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From: goodman <goodman@sccsi.com>
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage
Subject: Q&A"S ON SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT BY A LIVING MASTER
Date: 20 Apr 1995 03:36:49 GMT
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Spoken by the Supreme Master Ching Hai during the group meditation in
Seattle, U.S.A.

April 7, 1994  (Originally in English)
Q: For enlightenment, is service in love to humanity as important as
meditation or is service more important than meditation practice?

M: Both have to go hand in hand.  We meditate because we want to do 
service
better, we want to be clearer in what we do.  Therefore, we'll be more
efficient in our work and more service to others.  Without meditation,
sometimes we have very best intention and we are willing to serve 
people,
but we don't know what is the best way.  Therefore, meditation is a 
helping
factor to true selfless service.

Q: Is it possible to live a life completely free of doubt and fear 
forever
and if so, what does one need to do or not do?

M: Fear and anxiety comes only from darkness, from ignorance, from the 
fear
of the unknown.
     Once we get to know the stable side of nature, the real side of our
life, our fear and anxiety disappear. We only fear because we thought 
after
this life, we have nothing. We only fear because we know only the 
ephemeral
existence of this world. If we know that life is eternal, if we know 
that
we are the greatest beings in the universe, we have no fear at all.
     So I invite you to get to know yourself through the means of 
initiation
(into Quan-Yin practice). 

Q: I love my original master very deeply and usually recite his name. If 
I
continue to do this, will I lose Your love and blessing? I love both of 
you. 
No difference because without my original Master I would not be alive to 
sit
here and listen to Your lecture.

M: I'm not in competition with anyone.  You can love ten more masters if 
you
wish. No problem. Just be enlightened. That is the best way to pay, to 
show
the gratitude to your previous master.  Don't need to even be grateful 
to
me or anything. Whatever you do, I love you all the same. It's you who
probably do not love yourself, because you would think, "I do that very 
bad,
I do this very bad.=14 And it's you yourself, stop feeling being loved.  

Q: How long must one meditate to reach enlightenment?

M: Enlightenment comes immediately. As soon as you sit down with the 
Master
and sincerely want it, it comes immediately. Even sometimes before
initiation; sometimes I have not finished the instruction, and people
already got enlightenment. Some people are in a hurry, you know, they 
have
no time to wait. 
     But the meditation takes place daily, because we always want to be 
in
the enlightened state, and we always want to renew our acknowledgment of
enlightenment. Or also we want to strengthen it, to strengthen, to 
expand
until infinity. Otherwise, even if you meditate for one hundred years, 
you
don't get any enlightenment.
     Meditation doesn't bring enlightenment, the Master power does, 
because
during initiation, or during so-called meditation in our method, you do 
not
meditate, because meditation means effort, but in our way, it's 
effortless.
You might sit there sometimes even sleepy and then enlightenment even 
comes,
even then. Or you will be enlightened during sleep because the Master 
power
will wake you, wake your soul during your sleep. While your mind is 
asleep,
your body is at rest, your soul will be awaken into the world of light 
and
wisdom. 
     Therefore, meditation is not a means to enlightenment. But for lack 
of
vocabulary in this world, we have to call it meditation. Actually, you 
just
sit there and receiving the grace of God and acknowledging your own 
supreme
power. There's no meditation actually that is involved, because anything
that is earned or it is a result of some kinds of action, it is still 
the
worldly production. It's still within the material framework. Therefore, 
our
meditation is a non-meditational meditation, effortless meditation.  

Q: What makes you the equal of other great masters?

M: The same thing that makes you equal with other great masters that 
makes
me equal. All of us are equal. You are as great as Jesus and Buddha, if 
you
want to be, if you want to know, if you know where your greatness is. I
know.  That's what makes me great. If you don't know, okay it's fine. If 
you
want to know, you will be as great as any. 
=1A


