive! Twenty dollars, OK?” And the other said, “No, no, no, that’s too cheap.” And he was still trying very hard to, between the water drinking, say, “OK, OK, OK, thir... thir... thirty dollars, OK?” So, the person said, “No, last price, 40 dollars.” So the person in the water said, “I... I... I’d rather die.” Too expensive.
Yes, same with us. Many people bargain with me. “What?! Three vegan meals a day?! And two and half hours meditation?! How about just vegan breakfast. Is that OK?” Especially the Chinese, they have the tradition of eating breakfast, vegan, and they call themselves also vegan. But if you press them further, they say, “OK, I’m a ‘breakfast vegan.’” Things like that. So normally they would be Buddha in the morning, and become something else at noon and evening; or go to Heaven morning and back to hell the rest of the day, something like that. Because they think to meditate two and half hours is too much, to spend all this time, and also eating vegan all day, it’s too much. How can you value something as great as your soul by measuring it with material comfort? But many people do that and that’s their mistake. And that’s why they’re still here.
There was a person who was also very, very stingy, he went to see a friend. Ah, a friend came to see him, and the friend saw that, oh, he raised so many animal(-people). You know, horse-, chicken-, duck-, and geese(-people) and very groovy. But then, he seemed like he was not prepared to kill any of them for him. So, he was sitting a very long time and waiting, and lunch came and past lunch hour. Nothing happened, only drinking water. So the guest was a little bit restless and tried to make some gesture or hinting. But the owner, the host said, “Wow! truly, truly sorry, it’s rare that you come to visit me. But, we didn’t do anything, didn’t give you any food. I feel very bad. I don’t know how to find some (animal-people) meat for you, to give you a really decent meal.”
So the guest, the friend said, “Oh, never mind, you take my horse. I have a horse there. Just kill it and then both of us can eat together!” The guest is more generous! Of course, he knows that he won’t do that, the host won’t do it. So that host said, “Oh, no! How can I kill the horse? And then, how will you go home, because you live very far away?” That’s what the guest waited for. So, the guest said, “Oh, never mind. You have so many geese(-people) outside. Just lend me one. I will ride the goose(-person) to go home!” Do you know what it means? (Yes.) Very good hint. So, anyhow, if you’re vegan, just tell people straight. We only raise these goose- and duck(-people) just for fun, not for you to eat. Tell them. Then they have no trouble. Or you don’t feel happy with all these [geese](-people), huh?
There was a person. He was not skilled in medical knowledge. In fact, he never learned any medical skills at all. But then, he liked to boast to people that he’s a very good doctor. So, every time somebody was sick or something, he immediately opened his books and said, “Take this and this together and then you’ll be cured.” One day there was a person... But normally it was a very small thing. You know, like a little headache or something. Then even if a headache was not cured, nobody would bother so much, and they would find something else to drink, to take. But then one day, a person who had so much stomach problem came to him. So, he also immediately, in the night, in the middle of the night – actually he had enough compassion – he woke up, turned the light on, and then read in the book to see what is for the patient. So, he told the patient to go home, get some of the ginseng and then just cook it. Cook it until it becomes concentrated and then drink it. The patient did exactly like that until the morning and then died, and his family members sued the bush doctor for it.
And then when the judge asked him, “How would you prescribe things like this that make people die?” And the doctor, the bush doctor said, “What! I did my best. I do everything according to the book. This is the book, medicine book. I don’t just talk nonsense.” So, the judge took the book and had a look. And when he looked on the page where ginseng is listed, it read further, “If you have stomach problem and you drink the ginseng, then...” The next page said, “die!” It’s because the doctor didn’t read the next page. Something like that happens in your kitchen too. You read “The Supreme Cookbook,” and you read only half of page number nine and the next page number ten, you don’t read. And when you cook, it tastes like straw mat or something and you say, “Master doesn’t know how to cook.” So, be careful when you read cookbooks or medical books. OK? Read it thoroughly “from the end to the beginning.” If you die, don’t tell me.
Photo Caption: Remember God > It Will Blossom, Your Heart!
