If you are in their magnetic field it's just automatic exchange. (OK.) You will lose some cells while they are gaining some. (Oh, I see, OK.) Maybe they're healthier and you are not. If you love them and pay too much attention to them, it's like that. If you're willing to, it's OK. Meditate more.
(Hi Master, I just wanted to ask if you get a disease in your body, does that mean you're paying some sort of bad karma back? Or is it your own self trying to tell you that you've got the wrong thoughts, or you're not doing something right in your life, if you get a disease in a particular part of your body?) Some bad karma has to be paid. But if you meditate more, probably it's less, or it will disappear. (OK.) Yeah. (Thank you.) A lot of love, also. Or go out and give things to people, to the poor people. (OK.) Whatever you can, you give. (OK.) And then meditate more. (OK.) Or recite the Buddha's name. (Thank You.) Yes. All of us have done, not only did we have a lot of karma in the past, but it's already erased at the time of initiation, but we also continue sometimes to do something which we don't know. Sometimes we step on animals or some insects. We kill them, a lot of them or something like that. Also the karma of this life, so that you can stay on this planet. If everybody is karma free, they cannot stay here. So, somehow you have chosen something to come down to meet me. So, sometimes it's karma, and sometimes it's your own wish. Like the judgment says, "If you want to see Master Ching Hai, are you willing to suffer?" Like, you have to be sick or something. Or you have to pick some very bad habits or something like that, OK? The price. But meditate more, do charity.
(OK, it's just that when you were talking before about saying the Five (Holy) Names or saying one of the (Holy) Names if something is dead because where I live, I live in the mountains in Australia, the Snowy Mountains, very beautiful place, very pure. Very pure, clean, beautiful rivers and lots of blessings there, millions of trees and everything like that. But sometimes you go along the road because there's a lot of wildlife there on the road and so you pull them off) I guess. (and I always recite the (Holy) Names, pull their bodies off to the side of the road and recite the Five (Holy) Names, and tell them, "Go to the (inner Heavenly) Light, go to the Light." But I just thought, obviously, I've got a disease in a particular part of my body and I just wondered if it was something that I'm doing, not for myself, and doing for someone else.) Are you? (I think maybe sometimes I try to please like my family members and maybe I'm not doing something that…) Then stop it. If you think that's the cause, then stop it, or do it less. (Well, it's just…) What did you do to please them? Something bad? (No, not something bad. No, just maybe not doing what I really want to do, like my art, or spending time for myself, or out in my garden or whatever. Maybe I sort of think, "Oh well, I'll just make them a meal. I'll just clean up after and do all that sort of thing." And maybe not focus on my own things enough.) Oh, I see. (Yes.) It's not all that. (No?) Just meditate more a little bit. (OK.) Because sometimes we spend time with other people who are not good practitioners or who are non-practitioners, then we also share some karma. (OK.) If you are in their magnetic field it's just automatic exchange. (OK.) You will lose some cells while they are gaining some. (Oh, I see, OK.) Maybe they're healthier and you are not. If you love them and pay too much attention to them, it's like that. (OK.) If you're willing to, it's OK. Meditate more. (Yes, OK, I shall. Thanks, Master.) You're welcome. Give some more of your stuff out to other people. (OK.) Money or anything. (Yes.) Even clothes. Some of your clothes, give them away, OK? (OK. Thank You, thank You.) I hope you get better soon. (I feel I will. I feel I can overcome it.) Good.
(Yes, because I'm that sort of person. I have a really happy life, very happy. And I live with a lot of blessings around me. And I have my horses. I've got two beautiful horses, and I feed them well at the moment because it's winter there, they get fed two or three times a day and they get coats on and coats off because it's cold at night.) Oh. (But the interaction with them is just so beautiful.) Understand. (They're just the most beautiful animals.) I understand. (So noble. Like big puppy dogs. They would come in the house. If you leave the door open they would come in the house...) And sissy sassy... (It's just so beautiful.) Want love. They come in, they want you to pet them, love them, talk to them. (But when we see them, when they see you, they whinny and they run towards you, and it's just beautiful.) I know. I had two before. (Oh, did you?) I didn't have enough fortune to spend a lot of time with them. I let one of my attendants take care, and he always gave them every day the best apples, better, human-grade apples. But later they told me that the two horses, kept looking to the other side of the fence because further away there is another farm, and then something in between and then another farm. He looked in that direction all the time because they used to be together as a herd. (Yes.) And I took only that. And then later … so I thought he missed his herd. I didn't have the heart to keep them. So I made a present. I returned without asking for money, anything. (Yes.) OK, fine. And after some time the owner of that farm rode this horse. Or the son of the farmer rode his horse past our Center. And the horse saw my attendant who used to feed him every day and give him the best apples in town. He ran so fast that the son fell down. He ran to that attendant. He was just taking care of him, not too long, not longer than the farmer there, you see, because they belonged to that herd. (Yes.) Then he ran so fast towards my attendant that the son fell down. Oh, terrible. (My horses get apples, carrots every day, herbs.) Just to tell you that they're so loyal; even for a while taking good care and they remember. (Oh, they're beautiful!) They remember. They remember us. I had another house. There was a horse next door, next garden. And whenever I passed by, I gave him things, either carrots or cucumbers, or apples, or bread. So whenever he heard my golf cart, the golf cart didn't make a lot of noise, but he heard it. (Yes.) He came tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk, next to the garden, next to the fence and put his head on the fence, waiting for me. And after I gave him already, he kept running after my golf cart along the fence. He couldn't jump over the fence, of course, but he was running, running, running until he didn't see me anymore. They're so lovely, lovely. All the animals, if you interact with them you feel so loved. (Yes, I feel I'm really blessed to have them. And I feel I'm blessed to live in the place that I live because it's just so beautiful.) Good for you. (Solid granite-mountains, and beautiful streams that you can see the bottom of the water. And I take the horses in there in the summer and they pound the water (with their hooves) and they love it. It's just a beautiful place. It's like Heaven.) Yes, it sounds like a very nice place where you live. (It is. It's beautiful.) You're lucky.
And your hair is so beautiful. (Oh, thank you.) Beautiful blonde. (Thank you. It used to be red.) Red? (Real deep red.) Really? (Yes.) I can't believe that. (But this is how it's gone because I'm 68 now.) I can't believe that. (Yes.) I can't believe both your hair and you are 68. (Yes.) Really? (Yeah.) Wow, you look so healthy! (Thank You.) And spring-like. Good. Blonde suits you anyway. (Oh yeah, I don't mind. It doesn't worry me.) It's beautiful. It's beautiful hair. (Yes.) So good healthy hair for her age, my God. OK we are similar. Don't tell anybody. Almost similar. (I think we went about the same, but I wasn't sure.) I'm catching up. I'm catching up with you. (Thank You, Master.) You're welcome! You're all right there? (Yes, thank you. And I just have to say, I love You very much. Thank You.) Thank you. From you, thank you. I thought you only love your horses. (No, I think of Master, every day.) It's different, I know. So thank you, thank you. (Different sorts of love.) Yes, yes. No, it's the same source. I'm just kidding. I'm not jealous of your horses. Also just like I love my dogs, but I also love you. You see? It's different.
Next one? Or do you want to hear a story? What is better for you? (Story.) How many (want a) story, raise hand? Wow! It's a big, big forest of hands. So many nice stories, but … You want to... I don't know. They are all stories of the past. They're all very nice. A short one, OK? Or a long one? (Long.) Long one? OK, OK. There's a story about the seven buckets of gold and another story about how to get a better wife. Which one do you like? Wife? Gold? Who are for the wife? Raise hand. I mean who for the stories of the wife, raise (your) hands. No? How to get a compatible wife? Who are for gold? So nobody wants the wife, and nobody wants the gold? (Gold!) Again. Wife? (Wife.) Gold? Oh! Everybody likes money. All right, money. I checked it, then I lost it. Oh, God! Oh man! Suppose the story is not good, don't blame me because I haven't got time to check it. It was gold here and now it's gone. Gold's gone. Oh, here it is.
OK, "Seven Pitchers of Gold." Thus I have heard, one time the Buddha was in the Xá Vệ (Sravasti) country, in the gold garden of the Prince Kỳ-đà (Jeta). That year in the retreat time in the monsoon season, the Buddha and the monks were making a retreat. I told you already before when it rained it's difficult to go out to beg, so the Buddha had a good place to stay and people, disciples, brought food and drink to offer. But that particular year, the Buddha allowed all the monks to go anywhere they wanted to do a retreat or something by themselves. During the monsoon season, they could go anywhere they wanted. They didn't have to stay with Him. After the time was up, everyone came back to pay obeisance to the Buddha and received His fresh teaching and encouragement. The Buddha and all the sangha (for) nine weeks, three months (they) separated. So now everybody came and paid obeisance to Him and Buddha was very pleased to see them. With mercy, He raised His hand and anointed their heads and then He asked, "All of you went far away. Everything was OK? The retreat was peaceful? Did you have good experiences? Did you have enough food and drink? Were your bodies fine, and not too much sickness?" So everybody said, "Praised be the Buddha, we rely on Your merit. Everything was OK. Everything was sufficient. And we also had success in teaching other beings. Everyone was happy." Normally, the Buddha's merit was immeasurable. Everyone bathed in His blessing. And no one from the Heaven to Earth could compare with Him in His power of merit. But today He asked all the sangha, but with a kind of very humble attitude, when He asked about their health and their well-being, not like normally, not like He used to. So they thought there must be something special. So Ananda, of course, he said, "I", came in front of the Buddha, kneeled in front of Him and asked the Buddha. I mean Ananda. "Praised be the World-Honored One. Your coming into this world is a very rare phenomenon. Your merit and wisdom are as vast as the sky. Today, You have asked about the well-being of all the bhiksus but with a very humble and respectful attitude. I wonder, what does it mean? Please explain it to us." So the Buddha said, "Ananda, if you want to know, I will tell you." Then Ananda said, "Please, tell us." The Buddha said, "Ananda, this story began from a long, long, long time past. You cannot measure when and how many eons. Also on this planet, there was a country called Ba La Nại (Benares). It was a big country. There was a person, very diligent in work, in business to make money. Anytime whatever he earned, he just tried to save it, so that he could buy gold. He would not dare to buy clothes or to drink, to eat, any luxury things. He only saved to buy gold." He didn't dare to use it for anything good for himself. After a while he had one pitcher of gold full, and then he dug in the ground and saved it there. And then just like that he continued, continued many, many years diligently working hard but didn't dare to spend. And he didn't even help his parents or family members. And then after a while he had another six pitchers of gold, and he also buried all of them in the ground. Unfortunately, after a time he caught some sickness and died.” But because he was so attached to his gold pitchers, he was born as a snake, poisonous snake, with a tongue, you know, la la la. He was born right in his house so that he could guard these seven pitchers of gold that he alone knew where they were. He never told anyone. He should have brought it here. We'd take care for him. We don't care about gold. We wouldn't do anything about it.
