The Supra-Worldly Sound – part 3

We human beings are also the same. Since our birth we are disconnected from the Source of all Power and hence running into many predicaments without real solutions. Even if we are unwilling to face them, they would run forward to meet us. This is what is meant by so-called fate. Sometimes it is caused by the outer environment or circumstances. For example, a man, a good citizen, has a family and life without material difficulties. Then one day a disaster happens, and all his possession are gone. On top of that, his wife becomes ill and his children are in danger of dying from hunger. But he has not yet been able to find a job and no one is there to help him. Facing this desperate situation, in order to save himself and his family, he has to go out and steal something and therefore commits an unlawful act. It is the circumstances that forced him to act against his own will, not that he normally would do so.

Similarly, we originally had no sin. It is only the outer dust that attaches itself to our outer coat. If we are connected again with the Water of Life, it will wash all the undesirable defilement away,  giving us the primal Glory that we all inherit. While we are still disconnected from this Source of Power, if we are fortunate enough to meet someone who is steeped in this Sound Stream and can even lend us some from her own Treasure, we will automatically derive some Grace and Blessings from God, as the person herself is in daily contact with God or the Source of all Love and Glory, and just a glance from her God-laden eyes is enough to fill us with Joy and Bliss. We could even soar into Samadhi (God ecstasy) ourselves, and forget all our worldly burdens.

This is the real Love of the Highest, or so-called the Real Saint, the Real Master. If we come to them, a great deal of our karma will be washed away; but it will be best for us, if we ourselves know where the Sound Source is and bathe ourselves therein. Even if I myself know where the Source of the Water is and can quench your thirst for a while, it is still limited and if I stop giving it to you, then you will have none. But if I show you where the Water Stream is, then you will have a supply forever, and can even give it to anyone who needs it.

Just a while ago, I mentioned the story of the severed arm. If it is not set back again to its original place on the body, the color of its flesh will change and it will die and become rotten in no time. The same with us. If we do not find the union with our Source of Life, we will die and wither like dry twigs.

I think there are many countries which have this kind of surgery service nowadays, is that not so? In West Germany there are hospitals specialized in this work, though not many. There are also not many doctors who are skilled in this field, because if one wishes to perfect his task one must devote many years of his life to it. Furthermore, the work demands wholehearted attention and tremendous patience. Each and every single cell has to be mended and sewn back together in such a delicate fashion, as if the arm had never been severed from the body; otherwise the blood cannot flow through, and the cells will die out, then the process will be a waste of time and effort. It is indeed an extra-ordinary life-saving task. No wonder people look upon these surgeons as “God.” These doctors not only practice hard during their apprenticeship, but also have to work even harder after they are qualified. Surgery of this kind demands hours or even a whole day of delicate attention and single-minded labor. During the time of surgery, no doctor can move away from his work or be careless with his movements. The hands have to be perfectly still and steady, for any wrong move will spoil the whole work! After a successful operation of this nature, the severed arm will ‘live’ and function as normal. Isn’t it an incredible event?

A human life is very similar. We are mostly unhappy with our lots, no matter how many material comforts life offers us, because we are separated from our Great and Real Self. Just like a severed limb, if we are not ‘sewn’ back to the original place, we will be ‘rotten’ in time and meanwhile feel the misery of separation. To be united again with our Selves, we must seek out a perfect ‘Surgeon,’ who is able to ‘sew’ us back to ‘Life.’

So let us be ‘sewn’ back to that original Self, the Source of all Power and Love, of all Bliss and happiness, of all satisfaction and Glory. This Source of eternal Joy is within us, is called God, the Kingdom of Heaven, Tao, Buddha Nature or the Great Self. Now we are the small self, which is a part of this Great Self. Because we are separated from the Great Self, we feel such an unexplainable loneliness, we feel miserable and unhappy like the arm that has been severed from its body, without a spark of life in it. Only after it is reunited with the body does its blood begin to flow once more through its veins and it begins to lice again.

The Sound Stream is the only Power that helps us to be united again with our Great Source. It unites the whole cosmos together. Actually all things are ‘stringed’ together by it; only sometimes, as in the case with the most of us, the connection is obstructed. If we do not seek some way to repair it, then the connection may be lost forever (or almost forever); then we will be dragged along the wheel of transmigration in the lower worlds, being born again and again in the realms of Asura, humans, animals, hungry spirits or hells, not being able to rise to the free and noble spiritual worlds of Saints and God.

As mentioned above, to become a specialized surgeon, who can unite the severed limbs back to the body and make them function again as before, one must possess a high degree of intelligence and real love for humankind, apart from not fearing hard labor and sacrifice and self discipline, even then, one still has to pass through many tests in order to be selected. And as those professors who are capable in this art are also very few, so if there are too many candidates, then most of them can only stand by or watch the performance, not having the chance to practice by themselves before they have waited a long time. At least it was so in one of the hospitals I knew of in Germany. The whole situation makes it difficult to become such a specialist in the art of surgery. After one is qualified, not only can one save the life of many but also can teach others to be like him. No wonder people respect such persons as “God.”

Now, to unite just a severed arm to its body demands so many conditions and strenuous work as well as extra-ordinary discipline. Can we imagine how many thousand times more so, if one is to be the ‘Doctor of the Soul’?

As we know, while sewing the broken limb back to its body, those surgeons have to devote their whole concentration to the task, even if it means to go on without food or rest for long hours, because the cells will die quickly, and mistake or undue delay means life and death to the patient concerned. For as the limb reaches the surgery room, it has been chilled for hours, not having the freshness of ordinary flesh. If prolonged too long, the cells will become completely useless. We must appreciate greatly their work pressure under such circumstances and have sympathy for these physicians. It is all for the sake of the patients that they have to sacrifice thus.

The same with a Real Master, who can unite the soul back to its Real Self again. There is no selfish motive of the Master but her whole heart and mind which are all dedicated for the well-being of others. While saving the souls of the disciples, the Master has to undergo much untold hardship and pain due to the karmic lead which is passed on to her, in order to set the disciples free of their enormous burdens. No one can imagine the discomfort and pain a Master has to go through for her beloved children. She washes them and makes them shine again in glory while she herself bears all the consequences from their past misdeeds. She does all this and never utters a word of complaint, like a loving mother sacrificing all for her children’s comfort, like the loving doctor who is dedicated to the well-being of his patients.

Since ancient times, the Real Masters have been like those doctors, healing the wounds of human souls and uniting them back to the Source, bringing them back to Life again, and wiping out all their tears and sorrow of separation. Having attained the highest Power, they distribute it freely to those in need.

The Quan Yin Method of meditation – the method of transcendental hearing and seeing – will help anyone to become such a soul-healing Doctor. Welcome to practice with us. The more people the better; the world needs such noble volunteers. There are so many trials and tribulations in this highest degree in order to serve human beings as well as all other beings at large in healing their hearts and souls.

For more information, please visit http://www.Godsdirectcontact.org

Livestock a Major Threat to Environment

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.

Long shadow

The global livestock sector is growing faster than any other agricultural sub-sector. It provides livelihoods to about 1.3 billion people and contributes about 40 percent to global agricultural output. For many poor farmers in developing countries livestock are also a source of renewable energy for draft and an essential source of organic fertilizer for their crops.

But such rapid growth exacts a steep environmental price, according to the FAO report, Livestock’s Long Shadow –Environmental Issues and Options. “The environmental costs per unit of livestock production must be cut by one half, just to avoid the level of damage worsening beyond its present level,” it warns.

When emissions from land use and land use change are included, the livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65 percent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2. Most of this comes from manure.

And it accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.

Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.

Land and water

At the same time herds cause wide-scale land degradation, with about 20 percent of pastures considered as degraded through overgrazing, compaction and erosion. This figure is even higher in the drylands where inappropriate policies and inadequate livestock management contribute to advancing desertification.

The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution, euthropication and the degeneration of coral reefs. The major polluting agents are animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. Widespread overgrazing disturbs water cycles, reducing replenishment of above and below ground water resources. Significant amounts of water are withdrawn for the production of feed.

Livestock are estimated to be the main inland source of phosphorous and nitrogen contamination of the South China Sea, contributing to biodiversity loss in marine ecosystems.

Meat and dairy animals now account for about 20 percent of all terrestrial animal biomass. Livestock’s presence in vast tracts of land and its demand for feed crops also contribute to biodiversity loss; 15 out of 24 important ecosystem services are assessed as in decline, with livestock identified as a culprit.

Remedies

The report, which was produced with the support of the multi-institutional Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative, proposes explicitly to consider these environmental costs and suggests a number of ways of remedying the situation, including:

Land degradation – controlling access and removing obstacles to mobility on common pastures. Use of soil conservation methods and silvopastoralism, together with controlled livestock exclusion from sensitive areas; payment schemes for environmental services in livestock-based land use to help reduce and reverse land degradation.

Atmosphere and climate – increasing the efficiency of livestock production and feed crop agriculture. Improving animals’ diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, and setting up biogas plant initiatives to recycle manure.

Water – improving the efficiency of irrigation systems. Introducing full-cost pricing for water together with taxes to discourage large-scale livestock concentration close to cities.

These and related questions are the focus of discussions between FAO and its partners meeting to chart the way forward for livestock production at global consultations in Bangkok . These discussions also include the substantial public health risks related to the rapid livestock sector growth as, increasingly, animal diseases also affect humans; rapid livestock sector growth can also lead to the exclusion of smallholders from growing markets.

Be Veg. Go Green to Save the Planet

Source:fao.org

Religion and Spirituality

Excerpt from Master Ching Hai Lectures

Religion only points to the Truth, but we must find it with a living Master. Without a real Master, we don’t even understand religion.

I do not belong to Buddhism or Catholicism. I belong to the Truth and I preach the Truth. You may call it Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism or whatever you like, I welcome all of them. Many Masters have problems fighting preconceived ideas about all religions. I have none. I will tell you that all religions are good. All religious Masters are good, speaking the Truth and leading you to it. Stick to your religion and have faith in your own religious Master. If you happen to find a religious Master in this present time and in your own religion then you are lucky. If not, then search in other religions to see if there is any living Master available. But meanwhile have faith in your own religion, do not change to that Master’s religion. Because all religions came from God and all religious leaders also came from God to convey their message in different times and places. All enlightened beings whether they are Catholic, Buddhist or from any other religion have all discovered the same thing, the same wisdom, the same ecstasy. I also found the same universe, and it is actually more a state of mind, of consciousness, of intelligence and higher understanding.

According to Christian Bible, God is the “Word”. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word, was God. That is what we call the “Yin”, the vibration, the Tao, the Buddha Nature in Buddhist terminology, or Sound Current in the Hindu terminology. Once we get touch with that so-called “Word”, we are in touch with God because the Word is God. God is not a figure with a long beard or with a stick, standing there telling you what to do. God is a power, a loving current that we can use to mold our life and to make things come into being by this creative substance.

This Word or divine vibration is mentioned in all religions. We call it Yin, others call it celestial music, Logos, Tao etc. It vibrates within all life and sustains the whole universe. This inner melody can heal all wounds, fulfill all desires and quench all worldly thirst. It is all-powerful and all-love.

The Bible says: Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto you. That I have found be the truth. It is the whole truth. And in the Buddhist sutras,for example in the Surangama Sutra, it also says that: Once you get in touch with this inner Buddha Nature through practicing the Quan Yin Method, the worldly things will go on smoothly too. We can also have other things. And this I have also found to be the truth. Therefore, even bible says similar things. You can find many other example in the Indian scriptures, Jewish scriptures and other scriptures. That’s why we hear that the rich people are blessed by God. It might be true in some sense, but the richness of this world has not always been the symbol of the blessing of God. It just denotes our virtuous way of life the last period of our existence, before this existence, and that’s all. The blessing of God come directly, without virtues even, once we are connected with this God power.

Buddhism is like Catholicism. I do not think that the teachings are different. When you compare the Christian’s ten commandments to the Buddhist’s commandments, it’s the same: don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t drink alcohol or drugs, don’t take another’s wife or husband. And the rest of the teachings are only details and explanations, or historical events recorded by the disciples when their Master was still alive. In the Bible, for example, there are many accounts of wars, and tribes fighting each other. This doesn’t belong to the teaching but because these events took place when that Master was alive, they wrote them down.

Jesus was a man, but Christ is a power. That power can be transmitted any time, any place, through anyone who is qualified. Just like electricity, it can go through any wire, if the wire is in good condition and there is a plug. You see, Jesus Christ is the Buddha, and Buddha means Christ. Christ is a Hebrew word for Buddha, and Buddha is a Sanskrit word for Christ. How about that! People never translated these terms in their own languages, they just used the original language and fought over it. There is always trouble because of the incompetence of the human language.

At the outset all scriptures encourage people to lead a pure life. ‘Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt love thy neighbor and thine enemy, not steal,” etc. The Christian commandments, the Muslim, the Sikh, the Hindu, and the Buddhist commandments are all the same. We shall be good people, loving to one another and purify the inner self. Now, the outer virtues we all know, and most of us can keep the commandments from the holy scriptures, but what about the inner purification and inner realizations which are mentioned? How can we hear God with our own being, without someone else telling us a second-hand story? These are more important questions than just our ethical conduct. Of course, an ethical life is a great help, and a must for one who strives to become one with God, to go back to the Tao, or to become Buddha. These all mean the same thing; to be united with the great source of all things.

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Jesus Is Watching You

Master Tells Jokes

There was a thief who broke into a house and started collecting things. Suddenly, he heard a voice coming from a dark corner saying, “Jesus is watching you.” So he looked and looked, but he didn’t see anyone. He thought maybe his ears were deluding him. So he continued collecting items in the house. And then there came a voice again: “Jesus is watching you!” This time it was louder. So he realized that his ears were not wrong. He followed the voice to find its source, and he found a parrot sitting there. So he asked the parrot, “Was it you who said that?” And the parrot confessed, “Yes, I was just trying to warn you.” So the thief said, “Ha! Who do you think you are?” And the parrot said, “I am Moses.” So the thief laughed and said, “Ha! What kind of stupid people would name a parrot Moses?” The parrot  said, ” Probably the same people who named the dog Rottweiler ‘Jesus’!”

Enlightenment or the Great Awakening

Excerpt from Master Ching Hai Lectures

Enlightenment is the process of knowing what is greater than life, what is greater than the things we can see with our physical eyes, or touch with our physical instruments. It is the moment when we begin to know something greater than that, the true governor of the whole universe, which is also within ourselves.

Enlightenment means inner awakening. You realize that you have a power that is much greater than what you use every day. Usually, we follow the directions of our ego, but after enlightenment, we follow God’s will. We are connected with Him and recognize our real value. But at the same time we become very humble. The more we know about ourselves the more humble we become. We know that there is a greater force in the universe, and it isn’t for our human understanding to discuss and to grasp. So we become humble and then very powerful, because we have a higher power within us, and use it every day for the benefit of others. As we tap within ourselves into the right source of positive power, which is called in Christian terminology, ‘the spirit that dwells within you,’ or God Almighty, we open that source that was closed before. So once that source is opened we become powerful like Christ, like Buddha. We can help many people with this inborn God power, and then we become more humble because we see within everyone the same power, so we respect everyone as living God.

Enlightenment is a gift from God, and not the result of virtuous or charitable deeds. We can all become enlightened or liberated. If not, why would God have sent Jesus or Buddha or Mohammed if we were so helpless, if only the virtuous souls could achieve it? And I do not know who is really virtuous because, ‘Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.’ We are not such sinners. It is an illusion and after you understand this, you will know that there isn’t any virtue or sin. We must however work a great deal to realize this. The Quan Yin Method offers you a method free of charge to rediscover your original purity and noble heritage.

When I experienced the great awakening, I saw that I was in every creature and enjoyed whatever it was in that particular situation, be it a butterfly, a bird or an angel. A rock or a tree, everything was as perfect as it is. It is hard to explain it in words, but ultimately all of us will reach that kind of understanding if we yearn for it. And then we will know for ourselves.  This is only way for us to end our illusion, our belief about this ephemeral existence. When we see through our human understanding, everything looks different, but when we are in a higher state of consciousness everything is more joyous, light-hearted and positive.

Only when we are truly enlightened can we enjoy anything. Whatever comes, we can enjoy. When good things come, we take them as a gift from God, wholeheartedly, without any guilt or reservation, without any obstacles whatsoever in our heart or in our thinking, because the nature of an enlightened person is very free, very carefree, very easy, just like a child. If you give him something good, he accepts it, he won’t think that you want to trick him, or whether he deserves it or not, he just accepts it. And, when the circumstances do not allow that we have comfort or richness in life, then we are also happy to carry on that way, we have no desire for material greatness. But this doesn’t mean that we don’t strive to work for the society, and that we don’t do our best to fulfill our obligations as a citizen of the world. We do, all the same, we do more effectively and with all willingness to contribute our part to the whole world. The difference is that we do without a desire for reward or praise. Should we fail or should people misunderstand our goodwill, we still can bear it, we will not have any suffering in our heart.

 

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