There was this guy who won twenty million in the lottery, but he had a heart disease. So his family didn’t know how to tell him, they were afraid that if they told him suddenly, he might die from the shock. Then they went to ask a psychiatrist for help. The doctor said, “Don’t worry, I know. I have a heart disease too, so I know the psychology of people with a heart disease. Let me tell him. I’ll do it slowly, I have my ways. He won’t faint, he won’t die.” And because he was a close friend of the family, they trusted him enough to reveal the secret.
The doctor then went to meet the guy with a heart disease who had won the twenty million in the lottery. He said, “Wow, you look so good. Your face looks brighter than usual. Maybe God is about to bless you with something. You look like you’re about to get lucky or something like good fortune is coming your way.” The guy said, “Oh, my God! I hope so. I buy lottery tickets all the time, but I’ve never won.” The doctor said, “Well, let me give you an example. If you won five thousand dollars, what would you do?” The guy replied, “Oh, five thousand? Well, I’d take my family out for a big meal, and I’d invite you too.” “And what if you won fifty thousand?” “Well, then I’d take my family on vacation to Honolulu. Let everyone enjoy for a while, since we’ve had hard, uncomfortable lives.”
Then the doctor asked, “OK, for example, you won one hundred thousand, what would you do?” And so on, increasing the amount each time. The guy said, “One hundred thousand? Ah, I’d buy a new car, and take my wife and kids traveling around nearby countries for fun.” “Alright, let me give you an example. If you win one million, what would you do?” The guy said; “One million? Oh my God, I’d buy a new house, of course. Somewhere near the beach where it’s cool and warm, so my wife and kids can live comfortably.” The doctor asked again, “Let’s say you won ten million, what would you do? Just an example.” “Oh man, what else? Ten million would be great! I’d buy a small plane, take my wife and kids for a trip, buy a new house, and everything we’d ever want.”
Finally, the doctor said, “So if you won twenty million, what would you do?” The guy replied, “Come on, that’s too much! To be honest with you, if I ever won twenty million, since you’re my closest friend, I’d give you half.” The doctor fainted and died instantly. He had a heart disease. If you want to go preaching and saving people, be careful. Make sure your heart is healthy enough to do it. Sometimes you try to save others, but you don’t prepare yourself mentally. (Yes.)
There was a boarding school, and one day, the principal walked around checking what the kids were doing in their rooms. He looked into one room and noticed, “Huh? Why are the kids in that room watching on such a small TV today?” The smallest kind of TV. The principal asked, “Hey, where’s the big TV?” The kids said, “We changed it for this small one. Because our mom told us to ‘cut down on TV’ so we could study.” They really did “cut down on TV.”
There was this guy who was a dentist, and one day he had a little patient. The kid’s mom adored him so much, he was her only child, her first child too. So she said, “Doctor, doctor, will it hurt? Please be gentle, my child is very sensitive!” “Sensitive” also means gentle and well-behaved, right? “He’s sensitive, he’s very afraid of pain. My child…” (Timid, timid.) “Yeah. My child is very timid.” The dentist said, “I guarantee it will not hurt. Inject one tube of anesthetic and it will stop hurting immediately.” After a while, she kept standing there. The dentist said, “If you stand here, he will be even more fussy, even more scared. Go outside. I guarantee nothing will happen. There is a nurse inside to help. Nothing will happen.” She went outside and sat there. She said, “But doctor, please leave the door slightly open for me. If something happens, I will run in.” He left the door slightly open. After a while, she heard a very loud scream, “Ah!” She rushed in and said, “I already told you, doctor, be gentle with my child. You said it would not hurt, why is he screaming now? You said it would not hurt.” The dentist said, “It hurts terribly, of course it hurts. He bit my hand!”
There was a guy who was crazy. But the doctor was out of beds, so he tested a few patients who seemed pretty OK, if they were about to recover, or fully recovered, then he would let them out. He called that guy out and asked, “Now I will give you an example so you understand, There is a light out at sea called a lighthouse. There is a guy who climbed up that lighthouse light and ran out to the sea. Do you think you can do that?” That patient said, “Do you think I’m crazy? Why are you telling me to do such a weird thing?” The doctor said, “Oh, you know that?” The patient said, “Of course I know. What if the guy who keeps the lighthouse turns off the electricity and I fall down?”
Where did everything disappear to? Ah, this guy went to the police station. He bought a bunch of things, clothes, medicine, food and drinks to visit someone who was in prison there. The police chief asked, “Huh? This guy here was the one who broke into your house the other day and stole your things. So why are you visiting him now? You are so kind.” That guy said, “Because I want to ask him for a secret.” The police chief asked, “What secret?” He said, “I want to know how he could come into my house in the middle of the night and my wife didn’t even notice?”
Next time, don’t let people sit all over the place like that. This area is for men to sit. Doing anything like this, copying me, you copy it all wrong. Do you understand? (Yes.) Copying like that is wrong. (Yes.) But when I do it, it is joyful and different. Yesterday, it was women sitting up there. Letting many people sit and sit for so long. (Yes.) And no singing, nothing at all. Copying – all wrong. Not understanding anything at all. What I do is exactly 100% correct, without even the slightest mistake. But when you guys do it and it looks similar, it is all wrong. Do you understand? (Yes. Yes, we understand.) What a frustration. All wrong. You imitate everything I do. But it’s all miscopied. Do you understand? It’s like copying someone by dipping your finger into something dirty. It looks the same, yet it’s wrong. Do you understand now? I say it like that and you still don’t understand? You have to wait until I point you out, call your name before you realize it.
If I just speak in general, you understand nothing at all. “I thought She was talking about someone else. I’m fine. She wasn’t talking about me.” But I’m very afraid to call people out one by one, to name them and speak directly. It hurts their pride. And even then, I am not sure if that would make them understand. Later, they may run away and stop to practice. That’s the hardship! They say, “She hates me. Out of a thousand people like this, She singles me out.” That’s how hard it is! But when I speak generally, everyone thinks, “She’s talking about the neighbor. She’s talking about Mr. Tèo, Mr. Tí. Not me… Ah, I knew it. Mr. Tèo and Mr. Tí are like that. It’s not me.” And then no one’s illness lessens. (Yes.) You have to really look at what I teach, and listen carefully. See whether you have those illnesses yourself, and then cure them. Do you understand? (Yes.)
Don’t make me call you out by name and age, it’s very awkward. (Yes.) I don’t like it. (Yes.) Everyone has pride. (Yes.) Before someone becomes a Buddha, their pride is huge. Bigger than their Buddha Nature. Easily frightened. They’re just starting to practice, so I still have to go easy on them. Overdo it, and they’re gone. All that teaching would be wasted for days. If I were to call people out one by one? My goodness! No one would get away. Here, sitting here, everyone smiles and looks nice. But if I were to call you out one by one and point everything out, if I reveal the depth of the soul, it’d be a different thing. (Yes.) Everyone is full of all kinds of illnesses inside. At home you watch and listen to the tapes, so how come you still don’t get anything? You wait until She gets involved to realize.
A millionaire guy got into a car accident and was lying in the hospital. His three or four kids were pacing back and forth outside. Waiting for the doctor to come out, they asked, “Well? How is it, doctor? Is there any hope for our old man?” The doctor said, “Very sorry, there’s no hope for you. He just has a minor broken arm. He’ll be completely fine soon.” Filial piety.
There was a girl who wanted to visit a famous actor. That actor had a tiny little accident while performing and was now lying in the hospital. Maybe he broke an arm or something, all bandaged up. Or maybe a leg, he couldn’t walk. The girl, who admired him, went to visit. When she knocked on the door, an old lady came out to open it. Then the old lady said, “We’ve put up a sign outside, only family members are allowed to visit Mr. X. Didn’t you see it?” The girl replied, “Yes, I saw it. I’m his sister, so it’s fine.” The old lady said, “Oh, is that so? Nice to meet you. I’m his mother.”
A little boy, about four or five years old, went swimming at the beach and then came back. It was summer vacation, so he went to swim and then returned. When he got home, his mother asked, “So? Did you have fun out there today?” The little boy said, “Yes! It was fun – so much fun!” His mother asked, “When you went swimming, how many boys and girls were there?” The child replied, “How would I know? None of them were wearing any clothes at all.” You can only tell when they’re wearing clothes. If they’re wearing a zippered outfit, then they’re girls. If they’re wearing jeans, then they’re boys. If they’re not wearing any clothes, he can’t tell who is who at all.
Photo Caption: “God Created the Nature World with Artistic Love”
